CHAPTER 4
"Then maybe you should say this to Tony when he's ready to talk to you. Maybe you should make your lackey apologize for treating my agent like trash. He was inappropriate at best and his snide ass comments made me want to deck him. If it wasn't for me having to do your job, I would have ended up in the cell with Tony."
"That might have been a good thing." Thinking about what he was about to do, Tobias missed the angry flare up in Gibbs face. As soon as he said it he realized Gibbs wouldn't understand but it was too late.
"AND JUST WHAT IN THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!" Gibbs anger only seemed to be increasing the longer he was made to stand here in the presence of a man he used to call friend. Well, that sure as hell wasn't going to happen again.
"I'm sorry. I meant it would have been a good thing for DiNutzo to have you with him… Never mind, you'll understand in a minute. Come sit over here and I'll cue up the video. We, like you, have video camera's in the holding cells. I have already erased the video of your visit with Tony, you know what he said. There's no need to review it as I'm sure it is burned into your memory."
Once Gibbs was seated Tobias cued up the video. The time stamp showed it this was shortly after Gibbs had left. The pizza box still lay on the cot.
Tony sat with his knees drawn up to his chest. His head down. The audio picked up everything. A sudden change in Tony's breathing pulled Gibbs attention.
THE VIDEO PLAYED.
Tony felt as though he had been sitting here for hours since Gibbs had left. He knew in actuality it had only been a matter of minutes. The ranting of before was filtering through his head. He couldn't believe he had blurted out all of that to Gibbs.
"Oh my God what have I done."
He began rocking back and forth. His arms were hugged tightly around his chest. He couldn't believe he had just outed a big secret to Gibbs. How could he have told Gibbs about his mother? He didn't understand what was happening to him. He just thanked God he hadn't told Gibbs about the guard… "Oh, God help me please."
This whole year had sucked. Then there was the fiasco with White, the plague, Ziva, Gibbs making himself a target and a mild concussion from the perfect bride. And of course then there was Kate.
Sweet Kate who's blood and brain matter had ended up on his face just as she was making a joke about him. It was his fault she had died, he should have protected her. It should have been him. She had sat with him in the blue lit room when he was sick. How did he repay her… He let her get killed while he stood there with a grin on his face. He had been on an emotional rollercoaster for far to long. He wanted to get off this ride. He needed to…
But he couldn't do anything. His needs were never going to be met. The evidence was piling up against him and it was only a matter of time before he would be going to court, being convicted by his friends for a crime he didn't commit. He was going to go to jail to pay for his crimes against the team and Gibbs because they weren't going to save him. He had failed to protect Kate and now he was going to pay. Would they really look into this? Gibbs had said they would but it seemed the more they looked all they found was another nail for his coffin.
He jolted upright suddenly, threw his hand across his mouth and ran for the toilet. He hadn't even made it to kneel before he began retching. Deep painful sobs broke from the man as he continued to dry heave after vomiting up nothing but stomach acid. His thoughts swam in his head about his future or lack there of and his family, which only made him vomit some more.
"Worthless…" Tony was mumbling the words he was hearing in his head. "Gonna' end up in a gutter." Atlas can attest to that, been there done that…
He sank heavily to the floor. The smell of the pizza was making him sick. It smelled like freedom. He didn't think he had a chance in hell of seeing the outside of the cell ever again.
"I…I can't do this. Oh God, help me. I can't do this."
Slowly he rose and called for the Guard. He handed him the pizza and asked for it to be taken away. The guard could see the vomit on the floor and the paleness of the prisoner. "What's the matter? Can't handle paying for your crimes. Should have thought about that sooner!" The guard left the pizza on the floor outside the cell, opened the lid and made certain it was out of reach of the prisoner. "Should of eaten it. It's not like your going to get out of here anytime soon. Could be considered your last real meal. And clean up your mess. You make me sick."
END FLASHBACK
Gibbs jabbed his finger out placing the video on pause. Before he could address what he had seen Tobias did so. "He's received a written reprimand, a demotion in rank, loss of pay for 1 month and suspended for 1 month. He will be going to classes upon his return to duty to make certain this doesn't happen again."
"That's not enough. A man, A MAN, is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If this is how your agency works…it's not enough. He did this to my…agent. If I ever see him… I will be talking to Tony about this and an attorney. God help me I hate attorney's but that man screwed with the wrong person. I want a copy of this tape. If you destroy it I will make certain you're added to the list of offenders. I will be addressing this with SecNav and my director."
"I…just watch the rest of the tape." Before Gibbs could say any more Tobias pressed play and the office was filled with the sounds of continued retching.
THE VIDEO PLAYED.
Tony sat back on his heels then made his way to the cot. He had tried to clean up the mess, if for no other reason but to help himself. But the more he smelled the pizza and thought about where he was the more sick he felt. He slowly lowered himself down onto the bed.
Tobias fast forwarded the tape 20 minutes. "He doesn't do anything here or say anything. I know you are in a hurry, so let me just speed this up."