Chapter 15:
By the time they got back from their hike it was just about time for the meeting. Dinner was going to be served first, as a sort of icebreaker for the rest of the group to get to know each other. The gathering was situated in an enclosed dinning room; table already prepped with burgers, hot dogs and fries. As Gibbs and Tony followed another father/son team in, they noticed that both Petty Officer Thomas Erikson and Petty Officer Brian Myers and the other father/son team were already there.
Looking up when they entered, Erikson said, "Ah, good. Now that we are all hear we can introduce ourselves and get aquatinted. I'm Tom Erikson and my buddy here is Brian Myers. After dinner we can go over some of the safety procedures."
"We also have a proposition for you all," said Myers. "It seems that we've had a cancellation for Sunday, and if everyone agrees, we can make this into a two-day trip instead of one. We know its short notice, so it would only cost you an extra $25 per person."
Gibbs and Tony glanced curiously at each other. This was an unexpected turn of events. Another conversation with Fornell would be in order if plans did indeed change.
"Take some time and think about it, but in the meantime, why don't we go around the room and introduce ourselves, get to know each other a bit?" suggested Erikson, nodding to the two that had been in the room when Gibbs and Tony had arrived.
The man had gray hair, with the beginnings of a beer belly forming, spoke first. "Name's Jim Canton. I'm a truck driver, not much else to know," the man told the group gruffly.
"I'm Jason Canton, and I work at a car dealership," spoke the younger man beside him, evidently not bothered by his father's abruptness. He had blonde hair, and looked to be in good shape.
Both Erikson and Myers nodded, then turned towards the pair that had taken a seat next to them.
"Hi, Gary Starks. My son Ray and I own and operate a small coffee shop in town," spoke a bald man with glasses.
"Hey," greeted Ray. Both men were thin, and except for the lack of hair and glasses, looked a lot alike. Tony had a strong feeling that they were going to get along fine with them. And it had nothing to do with the fact that they owned a coffee shop, none whatsoever.
That left Gibbs and Tony, who were seating across from the Starks. Following the order that the others had set, Gibbs spoke first. "Gunnery Sergeant Jethro Gibbson, currently training new recruits." Right to the point, as usual for a marine.
"Hey, I'm Tony. I'm a co-owner of a nightclub." No need to give anything more when no one else had.
"Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's eat!" said Myers eagerly. Everyone was quiet for a few minutes as they gathered food on their plates. Gibbs thought it would be good to start some kind of conversation, hoping to steer the conversation into deciding on whether or not to extend the trip or not. They needed to know.
" So Gary," he began, "you bring your own coffee? It's got to be better than the cheap watered down crap they got here."
"Oh yea," Gary answered with a nod. "We've been on these trips before, we take no chances. I take it you're a regular coffee drinker?"
Tony couldn't hold back a snicker at that. Receiving a questioning look from Ray, he said, "Regular coffee drinker is putting it mildly. All my dad drinks is coffee, all day long. Well, with the exception of bourbon every now and then, maybe. You don't wanna see him without his coffee though, trust me."
"Sounds familiar," Ray said with a laugh. "We don't own our own shop just for the hell of it."
"Hey, you drink coffee too," Gary told his son.
"I have a cup in the morning. And that cup you've got right now makes how many for today?" teased Ray.
Gary rolled his eyes. Looking at Gibbs, he asked, "I guess you get this from your kid too?"
"Oh yea. He doesn't even drink coffee in the morning all the time," answered Gibbs. "I'll never understand how he gets by on eating Lucky Charms or some other little kids cereal."
"Hey! I'll have you know that those cereals are full of your daily dose of calcium!" exclaimed Tony. "What am I supposed to eat, Shredded Wheat? I'm not old you know."
The smack to head was not unexpected for Tony. "I eat Shredded Wheat!" said Gibbs. The group broke out into laughter at the teasing.
"So any of you interested in doing the two-day trip?" Jim asked as the laughter died down.
"You bet," Gary answered. "Only an extra $25? You'd have to be stupid to pass on a deal like that."
"We aren't in any rush to get home," agreed Gibbs. Both he and Tony knew that they would be going, two-day trip or not.
"Great," said Myers. "In my opinion, if you're going to go rafting, you might as well get the full experience. One day simply doesn't do these waters justice."
