AN: Please R&R, thank you!
DISCLAIMER: THE ONLY CHARACTERS I OWN ARE NICOLE AND AMANDA CHARLES. ALL OTHERS OWNED BY D.B./BELISARIUS/CBS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED, I'M NOT GETTING PAID FOR THIS, ETC... ONWARD TO THE STORY.
CHAPTER 4
"God, Jethro, how many damn boats are you going to build, anyway?"
They were in the basement where Gibbs was watching her walk around and around, nursing a glass of bourbon and examining the half-finished craft from all angles.
"Keep it up, pretty soon you'll have your own fleet." She shook her head and looked over her shoulder at him.
Gibbs walked over and took the glass from her, setting it on his worktable and leaning back against it. He folded his arms and stared at her; once again she didn't back down.
"Well?" he asked finally.
"Well what?" she returned.
"You want to tell me what's going on? You haven't had a single flashback before tonight. Why don't I believe that?"
Now she turned away, resting her forehead against the boat. "I didn't even want to come to D.C.," she mumbled. "I knew that if I refused, though, you'd have just thrown me over your shoulder and carried me onto that plane kicking and screaming." She turned and smirked at him.
"Who, me? Nah," he said with a grin. "I leave that to DiNozzo." She laughed.
They both turned at the sound of the front door slamming. "Boss?" Tony called.
A minute later he appeared at the top of the stairs and started down. "McGee sent a team from Surveillance over to remove the equipment and take it back," he reported. "Ziva's upstairs putting Nicole's things in your room. Is there anything else you need?"
Gibbs looked at his watch. "Just for the two of you to go home and get some sleep. Big day today. I need you at the office at 0700."
"Me, too," Nicole said, heading for the stairs. "Look, Jethro," she added before he could speak, "I have an interest in this case. I refuse to sit on my ass in 'protective custody' when I could be doing something." Her flashing eyes dared him to refuse. When he didn't, she went on up the stairs and disappeared.
Tony whistled softly as he watched her go. "Remind me to never stand in her way." He glanced at Gibbs. "See you in a few hours."
NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS
"McGee!" Gibbs barked as he and Nicole stepped off the elevator. "I need you to run a check on Aguilar and see if there's been any sign of him over the past month."
"On it, boss," the young man said, pecking at his keyboard.
"If that doesn't work, try these," Nicole said, handing him a piece of paper bearing the names Carlos Rivera, Fernando Corazon, and Eduardo Sanchez. "Rivera's the one who contacted me about Aguilar wanting to meet. Corazon is Aguilar's right hand. Sanchez guarded me while I was held in Aguilar's basement, and he was also on the plane when I was flown to San Francisco."
McGee nodded as he ran the searches. Finally he reported, "No trace of Aguilar, Rivera, or Corazon, but an 'E. Sanchez' spent a month on a houseboat berthed at a marina in Alameda."
She pursed her lips thoughtfully, then looked at Gibbs. "Mind if I make a call?"
He raised an eyebrow. "To who?"
"To someone who can get us some information," she said, picking up McGee's phone and punching some numbers. "Marty Deeks, please," she said a moment later. "Special Agent Nicole Charles, NCIS San Diego... Hey, Deeks... Yeah, I'm okay. I'm in a safe location... I need some info. Could you check with your sources and see if anyone associated with Ricardo Aguilar owns or has access to a houseboat in Alameda?... ASAP. Thanks... Yeah, I will. Director Vance assigned some of his best to watch over me. I'll talk to you later... You still have my email address, right?... Yeah, thanks. Bye."
She hung up and looked at Gibbs. "A contact on the LAPD," she explained. "He's the one who contacted the OSP after one of his sources told him Aguilar had me."
"You know, I can get that information for you," McGee said pointedly.
Nicole kept her eyes on Gibbs. "I'm hoping you'll be too busy. Jethro, you know my mother moved to Newport News after Daddy died. She still has his computer and some of his old papers. If you don't mind me suggesting..."
Gibbs interrupted, glaring at her. "What I mind, Agent Charles, is you trying to take charge of this investigation. In case you've forgotten, I'm the senior agent here, and you are on indefinite leave."
Rather than backing down, she responded in an equally acid tone. "And in case you've forgotten, Agent Gibbs, we're investigating a top-secret project that not only got me kidnapped and tortured, but oh, yeah, got my father murdered!"
"Allegedly murdered, Nikki –"
"That's bullshit, Gibbs, and you know it! Why else would the Secretary of the frickin' Navy tell NCIS to close the books on the investigation unless they were trying to cover something up? I intend to find out what it is!" Turning on her heel, she stomped toward the elevator, leaving the others staring after her.
"DiNozzo!"
