Long Distance Call

Summary: Gibbs is being haunted by a dead loved one, and Tony and the rest of the team is determined to find out what's wrong. Maybe the dead don't always stay dead.

A/N: Uh, after being sick for a week and watching CSI, CSI:NY, and Supernatural all day long for 5 days straight, I came up with this. This takes places after Season 6 Episode 16 "Bounce", and is slightly based upon the episode "Long Distance Call" from Supernatural (Season 3 Episode 14). Also, this was originally about Gibbs mostly, but my slight obsession with DiNozzo has taken over this story.

Gibbs is a little OOC for probably the first 4 chapters, I know, so just bear with me please. I'm not really sure how much I like this story, so let me know what you think. Any suggestions, criticisms, and comments are greatly appreciated. Oh gosh, I keep remembering things. I get a little impatient so I just kind of jumped into the story without giving you the little "Oh what's wrong with Gibbs?" snippets. I just threw you right in there, so any questions I'll answer, and if you think I should, just to clarify, I'll write a little prologue-type chapter. Okay, seriously, I'm done…I hope.

Chapter 1: Ghost Caller

"DiNozzo, shoot. McGee, get statements. Ziva—" his phone rang, cutting him off. Angrily reaching into his pocket and wordlessly shooing the rest of the team off, not noticed Ziva looking at the two men with her, who shrugged in response. Gibbs didn't tell her what she was supposed to do. But before Gibbs could even turn away to answer the phone, he saw Tony give Ziva the sketchpad with a bright smile upon his face. When was the last time Ziva sketched?

Turning his attention away from his agents, Gibbs answered his cell with his usual greeting. "Gibbs."

"Tony, I will torture you. Just do it."

"Well let me think," he paused, looking upwards with his hand on his chin in mock thought. A grin appeared upon his face. "No. I think I can handle you."

"Oh really?" Ziva grinned and started sketching. She wasn't partially happy about doing so, but since Tony wouldn't swap tasks with her, she would have to figure out a more interesting way to get back at him. Oh, this ought to be fun.

Tony grinned at her, although he already knew she was thinking about revenge. It was always much more fun when he and Ziva started their own little 'prank war'. It kept them both on their feet and entertained during a case.

He kneeled down to get a better shot of the body. Clicking the button, the shutter closed and opened as the flash illuminated the body. Even though he knew that his job was taking pictures, his eyes kept shifting back towards Gibbs. Tony had noticed that his boss had become tired, agitated, and pissed…well, more than he usually was. And Gibbs didn't normally show it outwardly. Those random moments where Tony saw him pause to rest his eyes or allow the feelings to roam his face, even though it was for less than a minute. Tony had been working under Gibbs long enough to know that those weren't usual expressions for his boss. There was something wrong, he was sure of that, but he hadn't quite figured out what that something was yet. And hell would freeze over before he'd ask his boss.

Ziva glared at DiNozzo as he stood right in her way before she turned back to her sketch. With her back to Gibbs and McGee's attention was drawn solely upon gathering statements, Tony was the only one to see their boss's face flatter, changing from his normal emotionless facial expression. There was an emotion there, but Tony wasn't sure of what it was. It was something he'd never seen on his boss's face. If he had to guess, he'd say that it was a mixture of fear and pain.

As he continued to watch Gibbs, DiNozzo noticed an unease fall upon the older man before he slammed his phone shut. Gibbs' fingers shielded his eyes in an attempt to hide the fact that the overwhelming guilt and pain were safely running across his face. As he took a moment to return himself to his usual gruff self, Tony looked up at him. "Boss?"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs exhaustedly yelled, turning towards his agent. His hand dropped from his face and his expression hardened, "You better have something for me." Gibbs warned Tony, waiting for the other man to speak, but DiNozzo stayed silent. Without another word, Gibbs walked away, towards the newly arrived ME and his assistant. Before the pair even got out of the van, the silver-haired agent could hear their bickering. After all these years, they still couldn't get to a crime scene without getting lost and starting an argument.

Turning his attention away from his possibly half-deaf assistant (since he said left, and Palmer had turned right), Ducky walked up to Gibbs. "Jethro, where is our young petty officer?" Gibbs threw his thumb over his shoulder, and without another word, he disappeared.

"Anthony, where is Jethro? He's always here to find out the initial readings. Most of the time he is waiting upon me!"

