AN: It has been raining in parts of OZ including here on the east coast which is helping get the fires under control.
Tony raced to the hospital as soon as he got word that there'd been a siege in Gibbs' basement. He didn't have a lot of details, but he did know that Jess wasn't hurt but Gibbs had been shot and they'd sent him back to Bethesda. Seriously, Gibbs' basement place was cursed in his humble opinion, as in it was like a nexus of evil (and he mentally head slapped himself for the reference to Charmed).
Not that he was a fan of the TV show or anything, but one of his dates might have raved about how much Tony looked like an actor who'd played a half warlock who entered the priesthood to defeat his evil non-human side. [15] She'd insisted they watch the episode and had demanded to know when it finished if he had a twin. He'd shrugged, said he guessed there was some resemblance but no, he didn't have a twin brother. At last not that he knew of, although with Senior and his alley-cat behaviour he might have a half-brother, although he kept that thought to himself. He wasn't in the habit of sharing his dirty laundry with others and his sperm donor certainly qualified for that category.
Rikki had moved on when he'd stood her up twice during cases where Gibbs refused to let him have a meal break, even though he'd been working crazy-assed hours and was long overdue to take a break to eat. As an industrial relations lawyer, Rikki had pointed out that what Gibbs did was unlawful, it was bad management practises and outright dangerous but when Tony had refused to stand up for himself and his rights, she'd broken up with him. In hindsight, particularly as a dad and as a temporary team leader, he'd come to appreciate what she had been trying to get him to see. After all, he'd always believed in the maxim- work smarter not harder, but Gibbs believed that working harder i.e. longer hours, ignoring the need to sleep, eat and most importantly, denying themselves a life outside of the job was noble and necessary to do the job.
For Tony, paradoxically, when he stopped focusing on something was often when he was able to problem-solve with the most effectiveness. It would usually occur when someone unconnected to the job, made an innocent and unrelated comment. Sometimes it was when he read a book or watched a movie or even when he went running, that he had his best insights or flash of intuition. Not slogging away working outrageously long hours to fulfil some twisted productivity-based work ethic promulgated by Leroy Jethro Gibbs, where taking time off the case for frivolous activities (like having a life) was a heinous crime. The boss saw it as being disrespectful to the victims who they were working for, but it was absolutely antithetical to the way Tony's brain processed information.
As the acting SSA, Tony could see how short-sighted (okay cut your nose off to spite your face stupid) it was to not let your agents work to their strengths. It would be like forcing everyone on a basketball team to play like a point guard. It was times like these that he wondered how Gibbs had managed to achieve his rank of gunnery sergeant in the Corps. Tony probably had better management and people skills from his time spent as captain of the Buckeyes in college and sport wasn't really important – not like having responsibility for Marines or federal agents.
Shrugging, his thoughts turned to that lame first episode of Charmed that he'd seen. The special effects when the guy turned into a warlock sucked, but they wouldn't have had the budget for sophisticated special effects which a box- office movies would have. Still, despite Rikki dumping him, he'd started watching the show and not just because the three sisters were pretty hot either. It had struck him that the Shannen Doherty character, Prue looked a lot like Caitlin Todd, his former teammate. Of course, Doherty had green eyes and Cate had dark brown. After her death, he kinda binged on the first three seasons before Doherty left the show. It was never the same after Prue died. Although he did admit that the theme of putting family first, sibling love and solidarity had helped get him through some tough times over the years.
By the time he arrived at Bethesda, Gibbs had been rushed straight to surgery and Jess was sitting in the waiting room, looking grim. She stood up when she saw Tony and wrapped him up in a vice-like hug. He could tell she was upset as he returned her hug. Guiding her to a vinyl upholstered bench come-backless sofa, he sank down beside her.
Trying to ease the tension in the room, he said facetiously, "I know you and Gibbs don't see eye to eye but shooting him was a little drastic, don'tcha think, Pardna? Maybe I should have gone with."
She snorted into his chest, still clinging to him fiercely. "Don't think that would have been a good thing, T. Senor Franks probably would have shot you too. "
"Mike Franks did this. That bastard! Where is he?"
"In another operating suite getting three bullet holes plugged," she stated tersely.
Tony pushed her away from him although he still held onto her upper arms as he searched her face. "Gibbs put three slugs in Franks?" he asked her incredulously. "And he's still breathing?"
"As if! It was Yours Truly," she smirked at him. "And, just so you know, it was totally my intention to bring him in alive, T. According to Franks, he'd already removed the bullets from Jethro's gun before we arrived."
Tony flinched. "Are you okay, Jess?"
"Fine, but that bastard has put me in a shitty mood. You know how much paperwork I'm facing for having to shoot that prick when I'm off duty." She bitched at him, grumpily. "Plus, I had to surrender my gun, T. I love that gun," she pouted.
Even though Tony knew she was being flippant to try and lighten the atmosphere, he knew that she wasn't entirely kidding about either her gun or the paperwork, poor thing. Grabbing her and pulling her in close for another hug, he told her, "You can borrow one of my back-ups until yours is returned. I've got a Glock."
