Title: Providence
Summary: AU. Between McGee and Ziva's constant bashing and Gibbs' coldness, Tony finally reaches the point of no return and quits, leaving NCIS and DC behind him. On the road again, he stops by the town of Providence, Missouri, and makes a series of meetings which might change his life, whilst Gibbs moves heaven and earth to find him. But isn't it too late?
Categories: NCIS
Rating: K+
Characters: Tony DiNozzo, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Abby Sciuto, Tim McGee, Ziva David, Dr Donald Mallard, Jimmy Palmer, Leon Vance, Agent Balboa, Original characters (Tillie Hackerman, Harvey Jackson, Father Henry Richmond, Sheriff Elliot Green, Dottie Ferris, Christina Lake, Jake Petersen, Doctor Adam Beltram).
Pairing: Tony/OFC (in the late chapters), no other pairing.
Genres: Alternate universe/friendship/hurt and comfort.
Warnings: Middle swearing, OOC and major team bashing, especially Ziva and McGee.
Spoilers: Set at the beginning of season 6. Spoilers for Dead man talking, Hiatus, Boxed in, Bury your dead, Judgment Day, Agent afloat and various other episodes.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's note: Thanks to the wonderful badly_knitted who made it readable.
As always thank you to those who have reviewed my work or added it to their favorites list and story alerts. Sorry for the long delay due to circumstances beyond my control. I hope it's worth the wait.
This is the third part of the scene, written this time from Gibbs' POV. As promised, more explanations about Gibbs' distant behavior in the previous chapter. McGee and Ziva are not out of the woods. Abby joins the party and another character reveals an unseen aspect of his personality. Next chapter will bring us back to Providence, where Tony is about to take the first step into his new life.
To fred, guest (1 & 2), Ginni, mandy153, Newgirl, anon and Hells Bells : Thank you for your support. I hope you'll like this new chapter.
To GUEST: I agree with you. In my opinion, Jenny's death was rather a sort of suicide and a way for her to decide how she wanted to leave the stage.
To tzsweu: The writers of the show seem to forget sometimes that Gibbs is only a man, but that's what he is, with his faults and weakness. I hope you'll like this chapter.
To barbaratakuyaho: I'm glad you like Tillie and Providence. It's indeed a very good place in which to start a new life. I hope you'll like this new chapter.
To Chinightowls: I'm very touched *blush* I hope you won't be disappointed by the next chapters.
Chapter 11 – Dotting the Is
Washington, D.C. - September 18th – Monday morning
"Where is Tony?"
Gibbs couldn't help cringing at the distress lacing Abby's voice.
"Abby…" he started, desperately racking his brain for a suitable answer.
"What's going on?" she insisted almost petulantly. "What are you all doing here? Why…" Her voice broke slightly and she blinked once before casting an eye over the rest of the assembly. "Why does nobody want to tell me what's going on?"
She looked down at the box in her arms.
"I came to my lab and there was… I…I found it and there was a note… from Tony, and… and…"
Gibbs took a step forwards, but Balboa once again pulled the rug from under his feet.
"DiNozzo resigned this morning, without notice," he said plainly, earning a sharp look from Gibbs, though the former Marine secretly felt somehow relieved that he wasn't the one breaking the news to her.
Abby's eyes widened impossibly and Gibbs could see her chin start to tremble as she fought back the tears welling up in her eyes. She looked devastated and it broke his heart.
With no warning, she dropped her small burden on the floor and threw herself into his arms, her shaking hands moving to grasp at the lapels of his jacket.
"No, no, no, no," she whined. "It can't be. Tony can't be gone. He can't leave us. You've just brought him back from the Seahawk. He can't be gone again. Why would he leave? NCIS is everything to him. We're family. He can't leave us."
She looked up to him with pleading eyes.
"Please, please, Gibbs. You have to make things right. You have to find him and bring him back. You have to."
Gibbs didn't know what to say or do to help her. As usual, she was taking him for some sort of omniscient superhero, but after everything he had heard from Balboa during their 'friendly chit-chat', he was beginning to doubt he could do anything this time.
The surge of anger and aggravation he had felt after hearing of Tony's resignation had now receded, leaving him disturbingly stunned and disconnected. Normally, he would have shut the other Supervisory Agent up with one or two well-placed retorts and should already be on the warpath, leaving no stone unturned in order to find his agent and bring him to his senses. Instead of which, he was still standing there, absently listening to the fruitless bickering between Balboa and his agents, unable to figure out where along the line the well-oiled machine had started to derail.
