Rating: FRAO
Warnings: M/M, sex, language, kink, piercings, abusive parent, serial killer, talk about rape/non-con. Violence. Secondary character death (bad guys).
Genre: Slash, romance, first time, angst, h/c, case fic, pre-show AU
Pairing: DiNozzo/Gibbs

Summary: When he is first at NCIS, in the summer of 1991, Gibbs investigates a case of young military men who are missing. He meets college-age Tony, and during the course of the investigation their lives become intertwined.

A/N: If you enjoy my story, please leave me a comment - I love to hear from you! Thanks to my betas.

Craving Coffee
Chapter 12 - Twisted

Gibbs glanced at his watch as he swept out of the elevator and into the squad room. It was after five and he had just finished interrogating Mrs. Parrish and her daughter. Agent Shepard had been given the task of questioning the sixteen-year-old Bobby Edelstein with her boss supervising. After they had completed the interviews and had taken statements, the accused had been transferred to holding cells. The three special agents had compared notes in a conference room, come to a decision, and then headed up to the bullpen to deal with the inevitable paperwork.

After making sure that Tony was still safely ensconced behind his temporarily assigned desk, Gibbs slid into his seat and started up his computer. Although he wasn't pleased with the way the interrogation had gone, at least they'd come to a conclusion. It was now up to Mrs. Parrish and her lawyer to figure out her next step. It was likely that the teenagers, her now fatherless children, were going to end up in the custody of the state, or possibly with relatives on different sides of the country. And caught in the middle had been Lance Cpl. Parrish, murdered by his daughter and stepson in an act worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy.

Gibbs first checked that Stan was occupied with his paperwork, and then took a moment to rest his eyes on Tony. The young man had been watching him since he'd emerged from the elevator, Gibbs knew. Tony appeared worried as he mouthed the words, "You okay?" so Gibbs sent him a small smile and a nod of his head, letting him know everything was all right. Suddenly Gibbs wanted nothing more than to be at home, with his arm around Tony, heading upstairs to his bedroom for an evening of loving. Tony must have seen something soften in Gibbs' expression because he gave an encouraging smile and nodded in response. It appeared that he, too, was looking forward to a night at home, and it warmed Gibbs' heart. My God, was it only the night before that he'd had that call from Tony, begging him to come to the North Brewer police station to pick him up?

Jenny walked into the bullpen alongside Franks, annoyed that she couldn't get a confession out of the teenaged boy, Bobby, even after using some interrogation techniques she'd recently learned. The redhead complained to her boss, "That boy wasn't going to confess while a social services rep was holding his hand! We should have done something to get rid of Bobby's watchdog, even if only for a few minutes. Then I could have extracted the truth from him."

Franks snapped, "What did ya want me to do? Take the kid into a broom closet and make good use of a telephone directory?"

"Ah, the good old days," Gibbs sighed.

Stan said, "When I was a senator's aide, my boss often said that 'crossing the road is a personal journey and no chicken should be denied the right to cross the road in his or her own way.'" After Franks and Gibbs stared at him, and Jenny sent him a sour look, Stan flushed and added, "You can't force people to act the way you know they should act."

Jenny insisted, "I still think I should have been given free rein to interrogate the suspect as the crime warranted. I'd have forced him to act the way I wanted him to act, you can be damned sure."

Gibbs grinned at Jenny's fervor. "I'd have paid good money to watch, too."

Tony sat quietly at his desk at the back of the bullpen, his eyes darting from one team member to another, enjoying the show.

Franks was experienced enough to know you couldn't win every battle. "Look, nowadays we have to respect everyone's rights, Shepard. I damned well don't like it but there ain't a thing I can do about it. We need to move on. There are other cases out there that need our attention."

"When the job's done, walk away," Gibbs pointed out. "Rule number eleven."

Jenny asked of nobody in particular, "Isn't it about time someone posted these rules? And can I add my own rules to the list, like: no crying allowed in interrogation?"

Stan asked, concerned, "Did someone upset you, Jenny?"

"Not her, Steve," Gibbs said. "She means she made the kid she interviewed cry."

"It's Stan, Gibbs. Stan," the blond agent corrected.

Gibbs turned away from Stan to hide his smile. He felt eyes on him and glanced up; Tony was watching their interaction with a smirk on his face.

Franks looked up at the ceiling and sighed deeply. "Geez, I need a smoke." He patted his breast pocket looking for his cigarettes and pulled out a squashed-looking pack with one cigarette remaining. "Thank the Lord. Anyone got a match?"

