Author's Note: This takes place a few months after Gibbs gains official custody of Tony.
It's dedicated to Velveteen Habit, who gave me the idea through a fabulous one-liner she p.m.'d back to me when we were talking about bringing Mike Franks into the world of "Unconditional". Thanks, VH! And thank you, Bunny, for all your help!
Mike Franks was a man of as few words, as his probie Jethro Gibbs, and so he never bothered to call the man to let him know he was flying into D.C. on some old 'company business'. Thought he'd surprise the younger agent, if he could even find him at home when he got there. He knew full well Gibb's penchant for running himself and his team ragged on a case if that's what it took to get it solved and closed. But Franks would be in town a few days at least, there was surely a time that he could meet up with Probie and catch up on old news.
He stepped out of the airport into the chilly D.C. autumn air and shook all the way down to his shoes. Enh, a cigarette would take the bite out of it, he figured, lighting one up while he waited for a cab to take him to his hotel. He didn't miss D.C. even one tiny bit, not the noise, or the cold, and least of all, the politics. But he did miss his old probie, and hoped Jethro could tear himself away from work long enough for at least a steak and some beers. He squashed out the barely-lit cigarette when an available cab pulled up. He piled in with his one and only piece of luggage, a ratty military duffel slung over his shoulder, and tried not to inhale the dozens of untreatable odors emanating from the back of the cab.
While Franks was traversing the clogged streets of downtown D.C., LJ Gibbs was not only NOT at work at the Navy Yard, he was not at work at home, either, even though he was supposed to be hoeing out the clutter in the garage to make room for the clutter that used to be in the guest room. Instead, he was helping build a link-n-log cabin in the middle of his living room while his contractor gave out orders around his nuk.
"Peepa inside, da."
"You want the people inside already? It's not done being built, it still needs a roof!"
"Peepa inside now. Done built."
"Wow. Okay. Glad you're not MY contractor."
Gibbs picked up the squatty toy people and set them inside the four walls.
"Goo', da. Now pig."
"You want the PIG in there, too? Pigs live out in the barn, bud, not in the cabin."
"Pig now."
"Alright," Gibbs obliged in a skeptical voice. "One pig comin' into the cabin. You know, pigs like to roll around in the mud and crud, dontcha? He won't be happy living in a clean house."
"Horse, den. An' cow."
"Wow. I think if I were these people I'd go live in the barn." Gibbs shook his head, but took the pig out and put in the cow and horse.
"NOW woof."
"You want the dog in there, too? That's kind of crowded."
"NO, WOOF!"
"Oh. You want the ROOF on now. Okay, Bubba, hold on, I need to go refill my coffee before I start on that. Don't go anywhere, bud." And Gibbs knew he wouldn't, mainly because he'd erected a sturdy child's gate between the living room and front hallway. He turned on his way to the kitchen to see Tony examining the pig he'd decided to oust from the cabin. It had taken Tony a couple of weeks to not turn into a sobbing wreck when Gibbs had to leave him, whether it was daycare or just another room. His daycare meltdowns were epic. Tony's were infamous, too.
But both had made themselves adjust, mostly for the other's sake. Once Tony realized that Gibbs hadn't truly abandoned him, he learned to wait it out and occupy himself until his return. So now he examined the pink pig for mud while his father fixed a snack for them and a fresh cup of coffee.
Neither heard the front door quietly open as Mike Franks made his way into the house to try to sneak up on his uber-aware ex-partner. Franks first noticed the child gate out of the corner of his eye, and then the child behind it. What. The. Hell. He approached quietly, not wanting to startle the kid still concentrating on the plastic farm animals, and in a moment of nervous confusion, unconsciously took out a cigarette and searched for a match. Tony saw movement out of the corner of HIS eye and looked up to see Franks looming over him. Before he could open his mouth to scream out in terror, Franks beat him to it.
"Where's Probie, kid? Got a light?"
. . . . .
The scream from the living room scared Gibbs so badly that he dropped both plateful of food and his coffee in mid-stride. The searing-hot liquid splashed up his pants leg, but he barely registered it, his mind a terrified blank as to what godawful thing could have happened to his son in what he thought was a child-proofed room. He skidded over the broken pieces of china and slippery food, and made it to the living room just before the second shriek ripped out of the boy's throat. Without looking for what was harming him, he snatched Tony off the floor and readied to run him out to the truck to take him to the ER., when he came face to face with his mentor.
"God dammit, Mike, what the hell're you trying to DO, terrify us both to death? Why the hell didn't you KNOCK?"
"Never had to before, and why the hell didn't you WARN me about him?"
"WARN you, he's not a god damned PIT bull, Mike, why would I have to WARN you about him, and why the hell didn't you tell me you were in town?"
