Chapter 10

Gibbs stood in Abby's lab watching the video of Mark and Rudy forcing Tony into the clothing Sullivan had provided for him. Kate and McGee stood behind him, and Abby was watching from behind her computer. Of the four of them, only Abby had seen it before. McGee looked deeply uncomfortable, and Gibbs could tell that Kate was forcing a calm demeanor. "Why did he fight them?" she asked. "They overpowered him when he was really trying to get away."

"At the hotel?" McGee asked.

"Right."

"He had to," Abby said. "He's told people over and over that he has instructions not to allow anyone to touch him without Gibbs' permission. If he didn't fight when they tried to put the clothes on him, it would be inconsistent with that."

"No, I see that, but why not just put the clothes on?"

"Because they weren't from his master," Gibbs said, and Kate looked at him with a puzzled expression, he took a deep breath and came up with an analogy he thought she'd understand. "Do you think a married man would look kindly on his wife putting on sexy lingerie given to her by another man?"

Kate's mouth opened, then closed. She started nodding. "I see," she said. "I guess that makes sense."

"What now?" McGee asked.

"The situation hasn't changed significantly, McGee," Gibbs said. "Only now it's a lot more important that we succeed."

"You told Tony?" Kate asked.

"He knows." Gibbs watched the remainder of the footage silently, then said, "Switch to live feed, Abby."

They were treated to an image of Tony lying on his stomach on the bed, watching something on TV. The angle was wrong to see what. Beyond him they could see Rudy, who was reading. The door to the next room was still open, and so far as Gibbs could see, everything was normal. Abby flipped to another camera that showed the scene from a different angle, but nothing looked any different.

"Who's your relief?" he asked Kate.

"Gorman and Nash," she said.

"Gibbs?" He turned to find Director Morrow coming into the room. "This looks like it's going to be longer term than we had initially thought, and that room is going to be a problem. You and DiNozzo have nowhere to be private but the bathroom, and that won't work."

"No sir," Gibbs said.

"I've arranged for another set of rooms. Abby, can you pull up a map of the eighteenth floor?" She tapped a bit and nodded. They all looked up at her big screen. Morrow took a pen out of his pocket and pointed to a set of rooms on a corner. "Margaret Hanson and Adrian Goldschmidt checked into this room this evening as a married couple on an extended vacation."

"In Alexandria, Virginia?" Abby asked incredulously, but bit her lip when the director looked at her.

"It's fairly central for a number of historical sites," Morrow said. "They'll have to be seen coming and going, but they'll be on site at night, in case anything goes wrong then."

"Right," Gibbs said.

"This suite will be for you and DiNozzo. It has a sitting room and a separate bedroom that does not have an independent exit on the hallway. That should suit our friend's paranoid tendencies."

"It doesn't suit mine," Gibbs said sourly.

Morrow nodded but didn't address the issue. "This room is also reserved, under the name Rudy Moran. He seems to be the senior of the two bodyguards. If Sullivan doesn't choose to take up the reservation, he doesn't have to, but if he does, they can move in at any time."

"Does it have a connecting door?" Gibbs asked.

"It does, but it also has private space for you two. It seemed a reasonable compromise."

"Yes, it does," Gibbs said, but he didn't feel like being reasonable.

"Here's the paperwork. I'll leave it to you to figure out how Gibson would handle it."

Gibbs took it and glowered. Both the suite and the adjoining room were reserved under Gibson Howe's American Express card. "Are we prepared to pay for two goons to menace DiNozzo?" he asked dryly.

"When they register, they'll have to use their own cards," Morrow said.

"Right." Gibbs folded the papers and tucked them away.

"Are you ready to go back?" Gibbs nodded. "Good luck. I don't think we'd better meet again for a few days at least."

"I agree."

Before Gibbs could go anywhere, Abby launched herself at him. "Be careful!" she said firmly. "And give Tony a hug from me."

"Right."

"You are hugging him, Gibbs, so you can."

"Abby?" Gibbs said.

"Okay, Howe is hugging Vellucci. Still. You can pass the message, can't you?"

"Good night Abby." He turned to Kate and McGee. "Get some sleep. Sullivan and I arranged to meet in the hotel lobby at nine."

McGee nodded nervously, and Kate said, "Sure, Gibbs."

On the drive back to the hotel, he tried to absorb all the information Morrow had given him. Sullivan was very dirty, from the sound of it, and when they proved it, it would tarnish a number of careers. He'd been sheltering behind friends both in Congress and in the highest ranks of the Corps. Even if the truth wasn't made public, there were men who would be forced to retire.

He reached the hotel just before ten and went straight up. Tony was still on his stomach on the bed, but Rudy had changed places with Mark. Tony looked up as he entered, then turned off the TV. He shifted sideways to the edge of the bed and got up, moving gingerly so that Gibbs almost believed he'd been beaten. He stood waiting, as if for instructions. Gibbs beckoned him over, and Tony made a meal of the walk, as if he was still in a fair amount of pain. "I didn't hit you that hard, boy," Gibbs said with a bit of starch.

