Chapter 24
AN: I loved the episode with Gibbs and Fornell at Gibbs house eating pasta, kind of like a modern day ‘Odd Couple.’ I thank you all, again, so much for your comments and reviews.
“You mean like an M.D.” Fornell asked as he helped himself to one of the cowboy steaks Gibbs had cooked.
“Not LIKE a doctor, an actual doctor.” Gibbs said as he brought their beers to the table and sat down.
“Like on ER? Chicago Hope?”
Gibbs nodded as he filled his plate. “Like those.”
“I’ll be damned.” Fornell laughed as he shook his head. “I thought I had heard Vance wrong.”
“You didn’t”
“You know…” Fornell stated. “…one of those guys looked like you. A younger you, I mean.”
“Which guy? Where?” Gibbs asked.
“On one of the shows I mentioned.” Fornell thought hard. “Which one was it?”
Gibbs shook his head as he continued to eat. “Lucky guy.”
“It’s hard to picture you, a few years younger...without…the hair cut.” Fornell replied.
“I wasn’t...born with it…you know.” Gibbs countered.
“Chicago Hope, that’s the one. You look a whole lot like one of those doctors.” Fornell replied, glad he had remembered. “You ever been to Hollywood?”
Gibbs shook his head. “What does this have to do with DiNozzo?”
“Doctor DiNozzo.” Fornell shook his head. “I’m just having a hard time with it. And he left NCIS…did NOT see that coming. I never thought that would happen.”
“He’s not gone…he’s on sabbatical.”
“Isn’t that what priests do? Go on Sabbatical.” Fornell asked.
“Well, look, Tobias, sabbatical, break, time-out…whatever you want to call it.” Gibbs paused. “He’s not there.”
“Sorry. I just couldn’t see it.” Fornell admitted. He studied his friend for a moment. “You don’t think he’ll come back?” He asked, shocked by his own question.
Gibbs put down his fork. “I don’t know, and at any rate…I may not be there.” Gibbs paused. “Another few months with Anderson and somebody is going to find his body in a shallow grave.”
“That bad?” Fornell asked. He, at times, found Tony annoying too. But he, most of the time, could overlook it to see the excellent investigator and agent underneath. He had not yet had the ‘pleasure’ of spending a great deal of time with Anderson.
Gibbs shook his head. “He told me that Ducky was too old for his job. He’s questioned Abby’s attire. He said she needed assistants in her lab to help her out. He doesn’t understand why I ask McGee to do the bulk of the computer work. He said he is much faster. He said MIT was not all that great, which really perturbed Tim. But the one time I gave him something to do on the computer, Tim beat him in finding it. Anderson couldn’t understand how someone as pretty and ‘delicate’ as Kate got to be on Secret Service detail.” Gibbs smiled. “Kate asked my permission to shoot him.”
“That…wow!” Fornell replied. “I take it he…wisely…didn’t mention a certain person’s….” He was looking at the color of his friend’s hair.
Gibbs nodded. “Very wisely. If Tony doesn’t’ come back soon…I’m going to have a homicide on my hands, with 5 suspects, me included.”
“You wanted to teach them a lesson.” Tobias stated.
“Yeah, but not on the best way to kill a fellow agent and dispose of the body.”
“Maybe he’ll come back early.” Tobias said, sympathizing with his friend’s plight. He had had ‘fantasies’ of that type also, involving a couple of his fellow agents at the FBI.
“I asked Vance about a transfer to another team. He said the guys he had presented me with were accepted onto other teams. He said there were no other candidates right now. But the main thing was he said Anderson HAD to remain in my team for 4 months. An adjustment period he called it.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“He’s enjoying my…discomfort.” Gibbs replied.
Fornell smiled. He could definitely see that as a viable option where Director Vance was concerned.
“You don’t think that’s Vance’s style?” Gibbs asked.
“You missed Jimmy.” Fornell said. “He didn’t have anything to say about Jimmy?”
“Plenty….” Gibbs started. “He asked how a mere medical student could be allowed on a crime scene. It was something about disturbing or destroying evidence.”
“At least he only talked to you.”
Gibbs shook his head. “Actually he didn’t. He ‘discussed’ his opinions with a few fellow agents. And it ‘of course’ got back to the rest of them.”
“Is the man that big an idiot or just that arrogant?” Fornell asked. He knew Team Gibbs and Abby, Ducky and Jimmy were well qualified to do their jobs. He had seen them in action many, many times before.
Gibbs sighed. "Both, he's a little of both. And he kept citing all these rules and regulations that were in place back when we were just the NIS."
"That was what...like a thousand years ago. Things, times have changed."
Gibbs nodded. "The rules were 'better' back then."
"What the hell does that mean?"
Gibbs shrugged.
"You need to get rid of this guy." Fornell stated.
TBC
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