Gibbs frowned when he saw Tony walk into work wearing a suit.
There was one thing that Tony had made clear early on when he came to work for NCIS, and that was this- Anthony DiNozzo Jr. did not wear suits unless he absolutely had to. In the almost two years Tony had worked with him, he had come to understand a bit more.
Tony only really wore suits if he was uncomfortable with something (or his undercover assignment demanded it) or someone. If he didn't want to let his guard down with somebody.
HR had thrown a fit trying to get him to dress along the 'dress-code' guidelines. Which was, to put it simply, professional attire (or rather, HR's idea of professional attire, which was not exactly practical when chasing suspects). Tony hated dressing up professionally. (He could, the man was like a chameleon sometimes, able to change his 'colors' to fit any situation or environment.) Eventually, Gibbs had had to step in and more or less blackmail HR into leaving Tony alone, much like Abby had done with them when she first started working there and they started giving her grief over her own unique style.
The fact remained, that he tended to use clothes as a shield. If he was dressing appropriately to work, then he wasn't comfortable with something about NCIS anymore, and the only thing he could think of that had changed recently was... Kate.
His eyes widened and he was shocked when he saw Tony start to peck at the keyboard, typing worse than Gibbs on a bad day, like he'd never used one before. The mans career was law enforcement, they didn't have the luxury of peck-typing when they needed information yesterday in order to catch a criminal.
Tony was the technical one of the two of them. Within the first week of working with Gibbs and experiencing his lack of technology skills, Tony had gone back to school (on NCIS's dime, of course) to get a degree in computers (a bachelors in computer science, and he was working on another one at the moment for something else). He'd never find himself working down in Cyber-crimes, of course, but he could work computers. So, why was he pretending otherwise?
That answer, too, was simple.
Kate.
He stopped displaying that brilliant mind that Gibbs knew was there when in public. Instead, he became the class clown and Gibbs started having to deliver head-slaps to get him back on track at least three times a week instead of the maybe once a month they used to be needed. The Tony that he knew, respected, and considered a good friend was the only version he saw when it was just the two of them, and he toned down the clown act with others that knew him nearby, but as soon as Kate was nearby, back to the clown act.
Why was he so uncomfortable around Kate?
It was Tony who'd said she would be a good addition to the team, with some training in investigation. Had he brought her in too soon, or had she said something to throw Tony's walls up? Should he have slowed down and made her do some work here and there with other teams, or sent her through some other FLETC courses first?
He resolved to keep an eye on things, and see if Tony didn't relax with time.
His efforts to keep an eye on things were put on hold when, two weeks later, Tony was handed a message from some official-looking suits (probably SecNav) and left with nothing but a nod in his bosses direction.
He leaned back with a frown. He wouldn't be seeing Tony for a while, and when he came back he would need a few days to recuperate and find himself again, he might even be on medical leave for a bit when he came back. He didn't like it when Tony went on undercover assignments for other people, but his skills were highly in demand. The man was regarded as one of the best undercover operatives in the world, if he were an animal, it would be a chameleon for sure, even if everybody often referred to him as Gibbs 'loyal St. Bernard'.
"Hey, where's Tony?" Kate asked, coming back from the lunch run. She handed Gibbs his food and set Tony's on his desk before going to sit down. Gibbs sniffed at his food experimentally. One never knew what Kate was going to bring back when it was her turn to go for lunch, Tony and Gibbs already knew that her health food crazes changed almost daily.
"He left to take care of some business. He'll be out of the office for at least a few days." He figured the sooner she knew about it, the better. How many Probies had he kicked off his team because they annoyed him with their constant complaints and questions about Tony's random and unscheduled absences? He figured he was lucky that the various organizations and people that Tony sometimes worked with were at least courteous enough to not call him away during a case. So far, anyway.
"What business?" Kate asked, feeling nosy today.
Gibbs looked faintly irritated at the questions. "DiNozzo is a highly demanded undercover specialist, occasionally he's asked to assist somebody else in an operation. He's worked with FBI and CIA a few times." And, oh, the rants the Italian had treated him to about a CIA operative named Kort... "Actually, I think he's worked for the entire alphabet by now... Although, most of his assignments stay within NCIS, and the SecNav has asked for him specifically a few times, as well. So, yes. He will be gone for a few days, minimum."
He finally took a tentative bite of his food, and nodded in appreciation. She brought him real food this time, not the strange health stuff she seemed to like. He got up to see what she'd brought Tony, and found it to be the same as his, while it looked like she had her usual kind of meal. Since Tony wasn't around to eat it, he took it back to his own desk for later. "And when he does get back, he's going to need time to recenter himself. How much time depends on how long he's gone. So, I don't want to hear any teasing, or sniping, or whatever it is you two do. Try to keep it at a minimum." He warned. "And no bothering him with questions about the assignment. These things are usually classified for a reason." He didn't want to deal with the questions, only to constantly hear the same answer.
Once she wanted to know something, she never gave it up. It was something he liked about her as an agent on his team, and it was a good trait for an investigator, but in this case that trait was not needed.