The younger man's head snapped around. "Yeah, boss?"
Gibbs jerked his head in the direction Nicole had disappeared in. "Go with her. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."
"On it, boss." Tony grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder as he hurried to catch up with Nicole.
"You're sending Tony to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid?" McGee muttered as he typed.
Gibbs turned his glare on him. "You got something to say, McGee?"
McGee's eyes never left his computer. "Uh, no, boss."
NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS
"Going out for some fresh air, or maybe on a coffee run?" Nicole asked as Tony joined her in the elevator.
"Or something," he replied easily.
She grunted. "Okay, let me put it this way – Daddy Gibbs told you to follow me and tell him everything I do, right?"
"No, he told me not to let you do anything stupid."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Great. He doesn't trust me, so he sends big brother to keep an eye on me. What, does he expect me to march into the SECNAV's office and start demanding answers?"
"Were you planning to?"
"Don't think it hasn't occurred to me to try." They reached the first floor and stepped out into the lobby. "Got any suggestions about where to go from here, O Great Senior Field Agent?"
He shrugged. "It's your call. I'm just here to keep you from marching into the SECNAV's office and demanding answers."
"Well, you can relax about that," she said with a laugh. "We're not going anywhere near there. If you can get us a car, I think we should pay my mom a visit. Can I use your phone?"
As he signed out a car and led the way to the parking lot, Nicole called her mother and informed her of their impending arrival.
"She'll have the computer and papers ready when we get there," she said as Tony unlocked the passenger side door and held it for her. She smiled appreciatively and joked, "Are you always such a gentleman, or am I just special?"
"I'm always a gentleman when it comes to beautiful women," he said with a wink.
She laughed. "Your reputation definitely precedes you, DiNozzo," she said.
"I don't know what you mean," he bantered back.
"Oh... not only have I sneaked an occasional peek at your file – I do have both the clearance as a federal agent and a license to snoop as a psychologist – but Gibbs has told me a lot about the people he works with."
He looked at her skeptically. "Gibbs? As in Leroy Jethro Gibbs?"
"As in Leroy Jethro Gibbs. You've worked with him for eight years; you know his silences say as much if not more than most people's words. Even on the phone."
"Yeah? So what has he said about me? Or not said."
She hesitated then said, "It's not up to me to tell you exactly what he's told me, or put in your file, for that matter. Just know that you're one of the best agents he's ever worked with. You're like a son to him. He trusted you enough to leave you in charge when he retired. That should tell you something."
She glanced over to see him staring straight ahead. The look on his face spoke volumes, and she smiled softly. "He gets irritated with your seeming immaturity, but he understands it. Trust me on that. He sees everything, you know. More than most people want him to. He knows your family background; he knows your father wasn't around when you needed him. Gibbs has been more than willing to fill that role. Obviously he can't give you back all the time you lost, but he can be the kind of father to you now that your own father never was."
Tony released a sigh and nodded. "I... I see Gibbs as my father," he admitted. He shook his head. "I never really thought much about why I act the way I do." He looked at her, then back at the road. "I've had people compare me to 'the classic Peter Pan persona'. I guess it's true."
"It takes a lot for a person to engage in that type of self-examination," she said. "They usually have to hit bottom, emotionally speaking, before they're willing to do it. You haven't reached that stage yet, and if you want, I can help you make sure you don't have to. I'm here to listen if you want to talk, I can talk if you want to hear what I have to say. God knows I don't have all the answers, but at least I can be there if you need me."
He glanced over at her again. "You're a very complex woman, Nicole Charles. You're a psychologist, supposed to know how to not let your buttons be pushed, but you really lost it with Gibbs back there."
She grinned sheepishly. "Well, I'm sure you've heard that doctors are the worst patients. I guess psychologists make lousy clients. I know myself so well; I'm a student of the human mind and emotions; but somehow something in me just goes haywire when it comes to a threat to my family or friends."
He grinned. "'Haywire'? Is that a psychological term?"
She responded in kind. "Of course it is. You can look it up."
Two and a half hours later, they were driving through Newport News. Nicole gave directions to her mother's house, and a few minutes later Tony pulled into the driveway of a two-story brick home.
Amanda Charles waited on the porch. Nicole gave her mother a hug and kiss, then said, "Mother, this is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo from Headquarters. Agent DiNozzo, my mother, Amanda.
"Tony," he said, holding his hand out to the older woman. "It's a pleasure, Mrs. Charles."
"Amanda," she returned with a smile. "Would the two of you have time for a cup of coffee or a bite of lunch?"
Nicole glanced at Tony, who shrugged. "Gibbs knows how to get in touch with me."
