Warnings: Spoilers for "Broken Arrow"
A/N: Happy long weekend everyone!
amaia- Hmmm not sure if Senior would agree to going into AA. I'm not sure even if Senior got sober if he could have a normal relationship with Tony.
E-Ah, Senior is sticking around for a few chapters at least.
"So, your dad's in town," Tim said, breaking the tense silence of the bullpen. It had been tense and silent since Tony and Natalie returned from picking up Senior at the bus station. Tim was finding that he really did not like a quiet Tony. "Do you have any plans to spend time with him?"
"My dad doesn't make plans with me," Tony replied. His head was bowed and he was working on a report. "He arrives and expects me to drop everything for him." Or he arrives punch ass drunk and doesn't even remember being there.
Tim gazed across the bullpen at Natalie. She quickly averted her eyes and went back to work. Something was going on here—something that Tony didn't want to tell the rest of his team about. "Your dad wasn't at your apartment last night?"
Tony refused to look up. He knew that Gibbs had already cornered Natalie and asked her about his father. Since the boss was walking around the building glaring at Tony he concluded that Natalie had told him nothing. "Did he say he was at my apartment last night?"
"No. Actually he sounded surprised that he had shared the cab with Iverson and was dropped off at your apartment," Tim said. "I think Gibbs wants one of us to go to talk to the cab driver."
"I'll go," Tony said, standing up and dropping his pen onto his desk. He quickly grabbed his badge and weapon and then slipped into his coat. "Anyone want me to pick up lunch on the way back?"
Before Tim or Natalie could answer Gibbs reappeared in the bullpen. "DiNozzo, you're not going anywhere. Until your father can give me a solid alibi for last night he's a suspect in this murder," the team leader announced. "You're staying put. McGee take Callahan and go talk to the taxi driver."
Natalie and Tim rose quietly from their desks, grabbed their jackets, gear, and headed towards the elevator. Tony stood there watching them leave. He didn't move until he felt Gibbs presence in front of his desk. "Boss... I could have handled that interview."
The former marine shook his head. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me what happened last night. Whatever it was, Natalie is standing behind you and keeping her mouth shut. But you've put her in a bad place, Tony."
"It's complicated, Gibbs. It's family—you should understand how complicated it can get."
"You and Natalie might be able to clear your father's name."
"I'm choosing to let the evidence clear his name."
Gibbs could tell that he was going to get nowhere with Tony. The SFA was putting up a high wall that he was not about to let anyone scale. "Fine. If that's the way you want this to go—go see Abby. See if the evidence suggests as you said—that it will clear your father's name."
Tim and Natalie tracked the cab driver down to a little local deli. He was leaning against his cab eating a sandwich and he was also a bit perturbed when the agents asked if he could answer a few questions.
"I'm on my lunch break here," the driver complained with a mouthful of sandwich. Mustard squirted out and plopped onto his already stain covered tee shirt. "Didn't pick up any Navy guys recently so I don't know what you Navy cops want that can't wait 'til I'm done."
"You picked up two passengers from Dulles International Airport last night," Natalie said, pulling out a photograph. She held it up. "One of these men ended up dead on the campus of the Naval Academy. Where did you drop him off?"
For a second the driver's eyes went wide. "That guy is dead? I would have figured if either one of them ended up dead, it would have been the drunk guy. I dropped the dead guy off at the Adams House Hotel... still alive and kicking when he got out of my cab."
Natalie could feel Tim's eyes on her when the driver mentioned how drunk Senior was but she continued to question the driver. They could come back to the topic of Senior later, much later. "Did you notice if anyone followed you to the hotel?"
"Lady, it was raining. All I know is I dropped the drunk off and went to the hotel."
"You just left the drunk man on the curb?"
"Hey, I wanted him out of my cab before he puked. If I had to clean up after him I would have lost business time. Can I get back to my lunch now?"
Natalie sighed and nodded her head. Turning, she headed back towards their car. She knew that the conversation was coming about Senior and what happened at the apartment the night before—and she wasn't looking forward to it.
Tim climbed into the driver's seat and wordlessly started the car up. He could tell by the way she was staring out the window that she didn't want to talk and unlike Gibbs, he wasn't going to corner her and demand answers. Although his interest was certainly peaked that Senior had showed up drunk at Tony's apartment the night before and no one wanted to talk about it.