She scoffed lightly. "I was in Secret Service, Gibbs. I know what classified means." She said, he merely stared at her with narrowed eyes. After a moment, she cleared her throat and quickly went back to her food.
Gibbs sighed then got up, leaving his food for now, to go make sure the Director knew Tony had been called away. While he was gone, he would either be assigned a TDA to fill the gap, or they would be put on cold cases barring an emergency that demanded their presence. Of course, if they were assigned cold cases and Tony was gone for more than a week, then they would be assigned a TDA anyway and put back on the roster. "Sir, Tony's been called away for an assignment." He announced without pause, barging in like he usually did. He knew the director wasn't in a meeting with anybody, if he was then his secretary would have tried harder to stop him from going in.
Morrow barely looked up. "Yes, I just received the email." He was annoyed. Why was it that they all thought they could get away with pulling his agents away from him and only informing him as an after-thought? Honestly!
Gibbs grimaced lightly. "Did they say what the operation was? And an estimated time-frame?" You could never give an exact date with undercover work. Idiots assigning deadlines, and pressuring the undercover to meet it, was what got most undercovers caught out and usually killed as a result. It was delicate work, one wrong move and you were dead, and most of the intel you gathered became useless, meaning your death wasn't even going to be worth anything in the end. It was not something that could be rushed, and unexpected surprises popped up all the time, things that usually caused delays in getting what you needed.
"The operation was classified, they didn't even let me know, which I will be speaking with somebody about," Morrow informed, very annoyed at the whole thing. "And they estimate that we will have DiNozzo back within two months."
"Two months?" Gibbs repeated incredulously, annoyed now. "Great." Tony was going to be a mess when he came back, he just knew it. "Radio silent?" He guessed. Morrow nodded, and he scowled. He wasn't even going to be able to get news on how Tony was doing at any point.
Wonderful, absolutely perfect.
"You will get a TDA, of course, and continue cases as normal. I think, though, that I'm going to assign Pacci to your team as SFA for now, to round it out to four and so you have somebody more experienced behind you than Todd and the TDA." Morrow said while he made a few notes to himself. TDA's were usually green(er) agents who were somewhat fresh out of FLETC, and hadn't received a permanent assignment yet, whether it be that there were no openings for them to fill at that time, or so they could have a chance to float around the agency and get to experience different aspects of being an agent, see where they worked best. Sometimes a TDA was an older and more experienced agent that wanted to be a floater, or they were back in the country temporarily before being sent out on assignment again.
"And, the usual arrangements for his apartment will be made, as well." Morrow assured. The agency had a 'program' in place, where it footed all rent fees or utility bills while the agent was on a long-term assignment, provided they lived alone. If they didn't, then the agency footed half the bill, that way the other person living there (roommate or spouse) wasn't suddenly having to pay all of it on one paycheck when they were usually paying on two paychecks. Of course, the agent in question still received their full pay while they were gone, plus hazard, so they actually came home with a nice healthy bank account. This way, the agent still had somewhere to come home to, provided that they were lucky and came home at all, of course.
Gibbs was still annoyed, but he nodded his approval of the plan. He liked Pacci, and he was actually looking forward to working with him so closely again, it had been a while since he and Tony had worked a case with the other agent. Since Pacci mostly worked cold cases or kept up with liaison's in other countries. Whenever he caught something on one of his cases, though, he usually ended up bringing it to Gibbs attention. Especially if it ended up being a case that Gibbs originally had. He turned to leave.
"And Gibbs?" Morrow called as he put his hand on the door handle. Gibbs turned. "I'll find out what is happening with our boy and keep you informed as much as I can." He said. Gibbs only nodded and left. Briefly, Morrow felt sorry for any agent foolish enough to get in Gibbs way right now. If DiNozzo was a St. Bernard and Chameleon all in one, Gibbs was a bear. One who's cub had just been taken away.
Three months. That was how long it took for Tony DiNozzo to come home in... mostly one piece.
While Gibbs was not happy about it taking longer than the original estimate, he also understood it, having done quite a few undercover operations himself. The only things Morrow had been able to get out of the ones running the operation (he wouldn't tell Gibbs who they were, in case Gibbs decided to contact them personally and get himself in trouble), was whether Tony was alright or not. He'd been informed the night before that the op was over, and Tony was home now, but would be on desk duty for a while, having refused time off. (He was really glad now, that he'd stopped by Tony's apartment the night Tony went on assignment and cleaned out the kitchen of everything that would have spoiled before Tony came back.)
Walking into the squad room, he was thrilled to see Tony at his desk, grumbling about his computer monitor, keyboard, and chair being out of place, among other things. He hid his smile. When Pacci was temporarily assigned to work with them, he'd let him use Tony's desk while he was gone (it was more practical this way, instead of Chris having to go back and forth between their area and his own desk all the time), and Pacci had promised that he would put everything back before Tony got back. Since Gibbs didn't get word of Tony coming back until the night before, Chris obviously hadn't had a chance to put everything back to how it was.
He hid his happiness, though, along with his rage when he saw the bruises on Tony's face and around his neck, along with the sling his arm was in. He had no doubt that his shirt was hiding even more bruises. Clearly, the op hadn't ended quite as planned.