"Wanted to SURPRISE ya. Guess I sure as hell did."
Gibbs stopped yelling long enough to feel Tony still quaking in terror. This was going to be a big one, and he wasn't sure if he shouldn't call Ducky to come help him. He tried to calm himself, realizing he was shaking as hard as his son from thinking that Tony was in mortal pain the way he had shrieked. He also realized his legs were literally like jelly and if he didn't sit down right then, he'd drop to his knees with Tony in his arms, so he stumbled back onto the couch and as gently as he could, managed to collapse back into it. Through his haze of fear and confusion he heard Frank's gravel voice, softened to a contrite timbre.
"Sorry, Probie. Yer right, I shoulda called. Never HAD to before."
"Yeah. Okay, hold on, Mike, Bubba's about to go ballistic here, you might wanna - "
"I can handle it!" Mike cut in tersely.
Gibbs nodded with a half smirk and scrunched his own eyes shut. The last time Tony had been subjected to fear and yelling and general mishandling, he had nearly blown out Gibb's eardrum in one shot. He didn't fail to disappoint this time, either, and let loose again at the top of his lungs.
"HOLY Mother of Pearl!" was all Franks could say as he took a shocked step back.
"Easy, baby, it's alright," Gibbs began to soothe in earnest now that the volcano had erupted and let off steam. "He didn't mean to scare you, and we shouldn't have yelled, it's okay, now, sshhh..." Gibbs alternately rubbed and patted Tony's back.
"Is he ALWAYS that loud and uptight?"
"NO, he's not always that loud!" Gibbs shot back defensively. "And he's only ever UPTIGHT when somebody upsets him or scares the CRAP outta him! What the hell were ya thinkin', Mike?"
"Don't know, Jethro, wasn't expecting to walk in here and find a little KID sittin' in your living room! By the time I saw 'im, he'd seen ME, and I didn't dare move or yell for ya or anything cause I didn't wanna SCARE the little guy! He - IS a guy, right, I mean, it's sorta hard to TELL with all those curls and dimples."
"No, Mike, I've just been calling him HE to mess with your head. Easy, kiddo, breathe, take a deep breath, THERE ya go..." Gibbs pressed Tony to his chest to get him to match his breathing, a rubbed circles on his back. He was finally calming to hiccuping sobs.
"Is he yours?"
"Yeah, just not legally yet. Waiting for it to clear the courts."
"Not from an ex or a -"
"You mean did someone drop him off on my doorstep with a note saying 'He's yours, I can't take care of him, good luck.'? No, nothing like that."
"Then whose?"
"Ever heard of Anthony DiNozzo?"
"THE Anthony DiNozzo? Just got nailed for embezzlement and tax fraud along with possible arms dealing?"
"You hear all that down in Mexico?"
"Old friend at the Bureau told me."
"Fornell?"
"Yup. Talked to him a few days ago. Wasn't s'posed to, he was on a conference call with the guy I WAS supposed to be talking to. Told me DiNozzo had been arrested trying to sneak off to Aruba. Didn't give me details, just happened to tell me 'cause I asked him what was going on with him and it was a big deal for his department. So what's the kid got to do with him?"
"He's DiNozzo's son."
"Holy SHIT, Probie, are you NUTS? What the hell you DOIN' with a kid like-"
"You know, Mike, this is exactly why I didn't tell ya about him." Gibbs snatched up a Kleenex and wiped Tony's eyes and nose with it. His voice turned hard and quiet. "You got a problem with my son, you've got a problem with me. You think he's 'tainted' 'cause of who his father is."
"I think you got ISSUES with him you can't BEGIN to understand, if you think all you have to do is sign some papers that say he's YOURS and then ride away into the sunset..."
Gibbs felt Tony starting to quake again. He truly loved the man sitting next to him, owed him his solid start at the agency, owed him his life a couple times over. But he wasn't going to sit there and let the man upset his child, and malign the kid because he had bad luck of being born to an unrepentant criminal who'd made his fortune walking on the backs of others. He made sure to keep his tone of voice pleasant and even, as if they were talking about grilling steaks and not the pedigree of his son.
"Mike, you're a smart man, but you don't know EVERYTHING, and you have no business coming here and saying that stuff about my boy. He is barely two years old, and he is NOT his father! He knows nothing ABOUT the man other than that he broke his arm when he was 11 months old and terrorized him the rest of the time. Now we're going to change the subject, and turn down the decibel level or you're going to leave here and not come back until you can be civil about it. Do I make myself clear?"
"Probie, yer not thinkin' this whole thing through!"
"Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear."
"Yeah, Probie, ya do. I - I guess I'd better head back to the city, got a meeting at 17:00."
