Tony was sitting in Gibbs guest room alone. It was the first time he had really been by himself in weeks. He was still in shock about the concern being shown to him by Gibbs. He had been afraid it would end when he was released from the hospital or when the guilt had worn off. But now almost three weeks later, Gibbs was still just as attentive.
He had needed a little time. He needed to think. Thankfully Gibbs had seemed to understand when he had asked for a little time alone.
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Gibbs packed the car. Tony needed time, he understood that, after all isn't that why he had gone to Mexico. He wanted to give Tony his Mexico, his place of solace. He hadn't told Tony what he had planned to do. He had made all of the arrangements and now it was time to spring them on Tony. He was going to make certain Tony was given the opportunity to relax and rehabilitate.
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He made his way back into the house. Tony had been left to himself for the past 2 hours. He hoped it had been enough time. He stood outside Tony's room but didn't hear any noise from within. He hoped Tony wasn't sleeping.
"Tony, can I come in?"
"Sure." Defeat could be heard in his voice. He felt better but he still wanted more time.
"I have the car packed. Are you up for a ride?" Gibbs was hoping this would be the right thing to do. He knew Tony needed this, he just hoped Tony would agree to give it a chance.
"Where are we going?" Tony's interest was peaked. He hadn't told Gibbs but he had heard Gibbs make a lot of calls over the pass couple of weeks. His curiosity was peaked.
"That my boy is a surprise. I have already packed your bag. So what do you think? You prepared to spend some one-on-one time with me?"
Tony thought he could hear a little yearning in Gibbs' voice. He had been through so much and wanted to explore this new fatherly relationship with Gibbs. He had never had a real father / son relationship with his father. He didn't know what to expect from this new Gibbs.
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As the days passed Tim realized how wrong he had been. He knew he had treated Tony much worse than what he was being subjected to now. The longer he thought about it, the deeper the sorrow and shame he felt. He had not spoken to or seen Ziva since the day they were suspended.
The more distance he had from Ziva the more centered he became. He started remembering what he knew of Tony, the real Tony. Tony didn't share much about his past. What he had shared had not been pleasant. The stories seemed unbelievable but later he found out they were true. He began to wonder how horrible of a life Tony had as a child. That brought him back to asking questions. What hadn't he shared with him and Kate? How much worse had his life been? Tony said even less once Ziva came around.
Tim thought back on his own childhood. His life could have been considered American Apple Pie. He lived in a small suburb with his happily married parents and his little sister. They were a middle income family with no hardships or pain. School came easy to him. The most difficult time in his life was dating. Dating continued to be the most difficult thing for him to deal with as an adult as well.
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Finishing her first week as a secretary for another team had not changed Ziva's attitude. She felt her talents were being wasted. The more time passed the more her anger grew. Ziva did not care how the others were treating her. Tony had them all brainwashed. They actually believed he was a good agent.
Time was on her side. The more time she had the better. She refused to learn from this experience. She did not need to learn…she already knew more than him.
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Jen stood looking over the rail down on the bull pen. She watched as Ziva worked on files. She could tell this wasn't working. She needed to step up the heat on Ziva or this would fail.
Returning to her office she made her decision. Ziva needed to work a cold case. She withdrew the file from her desk. She had some work to do on it before she would allow Ziva to see it. If she did this right, Ziva would learn a lesson of a life time.
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"Come on Gibbs, are we there yet?" After two hours on the road Tony had had enough of this road trip.
Gibbs chuckled. Tony sounded just like Kelly had on trips. "Not yet. We have another few hours. Do you need to stop? There's a small town up ahead."
"How much further til we get there?"
"About 6 hours if we drive straight through." Gibbs watched as Tony fidgeted in his seat.
"Then yes, I need to stop. Please." He wasn't sure how Gibbs would react to his needing to stop. He was beginning to cramp up. He couldn't handle another six hours without getting out of the car. He needed to stretch out a little.
"No problem. Harrisonburg is just ahead. Why don't we stop, get some lunch…"
"And some snacks for the rest of the trip, please?" Tony sounded hopeful.
"Sure we can do that. How are you feeling?" Gibbs noted Tony's tension and his constant use of please. He knew Tony was always polite but this was bordering on ridicules. He figured this was another of his father's hang-ups.
"Fine. Just need to stretch a little. I've never taken a trip by car before…except when I was moving from department to department." Tony looked down at the floor of the car. "We never traveled together. Well, accept that one time in Hawaii. You know how well that turned out." He was embarrassed to admit his family hadn't taken the time to take vacations together.
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So many times he had taken for granted his childhood and his family. Seeing Tony tense over something as simple as a small trip was heart wrenching. He wanted to make up for not only what he had done but what had been done to him by his father. He wished he could be a father to Tony the type of father he only dreamed of having been to Kelly.
He looked across at Tony and wondered if he would understand. Would Tony reject his attitude? Would Tony reject him?
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