Chapter Two: One Lie, Two Lies, Three Lies, Four…
Tony was well aware his rapidly jiggling foot was vibrating the entire car and betraying the calm outward appearance he liked to have in front of his coworkers but no matter how hard he tried—and boy was he trying—he couldn't calm the nervous energy and still his leg. Thankfully, Jimmy was gracious enough to not say anything, even though Tony was certain his little gremlin brain was whirring with questions about why Tony had called and practically begged him to come to the crime scene and pick him up and what had him so on edge.
"You sure you want me to drop you off at NCIS, Tony?" Jimmy asked cautiously. "We could go back to my place for a while. I could use a break from studying." And you don't look like you're in any condition to work, he added silently. Jimmy knew Tony wouldn't want the others to see him in the state he was in and he really wanted to protect Tony but Tony had to be willing to let him.
All the adrenaline coursing through Tony's veins had his brain in overdrive and seemed to allow him to process thoughts much quicker. He considered Jimmy's offer for a few seconds before nodding his head almost as manically as he was shaking his leg. "That sounds great, Gremlin," he answered. "Let's go back to your place."
"You know you can talk to me, right, Tony?" Jimmy asked.
"I know," Tony answered.
"'cause you're kinda freakin' me out right now, man. What's going on?"
Tony plastered an innocent look on his face and shrugged. "Nothing's going on. Just overworked and underpaid like everybody else. I guess it's just getting to me today. No big deal. I'm fine and don't you dare go calling Gibbs and telling him otherwise. In fact, you have to promise me you won't call Gibbs."
Jimmy watched his friend's unusual behavior out of the corner of his eye while he waited for the red light to change to green. It was very obvious that Tony needed help, and more help than Jimmy could give him at that, but Jimmy wasn't the type to betray a friend's trust, especially if that friend was Tony. Tony had been a great friend to him ever since he'd started at NCIS.
"Maybe I should just let him know you're with me and you're okay," Jimmy suggested. "He'd gonna worry when he realizes you're not at the crime scene anymore."
"No, Palmer," Tony said firmly. "Do not. Call. Gibbs."
"Alright," Jimmy reluctantly agreed.
"I wanna hear you say it."
"I won't call Gibbs," Jimmy said, and he meant it. Ducky, on the other hand, would be receiving a call as soon as Jimmy got somewhere a little more private.
Gibbs waited until they were done processing the crime scene before sending Tim back to headquarters in the truck and turning his attention to Tony. He'd assumed Tony just needed some time to himself and would come wandering back eventually but it had been over an hour and there was still no sign of him. The lead agent was hoping some time alone with Tony on the ride back would give him a chance to get to the bottom of whatever was going but first he had to find him.
Tony wasn't taking his calls and he wasn't returning any messages which worried Gibbs on a whole new level. Tony knew how rare it was for him to actually leave a message and he'd left multiple messages over the course of the morning; everything from angry 'where the hell are you?' messages to more subdued 'I'm worried about you, T. Call me. Please.' messages but Tony was still in radio silence.
He decided against leaving another message when he saw Ducky approaching. "You good, Duck?" he asked, flipping his phone closed and returning it to his belt.
"I'm fine, Jethro," Ducky answered warmly. "I have everything I need. It would appear, however, that Anthony is not. I just got off the phone with Mr. Palmer. Anthony's with him."
"Palmer? Isn't he home studying?"
"He was until he got a call from Tony begging to be picked up."
"Begging?" The whole situation was getting weirder and weirder and Gibbs didn't like it one bit. "Why would Tony beg to be picked up from a crime scene? Why would he leave in the first place? And why the hell didn't he tell me?"
"I don't have any answers for you beyond what I already told you, Jethro," Ducky replied. "All Jimmy said was that Anthony seems to be quite upset and that he made him promise not to call you, which I'm assuming is the reason I got a call. Jimmy knew that I would tell you."
