Chapter 25
Gibbs watched Tony hurry across the parking lot of Ziva's building, glad to see him moving so freely. He opened the door of the truck and climbed in. "Sorry, Boss, I lost track of time."
"Everyone else still there?" Gibbs asked.
DiNozzo nodded. "I had just incited an argument between Abby and McGee, in fact." Gibbs snorted. No doubt it had been about some goofy movie or TV show. "You should have just reminded me. I could have gotten a ride from one of the others."
"Touching though your interest is, I can manage my love life, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, amused as well as impatient.
DiNozzo flushed and sagged in his seat. He didn't say anything, so Gibbs couldn't be sure what he was thinking, which sharply limited his ability to respond. They went the rest of the way to Bethesda in silence.
"You coming in with me?" DiNozzo asked.
"Well, I'm not waiting in the truck," Gibbs replied, then winced internally when he heard how bad tempered the answer had sounded. After a moment, he said, "I had intended to come in with you, that's part of why I didn't just remind you."
The look DiNozzo shot him was difficult to read, but he didn't seem displeased. The silence that reigned while he parked and they walked up to the building didn't have the same quality as that which had followed his poorly chosen words earlier. DiNozzo was unusually sensitive right now, and it seemed Gibbs himself was getting less patient. He'd have to keep an eye on himself so he didn't give DiNozzo more than he could handle.
When the nurse called DiNozzo in, she looked askance at Gibbs when he accompanied his man into the examination room. The doctor, his badge said Howard Marsh, looked at the pair of them and turned to DiNozzo. "You know I've got some fairly private information to pass along to you today, right?"
DiNozzo shrugged. "He'll get it all later, anyway," he said. "You've got the form you have to fill out before I go back to work, right?" Dr. Marsh nodded. "He's the one who gets it."
"I see." He still seemed a little perturbed, but he gave DiNozzo a gown to change into for the examination and left. DiNozzo started stripping down, and Gibbs looked away. Then he heard DiNozzo shinnying up onto the table and turned back around.
"Your legs are looking better," he said.
DiNozzo straightened his right leg. "They are, aren't they?" he said. "My arms are taking longer, but they had a lot more . . ." He flushed a little. "Layers. They had layers."
Gibbs looked at the marks on DiNozzo's upper arms and nodded. "But the cuts on your wrists . . ."
"All but healed." DiNozzo said, lifting a hand and twisting it to look at the wrist. "Unless the doctor says otherwise, I plan on coming in to the office on Monday. Even if I can't do fieldwork, I can do desk work."
Before Gibbs could respond to that outrageous remark, Dr. Marsh came back in. "All right, Tony, first, your blood tests show no signs of any STDs, though you'll want to avoid unprotected sex regardless. The AIDS tests aren't –"
"Right," DiNozzo said, and he bit his lip, glancing at Gibbs. Apparently he hadn't realized what Marsh had meant abut private information. He probably didn't know that Gibbs had already had a report from Fornell on a complete lack of condoms among Harris' belongings. No wrappers, no used ones in the trash, no unused ones in the bags. Not a sign.
Marsh broke off and nodded. "If you have any questions about that, you can always call me later, but you will need to come in for periodic tests. We'll set up a schedule for you." DiNozzo nodded. "Now, let's get a look at you."
Gibbs turned away when it was appropriate, but he didn't want DiNozzo glossing over anything as he'd been known to do in the past. Gibbs knew all about that. All too much, in truth.
"Everything seems to be healing as it should be," Dr. Marsh said finally, "and there don't seem to be any signs of infection. Very good."
"So, when can I go back to work?" DiNozzo asked.
Marsh's eyes widened. "Well, I suppose you could go back to light duty on Monday, but anything more energetic than typing and light filing will have to wait."
"We don't have light duty at NCIS," Gibbs said.
DiNozzo turned a betrayed look on him. "Boss!" he exclaimed.
"When have you ever heard of a federal agent doing light duty?" Gibbs asked Dr. Marsh.
"I work a fair amount with the FBI," Marsh said.
"We're not the FBI," Gibbs replied.
"But Boss, I know Jenny's been trying to get you to come back in, and I could stay stuck in the office. I'd do database searches and stuff."
"DiNozzo –" Gibbs started, but DiNozzo's eyes were eloquent.
"I can't spend another week sitting there watching you scrape your boat," he said.
"Well, I'm submitting the form as I see it, Tony, and you can work things out with your supervisor at your leisure," Dr. Marsh said.
"Thanks," Tony said. "Was there anything else?"
"No, you can go ahead and get dressed and make an appointment for next week."
Tony nodded and Gibbs watched Marsh leave. "You don't want me back at work?" DiNozzo asked, and Gibbs heard more in the question than a simple request for information. None of the things he could think of to say sounded right, and as he ran possible responses through his mind, DiNozzo started drooping. He could not afford to get the answer to this question wrong, and words weren't going to cut it. He stood up, walked over and gave DiNozzo a solid smack on the back of the head. The younger man winced, but he grinned, clearly relieved. "Thanks, Boss," he said.
"If you have problems, you let me know," Gibbs said. "Whatever they are." DiNozzo nodded. It was a promise too easily made, and Gibbs knew that DiNozzo would tell him nothing short of murder attempts, damn the man. "But you need to shave. You look too scruffy for my team."
DiNozzo's grin broadened. "Sure, Boss, when we get back to your place."
Gibbs nodded. DiNozzo got dressed and made his appointment for his next blood test, and they headed out to the truck. Gibbs cleared his throat. There was more information that DiNozzo needed, but Gibbs wasn't sure how he would react. "Fornell has released your place."
Tony stopped moving for a second, then he continued. "I suppose I could go back and stay there," he said.