"You see Ducky, yet?" He asked, coming up behind and to the side.
"No, I just got in, haven't had the chance to." Tony said, not even reacting. Of course Tony had known Gibbs was there the whole time, Tony always knew where Gibbs was.
"Why don't you go do that, Chris should've been in by the time you get back up, and your desk will be back to normal." He suggested.
Tony frowned. "Chris?" He asked, turning around.
Gibbs took a sip of his coffee. "Pacci. He was assigned my SFA while you were gone, to round out the team and add more experience than the TDA and Kate had." Tony 'ahh'd'. "Go see Abby while you're down there." He called behind him while he went to his own desk and Tony took off for the elevator, getting greetings and careful shoulder-slaps on the way. Everyone was happy to see Tony back, the office was quiet when he was gone, and they never quite realized just how much he helped out everywhere until the times when he wasn't there.
Also, Gibbs should be in a better mood now.
When Chris Pacci walked in soon after Tony disappeared downstairs, the first thing he did was start putting everything back the way Tony had it before he left. "You heard?" Gibbs asked simply.
Pacci snorted. "How could I not?" He asked. "Bunch of high-school girls around here. I will say, that whoever it was that put those bruises had better be dead, or at least locked up with the key thrown away." He said, gathering his things to move back to his own desk. He was mildly surprised by how much stuff had migrated over here, he hadn't even realized he'd started to move in like this. Oh, well. He was glad Tony was back, maybe now Gibbs would calm down and stop terrorizing everyone. And he could get back to the slower pace of cold-cases.
He finished putting Tony's desk back together right when Tony returned from downstairs. "Hey, man. How was it with the Bossman?" He asked, clapping Chris on the shoulder.
Chris huffed. "I'm so glad you're back." He muttered quietly.
Tony winced. "That bad?" He questioned. Chris merely gave him a Look and went back to his desk when Kate walked in.
"Tony! You're back!" She greeted, and frowned when she saw the bruises and his arm. "Are you alright?" Gibbs looked up, watching their interaction quietly, thinking back on what he'd observed before Tony left on his assignment.
"Yeah, this is nothing." Tony waved her concern off, and Gibbs could tell that Kate was thrown off by his nonchalance. Gibbs could see why, Clown-act Tony had made a big fuss over a papercut, after all. Gibbs, though, had seen Tony look worse than he did now, and not make a noise of protest. Suddenly, Tony almost lunged for his bag, where he brought out a folded paper. "I almost forgot." He muttered, before bringing the paper over to Gibbs. "My doctor's note." As if he was a kid who didn't want to get in trouble for missing a day of school.
Gibbs scanned it, and nodded when he noted the length of time Tony would be chained to his desk for. Well, at least that would give Tony plenty of time to recenter. His eyes narrowed when he read the summary of Tony's injuries. He made a mental note to speak with the Director about keeping the TDA. Speaking of... where was the kid? He should have been in by now. "Kate, have you seen O'Riley this morning?" He asked. She shook her head before going back to turning on her computer and getting things out for the day. "Hmm. I'll be upstairs. Tony, get settled in."
After speaking with the Director, he made a coffee run, and if he happened to get a box of doughnuts and leave them on the filing cabinet by Tony's desk, and if they happened to be Tony's favorite kind... nobody was stupid enough to call him on it. He wasn't pleased when O'Riley didn't come in until a half-hour after his coffee run, a full hour late for work. He looked up and frowned at the junior agent, not speaking, giving him a chance to come to him with his excuses.
When O'Riley finally noticed he was being stared at, he barely hid his wince. "Sorry, Agent Gibbs, my car wouldn't start this morning, so I had to call for a cab, but the traffic was awful, so they took forever to get there to pick me up..." O'Riley stuttered to a halt, aware that Kate and Gibbs were both watching him. Kate in amusement, and Gibbs in irritation. Tony was watching curiously, he didn't recognize this agent.
Although, if he didn't know any better, he would guess that Gibbs actually looked like he was in a good mood.
"O'Riley. Meet Tony DiNozzo, he's my actual SFA, and in charge when I'm not around. For now, he is on desk duty, for obvious reasons. So, you will stay with my team until he is off desk duty. Understand?" Gibbs said, and didn't wait for the agent to stammer out that yes, he understood. "And O'Riley!" He barked suddenly after sitting back down. The man in question jumped and stammered out a 'yes, Agent Gibbs?' "Next time something happens where you know you will be late? Call ahead!"
O'Riley squeaked and scurried to sit down, where he hurried to turn on his computer and put his badge and gun away. Tony glanced at Gibbs and got up to clap a hand on the TDA's shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it, he's usually in a bad mood in the mornings." He advised before going back to his desk so he could see what paperwork he had to do after being gone for three months.
(Of course, he didn't know that Gibbs mood had been steadily worsening since he left, and that, as far as O'Riley was concerned, Gibbs was downright cheerful right now.)
Pacci would have done the paperwork while he was the temporary SFA, but there was probably some that he hadn't gotten to yet before Tony's return. At any rate, Tony preferred to be at least a week ahead of his paperwork, just in case they got a hot case and didn't have time for paperwork.
