Gibbs/Allison Series:
Choosing Between Old & New # 5
By MchakotayParis (R. Mason)
Chapter 3
The next morning Ali woke and with a little bit of difficulty showered and changed herself. She hadn't done that since she and her daddies had been at the beach house and she'd wanted to surprise them with breakfast. She'd known when she did it that she was going to get punished but it had been sort of worth it. The sight of seeing her Daddy and Papa cuddled together sleeping peacefully in each other's arms had almost been worth the punishment. Almost, but after that she had made herself a promise to never have to make Papa punish her again. Daddy's punishment's hurt and so did Papa's, but it somehow felt different when Papa punished her. Almost like she'd let him down and because of that he might leave her and go back to his "real" daughter Emily. Ali knew that he wouldn't, Tobias had told her several that she was his daughter just as much as Emily was but there was still that nagging doubt always in the back of her mind. So since then she had been extra good, trying to do everything her Papa and Daddy had told her to do and for the most part being a good girl.
So after she ordered breakfast she packed her bag then waited, after eating breakfast and making sure that it was late enough for Gibbs and Tobias to have left the house Ali checked out of the hotel and headed home. Hopefully she'd timed it right so that both Gibbs and Tobias would get her message after she was on her way to Chesapeake Beach but she couldn't be sure. So anxiously Ali concentrated on the traffic and was surprised to make it home in a little under the forty-five minutes she had allotted herself to find the house indeed empty. She almost had expected to find both Gibbs and Tobias waiting for her at home but knew that unless she was in real and present danger they wouldn't miss work just to go looking for her. Besides Gibbs probably already had Tony, Tim and Ziva searching for her right now anyway so they would find her soon enough.
As she once again entered the house she could tell that everything had been left just as it had been the day before. Her "play" comforter still on the floor in front of the fire and although her diaper things had been picked up her Lego and puzzle were still spread out. Several pieces scatter around where she'd stepped on them in her haste to get out of the room and away from Jack's reaction to her. She knew that she had broken a few of the pieces but didn't really worry about it too much because she knew her Daddy or Papa would fix them or Abby and Ziva would buy her another one.
Right now what she needed to concentrate on was following Auggie's instructions so with one last look at her last happy memory of that day she made her way up the stairs to pack. It was still a little early in the year to be going to the beach so Ali packed all of her winter play sets making sure that she had enough heavy socks and long sleeved tee-shirts to keep her warm. Since she wasn't going to have access to a car she packed up all her diapers and supplies making a mental note to order more online when she got there. As for food, she hopped that "Grandma Rachael" as she called Mrs. Peters would be kind enough to bring her what she needed. She knew the older woman was going to be upset but hoped she would understood that Ali needed some time alone to think. After packing all she was taking into two suitcases she sat on the bottom step of the stairs in the foyer and waited hoping that the car Auggie promised to send would get here before her message reached Gibbs and Tobias. At exactly ten o' clock as promised a car sounded out side and she carefully made her way to the door. As she waved to the driver she turned back around and with one last look headed towards the stairs to pick up her "Puffalump" and pillow. She didn't really care if the driver thought she was weird or strange, she would probably never see him again anyway so it didn't really matter what he thought of her.
As he crossed the threshold she heard him ask. "Just these two bags Ma'am"
Ali straighten, turning to face him with a sad and lonely but confident countenance on her face. "Yes, just those two. You have the address of where were going?"
"Uhhh…yes ma'am. You do realize it's a long trip don't you?" asked the driver, he had been skeptical when his dispatcher had given him the call and wondered if this was real or not. But as he looked at the woman before him he could somehow tell it was, she was running. He didn't know from whom or what and hoped that it wouldn't get him in some sort of trouble later on but she needed to leave. Leave this house and go to the address he'd been given in Chesapeake Beach.
"Yes, I know" sighed Ali "I promise you will be tipped handsomely for your trouble" then picked up a small bag she had beside her feet.
As she walked towards him he could tell that she was tired and in some sort of pain so against his better judgment after putting her bags in the trunk he helped her lay down in the back seat of his car. As he got into the driver's seat he took one last look at the woman lying on his back seat. She was curled into a ball with her head on the pillow and the stuffed animal in her arms. She had to be at least in her late forty's or early fifties but looking at her now she didn't look to be any more than five maybe six. She had such a childlike appearance about her that you couldn't help but want to protect her. As he pulled away his eyes flickered once again to the rear view mirror and saw her eyes slowly close, and he hoped that her trip would be a peaceful one.