She gave him a heartfelt hug in return as she exhaled. "Thanks, Tone, appreciate that. Now, what about some help with the paperwork?"
Chuckling grimly, he said, "On your own there, Lieutenant Lawless. But I'll supply the coffee. So, Jess... what-the-hell happened?"
Jess proceeded to tell him exactly what had gone down, including the fact that after Gibbs had effectively thrown him under the bus with his former boss, or that he'd not bother to defend him, and Franks had decided that Tony needed to pay too.
After completing her succinct recitation of the facts, like the good cop she was, he commented wryly. "So, I get that him threatening to kill me put you in a bad mood, Jess but there's more to it than that, isn't there? Why are you so pissed off?"
She stared at him dubiously. "Well yeah, T! We went there to case the joint so we could use it to set up a trap for Senior's associate. Now it's a crime scene and the damned media were there. Even when it is cleared by the cops, it's probably not a good idea to use it and that means we need to find someplace else," she said.
Tony frowned. "Yeah, maybe not, Jess. I've been having second thoughts about you being bait. I was going to talk to you about it at dinner tonight. I realised today that key to our plan is you'd need to move out of home."
Jess gave him her patented and rather scaring lieutenants stare which was closely related to her Detective Lawless stare and just a fraction less scary than her 'I'm your training officer glare so do what I say. Fortunately, he was fairly immune to all of them by now.
"Obviously," she rejoined.
"Tia won't cope well with that."
Jess scowled at him. Saw it wasn't working on him and rolled her eyes instead, slipping seamlessly into partner mode.
"We need to eliminate Senior's threat, Tony. I thought we both agreed that was crucial for Tia's long-term safety," she stated earnestly. "And Mel's too, for that matter. It's worth the risk – it's not like I can't take care of myself."
"Yeah, I know. You're one very badass dudette, Pardna." he agreed, fondly. "But no one is invincible – look at Gibbs. And I'm not willing to risk your safety – you mean way too much to Tia...and to me. You are family," he told her sincerely.
~oO0Oo~
Jess shifted her butt on the vinyl-covered bench, frowning fiercely. She really wanted to be the one to take down the shadowy bastard, who'd (along with Senior) made their life a living hell for months on end. DiNozzo's Mr Fix-it guy as she'd dubbed him (since she didn't know who he was) had hurt Tia emotionally and psychologically, plus injured Tony and she hadn't been able to stop it. When they'd been kidnapped, she'd felt incredibly impotent and angry.
Jess as a cop – she was supposed to protect people. Not being able to prevent that bastard from taking those people she loved, her family, had affected her deeply. So, it made her determined to be the one to slap cuffs on the rat bastard, and if he got a bit roughed up in the takedown, well she wouldn't be shedding a tear over it.
After months of brooding over fantasies of catching up with Mr Fix-it, Detective Lieutenant Jessie Lawless didn't want someone else stepping up now to make the collar. She wanted payback for all the sleepless nights she endured and that wasn't including the wrecked sleep due to Tia's nightmares and night terrors. No these were her own private nightmares about Tia and Tony being dead at the hands of the kidnappers. Not so farfetched since they'd killed one of their own with little compunction when she'd served her purpose.
Jessie wanted to get her pound of flesh, but she also wanted to be the one who made sure that Tia would never have to look over her shoulder again and worry that her grandfather's goon was going to snatch her away from her family. She wanted to feel heroic, after all, it was the nature of a cop. Their whole raison d'etre was to protect and serve the public and yet she hadn't been able to protect two of the most important people in her life.
Tony had been a hero, taking a bullet to try to stop his child being kidnapped and then managing to escape pull off a stunning escape with her and take down two of the perps while injured. Then Tia had been her own hero, managing to outwit Senior and call for help. Jessie wanted some of the hero action too. She wanted to kick butt and feel like she could save the day, and she stifled a derisive snort, knowing how juvenile that sounded.
Pretty sure that Tony and Tia didn't give a rats' about who caught Mr Fix-it guy or even that they were keeping score. Besides which, she told herself crossly, she got to play rescuer to Gibbs this afternoon. Yeah but not the same thing, her inner child whined grumpily. I don't really even like him,
She noticed that Tony was looking at her bemusedly, so she gave herself a mental shake.
Tony decided he needed to bring out the big guns to convince her. "This crap with Gibbs is just going to make Tia more insecure, Jessie. She won't want you to put yourself out there, even if we explain to her that we aren't really arguing."
Yeah, Jess could see the wisdom in what Tony was saying. She just didn't like it.
She couldn't help feeling disappointed that she would have to take a step back, although even without the Gibbs fiasco, they still had the O'Leary trial to navigate with Mel and Tia. Tony was right, it wasn't worth subjecting Tia to any more anxiety than they could avoid, but she couldn't help feeling frustrated at being thwarted. She was only human.
Looking at her best friend's strained looking expression, she recalled his difficulty in sleeping at night and swiftly capitulated. After all, their location for setting up Senior's Mr Fix-it guy was now a bust, anyway.