Before he could really get started, Chris came back over. "By the way, your paperwork is caught up for the next two weeks. It was pretty slow this past week." He said when Tony glanced at him in surprise.
"Thanks, man."
Kate scoffed quietly. "That won't stay that way long." She muttered. Gibbs cleared his throat and shot her a Look. She grimaced before going back to her work. Although, she had to admit, even she had missed Tony's childishness while he was gone, the place had been very quiet without him.
"Actually, Kate, I'm always at least three weeks ahead on paperwork." Tony shot back dryly. "And that includes correcting yours before passing it on to the Boss." Then he sighed and went back to his computer, cursing the fact that his right arm was currently in a sling, meaning that using the mouse was going to be awkward for a while. He was going to be stuck typing one handed for a while, too. Kate stared at him, not sure what just happened.
Right then, Gibbs cell rang, and a few moments later, he was telling the other two to grab their gear. Out of reflex, Tony reached for his bag and stood up. "Whoa, where do you think your going?" Gibbs quietly asked. Tony blinked up at him and opened his mouth to say 'the elevator', when he remembered that he was on desk duty for the foreseeable future. Slowly, he sat back down.
"I'll be ready to start searches as soon as you can tell me the victims name, Boss." He said, sullenly. He hated desk duty. Well, at least he had doughnuts...
Gibbs quirked a small smile. "And, Tony?" Tony looked up, curious. "Try not to get too bored, alright? I don't want to come back and find... things popping out of desk drawers." He gave a small warning look. "Give it at least a day before that." A bored Tony, was a often-destructive and prank-happy Tony. No matter what kind of 'mask' he was wearing at the time.
Tony's face fell slightly. "I will try to resist, Boss." He noticed, though, that Gibbs only specified having things pop out of drawers when they were opened... he probably shouldn't superglue any keyboards, though, IT was not happy with him last time he did that... Once the team was gone, he sighed and opened up his email, he was expecting there to be a lot of it. While he went through it, other agents came and went, welcoming him home, or asking the occasional question about the op, which he answered as best he could, although his most frequent answer was 'classified'.
"So, uh... that was Tony DiNozzo, huh?" O'Riley asked Kate while they walked to the truck.
"Yup, that was him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone snooping through our desks while we're gone." She said, and was surprised at how fond she almost sounded.
"It's what makes him good at his job." Gibbs answered in front of them. What he didn't say, was that Tony liked to know everything about everyone around him to protect himself. If he knew everything about them, then he couldn't be surprised, and there was less chance of them doing something to hurt him. His partner in Baltimore... Tony didn't snoop. He'd given the other man privacy, and the other man ended up being a dirty cop. He could have pulled Tony down with him if he was caught, it would have ended both of their careers, even if Tony was as clean as they came. He would have been 'guilty by association', since he rode with the man every day and didn't notice anything off. Or, he could have been labeled a Snitch, whether he actually Snitched or not, and nobody would have wanted to ride with him.
"Snooping through his co-workers privacy?" She asked sarcastically.
"Snooping. Finding what he wants. Finding answers to his questions." Gibbs shrugged. Watching his back.
"Where has he been, for the past few months?" All O'Riley had heard was that Tony DiNozzo was a great agent (mostly from Abby and Ducky), and how it was quiet without him around. Honestly, he'd spent the first month thinking the man had died. He'd only recently been transferred to the D.C office from Seattle, after all.
"Undercover assignment, don't know where." Was all Gibbs said to that.
"How can you not know, aren't you the team leader?" O'Riley asked, momentarily forgetting his terror of Gibbs.
Gibbs stopped and turned around staring at him. Kate made a face and kept walking. "I don't always know where he goes when he gets called on assignment. I don't even know who he was working with this time. And it was safer that I not know, for Tony. Because the less people that know things, the less likely it is to be messed up." That, and, he knew for a fact that the Director refused to tell him so he didn't make a few phone calls and get himself in trouble. Other agencies didn't like it when NCIS butted its head in, even if that agency happened to be using an NCIS agent undercover.
Later, at the crime scene, after Kate called Tony with the details of their victims so he could start running searches, and Gibbs was interviewing witnesses, O'Riley went up to her with a question. "Agents Gibbs seems to be in a... good mood, today. Did something happen?" To be honest, the good mood was actually scaring him a little bit here.
She snorted. "Yup. Tony came home, that's what happened. I asked around when he first left, apparently Gibbs turns into a bit of a 'papa bear' with Tony sometimes. According to some of the others, Gibbs practically dragged Tony down to HR, and made him sign up, then they were a two-man team for a year until Gibbs recruited me about four months ago, and I think it's coming up two years of them being together total. The longest anyone apparently lasts with Gibbs is a year. There was one who lasted five, until he transferred citing medical concerns. Apparently he started developing ulcers, frequently."
"What does their time together have to do with his leaving making Agent Gibbs so angry all the time?" O'Riley was really confused. Wasn't the team leader not supposed to have favorites? Couldn't that ruin his objectivity?
