CHAPTER 21
Gibbs sat in stunned silence. Brad asked him to leave when he was finished talking to him. He wanted to examine Tony. Gibbs thought of everything he had learned and tried to read between the lines for what Brad hadn't said. He couldn't believe he hadn't known the depth of friendship between Tony and Brad. He had the feeling he needed to get his head out of his ass and start paying more attention.
As Gibbs made his way to the cafeteria to get another cup of coffee he made a decision. I will get to the bottom of all of this. Brad knows something but he's not saying. We are both trying to protect Tony but it's like we each only have a few pieces of the puzzle. Son, we need to have a long talk. I need your help to figure this out and to fix this situation.
Though Brad still didn't know exactly what was going on with his friend, he knew enough to redirect his focus. Tony had been beaten. It wasn't by his father. Who ever did this was on Gibbs' radar. He needed to look at the injuries and patterns again to help with Gibbs' investigation. Now he knew everything he found was from whatever had happened. He needn't look at any injuries as accidental but as a direct result of something.
But Brad wasn't able to concentrate strictly on the exam. He knew for sure something had happened between Tony and the team. Tony had inferred they were judgmental. Tony had told him he didn't trust Tim and Ziva to have Gibbs' six, did he trust them to have his?
Gibbs made his way back to Tony's side as quickly as he could. He decided he needed to look at this whole thing as if it were a case. He needed to investigate and interview witnesses, also known as his teammates and friends. He was going to get to the bottom of this.
He had been letting Tony work more often with Ziva and McGee individually. He had had the patience to work with Tony when he was first learning but he knew he didn't have the patience for any of the others. Tony was a trained investigator. He only needed to learn Gibbs' methods and NCIS terminology. That wasn't the case with Kate, Tim or Ziva. It seemed as if each one of them was less than the one before.
He hadn't noticed anything different in Tim's quarterly review but maybe he wasn't looking hard enough, Tony could be the master of understatement. Ziva was another story. She had only been with them for a matter of months. Coming in so quickly after the loss of Kate. Ziva had been thrust upon them. Tony had not yet had a chance to file a quarterly review. The endless cases had kept them all backed up on their paperwork. Had he missed something? Ziva had killed her half brother to protect him but this didn't mean he fully trusted her. She was an unknown.
He called HR and requested the quarterly agent evaluations for the team for the past two years. This would cover the start of McGee's time with the team as well as Ziva's. He hoped to determine a pattern or discrepancy that may pinpoint where things had started to go wrong. He must have missed something when he was reviewing them. Now, with new information he would reevaluate the reports.
"Dad, I wish you were here." He knew it wouldn't be long before Jackson arrived but he needed someone to talk to about all of this.
Tony drifted in and out of sleep throughout the day. Never quite fully awake before he succumbed to sleep once again. His fever lowered and his vital signs improved but he was still in for a long recovery. Gibbs spent his time trying to decide where to begin first. Had this been a normal case he would be able to bounce ideas off of Tony, but this wasn't a normal case. If it was a case where would I start… with the victim. With that in mind he began.
Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. Age 34. Mother deceased. Father, an abusive alcoholic who was MIA from his son's life. Graduated from college and went to the police academy. Worked for a total of six years prior to joining NCIS. Worked his way up from a beat cop to a homicide detective while moving on average of every two years to different departments. Continued on with his education to advance his knowledge and his career.
Tony was a college graduate with a degree in Physical Education, minor in psychology and had worked towards a degree in Criminology while working at Peoria. He finished his Criminology degree while in Philadelphia and started on his masters while working on his psychology degree. He then finished his masters in Criminology and his Bachelors in Psychology while in Baltimore when he was also working deep undercover.
He never mentioned his continuing education. He never mentioned his multiple other degrees or his skills in computer programming, psychological profiling or his other varied studies. He never mentioned his multiple commendations and citations for saving civilians and fellow officers. As he thought about it now, he wasn't sure if Tony had ever finished his doctorate degree. He knew Tony had been working towards it since being at NCIS but it wasn't anything he ever talked about with the other team members.
When Gibbs had met Tony in Baltimore, Tony was running out of time. He had started with the department and had immediately gone undercover to bust a mob boss. After one year undercover without injury, Tony was shot by his fellow officers during the raid to take them down. He had only been back to full duty briefly when Gibbs came and turned his life upside down once again. Gibbs was grateful for being there when Tony discovered his partner was crooked.
Gibbs moved his investigation on to more recent events. Over the past few months he had been stressed to the point of causing possible damage to his health. The causes of stress were at least in part from his team. Obvious stressors were related to his health (the plague) and the death of Kate (being covered in her blood). Looking back he wondered who had been there for Tony. He was obsessed with finding Ari and bringing him to justice. He remembered offering them coffee. But did he ever ask how he was doing?
Ducky: ME and prior to recent events had been Tony's primary physician. Something had caused a riff, but what? Of everyone on the team this one had him the most baffled.
Kate: This one was pretty obvious. Her death had affected them all. But perhaps Tony more so than he had previously realized. He thought Tony was dealing with his grief but maybe he was just acting. They hadn't spoken of her or her death since the funeral. Was Tony still suffering grief from her loss?
Tim: The youngest member of the team. He was a computer geek that liked to throws his degrees in Tony's face when ever possible. His attitude was more abrasive since Ziva joined the team. His investigation skills had improved since working with Tony but he still had a long way to go.
Ziva: What was there to say about Ziva? She was new, untrained and unpredictable. She was abrasive to victims, witnesses and her teammates. She had found her own loyal St. Bernard in Tim. He would fall all over himself to impress her. In the back of his mind he knew there was more to it than this but he wasn't sure what.
The most damming of all evidence was their (as a group) apparent lack of caring for the welfare of their teammate. Tony was sick, had been arrested and jailed. Yet when faced with the prospect of both Tony and himself being out of the office, his teammates had not only called Gibbs to see if he was okay but were calling Tony to see if Gibbs were alright. How could they not inquire into Tony's welfare, at least Tim had shown a brief moment of caring. Maybe there was hope for him.
His frustration mounted as he tried to comprehend what had happened. He waited to hear back from HR. He was glad he hadn't broken his own phone. He knew he needed to get Tony's replaced but for the moment he didn't want to explain how he had broken Tony's phone in a fit of rage.
The pain in Gibbs' arm had increased throughout the morning. He had taken the Tylenol and eaten a little lunch (at Brad's insistence). Sleep was the next step, maybe he'd be able to think more clearly if he just got a little sleep. But he couldn't do that until someone else was here to keep an eye on Tony.
Just after noon Jimmy came to the hospital. He had been sent home by Gibbs to get some sleep and to clean up. On his return to the hospital he had stopped by Tony's place to pick up a few items he figured Tony would need. He also stopped for a bowl of soup and coffee for Gibbs. He wasn't sure if he could get Gibbs to eat but it was worth a shot.
When he arrived at Tony's room he found Gibbs sitting upright in a chair with a light sheen of sweat on his face. It was obvious to Jimmy Gibbs needed a little help. He could see the torment Gibbs was putting himself through.
Tony seemed to be resting comfortably. He looked a little better than he had earlier. He was grateful Brad had agreed with his initial treatment. It gave him the reassurance he needed that he had done right by his friend. Now he had to help Gibbs.