Written for the April 5+1 challenge at 1 million words - prompt -Five people who realized _ was a badass, and the one person who knew all along.
Tom Morrow liked to keep an eye on all aspects of NCIS, he didn't just concern himself with the more administrative and political parts as some Directors liked to do, he also took a huge interest in all their agents and their progress. He liked to take at least half hour a day to watch over the bullpen and get a feel for his agents and the cases that they were working.
He watched as his surliest agent barked orders at his newest agent who just smiled at him and got on with the job without argument or complaint. Tom wasn't sure what to think of Anthony DiNozzo Jr, but when Gibbs had returned from Baltimore insisting that he have the other man on his team he had been shocked. Agents didn't last long with Gibbs, and Gibb's patience for them lasted even less time, for him to actually ask for someone to be placed on his team was unheard of. He had told Gibbs that it wasn't his decision it was dependent on whether DiNozzo even wanted to work for NCIS and if he completed and passed the required FLETC courses. The next day he heard scuttlebutt of DiNozzo being in HR filling in forms and he almost laughed, there was something about this one that obviously had Gibbs' gut working.
DiNozzo had passed the courses at FLETC with flying colours and Tom had assigned him to Gibbs as the man had demanded. He had also gone through the man's file thoroughly trying to find what it was that Gibbs was seeing about the other man. He had scored as highly in the Police Academy as he had in FLETC, before spending two years in Peoria, moving to Philadelphia where he honed his undercover skills and then to Baltimore where he met Gibbs. He never seemed to stay with any precinct for more than two years, and Tom wondered if NCIS would be the same.
DiNozzo seemed to follow Gibbs' directions to the letter, and Tom knew that he had already memorised Gibbs' rules. He had heard mention of the other man being like a Saint Bernard and he found it fitting, it appeared as if he had hired Gibbs a yes man to follow him about and take on the tasks that Gibbs himself didn't want to do. Tom retreated back to his office and the pile of paperwork that was waiting for him, wondering if hiring DiNozzo was a good idea. Gibbs did need to have at least one other agent working with him, and he didn't seem to be trying to run this one off, but maybe Tom should have hired someone with a backbone.
As Tom made his way through the building later that day on his way to a meeting he realised that he needn't have worried. DiNozzo was standing almost nose to nose with Gibbs arguing his point about something or other. Maybe the kid did have a backbone after all he thought to himself. It could be interesting to see what Gibbs thought of him now that he had stood up to him, or maybe that was why he wanted him on his team, maybe he had stood up to him in Baltimore and shown the side to him that Tom was just discovering existed.
x
Dr Brad Pitt had met some badasses in his time, he worked in a naval hospital, quite a few of his patients had been badass heros, but the badass he had just saved, well he was something entirely different. Brad had known of DiNozzo in the past, the guy was definitely a badass on the basketball court and on the football field, with high hopes of going professional in either sport, or he had been until Brad had broken his leg.
He had heard lots of stories at the time, people wondering if the Buckeye was going to just drop out of college now that his dreams of playing pro-sport had come to an end, but he hadn't he had continued. He had ignored all those who thought nothing would come of him now that he couldn't play with a ball and he had shown them. He had become a police officer, then a detective and then a federal agent. He had shown them all just had badass DiNozzo was, that he was about more than just playing sport.
In Brad's opinion though that was not the thing that made him really badass, although he too had thought the man had flunked out after his injury and was glad to be proved wrong. No the thing that made him really badass was that the man had just beaten the plague. So he would have scarred lungs for the rest of his life and he would need to carry a rescue inhaler just in case, but the man had taken on y-pestis and won.
The fact that to Tony it was just a part of his job, he took it like it was just a regular risk that came with the job, and he got through it. Most people would have made some big production about having survived the plague once they were out of the woods, but not Tony, no he was just glad that he was alive and that none of his team had been infected either. That was a true badass in Brad's opinion, someone who didn't do the things that made them badass for the credit, but just because they had to be done.
x
Jenny Shephard had always been curious about DiNozzo, his file stated that he was more than he portrayed, but he never showed any signs of being more than he appeared to be. She had wondered if his file was less than truthful, but she trusted Gibbs and his judgement so she didn't question his SFA too much.