Erikson nodded in agreement. "It's settled then. If you all have the money on you now, I can go ahead and file in our change of plans with our boss."
There was a nod from everyone at the table, and once he had collected the money, Erikson excused himself. Dinner was soon finished and the table was cleared off.
While waiting for Erikson to return, Myers began passing around folders for everyone. "This is just some basic information about the river and the area. There's a copy of safety regulations and procedures as well. Also, inside you will find safety wavers we will need you to sign after we have gone over everything with you. Basically it says that you have received all safety information and you understand the risks involved."
Erikson returned a few minutes later. "Ok, the course we will be taking is still for beginners, but don't take that lightly. In some areas the water can still be pretty rough," Erikson started. "Therefore everyone is required to wear life jackets at all times while in the raft. No exceptions. If you were taking on a more advanced course you would be required to wear helmets, but we won't need to worry about that."
"Since we are such a small group, we are going to have you using a two-man raft. Tom and I will have singles," continued Myers. "You will each be responsible for your own overnight equipment and other supplies."
"It is generally recommended that you wear pants for overnight trips. No one wants to have to deal with poison ivy or bug bites while your trying to navigate the river," advised Erikson. "Wearing a hat wouldn't hurt either. It may not be 90 degrees out, but the sun can still do a lot of damage."
"Tomorrow before we set off we will go over the proper way to handle your raft," Myers said. "Does anyone have any questions?"
Everyone answered a no, so Erikson said, "Alright then. If you would just sign your safety wavers and pass them up, we will see you here tomorrow morning for breakfast."
After turning in their papers, the group started to disperse. Jim and his son Jason turned to go towards the gift shop area, Gibbs and Tony accompanied Gary and Ray outside.
"So how's your coffee stash?" Gary asked Gibbs.
"I may have to ration it a bit," Gibbs answered with a laugh.
Gary laughed as well. "Don't worry, I always bring more than enough for these things."
"Yea, and you always make me carry the extra load," said Ray.
"Yea well, damned if I do, damned if I don't," said Gary.
"More like better safe than sorry," snickered Tony.
"For real," agreed Ray.
"Well, we better call your mom so she doesn't worry. See you guys in the morning!" Gary said as he and his son headed off to their cabin.
"Good night!" Gibbs and Tony called back.
"Hanging out with those two should be fun," Tony said as they reached their own cabin.
"Oh yea," Gibbs agreed. "It's always good to have a fellow coffee drinker as an ally."
Tony merely rolled his eyes at that. After locking the door, Tony went around to the windows, making sure they were locked as well before pulling the curtains closed. Gibbs dug out the map that they had brought along of the area.
"Here," Gibbs tossed the map to Tony as he pulled out his cell. "Spread that out on the table." Tony caught it easily.
"Fornell," answered the FBI agent.
"There's been a change in plans," Gibbs started.
"We know. McGee is coordinating with Abby now examining the map," interrupted Fornell. "Ziva picked up the conversation you were having at dinner and gave us a heads up."
"What have you got so far?" Gibbs asked as he made his way over to Tony, where the map lay spread out. Tony handed him a pen and a highlighter, before taking out his own and started looking over the map.
"Doesn't appear to be much of a difference for the most part," explained Fornell. "It just looks like you will be bused up further north than originally planned. All of the alternate routes and stopping points are relatively marked on the maps anyway. I can't see them risking stopping somewhere else and run the possibility of raising suspicion."
Fornell gave them the coordinates of where their new drop-off point was going to be. Gibbs pointed it out to Tony, who then marked it and using his highlighter traced a new path down the river until it met up with their original markings.
"Is their story about the Sunday trip being cancelled legit?" Tony asked Gibbs, who repeated the question to Fornell and turned his speakerphone on, so Tony could listen as well.
"Far as we can tell. It was part of some sort of family reunion thing. Erikson and Myers weren't the only tour guides going along on that trip, too big of a group," answered Fornell. "It seemed that some of the family had a change of flight plans and wouldn't be arriving until sometime Sunday afternoon. The family members who are already here didn't want to go without the rest the group."
"So Erikson and Myers aren't the only tour guides offering the special overnight discount?" Gibbs asked.
"Nope. The owner of the rafting company approved it for all of the tour guides who were supposed to go on Sunday," confirmed Fornell.
"If they weren't able to offer this overnight trip, would they have been able to pick up another day trip?" asked Tony.
