Warnings: Very tiny spoiler for "Truth or Consequences"
A/N: Here is another update. Thanks for reading!
Tony couldn't help but notice the black cloud that seemed to be hanging around his partner. He'd noticed it since last night and at first thought it had something to do with how tired the team was-but he knew for a fact Tim had grabbed a few hours of sleep on the futon in Abby's lab. He was also being uncharacteristically quiet on this drive out to Safe Haven.
"You alright, McGee?" Tony asked, softly as they pulled off the highway. "You've got this gloom and doom attitude about you."
"Nothing, just...just relationship problems with Delilah," Tim muttered, not bothering to look at his partner.
Tony drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. He probably was not the best person to offer up any kind of advice to the younger man, but he hated to see his partner so down. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Tim shook his head. "Not really. It's kind of...it's kind of personal."
"Ok-I get it. But if you need to talk-I'm here to listen," Tony reminded him.
"I'm just not as good with women as you are," Tim blurted, suddenly.
Tony was completely confused. When had he ever been good with women? As far as he knew it was Tim that had gotten the serious girlfriend before him and was doing a better job at this commitment thing than he was. "What are you talking about, Tim?"
Tim shook his head fiercely."Delilah...she thinks...she thinks that I don't find her attractive anymore because we haven't...well you know...since she...she came home. I don't suppose your...support group...has advice for this kind of thing."
"No...but have you thought about going to a support group for your situation?"
"What?"
"Come on, Tim. There has to be a support group out there for people who have suffered these kinds of injuries and for their families."
Tim leaned his head back and sighed. "The rehab center gave us some information when we left...but, well...I haven't had time to look at it yet. Do you think I should?"
Tony threw him an incredulous look. "Yes."
"You don't think I'm a horrible...boyfriend...do you?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Tim."
"I'm not being ridiculous. I'm making my girlfriend feel like she's unattractive."
Tony turned the car down towards the battered women's shelter. He sighed, "Alright, here's what you're gonna do-you're going to make reservations at the Rooftop Grill. Give her a reason to get all dressed up, a romantic dinner for two-flowers, the works, Tim. You need to pull out all the stops."
Tim nodded his head. "All the stops. Got it. What if...what if we're still not comfortable with..."
"Sex?"
"Yeah."
"At least she'll know you still think she's attractive, worth the effort."
Parking the car, Tony shut it down and turned to Tim in the front seat. He put a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Listen. I'm learning that this serious relationship thing is a roller coaster of a ride. You're going to have ups and downs."
Tim chuckled, sarcastically. "What kind of downs could you possibly be experiencing right now? You just met Leah, just started this relationship. It's still in the phase where things are pretty damn good."
Tony's eyes softened. "She's going away-for three months. I barely survived a week without her. I was plagued by nightmares of her dying in Saleem's camp. Why? Because when she's gone everything is out of my control."
"Oh great...you're not going to go all crazy on us again are you?" Tim cracked, trying to lighten the mood.
"I don't know...I might."
"Wow. You're in love with her, aren't you?"
Tony looked away. He was thankful that his sunglasses were hiding his eyes right now, because he was sure they were reflecting his anxiousness. He'd been wrestling with those thoughts since Leah had left. But it was terrifying to admit it out loud because falling in love was such a big step for him. Deciding that he did not want to answer the question, he simply deflected by getting out of the car and thus, ending their conversation.
Tim followed him, buttoning up his trench coat against the cold air. He wasn't surprised that Tony ended their conversation when he'd brought up the question of love-after all it was in Tony's nature to deflect those kinds of questions. And Tim knew not to be offended, but he was a tiny bit curious to the answer. Now, however, wasn't the time to push to get that answer. They had a job to do and Tony had to come to the conclusion on his own if he was in love with Leah or not.
"Ms. Philips," Tony greeted when the director of the center opened the door, "We need to ask a few more questions."