Ten minutes later the three were sitting down with glasses of iced sweet tea, sandwiches, and salads. Amanda looked at her daughter. "What's going on, Nikki? First I hear you vanished in Mexico, next they tell me you're in San Francisco and being placed in protective custody, then the next thing I know you're calling from D.C., telling me to pack up Daddy's computer and the contents of his private safe. What are you involved in?"
Tony's eyes flashed a warning to Nicole; she gave him a "what-do-you-take-me-for" look in response, then turned to Amanda. "I'm not at liberty to tell you much, Mother, but it's important that I get the computer and papers back to Headquarters."
Amanda looked at her closely. "Would this have anything to do with the possibility that your father didn't die in an explosion?"
Nicole didn't blink. "There are some questions about that."
"What about the mere fact of his death?"
Nicole choked on her tea. "What?"
Amanda bit her lip and looked away for a moment, considering, then looked across the table and took Nicole's hand. "I wasn't going to say anything, mainly because -" she smiled slightly – "I didn't want my psychologist daughter thinking I'd gone off the deep end."
Nicole smiled back and squeezed the older woman's hand. "You're the last person I'd accuse of that. Now what's on your mind?"
"Well, as you know, for the first year after... after we heard about your father, I kept thinking I saw him. You know I met with one of the psychiatrists at Bethesda for awhile, and she said it's normal for that sort of thing to occur."
Nicole nodded. "I saw a counselor at school and she said the same thing."
"Ater that first year, I stopped thinking I saw him, so I figured I must be getting over my grief a little. Then about eight or nine months ago..." She trailed off.
Nicole looked at Tony sharply, then turned back to her mother. "Mother, are you saying you think you saw Daddy less than a year ago?" Amanda nodded, fighting back tears.
The two agents exchanged looks, then Nicole said, "Mother, could you excuse Tony and me for a minute?" Without waiting for a response, she rose and practically dragged Tony into the living room.
"What do you make of that?" she asked quietly. "My mother is one of the most mentally stable people I know. If she says she's seen my father recently..."
Tony shook his head. "Think, Nicole. Even if your father is still alive, even if for some reason his death was faked, he was working on a top-secret government project. Do you think they're just gonna let him go out in public? I mean, think about it – they would have given him a new identity, possibly relocated him -"
She raised her hands. "Yes, I know. You're right." She gave him a challenging look. "So, who did she see?"
"Obviously someone who looks like him." He walked to the fireplace and took a picture from the mantel. In it was a much younger Nicole, dressed in a cap and gown and holding her high school diploma, surrounded by her parents and younger sister. Tony examined the dark-haired, broad-shouldered man who appeared to be in his early forties. He glanced at Nicole and wordlessly handed her the picture. She smiled a bit as she ran a finger lightly over the man's features.
"He was deployed a few weeks after I started college," she said softly, "and came home a couple of weeks before I started summer vacation. I remember going to my dorm after class one afternoon and there he was." She looked up. "They were married for twenty-three years, you know. No matter how much he's changed, she'd know him."
Silently Tony took the picture from her and set it carefully back on the mantel. They both turned as the kitchen door swung open and Amanda stepped through.
"Is everything all right?"
Nicole went over and gave her a hug. "Everything's fine, Mother." She looked at her watch. "We do need to be heading back, though." She hesitated, then said, "And I think you should come with us. For one thing, I don't think you should be here by yourself, and for another, we need to tell Agent Gibbs and Director Vance what you told us."
The three walked to the door and Amanda pointed to the large box containing Lawrence Charles's computer and papers. As Tony carried it out to the car, she gave her daughter an appraising look. "What do you mean, it's not safe for me to stay here alone? Why wouldn't it be?"
Nicole shook her head. "I can't get into it, but just trust me. You'll be safer in Washington than here."
Amanda nodded and went upstairs to get her purse, then said, "I'll take my car, if it's all right." Nicole nodded, then the two women went outside. Tony waited until Amanda backed out of the garage before starting his car and pulling out of the driveway. He waited until they reached the end of the block before speaking. "What are we going to tell Gibbs when we get back?"
"I'm going to tell him the truth – that we came up to get my dad's computer and some of his old papers that I though might be relevant." She gave him a wry grin. "And if it'll keep you out of trouble with the boss and the bigger boss, I'll even say that I took you hostage with your own gun and forced you to bring me." Tony snorted at the comment.
"Are you going to let your mother tell him you think your father is still alive?"
She grinned at him. "Would now be a good time to march into the SECNAV's office and start demanding answers?"
He chuckled. "I'm thinking no. I'd tell Gibbs and maybe the director."
"Good plan. Let them decide how to handle things."
AN: If any of y'all can help me with subsequent chapters (betaing and perhaps with story ideas), please PM me. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
~ EJ