A/N: Hi, all. The inspiration for this lovely two-part set is simple; Tony has a romantic past, and, as much as we wish he could just put it behind him and focus on Ziva, that just sometimes does not happen. So. Here you are. I was hit with this a few weeks ago but I only was able to sit down and do it till now. And, just for anyone who's scared of crying (I was!) I'm watching Animal Planet right now, and it's a special on chimpanzees, and one of them is named Tony. :) If that made you giggle, you're awesome. Okay, after my disclaimer, you can read...
Disclaimer: I do not own The Switch, NCIS, or an of the characters other than the obvious Gerald, Cassie, and Amanda.
Sweaty palms, butterflies in her stomach, and a headache pounding against my skull, but I am still determined as I punch in each number. It had to be the same. It just … had to be.
"Hello, Naval Criminal Investigative Service," a polite, young woman's voice greets her. "How may I help you?"
This was her chance. This was the moment she would finally be able to tell him he had a child. A daughter. A perfect copy of both father and mother.
"Uhm … Hi, can you tell me if Ton—Special Agent DiNozzo is in today?" Her voice wavers slightly, her throat constricting around the words. "I … I can call back later if he's not in right now."
She can hear the sound of computer keys and waits nervously, having half a mind to hang up before she could find out. No harm, no foul that way.
"Yes, ma'am, he is. Would you like me to transfer you? He has voicemail if he isn't at his desk."
Oh, but that wouldn't work. It would give her a chance to chicken out. Er … hey, Tony … I don't know if you remember me, but … just call me back.
No, that's not right. That's not how it's supposed to go. You're supposed to talk face to face or, if necessary, voice to voice, but it can't be delayed. It has to be immediate.
Nevertheless, she hastily murmurs, "Yes, yeah, that would be great." Soft 'Elevator Music' hums in the background, wind chimes and flutes and electronic rhythms trickling through the receiver.
"Special Agent DiNozzo speaking." Her breath catches in her throat, and she is unable to speak a word. "Uh … hello?"
"Tony?" comes her whisper. "Tony, it's Cassie…I don't know if you remember me, but we … we went to a gala together when you were at—"
Cassie hears him chuckle from his end of the phone. "No, no, I remember you. We went to the Winter Ball together, right? I accidentally spilled some whiskey on your dress."
"Yep, that's the one. Listen, Tony, I have something I need to tell you." There is silence.
This is my chance.
There is nothing happening in the bullpen this morning, other than the usual Ziva-McGee-DiNozzo banter that always drives Gibbs up the wall. It never used to be as irritating to the retired Marine when Jenny was alive, but now? Now, it was enough to warrant a head-slap any minute.
"Hey! We've got a rapist on the loose, preying on Navy brats. Find out where he is." Gibbs' brisk order brings the office to silence. Ziva jumps a little in her seat and begins dialing her phone, while McGee types madly on his keyboard. But DiNozzo? No. DiNozzo knows more than he is letting on.
"Well, Boss," he states boastfully, "I kind of already know where he is."
"Kind of, DiNozzo?" Gibbs turns around, his blue eyes piercing Tony's. "What do you mean, 'kind of'?"
Reclining, Tony grins and says, "Well, you know." At Gibbs' sharp look, he immediately stands and, with a few clicks of his mouse, puts the address up on the screen. "Actually, you don't, because I didn't tell you. But I'll tell you now." Crossing the bullpen, he admits, "I made a few calls to my old PD friends. Vogler's been on their radar for almost a decade. He just crossed over the Ohio River, Boss. They're picking him up and bringing him here as soon as—'"
"Now!" Gibbs grabs his badge and gun from his desk and is down the hall in the elevator before Tony can say another word.
As a Seaman himself, Tony knows the pain of leaving family behind while they go afloat. The wrenching heartache of not being able to see your family—although, in his case, his family didn't really matter, and the only reason he was so upset after being sent away after Director Shepherd's passing was because he'd made a niche for himself at NCIS—can be overpowering. Hearing that your daughter, your underage, beautiful daughter, is being violated by some piece of scum sitting behind a big executive desk…that must make it Hell.