Tony rose to his feet and held a very large soft-cover book towards Franks, saying nothing.

The supervisory agent looked at the book as if it was something deadly and spat, "What the hell is that, DiFonzzo?"

Gibbs glared at Tony, but it wasn't enough to stop the young man from speaking to Franks.

"Well, Special Agent Franks," Tony said carefully, "this is the official NCIS regulations handbook as relates to investigations of criminal, terrorist, and foreign intelligence threats to the United States Navy and Marine Corps."

Franks scowled and stepped into Tony's personal space. "And what, exactly, do you think I'm gonna do with that oversized manual that I doubt anybody in this office has ever read?"

Tony glanced over Franks' shoulder where Gibbs, Stan and Jenny were frozen in place, then back to Franks. "You could read it, except I'll bet your eyes would glaze over long before you get to page ten, just like mine did. I was thinking maybe you could use it to beat a confession out of Bobby Edelstein?" If anything, Franks' glare deepened so Tony dropped his gaze to the floor and asked, "Or maybe it'd make a good doorstopper?"

After a pause, Franks said, "No need to beat anything out of Edelstein. Mrs. Parrish already confessed to Gibbs. Case is over." Tony's eyes flicked up long enough to find Franks was watching his reaction carefully. "What's the matter?" Franks asked. "You don't like that solution, DiFonzzo?"

"Uh, not really." Tony met Frank's gaze squarely. "I don't understand. At the scene Dr. Mallard said that more than one person knifed the lance corporal, and there's evidence that sweet little Melissa Parrish has a really bad crush on her stepbrother. Her father was going to take her and her mother out of the country and leave Bobby behind, indicating he wanted to separate the teenagers. And…and you saw the pictures she kept-"

Franks sighed. "None of this is evidence that either Bobby or Melissa stabbed Lance Cpl. Parrish in the back, and Dr. Mallard cannot say without any doubt that those wounds were made by more than one person. Only that they were of different depths."

"But…"

Gibbs stepped in and said, "Leave it alone, Tony. The mother confessed." He traded a look with Franks, who nodded. Gibbs put an arm around Tony's shoulders and guided him to the large windows overlooking the river, out of range of the others' hearing. Tony leaned into his touch, and Gibbs figured from all outward appearances the scene must look like a mentor was offering comfort to an upset youth. He gave Tony a gentle squeeze with his hand and then he let his arm drop away, knowing the fleeting contact was all he'd be able to get away with in public.

"But Gibbs," Tony protested.

Gibbs said evenly, "It's in the hands of the lawyers now."

"But you know it was those kids-."

"The mother will stand trial so her kids can go free. Do you understand?" He watched emotions play over Tony's features, and waited patiently until an unhappy, stubborn look finally settled on the young man's face.

"Lot of good it'll do them if their mother's in prison," Tony said stubbornly.

Gibbs sighed. "Much as I hate lawyers, she has a good one, but you need to remember that a Marine was murdered today, Tony, and somebody has to pay." After a moment, Tony reluctantly nodded. In a low voice Gibbs said, "Let's not talk about this any more. I have some paperwork to do, and we can get out of here. Might be able to get outta here in an hour. Okay?"

Tony nodded again and as soon as they returned to the bullpen, he settled at his desk in the corner and opened a huge coffee-table book on the history of the US Marine Corps, ignoring the inquisitive looks that Jenny sent his way.

She sashayed past Tony on her way to the fax machine and stopped at his desk on her return trip. "You're not really reading that book are you, Tony?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tony looked around the bullpen to make sure that nobody was watching and then slowly lowered the open book to reveal a glossy magazine hidden within its binding. "Good pictures," he said with a self-depreciating laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. "Articles aren't half bad, either."

Jenny perched on the corner of the desk and leaned over, making sure she displayed some cleavage. "'The Score Magazine'? Where'd you get that piece of trash?" she asked with amusement colored with disdain.

Tony nodded in the direction of a youngish man working across the next partition. "Chris gave it to me."

"Agent Pacci?" She peered across the divider at the agent as if seeing him for the first time.

"Yeah. There's a good article here, 'Battlefield Babes.' See?" Tony grinned widely and held the magazine up so Jenny was able to get a good view of the buxom women dressed in skimpy fatigues, carrying a variety of gear including backpacks and weapons. "You know, you'd think these babes would have trouble holding their assault rifles to their shoulders considering their humongous-"

Without looking up from his typing, Gibbs shouted, "DiFonzzo! Let Agent Shepard get back to work. Some of us want to be out of here before 2400."

