Chapter 13

A/N – I tweaked this to fix a few mistakes and smooth out the rough spots. I promise that I am working on the next chapter and should have it posted soon. Thanks for your patience. I work for a college and the beginning of a new term is always hectic. That's an explanation, because there is no excuse. :-) Chapter 14 should be up some time this weekend.

Chapter 13

Tony turned the knob slowly, and opened the door with a sense of dread in his heart. The man on the other side of the door was impeccably dressed and looked very uncomfortable standing in the hallway. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"What an absurd question, Anthony. Are you going to invite me in?"

"Sure, but I should warn you that I already have a guest."

"I would appreciate it if you would ask your guest to leave and come back at a later time. We need to talk about your mother's ex-husband." Luciano DiNozzo said as he passed Tony, entering the apartment. As Tony closed the door, he noticed that his father had identified Joe as Liz DiNozzo's ex-husband, rather than Tony's biological father. He couldn't decide if he should take it as a compliment that Luc saw himself as Tony's only father, or an insult that even with this situation right now, he viewed his dead wife's importance over that of his living, breathing step-son. In a split second, he decided to take the high road, and deal with that decision later.

"Funny you should mention him." Tony said, watching his step-father for any reaction - he got one.

Luciano's eyes met his son's immediately, and his voice lowered to just above a whisper. "Please tell me that was one of your infantile jokes."

"No, sir. Serious as a heart attack."

"Why did you invite him here? I thought we were going to…" he said in a stage whisper.

Tony held up his hand and interrupted him before he could really get his ire up. "I didn't invite him, but neither did I think it was a good idea to throw him out. My boss is on the way here, so he may be leaving soon anyway. You may as well meet him now, as you would need to anyway."

"Making connections in his line of work is not good for my business."

"My business is the same way, but it's never good to make enemies where you don't need them." He could see that his statement had hit its mark.

"Alright, why don't you introduce us?" the senior DiNozzo said resignedly.

"Yes, sir." And with that he turned and led his step-father into the living room, moving as if he had cement shoes. What was there to look forward to when you introduced two people, both of whom you wished were not present.

He walked up to Joe and said, "Joe, may I introduce you to my step-father Luciano DiNozzo. Dad, this is Joseph Batista."

For his part, Joe Batista rose from his seat and greeted his son's step father with grace and good manners. Luciano, on the other hand showed self importance and his impatience to have this done with - just going through the motions.

"It's nice to meet you. Please, call me Joe, all my friends do." Joe said as he reached out his hand to Luciano.

The senior DiNozzo actually bristled slightly at that, but accepted the hand that was outstretched and shook the other man's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Joe. I hope that you have had a pleasant visit with Tony, that he has been a good host." He released the other man's hand and stepped back. "I'm sorry to seem rude, but if you will excuse me, I have a quick call to make to my secretary. I need for her to move a few more of my appointments tomorrow." He turned to Tony and asked, "Where can I make this call?"

"Down the hall, the door on the left." And with that his step-father quickly turned around and strode off down the hall of his son's apartment. Tony just shook his head and turned back to his other guest.

"Subtle isn't he?" Joe asked, watching Tony's reactions carefully.

Tony wasn't sure if Joe was watching to see how Tony reacted to him now that Tony's step-father was here or if he had gleaned some inside information into the Father/Son relationship that Tony had with his step-father.

"Like a Mack truck. Sometimes I can see the tread marks" Tony replied, and it was the first time the two men had agreed on anything. 'Is it a good thing?' Tony asked himself, 'to have your new mob boss birth father agree with your opinion of your self centered step-father? Not a question to ponder right now, Anthony.' he chided himself.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Joe asked earnestly.

"The situation is making me uncomfortable." He said honestly, and then Tony closed his eyes and moaned in his head as he heard another knock on the door. He had actually forgotten about Gibbs for a few moments. He wasn't sure who he was more nervous about Gibbs meeting, Joe or Luc. "And it just keeps coming." He quietly said to himself.

"Your boss?"

"Probably. It's been about 20 minutes, right on time for Abby's time table for his arrival." He said as he went to answer the door.

"Would you like me to go?"

"It might be better for right now, but you might as well stay long enough to meet Gibbs, you'll pass right by him anyway. Have a seat for a moment." The person on the other side of the door knocked again, and Tony picked up the pace to answer it. He opened the door quickly and simply locked eyes with his boss.

Gibbs caught the atmosphere and the quiet desperation in his agent's demeanor within a brief moment and let Tony decide the next move. "You okay? Is your father still here?"

"Which one?"

Uh-oh. "Luc is here?"

"Luc is here."

"How's it going so far?"

"Can I have a definition please?"

"Want to introduce me to Batista?"

"Sure. And then the other one may join us when he's done with his calls to his office. Why don't you come in and stay a little while?" He said as he made a grand sweeping gesture inviting Jethro Gibbs into his apartment. "Please proceed to the living room." He said formally.

Tony follows the senior agent into his living room and indicates his guest there. "Gibbs. This is Joseph Batista, my biological father. Joe, meet Leroy Gibbs who is my boss at NCIS."

The two men shook hands and took each others measure.

"Nice to meet you, may I call you Jethro?" At a nod he continues. "You know who I am." It was not a question. "I hope that this will not interfere or effect Anthony's position at your agency."

"That really depends on you and the family. I don't care who his family is. He's a good agent and an asset to my team. As long as his family life, no matter what family you're talking about, doesn't interfere, he should have no problem from our end."

"That's good to know. I will make it clear that it will not happen."

"Thank you." Answered Gibbs.

"I think that I will take this opportunity to leave." Joe addressed to both men, and then turned to Tony to say, "With your permission, I would like to meet with you again to get to know you, and give you the chance to meet your siblings properly. I will try to be patient and give you the time that you need. But please, don't take too long, I am an old man." He said this will a gleam in his eye and a small smirk on his lips.

Tony's shoulders seemed to relax a little. He met his father's eyes, and replied genuinely, "Thank you. I think I would like to meet everyone, but I need to digest it all and figure out how to protect everyone involved. I hope that you can understand that."

"You are a wise young man, Anthony. I wish that your sister used her head as wisely."

"Thanks, I think." He said as he showed his biological father to the door. "Despite everything, it was nice to meet you."

"Thank you. I enjoyed meeting you. We'll try to make our next meeting a little more conventional."

"I would appreciate that." Tony opened the door, and Joe exited the apartment and pulled his cell phone from his belt to tell his driver that he was ready to go. As the door closed, Tony turned back to his boss and knew that his earlier question had now been answered - he's more nervous about Gibbs meeting his step-father.

"That went well."

"Yea." Tony replied flatly. "Surprisingly, it's the other one being here that I am less excited about at the moment." He nodded his head towards the back room.

"Why's that, DiNozzo?"

"If things didn't go well with Joe, and I lost my job, I could get another one. But Luc knows what buttons to push that could make my life miserable." He finished his answer almost speaking to himself.

"What buttons would those be, DiNozzo? He doesn't have any influence on you."

Tony raised his head and looked his boss in the eyes. "You'd be surprised, boss, what this man can do." Tony turned and lead Jethro back in to his living room to wait for the next round.