Gibbs tried to hide the look of hurt at Tony's attempt to shut him out of the situation and tried to keep the anger from boiling over at the same time. He couldn't decide if he wanted to go find Tony and demand answers or back off and give him the space he obviously needed to work through whatever the hell it was he needed to work through. "Where are they?" he asked.
"They're at Mr. Palmer's apartment but may I give you some advice, Jethro?"
Gibbs grunted and nodded.
"Don't go over there and confront the boy when you're angry. That won't get you the answers you desire and it won't help the situation at all."
"Why'd he go to Palmer instead of me, Duck?" Gibbs asked, calming slightly.
Ducky knew how much it pained Gibbs to let go of his stubborn nature and ask him that question. The man wasn't open when it came to relationships and he never asked for advice and even though Ducky felt honored that Gibbs had asked him, he wasn't going to take it easy on him. "Possibly for the same reason you sought solace with bourbon and boatbuilding in your basement during your last three marriages."
"That was different, Ducky. None of my wives understood anything about me. They weren't there for me. I wasn't there for them either but…" he let his voice trail off and ended with a shrug of his shoulders and a sour look on his face.
"And are you there for Anthony?" Ducky asked pointedly. "With your quick rolls in the hay and even quicker disappearing acts?" Pain was replaced by anger on Gibbs' face but Ducky kept going. "That's what I was talking about when I said you need to be all in. You and Anthony treat each other like one night stands and you don't talk to your one night stand about important issues. You don't let them in. You don't show them the real you, Jethro."
"No," Gibbs objected, "Tony and I aren't like that. This is different."
"Is it?" Ducky asked. He favored Gibbs with a questioning look before turning and heading back towards the van, leaving Gibbs alone to ponder what he'd said.
"We have to go," Tony demanded. He was looming over Jimmy and looking as manic as ever. He'd been pacing the living room ever since they'd arrived, a clear contradiction to the 'I'm fine' he'd told Jimmy in the car.
"Huh?" Tony had changed his mind about what he wanted so many times that Jimmy was struggling to keep up. He was growing more and more concerned by the moment. They hadn't been at his place very long and Tony hadn't relaxed at all.
"Take me back to NCIS!" Tony snapped.
"Alright," Jimmy said calmly. "Just let me get my keys and we'll go."
"We have to make a quick stop on the way," Tony grunted.
He was out the door and down the hall before Jimmy could even get his shoes on but Jimmy, patient as ever, slipped his feet into his shoes and hurried off after Tony with a smile on his face and concern in his eyes.
Abby was knee deep in evidence from three other cases when Gibbs and Tim arrived with two more boxes to add to her growing inventory. Desperate to keep up, Abby quickly scribbled her name to the evidence log and was just getting ready to get started when she realized something was off. Gibbs and Tim were standing in her lab holding boxes of evidence. Gibbs hardly ever delivered evidence. Where was Tony? He never passed up an opportunity to come down and see her so if he wasn't there, something must be wrong.
She pointed her remote control over her shoulder and silenced her music, worry etching itself in her expression as her mind raced with every possible horrible thing that could've happened to Tony. "Where's Tony?" She was almost afraid to ask but not knowing would be worse. "Gibbs?" One look at him and it was obvious she wasn't going to get any answers out of him. That either meant everything was fine and Gibbs was just annoyed with Tony or something so horrible had happened that Gibbs couldn't bear to talk about it. She turned her attention to McGee. "Timmy?"
"We don't know," Tim answered. "He walked away from the crime scene this morning and we haven't seen him since."
"What?!" Abby shrieked. "That's totally not like him! Something must be wrong. You guys just left him there? What if he was kidnapped? Or got lost? Or hurt? What if he's all alone out there somewhere dying?"
"DiNozzo's with Palmer," Gibbs said, cutting Abby off before she could get too out of control with theories. "Focus on the case, both of you. Abs, call when you get something. McGee, you're with me."