It was starting to sound like there was no exaggeration when it came to Tony's childhood and it was probably safe to assume that Natalie knew even more of those stories.
"Are you going to ask?" Natalie suddenly inquired, ending their silent drive.
"Ask what?" Tim countered.
"About Tony's dad showing up at his apartment last night?"
"Oh... well you know I don't like to pry."
She smiled at him, gently and titled her head slightly. "So you aren't curious?"
Tim nervously looked straight ahead while he drove towards the Adams House. "I might be... but only because it pertains to the case."
Natalie sighed and rubbed her temple. "He did. I hate that he wants me to keep my mouth shut but... it's his wishes, Tim."
He was worried now. Was Tony going to be in some kind of trouble with his dad? Tim sensed that Natalie did not want to be in the middle of the inevitable war between Gibbs and Tony over Senior, but that was clearly where she was.
She went back to silently watching the scenery pass them by. Natalie was really starting to hate being backed into a corner like this. She was worried about Tony and for his safety. Yet, at the same time she didn't want to betray him by blabbing that Senior had shown up so drunk that he trashed the apartment, passed out, and left in the morning without even saying good-bye.
For the remainder of their drive to the hotel they didn't talk much, just a few comments here and there about the weather, Thanksgiving plans—small talk—and they both were avoiding the subject of Tony's father. Senior was long forgotten when hotel management told them that Iverson took a cab early that morning to the Naval Academy and that he seemed to be anxious about something.
"Maybe we should call the cab company and have the cab taxied into the garage," Natalie suggested.
"Why?" Tim asked. "He wasn't killed in the cab."
"He might have left something behind incase he was being followed," Natalie replied, pulling out her cell phone and dialing the cab company. "Let's hope this driver is more friendly than the last one."
Tony pulled up to the Adams House Hotel and shut the car down. He gripped the steering wheel tightly. "I'm not happy about this too you know," he told his father, tightly, refusing to look at him. "But until the case is closed NCIS needs you to stay in town."
Senior had told Gibbs that it was okay that he had to stay in town—with a smile on his face of course—but now that he was alone with his son he was wearing an angry and stern expression. It was an expression that Tony was used to seeing. "I saw nothing and your forensic specialist already cleared me. There is no reason for me to stick around. Agent Gibbs doing this because I stopped by your apartment last night?"
"Oh, so you admit that you were there last night?" Tony snapped. "That you remember destroying my living room, throwing a hot pot of coffee at my girlfriend?"
"I have no memory of being at your place, Junior," Senior snapped back. "I partied too much on that flight home. I'm sorry if I bruised your ego."
Tony clenched his jaw. "Bruised my ego? Is that what you think you did? Dad, I can't keep doing this! I've already told Larry that he's no longer allowed to let you into my apartment. I have someone else to think about, someone else that could get hurt when you go into one of your drunken rages and I am not going to be responsible for her getting injured. I'm not a kid anymore, Dad. If you do that again, I'll have your ass arrested."
Senior balled his fists up against his thighs. "You always overreacted to everything, Junior, just like your mother, God rest her soul."
It was just like his father to throw his mother into the equations. His mother had not been perfect, she had her own issues, but she had loved her son. Tony could recall how peaceful the house would be when Senior was out of town. His mother never drank then. But when his father came home that's when the fights would start. There was a long list of domestic violence reports at the South Hampton, NY police department. The Paddingtons' and later the DiNozzos' money always got his father out of serving jail time. "I think it's rather unfair of you to drag mom into this when she's been dead for thirty years."
"Are you done berating me like a toddler?" Senior snarled, opening the passenger door to Tony's car. "I'm rather exhausted."
"Fine. We're done," Tony hissed, staring straight ahead and wanting to be free from baby-sitting his father for the night.
Senior got out of the car and reached for the door, slamming it shut. Tony watched as his father charmed the bellhop to get his bag. The bellhop pulled the luggage from the trunk of Tony's car. Tony waited until his father was inside the hotel before he started his car up. He had a date with Natalie and he was not going to be late for it.
"I know it's not fancy," Natalie said when Tony arrived at her apartment, "But I think you could use your favorite pizza and a James Bond movie marathon."
