Gibbs glanced at his watch, not entirely trusting the clock on the wall was accurate. He was pretty sure it hadn’t moved once since the seminar started. He could have handled the speaker being boring, if anything being presented was actually new to him or worth knowing, but everything being covered was stuff Gibbs already knew and most of it was of useless. He sighed softly. At least he didn’t have to feel guilty that he’d spent the bulk of his time pondering how to approach Tony.
He smiled to himself. Breakfast had provided him another opportunity to make some headway. They were a bit later in getting to breakfast since Gibbs had stopped to ask the hotel management to send maintenance to their room and check on the heater. Tony had tagged along to as he put it ‘to ensure he didn’t completely alienate any more people than totally necessary’.
“Of course, watching you go all alpha male and make some guy cry or nearly wet himself isn’t something I want to miss either.” Tony had grinned as he’d said that.
Despite the joking tone, Gibbs knew Tony was serious. He’d always liked watching Gibbs during an interrogation or taking on another agency. Gibbs liked knowing Tony appreciated his hardass nature--he actually enjoyed that aspect of Gibbs’ personality. It was something his ex-wives had not cared for once they were married, always trying to change him. His relationship with Tony, albeit not exactly a romantic one yet, had already lasted longer than three of his marriages and Tony hadn’t tried to change him yet.
Gibbs was rather proud of the fact that he hadn’t needed Tony to smooth over any ruffled feathers. He’d made his case without pissing anyone off. He didn’t always have to yell or scare someone to get his way. Getting an admiring, awed look from Tony had been icing on the cake.
Being later to breakfast meant there were more people present than the day before. Gibbs had sent Tony to secure seats for them while he checked out the spread. Apparently several people liked fresh cut pineapple as much as Tony did and it was nearly gone when Gibbs started to load his plate. He was quick to secure what was left, offering it to Tony. He got one of those warm genuine smiles in return.
“Thanks, Boss.”
Gibbs had been inordinately pleased with himself for being able to do something that made Tony happy. It wasn’t much, but Gibbs got the impression Tony was touched he’d paid attention to his preferences and had catered to them. It reminded Gibbs of when Tony had been framed for murder and he’d brought him his favorite pizza. The fact that Gibbs knew his favorite and bothered to bring it meant as much as his belief in Tony’s innocence.
They’d been forced to share their table with other people. Gibbs hadn’t bothered trying to make small talk, letting Tony handle that. He doubted anyone at the table even realized Gibbs hadn’t said more than hello and good morning. He’d smiled at Tony, wanting to let him know he appreciated his running interference.
Gibbs was disappointed he and Tony hadn’t been able get a table to themselves, but he wasn’t ready to have a truly personal conversation yet so it didn’t bother him all that much. He took advantage of their being seated next to one another to brush against Tony periodically. Perfectly innocent contact on the surface, nothing anyone would notice, but more than enough to satisfy Gibbs’ sudden need to physically reassure himself of Tony’s presence.
Tony didn’t seem to find the contact unusual. He even returned it several times--shoulder bumping Gibbs once, his hand drifting to touch Gibbs’ for a moment, knee brushing against Gibbs’. He tried not to read too much into that, but found it comforting that at least he wasn’t the only one feeling a need to make contact. The enforced distance they’d maintained during the night seemed to have been hard on both of them.
Gibbs glared at the speaker, annoyed that he was here and not with Tony. They should have gone to the same seminar. Not that being next to Tony would have helped him concentrate, but at least it would have helped pass the time.
Gibbs checked his watch again. Why would this man not shut up already? When he’d started repeating himself Gibbs started gauging the distance to the door. He could get out without attracting attention. He was sure of that. But he’d have given anyone on his team hell for leaving early. As a leader, even when no one on his team was present, Gibbs held himself to the same high standard he held his team. He sighed and did his best to find something noteworthy.
He was beginning to think about how hard it would be to shoot the speaker between the eyes when the man finally ended the session. Gibbs was up and moving even before the applause ended. He didn’t care if it was rude. He saw no reason to give the speaker any more of his time than he already had. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to offer even token applause for what he considered a piss poor presentation.
Gibbs stepped out of the room and immediately started looking for Tony. He’d hoped the younger man might repeat his action from the day before and secure a large cup of good coffee for him--more for what the action represented, a thoughtful gesture made with Gibbs’ preference in mind, than for the actual coffee itself.
He spotted Tony on the far side of the room. He was leaning casually against the wall, arms folded across his chest, eyes closed. Gibbs wouldn’t put it past Tony to have figured out how to sleep standing up. He smiled and strolled over to him.