Objectively, Gibbs knew very well Balboa wasn't the kind of guy who dug his nose into someone else's business. They'd never had a run-in with each other and the solve rate of Balboa's team was barely a step behind his. He couldn't see any reason for Balboa to try to take advantage of the situation, so he had to wonder why the other team leader was so determined to put the blame on him for Tony's departure.
He made no excuse for the fact that he liked to keep his agents on their toes. It was nothing new and Balboa had never seemed to bother about the way he managed his team. The vehemence of the other man was all the more uncanny and had taken him aback, making him feel impotent and out of control, which was something he really hated.
He instinctively wrapped his arms around Abby, his cheek resting on her hair, and started to rub soothing circles on her back as her rambling slowly died out.
"Calm down, Abby," he said softly. "We'll sort it out. I promise."
"I know you will," she mumbled against his shoulder. "You always do."
"I wouldn't count too much on it, if I was you," snarked Balboa relentlessly. "There are still things that even the almighty Leroy Jethro Gibbs can't fix. And especially his own crap."
Abby's head whipped around and she detached herself from Gibbs. Momentarily forgetting her grief, she narrowed her eyes and pointed an angry finger at him.
"Don't you dare Mister! This isn't Gibbs' fault," she protested vehemently.
"Yeah, you're right," conceded the Senior Agent, lifting his hands in mock surrender. "I guess we can call it a collective effort," he added with a derisive smirk, "since you and those two clowns were the first to take your pound of flesh."
Abby froze and cast a bewildered look around her.
"What? No!"
She looked at Gibbs pleadingly, but the former Marine didn't have a clue what they were talking about.
"I never..." she defended herself.
"Never what?" Balboa harshly cut her off. "Never tried to make DiNozzo feel like a lousy leader and second best?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Yeah, sure. The 'trainee' nametag you put on him for his first two months as leader certainly did wonders to boost his self-confidence." He leant forwards and looked her straight in the eyes. "I have news for you Doctor Sciuto. Tony wasn't a trainee, not at that time any more than when he started to work for NCIS. He already had six years of experience in law-enforcement when Gibbs picked him up in Baltimore."
"I didn't mean it that way..." she stammered lamely, waving her hands in distress.
Balboa leant back and pursed his lips.
"Whether you meant it or not doesn't matter. You insulted him."
Abby recoiled, visibly hurt at being blamed. McGee instantly straightened and took a step forwards, whereas Ziva hung back, obviously waiting for Gibbs' reaction, which didn't take long.
"Hey!" he shouted. He tugged at Abby's sleeve and gently pulled her to him, placing himself between her and Balboa. "You'd better watch your mouth or…"
"Or what?" Balboa challenged him, his eyes shining dangerously. "You gonna headslap me, maybe? I'd like to see you try." His eyes flickered between Gibbs and Abby. "I wish you'd been as protective towards DiNozzo when they ganged up on him."
He glanced over his shoulder at the two Junior Agents standing behind him and chucked. "Anyway, I have to admit that you're right about one thing, at least. I shouldn't be too harsh with you. After all, thanks to you, I made a shitload of money today."
Ziva and McGee shared a confused look, before turning towards Abby, but the Goth scientist was merely staring at the carpet between her feet without paying attention to them. By the look on her face, Gibbs could see that Balboa's words had cut deep and that she was beating herself up for whatever might have happened between Tony and her.
"And how did we do that?" Ziva finally asked.
"The pool, Honey," said Balboa with a wink. "The pool, of course."
She raised a questioning eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You'll have to be more specific. There are a lot of them going on, you know."
"I know," he conceded with a smile. "But, you should have listened more carefully. I didn't say a pool. I said the pool. The big one. The mother of all pools. The one that has been going on for years."
"Which is?" insisted Ziva with a slight hint of aggravation.
"What? Isn't it obvious enough? The pool about when DiNozzo would reach the limits of how much he was willing to put up with from you and would leave for good, of course."
Ziva gave a quick glance at McGee, who seemed to become greener and greener with each passing minute.
"Never heard about it," she shrugged scornfully.
Balboa snorted.
"Of course you haven't. You and your band of jolly fellows were a crucial parameter of this pool. It would have skewed the results if you had known about it."
He paused and dreamily smiled.
