Jackson Gibbs heard laughter coming from the back room, where his houseguest was supposed to be resting. His curiosity piqued, he reached in the cooler and grabbed a soda and went to check on DiNozzo.
He lightly rapped on the door frame. “Mind if I come in?”
“It’s your place,” Tony answered.
Jack watched the younger man struggle to sit up. He motioned for Tony to lie down as he pulled up a chair beside him. “There’s no need to get up, Tony.”
“That’s good. Because right now, I don’t think I could.”
“Maybe that’s a sign that you need to be in the hospital.”
Tony quickly averted his gaze and Jack knew that DiNozzo was probably thinking that he was trying to get rid of the young man. “Not that you aren’t welcome here,” Jack quickly clarified, hoping to ease Tony’s guilty conscience. “Katherine just said that you need to get some tests done.”
“You mean, Kate?” Tony asked. “I told her that I was fine.”
“Kate, huh?” Jackson smiled. “She must like you. The last person that called her Kate had to go and see a chiropractor.”
DiNozzo shrugged. “I just told her that she didn’t look like a Katherine.”
“Like I said, she must like you.”
Taking the soda and opening it, he offered it to Tony, who shook his head. “Anyway,” Jack continued. “She wanted me to find out who your doctor is so she can get your history.”
“She doesn’t need to bother. I’m fine,” Tony repeated, his tone forced and controlled.
Jack leaned back in his chair. “Son, have you looked in the mirror lately?”
“Yeah, I have and believe me I haven’t liked the person staring back at me for a long time now.”
Anthony DiNozzo was hurting and not just physically. Jack was at a loss, unsure of what to do to help Tony. Leroy knew the agent so much better, but yet Tony had come to him for help. There was no doubt in his mind that Tony needed to talk about what was bothering him, but Jack wasn’t a psychologist. He couldn’t wave a magic wand and make all of DiNozzo’s problem go away. But the one thing he could do for Tony was to be his friend.
“That didn’t come out like I wanted it to,” Jack said. “I tend to speak first and think later; if you don’t believe me, ask Leroy. It was one of the reasons why we didn’t talk for so long. I’m not sure what’s going on in your head; but just for the record Tony, the man I know is a pretty incredible person.”
“You don’t know me very well, then,” Tony whispered.
“You’ve worked with Leroy all these years; that tells me all I need to know.”
“How can you say that?” the agent wanted to know. “You’ve only known me for a few months.”
“Leroy’s told me a lot about you. He says that you’ve been with him for almost eight years and you’ve even passed up on your own team to stay with him.”
“I didn’t think he knew about that.”
Jack grinned. “This is Leroy we’re talking about.”
“Good point,” Tony conceded.
“He says that there’s no one that he trusts more to watch his six that you. That tells me that you’re loyal and have integrity. Not many people have that combination.”
“I don’t think anyone has ever told me I have integrity before.”
Jack lightly squeezed Tony’s shoulder. “If you’d let people see the real Anthony DiNozzo, then there would be no way that anyone would question your integrity.”
“The real Anthony DiNozzo isn’t a very likable person, Jack.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond to Tony’s last remark. Leroy would probably head slap the boy, but considering the severe concussion the agent had, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Jack watched as Tony began to shut down, closing his eyes, as if he were trying to close out the world. DiNozzo was through talking and Jack knew better than to push him right now.
“So, do you want to give me the name of your doctor, or do I call Leroy?”
Jack met Tony’s hardened gaze. “It’s one or the other, Tony. Your choice.”
Tony sighed. “Dr. Mallard.”
“What’s his number?”
Jack wrote the number down on a piece of paper and stood up. “Get some rest and I’ll check on you later.” He set the bottle of soda on the table. “You need to drink that, it’ll help settle your stomach.”
“Thanks.”
Jack stopped in the doorway. “By the way, what was so funny earlier?”
“Huh?” Tony asked, obviously confused by Jack’s question.
“I heard you laughing as I came in,” Jack explained. “What was so funny?”
“Oh.”
Jack thought maybe he had embarrassed Tony when the young man’s cheeks flushed slightly, but the grin that appeared on DiNozzo’s face told him otherwise.
“I uh… was just thinking about an episode of ‘Magnum, P.I.’,” Tony answered. “It was the one where…uh, never mind. I’m sure that you don’t want to hear me ramble on about a T.V. show. I tend to do that quite a bit.”