“Hey, Boss.” Tony greeted him when Gibbs got within arms reach. He hadn’t even opened his eyes.
“DiNozzo.” Gibbs smirked. He’d suspected since his return from Mexico that he no longer truly caught Tony unawares at the office. Tony jumped or flinched the way he was expected to, but not always when he should. More often than not there was a second or two delay that signaled Tony had to think about reacting.
Tony opened his eyes. “We eating lunch here?”
“Unless you want to brave the cold?”
“Not today.” Tony snorted. “I had to run more than a mile this morning just to warm up.”
The maintenance personnel had better be able to fix the heat in their room or Gibbs would raise hell with them. He’d made nice this morning, but if Tony got sick because someone didn’t give his request the attention it warranted Gibbs saw nothing wrong with kicking ass.
They walked in step toward the same room they’d had breakfast in. Gibbs hoped they had bigger mugs now than they did then. He hated drinking his coffee from a sissy sized mug that he had to constantly refill.
“Got you something.” Tony said, offering him a large insulated travel mug with a small flourish. The logo emblazoned on the side was from one of the tech companies that had been presenting yesterday.
“Where’d you get this?” It was too big to hide in his pocket, but Gibbs hadn’t seen him holding it earlier.
“Magic.” Tony grinned, waggling his eyebrows.
Gibbs snorted, amused in spite of himself. He pointed to the logo on the mug and raised his eyebrows. “Try again.”
Tony chuckled. “I saw them packing up to leave today. I missed out on getting one yesterday, so I asked for one today. Thought you might want a mug you could take into the seminars with you.”
“Thanks.” Gibbs smiled, pleased to have tangible proof Tony had thought of him. The mug was a little smaller than what he normally drank from but it was still larger than what the hotel had to offer. The lid would help keep his coffee hot so he could sip it the way he preferred. His team might think he drank a lot, but he could make a cup last for hours as long as it stayed warm.
As they entered the dining room Tony seemed to miss a step. Gibbs glanced at him in concern before letting his gaze shift to what Tony was staring at, or rather who. Gibbs didn’t recognize him but habit had him making note of his appearance for future reference. Whoever the man was, he was older than Tony if the gray liberally threading through his dark hair and lines around his gray eyes was anything to go by. He was average height, an inch or so shorter than Gibbs. He looked fit enough but was definitely getting soft around the middle. Judging by his suit, Gibbs guessed he was either federal, or higher ranking local law enforcement. They were the only ones Gibbs had seen in anything so formal since the meet and greet the first night.
“Friend of yours?” Gibbs asked quietly. Just from the look on Tony’s face he already knew whoever the guy was he wasn’t someone Tony liked but he thought the question might prompt an explanation.
“Not exactly.” Tony grimaced. “Would rather beat the shit out of him than talk to him.”
“Who is he?”
For a moment it looked like Tony might not answer. He bit his lower lip, eyeing Gibbs uncertainly. He sighed. “Not like you couldn’t find out on your own,” Tony murmured quietly. He cleared his throat. “His name’s Carlson. Brett Carlson.”
“How do you know him?”
Tony’s jaw tightened, the muscle standing out in harsh relief and then relaxing as it flexed. “He was the lead detective in Peoria, but he’s probably moved up the ladder since I was there. Being the Chief of Police’s son in law and stepson to a state Senator likely didn’t hurt his career any. He’s the reason I transferred out of Peoria as fast as I could.”
Gibbs didn’t actually know much about Tony’s time in Peoria, other than how long he’d been there, that he’d been a uniformed cop and had done his job well, getting his gold shield while in Philly. He vaguely remembered Tony mentioning the name as they left the meet and greet, and thinking Carlson was probably someone Tony didn’t like.
Gibbs took Tony’s arm and directed him to a small, unoccupied alcove. He had a feeling a little privacy might be warranted. If nothing else, he didn’t want their conversation overheard.
“This Carlson give you a hard time?” Hazing among the ranks wasn’t uncommon. Having been in a fraternity and on various sports teams, Tony couldn’t have been a stranger to it. From what Gibbs had seen Tony could handle himself, capable of giving as good as he got. It had to have been really ugly for Tony to jump ship because of it.
“Me, no.” Tony shook his head. “But there was another rookie he took real pleasure in harassing.”
Gibbs simply gave Tony a look. He wanted the whole story, and he didn’t want to have to work for each detail like he was pulling teeth.