"Mister MIT and you are too green to have known that glorious time, but I guess you have already heard about the impressive track record of Agent Gibbs after he took charge of the MCRT. Abby here would certainly agree with me that it was quite a sight, all those agents joining and leaving his team quickly enough to make your head spin. Wow! Those were the days."
He turned towards Gibbs.
"What was the name of that poor girl again? Jessup? Jameson? It escapes me, but as I recall, it took you less than half a day to make her break into tears and beg Morrow for a transfer. I think that was a record, even for you."
Gibbs favored him with a bleary look but didn't reply, so Balboa turned back to his former targets.
"Whatever. No one seemed to find favor with your distinguished leader. Maybe with the exception of Burley, but… well the guy still ended up with a stomach ulcer, so I guess everything wasn't so perfect in Paradise." A sly smile bloomed on his face. "Knowing that, I'll let you imagine the reactions when we saw Tony turn up, all big mouth and goofy smiles. He looked completely inadequate and nobody gave him more than a week before Gibbs kicked his ass back to Baltimore." He sighed and looked down with a chuckle. "The fact that Gibbs picked him should have given us a head's up, because against all odds, the two of them actually got on together pretty well, especially during the time before Todd joined them, when they worked as a two-man team. After a while, it became evident to anyone that Tony wasn't about to go anywhere anytime soon and the pool just died by itself."
Balboa's smile enlarged to a grin as he added, "But thanks to you, business picked up again once Tony was put in charge of the MCRT."
"Why was that?" Ziva wondered, but even to Gibbs' ears her astonishment rang false.
"Don't play dumb, it doesn't suit you," Balboa scolded her, all trace of amusement having deserted his face in a split second. "The way you and McGee behaved whilst DiNozzo was in charge was quite simply unacceptable. You had no right to put him down the way you did and to disobey his orders. He was your boss, whether you liked it or not."
"Obviously, he wasn't up to the job," retorted Ziva disparagingly. "You can't blame us for expressing our reservations when we thought his decisions were not wise."
She surreptitiously glanced at Gibbs, but he looked lost in thought and didn't seem to be listening to them.
"We had to keep him in line," she said with a shrug, "before he got too big for his pants."
"Britches, David," snapped Balboa. "Not pants. Maybe you should start learning how to use idioms and colloquialisms properly? Unless you want to make an even bigger fool of yourself."
Ziva scowled at him, but knew better than to reply to his scathing remark.
"Ziva is right," McGee saw fit to intervene. "The way he was acting, it was so… un-Tony. He strutted like a peacock through the bullpen… drank liters of coffee whilst… he bossed everyone around. It was really unnerving."
Balboa narrowed his eyes and glared at him.
"I don't remember you bleating about it when it was Gibbs who 'strutted around' and issued orders to you."
McGee looked at the ground and shuffled his feet.
"Yeah, but Tony wasn't..."
"Gibbs," Balboa finished in his stead. "Yeah, I got it. And I guess DiNozzo got it too, after you reminded him for the hundredth time." He ran a hand through his hair. "God, I don't know how he managed to put up with you for so long. I would have already wrung your neck after only the first week. DiNozzo was too nice with you. If you had been mine, I swear I would have sent you right back to FLETC for a little course about the chain of command."
He gripped the edge of the table so hard that his knuckles went white.
"Did it ever occur to you, Little Genius that, maybe, acting like Gibbs was the only way he had found to maintain a semblance of normality?"
McGee gave him a dumbfounded look which wrested a derisive snort from Balboa.
"Of course not."
"It wasn't that bad," Abby tried to soothe, finally coming out of her stupor. "We were only teasing. I never wanted to hurt him and I'm sure Tim and Ziva didn't mean to be disrespectful. Tony couldn't have taken it seriously."
Balboa gave her a sympathetic look, before wearily shaking his head
"You can keep telling yourself that, if it helps you, but the fact is that you spent most of your time entrenched in you lab, brooding over your shrine. You didn't see half of what happened in the bullpen or in the field."
"And you did," Ziva challenged him.
"Yes, I did," replied Balboa, his voice sharp enough to cut diamonds. "I would have had to be blind and deaf not to. Besides, I know from experience how stressful it can be to become a team leader, so I kept an eye on DiNozzo. Just in case. The least I can say is that you weren't particularly helpful."