"I doubt it," said Fornell. "Not unless one of the other guides called out sick or something. Everything is booked in advance, even the tour guides."
"Well, I guess they don't want to take the chance of not being able to make their drop," said Tony. "I know I wouldn't want to piss off someone like Sanatos."
"Makes sense," agreed Fornell. "So it looks like you two will get to watch them make two drops instead of one."
"With the amount of drugs that we caught the dealers with, it's hard to imagine them not making a drop each time they go out," reasoned Gibbs. "They would have to make two during this trip to keep their normal pace of distribution."
"Which means they will be carrying a heavier load that what they are used to on their rafts," observed Tony.
"Well then you two shouldn't have any problems getting the trackers on the drugs," said Fornell.
"It's easier said than done," said Gibbs. "Let me know if McGee and Abby come up with anything. We better call it a night. The next two days should be interesting."
"Will do," Fornell said and then he hung up the phone.
"It won't be easy for them to sneak away twice to make drops," said Tony thoughtfully.
"What are you thinking?" asked Gibbs.
"Wouldn't it make sense for them to just give all the drugs over at one drop rather than run the risk of getting caught?" questioned Tony.
"It's a possibility," agreed Gibbs. "Right now we don't know enough of the operation to be sure of anything."
"But one thing still bothers me," said Tony. "If they regularly make two drops each weekend, why would they go on a tour with so many people? Wouldn't it be more difficult to slip away?"
"You think other tour guides might be involved," Gibbs said.
"Like you said, we don't have enough to be sure one way or another," stated Tony.
Gibbs nodded. "I'll give Fornell a call and have him do background checks on the other guides. Then we should probably get some sleep, I doubt we'll get much tomorrow night."
Tony nodded, then got up to grab his bathroom kit and headed for the bathroom. After Gibbs had called Fornell, he refolded the map and tucked it back in his bag. As he pulled out his own kit and a change of cloths, Tony came out of the bathroom.
"It's all yours," Tony said with a wave of his hand. Once Gibbs had gone into the bathroom, Tony quickly changed into a pair of sweatpants, then went digging for a T-shirt to change into.
Gibbs changed and, realizing that his toothbrush wasn't in his kit, went back outside. He walked outside just as Tony was changing into a T-shirt, but what he saw nearly stopped his heart. 'Dear Lord,' thought Gibbs with a mixture of horror, anger and an overwhelming sense of wanting to somehow protect Tony. There were marks covering Tony's back. They were irregular, with seemingly no pattern, spread out across his back. A few appeared to have been deep enough to require stitches, but not all of them.
Gibbs knew for a fact from having read Tony's personal and medical files that they were not injuries obtained on the job, nor did he obtain any other injuries in his past to have explained the injuries away. If they had Gibbs would of known, which left only one possible source of the marks, his father.
Gibbs also knew that as a child Tony and his father had a personal physician who would often make house calls, one of the side perks of having money. It wouldn't have been difficult for Tony's father to make sure no records were made of certain treatments that Tony may have received over the years, either.
By the time Gibbs got over his initial shock and thought to head back to the bathroom, Tony had turned around. The look on his face was one of embarrassment and he quickly turned away from Gibbs. He knew that Gibbs had seen the marks, there was no way to hide it. There was a sudden awkwardness in the air, and Tony had the sudden urge to get out of the room.
Saying nothing, he grabbed his shoes and walked outside into the night before Gibbs had a chance to say anything. Gibbs started to go after him, but then paused, deciding that Tony might need the space more than someone to talk to at the moment. If he was honest with himself, Gibbs wasn't all that sure of what to say to Tony at the moment anyway. Sighing, he found his toothbrush and headed back to the bathroom. Finishing quickly, he turned off all the lights and climbed into bed, hoping that Tony hadn't gone far and would be more willing to return if he saw that Gibbs had gone to bed.
Tony actually hadn't gone anywhere, he was sitting on the bottom steps of the cabin. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down. He didn't blame Gibbs, there was no reason to. If anyone was to blame it was himself for not having the foresight to simply change in the bathroom. He also knew that Gibbs wasn't deliberately spying on him either, because if he had, he would never have let Tony catch him the way that he did.