Kate shrugged. "I don't know, but the two of them can almost read each other like books." She moved away to get a better angle for her sketch. She stopped then and sighed. "Look, you won't really see it much while you're with us, since he's stuck at his desk, but Tony is a great investigator and agent. Just... don't expect him to take everything seriously. There will probably be a few pranks waiting for us when we get back." O'Riley frowned, and made a mental note to have complaint forms ready.
Nearby, Gibbs frowned. While he was glad she acknowledged her superior was a skilled agent, the rest of her statement...
"Ducky, have anything for me, yet?" He asked, kneeling down beside two of the bodies. Gerald looked up from where he was laying out body bags, and the plastic bags to cover the victims hands with.
"Oh, Jethro. You know I won't have anything for you until after I do a proper autopsy." Ducky admonished, honestly, they went through this every time. One would think that a Marine Sniper would have more patience.
"Yeah, but you can tell me something now, can't you?" Gibbs shot his older friend a charming grin, which earned him a Look.
"Hmm, well, I can tell you that they put up quite the fight." He held up one Marines arm. "See these markings? Defensive patterns, and there looks to be something under their fingernails, I will of course send up samples to Abby." Gibbs sighed and sat back on his heels so he could examine the crime scene. "I can tell you, Jethro, these men were not killed here." Gibbs nodded his agreement while he looked around some more.
"Finish bagging and tagging, Kate. O'Riley, come with me to finish interviewing witnesses." He figured the TDA needed more experience. Pacci, as stand-in SFA had done most of the training for the younger man, but now Gibbs was going to be putting him to the test since Pacci was now back to his usual assignments and Tony was stuck at his desk.
When they finally got back to the Yard and checked in all the evidence they'd bagged, they went to find their desks, only to find a small table with pizza's and drinks set up in front of the plasma, while Tony himself was standing in front of the plasma studying the victims service records and scowling.
"See something?" Gibbs asked, taking a piece of pizza and stuffing it in his mouth while he stood beside his SFA. The other two dropped their things off at their desks and stood beside them to listen in.
Tony made a face and sighed. "It's more what I don't see." He grumbled. "There's no connection between any of our victims as far as the Corp is concerned. I still need to do a more in depth check into their private lives, those searches are running right now and I'm still waiting on their financial records... but they were never assigned to the same squad, never crossed paths in training, never assigned to the same bases. He's stationed in Anacostia, Quantico, Norfolk, here at the Yard... They were never even deployed at the same time, two of them were never even deployed at all. This one, Simmons, he was about to be sent out on his first deployment."
Gibbs frowned. "What about before the Corp?" He asked.
Tony made a noise in the back of his throat and hit a button on the remote. "Simmons and Roberts both have juvie records, nothing major enough to keep them from enlisting and by all accounts they shaped up afterwards, lucky for them, it's just for a few fights and an underage drinking charge... but the others are snow white. All grew up in different states, Roberts is from Alaska, I mean, can't get much more out of the way than that..." He cleared his throat after catching a look from the Boss. "Only Roberts didn't go to college, of those who went, again, nothing in common." Tony sighed before he frowned and went back to the college records again. "Oh, wait... they all played sports in college, but that's about it. They weren't all the same sports, either. One ran both cross-country and track-and-field, there's football, basketball... he was on the rowing team." Tony pointed at the Marine in question.
Gibbs frowned, too. "If they were picked up randomly, and with no real reason..." He left his sentence hanging. It would be much more difficult to find whoever killed them if there wasn't a common denominator between the victims. Something they could look into that might indicate how they were found, which would give them a starting point to start tracing the killer's tracks and finding out who they were.
"Well, I am still waiting for financials, there might be something there we can use, Abby and Ducky might also find something for us to find a starting point with... and there might be some cross-over in their private lives, too. Oh, and I was about to call around to members of their squads and CO's." Tony went back to his desk to check the searches he had running. Gibbs grunted and grabbed more pizza, and a drink before going back to his desk to start on paperwork for the case, and make a few phone calls.
"What are you both waiting for? Get food and get to work." He barked when he noticed the other two on his team were still standing there, staring.
"Tony, send the financials to me when you get them. I'll start calling friends and family in the meantime." Kate said, getting the smallest piece of pizza in the boxes with a small grimace about all the grease, and a bottle of water. Tony whistled softly and pointed at the small cooler beside the table, she opened it and found a take-out container with salad in it. "Thanks, Tony." He grinned in reply and went back to his work. She offered some of the salad to O'Riley when she found that there was enough there for all of them. Then she went around and put plates of salad on Gibbs and Tony's desks with a raised eyebrow. Gibbs just stared at it for a moment, but started eating it, as she knew he would.
If there was one thing she noticed, if it wasn't something he considered 'strange', he would eat it if it was put in front of him. He might not appreciate it, and she might pay for it later during combat training or workouts, but he would eat it.
"Kate, crime scene pictures been uploaded yet?" Tony asked.
"Oh, here they are. Evidence already has the files, too. And the sketches have already been scanned in, too." She pulled up the files on her computer before moving them to the plasma, where they would be bigger and easier to spot something in them.