"Of course, your right Tony. I'd never want to do anything that might add to Tia's anxiety. So, have you got any ideas about how to catch our perp?
Tony was one of the most creative thinkers she'd ever encountered, so Jess was hoping he had something percolating away in that inimitable brain of his. He was probably even more motivated than she was to discover the identity of the person who'd masterminded the first kidnapping. It was blatantly obvious to them all that after Senior's crazy assed abduction at Tia's psychiatrist office had not been planned by the same individual.
The look of relief on Tony's face made Jess feel ashamed that she'd been so stubborn. Tony grinned in relief. "Yep! Actually, you gave me the idea this morning, Jess. We send him after the excretable Jonathon Stevenson. We'll tell Senior that the slimy doctor is going to testify in court that dear old dad used to assault me when I was a kid and I've decided to sue him instead of handing over Tia to Prince Al. Senior will go ballistic if I tell him I'm going to take him for every penny, every business he owns."
Jess looked confused. "But I thought you said he's broke?"
Tony chuckled mirthlessly. "He is."
"Okay, why would that send him over the edge and send his minion to try to shut up Stevenson? "
"Because my sperm donor is a raging narcissist. He's a failure at business, but it is imperative to his fragile ego that people see him as a rich, successful, suave playboy businessman. When the reality is that he sucks as a businessman who's nothing but a glib conman. He destroys everything good he comes into contact with and his only real talent is being able to smell out a rich mark and talk them to into investing in his projects."
"And he is abusive physically, emotionally and psychologically," Jess contributed bluntly. "Utterly ruthless and cruel, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, including child sex trafficking and murder."
Tony shrugged. "Sounds about right."
"Yeah, okay. But T, he's in jail indicted on serious charges...federal charges. He'll probably die in prison. Why would he care if he loses everything?" She asked, genuinely confused and trying to understand why Tony thought his plan would send Senior over the deep end.
Laughing bitterly, Tony replied, "Let's hope he does get a really long sentence, Jess, but what you have to keep in mind is that he's a narcissist."
Jess nodded, "Oh definitively."
But despite her agreement, Tony could tell she wasn't comprehending, and why would she? Unless you'd lived with a narcissist, you couldn't begin to understand how their brains worked. Taking pity on her the gave her the introductory course 101 on Narcissism as it pertained to rich, white entitled conmen masquerading as successful businessmen.
Taking a deep breath, he explained, "You see, to a raging narcissist like my sperm donor, who's used his wealth, reputation and his influence to get away with never having to face negative consequences for anything, he thinks he's Teflon coated. He managed to bribe his way out of scores of criminal charges over the years, so I guess to all intents and purposes he is."
"Fraud charges?" Jess injected.
Tony looked uncomfortable, "Yeah and other stuff." He said, cagily. "But the point is that he's always been able to bribe, threaten or blackmail his way out of going to jail. Nothing ever sticks. But the important thing to keep in mind is that Senior's totally convinced that he's going to walk away from this mess, too. So, it stands to reason that he needs to keep his reputation and financial empire intact. If I reveal to the world in a blaze of publicity that none of it's real, that he's a conman and a criminal then he won't be able to obtain money to live in the style to which he feels he's entitled."
Jess looked at him, incredulous. But that's crazy, Tone. There's no way he's going to walk away from these charges," she stated with certainty.
Tony shrugged again. "Not the point, Pardner. We are talking about his perception, not what's real and he's going to back himself to slide out of this fiasco, just like he's down every other time. He believes he's untouchable."
Jess thought about what he was saying, before nodding. "Okay, and that is his Achilles heel?"
Tony smiled cynically. "We play it for all it's worth. Plus, he's always judged me to be worthless and a disappointment so if I threaten his financial empire, there no way he can resist making sure I end up the loser of our battle. He'll do whatever is necessary to make sure I don't beat him. His ego couldn't stand for it." Tony said matter-of-factly.
Convinced, Jess sighed. "Okay, T, you've convinced me. Let's go with Plan B. You do know that will mean another trip to the Chesapeake Correctional Facility. Are you okay with that?" She asked knowing how hard the last couple of visits had been on him.
"Yeah, I'm ready to confront him. I'm pretty good at pissing people off, Jess. Should be a piece of cake," he replied with a forced nonchalance that didn't fool Jess for a minute.
Deciding not to call him on it at the moment, she laid her suddenly weary head on his broad and comforting shoulder and closed her eyes to rest for a few minutes. Feeling herself relax after the stress of the day she suddenly recalled his evasiveness about what other charges Senior had managed to elude. Shifting around so she could see he eyes, she asked, "T, what other charges did he manage to skate on?"
Looking into Jess's face, he sighed. "Hawaii." He said reluctantly., "Child abandonment and endangerment but he bribed the judge and the charges were dropped."
Jess knew there was a lot more he wasn't saying about that case, but she decided now was neither the time nor the place. "And? What else?" She pressed.