She knew based on his file that there was more to him, but she had started to believe the image of the playboy frat guy. That was why she was impressed so much when he took charge when Gibbs was blown up. He slipped into Gibbs' role easily, completing the investigation, and gaining them as much information as he could discover. Jenny could tell that he would much rather be at the hospital on Gibbs' six, but in his absence had taken the reins of the team instead.
When Gibbs resigned and left for Mexico she had considered bringing in a new team lead to work with the MCRT, but something stopped her, she wanted to see if it had just been a fluke or if Tony was capable of being more than he portrayed to the bullpen. She placed him in charge and watched as their solve rate didn't drop, even with his increased workload. She knew that neither McGee or Ziva were being wholly co-operative with the team lead, and she was almost positive that DiNozzo was still doing at least all the administrative work for both the team lead and the senior field agent. He didn't complain though, he just got on with the job.
It made her realise just how competent Tony DiNozzo really was, and as a result she realised that she had to have him for her undercover operation that she was putting together, no-one else would do. It had to be Tony, he was the only one who she could imagine in the role doing what needed to be done as well as continuing on with his normal duties so as not to arouse suspicion. She just had to convince him that no-one else would be suitable, that he was the first and only option, he was just that good.
x
Eli David sat at his desk rereading the file on Agent DiNozzo, wondering what it was that he had missed in the file that had left him unprepared for dealing with the man. He had access to both Ziva's reports on the agent and his NCIS file, but still something wasn't adding up. All the information that he could get from the files told him the same thing, that the man was an okay agent who had somehow survived years under Gibbs.
Ziva's reports were much more in depth and had painted the picture of an immature frat boy with no redeeming qualities. He had seen that as soon as he had entered the room with him, the man despite his injuries was still acting the fool, obviously not aware of how serious a situation he was in. He had then somehow managed to turn the whole situation on him, making him admit information that he was trying to keep to himself.
DiNozzo had said that he himself did interrogations, but Eli hadn't expected him to get anything from him, especially as he didn't even seem to be trying, it was Eli who had been leading their conversation, or he had been until suddenly he wasn't and DiNozzo had him. The man was certainly not the man that Eli had thought he was, the fact that he had managed to take out a member of the Kidon showed that he was more badass than they had thought, but they had just put that down to the fact the Michael was intoxicated, but now Eli wondered if it wasn't just DiNozzo and his skills.
x
Tobias Fornell was serious about trying to recruit DiNutso over to the FBI, that it annoyed Gibbs every time he mentioned it was a bonus. He had read the man's file, well the parts that weren't classified, and was impressed with him on paper. He also knew that the man had leaps of logic that often broke cases wide open.
The only thing that Tobias would change would be his attitude, he was charming, a ladies man, he wasn't the normal badass stoic agent that the FBI preferred. Sure he had seen him be serious a few times, but most of the time it was movie quotes and practical jokes. Then he had seen something he hadn't expected, seeing DiNozzo drop his mask was a chilling thing, gone was the overgrown frat boy and in his place was a seasoned serious agent.
Tony's masks were replaced quickly, it was only a few minutes that they had been dropped for, but Tobias suddenly knew. Watching him in the field after that he noticed it, Tony was just as badass if not more so that some of the most seasoned FBI agents he knew, he just hid it better. The man wanted to be underestimated for some reason, but Tobias promised that he would never take the man at face value ever again.
x
Gibbs knew exactly who he had asked to join his team, the man who would replace him in time, but would have his six in the field until then. He had known from the time that Tony had tackled him to the ground and cuffed him that the man could be just as badass as he himself was. But he had also realised that the other man was hiding his skills behind a mask, wanting to be underestimated for some reason.
Gibbs had let it go on, it wasn't his place to make Tony show the world who he was, but he knew exactly who the man was. It amused him in a way, a lot more than the pranks or movie references did at least. They were part of Tony, but the man amplified them so that it was one of the first things people thought about him. Gibbs took great pleasure in watching as people were shocked or surprised by DiNozzo and his actions when he was completely focused and allowing all his skills to shine. Gibbs really couldn't have chosen a better replacement for himself when the time came.