"I had to relocate five girls because of you people," Philips snapped. "What more can they tell you?"
"Have you seen this man around here before?" Tony inquired, holding up a photo of Mr. Webber.
Phillips frowned. "Yeah. That's Kristine's father-in-law. He would stop by and try to convince her to go back to Patrick. Last time he was here...maybe a day before Kristine was killed. Why do you need to know?"
Tony glanced at Tim, fleetingly. "Kristine's blood was found in the back of his truck. We're trying to tie up some loose ends."
"You think her father-in-law had something to do with this?"
"It's possible."
"No way. Kristine was murdered by her husband. I had to have the cops come and remove him from the property before."
Tony sighed and put his phone away. "Listen, Ms. Phillips. In order to get a conviction we need to connect the dots here. When Mr. Webber was here did he ever seem threatening to Kristine in any way?"
Phillips shook her head. "No. He seemed...well...he seemed in denial about his son. Like he couldn't believe he beat his wife."
"We'll be in touch," Tony told the woman and she slammed the door in his face.
"Denial...it's possible that Patrick called his dad in a panic. Mr. Webber helped him bring Kristine back to the shelter," Tim mused.
"We need to pull Patrick's phone records again. And Mr. Webber's."
Tim opened the passenger door to the sedan. "What are we looking for?"
Tony took a deep breath before getting into the car. "Proof that father and son met up before the rest stop."
Making that connection was a lot easier than Tony had anticipated. Bishop got to work right away on looking at both Patrick and Frank's phone records and found that they had been in contact frequently the day of the murder. But he barely got to tell Gibbs before Tony was quickly thrown back into the thick of things by the boss ordering him to tag along to an interrogation.
Gibbs swung the door to interrogation open and stepped inside, Tony on his heels. "Mr. Webber. It appears you haven't been entirely honest with us, sir."
Frank Webber looked up at the two federal agents. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Agent Gibbs."
"You told me you hadn't seen Kristine since the police were called to your farm when Patrick beat her up," Gibbs said, taking a seat.
"That is the last time I saw her."
"Not according to the woman who runs the shelter Kristine was living at," Tony said, huskily. "She said you stopped by the day before Kristine was killed."
Frank's eyes shifted back and forth between Gibbs and Tony. They could smell blood, and he knew it. "Yes. I stopped by. Kristine...she wasn't...she wasn't giving him a chance! He changed when he got back from Iraq. He just needed some help."
Tony pulled out something from the manilla folder he was holding underneath his arm. "Kristine filed three reports of abuse prior to your son's first deployment. It seems, Mr. Webber, that your son was abusive before his time in Iraq."
"He's a good boy, Agent Gibbs," Frank cried, turning towards the lead agent. "He didn't understand what he was doing."
"Didn't understand?" Tony repeated. "He beat her with a rock. A rock that your prints were found on. Care to explain that?"
"Mr. Webber. I'm going to be honest with you," Gibbs said, harshly. "Either your son is going away for murder or you both are."
Frank snapped his mouth shut. "I want to talk to a lawyer."
Gibbs stood with a shake of his head. Together the two agents made their way out of the room, Gibbs slamming the door shut. He turned towards his SFA. "Bishop manage to pull anything from Frank Webber's phone records?"
Tony nodded. "Yeah. There were three phone calls the night of the murder. McGee was able to trace what cell towers were used to make the call. Frank was twenty minutes away from the battered woman's shelter when Patrick called him the last time."
"Son of bitch-his father was there when he beat her," Gibbs said. "He witnessed the murder."
"Now he's trying to cover for his son," Tony guessed. "Can we charge both of them?"
"Don't see why not," Gibbs said, walking away, "his prints are the rock too."
"One problem boss."
"Yeah? What?"
"Where the hell are the clothes Patrick was wearing?"
"Better start looking for them," Gibbs said with a smile.
Tony groaned. This was turning out to be the never-ending case and he just needed it to be over.