"An investigation into the disappearance of one of my nannies after my mother died. She told a friend that she was pregnant and reckoned it was Seniors' kid and he wanted her to terminate the pregnancy. Then she went missing. Senior denied that the kid was his. Said that my nanny gave notice and she told him was going to California to stay with an Aunt. "
Jess felt ill. "What happened?"
"She literally vanished, never to be seen again. Senior married the first in a line of rich heiresses and made a substantial contribution to the DA's election campaign fund. It won't shock you to learn that the charges were dropped a short time later," he finished sarcastically.
Jessie was silent as she processed what he'd said before asking the obvious question, knowing Tony as she did. "You investigated the case when you became a cop, didn't you, T?"
Sounding distraught, he said, "Yeah, Tanya's dead. I'm certain that Senior had her killed but I can't prove it. Probably buried her somewhere on the Long Island Estate."
They sat together in silence, since what did you say to someone after they'd shared with you that they believed their father had killed their nanny. 'I'm sorry,' seemed more than a little passé.
~oO0Oo~
One week later:
Jacques was fuming as he made his way up into Vermont. He had received word from his employer, Anthony DiNozzo via his attorney that for now, the plan to persuade Antonia's godmother to mind her own business about Senior's granddaughter was temporarily on hold. The kid's mother had made a miraculous recovery and had vetoed sending her brat of the royal family in Saudi Arabia.
So, now there was a new mission. An urgent one!
It seemed that one of Anthony DiNozzo's trusted and well-paid associates had decided to abandon him and save his own skin. His former private physician, Dr Jonathon Stevenson was apparently going to testify in a civil suit that he'd physically abused his son after his mother died. DiNozzo reckoned there was photographic evidence of his some's injuries as well as the little shit having the stones to record the good doctor threatening him if he told anyone the truth about how the injuries occurred. Now, after sitting on the damaging info for years, he'd decided it was a good time to use it and planned to blackmail Stevenson into testifying so he could sue his father and seize control of DiNozzo's company.
Senior was furious – insisting that Stevenson had to be eliminated immediately and afterwards, Ensa must steal Junior's incriminating evidence before they went after Tia. Apparently, this new plan entailed removing Junior, Jessica Lawless and Tia's mother, leaving Anthony Senior as he next of kin. To be honest, Ensa thought the whole fiasco was beyond a joke. He thought that Anthony should just accept that he wasn't ever going to be able to deliver his granddaughter to Prince Omar Ibn Alwaan. It was time to accept that he'd been outplayed and as going to be spending a long time in prison.
However, in Jacques humble opinion, DiNozzo seemed to have totally lost the plot, refusing to see reality. Perhaps it was because Junior had outsmarted his old man or maybe Anthony was cracking up or was in the early stages of dementia.
Frankly, the whole situation had reached farcical status and Jacques decided it meant cutting his own losses before he got caught up in DiNozzo Senior's increasingly bizarre machinations. Hence his urgent trip to Dorset in Vermont, driving a none-descript late-model Toyota sedan to take care of Dr Jonathon Stevenson. Not because the slimy doctor was going to testify that Senior was a drunkard who beat the shit out of his own son when he was a kid but because the oily doctor posed a threat to his own safety. Most of the time, Stevenson had cleaned up Anthony's messes, patching the kid up at home, setting dislocations and the odd break but on several occasions, he had required hospitalisation. At which point Ensa had been called in to 'fix' things so that DiNozzo wasn't charged with child abuse and thrown in jail.
Although he was fairly confident that Stevenson didn't know his real name, Jacques couldn't be certain that DiNozzo hadn't slipped up while drunk and revealed who his Fixer was. He had always been aware of the possibility but had figured that Stevenson had as much to lose, if not more and would keep his mouth shut. Obviously, Ensa had underestimated the situation and the SOB was a threat to his security. It was time to clean up anyone in a position to betray him.
Of course, Antonia Cooper had briefly seen him during the abortive kidnapping but a nine-year-old was not exactly the most reliable of witnesses and even a half ways competent lawyer could discredit her testimony easily. Ordinarily, he would play it safe and eliminate her too, but it was just too difficult to get to her – she was too heavily guarded, and it was too dangerous to try. But that rat bastard doctor who'd reportedly turned to politics would not be so easy to discredit if he decided to testify against Ensa. Therefore, the solution was simple - the maggot had to die.
As he entered the outskirts of Dorset, he decided that Stevenson's death should look like an accident. After all, accidental deaths happened all the time and older people could be quite forgetful – stepping in front of vehicles, stomping on the accelerator instead of the brake while driving. People frequently forget to turn the oven off and burnt down their house or were unable to remember they'd already taken their medication and took a double dose or forgot to take it at all. Yep, there were dozens of ways to make the death of an elderly individual such as old Doc Stevenson look like bad luck or absentmindedness and Jacques intended to pick one when he'd had a chance to get to know his routine.
Senior's fixer decided to grab something to eat then go and carry out surveillance on the doc to try and figure out what sort of accident would befall him, causing his tragic and premature death. Ensa was a perfectionist – there was no point in him having a tragic accident driving if Stevenson rarely drove anywhere anymore. The point was to make it look like an accident, not stir up the suspicions of some cynical cop.
