The Perfect Match
By Gunnery Sergeant
Thanks to Finlaure, my wonderful friend and betareader!
Part One
1993
Leroy Jethro Gibbs had never liked playing the fetch and carry guy for his superiors. As a Marine earlier and as a Federal Agent later, he had always thought the government paid him to do his job to protect and serve his country, and not to be a driver or delivery guy for the upper brass.
However, this time he hadn't complained too much when the NCIS Director has assigned him this task. After ten days spent reviewing cold cases under Riley McAllister's supervision as his boss Mike Franks recovered from a gunshot wound, Gibbs would have done almost anything to get away from the office.
Also, a trip by car to New York kept him away from his house for a few days. Maybe, when he got back, the disappointment he felt the past months every time he went back in those empty rooms would be a bit more muted. Maybe.
Gibbs couldn't say he hadn't been surprised by his wife leaving him and subsequent request of divorce. He had been aware their marriage had been deteriorating for months, from the moment he had told Caroline he wasn't ready to have a child. She had pressed to know when he would be, and he had honestly admitted he might never be. He remembered the way she had looked at him, with disappointment, hurt and even a hint of betrayal.
Gibbs' hands tightened on the steering wheel as he resolutely pushed away those thoughts from his mind and decided to focus on something else as he drove toward NY.
He threw a side glance to his silent passenger and he found himself wondering what the guy was thinking in that moment. Was he excited? Or was he feeling more like a man about to be executed? Was he thinking about what kind of life he was going to have? Did he know who was the woman he had been chosen to be matched with?
Gibbs prided himself on his ability to read people well, but this young man, this Anthony DiNozzo, was completely expressionless, and hadn't uttered a single word besides introducing himself, since he had got into the car.
Normally Gibbs would welcome the silence, but he was curious about his passenger's special nature, and having an inquisitive mind, he would like to know more about the guy, if only to enrich his knowledge. He had never gone to college, but he had never stopped learning, and he had done it by observing, by listening, and of course by reading.
That was how Gibbs knew something about the people called Perfect Matches. He had read somewhere that every now and then a child was born with an extremely rare combination of recessive genes that made him or her very special. Basically it allowed these individuals to become their first sexual partner's perfect mate, in and out of bed, although Gibbs had no idea of how it exactly happened. He just knew the needs and likes of these people became the perfect match for their partner's—forever.
This of course could cause all kind of problems if such a boy or a girl had their first sexual experience with the wrong partner. That was why all children were DNA tested at birth, so that their parents could be made aware of the possible troubles ahead. But there was also the flip of the coin: once matched, this people became faithful for life, and the government had been quick to find way to put this characteristic to good use.
As soon as a child like this was discovered, the authorities asked the parents if they could take custody of the newborn. They said they would provide the child with a safe environment to grow up, a top class education and all the means to make a right choice of their first – and ultimately only – partner. A lot of parents, especially those with financial difficulties or scared of dealing with such a potentially problematic child, accepted the offer and trusted their little ones to the authorities, thinking it was the best choice for their babies.
Gibbs too would think the same— had he not known what the parents weren't told.
Such as the fact that the children were kept under close surveillance after puberty, to avoid they could have any chance to fall in love with someone before the government decided who they had to be matched with.
When a match was found, they were first given a cocktail of hormones to make them receptive and ready to fall in love, and then they were given some sedatives, to keep them in this ready-to-fall in love condition until the moment they actually met their match.
In other words, the authorities used the Perfect Matches as "gifts" to be given to people who deserved them, with no concerns about these boys' and girls' likes or dislikes, interests or life ambitions. They were programmed to fall in love with the first person they would be intimate with, with no choice at all to decide who this person would be.
Anthony DiNozzo, the college-age kid at his side was a case to the point. Gibbs was driving him toward his match: a fifty-something career woman, who had never found the time to look out for a husband while she was leading her multi-billion company, but who now felt lonely. She had given millions to help the current SECNAV's political career and now the guy was rewarding her, by giving her this tall, brown-haired, green-eyed young man thirty years her junior.
Gibbs found it extremely unfair toward the kid. He had nothing against career-women, but he firmly believed everyone should be held accountable of their life choices and their consequences. This woman had sacrificed everything for financial success, and it was fine, but it was wrong to make this young man pay the price of her decisions. She should have contacted a wedding agency and look out for a man of her age to marry if she felt lonely. But no, she had been probably concerned men would have been after her money, not her, and so her friend, the SECNAV, had offered her the perfect solution. By doing so, they would deny the kid any chance to enjoy all those things young people liked to do, because Gibbs could hardly imagine a fifty year old wanting to go to dance in a disco, go on hitch-hike trip or make love in improbable places as he and Shannon had done. This very young man would never get the chance to become a father and experience the wonder of holding his newborn baby in his arms for the first time, of seeing that child grow into a young lady… Gibbs concentration returned to the present as he saw the cars in front of him were stopping.
He slowed down sharply and signaled the trouble to the drivers following him switching on his hazard lights, but it wasn't enough. A moment later something impacted against the car, and only the fastened safety belts prevented Gibbs and his passenger from slamming their heads in the windshield. However Gibbs had had his foot on the brake pedal when they were hit, so the car didn't jump forward, and didn't hit the truck in front of them.
Cursing under his breath, Gibbs turned to look at his companion, "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yes, I am, Agent Gibbs. Thank you," the young man answered with a nod and slightly shaking voice.
"Good."
Gibbs got out of the car to check the damage and have a word with the guy who had hit them. The man was all belligerent, claiming it was Gibbs' fault, but calmed down as soon as he saw the agent's badge.
Then, as soon as the traffic started again, they moved their cars to an emergency space, dealt with all the paperwork needed for insurance purposes, and then they exited the highway, because both cars needed some repairs in order to resume the journey.
X
Two hours later, Gibbs checked both himself and DiNozzo in a small but clean motel room. The mechanic had said the car would be ready in one or two days tops, and there was no rental agency nearby, so waiting was their only option. When he had phoned to the office to explain why he and DiNozzo would be late, the director hadn't be happy, but had said it was okay and that he would alert the kid's future match of the delay.
During the conversation, the director had reminded Gibbs twice of the injection he had to give to the boy, and now the agent was rummaging in the bag he had been given for the pre-filled syringes. However, when he finally found them, he discovered they had all been broken during the crash.
As he stared at them, Gibbs wondered what to do. Should he call and tell the director to send someone carrying replacements?
Looking at the too quiet youngster sitting on the other bed, he frowned. He had seen how that poor kid had walked from the mechanic to the hotel. Not like the energetic twenty something young man he was, but like he was in trance or too dazed to know what was going on around him.
Gibbs hadn't liked it. He knew it wasn't his business and that he was supposed to obey his orders, but this wasn't a matter of national security. This wasn't a war. This was more like taking a lamb to a slaughterhouse, and he felt uncomfortable with it. So, in an act of rebellion against a system that considered Anthony DiNozzo a little more than a stud horse who had to mate only with the mare chosen for him, Gibbs decided not to call to get more drugs.
That night, after they had a hamburger and a steak in a nearby diner, Gibbs watched as DiNozzo, as silent as always got ready to bed, and noticed his movements seemed a little more coordinated than earlier in the evening. Was it possible the sedatives were already weaning off? And if so, had Gibbs just put himself in a potentially dangerous situation?
Would DiNozzo try to approach him in sexual way if the drugs weaned off completely before they could resume their journey?
Gibbs shook his shoulders. If that happened, he would stop the boy. He wasn't interested in men, and the kid was lithe, and not very muscular. It wouldn't be a problem for a trained Marine to keep him at bay.
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