Tony rushed back to his desk and began doing the paperwork as fast as possible so he wouldn't have to work late again. He couldn't afford to stay late again. he couldn't make him angry again. If he stopped giving him reasons to get mad it would stop. It was his fault he made him so angry, and he deserved what he got. He knew that was the truth.
Tony jumped when his phone rang. Ziva looked up and laughed. "A little jumpy today?" She asked. "Very funny Zee-Va." He said then answered the phone. Of course it was Ryan.
"Hello?"
"Hey. You still at work?" He asked casually, as if nothing had happened earlier.
"Yeah. I should be outta here around 7..." Tony said looking at Gibbs hopefully, who had heard the conversation. Gibbs nodded.
"Okay. So what are you doing?"
Tony heard the 'call waiting' beep go off and sighed. "Work, I have to call you later."
"Why?"
"Got another call." Tony answered quickly.
"Who is it?"
"I wont know until I answer." Tony joked. He heard Ryan mutter something he couldn't understand, then hung up. Tony switched lines and returned to business as usual.
Gibbs was still confused. He had to be wrong. There was no way that Tony would let that go on for so long. He and Ryan had been dating for almost a year. Tony would have said something by now. But that was the only thing that made sense.
He looked around the bullpen to be sure no one was being nosy and watching him or his computer. He opened and typed in 'domestic violence' in the search bar and clicked on the first result, which said "MedlinePlus: Domestic Violence. He looked at the symptoms. Tony fit most of them; His partner frequently calling and asking where his was and what he was doing, Tony's change in attitude, The fact that they never saw Tony outside of work anymore, they only met Ryan once, the bruises, it all pointed to Ryan being abusive. Gibbs closed the window. He looked over to Tony, who's eyes were glued to the computer as he typed. Why didn't Tony say anything?
Tony heard Gibbs's phone ring. When Gibbs got off the phone he stood up. "Let's go." He said tossing the keys to Tony and walking to the elevator. "Where we going?" McGee asked. "Quantico. Marine was murdered." He said. Everyone followed him to the elevator. 'Great. Now I'll never be home by 7' Tony thought bitterly.
When they got to the parking lot Gibbs stopped them. "McGee, David, take the truck. DiNozzo, you're with me." he said walking towards his car. Tony didn't even bother to ask questions. He got into the passenger seat of Gibbs's car. After about five minutes of silence Tony's phone rang. Tony looked at it for a moment before answering it. He didn't need caller ID to know who it was. He answered it and got the usual interrogation asking him where he was, what he was doing, and who he was with. After about ten minutes Tony finally hung up the phone.
"Does he always do that?" Gibbs asked. "Huh? Do what?" Tony asked in return. "Ask you the same questions every ten minutes when he calls? Doesn't he know you're at work?" Gibbs said as he stopped at a red light. Tony was quick to defend him, another symptom, Gibbs noted. "He's just worried Gibbs. I could get shot any day with this job." Gibbs didn't say anything. He looked over to Tony when he was at another red light He was looking out the window, picking at his sleeves again.
About a half an hour later Tony's phone went off again, for the third time since they left the office. Tony went to answer it when Gibbs spoke up. "Answer that phone and I will shoot you DiNozzo,' he said annoyed. "But it's Ryan." Tony said. "I know who it is Tony. He knows where you are, what you're doing, and who you're with so don't answer the damn phone, or I will throw it out of the window." Gibbs warned. "But Boss. If I don't answer he'll," – Gibbs cut him off. "He'll what DiNozzo?" He asked. Tony didn't answer right away, so Gibbs just said it. "He hits you, doesn't he?"