Two hours later, Jacques found himself hightailing it out of Vermont and back to his temporary base in NYC – a cheap apartment where he could blend in. He was fuming. Vermont was a goddamn trap. A trap which he'd very nearly walked bang smack into.
The Feds were waiting for him, although fortunately, they still didn't know his name. It was only the loose lips of a rookie cop, pissed off that the FBI had come to town for a classified matter who'd given him a heads up. The rookie had been talking out of turn at the café where Jacques had been eating a late lunch about how they'd set up a protection detail for one of their town councillors Doctor Stevenson, thankfully tipping him off about the sting all because of good old fashion rivalry between local and federal levels of law enforcement.
Ever the professional, Jacques felt compelled to double-check on the situation. Taking infinite care, he'd donned some non-descript apparel and cautiously walked around the neighbourhood, noting small but definite signs of the FBI presence surrounding the former doctor's double-storey clapboard place. If he hadn't been expecting it, he might have noticed it until it was far too late, since overall, the operation was top-notch. Still, the feds couldn't exactly be blamed when a territorial, posturing LEO couldn't keep his big fat mouth shut, either.
As he drove away from Dorset, Ensa was considering what his next move should be. His objectives hadn't changed. Jonathon Stevenson had to go but he would need a change of tactics. Ensa was good at fixing problems for his clients so he decided to fix the massive mess he'd gotten into over this whole ludicrous situation with DiNozzo's attempt to sell his own granddaughter. It was now time to devise an exit strategy. He could use the current situation to get himself out of the place he'd found himself in.
Jacques had the glimmering of a plan, but he would need to do some research first. Plus, he'd need to hire some help to carry it off. Time was critical. When he was safe, Jacques decided that he might consider a move across the border. America was starting to get a bit too hot for comfort.
~oO0Oo~
Fornell stretched, working out the kinks in his back as he continued monitoring the security cameras set up inside and outside Stevenson's home. He also had a minimum of two agents shadowing the former medico/lackey of Anthony DiNozzo Scumbag, turned Dorset councilman. He'd deliberately avoided having to spend time with the detestable guy, having been read in on the sting, including the background into why they expected that Senior was going to be desperate to prevent him testifying. Jessie had briefly explained the exact details of how they'd gained Stevenson's cooperation in the Prince Omar Ibn Alwaan plan to persuade him that Tia was not a 'suitable bride' for his son.
Fornell's reaction had been pure unadulterated fury. The thought of a child at the hands of a physically and emotionally abusive monster always sickened him but when it as someone he knew and admired it seemed worse somehow but in retrospect, it explained how Stevenson had agreed to cooperate so easily against Senior. Still, he shouldn't be surprised; anyone who would even contemplate selling off his own granddaughter like she was some valuable broodmare was one very sick fucker. It wasn't exactly a giant leap to picture how bad of a childhood Tony DiNozzo must have endured, too. The fact that Senior had sycophants and enablers on his payroll to cover up his horrendous crime disgusted him and Fornell didn't trust himself not to throttle that rat bastard he was supposedly protecting.
Which was precisely why he'd assigned other agents to physically guard him and opted to monitor the surveillance equipment. One of the perks of being agent-in-charge was that he was able to assign the duty of guarding him to agents with a lot less emotional investment in the case. None of the other agents knew the details of why the FBI believed Senior would send his fixer to try and take down his former personal physician. All they'd been told was that Stevenson was privy to information that could damage the man charged with sex trafficking of his granddaughter. That source of the information was deemed need to know by Fornell and the FBI director to protect Tony's privacy.
They did know, however, that the man sent to take care of "DiNozzo Senior's potential security leak" was in all probability the same guy who masterminded and carried out the kidnapping of Tia and her father. Having a federal agent, plus his kid violently abducted was always going to resonate with his fellow law enforcement professionals. For that reason alone, even without the shootout and murder at the park, it was the motivation for his agents to take extremely good care of the obsequious Dr Stevenson. For all that Tony DiNozzo might seem brash and cocky, he was surprisingly popular with cops and feds alike and Fornell's team was determined to capture Senior's fixer.
Tobias couldn't stop thinking about Jess' revelations about Tony's upbringing. It helped to explain so much about the enigmatic and oft time contradictory person he'd gotten to know over the years. About his mass of insecurities, despite his stellar professional skills and his unfathomable desire to please a bastard boss whose management style bordered on abusiveness. When it came to male authority figures, verbal abuse alternating with emotional and physical abuse must seem like the norm to Tony. It was probably comfortable and expected, which was why he'd managed to put up with Gibbs' crap where others refused to – at least until Gibbs premature retirement.
In the four months that Jethro was absent after his tantrum of epic proportions, Tony had grown into his leadership role, at first trying to be a clone of his boss but finally figuring out that he needed to be his own man. The fact that he'd grown up and evolved had caused tension when Gibbs waltzed back into NCIS and arrogantly took back the team. Jethro had wanted to pretend that the whole episode had never happened, and Tony's person development had been a constant reminder that it had. That time had marched on and with it, people had got on with things and even managed quite well without him. It reinforced the fact that he wasn't as indispensable as he thought he was – which was why he'd been such a bastard to Tony. His success as a team leader was a slap in the face to Jethro's own extremely brittle ego.