"Mike - I don't want this to come between us."
"Then I guess you shoulda thought of that before ya brought 'im home."
"You're asking me to CHOOSE between the TWO of you?"
"I'm askin' you to get yer head outta yer ass and see what yer gettin' yerself INTO!"
"Yeah. Okay. If you really think I'm that naive, then I guess maybe I DO need to make a choice."
"Never said you were naive, Probie. Just think ya got blinders on 'cause you got a chance to replace Kelly."
"I will NEVER be able to replace Kelly, and you KNOW that! Don't you go throwing her in my face, too, she's got nothing to DO with him! Just go back to Mexico, Mike, where the only thing you have to worry about is how low you are on Coronas! Not like the REST of us in the REAL world that have to deal with whether we take a kid in or hand him off to social services and let them stick him in a foster home. TELL me, Mike, you really think he'd have a shot at being adopted with his father's reputation hanging over his head? So he gets fostered his entire life, never in one place for very long cause the system doesn't know what to do with him...how long before he's thrown in juvie, then into the REAL jail system? Don't stand there and lecture me about how WRONG I am when YOU spend your days gettin' drunk on the beach and your nights whoring around town! You have no right!"
Franks had had Gibbs angry at him, for a variety of reasons before this, but never had he seen such unabated fury on the man's face. His eyes blazed with something Franks had only ever imagined being in his own...pure and unadulterated parental rage at not only having his parenting skills and sanity questioned, but his child insulted as well. Gibbs had never before said such hurtful things to him, even in a drunken tirade, but Franks had never ripped open old wounds or poked the papa bear with a really sharp stick. He knew that in his own effort to protect his younger friend, he had stepped well over the line, so he did the only thing he could think of and something he very rarely resorted to. He stepped back over it.
"Yer right, Probie," he offered in a quiet, contrite voice. "I - I don't know the whole picture here, and I shouldn't assume you don't have things under control. Of all the people I know, you woulda had every angle of it scoped out and covered. Just kinda hit me outta left field with his father. Had all kinds of scenarios goin' on my head as to what that man could do to destroy you. Never meant to make it seem like you don't know what you're doing with him. Or that there's somethin' wrong with him."
"Well then, you shoulda thought before you opened yer MOUTH, Mike! Why would you think I didn't have all my bases covered on this, HELL, I even got Trent KORT doing my bidding for me! Got Uncle TOBY keeping a thumb on his father, got Morrow and HIS cohorts keeping his eye on everyone else! There's no one coming AFTER me, Mike, OR him, I made up my mind when I decided to KEEP him that I wasn't gonna live in fear of his father coming back to haunt me! I all but sold my SOUL for him, so you either accept the way things are, or you go back to Mexico and don't set foot through my door again. You KNOW how I FEEL about ya, Mike, but I can't have it, I WON' T have it, not even from YOU. Fought too hard to have him in my life, won't allow ANYBODY to hurt him again, not even with words."
Franks put his hands up in a defensive gesture, while a low chuckle broke out in his throat.
"I think I got the message, Jethro, LOUD AND CLEAR. And God and all his angels help the poor slob who REALLY threatens the kid." He paused for a moment, watching Gibbs smooth his large hand over the tiny head on his shoulder. "So. You think you could round up a cup of coffee for me and I can try to start over on this goatrope of a surprise visit?"
Gibbs eyed the man warily, taking time to read his eyes, then turned and headed for the kitchen.
"No smoking in the house, and no picking on my boy. Second one gets you tossed out of here on the end of my sniper rifle."
Franks closed his eyes and took a deep breath, telling himself he'd damned well better learn to edit himself around his probie now. This wasn't the old days anymore, he didn't get to say the first thing on the end of his tongue and get away with it. His 'Probie' was really no longer that, hadn't been for a long time. He was the leader of the signature NCIS team, and even more importantly, a daddy again. And daddies just didn't allow everything probies had to. This was a new era, for BOTH of them, and Franks would have to make some major adjustments to his brand of thinking. He knew he could, and would, do it, if it meant keeping in the younger man's good graces and consequently, keeping his ex-partner in his life. And maybe it wouldn't be so bad anyways. This Bubba was a cute kid, even if he DID have a shriek that would split an atom. And Jethro was going to need all the help he could GET raising him up and keeping him safe.
Two hours, and 3 cups of coffee later, Mike Franks made his way out to his rental car with the remnants of a sloppy baby kiss on his cheek, and the parting gift of a pink plastic pig in his hand. He drove to his meeting in the city with his head full of ways to get Jethro and his boy to come spend some time with him in Mexico. Seems his Probie wasn't quite as addled as he had first thought when it came to Anthony 'Bubba' Gibbs.