He had seen the look on Gibbs' face, but he wasn't sure of what to make of it. The few people who had seen the marks in the past and had known what they were usually gave him looks of pity, and that was one thing Tony couldn't stand. But there was certainly no pity in Gibbs' eyes. Anger, for sure, but who was he angry at? Tony couldn't be sure, but he thought he could make out something of shock in his eyes. He had never seen Gibbs looked shocked though, so he supposed he could be reading it wrong.
Taking a few more deep breaths, he tried to figure out what to do next. This wasn't something he was prepared for. He never intended on anyone knowing about the marks, least of all Gibbs. Tony sighed, his nerves were shot. When the lights went off in the cabin, Tony knew he should really go back in and get some sleep. But he also knew that if they didn't resolve this now things would be awkward the rest of the operation, and that was something that they couldn't afford.
Tony knew that Gibbs wouldn't push him, but eventually he would want to know about them. He couldn't blame them, it wasn't exactly something you could easily forget. Nor was it an easy topic to talk about either. Knowing that Gibbs would stay awake until Tony returned, he took another deep breath before getting to his feet. He still wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he knew he couldn't stay outside much longer.
Gibbs heard the door open and kept his eyes closed as he heard Tony walk in, slowly making his way towards the ladder and climbing to the top bunk. He quickly settled down without a word. Gibbs gave himself a mental sigh. Over the course of the day he had learned more about Tony than he had in the past several years that they had been working together, and now it seemed he had just inadvertently set them back. The silence between them now was unbearable for Gibbs, he had to fix this somehow. 'But how do you fix something when you don't even know the full story?' he thought to himself.
As much as Gibbs wanted to say something to get them back to their normal banter, he was just as afraid to say something to make things worse. He shifted slightly, rubbing his face. He had suspected that Tony had been abused in some way, but to actually see evidence of abuse was something else, especially when Tony knew that he knew.
Meanwhile, Tony's mind was running a mile a minute. Good grief, he was nervous. He couldn't remember the last time he was this, well, scared. He didn't want to loose any respect Gibbs had for him. He knew it was stupid to think that, but he couldn't help it either. He was glad it was dark, he didn't have to look at Gibbs and see his reaction. Which was why he was giving serious thought to telling Gibbs everything now. It would clear the air for one, and for another he wouldn't have to run the risk of seeing pity in Gibbs' eyes either.
Tony sighed out loud. "I know you, Gibbs. I know you want to ask," he started quietly.
Gibbs had heard Tony sigh before he spoke. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Tony," Gibbs replied softly.
"Yea, I do. Because if we don't get this settled now it will show and people will notice, and we can't afford that right now," said Tony.
"Who says it has to be that way? I respect your privacy, Tony," said Gibbs. "Everyone has their secrets, if you want this can be one of yours and we can leave it at that." But how he really hoped that wouldn't be the case.
Tony sighed again. He really wished he could just leave things like Gibbs said, but he couldn't. A door had been cracked open, and he wasn't all that sure he could close it again. If he didn't get it off his chest now he knew it would be bothering the hell out of him, plus he probably wouldn't find the nerve to say anything again.
"You aren't the first person to see them, but I've never…" Tony paused a moment before continuing. "No one's ever asked before, they just see them and draw their own conclusions and…"
'Damn,' Tony thought to himself. 'This was hard.'
"You mean you've never spoken to anyone about them before?" Gibbs asked calmly, seeking confirmation of what he thought Tony was trying to say.
Tony had to smile to himself a little at that. 'Leave it to Gibbs to read my mind,' Tony thought. Out loud, he said "Pretty much. It isn't exactly something that comes up in normal conversation."
'Or was no one was willing to listen before,' wondered Gibbs. Both men were lying on their backs staring into the darkness, searching for the right words.
"No time like the present, Tony," Gibbs encouraged softly, wanting Tony to know that he was willing to listen, if Tony felt like talking. He was silent for several minutes, before he started talking.
"They all…well, it happened all at once," Tony began. The quiet words Gibbs had spoken had somehow made Tony feel a little more at ease. "I mean, it didn't happen over a period of time, but it wasn't the first time…ugh, I'm not saying this right."
"Just say what's on your mind, we can worry about it making sense later," Gibbs said.
"Right," Tony took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, I don't really remember much of it, course it could be due to the concussion I had gotten. But it was probably the same like…the same as always. He was drunk and I was home and something I did or didn't do would set him off."
