A/N: This and the next one, are the result of the wonderful work of ALOWL, who is giving the last touches at the next NEW chapter, for now, please be patience and enjoy this redone chapter.

Thanks a lot for all your kinds reviews, Im trying to make it better, and I have the luck to have wonderful people who wants to be my beta, so thank you

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FAMILY SECRETS

GETTING WORSE

"What's she asking, Ducky?" Gibb's voice was deathly calm, belying the fire that flared in his artic eyes. Tony stood silent beside him, his face absolutely blank.

"Nothing specific. Jethro, she just wants to know more about the people that she's working with. It's an understandable precaution when dealing with you lot." Ducky sighed, earnestly attempting to divert the man's anger from the Mossad officer – an effort he knew very well was futile. Natural disasters – volcanoes, earthquakes – would meekly tiptoe past the ex-Marine when he was in a mood like this.

"By asking questions behind our backs?" Tony's voice was eerily calm, a disturbing mirror to Gibbs' emotionless tone. His fingers worked convulsively. Otherwise, he was as still and silent as his father beside him.

"It comes with the job. Doesn't it, Anthony?" Ducky raised an eyebrow at the younger man. He could clearly recall catching Tony running background checks on Gibbs, Abby, and the good doctor himself just after joining NCIS. Understandable, but unnecessary; he'd quite happily offered to inform the newly minted agent on every particle of his life that he could recall. Tony had, for some reason, declined.

Tony's ears turned red.

"Something I need to know, son?" Gibb's head turned and his glare switched to Tony. It was softened somewhat by the twinkle in his eyes, but was still potent in its own right.

"No!" Tony's face was a mask of guilt as he took a quick step backwards in a vain attempt to avoid the patented head-slap. Much to his surprise, Gibbs took him by the shoulder and gave him a look that demanded an explanation. He gulped, face turning slightly pale as he scrambled for a reasonable excuse for his behavior. Ducky stood behind Gibbs, arms crossed as he watched the proceedings with raised eyebrows.

The tinny echo of Tony's cell phone whipped through the air, disturbing the tableau the three men had been drawn into.

Gibb's hold on his shoulder loosened reluctantly, and Tony gratefully scrambled for his cell. Talk about being saved by the bell.

He couldn't hold back his smile when he saw the name of the caller. Flicking the thin plastic phone open, he set it to his ear, slowly backing out of the cramped room as he waved a belated goodbye to the men still within the office. "Hey, Abbs! Got anything for me?"

Gibbs fixed Ducky with an inscrutable stare as Tony's voice faded into the distance.

"What aren't you telling me, Ducky?" His voice was the one that so often echoed within interrogation rooms – calm, cool, and utterly in control - with a hint of menace.

Ducky glared back. "I told you something once, Jethro, a long time ago. There are two things in this world you cannot hide, no matter the effort you expend – money and love." He folded his arms across his chest, and stared at the other man in disapproval. "You love that boy, Jethro. He loves you as well. I've never understood why you two hide the precise nature of your relationship from everyone else. Where's the harm in making the truth of it known? As it is now, your attitudes and actions towards each other arouse the suspicions of practically every other member of your team – Ziva's simply the first to be so clumsy at searching for answers. Might I remind you, my friend, that you are working with trained investigators, several of which learned their art from the very best?" He raised an eyebrow at the agent in question.

Gibb's voice was harsh. "You should know better then anyone why I can't tell them. They'd take him away." For all his words, his eyes were pained. "Even the suspicion of nepotism would have him reassigned to another team. If that happened, I couldn't take care of him anymore. I made that mistake once, and it almost cost him his life. I will not see that happen again if I can avoid it." He shuddered slightly at the memory of that terrible event six years ago. He'd been summoned to the emergency room in the middle of the night, and informed that Detective Dinozzo had taken two bullets to the chest at close range. It was touch-and-go; he'd spent a sleepless night at the bedside of his unconscious son, praying to a god he no longer believed in. "When I dragged his ass out of Baltimore, I swore to him that he'd work only under me. No corrupt officials or useless directors – not ever again."

