Title: Veritatem Dies Aperit (Time Discovers Truth)
Summary, Disclaimer & Spoilers: See Chapter One
A/N: All remaining mistakes are my fault and not the fault my awesome beta, ncismom.
As a reminder, the zero or center point of the timeline for this chapter is the day Tony accepted the job with Hawthorne Security. Another Gibbs POV chapter.
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Chapter Six: Time Is of the Essence
Four months ago…
After that last dinner together at his house, Gibbs began to step up his plan to ruin his friend's life. He reasoned it was better to just to get it over and done with rather than inadvertently torturing Tony by dragging it out too long.
With the help of the FBI, he'd begun replacing evidence that Tony had collected on cases with damaged duplicates, making it look like Tony had 'lost' evidence, and he also set up other procedural errors to be blamed on his agent. He did make absolutely sure that, though he was setting this all up and that Tony was getting the blame, none of the criminals involved would be able to get off on a technicality and escape the justice system. He owed that much to DiNozzo.
He had also started acting as if he was getting more and more disillusioned in his agent, gave him more headslaps than he deserved, blamed him for everything that went wrong on every case, and nearly constantly berated his agent. As a consequence, he had to watch his friend spiral downward for real.
Gibbs could see that Tony was truly beginning to doubt his abilities and ordered his teammates to handle tasks he normally would've fought to do in the past. Tony also began to only offer theories or opinions about the case when he was ordered to, but mostly kept quiet the rest of the time. His agent also kept trying to get some time alone with him – no doubt to try to figure out what was going on – but he made sure he was either not ever available or turned him down to his face.
He wished Tony's teammates would do more to support their co-worker, but so far they'd only made snide remarks and occasionally mocked him. Otherwise they generally tried to stay away from him hoping to not be sucked into his troubles. It was easy for him to see that the former cop was getting frustrated – not only with himself but with his teammates and especially with Gibbs – to the point where he hardly ever interacted with any of them anymore. If it weren't for Abby and Ducky providing some measure of support when they could, Gibbs thought Tony might have quit long before now.
Looking at his watch, he noted that DiNozzo was almost an hour late today and he hadn't heard from him yet. McGee had tried to get in contact with Tony, but so far there had been no luck and he had started to get worried though he wasn't able to show it. At least this was something he hadn't set up to go wrong, but knowing how he had planned to react when Tony did finally show up…that knowledge didn't help to alleviate any of his guilt.
Finally, the elevator dinged and seconds later Tony walked into the bullpen dropping his backpack at his desk on the way to his boss'.
"Boss, I'm sorry I'm late. My car broke down and—"
"DiNozzo, I don't want to hear your apologies or your excuses. You are over an hour late and protocol says you should've have reported in long before now."
"Boss," Tony began with a worried look on his face. "I was visiting a college buddy last night and ended up spending the night because I drank too much. The location where my car died seemed to be in a dead zone for my cell phone. I had to walk a ways to get a signal then go back and wait for the tow truck. I tried calling, but—"
"It's obvious you didn't try hard enough. Rule 3, DiNozzo. I'm supposed to believe you couldn't get hold of any one of us?"
"Yes!"
"You sure you're not just trying to cover up for the fact that you're doing some side work for either the Director or the SecNav?" I ask knowing the question would not only throw him but would probably be the only time I'd be able to give him a hint about his troubles even though he wouldn't know its significance until much later, if ever.
"What? No!"
Gibbs snorted out disbelief he didn't actually feel which prompted Tony to look him right in the eye. "Are you saying you don't believe me?"
"I'm saying you need to stop with your excuses – not just about this morning, but with everything else you've been screwing up lately. I'm getting tired of you messing up. You're getting a disciplinary letter added to your file. Now, get to work!" I growled out and threw in a plainly dismissive gesture for good measure.
Looking like he just had his dog kicked and also confused at Gibbs' attitude towards him, Tony closed his eyes for a moment, but when he opened them again, there had been a nearly flawless mask of indifference on his face.
"Yes, Sir," he said dropping his eyes to the ground and turning to go to his desk.
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Two months into Tony's undercover assignment…
The latest text from Grace had been both good news and bad. The good news: Tony was working his way up the ranks and he'd finally given the Hawthornes the intel they'd wanted. Tony was also closing in on the proof the taskforce needed to take the dirt bags down for good. The bad news: More and more often Tony was coming into the diner refusing to eat much of anything and usually just had coffee and a dessert which he mostly left half-eaten. It was obvious to Grace that DiNozzo was losing weight and from the dark circles under his eyes, was losing a lot of sleep too. Even Fornell had mentioned that Tony was not looking so good these days.
This undercover op and the circumstances surrounding it were affecting his friend more than he was presently capable to handle despite how good an agent he was. There's only so much a man can take, and DiNozzo was being hit from all sides every single day.
From the sound of things, Tony needed this assignment to be over today, but until the proof was in the Feds' hands, things had to continue as they were. He badly wanted to check up on his friend in person, but knew it would be much too dangerous to do so at this point.
Gibbs was positive that Tony needed this assignment over yesterday, but he was also confident that Tony would find the needed evidence soon.
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Just over two months ago…
They'd just wrapped up a case that had resulted in some money being seized. For a couple of weeks now, Vance had been getting on his case saying he needed to step up his plan. A new set of national security protocols had just been released the previous week, so Tony had to be fired soon or they risked the mission failing before it had hardly ever started.
It turned out that the seizure of the money was the perfect catalyst to ruin his agent's career. Ten thousand dollars had been confiscated – it was ridiculously easy to change the logs. They now reflected that seventy thousand had been seized instead of ten thousand. He'd only had to work against the clock to do it before the serial numbers had been logged in. Other than that, it was as simple as changing a one into a seven. One stroke of a pen and Tony's career was over.