"I was gonna say that the babes have humongous backpacks, Boss." Tony gave an apologetic shrug to Jenny and picked up his magazine again, but as soon as she was settled at her desk and busy writing her report, he returned to reading the book about Marine combat operations in the Persian Gulf.

Every now and then Jenny would make an attempt to engage Tony in conversation. He didn't respond but instead sent covert glances Gibbs' way, aware they were being watched and Gibbs, in turn, glared at Jenny to warn her off. Eventually Jenny gave up with a sigh of regret.

***–***

As promised, they were soon done for the day. The agents said goodnight, Tony thanked Chris Pacci for the magazine, and Gibbs hustled his young visitor out of the building and over to his truck. Seeing the lengths of wood still tied down in the pickup's bed reminded Gibbs how they'd started the day. Finding Tony lying across his dining table that morning, wearing nothing but his red briefs, seemed a long time ago but the memory brought a smile to Gibbs' face.

"Interesting day," Tony said, as they buckled up and Gibbs started the truck. "Glad to get out of there?"

Pointing his vehicle in the direction of home, Gibbs nodded. "We work long hours, sometimes don't get a break for a week, but it's worth it. We have a really good closure rate. Put a lot of scumbags away. Top team at NCIS," he said with pride. "There's still more paperwork to do on this case but it can wait 'til tomorrow night." After you're gone, he thought. The realization that Tony would be heading back to college by this time tomorrow made Gibbs determined to enjoy the rest of their time they had together.

Tony looked out the window at the dark streets for a long while before saying reflectively, "They love each other, you know."

"Who?"

"Melissa Parrish and Bobby Edelstein." He turned his head to look at Gibbs. "It wasn't just the photos she hid that tells me that. When we were on the porch, before Jenny questioned Melissa so hard she made her cry, Melissa told me that Bobby watched out for her." He sighed dispiritedly. "Those teenagers really killed their father, didn't they? I'll bet the girl knifed him in anger and desperation, and Bobby finished him off. Because Parrish found out what they'd been doing and was going to separate them. It's so twisted."

"Most likely." A father murdered by his own children, and a mother sacrificing herself for the sake of her children? Yes, it was twisted all right. Parrish had gone down without a fight; the first blow must have done a lot of damage.

"Do you know that Melissa never referred to him as her brother? Not once. It was always Bobby, or him, but never brother. She made that distinction. It was quite clear." Tony said, almost absently, "The word incest comes from the word meaning sexually impure combined with the word chaste. You'd think they'd negate each other."

Gibbs didn't know what to say. Incest wasn't something he had given much thought to, not in the big scheme of things. He'd had enough of the Parrishes for one day, and he tried not to take his job home if he could help it.

Tony started talking as if Gibbs was participating in the conversation. "There's this movie called 'Close My Eyes,' with Alan Rickman and Clive Owen. You know Alan Rickman. He played the terrorist who was really a thief, Hans Gruber, in 'Die Hard'? He switched from German to American flawlessly. Now Clive Owen…you might not know him. He's in a British series called 'Chancer.' He's a businessman who does anything to help his friends out, but the twist is that he has a moral code that gets in his way. And, his unresolved family past won't leave him alone. He has black hair and really nice blue eyes." He looked Gibbs' way to make sure he was still listening to him and seemed satisfied when he heard a grunt. "Not as nice as yours, Gibbs."

Gibbs just smiled, a bit embarrassed. If he was going to start complimenting people on their nice eyes, he'd be sure to begin with Tony's because every time those green eyes looked his way Gibbs felt like melting into them. But that was not the kind of thing Jethro Gibbs said aloud.

Tony continued, "So, in this movie 'Close My Eyes,' a brother and sister, adults, are obsessed with each other. They have a weirdly intense relationship and it's sexual, and her husband, that's Rickman, finds out. It's about this taboo subject but really they're two adults, consenting adults, who choose to love each other in a way nobody else understands. There's dialog in the movie where the husband says: 'I knew there was something extraordinary between you two, something which had to be purged. I don't want to know. There is a limit beyond which I can't go.'"

Gibbs didn't want to read too much into Tony's movie review or what prompted him to bring it up in the first place. All he could think of saying was, "Everybody has a limit, Tony. We just don't always know what it is until we hit it head on."

Tony kept watching the city streets slip by and didn't respond even though Gibbs knew he'd heard him. Eventually Tony looked at Gibbs, his polite college kid smile plastered on his face, and asked casually, "Are we having dinner at home? Just the two of us? I'd really like that."

***–***end chapter 12***–***