Tony took one look and grimaced while he shook his head. He didn't say anything, though. Instead, he started examining them for anything off. He couldn't look at background scenery because the bodies had been dumped in an abandoned industrial complex, inside one of the warehouses.
"Timeline?" Gibbs asked several hours later, after they'd all had a chance to make calls and go over what little they had again.
"Ok, Roberts is on liberty right now, but the others were all reported UA this morning, right after we got the call out. The system didn't get fully updated until just a little bit ago. I spoke with some of their buddies, they all say the same thing, which is actually kind of surprising right now, considering how little they have in common. All of our dead Marines, have a tendency to disappear on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. No matter if they are on duty the next morning or not. Simmons' room-mate reports that when he comes back, very early in the morning, he made sure to stress that bit, he is more often than not covered in bruises." Tony reported. "I'm thinking Fight Club, things got out of hand last night?" He decided to just lay that out there.
"I looked into financials. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, there have been some random deposits of upwards of a thousand dollars. Not every one of those days, sometimes they would miss a deposit. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, however, all have withdrawals of several hundred dollars, regardless of if a deposit was made the day before. The only difference is in how much was withdrawn. A big deposit, was usually followed by a big withdrawal, no deposit had a small withdrawal." Kate added in. "An underground fight ring, with cash prize for the winner, and a betting pool for spectators would support that."
Gibbs glared at his desk for a moment, then got up and grabbed his coffee cup before going to the elevator. Tony followed, guessing that he was headed for Autopsy.
"Ducky, have you found anything?" Gibbs asked the moment the door opened.
"Ah, Jethro. Right on time. First, look at all the different colors our Marines are. Some of those bruises are days old, others as fresh as last night. I compared fist sizes, and some of these bruises here," He pointed out a few specific bruises on Simmons' chest. "Match perfectly with the size and shape of Roberts' fist." He looked at them, and wasn't surprised that Jethro and Anthony both looked like they just confirmed a theory.
"They beat each other up." Anthony summed up nicely, not surprised at all.
"Yes, I take it you found something in their personal lives?" Ducky asked.
"Yes, nightlife and financials seem to support the idea of them being involved in some kind of underground fighting ring." Gibbs answered.
"Hm, yes. That would explain the injuries. But not how they ended up on my tables. Look here." He led them over to his X-ray lights and turned the lights on. "See here? Broken collar bone, ribs, punctured lung, which is what killed him by the way... this was no fight gone wrong that killed Simmons, Jethro. And all of them have the same injuries. No, if one of them became this severely injured during one of their fights, then the rest of the night would have been called off, or the others would have taken him to the hospital with some excuse. We might have one man down here, but not five. No, they were all beaten to death. And it was deliberate." Ducky said, moving back to his desk to start writing up reports before he got to finishing the last autopsies.
Gerald had gotten the X-rays done while he started the first one, then he studied them, but now he needed to finish the rest.
In the elevator, Gibbs sighed in frustration. "We need to find out where these fights are, and who else is involved. One of them is our guy." Gibbs muttered under his breath.
Tony hummed. "Well, as for location... that warehouse they were found in is in an abandoned area, right? A spot like that would be perfect to hold a fight club. Maybe not that exact warehouse, since Ducky said that they'd been moved, but that general area. If we search all the other warehouses, one of them will probably show signs of being used recently." He suggested, tilting his head to the side in thought.
"Good idea, DiNozzo. Kate and I will go check it out while you and O'Riley stay here and do some more digging. Call around to other unit CO's and see if they know whether any of their men have the same disappearing act as our victims did." Gibbs instructed. And that was another thing that made Tony so good at his job. He could think like the criminals they were chasing, far more easily than some other cops or agents could. It was partly what made him such a good actor during his undercover assignments.
Tony smiled. "It's good to be home, Boss." He murmured quietly just when the elevator stopped, he made it out the door and back to his desk before Gibbs could say anything or do anything. He was a little hurt when Gibbs said he would take Kate with him, until he forced himself to remember that he was stuck to his desk for the time being, on medical grounds. He was lucky Morrow had let him come back to work at all, and hadn't forced him to take medical leave until he healed. But still, not being out there with Gibbs felt wrong, he was forced to rely on somebody else to have his boss's back, a job that was solely his for a long time.
"Kate, come with me." Gibbs said, fishing his gun out of his desk drawer and grabbing his jacket.
"Where are we going?" She asked, grabbing her own things as she moved. She'd learned quickly, that unless you wanted to be left behind, you better move quick.
"Back to the Industrial area our Marines were found. Come on!" He moved to the elevator with her scrambling behind. She looked confused, but didn't ask, yet.
Tony sighed and turned to O'Riley. "Ok, I need you to call around to Marine bases, talk to CO's, ask if any of their men have the same schedule ours seemed to have. I'm going to go down other trails, just in case it's not a fight club. Once I'm done, I'll join you. Get started." He assigned the TDA his task and started on his own, making sure they had every possibility covered, ruled out, or set aside as 'possible'.
