Gibbs stepped off the elevator to the sound of giggling. He followed the laughter, stopping in the entryway to autopsy. Palmer had a hold of Ziva under her arms and was gently swinging her in lazy circles. Every time he'd turn, she'd laugh and say, "Do it again, Jimmy."
"Oh Gibbs," Jimmy started when he spotted the older man in the doorway. "We were just…"
"Jimmy was spinning me Gibbs," Ziva informed the older man. "You should try it. It is so fun." At those words, Jimmy spun her in a half circle and she squealed with delight.
"Maybe later," Jethro replied smiling slightly. He looked around autopsy, met Palmer's eyes, and asked, "Where's Abby and the boys?"
"Tim had to go to the bathroom, so Abby took him" Palmer started placing Ziva back on the floor. "And Tony…" Jimmy turned in a complete circle, looking for the little boy. "He was right…"
"Palmer," Gibbs growled trying to keep from panicking. Jimmy Palmer did not lose Tony; even he wouldn't be that irresponsible.
"I-I didn't…" Palmer rushed into Ducky's office only to return breathing quickly. His skin was as white as paper, and he looked like he was going to throw up.
"Palmer, where is Tony?" Gibbs asked slowly, his voice cold.
Palmer swallowed audibly and whispered, "I-I don't…"
"Hey Gibbs," Abby greeted cheerfully as she and McGee walked back into the room. She sensed the tension and stopped dead, her smile wilting. "What's up?"
"Tony's missing," Gibbs replied still glaring at Jimmy.
"I thought he was with Ducky," Abby said, her eyebrows furrowing.
"D-Dr. Mallard…" Jimmy's voice was breathy and Gibbs had a feeling if he didn't calm down he was going to pass out.
"Sit down, Palmer," Gibbs snapped pushing Palmer into his desk chair. He pushed Jimmy's head forward and said, "Breath. We'll find him.
"Abbs." Jethro turned to Abby, who looked as if she was going to burst into tears. "You and Tim go check the floor above us, and call if you find him." She nodded and ushered McGee out of the room, ignoring the small boys questioning looks.
"Palmer," Gibbs continued, turning to look at Ducky's assistant. Reluctantly, Palmer looked up to meet Gibbs' eyes. "You stay here and call me if he comes back." Jimmy nodded, lowering his head again.
"Come on, Ziver," Gibbs said heading out of the room.
"Where are we going?" Ziva asked not giving the nickname a second thought.
"Upstairs."
"Why?"
"To look for Tony."
"Is he missing? Has he been taken?" she questioned sounding worried.
"Not if I can help it."
NCIS
Jethro's heart was slamming against his ribcage as he and Ziva rode the elevator up to the bullpen. The entire ride, an internal turmoil had taken refuge in his head, leaving him a big, worried mess. He hadn't felt anything close to this since the time Kelly had wandered off at the circus when she was four.
What if he left the building? What if someone had grabbed Tony? What if a car hit him? What if he was hurt? What if…? Gibbs gave himself a little shake, knocking those thoughts away. He couldn't afford to be negative right now. It wasn't helping anything. Besides, if any of those things had occurred he'd know. His gut would have told him.
"It will be okay, Gibbs," Ziva said softly, taking his hand in hers. "We will find him."
The elevator doors slid open, and Gibbs and Ziva stepped off into the bullpen. Jethro was debating whether or not to call Vance and ask him to lockdown the building when he heard a loud shout sound from the middle of the room.
"Come on," Gibbs murmured and he and Ziva followed the commotion.
The first thing Jethro noticed was Bert the hippo sitting on McGee's desk, a stapler laying next his feet, McGee's sunglasses resting on his face.
"Enemies, Private!" Tony shouted from McGee's chair. He had his hands out like he was flying a plane, a pair of familiar sunglasses covering his eyes while an NCIS cap sat on his head, falling past his ears. "Take out the enemies! I can't fly with them shootin' at us!
"Reinforcements," Tony exclaimed when he spotted Gibbs and Ziva. "We're saved, Private Toot."
"Tony…" Gibbs started, but he could tell DiNozzo wasn't listening to him. "Tony," he tried again, and the little boy looked back up at him.
"Sir, I'm surrounded. I need help!"
"Why did you wander off?" Gibbs asked moving to stand in front of Tim's desk.
"I didn't wander off, sir," Tony replied slowly, trying to look around the older man. "Me and Private Toot are on a mission. We're trying to save the hostages." He gestured to the other end of the bullpen where agents were going about their day. A few were throwing Tony annoyed looks, no doubt unable to concentrate with how loud he was being.
"Tony, I'm serious, you can't…"
"The enemy! Private Toot, open fire!" Tony screamed and starting throwing paper balls at the slowly approaching Vance. "Get down, Gibbs. I don't want to hit you on accident."
"DiNozzo," Vance barked when a paper ball hit him in the face. Tony froze, mid-throw, a suspicious look on his face.
"The enemy knows my name, Toot," he said to Bert. "RETREAT!" He grabbed Abby's hippo and tried to run, but Gibbs caught him around the middle and swung him up into his arms.
"Lemme go, Gibbs," Tony whined struggling to get down. "The enemy is approaching." He dropped Bert and the hippo hit the ground, letting out one of his signature sounds. "Private Toot! No!"
"Gibbs, control your agent," Vance said shortly.
"You've got kids. He's four, Leon. What did you expect?" Gibbs snapped struggling to keep a hold of Tony.
"This is a government facility, Gibbs. Not a playground."
"I was bored," Tony grumbled finally breaking character and glaring at Vance. "This place is boring."
"He's right, Leon," Gibbs replied meeting the younger man's eyes.
"Then put them in daycare next time," Vance said softly, "and keep an eye on them next time."