DiNozzo looked up towards the direction of the voice before turning to the direction he thought his boss might have went. Looking there, Tony couldn't find any trace of the man. Quickly scanning the area for their 'fearless leader', Tony frowned before looking back at Ducky. "What ya got Ducky?"

Ducky smiled, "Your temporary command over the team is over m'dear boy." His smile grew larger at the end of his tease.

Returning a smile, Tony spoke, "Well if I'm gonna find Gibbs, I might as well have something to tell him."

"Ah, I see," the ME agreed while turning towards his assistant. "Mr. Palmer?"

"Well from the temperature of the liver, I'd say he's been dead for about 10 hours." Palmer smiled at them. He and Ducky seemed to be the happiest people to work with dead people.

Tony looked at Jimmy, waiting for more information. After a slightly prolonged silence, Palmer looked up, realizing his mistake. "Oh, sorry. Uh, it looks like natural causes."

"Like what?"

"Well we won't know exactly until we get him back to autopsy," Palmer spoke.

DiNozzo huffed a sigh. Natural causes? Gibbs wasn't going to go for that. If Tony was betting, he'd put his money on foul play. There was drag marks in the dirt that were obviously from someone dragging the body. The man was hidden under a large bush—that had particularly pointy thorns. He had his doubts.

"Alright," Tony accepted the man's words before walking off to find his boss.

It was so strange. So Weird. So unnatural. So…well, scary almost. Tony had never seen Gibbs look like that. And he truly never wanted to. So vulnerable. So hurt. It was unnerving, but Tony had to talk to him, they had a case. And once they got back to the Navy Yard, he'd talk to Abby and Ducky about Gibbs' recent behavior.

DiNozzo assumed that his boss might have gone to find some coffee and made his way towards their cars. Which was a damn lucky guess, for Gibbs was sitting in his car. Looking like that. Tony shook the image out of his mind.

Making his footsteps hard, heavy, and loud, Tony yelled something over his shoulder to no one. He didn't want Gibbs to know he had seen him like that. It would hurt his boss too much, causing DiNozzo to make a fool of himself—yelling to no one.

Gibbs' head rose as his eyes found the approaching noise. He could see the back of his senior field agent as he back pedaled towards the car, arms spread out in the air as he apparently spoke to someone—most likely a teammate.

A flash of fear ran threw his body before his face ran stone-cold. Oh God. If DiNozzo saw me like that… Rubbing his hand over his face and through his hair, Gibbs fought with himself, searching for an excuse as to why he was not at the scene. But he could still hear her voice in his head. Could she really be alive? Had they been wrong? No…had he been wrong?

A knock disrupted his thoughts and he could see DiNozzo's face in the window. From the look upon his face, one would assume that Tony hadn't seen Gibbs' moment of weakness, but Gibbs knew how good the younger man was at hiding the truth behind a charming, naïve face. "Boss Ducky—" he paused as Gibbs opened the car door. Taking a step back as to allow his boss room to get out, DiNozzo continued, "Ducky said, well actually Palmer said—" He stopped, awaiting the head slap that was certain to bring him back on track, but it was nonexistent. They all knew he hadn't been smacked in awhile and it was strange, but he continued anyway. "The TOD was about 10 hours ago. And it looks to be natural causes. But I'm not so sure."

Gibbs nodded at DiNozzo, but his mind still wasn't completely focused on the case. "Done shooting?"

"Yes boss and McGee seemed to be done taking statements and Ziva was just finished up her sketch."

"Good, let's get back." DiNozzo blinked at him before nodding. Gibbs had completely forgotten that they still needed to bag and tag any evidence found at the crime scene. Maybe his mind still wasn't as sharp as they thought it was. No, no. Come on Tony, this is Gibbs we're talking about.

"On it boss." As he walked away from his boss and back towards the crime scene, Tony wondered. Well how long could it possibly take him to collect evidence? He rolled his eyes. At least he'll get Gibbs angry again.

"Where is DiNozzo?"

"Delivering the evidence to Abby," Ziva stated, getting up from her desk. Tony had been gone awhile, and he had just texted her that he was at Abby's.

"Good. McGee?" Gibbs questioned his agent, staring at the plasma. It's a wonder his eyesight wasn't horrible from all the time he spent staring at it. He could hear McGee typing as he hurried to get all his information on the screen. A photo of the dead petty officer appeared on the screen.