The next day, Vance requested that he and Tony come up to his office. Knowing what was to come, he couldn't help the nausea that overcame him and he swallowed thickly to keep the bile where it belonged.
It took all his willpower to not say anything, to not come to Tony's defense as Vance accused him of stealing sixty thousand dollars. Tony had stood there openly shocked and more than once his agent had sent him pleading looks which he had pointedly ignored. The Director then opened up Tony's file and brought up all the orchestrated incidents of incompetency that Gibbs had reported over the last few months.
Without really giving DiNozzo the chance to defend himself, Director Vance fired Tony on the spot. Vance informed DiNozzo that there'd be an investigation into the missing money and that he'd be contacted if NCIS decided to press charges against him for theft. The now ex-agent was also told he was not allowed to leave the area until the investigation was over.
And while the Director destroyed Tony's career, Gibbs had just stood there and done nothing. He hadn't defended his friend at all – he'd just gone along with everything Tony was being accused of – including, but not limited to "gross incompetence" and a "severe decline" in his work. Vance had even called in two guys from Security to escort the now former agent out of the building once he'd picked up his personal belongings.
Once downstairs, it wasn't until he'd requested that DiNozzo turn over his service weapon and badge that the man had come out of his shocked stupor.
"Boss, you have to know that I would never take that money."
"Do I? After all the snafus surrounding you and your work," he stressed the word as if it was distasteful and as if he didn't believe that Tony had ever really done any work as an agent, "what am I supposed to believe? I don't know why I've put up with your screw ups all these years and I don't know what ever possessed me to keep you on my team all this time.
"Your undercover work is a joke, your theories about cases inane, and your skills over all are questionable. And all those pathetic attempts to get laughs and any sort of attention… Well, I'm glad that Vance finally got rid of you, because my only regret is that I didn't do it myself sooner."
The hurt in Tony's eyes, his ever more defeated appearance made him want to call this damn assignment off right that second. But he didn't do it.
Tony hadn't been the only one stunned by Gibbs' words; it seemed everyone on the floor had stopped to listen. Soon everyone in the building and all the other federal agencies would know about this confrontation. Only McGee and Ziva were even close to being more surprised than Tony, but yet they still didn't interfere.
His agent – ex-agent – had opened his mouth to say something, but the words he usually had no problem stringing together before had failed him in that moment. But in the next moment, he quietly said, "I've worked for you for ten years, Bo-, uh Gibbs, watched your six… Doesn't that count for anything?"
"Except for still being alive today – which I'm sure is a happy accident and not skill on your part – no, not really." He held out a hand. "Weapon and badge, Mister DiNozzo."
Gibbs could swear the light in Tony's eyes dimmed at what he'd been forced to say for the good of the operation. As Tony ejected the mag and cleared his gun's chamber, he still felt that his friend hadn't quite lost complete faith in him yet.
Professionally, yes; but personally, not yet – or at least not completely yet.
And that's when he knew he would have a visitor that night. That's when he knew he'd have to thoroughly finish destroying the relationship they'd been building since the first day they'd met in Baltimore. He knew he'd have to completely destroy his kid's faith and trust in him so that Tony would be the bait the Hawthornes would not be able to resist.
Having surrendered his weapon and badge, DiNozzo then went to his desk to grab his personal effects. He watched as Tony's hand hovered over his Mighty Mouse stapler – a symbol of how he ended up at NCIS – before he moved it to open his top drawer and taking out his keys and wallet. Then the bottom drawer, the one containing the lock box of his medals was opened. Tony sighed and closed the drawer again without removing the box.
Tony removed his coat and took his shoulder holster off and laid it on the desk. Putting his coat back on, he looked at his escort and said, "I'm ready."
Grabbing his keys and wallet, Tony moved around his desk without taking any of the other things he'd accumulated over the years. Gibbs could understand why he had left it all behind, but his now ex-teammates couldn't. In response to their query over his actions, DiNozzo replied, "There's not anything I want or need anymore."
Gibbs couldn't help the feeling regret and guilt that had settled on him like a layer of ash. And it was then that he'd decided he would box up and store his agent's belongings until such time as Tony wanted them again – if ever.
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Three months into Tony's undercover assignment….
Grace's last text message brought a smile to his face that had rarely been seen by anyone the last eight months.
Tony had finally located the evidence needed to take the Hawthorne brothers down, but had learned of, and had been asked to participate in, helping a known terrorist and his cronies sneak into the country. Not willing to pass up the opportunity to capture a known killer of innocent Americans, Tony had requested that the task force wait a few more days so that they could get two sets of scumbags for the price of one undercover mission. Gibbs couldn't help but be proud that his agent wanted to stick it out for a few more days.
The take down was being planned for just three nights from now. Gibbs immediately called Fornell and asked to be included in on the bust. The higher-ups reluctantly agreed when the SecNav argued that all three agencies should be in on the end game.
In just three days, this thrice damned mission would be all over and Gibbs could finally try to rebuild the partnership and friendship he'd previously had with Tony.
That was if Tony would even give him a chance to try after everything he'd done.
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To be continued…next Thursday.
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A/N: I hope you'll cut me some slack on a couple of things in this chapter. First, I have no idea how federal agencies fire their employees so I went for the angst factor instead of reality. Second, I know I'm not being totally fair to the rest of the team regarding their behavior towards Tony. In my head, this story is centered on Tony and Gibbs' relationship and whether or not there can be any sort of forgiveness, understanding, etc. in their situation – not the team's actions or reactions or the undercover mission itself.
Just in case: Rule 3 is "Never be unreachable."
Thanks for reading!