Then, with the reunion between Tony and Jessie Lawless, first, during the operation to recapture Mike Macaluso and then the car crash and the responsibilities of being a full-time father to Tia, DiNozzo had matured even more and seemed to grow in confidence. In Tobias' opinion, even if Gibbs by some fluke somehow managed to be declared fit for fieldwork, Tony would never be able to work under Gibbs again – he was too different. The dynamic between them had changed too much.
Tony was no longer willing to be Gibbs' punching bag cum doormat and hallelujah for that!
~oO0Oo~
Ensa pulled a Carling Black Label beer out of the fridge and took a long swallow, groaning appreciatively. It was one of South Africa's most popular beers, presented with an impressive number of international awards. He was feeling peckish too after his drive back from Dorset and decided that he should eat something. He briefly contemplated calling for some takeout but had a craving for some comfort food, so he went and checked out his fridge. Yep, he still had leftover polony [16] and if he heated up some of the French fries he had in the freezer, Jacques could put together a Gatsby [17] with slap chips, [18] polony and Piri Piri sauce [19]. He'd wash it down with another bottle of beer before he started reaching out to his contacts.
As he waited for the frozen French fries to cook, he found a pen and paper and started making a list. He needed someone who bore a passing resemblance to himself to go after the slimy Dr Stevenson. The killer who he sent after the doctor couldn't be too competent, though. He wanted the killer to walk into a trap and die in a dramatic shootout with the Feds. Jacques didn't want his substitute to get taken alive because the chances of them learning that he was not Senior's go-to guy when he needed someone to take care of the illegal stuff was too high.
Ensa wanted them to think that he was dead, that way they would close the case and he could disappear up into Canada for a bit. With a resume like his, Jacques was confident that someone sooner or later would have need of a mercenary or a fixer. He'd heard that Merton Bell as hiring- maybe he'd give him a call.
So, he needed someone, who, when cornered by the feds, would choose to fight it out rather than surrender. And they needed to look enough like him that Senior, Tia Cooper or Jonathon Stevenson would think that it was Jacques if questioned. Difficult but doable – thankfully because Ensa was a pretty generic kind of guy. Medium height and built, brown eyes, medium brown hair and no distinguishing marks or features. Basically, he was pretty unremarkable in appearance and as one of his colleagues in the Recces (South African Special Forces Brigade) had remarked, eminently forgettable. An attribute that was much valued then and now when he worked as a gun for hire.
Plus, if his stand-in was peppered with bullets, well, it tended to mess up facial features. Of course, if they were suspicious enough to do a facial reconstruction, Senior would know he was still alive and that presented him with a problem.
Checking on his chips, he decided they were almost done and rummaged around in his pantry cupboard until he found his bottle of vinegar so he could douse his chips with it when they'd finished cooking. While he was there, he retrieved the jar of Piri Piri sauce and the left-over polony slices from the fridge. Deciding to nip down to the bakery on the corner and buy a fresh baguette, Ensa thought about the problem he'd identified. He needed to take care of it soon so he could get on with his life without constantly expecting the feds to tap him on the shoulder and slap a set of handcuffs on him.
Even after taking care of convincing the feds that he was dead and therefore no longer a threat, Anthony DiNozzo Senior was a loose end. In fact, he was far more dangerous than Stevenson or Tia Cooper would ever be. Should he ever decide to throw Jacques under the bus to save his own miserable hide (and he would do it in a heartbeat) Ensa would be in a world of trouble. It was patently clear that Senior needed to be rendered harmless. Fortunately, he was in a place where inmates got attacked on a daily basis.
Yep, putting out a contract on his narcissistic boss would be infinitely more doable than the plan to kill himself off, although he would be sure to sacrifice one of his other identities because he was sentimental about the name Ensa Jacques and people feared his reputation – that was something he didn't want to have to ditch if possible. Fortunately, Ensa had a perfect one for the job which he was willing to burn. Hansie Rensberg would die in the shootout in Vermont since Ensa was prepared to burn that particular identity which included a fake passport, driver's license and credit cards. It would be worth it in order to get the FBI off his arse.
He'd never really liked the name Hansie anyway! Who calls a kid Hansie anyway? The stupid sod that he'd taken it off after he'd killed him was probably teased unmercifully growing up.
As he paid for the long bread roll and strolled back to his apartment, he returned to the problem at hand, namely Anthony DiNozzo Senior. He considered that in prisons, child sexual predators were universally abhorred by even the most heinous of criminals. As someone charged with sex traffic of his ten-year-old granddaughter, Senior would attract a lot of animus from his fellow inmates. It was an entirely plausible scenario that one of them would decide to save everybody the cost of a trial and off the bastard.