"Petty Officer Eric Johnson. He's stationed at Quantico. He had the day off yesterday. Said he was 'spending it with the Mrs.'. His wife," McGee paused before clicking a button, allowing a photo of a blonde-haired woman to cover the already existing picture. "is Sandra Johnson. She's not answering her cell or the landline."

"Ziva—" Gibbs was about to see what information Ziva had collected when the shrill ringing of his phone cut him off. The dreaded noise caused him to think of the last few phone calls he had. A fear ran through him as his eyes darted nervously towards the monstrosity.

Although this was all within a few seconds, it felt like an eternity for Gibbs. With a slight frown upon his face, he moved towards his desk. Closing his eyes, already hearing her voice in his ears, his fingers laced around the phone. Placing it to his ear, he gave his normal greeting, while noticing the slam of a backpack on the ground—Tony.

"Boss! I've got something for you!" Gibbs let out a silent breath as he heard Abby's voice. His shoulders relaxed as he rubbed a hand over his face. The fearful thoughts crept out of his head once he heard the bubbly lab technician's voice.

Characteristically hanging up the phone without another word, he turned to his team. "Find that missing wife." Walking purposefully towards the elevator, Gibbs felt the guilt he had been feeling for awhile. I should have been there for her. She wouldn't have died if I was watching out for her. It's all my fault.

Tony watched his boss walk away before turning to look at his teammates. "What I miss?"

"Say, Pro-bay," Tony started out of his chair as he moved towards the younger agent. With his hands behind his back, he stepped closer to his friend, taking his time. "You get a fix on that missing wife yet?" His fingers ran across McGee's desk, and McGee looked up at the standing man. What was he up to?

"Not yet Tony," he looked back towards his computer. He, Tony, and Ziva had been calling anyone that had seemed to be in contact with Sandra Johnson, but no one had seen her.

Ziva watched as DiNozzo moved towards the middle of the bullpen. Campfire, she thought. Tony had enjoyed doing them whenever he got the chance which wasn't often since Gibbs was there most of the time. Well not so much anymore. He seemed distracted, tired. Ziva couldn't figure out what it was exactly, but there was something going on with Gibbs. And there would be hell to pay if she confronted him.

Tony's lips parted with unspoken words as he was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. Reaching for his pocket, DiNozzo realized that it wasn't his own cell. Turning towards his two partners to see who it was, he was met with two shaking heads in the negative. That only left…Gibbs' and the last time DiNozzo had seen Gibbs leave his cell phone…well he never did. It was either attached to his side or Gibbs was throwing it against the wall in frustration.

On any other day, Tony would have left the phone alone, but he'd been looking for trouble. Well at least trouble from Gibbs. Tony needed Gibbs to be mad at him or at least head slap him. It was so strange not getting the normal 'punishment'. Reaching out and grabbing the phone off the desk, Tony placed it against his ear and waited to see who it was.

"Daddy?" DiNozzo furrowed his eyebrows. Daddy? Gibbs? His expression wasn't lost upon his two co-workers who had immediately gotten out of their seats to get closer, hoping to hear the conversation Tony would be having, but also keeping their eyes on the elevator in case Gibbs came back.

"Who is this?" Almost immediately after his question there was a click that signaled the end of their connection. The person had hung up, but what was that all about? If it was the wrong number they would have said something…right? And Gibbs isn't a father. Well he was, but…not anymore.

"Who was it?" Ziva asked anxiously. She looked between Tony's frozen expression of confusion and McGee's look of intrigue. Tony snapped the phone shut before placing it back on Gibbs' desk.

His long legs carried him away from the bullpen, Ziva calling after him. "Where are you going?"

"I've got a lead," he called back as the elevator closed. A lead, yes. But not for the case. He had a lead to what might be making Gibbs so uneasy, so…unGibbs-like. He'd have to talk to Abby and Ducky sooner than he'd thought.

A/N: As I said, I'm not too sure about this story, so let me know what you think. I felt like the death of Gibbs' family (Kelly and Shannon) was kind of brushed over. It's mentioned slightly in episodes like "Lost and Found" (Season 5 Episode 9), when Gibbs is asked if he has any children. But other than that, it's not really explored I guess. Also, I'm a sucker for a little Gibbs-DiNozzo, father-son connection.