-NCIS-
As the car that taking Ali was leaving D.C. Gibbs and Tobias's phone rang. Tobias was at his office working at his desk, while Gibbs was out on his usual morning coffee run having left instructions for his team to find Ali. As he opened his phone and saw the familiar number his heart soared, maybe Tobias had been wrong, maybe she hadn't ran after all.
"Ali, I…." started Gibbs but stopped when he heard the recorded voice of his baby girl telling him that she loved him but needed some time to think so she was going to the beach house for a little while. As the message finished he quickly paid for his coffee then raced back to the office just as Tobias Fornell was getting off the second elevator.
"Jeth….Gibbs, did you….." started Fornell then stopped when he saw the other three agents looking at both of them.
"It's alright Tobias, they know about what happened" said Gibbs as he put his hand on the other man's arm and gently squeezed. He knew Tobias felt bad for staying with him and not going after Ali when she left after Jack's reaction. "McGee, I just got a call from Ali that sounded like a recorded message. Can you retrieve the message from my phone" asked Gibbs as he swiftly tossed his phone to the young man.
"Uhhh…Boss. I think I can do one better, you see Ali…." stammered McGee as his face turned red.
"Out with it McGee, Ali what?" yelled Fornell as he advanced on the younger agent
"Tobias, calm down. It's not going to help us find out what happen if you scare McGee" replied Gibbs as he walked over to the front of the younger man's desk. "So talk McGee, Ali what?"
After taking a deep breath he looked up to face the angry face of Tobias Fornell and the equally concerned but outwardly calm face of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
"Ali called me last night and asked me to send a delayed message she'd recorded to each of your phones"
"And did you happen to think to ask her why?" asked Tobias
"Tobias" said Gibbs softly then gave the man a look asking him to let him handle this. At his look Tobias sighed heavily then flopped down into the nearest chair roughly rubbing his hands across his face. Neither man had gotten much sleep last night, and as soon as they awoke their first thoughts were of Ali. Was she alright, was she somewhere safe.
"She sent me the file via e-mail, give me a minute and I'll pull it up…Ahhh, here it is" said Tim as he feverish tapped on his computer.
He'd really screwed up by not asking Ali what had happened but when she'd called him last night she'd sounded so sad that he told himself that he would find out later. Now he was facing the wrath of both Gibbs and Fornell and he realized just how big of a mistake that had been. A second later the recording started and the very sad voice of Ali filled the bullpen.
"Hello Daddy, Papa. I know I promised you Daddy that I wouldn't run away again if something bad happened but technically I didn't run, well I guess I did but not really. Anyway I'm sorry and I'll take whatever punishment you both think I deserve for leaving without letting you know where I was going.
"So now to my point, After Mr. Gibbs' reaction I think we all need some time to think, or at least I do. I'm not sure if he really meant it but he brought up a very valid point. I'm nearly 63 years old and laying around the house on a comforter wearing a tank top and a diaper. Maybe it's time I grew up and gave up Ali. Any way I need to think about this and no offense but I know I won't be able to with both of you hovering over me so I'm going to the beach house to think."
"I hope you both trust me enough to give me that time, I'll call you when I've made my decision. I know I've always said that it would be either one of you that made the decision to end our father/daughter relationships but now I think I might have been wrong. I need to decide if I want to continue being Ali or maybe it's time for me to become Allison full time."
"Well I hope you're not to upset with me about this but I feel like it's something I really need to do by myself. Auggie said she would check in on me every day while I'm thinking so at least you know someone will be watching out for me."
"I hope I've not disappointed you both too much by doing this but it's really something I feel like I need to do so please forgive me Daddy…Papa…and I love you!"
As the recording ended a hush fell over the bullpen and everyone just stood or sat and stare at each other trying to understand what they had just heard. Allison wanted to give up being Ali or at least wanted to think about it. Somehow that thought had never crossed their minds and now that it had been said out loud it seemed absurd. Ali was as much a part of Allison as Allison was and did just didn't seem right to any of them to have one without the other.
As Gibbs tried to digest what he had heard a thought flickered into his mind. Ali had said that Auggie would be checking in on her but who the hell was Auggie?
"Tim, who is this Auggie Ali mentioned?" asked Gibbs as Fornell looked up with a glimmer of hope, maybe if they found out who this person was they could talk them into letting them keep tabs on Ali.
"On it Boss…." stated Tim quickly the furiously started typing on his computer keyboard.
"Actually it's Augustina, but when I first meet Allison she had trouble saying my full name so I let her call me Auggie" said an older silver headed lady carrying a large brown briefcase.
"And you know Allison how?" asked Gibbs as he quickly sized up the woman in front of him. She was about five feet eight inches tall and about 140 to 150 lb. She had medium length silver hair which she wore pulled back in one of those alligator clamp things at the base of her neck. She wore a woman's dress suit and had a Psychological Services badge on her lapel.