By the time Gibbs and Kate came back from their trip, Tony and the TDA had written up a small list of possible Marines, Navy, and even a few Air Force and Army involved in their possible fight club, and Tony had crossed other possible reasons for their deaths and injuries off the list as well. He'd also sent Balboa's team out to search through the dead Marines apartments or barrack dorms for anything they might have found interesting. He would have gone himself, but... Balboa's team wasn't doing anything, though, and he was more than happy to help out.
"Boss, we have a list of possible underground fighters from all corners of our nations great military," His sarcastic tone told everyone what he thought of this fight club and the servicemen's involvement. "And Balboa's team is going through the dead Marines living spaces. Did you find anything?" He asked.
"Yeah, you were right. We found the warehouse that shows definite signs of hosting a fight club." He considered for a moment. "If they stick to schedule, there won't be a fight tonight. They would be stupid to go back to that warehouse any time in the next few months, let alone tomorrow."
"If they're smart, they would have several locations to go between. If police interest is high on one location, they will go to another until the police's attention is off them. Now that the warehouse has been discovered, they'll probably abandon it all together. Well, assuming they know it's discovered. Did you find anything useful inside?" Tony asked.
"No." Kate said, frustrated. "Nothing but beer bottles, trash, and blood spatters in the main area. We think it's from the fights, a man loses a tooth, gets a bloody nose, broken nose, and all that. Lab techs are there now, gathering what they can for Abby."
"Then they will definitely know that we found the warehouse, if they don't already." Tony concluded.
Gibbs sighed. "Go home, people. Be back at 0800. Tony, we'll stop by your apartment to pick up clothes on the way to my place." Everyone scrambled to collect their gear and get out before Gibbs changed his mind or remembered something he'd meant to have them do. Tony merely stood up and started stuffing things in his bag one handed, slowly.
"I can stay at my place, Boss, you don't have to..." He started, slightly startled. It wouldn't be the first time the Boss dragged him to stay with him while he was hurt, but it also hadn't happened in a while.
Gibbs stopped him with a glare. "You're coming to my house." He said, and that was final. He didn't even want to know how Tony had gotten to work when his right arm wasn't exactly usable for turning the key, using the stick shift on his car, etc. He really, really hoped that Tony had gotten a ride from someone or taken the bus.
Tony sighed and finished packing his bag, grabbed his gun, and followed him to the elevator after shutting his computer down.
"We'll stop by the butchers and get steak on the way." Gibbs decided, and almost smirked when Tony became much more eager to go home with him after that.
"Ah, it's been so long since I had a proper steak..." Tony practically moaned at the thought. "You would not believe how many high-end five star restaurants I've been in the last three months, and not one of them could serve a proper steak." He complained. Honestly, he was pretty sure that Gibbs had forever ruined restaurant steak for him. Gibbs' steaks were thick and tender. The way he cooked them, in a pan over his fireplace and with beer, bourbon, and something else that he refused to share, made it so they melted in your mouth. The steaks at the restaurant's had been... nice, he supposed. They were properly cooked and well-seasoned, but... they were smaller sized, not nearly as thick, and didn't have nearly as much flavor as Tony had come to expect from when Gibbs cooked.
Gibbs made a face. "That kind of mission, huh?" He muttered, and Tony froze.
"I can neither confirm nor deny." He quipped, which he knew full well was a confirmation.
Some missions, the target was high class, liked the finer things in life. Those were the rich snobs who bought and sold police officers at the drop of the hat, the ones who could afford the fancy lawyers capable of getting them out of anything if there was even the tiniest loophole of a hole in the prosecutions case. They were also the ones you had to be the most careful around. Just as they could afford the best lawyers, they could afford to hire the best men. They were also the coldest, as they saw everyone beneath them, and did not hesitate to sacrifice their own men if it meant getting rid of a 'bug'. Oh, somebody else messes with some of their men, and war would be declared to show why that was a bad idea, but they could sacrifice all the men they wanted.
Honestly, both Gibbs and Tony preferred infiltrating the poorer criminal organizations, the ones who ruled the streets by fear, and not money. But that was just their personalities, neither one of them could tolerate the atmosphere of the upper-class.
Now that he was listening for it, Gibbs could hear a slight accent, a slight lilt to Tony's voice. Tony had been using the manners his mother taught him to the fullest for the last three months, and the habit hadn't entirely faded away yet. Before his mother died, he'd had the best of tutors growing up, etiquette, elocution... he learned it all. And they were lessons Tony made a point of not using when around his colleagues and friends. Tony called it his 'commoners accent' as opposed to his 'high-society accent'.
"Well, then, maybe a good steak dinner is just what you need to feel at home again." Gibbs murmured. He did a quick mental inventory on his kitchen. "Hmm... we'll have to stop at the grocery store and get stuff for some baked potatoes, too. I'm out of sour cream, and bacon. I used the last of it this morning." He grimaced. He wasn't about to buy pre-made bacon bits, either. Oh, no. He'd buy some thick cuts of bacon and crumble it up after cooking it. "We better get some kind of green stuff, too, or Ducky won't be pleased with us." They both grimaced at the thought. They were both 'meat and potatoes' guys, they didn't appreciate a lot of what they considered 'rabbit food'.