Gibbs just turned and carried Tony back to the elevator. Ziva grabbed Bert and quickly chased after the older man.
Once they were back on the elevator, Gibbs placed Tony on the floor. DiNozzo looked up at Gibbs and asked, "Why did he call me…?"
"Don't you ever wander off again," Gibbs exclaimed before the small boy could finish his question. "Do you understand me?"
"I was bored," Tony whispered, unshed tears clinging to his lashes; a reaction to Gibbs' raised voice.
"I don't care," Gibbs replied, his voice softening. "I don't want anything bad happening to you. You can't wander off like that, okay? Not without telling someone where you are going."
"I told Jimmy. He said it was okay."
"Was he looking at you when he said it?" Tony shook his head and Gibbs sighed. "He probably didn't hear what you said." Gibbs glanced over at Bert, still held in Ziva's arms. "How did you get him anyway?" he asked nodding at the hippo.
"He was sitting on Abby's desk," Tony replied slowly. "I was looking for you, but when I couldn't find you…" he trailed off, looking worried. "She won't mind I took him, right?"
"I think she's more worried about you," Jethro said ruffling Tony's hair. As the doors opened on Abby's floor, he noticed the Goth standing in the doorway of her lab.
"Gibbs, I couldn't find him, but…" she spotted Tony and rushed towards the small boy, scooping him up. She hugged him tight, carrying him back to her lab.
"Lemme go, Abby," Tony whined squirming in her arms.
"No, I'm never letting you go," Abby replied disappearing into her lab. Gibbs and Ziva followed her.
"Tony, you're back!" McGee exclaimed and raced forward. He looked like he had been crying, no doubt worried about DiNozzo. "I thought you had been taken, but Abby told me you weren't."
"I'm fine, Timmy," Tony grumbled still feebly struggling in Abby's arms.
"Are you hurt?" she asked placing him on her lab table. She started looking for injuries. "Should we take you to Ducky when he gets back? He can check you over."
"I'm fine," Tony repeated trying to jump down.
"Abbs, he's fine," Gibbs said softly. "He was just bored."
"Where did you find him?" Abby finally left Tony alone, on the lab table, and approached Gibbs. Ziva moved away from the two adults, carrying Bert over to Tony and Tim.
"He was in the bullpen," Gibbs replied watching as Ziva handed Bert to Timmy. He squeezed the hippo and it let out its signature sound. All three kids giggled at the sound.
"I am so glad you found him. I don't want to think what could have happened…"
"Me too," Gibbs said quietly, cutting her words off.
"I can't believe Palmer let him wander off."
It wasn't Palmer's fault, at least not entirely. It was hard taking care of one kid, let alone two, and it could have been worse. Palmer could have lost both Ziva and Tony. But he still should have been keeping an eye on DiNozzo. If the older version's attention span was small, his smaller self probably didn't have an attention span at all.
"This stuff is gross," a small voice said and Gibbs turned to see DiNozzo put the huge, Caf-Pow cup back on Abby's lab table.
"Uh-oh," Abby whispered rushing forward to put him back on the floor. Gibbs hung his head, this day just kept getting better and better.
NCIS
The Caf-Pow didn't take long to affect Tony, and he was soon practically bouncing off the walls. The only thing Gibbs could do was to unleash him at the park. Though, he made sure there were no other kids, just in case there was a repeat of their last visit to the park.
While DiNozzo worked off the caffeine in his system by sprinting back and forth across the playground, Ziva headed towards the swings and Tim sat on the bench with Gibbs. He swung his legs back and forth for a while, fighting to keep his eyes opening, but soon his head fell against Gibbs' side and he fell asleep. Jethro smiled and wrapped his arm around McGee to keep him warm.
After a while, DiNozzo joined Ziva on the swings. He threw himself on the swing, stomach first, and began using his feet to turn the swing to the left. The chain began to twist, tighter and tighter, until his feet could no longer reach the ground, and then he let it go. The swing whipped around at dizzying speeds.
Ziva watched him for a moment, at first annoyed but soon interested. She slid off the swing and lay out on her stomach, twisting the swing in an imitation of Tony. Soon both kids were spinning in quick circles.
"I can go faster than you," Ziva challenged the smaller boy, but he wasn't listening anymore. He had abandoned the swings, his face a slight shade of green.
"Gibbs," Tony said softly, clutching his stomach. "I don't feel…" his words were cut off as red and brown splattered across the ground.
Jethro moved from the bench, waking McGee in the process, and headed towards Tony. He rested his hand on the small boy's trembling back, waiting until he was sure DiNozzo was finished before scooping him up into his arms.
"You okay?"
"I-I feel better now," DiNozzo stammered wiping his mouth with his jacket's sleeve. "I don't like that red stuff."
"I know you don't," Gibbs replied as he beckoned for Ziva and McGee. Once he had all three kids with him, he headed back to the car. He wondered if there was ever going to be a time when they left the park without an incident.
On the drive home, Tony's caffeine high crashed and he fell asleep. Ziva and McGee spoke quietly about some cartoon Gibbs had never heard of, and it wasn't until they were pulling into the driveway that Ziva asked, "What about our movies, Gibbs?"
"Crap," he whispered totally forgetting about the video store. "I'm sorry guys."
"It's okay, Gibbs," McGee said softly.
"Yeah, we are not mad," Ziva assured the older man. "We can go later."
As they returned to their conversation, Gibbs couldn't help smiling. Despite their obvious disappointment, they understood that they couldn't take the trip right now. He couldn't ask for more from them then their continued patience. He made a mental note to take them to an actual theater when Tony was feeling better. There had to be a children's movie they'd enjoy. He bet they'd like that, especially Tony.
NCIS
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