"Oh I'm sorry, I keep forgetting. I know all about you but you have never even heard of me. Ali wasn't really even allowed to speak with me but I kept tabs on her and met with her when she needed to talk. My name is Doctor Augustina Chandler and I'm a Psychologist with Psychological Services" replied Doctor Chandler as she stepped towards the two men and extended her hand.
Something in his gut told him to trust her and that she had Ali's best interest at heart so with a giant leap of faith, at least for him he stepped forwards and extended his hand. "Gibbs, Jethro. And this is Tobias Fornell" said Gibbs quickly as he stepped forward and took the woman's hand.
"Ahhhh yes, the infamous Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs" said Augustina with a smile, and at the small snort she turned to face one of his younger agents. "I would be careful if I were you Agent DiNozzo, I know almost as much about you as I do Agent Gibbs and Agent Fornell." then turned back around to face the two older men. "Is there somewhere where we can talk? I need to fill you in on Allison's file, plus I want to see if I can find out just exactly what happened to her yesterday?" asked Augustina as she faced the two men, she had a feeling that they both knew exactly what had happened and who had caused Ali to run.
"Uhhhh... yes, the conference room" stated Tobias after a few minutes, it had taken him that long to find his voice and realize that they had been just given an up close and personal look inside of Allison's early life.
"Actually Agent Fornell, I might need somewhere bigger. Since I know for a fact that all of you have high security clearances and technically I'm no long Allison's doctor why don't we go somewhere where there is less likely a chance of us being overheard? I know for a fact that Ali still lives in the family home with the two of you. So why don't I come over tonight and I can read you both and you're team in on Ali's file. I have to say that mine is much more interesting reading that the official redacted file." said Augustina as she dropped a very large manila folder on the Gibbs' desk. It was sealed in a large legal sized yellow envelope with the words "CLASSIFIED" written across the front in bright bold red letters.
"Wouldn't it be wise for just Tobias and myself to..." started Gibbs then stopped as he saw the same look on Augustina's face that Ali got when she was in her "don't mess with me" mood. Maybe that was where she picked it up from, Lord knows over the ten or more years that he'd been her Daddy he'd noticed her picking up some of his habits and traits and not always the good ones either.
"Agent Gibbs, I know that you and you're team are Ali's new family and if we are going to get her through this without her withdrawing it's going to take each and every one of you. I don't know what happened to her last night but someone hurt Ali, and hurt her badly. Down to the core of who she is and it's going to take a lot of love and support from everyone to rebuild the confidence she had in herself."
"Alright, how about we all meet at our house about six thirty. We can order pizza or something then get started on Ali's past." said Gibbs
"Sound fine to me, be sure and have Doctor Mallard, Ms. Sciuto and Jimmy Palmer there as well. Ali will need all her extended family if we're going to reach her" reiterated Augustina then she smiled at the two men and headed towards the elevator. If she was going to meet Ali's extended family at six thirty she had a lot of things to get done or she would be very hoarse for the next few days.
As Gibbs and Tobias watched the older woman leave they turned to look at the rest of Gibbs' team sitting at their desk. Each had a stunned look on their face as they tried to wrap their heads around what they had just found out. Ali had been assigned a Psych Services doctor since she was little and that said Doctor had been keeping tabs on her and them ever since.
"So were all good to meet at our house tonight?" asked Gibbs as he looked at each of his agents. He knew they would come, of that he had no doubt but he just hoped they each could handle what they were about to find out. Having a Psychological Services doctor knowing everything about yourself could be unnerving to say the least but if it helped Ali then he knew they would step up.
"Uhhhh yeah Boss, of course Boss" answered Tony a little faster than he'd meant to.
"Uhhh boss...maybe I should" started Tim but stopped when he saw the glare Gibbs was giving him.
"You heard Doctor Chandler Tim, Ali's going to need all of us to help her get through this. Including you, I know you didn't mean to keep it from us and you couldn't have possible know what was in the recording unless you listened to it and I know you're too honest for that. So just stop beating yourself up about it, what's done is done, now we all need to concentrate on getting Allison back and possibly keeping our Ali" said Gibbs as he gave a rare smile to the youngest agent and patted him on the shoulder.
"You're right boss, thank you boss" answered Tim with a smile the relaxed as he looked at Gibbs.
That's when Gibbs' hand raised from his shoulder to the back of his head and with the quickest of movements became a head slap that Tim knew he deserved.
"And that's so it won't ever happen again, right McGee?" said Gibbs as he smiled at the young agent then went to his desk picking up the file, his keys and gun then taking Tobias by the arm leading him to the elevator. They both had a lot to do before everyone descended on their house and they wanted to at least get a start on Ali's file before Doctor Chandler arrived.