Tony never tries to imagine life with a wife or kids. Too many little DiNozzos running around…
He shudders at the thought. But what makes him smile is the phone ringing on his desk. "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo speaking."
This is the moment his world spins out of focus. Her words. Her voice. The softness but urgency in her voice, that same element that made Tony want her back in `96 at the retirement party of the police chief. Peoria PD. Oh, those were the days. Tony never got nervous. Never. Except for Cassie.
He'd swung by her house to pick her up that night because of two reasons. The first was that it was the right thing to do. Men should always offer to escort their dates places. It's the first rule of being a gentleman. Kind of like Fight Club, though, you don't talk about it to your friends.
The second reason was that Cassie didn't have a car. She walked to work every day, a small shoe store that sold Italian leather. It had been Tony's weakness, as though he could smell it a mile away in his apartment. Something had drawn him to that store, and he had gone in, and he had seen her, and that had been the start of it. She'd sold him his first pair of Peoria Italian Leather loafers. And he had worn them at the retirement party and took them off at her house.
Cassie had looks spectacular that night. Mind-blowing. Green dress, red hair, clear green eyes and freckles sprinkled across her shoulders, nose, and chest. Tony had wanted to simply carry her upstairs the moment he had laid eyes on her that night, but instead, he had looped his elbow through hers and led her to his car.
He had driven to the party with only a trace of composure. For some reason, Tony felt as though keeping his eyes on the road was impossible. This was the first time he had ever experienced anxiety over a girl. Before, he had always been confident around women. But for some reason or another, Cassie overwhelmed him.
As Cassie introduces herself now, or…re-introduces herself, for that matter…Tony recalls the fact she m him so nervous at the party that he had spilled a shot of whiskey on her. After her had apologized profusely, Cassie had merely let out a tinkling laugh and let him take her home.
"Tony? Tony, are you there?" He is pulled out of his reverie and dropped back into his seat by her voice. "Didn't you hear me? I said you have a daughter."
"But…but that's impossible," Tony splutters. "You said—"
"Look," Cassie sighs. There is a pause before she continue shakily, "I know what I said. I know I said I was on the pill, okay? I know. But you have to understand, I never thought—"
"How many others were there?" Tony glances up to see both McGee and Ziva staring at him with curiosity pouring from their eyes. Unfortunately, Ziva's also reflects a hint of jealousy that makes Tony's stomach twist uncomfortably. He shoves them out of sight, however, and prods, "Obviously I wasn't the only one, so tell me how many others there were."
"No, Tony, that's just the—"
"Look, Cassie, you wouldn't have waited this long to tell me if I were the only one you were sleeping with at the time, and how did you get this number again?" Tony tries to keep his voice calm, but is having a difficult time with the shock and betrayal—or is it anger?
There is a wobbly sigh and Tony knows he has made her cry. Without knowing what to say, he softly murmurs, "It's okay. Just … what happened? Why?"
"I need to talk to you more about this, not on the phone." Tony rubs his eyes, knowing what Cassie is going to suggest. "Is there somewhere you can meet us?"
He knows that 'us' is in reference to Cassie and her daughter, but he refuses to admit that it is also his. Not until he sees it. "Yeah, Leo's. It's Italian."
"See you at seven, Tony. She's looking forward to meeting you." His fourteen year old daughter.
"Yep…See you then." As he hangs up the phone, he has the nagging urge to throw his head back and scream, or even better, put the revolver in his desk up to his temple and pull the trigger. But he can't do that. No, because he has a dinner date.
With his daughter.
Drawing in a deep breath, Cassie zips up the back of her skirt and smoothes down her blouse. "Amanda, you ready?" she calls into the hall. Soon, her fourteen-year-old daughter's bedroom door swings open. There she comes, brown hair speckled with gold, her father's nose and eyes beaming back at her, rimmed in black—the bane of her mother's existence. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks, mom. Do you think Tony will like it?" The hope in Amanda's eyes nearly breaks Cassie's heart as mother takes daughter in her arms.