"But—"
"Ah-ah," Gibbs interjected, holding up a single finger to silence the forensic scientist. He leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Abby's cheek in a last ditch effort to calm her before turning and heading towards the elevator with McGee in tow. Tony not being there felt like his fault and Abby's questions felt like his failure being rubbed in. He had no answers to give them so there was no point in standing around speculating.
"Boss?" Tim's voice was almost a hoarse whisper but he spoke with as much confidence as he could muster. It was his first time having to deal with Gibbs alone. Tony was always there and he always knew how to handle the man.
"Call Metro," Gibbs said, "make sure they're bringing Tatum here when he's released from the hospital, then get started on backgrounds."
"Yes, Boss."
The elevator dinged and the two stepped out into the squad room. Gibbs had been hoping for two minutes to himself to wrap his head around the situation but seeing the director standing by his desk told him that wasn't going to happen.
"Jethro," Tom Morrow called when he saw him approaching, "I hear you left this morning with two agents and only returned with one. Where's Agent DiNozzo?"
"Dentist appointment," Gibbs lied flawlessly.
"Must've forgotten to submit his time off paperwork again," Morrow said.
Gibbs gave a slight nod of his head but didn't offer any more details. "You mind?" he asked. "I gotta hit the head."
"Sure," Morrow said. He nodded formally to McGee as he passed by the junior agent's desk on the way to elevator. Before he could push the button, the elevator dinged and Tony stepped off with a smile as bright as ever, carrying two boxes of pizza. "Everything must've gone well at the dentist," the director said, glancing at the pizza.
"Huh?" Tony asked.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked, before he had a chance to blow the lie.
"Uh, gotta go," Tony told the director before scurrying over to where Gibbs was in the middle of the bullpen.
Gibbs waited until the elevator door closed with the director inside before getting right up in Tony's face and grinding out, "Where have you been?" with barely controlled anger.
Tony's smile didn't falter as he held up the pizza boxes. "I thought I'd get lunch for everyone," he answered. "Seems like it might be a long day and my brain works better on a full stomach."
Gibbs took the pizza boxes out of Tony's hand and tossed them onto his desk before crooking a finger at Tony and heading off towards the back elevator.
"What the hell is going on with you today?" he asked. "Where have you been?"
"I told you," Tony answered, still playing dumb, "getting lunch."
"That's not gonna fly with me," Gibbs ground out angrily before raising his voice even more. "I want the truth!"
Despite the anger radiating off of Gibbs and being in such close proximity with no place to run or hide, Tony laughed in response the man's question. "That is the truth, Boss."
"Then don't talk to me as your boss," Jethro pleaded, desperate to understand. "Talk to me as Jethro. Tell me what's going on."
"Nothing's going on," Tony insisted. "I don't know what you're referring to."
The anger lines in Gibbs' face deepened and he got right in Tony's face again. "I'm referring to your refusal to question our victim. I'm referring to you walking away from our crime scene without a word to anyone. I'm referring to you ignoring my calls!"
Each sentence grew louder in volume but instead of standing strong in front of Gibbs like Tony had always done in the past he started shrinking back into himself more and more. The strange behavior only confused Gibbs more. Why wasn't Tony standing up to him? Where were the quips and spark and fight that made up Tony's personality? He almost looked scared and it was more than a little unsettling. Gibbs never imagined he'd be on the receiving end of that look. Why all the lies? When had they started lying to each other? And why, all of a sudden, wouldn't Tony talk to him? He'd been fine the night before. Jethro was sure of it and he'd been his usual goofy self in the bullpen that morning but now he was disappearing from crime scenes, lying and looking like a loud noise might send him running and screaming in the opposite direction.
It appeared the crime that had happened at Rock Creek Park that morning wasn't the only mystery Gibbs had to solve. Another one had just landed on his plate and Tony was making it clear that he was really going to have to dig for any clues.