I was actually going to make Mr. Todd a better person after Tony saved his life (thanks to jbristowfan47 for the idea a couple chapters back), but then, almost everyone who reviewed said they hated Mr. Todd, so I was like, "What the hell. Let him suffer." evil cackle
Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own NCIS.
Kate was never one to act on impulse. She liked to think out the situation before responding. She thought it kept her alive in her job. Unlike Tony. Tony always reacted with his gut instinct.
But when Kate saw her father starting to strangle Tony, she knew she didn't have time to think. She let her feet lead her to their bedroom and she let her hands open the bedside drawer and take out the pistol she kept there. She let her feet take her back to the living room where Mom was trying in vain to peel her husband off Tony. She let herself push her mother aside and ram the gun against her father's temple.
Now, as she watched Tony gasp for air, she thanked whatever superior force there was for saving his life.
Feeling tears rise, Kate clasped Tony's hand to her chest and sobbed quietly. Tony hushed her and brushed away stray pieces of her mused hair from her face. "It's all okay," he whispered. "I'm fine." He pressed her face against his shoulder and smoothed her hair.
"I almost lost you," she sobbed into him. "I was so scared."
Tony continued to make soothing noises until Kate pushed him away and blew her nose on a piece of tissue paper. There was a rustle near the door, and Kate remembered who was standing there.
"You!" she yelled as she swung around to face him. "You bastard!" Storming over to her father, Kate smacked him across the face. "You heartless, arrogant, son of a bitch!"
Mrs. Todd stood with Kate, a look of grim satisfaction on her face. She would make no interference with whatever her daughter planned to do to Paul. He was wrong, and he needed to learn a lesson.
"Kate, please, listen to me," Mr. Todd begged before Kate had another chance to denounce him again.
"Give me one reason why I should." Fury was clearly written on her face.
Mr. Todd shook his head. "There is no reason why you should. But I want you to anyway." He continued before she could stop him. "I only want the best for you. This man," he motioned toward Tony, "knocked you up. He's not good enough. I want to you be happy."
"And nearly killing the man I love is supposed to make me happy…how?" Kate sneered. "I'm so fucking sick of your little speeches. No one is ever good enough for me. You don't want me to be happy in life."
"No, no, I want only want the best for you!" Mr. Todd was groveling at Kate's feet, looking nothing like the brash man who'd attacked his daughter and her fiancé.
Kate stepped away from him. "Get away from me." Putting on an emotionless face, she grabbed her father's arm and hosted him up. "You're under arrest for the assault and attempted murder of NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." Was it just her, or did her voice quaver?
In her mind, Kate pretended that the man before her was not her father. She pretended that he was a stranger. A suspect who needed to be put behind bars. But she couldn't block out the image of her father. As much as she hated him, he was her dad, and a part of her would always love him.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, she called out to her mother. "Could you use my cell phone and call Special Agent Gibbs? We need him here pronto."
Mr. Todd could hear the cell phone buttons beeping as his wife called Kate's boss.
"Stop."
Mrs. Todd paused, her finger about to hit the "Send" button. Kate turned to look at the one who'd spoken.
"Stop," repeated Tony. "Don't arrest him."
Kate's jaw dropped. "You're not pressing charges?"
Tony shook his head. "It was a spur of the moment thing, you know? I'm sure he didn't mean it, and that he won't attempt it again."
Mrs. Todd glanced from her daughter to Tony. She could see her husband's shoulders shaking. Was he crying? Or was he mad?
Kate hurried to Tony's side and hugged him. "You don't need to be afraid of arresting him. He," she gestured toward Mr. Todd, "is no longer my father. He is no one but a man who tried to kill you."
"And I don't need rescuing from freaks like yourself, DiNozzo." Mrs. Todd glared at her husband. Dammit, that man could really push your buttons sometimes.
"He was trying to keep you out of jail," she scolded as she walked over to him and slapped his head. "At least pretend you're grateful."
"Well I'm not." Mr. Todd snapped back. "I don't want to be in his debt forever."
Tony shrugged. "If you really want to go to jail, I'm not going to stop you. Mrs. Todd, call Agent Gibbs."
Gibbs arrived within minutes, probably due to his reckless driving. When he answered his cell phone, he heard only three words out of the many that Mrs. Todd said to him. "Tony… attacked… arrest," In seconds, he was behind the wheel and flooring the pedal. He didn't even bother knocking on Kate's door. One minute, the apartment was in somewhat order, with all of them watching Mr. Todd's every move and exchanging wedding plans, and the next moment, Gibbs came storming through the door and was yelling at Mr. Todd.
"You imbecile!" he hollered while slapping the back of Mr. Todd's head like he did to Tony all the time, "You are going to be behind bars for a long, long time!"
Kate grabbed Gibbs's shoulders and pulled him back. "Gibbs, calm down."
Gibbs rounded on her. "Where's Tony?" he asked, trying to hide his concern.
"He's fine." Kate replied firmly. "See?" She motioned toward the couch, where Tony was lying down.
"Hey Boss." Tony waved to Gibbs and flashed one of his mega-watt smiles.
Gibbs allowed his face to relax for a moment in relief, but soon morphed it back into a scowl. "You," he barked to Mr. Todd, "are coming with me." Grabbing his arm, he lugged him outside and shoved him into the back seat of his car. "Get Ducky to check you out DiNozzo," he called back before slamming the car door shut and driving away.
TBC
Gibbs was kinda OOC…but I'm sure that if he thought one of his agents was dead, he'd be pretty worried.
Just one more chapter and Meet the Todds is done!