"Pizza and a movie marathon sound good to me," Tony said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. "You always know just what I need."
Natalie smiled at him and eased into his embrace. "Things with your father have been... stressful. I know that you were hoping that he could go back to New York after today and Gibbs deciding to keep him around for no apparent reason had to rub salt into the wound."
Tony sighed and pulled her closer. "Gibbs is sore that I didn't tell him what happened with my father last night. I'm sure that he thinks that if my father stays around, that eventually I'll tell him what happened."
"Maybe you should tell him," Natalie suggested.
"It's my problem and I'm going to handle it," Tony told her.
She started to protest but he brought a finger to her lips and hushed her. Natalie rocked back on her heels and sighed. "Pizza is getting cold. We probably should eat," she said, smiling at him gently.
He kissed her again before he pulled away. Tony grabbed the pizza box and took her by the hand into the living room. "Eating this pizza and forgetting about my dad for the evening sounds like the perfect plan."
Natalie let him pull her onto the sofa. She flopped against the cushions and watched as he served the pizza. Tucking her feet underneath her she ate her dinner in silence, noticing that the tension in Tony's shoulders eased while they watched his favorite James Bond movies. "Tony... I only wanted you to tell Gibbs because I don't want you to get hurt."
Tony looked at her gently. He put his pizza down and opened is arms to her, inviting her to come to him. When she had settled there, he kissed her temple. "I know," he whispered. "But Gibbs is only going to make matters worse. You saw what happened in that interrogation today. It was like two prizefighters going at it. Can you imagine what would have happened if Gibbs had known about him trashing my place last night?"
"Okay, but can we make a deal—that if it happens again, we'll tell Gibbs?"
"Would it make you feel better if I said yes?"
"Yes. It would."
Searching her eyes for a moment Tony contemplated his answer. She needed reassurance that he was going to be safe. "If it happens again—I'll tell Gibbs."
Natalie frowned slightly and looked at him seriously. "You're not crossing your fingers behind my back are you?"
Tony chuckled. "No. I'm not. I swear, if my father shows up in a drunken rage at my apartment and trashes it again—I'll tell Gibbs."
"Wait, that's not what I meant," Natalie started to say but was interrupted when Tony's cell phone rang.
"Hold that thought," Tony said, as he grabbed for his cell.
Natalie cleared the pizza box while Tony was on the phone. She wished that she could make him understand that his father was toxic. Tony deserved better. He shouldn't still be cleaning up after his father all these years...
Tony startled her when he stormed out of the apartment and down the stairs. Grabbing her weapon, badge, and keys, Natalie followed behind him, locking her apartment up before she did so. He was all the way outside to his car by the time she caught up with him. "Tony?" Natalie called out, "What's going on? Where are you going?"
He glared at her, clearly angered by the conversation on the phone and started to get into his car. "That was Metro PD. They have my dad in the drunk tank. Leave him for a couple of hours and he gets drunk and starts a fight in the bar at the Adams House. I'm telling you, this is the last time I'm doing this!"
She scrambled into the passenger seat of his car and shut the door just as he was pulling away. "Tony your father is a grown man that can make his own decisions. Maybe spending the night in a jail cell will do him some good."
"It won't matter. He won't remember how he got there come morning," Tony snapped. "What he will remember is that I didn't bail him out."
"So what?" Natalie inquired. "Tony, you're not a child anymore. You don't have to put up with this!"
"What would you do if it was your father, Natalie?" he asked, surprising her. "Would you just let him ruin his life like this? For better or worse he's still my father."
"I... I don't know what I'd do," she answered, subdued.
Tony set his jaw. "Then you shouldn't be judging me. My father might have been a drunk bastard while I was growing up, but I was always provided for. I had food and clothes and shelter..."
Natalie felt a sadness grip her heart. "What about love and family?"
"Found family when I got to Ohio State. Haven't needed much since."
"That sounds like a lonely childhood."
"My mom was good, when my dad wasn't around," Tony mused. "And there were times after she died that my dad truly tried to stop drinking and he wasn't so bad..."
"He needs professional help, Tony," Natalie pointed out. "We've seen plenty of people like him before as cops."
Tony sighed and decided that he wasn't going to talk anymore about his childhood or his father. He just focused on driving to Metro to bail his dad out once more.