"We were in the dinning room, he was yelling at me about something. By that time though, I had gotten pretty good at tuning him out, it was usually better to let him rant and rave without interruption," Tony paused. Closing his eyes, he took another deep breath before continuing. He knew he couldn't stop, though. Once he started talking, the words just seemed to flood out of his mouth, with nothing to block it.
"All I know is, one minute I was in the dinning room…actually, I'm not sure what he did. Either pushed or threw me I guess…the doors leading to the patio were made of glass, they were right there. Went right through them. My head connected with the floor pretty good, so naturally got a concussion."
"Doctor came by, removed the glass from my back, stitched me up and left. It was sort of normal for him by then, coming, treating me, and leaving, asking no questions." Tony stopped at that, trying to gather his thoughts, he couldn't believe he had just told Gibbs all of that. But at the same time, he felt a bit relieved.
Gibbs pondered over what he had just heard. He had chosen to remain silent during Tony's confession, afraid that interrupting him would cause him to stop talking all together. Tony had more or less admitted to being abused, but the scars on his back were apparently all from the one incident, if you could call it that. He wasn't sure if he should be grateful for Tony's lack of memory, or horrified that he had received such a serious concussion as to cause him to have said lack of memory. Gibbs decided to go with a bit of both, not wanting to think to hard on that part much at the moment.
"You want to know the irony of it all?" Tony asked after a few moments.
"Sure," Gibbs said simply.
"While that was one of the worst…it was also the best," Tony confessed cryptically.
"How do you mean?" Gibbs asked, wondering how in hell something like your father tossing you through a window could be a good thing.
"Well, whatever set him off that day…he wasn't done. That was the year I was sent off to Rhode Island Military Academy," Tony said.
Gibbs was then able to understand why Tony saw it as a good thing. Being sent away to school meant that he wasn't going to have to be around his father. It was an escape of sorts. "Is that when you got interested in sports?" he asked.
"Not exactly. I had been playing sports for a while…made for an easier way to explain…" Tony answered. "Well, it was when I started taking it seriously at any rate, once I found out some of the opportunities that were offered by colleges through sports."
Gibbs understood what Tony didn't say directly. Sports were a reasonable way to explain any bruises or other injuries he might have received at the hands of his father. Gibbs was suddenly very grateful that Tony couldn't see him, afraid that he might mistake the anger that was no doubt reflecting in his eyes for something else. He found himself hoping to never meet Dinozzo senior. If he ever did, it would definitely not be pretty.
"You didn't deserve that, Tony. None of it. No matter what set him off, it's not something you can blame yourself for. He had no right, don't ever think any different," Gibbs firmly told Tony.
Tony knew that, but to actually hear someone else say it, well, it was something else. "Thanks," he whispered softly, but knowing that Gibbs would hear him.
Gibbs allowed himself a small smile. He could hear the gratitude behind that one simple word. It was for more than just saying what he did, but for listening as well. "It's the truth, Tony and don't forget it."
"Never," agreed Tony quietly.
Sensing that this was the end of this particular conversation for the time being, Gibbs suggested, "We should get some sleep. I get the feeling that these guys aren't going to make it easy for us to trace them."
Tony gave a small chuckle at that. "Since when have we ever had anything easy, boss? Especially since the FBI is involved."
"Good point. Should have brought more coffee," Gibbs replied to Tony's humor, relieved to find that things were still ok between them.
"I should warn Gary that you plan to raid his secret stash," teased Tony.
Gibbs laughed along with Tony in the darkness. "Get some sleep, Tony," he said after a minute.
"Night, boss," Tony said as he shifted a bit before settling down. Things had turned out better than he had thought. Gibbs didn't judge him, merely saw things as they were, confirming out loud what Tony knew to be true. Sleep came easily for him, and what was more surprising, was that he didn't dream.
Gibbs listened as Tony's breathing evened out, signaling that he had fallen asleep. Only then did Gibbs let himself drift off to sleep, relishing in the new level of trust that Tony had displayed in him.
Chapter End Notes:
Hey everyone, sorry I didn't post sooner like I have been. But hopefully since this chapter is longer than the others you will forgive me! This was an important chapter for me to write, and I didn’t want to rush it. Also, I do not plan to stop updating. I do plan to finish this story. Have no fear! Ok, enough of me talking, get on with the story. Please keep reviewing, I love hearing your thoughts as always. Enjoy!