Climbing the stairs and unlocking his door he smelt the unmistakable aroma of hot chips and smiled as he removed the tray from the oven. Frozen French fries weren't nearly as good as the freshly cooked ones, but he was too damned hungry to care. Splashing on the white vinegar and slicing the baguette lengthways, Ensa piled on his sliced polony, heaped on the slap chips and then slathered the top end of the roll with Piri Piri sauce before slapping it together. Finally, he cut it in four for ease of eating and put two pieces on a dinner plate.
Retrieving another bottle of beer out of the fridge, he settled down contentedly in front of the TV to watch a rerun of the perennial western, Bonanza. He'd seen that particular episode, years ago when he was living in South Africa and it sent a wave of nostalgia through him, particularly as he took his first bite of his Gatsby.
~oO0oo~
Brad Pitt and Siobhan O'Reilly strolled through the doors of the rehabilitation facility, walking closer than propriety would normally dictate for work colleagues. With a flicker of regret on his face as he looked into the paediatrician's smiling blue eyes, he adjusted the distance between then to one which was more appropriate for two colleagues. While this place wasn't Bethesda, it was still affiliated with it and plenty of people here knew him – by sight and by reputation.
Both of them had agreed that it was too soon in their blossoming relationship to announce it to their friends, never mind the whole medical community. And hospitals were like a seething hotbed of gossip, speculation and rumours. In a way, Brad could understand why that was – being exposed daily to so much suffering, pain and depravity from dealing with people whose lives had been shattered was terribly wearing on the soul and spirit. Frivolous conjecture about who had the hots for who, who was sleeping with who and who was cheating on their partners/spouses was a pretty harmless distraction for the life and death struggles that they faced constantly. Harmless that was until he was the potential target of the speculation and gossip.
The truth was that Bad had been taken with the delectable Dr O'Reilly since he'd first seen her wandering the halls of the Bethesda, checking up on children of service personnel who'd been hospitalised. Her bright blue eyes, strawberry-blonde hair curls, milky white skin and a smattering of cute freckles across her nose had enchanted him right away. Yet it was her empathy for her patients and their parents and her ability to calm them down without being seen as patronising which had sealed the deal. He'd asked her out once or twice, but she'd always declined gracefully.
He was ashamed to admit that he'd listened in to a few of the nurses gossiping about her, hoping to learn more. Was she seeing someone, or had she been listening to the scuttlebutt that saw him dating a new female every week? Which was mostly BS because although he had his fair share of grateful patients and hospital staff practically throwing themselves at him, Brad wasn't really interested. He longed to find someone he could have a real relationship with, just like his parents had. They still acted as if they were newlyweds. Brad wanted to have a family, although not seven kids like his parents had done. No, two or three at the most would be fine.
When he'd learnt that Siobhan wasn't dating anyone (or not that the hospital gossip mill knew about) he'd concluded that she either didn't like him, didn't share his sexual orientation or had heard about his so-called Lothario dating habits. He'd crossed her off his list of potential mates and focused instead on offering her friendship. He'd also referred a number of his patients with littlies to her when they'd asked him for a recommendation for a paediatrician and had glowing reports of how fantastic she was.
It was why Brad had no qualms about recommending her to Tony when he'd returned from Tucson with a nine-year-old daughter in tow and the child's comatose mother. He was confident her calm demeanour would be good for not only Tia but Tony, who was suddenly thrust into the role of fatherhood. Totally understandable that he and Jess were highly anxious.
He continued to run into Siobhan on a sporadic basis at the hospital, once in the hospital cafeteria and bought her a cup of coffee, but that had been it. Their relationship was strictly a professional one, friendly but no more. Until Antonia Cooper entered their lives. Cut off from being able to go to school, only having FBI agent Fornell's little daughter as a friend, she quickly adopted the adults who had rallied to support Tony as her playmates and companions, Brad Pitt included. With the kidnapping attempts keeping her from being able to socialise with her peers, aside from a couple of weekly classes, her belated birthday party had started the ball rolling vis a vis his fledgling relationship with Siobhan.
Perhaps it was the social setting rather than meeting up in their professional capacities, but Tia had brought them together. Both medicos had expressed their mutual concern for the ten-year-old that both had come to love, as she battled the effects of a second kidnap attempt. Their concern and their outrage at her plight – at the family's plight in being constantly on guard, not knowing if there would be a third attempt to sell the young girl into a forced and illegal marriage had brought them together. Plus, there was the plan hatched amongst Tony's inner circle to address the situation so that Tia could start living without having the threat of adduction shadowing her every move.
Working together with Ducky, Jimmy Palmer, and Siobhan to manufacture a set of fake but authentic medical records which would see her 'value as a royal wife' plummet required a lot of cooperation between the three doctors and the medical student. The time they spent together had given Brad and Siobhan a chance to get to know each other socially and their shared goal seemed to have changed the Irish lass' opinion about Brad. She'd ended up inviting him out on a date since he was too much of a coward to ask her out again and be rejected. While he felt like she was everything he'd been looking for, he was trying not to let her know that he was smitten in case he scared her off.