"No, you can't. I want you under my eye for a little longer," Gibbs replied. The tension left DiNozzo's shoulders. "But if you're serious about getting rid of your furniture, you could get that process moving if you wanted to. And if there's anything you need, we could swing by."
Tony shook his head. "I . . . I'm good, actually. Next week's soon enough."
Gibbs nodded. He wasn't exactly surprised. Most men wouldn't be relieved by their boss declaring that he wanted them under his eye. If that thought still made DiNozzo feel better, going back to his place was going to take longer than a week. "I could have someone swing by and pick up your answering machine if you need your messages."
DiNozzo shrugged. "I should be able to pick them up remotely, but I forgot the password."
"I'll have McGee go by for you."
"Sounds good," DiNozzo said indifferently.
Gibbs grimaced, but he made the call, watching DiNozzo look out the truck window with some concern. While DiNozzo was still so apathetic about so many things, it was hard to imagine he could be effective at work. Once they'd reached the house, DiNozzo went up the stairs to take a shower. Gibbs headed downstairs to the basement to get some more work done. He could hear the pipes down here, so he could easily monitor the length of DiNozzo's showers.
McGee arrived before the water stopped. He came straight down to the basement and looked around. "Where's Tony?"
"Showering," Gibbs said. "Bring that over here." McGee brought the answering machine over and put it on Gibbs' workbench.
"My guess is that the FBI already listened to it," McGee said. "There were only four new messages when I unplugged it."
Looking at the arcane device with its minimally labeled buttons and lights, Gibbs gestured with his chin. "Show me how it works."
McGee looked at him. "But Tony knows how it works."
Gibbs raised his eyes to McGee's face. "No doubt," he said, and then he waited.
After several uncomfortable moments, McGee gave him a brief demonstration that was largely devoid of thirty-cent words, and Gibbs was reasonably sure that he could manage on his own. During the explanation, the water shut off, signaling the end of Tony's shower. "Okay, McGee, go on upstairs and wait for Tony and keep him occupied. Get him to start making lunch or something. I don't want either of you coming back down here."
"Boss, what –" One look made McGee close his mouth and nod. "Yes, Boss," he said, and, still looking uneasy, he hurried up the stairs.
Gibbs pressed the button to start the messages playing. It started with new messages, played in the order received. The first was a message from a credit card company asking DiNozzo to call back to 'hear something to his advantage.' Gibbs skipped it and the next message started. It was from Wednesday and the male caller didn't identify himself. He rambled for a while about bastard feds who smeared the names of decent cops, but it was neither interesting nor particularly actionable. He'd see that Fornell got it anyway, along with the complaints he'd already filed against the three officers who'd invaded his house. The next message had come in Friday morning. Gibbs almost skipped it, but some instinct made him listen.
"Anthony, this is your father. This morning I received a call to inform me that you've been having an illicit homosexual affair with another police officer, and that you are now accusing this man of rape. I can't believe that you've dragged our name even deeper in the mud. If you must engage in such disgusting activities, you could at least have the decency to keep it discreet even when things go wrong. Do not call to explain, I don't want to hear it, and I don't want you troubling Joyce with it either. Whatever has happened to you is your own fault for getting involved with that type, and you should have known better. Remember, you are my son, and that gives you certain responsibilities, and avoiding scandal is one of those. Thus far, I haven't heard any gossip about this disgraceful situation, and I expect you to see to it that I don't. I hope you will think before you act in the future." The phone made no noise as DiNozzo senior hung up, and, while angry, DiNozzo's father's voice had remained calm and cold. Gibbs had no trouble believing that he didn't give a damn about what had happened to his son. Gibbs was going to have to call him, though, to find out who his unidentified informant was.
The fourth new message was from Friday afternoon, and it was a reminder call for the appointment at Bethesda that DiNozzo had missed this morning. After that, the old messages began to play. There was one from Abby that he skipped, two from Joyce from before the abduction, and he skipped those, too. No messages from Harris, but that wasn't surprising. By the time he'd started making phone calls, he knew DiNozzo was no longer staying at home. All in all, given the content of the messages that the FBI had actually listened to, it was no wonder that they hadn't kept the machine. And, all in all, he was just as glad that they hadn't heard the message from DiNozzo's father.
Footsteps on the staircase made him look up. DiNozzo was coming down alone. His newly shaven face showed no sign of bruises. "I got McGee to explain why he was being so jumpy," he said, giving Gibbs a glare. "You hear anything juicy?"
Gibbs shrugged. "Wanted to make sure things got handled," he said mildly.
DiNozzo seemed to lose steam as he approached the bench. "Is there anything from . . . from him?"
Gibbs shook his head. "Not a word." For a moment, DiNozzo stared at the machine, and Gibbs contemplated him. "You want to hear?" DiNozzo shrugged and leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed. Gibbs took that for assent and pressed the button. The messages started playing, oldest first, and DiNozzo looked up.
"That one you can delete. I heard it." Gibbs pressed the relevant button and the machine skipped to the next message. The next two were from Joyce, and DiNozzo told him to delete them both. They went through the next several messages without speech. All were apparently unheard by DiNozzo, but none of them amounted to much. Gibbs had skipped them. After the credit card call, which DiNozzo instructed him to delete, Gibbs hit stop. "The next two are simple harassment and the last one is a message from Bethesda about the appointment you missed this morning."
"I thought I gave them my cell phone," Tony said.
"You didn't have your new cell phone when you left Bethesda," Gibbs replied, and DiNozzo blinked.
"Tony?" McGee called. "I think the pasta's done."
DiNozzo bowed slightly and gestured towards the stairs. "After you, el jefe."