At Tim's head slap Tony called out. "Way to go McGenius, and just for that I'm giving you the pleasure of telling Abby, Ducky and Palmer what happened to Ali and why we're meeting at their house tonight"
"Awww Tony, come on. Don't you think a Gibbs' head slap is punishment enough?" asked Tim in a whinny little voice as he looked over at the two agents smiling at him.
"No way Timmy, Abby and Ducky are going to want to know why they're just finding out now that our dear little Ali. Fresh out of the hospital, I might add has decided to fly to coupe so to speak and run down to the beach house to do a little thinking. And you my friend are going to have to explain it to them" said Tony as he leaned back in his chair putting his feet on his desk and his interlacing his fingers behind his head.
"I concur, I think McGee should be the one to tell Ducky and Abby. Since it was partially his fault that we didn't not find out she was "running away" until hours after the point" said Ziva
"It's fact Ziva, not point. Now go ahead Timmy, go down and inform our Goth forensic scientist, and resident medical examiner why their precious little Ali isn't here. And before you leave if you're really nice they might even patch you up before you have to face Gibbs and Fornell again"
"You're enjoying this aren't you DiNozzo?" asked Tim as he rose from his desk with a deep sigh, he might as well get it over and the faster he started the sooner it would end.
"Immensely Timmy my boy, immensely" replied DiNozzo as he watched the doomed man walk towards the elevators.
As Tim neared the elevator doors Gibbs pushed the button to close them leaving Tim to stand and wait for the next one or walk downstairs. As the doors shut the last thing he saw was the miserable face of his youngest agent. He knew he should have stopped Tony and Ziva from teasing McGee about his mistake but sometimes misery and teasing were the best incentive to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
It was several hours later that a very miserable and slightly sore Timothy McGee emerged from the basement of the NCIS building to plop himself down at his desk and try to immerse himself in his work until it was time to leave for Ali's house. Abby had given him a twenty minute lecture on how it was unwise to keep secrets from Gibbs especially when it concerned Ali punctuating a word almost every two or three minutes with a hard punch to his right arm. Tim hadn't faired that much better down in autopsy. While Doctor Mallard and Jimmy hadn't punched him they had sat him down on one of the autopsy stools and given him a very stern talking to. Even the normally quiet "autopsy gremlin" as Jimmy was known as had some very choice words for him. By the time he'd left the basement he had felt far worse than he'd ever had from any spanking Gibbs could have given him. After extracting a promise from all three to meet at Ali's, Gibbs' and Tobias' house he had ridden the elevator back upstairs only to be met by the smiling faces of his two coworkers.
As Tony and Ziva watched Tim work at his desk they each smiled as Tony asked. "How'd it go Timmy?"
"Oh leave him alone Tony, can't you see he feels miserable about what happened" said Ziva
"Thank you Ziva" said Tim softly without taking his eyes off his computer keyboard.
"Well he should, now if it had been me I wouldn't have..." started Tony but stopped at Ziva snorted laugh
"You would have done the exactly same thing Tony, you know none of can resist Ali anything when she is upset. Now leave him alone, remember what Gibbs said about teasing and bullying?" reminded Ziva
"Oh yeah, thanks for that. Well you're off the hook for now McGee but I just hope whatever Doctor Chandler tells us tonight we can use to keep Allison as Ali. I'd hate to face an Ali free Gibbs or Fornell. She's almost as addictive as coffee" said Tony as he hurriedly got to work to finish up his work. He had a feeling that after tonight everyone was going to find it hard to concentrate on anything but Ali for a while.
"You're right about that" whispered Ziva as she also bent to finish her work.
For the rest of the day the bullpen was silent as the three agents worked to finish whatever they were working on. By five thirty each had finished all their work and were grabbing their keys and guns when they all looked up at each other.
"Guess I'll meet you guys at Ali & Gibbs' house. Thought I might stop by home and pack a small overnight bag, I have a feeling this might be a long night" said Tony as he holstered his gun then slung his backpack over his shoulder.
"Sounds like a good course of action Tony" said Ziva as she too stood to leave.
"Its plan Ziva, sounds like a good plan. And I think you might be right, I'll swing by my place and pack a small bag to just encase things...you know...run long" said Tim as he cleared his throat the also grabbed his bag.
As they all headed towards the elevator, and rode down each one silently contemplating what they would find out about their little Ali. It was with an awkward silence that the three agents headed towards their cars. Each gathering strength for the fight ahead, because somehow they all knew that keeping Allison as Ali was going to be a fight.