"Ooh … honey, you know this dinner doesn't mean he's going to become a permanent fixture in your life, right?" As she runs her fingers through Amanda's brown curls, Cassie sighs, remembering what had happened that night.
Tony had returned her safely to her home and both had intended to end the evening with a good night kiss. The moment their lips had touched, though, a fire was ignited in Cassie—and, obviously, Tony as well—and one thing had led to another. She hadn't lied; the bit about the birth control was true. At the time she had blindly believed her doctor's words of, "There's no risk involved. One hundred percent guaranteed."
The way he'd held her, the way his strong hands had cupped her jaw, the way his soft lips had bit and nibbled and worked their way down her body…she had quickly become the victim of his seduction and gave herself up willingly.
Five weeks later, she realized perhaps 'one hundred percent' sometimes isn't really that reliable.
The moment the strip turned pink, she knew Tony was the father. She had slept with two men in her life. One had been the son of her father's best friend. The other had been Tony. The first had been when they had dated for all of high school and consummated their 'love' at prom. They had dated for two years following that and had gotten engaged. Cassie had only called off the engagement after she found out he had been sleeping with her best friend.
She had been twenty-two when she'd met Tony. It was shortly after her faulty engagement and she had felt vulnerable. If the problem with Jerry had not surfaced, she probably would not have been in this situation. There was always that piece of her wondering about how her life would have been different if she had told him, but she had been scared.
Now, that was all changing. Now, she was in D.C. and all of that was just going to have to change.
"Yeah, mom," Amanda murmurs into Cassie's shoulder. "But it would be nice to at least have a dad who likes you."
Hopefully he likes me, too.
Black sport coat, khaki pants, blue shirt? No.
Charcoal suit, white shirt, blue tie? No.
Polo shirt with jeans? No.
This was a dire situation. Tony had nothing to wear, not that it really mattered much, since he didn't exactly want to impress them. Either of them. Although, it would be nice to have a daughter who liked him…
Tony looks into the mirror and sighs. Leather jacket time.
He only ever wore his leather jacket when things were really rough. For example, when his car was towed the day after he slept over at—oh, damn, what was her name?—Susie's apartment. Leather jacket. Or, the time he…Well, it's obvious, he tells himself. "I'm pathetic."
Glancing around the room, Tony is thankful he is not going on a date with just Cassie, or the pressure to bring her home would cause a dilemma. Bring her home to see his terribly messy apartment? Or turn her down and make her think he's not interested?
It's not that I'm not interested, he barters. It's just that...wouldn't this be moving kind of fast?
The look on Ziva's face today had been enough to tell him to hang up the phone, but for some reason, he couldn't. He was torn between accommodating Ziva's feelings and making up for lost time with Cassie.
He stares into the mirror, buttoning up the blue shirt Abby always says makes his eyes look amazing. "Hi," he murmurs, "'I'm Tony.' No, actually, I'm pathetic! Woo-hoo!" Raising his eyebrows, Tony smiles and begins again. "'Hey, I'm Tony, but you can call me dad.' Or, I could just run away and sit in the corner with a bottle of Jack."
Tony has half a mind to just call off the dinner altogether. But he's had enough of being a coward in his life, and maybe meeting his own flesh and blood will be good for him.
As he finally turns the lights off and locks the door of his apartment, he can't help but feel as though this is the beginning of a horrible end.
"There he is." There he is. The moment she laid eyes on him, she knew it was him. "He hasn't changed a bit."
Amanda grins up at her mother. "He's hot."
"Manda! Hey!" Cassie giggles and gives her daughter a gentle nudge. "That's your father you just called 'hot.'" Amanda makes a face and slouches in her seat.
As he approaches, she can't repress the butterflies taking flight in her stomach. Neither mother, nor daughter, can for that matter. "Hey," he murmurs, extending a hand. "I'm Tony."
Cassie stands and takes Tony's hand, before pulling him into a hug. The look of pure fear that is elicited from his eyes is enough to melt her own fears about the evening. When she releases him she introduces, "Tony, this is Amanda.
"Amanda, meet your father."
A/N: Stay tuned for part two, later today. Poor Tony! :(