"Hmm, steaks, sour cream, onion, mushrooms?" Gibbs shrugged, why not. "Ok, mushrooms, bacon, do we need potatoes, too, or do you have them?" Tony asked, running through a list.
"Better get a few, just in case." Gibbs decided.
"I'll go ahead and pick up some beer, then, too. If we think of anything else, we'll have to hope we think about it before we leave the store." He muttered as they reached Gibbs truck. Gibbs chuckled his agreement, pleased that Tony was home.
A week later, they'd found and disbanded the underground fight ring, the servicemen involved were facing disciplinary charges for it (some were dishonorably discharged over it, others were demoted and had liberties cancelled for the foreseeable future, among other things), and the ones who killed the five Marines in custody.
The five Marines were supposed to throw their fights, but didn't. As a result, those who stood to gain the most from the bets were not pleased. They got a few friends, took the Marines out back, and showed them just how displeased they were. Afterward, they were dumped in another warehouse on the other side of the industrial complex and left to die.
Gibbs was disgusted by the whole affair.
On the other hand, Tony had a doctor's appointment today to check that his arm could come out of the sling, and to make sure his ribs were healing as they should. They weren't broken, but there were a few cracks and bruises on them. When he first got home, the doctors estimated roughly three weeks on desk duty, hopefully (for everybody's sanity) the two weeks Tony had left on desk duty could be taken down to one week or less.
Honestly, Gibbs was surprised Tony lasted the first day before getting bored enough to start pranking everybody. The second day... the three came back from interviews and chasing leads to find all three desks had been pranked, even Gibbs' desk. By the end of the week, there wasn't a single desk in the entire room, not just the MCRT's area, that had not been pranked at least once in some way. And, in true DiNozzo fashion, not one prank crossed the line with the person being pranked. It was all something that everybody could laugh at, even the victim. Well, Gibbs wasn't laughing when his desk was targeted, but he was also Gibbs.
He had a reputation to uphold.
Gibbs had been approached by almost everybody in the building, almost begging him, to do something to get Tony DiNozzo off desk duty as quickly as possible and back out into the field. Everybody may be able to laugh about the pranks, but that didn't mean they enjoyed being the target. He knew for a fact that O'Riley had tried to file multiple complaints against Tony for unprofessional behavior, and... he couldn't even remember the other reasons the TDA had come up with. He was going to be glad when he could finally release the agent back into the TAD pool.
Personally, he was surprised O'Riley had managed to stick around for so long. Most Probationary agents and TDA's assigned to him begged for a transfer within the first week or two. And that was when Tony was there to head off the worst of his attitude. With O'Riley, he'd been in a particularly bad mood because his SFA was gone and he had no way of knowing if he was alright or when he was coming back.
Has he ever mentioned that he hated it when Tony was loaned out to other agencies for undercover work?
Well, he did. He hated it a lot.
He'd been pleased to see Kate loosening up a bit over the past week. She'd said a few things to Tony that Tony, fresh from undercover and not being in the mood for keeping up the act, had put her in her place, hard. Gibbs was pleased to see it, it meant he was starting to settle in with her around, but at the same time, how much of it was just mental exhaustion from a long stint undercover?
Tony had also, in the meantime, convinced Gibbs to let him go back to his apartment after the doctors appointment today. Gibbs was reluctant to let him go because of his arm, but at the same time, Tony's life needed to start going back to normal if he was going to settle back into it. Didn't mean he wasn't going to pop in and spend a few nights at Tony's place, have dinner and whatnot, just to make sure his younger friend was really settling in as he should. And he was sure that some of Tony's neighbors would be happy to keep an eye out, Tony was always helping them out when they needed it.
He was relieved when Tony came back from the doctors with a note stating that he was healing well and if everything continued to go well, he would be able to return to field duty in another week.
"He also said I can start taking the sling off, but if it starts to hurt too much, he wants me to put it back on." Tony made a face to show just what he thought of that.
"DiNozzo." Gibbs growled, letting him know that he better do as the doctor ordered, no messing around.
Tony made another face and sighed before going back to his desk, where he practically ripped the sling off and dumped it in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet behind him, where he had a small collection of slings, braces (wrist, ankle, knee, shoulder), stress balls, ice packs (the chemical activated ones), heat packs, etc. Except for the ice and heat packs, everything in that drawer was given to either him or Gibbs at some point in the past two years of them working together. Once they no longer needed it right then, it generally got thrown in there until something happened to aggravate an old injury or they did something and didn't feel like going to the hospital for it. Ducky usually caught them, but he was good about taking a look at it himself instead of forcing them on the hospital staff.
He paused a moment and pulled out a stress ball. It would help restrengthen the muscles in his arm. Maybe not the right ones, but, hey. That was what workouts were for. He was going to hit the gym later on and start his own PT regimen. He was a PE major, that included sports medicine and PT, so he knew how write up and follow a PT plan.
The next morning, Gibbs was thrilled when he pulled up at Tony's apartment building to give him a ride into work, and he wasn't wearing a suit.
