Chapter Six

When told of his brother' death, Simon Koch buried his face in his his hand and sobbed.

But he denied any involvement. Yes, he had been buying drugs from a man called Vinnie at the docks, he admitted through his tears, and yes Laurence knew it. But he never asked him to go there and had never expected him to interfere.

He readily identified Vinnie Tremaine from the police mugshots shown to him. But Gibbs knew an experienced con like Tremaine wouldn't neither crack under interrogation nor leave any physical evidence to link him to the crime. His obly option was to convince Simon that to catch his brother's killer he had to meet with Vinnie wearing a wire and see if he could extract a confession. He would coach him, Gibbs promised, and make sure there was sufficient back up in place to protect him. The young man was hesitant, but Gibbs was wearing him down. Then Koch's parents arrived and immediately put a stop to it. As soon as they were notified that their youngest child had been located, they had arrived at NCIS and demanded to be admitted to the interview room.

Sitting beside her trembling, sweating seventeen year old son, Louise Koch simply said no. "I had four children Agent Gibbs," she said, her eyes still red rimmed but her posture ramrod straight. "Now I have three. I will not risk losing another. Can't you understand that? I won't take that risk. Now unless you intend charging him, I am taking my son home."

And she did.

That evening, Tony sat silently as Gibbs drove him home. They pulled up at his apartment, and he started a little when Gibbs got out of the car too.

"Making me dinner again tonight, Boss?" he asked with a rather forced smile.

"Nope," Gibbs responded. "You're making it for me. I bought pasta and all the fixings for that amatriciana sauce you keep telling me is your specialty. I wanna see if you are as good as you say you are."

This time Tony's smile was real.

The sauce was good, and Gibbs was happy to admit it. Over dinner, Tony raised the Koch case.

"How are we going to get Tremaine, Boss?"

Gibbs gave a shrug. "Not sure that we are this time, Tony. Laurence Koch didn't tell anyone why he was going to the docks, we've got no physical evidence and I expect that the gun used to kill him is at the bottom a lake somewhere. Without Simon Koch agreeing to a sting, I'm not sure there's much we can do."

"Koch would have done it, Boss," Tony assured him. "You had him ready to agree to wear the wire. I can't understand why his mother stopped it. I mean, you'd think she'd want to catch the guy who killed her son."

Gibbs took a sip of water. "Simon is her son too, Tony," he reminded him gently.

"Yeah but he screwed up. He dropped out of rehab, and got his brother killed."

Gibbs looked at him. "He's her son, Tony, her child. She'll give him every chance at a future. And she won't put him in danger, not when she's already lost one child."

Tony just shook his head.

"It's what parents do, Tony," Gibbs explained patiently. "They forgive their kids, and they never give up on 'em. They give them every chance they can."

Tony looked up and met his eyes. Gibbs knew he was thinking of one little girl. Gibbs himself was thinking of another.

"To see your child suffer," he continued softly, "to see them in pain, it tears your heart out. You'd swap places with them in a heartbeat if you could. You'd die to save them, without hesitating, without thinking. Seeing you child suffer and knowing there's nothing you can do, that's the worst thing imaginable." He took a mouthful of pasta chewed slowly.

Tony glanced down and then back up. "They'd be waiting now. Waiting to see what happens."

Gibbs nodded. "They'd be hoping. And praying. And grateful."

Tony shot him a look.

"Grateful someone they didn't even know has given their little girl another chance."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Koch case went in to the cold case file, and no one resented it more than Tony. For days he muttered under his breath about the damage it had done to their solve rate, and every now and then Gibbs would catch him looking back over the paperwork, trying to find some other angle. He kept in touch with the LEOs on the Drug Squad and Gibbs knew that if there was ever a chance to bring Vinnie Tremaine in, Tony would be there.

The following Monday Ducky cleared Tony for active duty. Tony did a good impersonation of his usual bouncing self, but every now and then Gibbs would catch him staring silently in to space. He knew what waas preoccupying him, but rather than raising it with him, Gibbs took a more indirect path.

They had caught a steady run of cases that week and, with Gibbs' encouragement, no-one worked them harder than the Senior Field Agent. Even so, by midweek it was clear that Tony's nervous energy was overwhelming him and so Gibbs gave him the lead on the next case.

By Friday, McGee was threatening to put Ritalin in Tony's coffee.

Gibbs kept Tony close outside of work too. They had dinner together a few times, and sparred in the gym to work off some of Tony's excess energy. And Gibbs took every opportunity to gently remind Tony of the good work he'd done over the years, as if creating a cushion for him to land on if the fall came. But also to make sure Tony knew Gibbs was there, right beside him, and if the news was bad he would not be hearing it alone.

They were going through dumpsters when the call came. There had been a report of a man in a navy uniform lurking in a lane and throwing a briefcase into a dumpster. The informant, an elderly woman who lived in a brownstone overlooking the lane, had been adamant he was a spy making a drop of secret documents. Despite casting a jaundiced eye over the collection of John Le Carre and Robert Ludlum books lining the shelves of her small sitting room, Gibbs had felt duty bound to investigate. He did however bring Ducky in to evaluate whether the informant was, as he put it, playing with a full deck. To his surprise, Ducky assured him that not only was the deck full, he wouldn't take her on in a game of bridge.

There was no mistaking the distinctive ringtone of Tony's mobile as it echoed inside the dumpster.

The senior agent emerged like a rocket from the garbage and was fumbling for his phone almost before his feet hit the ground.

"Tony!" McGee shouted, his head emerging from the dumpster. "Get back here."

"Can it, McGee!" Gibbs barked. He turned and anxiously watched Tony's retreating back as he walked away and took the call.

He spoke into the phone with turning around and then after a few moments snapped the phone closed and returned it to his pocket. He stood still, his head bowed. Gibbs swallowed and clenched his jaw. He desperately wanted to go to him, but he sensed that would be a mistake. He waited, letting Tony came to him, hoping Tony would come to him.

Finally Tony turned and looked up. To Gibbs' surprise, he gave a shy smile and nodded. Then he looked down and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He raised his head and slowly his smile widened into a proud beam. Gibbs couldn't help but return his smile. He walked over to Tony and squeezed his shoulder.

"Atta boy," he said hoarsely.

Tony leaned into him and gave him a playful shoulder bump. "No doubt about it, Boss. Her blood count is almost back to normal."

"Never doubted it for a minute, DiNozzo," Gibbs lied.

Tony flushed with pleasure. "I'd better tell Ducky," he said with a grin.

Gibbs nodded and clapped him on the back as he headed over to the ME, who stood on the steps of the brownstone sipping a coffee.

Then he stopped and turned back to Gibbs.

"Boss."

Gibbs looked up.

"Thanks again," Tony said with a quiet smile.