Jack returned his smile. “’Magnum, P.I.’, huh? I haven’t seen that show in a long time.”
“You used to watch it?”
“Don’t sound so surprised, son. Believe it or not, I used to look rather fetching in a Hawaiian shirt.”
Tony laughed. “I’m sure you did.”
“I’ll have to show you a picture sometime.”
“I’d like that.”
“You just take it easy and I’ll be back to check on you later.”
“All right.”
Jack left Tony alone and walked to his counter to call Katherine. Hopefully, she and this Dr. Mallard would be able to convince Tony of his need to seek medical treatment. He wasn’t sure that Tony could even begin dealing with what was truly troubling him until he felt better physically. After he got done talking with the doctor, he was going to call Leroy. He had promised his son that he would call him back and let him know how Tony was doing and maybe he could get some idea of how to help his young friend.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gibbs sat outside Vance’s house, waiting for the Director to come home. He recalled Leon saying that his wife and kids were visiting her parents and would be gone the rest of the week, so he knew that he didn’t have to worry about having this conversation in front of his family. He was going to get some answers and this time, he would not be leaving until he did.
His phone rang as he took a sip of his coffee. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw that it was McGee. He hoped that Tim and Ziva had managed to find something out about why Tony’s car was in Norfolk.
“Gibbs.”
“Boss, it’s me.”
Gibbs rolled his eyes. “Yeah, McGee, I know. What do you got?”
“We found Tony’s car, Boss. It looks like it’s been in a wreck: the entire driver’s side is caved in. We found several bullet holes as well. Ziva talked to the mechanic and he said that it was towed in early yesterday afternoon.”
“Get that car back to Abby,” he instructed. “I don’t want anyone else touching that car.”
“Yes, Boss. Anything else you want us to do?”
Until he found out more about what Tony was doing, there wasn’t much more Ziva and McGee could do in Norfolk. “Not right now. I want you two to come back and help Abby. She’s going through Tony’s hard drive to see if she can find anything.”
“Will do, Boss,” McGee replied. “Boss, do you want to tell us anything?”
“Like what, McGee?”
“Like what’s going on with Tony?”
“I wish I knew.” He closed his phone and threw it in the seat beside him. Gibbs didn’t want to reveal anything until he had the full story and even then, he wasn’t sure how much Ziva and McGee would need to know. For all outward appearances, Tony was a very private person and he knew that DiNozzo preferred to keep most people at arms length. It was bad enough that they were going through his phone records, financial records, and hard drive without his consent; hopefully, Tony would understand why they had to resort to such extreme measures.
Before he could take another sip of coffee, his phone rang again. This time it was Abby.
“Gibbs,” he snapped.
“And hello to you too,” Abby greeted.
“What do you need, Abs?”
“I’ve been going through Tony’s emails since he’s returned from the Seahawk, and I found something very weird.”
“What, Abs?”
“Vance has been sending Tony emails at least once a week and they aren’t just the generic departmental ones that he sends everyone. Most of them are very short and to the point.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, like the last one he sent to Tony just had a time on it. It was sent the day before yesterday and said 2:30 p.m.”
“That’s all?” questioned the team leader.
“Yep, that’s it.”
Gibbs could almost see the Goth sipping her Caf-Pow as she anticipated his next question.
“What about the other emails?” he wanted to know.
“I could just forward them to you and…never mind. I’ll print them out for you and have them ready when you get back.”
“I owe you another Caf-Pow, Abs,” he promised.
“I’ll put it on your tab.”
Gibbs heard a slight pause and before the next question even came out of her mouth, he cut her off. “No Abs, you can’t call him yet.”
“He’s got like 18 more hours and then I’m calling him,” she said with a hint of defiance.
“Abs,” he gently warned.
“I mean it, Gibbs. He better call me and if you talk to him again, you better tell him to call me.”
“I will.”
He hung up when he saw Vance’s car pull into his drive way. Gibbs gave him a few minutes to park and get inside and then he went up and knocked on the front door. It took just a few seconds for the Director to answer.
Gibbs was amazed that Vance had the nerve to look surprised to see him. “You didn’t think I’d give up that easily, did you Leon?”
“I guess I didn’t expect you to show up at my house,” the Director admitted. “But of course, you’ve been here before"without an invitation.”