Tony sighed. “Callum Renolds was not a stereotypical gay guy you hear about or see in the movies. He didn’t have a lisp, could bench press his own body weight and wouldn’t know a designer label if it walked up and belted him one. He wasn’t blatant about his orientation but he didn’t lie about it either. When Carlson found out, he seemed to think that gave him carte blanche to give Callum a hard time.”
Tony right hand clenched into a fist. “I liked Callum. We’d gone through the academy together. He was a good guy, a good cop, he didn’t deserved to get shit from a dick like Carlson.”
Tony’s practically snarled. “He was constantly talking smack, made a big show of not wanting to be in the gym with him, or use the showers at the same time. Carlson was always telling insulting jokes, putting Callum down or handing him playboy magazines so he could see what he was missing. Just shit, you know? Callum did his best to ignore the asshole. And if it had been just Carlson it might have been okay. But a number of others on the force figured if the lead detective could get away with it, then what he was doing must be okay. So they started to chime in.”
Tony’s eyes hardened. “I tried to get him to report it to IA or at least file a grievance, but Callum wouldn’t do it. He thought that eventually they’d let it go. He didn’t want me to stand up for him either because he thought I’d get the same sort of treatment.”
“Did you?”
Tony glared at him. “What the hell, Boss? How could you--"“
“I know you stood up for him, Tony.” Gibbs assured him. Tony might pick on McGee, Ziva and Palmer but he wouldn’t stand for anyone else doing it. He looked out for his friends and coworkers.
“I meant did you get treated the same way when you stood up for him.”
Tony smiled, clearly pleased by what Gibbs said. He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.”
“Not what I asked.”
Tony looked away. That he wouldn’t make eye contact set off all sorts of alarms for Gibbs.
“Tony.”
Tony huffed. “It wasn’t that bad for me. Honest, Boss. Carlson never said anything to me. That was left up to the others. I was more of a secondary target. They figured if I stood up for Callum well then I must be gay too. Like I couldn’t just do the right thing because it was the right thing?”
Tony rolled his eyes. “And of course, if I was gay well then Callum and I had to be doing each other. Assholes.”
Tony shook his head. “I mean, yeah, he was a good looking guy. Had a great smile and an awesome physique. If he’d have offered, I’d have been game. Not like I haven’t fooled around that way before, but Callum and his partner, Dale, had been an item for five years at that point and he wasn’t dumb enough to mess up something that good for someone like me.”
Gibbs blinked at that. Tony had fooled around? Guess he now had the answer to Tony’s openness about sex with a man. And Callum being gay obviously hadn’t been an issue for him. What did he mean by ‘someone like me’? What the hell did he think was wrong with him?
Gibbs was tempted to interrupt him but didn’t want to draw attention to what Tony had said. The younger man likely wasn’t even aware of what he’d let slip. Drawing attention to it would only serve to embarrass him and would end the story. Gibbs wanted to know if he needed to kill Carlson first.
“It never got better like Callum thought. They just kept it up. Then Callum was mugged.” Tony added air quotes around ‘mugged’. “Like anyone believed he’d gotten the crap beaten out of him by total strangers for the twenty bucks in his wallet.”
“They do anything like that to you?”
“They tried.”
Gibbs eyes narrowed. “Tried?”
Tony smiled grimly. “I was out with my one of my frat brothers when they made a move. Donny is taller than I am and outweighs me by fifty pounds. He’s not really an aggressive kind of guy. I mean, he was one hell of a center when we were playing ball but he was always a level-headed sort. Never saw him lose his temper. Ever. Until then I didn’t even know Donny knew how to through a decent punch. But he’s a big guy and he isn’t the sort to back down. We kicked ass that night.” There was a wealth of satisfaction in Tony’s voice.
“You press charges?”
“By that time, Callum would have, but he couldn’t prove who it was well enough to have the charges stick. Not sure they were smart enough not to leave any evidence behind or just got lucky.”
“Did you press charges, DiNozzo?” Gibbs repeated his question adding emphasis to ‘you’.
“I settled for breaking a couple of elbows, ribs and a nose or two.” Tony’s grin was savage. “I knew who they were and they knew I knew. They never tried to get physical again after that one time.”
Tony didn’t have Gibbs’ skill or Ziva’s training, but he was scrappy and in a no holds barred sort of brawl he could easily hold his own. Gibbs felt a surge of pride that Tony had been able to handle himself even though he was disappointed that the bastards had gotten away with trying to hurt him.