Tony grinned impishly at him. "Hard enough," he said as he stopped within easy reach.

Gibbs pulled him into a tight hug and, thinking of the cover, squeezed his butt cheek, too. Tony winced, but Gibbs was impressed. It wasn't a theatrical, overdone reaction, it was actually quite believable. "Get everything but what we'll need for tomorrow packed up. We're changing rooms." Tony had probably been informed, but he nodded and went to start work. His movements were a little freer now, and Gibbs hoped it looked like he'd been playing up the level of hurt.

Mark stood up. "What?" he demanded.

"I said we're changing rooms," Gibbs said calmly. "I hadn't expected to make a prolonged stay here with my boy, nor with . . . guests, so I didn't really make proper provisions."

"Mr. Sullivan will not be pleased."

Rudy came in, his hair a little mussed, but he didn't look at all sleepy. "What's going on?"

"They're changing rooms."

Gibbs pulled out the reservations and handed Rudy the one with his name on it. "I think Mr. Sullivan will understand," he said. "That room adjoins the sitting room of the suite I've reserved for myself."

Rudy looked at it, blinking. "I'll have to contact Mr. Sullivan."

"Feel free," Gibbs said with a shrug. "But I believe he'd prefer that his evening remain uninterrupted."

Rudy nodded and looked over at Mark. "I'll call him in the morning, but I'm sure it will be fine."

"Yes, I'm sure that it will," Gibbs said, and Rudy raised his chin at the subtle challenge in his voice. "I don't mean to interrupt your rest," he added. Rudy's eyes narrowed, but he left the room.

Tony had already packed Gibbs' stuff, now he was painstakingly packing his own. "I sent our laundry to the hotel cleaners, Boss," Tony said.

"And? Are you looking for a pat on the head, boy?"

Tony blinked at him. "No, Boss, though it would be nice. I just don't want it to get lost." Gibbs just looked at him, the way he would in the office if Tony was being somewhat dense about the next step. "So in the morning I'll call down and make sure they know we're moving," Tony said after a moment. "Boss."

"Good boy," Gibbs said, patting his cheek. He went to use the facilities, and when he came out, Tony was still at work. Gibbs went and sat down to read the newspaper. He rarely went to bed as early as eleven. Usually he spent more of the night in woodworking than in sleeping. When Tony finished the packing, he walked over and knelt down beside the chair. Gibbs was startled, but he supposed he shouldn't be. In theory, these two men had that relationship. He reached out and tousled Tony's hair before returning to the paper.

"Boss?" Tony said tentatively after several minutes passed..

"Yes, boy?"

"I left my weapons in the safe till morning. Will we be moving ourselves, or will the hotel be moving our things while we're out?"

"The latter," Gibbs said. "I'll take the lock boxes down to the front desk when I make the other arrangements."

"Yes Boss."

Tony fell silent, but stayed where he was, and gradually Gibbs realized that he would have to release his 'pet' from that position. He touched Tony's head, and Tony leaned into the touch. "I'll be along to bed shortly," he said. "Do what you will." He pulled his hand back to turn the page and Tony rose to his feet. He went to the bathroom for a short while, then turned the TV back on and watched from his stomach again.

Around half past twelve, Gibbs rose, folded the paper and made a last trip to the bathroom. When he got to the bed, he found that Tony had fallen asleep on his face. He tapped the younger man on the head, and he came up into a crouch on the bed, staring around as if looking for threats. "Bedtime, Tony," he said in a soothing voice, and Tony blinked at him muzzily. Then he climbed into bed and, after a moment, snuggled up to him and fell asleep again almost immediately.

Gibbs lay awake for a while, though he simulated sleep for Mark's benefit. He really needed to be able to talk to DiNozzo away from microphones and from the unfriendlies. He wanted to know how DiNozzo was really holding up. He seemed fine, but he was the one under real and constant threat here. Sullivan might try and kill Gibbs, but Gibbs was prepared for that as Gibson Howe would be. Unless things went so far south that they had to abandon the op, DiNozzo would be unable to protect himself, and Sullivan practically drooled when he looked at him. Gibbs didn't fully understand it, but Sullivan wanted Tony almost more than he wanted their business. If that balance ever tipped towards Tony, they were in a world of hurt, and if it had happened tonight, they might have had real trouble.

What he hadn't told Tony yet was that while he was off surveillance, his back up team had lost the car for fifteen minutes until one of them had walked up the street and visually sighted it stopped in traffic and spotted him inside. Gibbs himself hadn't known till Morrow told him this evening. If Rudy and Mark had been taking DiNozzo somewhere other than the club, Wallace and Garner might not have known for another half hour or so, and at that point they wouldn't even have known where to look.

If the charges weren't so serious, if they had another option, he would pull the plug right now, but they had to play the hand they were dealt. He just wished he could tell for certain how DiNozzo was coping and how close to the edge he was riding at the moment.