"I'm a man of my word, Ducky. I have every intention of keeping that promise."

"It isn't fair." Ducky avoided his gaze. The indignation in his voice had faded to a dull resignation as he argued his case for the thousandth time.

"Care to elaborate on that, Duck?" Gibbs cocked his head inquiringly.

"It isn't fair to the poor boy to have to keep his relationship with you in the shadows." Ducky walked across the room, gently closing the door Tony had left swinging wide open. "It's almost as if you're hiding him from the world – almost as if he's your dirty little secret. It's difficult and painful for the both of you, and totally unnecessary.

"That's not true!" Gibbs snapped back, teeth bared in a hint of a snarl. "I offered him my name, Ducky – he's the one who chose not to accept it." He paused, concern flickering across his features. "Has he been talking to you about this?"

"No." Ducky looked up at him with weary eyes. "He's come a long ways, Jethro, and I'm very proud of him. If I had a son like young Anthony, I'd want all the world to know how much I cared for him."

"You think I don't?" Gibbs blinked, a tinge of anguished hurt twisting across his features. "He's always playing the part of the lazy fool, just because he doesn't want to stand out from the rest of the crowd. He never puts himself forward; always downplays his contributions to the case, just so that no one will recognize that he does the majority of the work. You know I don't play favorites. There's a reason that he's Senior Field Agent." He paused. "I am proud of him, Ducky. Sometimes when I see him work, when I see how happy he is - it's all I can do not to tell him how very proud I am." His expression flickered, turned dark.

"And when he goes undercover, it feels like I can't breathe."

"Remember when he got that idiotic idea to chain himself to a sociopath? Kate kept asking me all these damn questions. She asked me how I felt about it, for God's sake. Said it was okay to be worried about Tony – that it was a natural reaction. She kept nagging me to "express my feelings." Sounded like a damn therapist." He made a face at the memory before his expression turned contemplative.

"I almost told her the truth, then. About what Tony is to me." He looked up in time to catch the flabbergasted expression on Ducky's face, and smiled thinly. "Just so she'd shut up about my damn feelings. I couldn't. I thought about it, but then I thought about Tony and the hell he survived. Those are his memories, Duck. They're his stories to tell – not mine." He ran a hand through his short-cropped hair, looking suddenly tired.

"I know it's selfish. At the end of the day, and sometimes on the weekends, I have my son. I can be his father, then – tease him about work, about his dates, and even nag him about getting grandkids someday. I can take him out fishing, and suffer through those stupid movies he loves to watch. But this is work, Ducky, and I can't take risks at work." His expression was the closest thing to defeat the doctor had ever seen cross the ex-marine's features.

There was a soft knock on the door, shattering the silence. Tony poked his head inside, eyes flickering back and forth between the two men. His face was – hesitant.

"Excuse me, boss. I need to get to Abby's lab. She's found proof that Kellerman was lying; he's apparently been abusing his son for a lot longer then he claimed." He swallowed. "We need to coordinate, put everything together – make sure to get the evidence that will guarantee that bastard gets the punishment he deserves. Shouldn't take that long; a couple of hours at most."

Gibbs looked at his son, a flash of worry sprouting across his features. "Are you sure about this, Tony?" His voice was soft. "I can head down to the lab if you'd rather be somewhere else."

"No!" Tony's reply was quick, vehement. His head jerked around, his eyes burning into Gibb's. "I can handle this." His voice was quiet, utterly convincing in its self-confidence.

Too bad Gibb's wasn't buying it. He kept eye contact with his son for a long moment before nodding. "Report on any updates you find."

"On it, boss." He grinned at them both. "Bye, Ducky. Nice seeing you. The two of you stay out of trouble, okay? Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He winked before turning and walking out of the morgue.

Ducky gazed after him, face slightly perturbed. "This case is affecting him more then I thought. Isn't it, Gibbs?" He turned towards the agent, searching for confirmation of his theory.

Gibbs shook his head gently from side to side. "It's brought back some very old memories, Ducky. You know what I mean – after all, you were there."

Ducky's face was grim. "Unfortunately. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget."

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