“Actually, I was invited,” Gibbs pointed out. “Your wife invited me in.”
“Well, she’s not here and I certainly don’t recall inviting you. If this pertains to work, it will keep until tomorrow.”
“The hell it will,” Gibbs snarled. “Now, you can either invite me in or we can do this out here in front of your neighbors. It doesn’t make any difference to me.”
He walked in when Vance stepped aside, allowing him to enter the house. “I’m through beating around the bush, Leon. I want to know why DiNozzo has been working undercover for you.”
“So you know. I’ll have to find out who is leaking that information.”
“I know that he’s been undercover to infiltrate a drug running ring based in Norfolk. I want to know why.”
“He volunteered,” Vance icily replied.
“No, he didn’t. He wouldn’t. Not after getting burned like he did on the op he did for Jen.”
“Then perhaps you don’t know you’re agent as well as you thought,” Leon taunted. “Actually, this has been the fourth operation Agent DiNozzo has been involved in since his return. He really is very good at what he does.”
Gibbs clenched his fist, fighting the urge to pommel the man in front of him. “You bastard,” he spat.
“So I’ve been told.”
“Pull him off,” Gibbs insisted. “There’ll be no more undercover operations for DiNozzo.”
“I can’t. I don’t have the authority to do that.”
“Then you tell whoever does have the authority to pull him out that Tony’s off the case.”
“I can’t do that either. You see, until we find DiNozzo and find out what happened yesterday, our hands are tied.”
“What do you mean what happened yesterday?” the agent pressed.
Gibbs stony glare followed Leon as he poured himself a drink and sat down on the couch. “Leon, I asked you a question.”
“I can’t. It’s on a need to know basis and Jethro, you aren’t on that list.”
“Read me in then.”
“I can’t at the moment.”
The team leader’s gaze narrowed. “Why DiNozzo?” he asked again.
“I’ve told you what I can.”
“Why DiNozzo?” Gibbs continued to press. “Is it some kind of punishment? You don’t think he was punished enough for what happened in L.A.? You don’t think that he beat himself up enough over the death of Jenny, so you wanted to help? What is it, Leon?” Gibbs yelled, no longer trying to reign in his temper.
Vance stood up and opened the door. “I think you need to leave before you say something that you regret.”
“If I find out that you’re doing this to punish him, I’ll have your job,” Gibbs vowed. “If something happens to him and he dies,” the agent continued. “I’ll have more than your job.”
Gibbs headed towards his car. He stopped mid stride when Vance called out to him.
“Gibbs! Do you know where DiNozzo is?”
The agent smiled at the fact that the only good thing about this situation is that Vance had no idea where Tony was. “Worried about him, Leon?”
“If you talk to him, tell him that he needs to get in touch with me ASAP,” Vance ordered.
“You know Leon, not knowing where your undercover agent is must make you look bad in front of all your friends,” Gibbs retorted as he got in the car.
He could tell by the clenched jaw that Vance was now fuming. Gibbs pulled off and headed back to the headquarters. Since Vance wasn’t forthcoming with any useful information, he would go through the emails that Abby printed off and see what he could piece together.
His phone rang once again. He didn’t even have to look at the caller ID to see who was calling. “What do you need, Ducky?”
“Jethro, we really must work on your phone etiquette.”
The team leader grinned and shook his head. “Something wrong, Duck?”
“Well,” the Scotsman began. “I just got a rather interesting phone call.”
“From who?”
“From a doctor in St…”
Gibbs cut Ducky off as his foot pressed down on the accelerator. “Meet me in Abby’s lab in ten minutes.”
“But I thought that you would want to know…”
“Not on the phone, Duck. I’ll see you in ten.” Gibbs hung up. If this pertained to Tony, he didn’t want to do it over the phone. He wouldn’t put it past Vance to put a tap on his phone in case Tony called him.
If the doctor in Stillwater was calling Ducky, then Tony must be hurt worse than he had originally assumed. Gibbs had learned long ago not to take DiNozzo at his word when it came to his health. He silently cursed the cars in front of him as he weaved his way through traffic. If DiNozzo was injured, then Tony could just forget about having a few days to himself; Gibbs would be by his side by sunrise.
Chapter End Notes:
Again, my heart felt thanks for the kind reviews. I hope you enjoy the next chapter.