While it was looking as if that she felt the same way about him, both doctors, being cautious by nature and having had their fair share of broken relationships, had agreed to take thing slow. Slow included not providing fodder for the hospital grapevine until they were surer that their relationship would go the distance. Still, it was getting harder and harder to act professionally around the gorgeous paediatrician and he was pretty sure that Tia had noticed that they were together. She'd giggled slyly when she'd asked him to come to lunch with herself, her nanny Megan and her mother at Silver Springs Rehabilitation Clinic and asked him to invite Dr Siobhan too.
Although, Tony had been whinging to him about Tia's obsession with pairing him up to make babies. So maybe Brad was just being a bit paranoid. Then again, she was a remarkably perceptive little girl. He'd gotten to know her quite well from her daily visits to Bethesda, she'd often managed to wheedle her way into them taking a trip to the hospital cafeteria for a chocolate shake and a tuna fish sandwich. He'd learnt that she shared her father's need to look after those people who she saw as friends.
One day, she'd asked his advice about a friend, who (although she didn't identify her) was clear to Brad that she was talking about Dr Abby Sciuto, the eccentric forensic scientist. Tia was convinced that she had somehow been switched into an adult's body, but the Goth was actually a kid like she was. She was hoping that a doctor would be able to reverse the process or know where the machine was.
Brad had managed to get Tia to explain that she'd watched a movie (no surprises there, he snorted mentally) where a child had found a machine at a carnival that granted wishes to a kid to be grown up and voila, overnight he'd been giving an adult's body but found to his surprise that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. That he didn't fit in with his friends and he didn't fit in with adults because at heart he was still a kid, a kid in a grown up's body who had lost his family because they couldn't recognise him.
Brad could see how Tony's daughter could see Abby, with all of her infantile behaviours and make such an outrageous leap of logic that she was a child trapped in an adult's body. For what it was worth, he admitted that it wasn't that crazy. See infantile
However, Tia's search for a way to reverse the process was predicated upon a critical factor – namely, did Abby Sciuto want to act her age instead of the perpetual child-like persona she inhabited? People didn't usually choose to act in such a babyish manner unless they were getting some sort of intrinsic or extrinsic reward.
Sighing discreetly, because he had no wish to dismiss Tia's innocent concern for someone who she considered a friend, even family, he asked her gently. "Well that's certainly a doozy of a problem, Miss Cooper. I'll have to think about that, maybe consult my medical books and talk to some colleagues but before I do, may I ask you a very important question?"
Tia had searched his face, probably to make sure he wasn't making fun of her. Apparently satisfied with the gravitas that he exuded, she nodded seriously, her grey-blue eyes enormous. "Yes, Dr Brad."
"Has your friend asked for your help, Sweetheart? Maybe your friend is happy the way they are?"
Tia thought about that, a frown furrowing her brow. Brad had to restrain himself from smiling, her expression reminding him so much of her dad when he was puzzling out a problem.
"No, she...Um, they haven't. But why would she um they want to be trapped in a grown up's body?" she asked before shrugging and answering his question. "No, she hasn't asked for help," she told him, forgetting to use a non-gender specific pronoun.
Smiling inwardly at her slip up, Brad leaned closer. "Maybe check that you friend wants things to change, Tia and if they do then I'll ask around and see what I can find out." He promised her seriously.
Tia had smiled tremulously before nodding. "Okay, Dr Brad. Thank-you."
He'd given her a friendly smile and a pat on the shoulder, mindful of her wariness around men after the abductions. Yes, even with those males she knew, particularly when her father or Jess wasn't around, she was cautious which was understandable. "Happy to help, Sweetie."
Thinking about their conversation, he decided that it was highly probable she'd noticed his and Siobhan's feelings for each other and invited them both to lunch with her mother to play matchmaker. Still, although it was a bit embarrassing to have their relationship managed by a ten-year-old, it was also a good opportunity for Siobhan to introduce herself to Tia's mother, so they'd played along with Tia's machinations.
Notes:
15. The episode Tony is referring to is S1 e18 When Bad Warlocks turn Good guest starring Michael Weatherly.
16. Polony in the United Kingdom and Ireland, "polony" is a finely ground pork-and-beef sausage. The name, likely derived from Bologna, has been in use since the 17th century. The modern product is usually cooked in red or orange skin and is served as cold slices.
South African "polony" is similar to bologna, in constitution and appearance and is typically inexpensive.
17. Gatsby is Cape Town's signature sandwich consisting of a crusty, toasted roll that is stuffed with bologna slices, French fries, ketchup, lettuce, and hot Piri-Piri sauce. The sandwich is so big that it is usually sliced into four portions, and it can easily feed several people.
18. Slap chips are hot fried potato chips which are soft, mushy and splashed with vinegar.
19. Piri Piri Sauce made from peri-peri chilis (used as a seasoning or marinade) is Portuguese in origin and is also "especially prevalent in Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa". It is made from crushed chillies, citrus peel, onion, pepper, garlic, salt, lemon juice, bay leaves, paprika, pimiento, basil, oregano, and tarragon.