Were Carlson and his cronies why Tony never mentioned having an interest in men? Were they why he was so sure to talk about the women he dated, played up his chauvinist image? It would make sense, although, it wasn’t necessarily the case. Gibbs had never been harassed or even known anyone personally who had been, but he kept his brief sexual encounters with men a secret just the same. The only people his team and most of his friends knew he dated were red-headed women.
“What happened after you were attacked?”
“Attacked?” Tony rolled his eyes. “You make it sound like--"
“DiNozzo.”
“Yeah, okay, fine. Have it your way.” Tony rubbed a hand over his face. “Callum transferred to New Orleans not long after and I headed for Phillie as soon as I could. We both talked to IA before leaving, but it didn’t do any good.”
Obviously not if Carlson is here in Chicago, Gibbs thought. Carlson’s political connections had probably seen to it he was spared any repercussions. It upset Gibbs’ sense of justice to know the man had gotten away with using his position to intimidate and abuse younger cops. That he had been able to spread his own bigotry among the ranks wasn’t right. But what really bothered Gibbs was that Carlson had gotten away with hurting Tony. It made Gibbs want hurt him--a lot.
“Look, Boss, it was a long time ago.” Tony grabbed his arm holding him in place. “It’s been over ten years. Just let it go.”
Gibbs didn’t really care when it happened, that it happened at all was reason enough to want to balance the scale. He tugged on his arm. “DiNozzo��"“
“He was an ass. Probably still is. But you can’t go beat the crap out of him for that.”
“Oh yes, I can.” Gibbs was more than capable of kicking Carlson’s ass.
“Okay, you can, but you aren’t going to.” Tony smiled wryly. “We’re under orders to play nice, remember? If I can refrain from making a scene so can you.”
Gibbs took a deep breath an let it out slowly. “I’d rather--"
“I know.” Tony squeezed the arm he was still holding and then let go. Color warmed his cheeks. “And I’m grateful you feel this need to even the score, but I wasn’t on your team then so it’s not like it was anything you should take personally.”
Gibbs glared at him. The fact that Tony wasn’t on his team then didn’t mean what happened didn’t matter to him. And he could damn well take it personally. Tony might not know he was in love with him, but Gibbs knew it. He didn’t tolerate seeing his loved ones hurt, regardless of when it happened.
“It’s not worth getting your ass handed to you by Vance when he finds out about it.”
Gibbs nearly growled. He knew Tony meant he wasn’t worth it. And that was just wrong.
“Not to mention he’d probably have me reassigned as agent afloat again for being the reason you started an incident.” Tony grimaced. “All the same to you, Boss, I’d rather not be sentenced to time onboard again.”
He muttered quietly more to himself than to Gibbs, “Reminded me of being sent to my room. Out of sight, out of mind until my old man deigned to deal with me again assuming he remembered me at all.”
Gibbs’ jaw clenched. He was really starting to dislike Tony’s father. He was beginning to think he should kick his ass too.
It was no wonder that Tony was so sure being assigned as Agent Afloat had been punishment. Being sent away, ostracized, was probably one of the cruelest things that could have been done to someone as social as Tony. That was probably what bothered him the most in Peoria too, more so than insults, put downs and the attempted beating. He was made an outsider. Tony needed to be liked too much to ever handle being shut out well. It was a credit to his character that he stepped up for Callum even knowing what the outcome would be.
“Please, Boss, just let it go.”
It was the earnest ‘please’ that did it. Tony didn’t ask much from Gibbs. Hell, he rarely asked for anything at all. Gibbs scowled but gave in.
“All right, I won’t do anything to Carlson.” Gibbs crossed his fingers behind his back. He wouldn’t do anything to Carlson here in Chicago where Tony might find out about it. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t make trouble for the son of a bitch once they were back in DC.
“Thank you.” Tony smiled.
That wasn’t something Gibbs thought Tony should thank him for, but he nodded anyway, accepting the misplaced gratitude.
“You want to go eat somewhere else?” Gibbs asked.
“No.” Tony shook his head. “No reason we can’t eat here as long as you don’t change your mind and take Carlson out with a butter knife.”
Gibbs grinned. “I’d use a spoon.”
Tony laughed softly. “Never would have pegged you as having seen Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. Although, Alan Rickman was far and away better than Kevin Costner in that one so if you were going to paraphrase anyone from that film, he’s definitely the better choice.”
Gibbs blinked. “What?”
Tony shook his head, his expression one of fond amusement. “I’ll tell you about it over lunch.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs makes a little progress and finds out a bit more about Tony's past.