Title: Veritatem Dies Aperit (Time Discovers Truth)

Summary, Disclaimer & Spoilers: See Chapter One

A/N: I liken these next few chapters to a ride on a rollercoaster, and below is the trip up to the top of the first hill which gives you the momentum for the rest of it.

All remaining mistakes are my fault and not my beta's… Thanks ncismom!

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Chapter Fourteen: Face the Truth

Gibbs was surprised when Tony permitted the team leader to help him into the Charger. The hiss of pain from DiNozzo had made him regret the fact that he hadn't taken the truck instead today which would have been so much easier to get in and out of, but he knew how much the younger man liked riding in his car. Tony might not want to be in the same car with him – or perhaps even in the same zip code – but at least his friend could enjoy the ride if not the company.

With a couple of curses that could only have been picked up from a Marine, Tony finally wrangled the crutches into the car. Gibbs shut the door and, as he hurried around the car, he copied the shrug Grace had given him and gave her a wave goodbye.

When he was about to start turning the key in the ignition Tony, without taking his eyes off the street in front of him said, "You deserved that."

Gibbs nodded once, and lifted a hand to his chin and the bruise he knew was now forming. "Yep, I did."

He started the car and pulled out into the road. They didn't have far to go before they reached the intersection at the end of the block and had to stop. Gibbs glanced at his passenger. "Which way?"

As he waited for Tony's response, the cityscape and the road before them seemed to melt away, and in its place there was one of those perfect crossroads that you sometimes see out in the middle of nowhere. He'd seen one once off in the distance while on that long train ride with Shannon after leaving Stillwater, and the image had stuck with him all these years. The two roads he had seen had been perfectly straight and had intersected each other at right angles, but what really had made an impression on him was that they had seemed to go on forever even though he knew that was impossible. It had been the kind of crossroads where decisions were made, and if you were Robert Johnson, it was the kind of place rumored to be where deals with demons were made. This intersection felt like one of those crossroads, and the decision about to be made would affect both he and Tony's futures.

If Tony chose to keep going straight, then they'd end up at Fornell's place, and the punch would simply be an expression of the anger DiNozzo was still feeling towards him. If they turned right, then they'd be going to his house, and the punch would not only be, according to his jaw, a very tangible expression of anger but the sign Vance had spoken of – the sign that Tony was finally ready to talk to him.

"Turn right," DiNozzo quietly but firmly said.

And, with those words, the lonely crossroads disappeared and as he let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, the proper cityscape popped back into place. He turned right and headed towards his house feeling that though his passenger had chosen to go with him, that this was only one of many skirmishes to be fought in the battle to regain their friendship.

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No matter how many times he had endured Gibbs' head slaps, he had never wanted to hit back – until today. He won't lie and say he'd never before entertained the thought, but to consciously execute the desire…never.

He hadn't even planned on punching Gibbs, but the second his former team leader had stepped up to him, his fist had gone flying of its own accord. The decision to punch had gone straight to his fists having skipped all the brain processes in between. And, when he'd realized what he had done, he'd been shocked but managed to cover it up with a flip, but true, remark.

When Gibbs had asked him which way he had wanted to go; that Robert Frost poem he had learned at one of his boarding schools had come to mind. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… Granted the roads before him were not divergent paths in the woods, but the concept was the same. If he chose the road that led to Fornell's place, he knew for sure that he would be leaving his life here behind for good in the long run. The betrayals he had experienced in the past had led him down the same path of starting over time and again – Peoria, Philadelphia …Baltimore. But, if he chose the other path, the one that was 'grassy and wanted wear…the one less traveled by,' then maybe for once he would salvage the broken pieces and rebuild his life, make it stronger than it ever was before.

Should he cut ties or follow the advice of three very different individuals who seemed to think that he and Gibbs were destined to walk life's path together instead of apart? He took in a slow, deep breath and blew it out just as slowly. He decided to not think about it and go with whatever answer came out of his mouth first.

He probably shouldn't have been, but he had been a little surprised that he'd told Gibbs to turn right. Tony supposed that after spending ten years working together being partners and saving each other's lives, then maybe his subconscious thought the Marine deserved to be able have his say. This was Gibbs' last chance and he was pretty sure the man beside him knew it. Time would tell if the path he was on now would 'make all the difference.'

The rest of the trip was made in silence, and it was so difficult to leave it in place. Unless he got the 'shut up or else' glare; Tony was used to practically talking Gibbs' ear off during any car ride they took. He had to constantly remind himself to remain quiet. It was funny in a way because he had so much he needed to say, but a car in traffic was not the best place to start airing out their dirty laundry.

The second the car stopped, he threw the passenger door open and began fighting to get his crutches out of the car hoping it would signal to Gibbs that he did not want the man's help. When they were out, he slowly and carefully extricated his injured leg intending to use the door and the crutches to help him stand. However, with the Charger being so low to the ground, he immediately knew getting out of the car by himself would never happen without damaging his healing leg. With resignation, he sighed and looked to his right. Sure enough, Gibbs had been standing by the whole time having already predicted his problem.

He dropped his head a little in defeat and Gibbs stepped in front of him with his arms outstretched. Tony grabbed both arms and used them to help get himself out of the car without losing his balance. His former mentor waited until he regained his equilibrium and then handed him his crutches.

As Gibbs started to walk towards the front door, Tony quietly said, "Thanks."

His 'thanks' was acknowledged with a slight dip of the grey-haired man's head as Gibbs hurried up the sidewalk to open the front door. As Tony hobbled up the path, he realized that it was going to be a very long day and that neither one of them would come out of this 'discussion' unscathed.

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To be continued… next Thursday.

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A/N: Here's Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" in its entirety for those who might not know it.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Thanks for reading!