The argument continued unabated, but Gibbs no longer paid attention. Unnoticed by the others, he quietly resumed his position in front of the window, staring into space whilst his mind was reeling with everything he had heard since they had been told about Tony's resignation.
Nothing made sense. Though he desperately tried to process the flow of information overwhelming him, his brain seemed to refuse to cooperate and he felt a clammy haze shrouding his mind like a tick blanket.
Of course, he had suspected that things hadn't gone smoothly whilst he was away, but he could never have imagined it reaching such a level. Discarded snippets of conversation started to swirl in his head. Each of them nailing a growing feeling of dread in his guts.
For a man who prided himself on never leaving a stone unturned, he was now under the impression that he didn't know anything anymore, neither about the members of his team nor himself.
"You treated him like crap," said Balboa loud enough to make Gibbs turn his head. "Stop saying otherwise. All you did was act like spoiled brats who were not getting their way."
"It was just..." started McGee lamely.
"What? Speak up. I'm all ears. I've known you chattier."
"What the heck, Balboa," McGee burst out. "After all, it was just a well-deserved payback for years of bad pranks and harassment."
Gibbs warily watched the other team leader whose eyes were literally popping with amazement. He seemed on the verge of exploding and Gibbs distractedly wondered if he would soon have to restrain him from strangling the younger agent. But the guy was apparently a man of icy nerves, because when he spoke again, his voice was as smooth and controlled as if they were making small talk over tea.
"Harassment? That's what you call it? Come down to earth, McGee. After Cassidy became the first female team leader, she found a used tampon in her tea. That is what I call harassment and DiNozzo's pranks on you can hardly compete. At worst, it helped you grow a backbone. A little too well, in my opinion."
He crossed his arms and looked McGee straight in the eyes, making the young man squirm and blush under his gaze.
"Tell me McGee, do you have any idea what the hazing of a 'rich kid' rookie might consist of?"
Taken aback, McGee opened his mouth silently, then slowly shook his head.
"Me neither. But I guess it has little to do with superglue on keyboards." Balboa pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you know what your problem is? You don't think. Maybe, it's time for you to use that big brain of yours." He took a deep breath and looked away. "The only one who showed DiNozzo the least bit of respect was Shepard and she only did it to make him dependent on her approval, so she could use him like a twenty dollar whore for the sake of her little vendetta."
Gibbs' eyebrows shot up as he lifted his head.
"What are you saying?"
"Nothing but the truth and you would have seen it too, if only you could have made the effort to get you head out of your ass from time to time. Tony can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but as a team leader, he deserved the respect of the people working with him."
"How could I know? He didn't talk to me," Gibbs defended himself.
"No kidding! With you being so understanding and attuned? That's incredible. News flash, Agent Gibbs. Even the best trained dogs can turn on their masters when they're hit one too many times."
"He didn't turn on me," Gibbs couldn't help pointing out. "He fled like a bat out of hell."
"Just like you did," countered Balboa.
Gibbs' eyes drifted away.
"I needed to. I… had my reasons."
Balboa nodded.
"Sure. And no one ever questioned it. But you dumped him behind and let him deal with the crap. Never leave a man behind. Isn't that one of your precious rules in the Marines? Or did you forget that as well? Handing him your badge with just a "you'll do" wasn't exactly praise, you know."
"I don't do praise and DiNozzo knew it," Gibbs rebuffed him.
Balboa looked at him skeptically.
"Yet, I don't remember you having trouble telling McGee that he was a good agent."
Gibbs averted his eyes once again.
"If they were so unmanageable, why didn't he report them to the Director?" he countered, in hope of turning the tables on the other SSA.
"And let you think that he couldn't handle your 'legacy'?" scoffed Balboa. "He'd rather have given his right arm than take the risk that you thought he didn't live up to your expectations."
"Could explain why he wasn't so happy to see me back."
Balboa merely shrugged.
"He would have given the lead back to you without blinking an eye, if only you had had the decency to ask him. But no. You had to play the bastard card and throw all his stuff on his desk without a word of warning. Quite a way to thank him for his job, don't you think?"
"He could have lodged a complaint if that was a problem," insisted Gibbs.
"Why?" sighed Balboa. "You put him exactly where everybody wanted to see him. Meekly back in your crushing shadow."
He shook his head dejectedly.
"He should have taken Rota when Shepard offered it to him."
"What?" objected McGee. "But… but it was Barrett who was offered Rota,"
"Right, Genius. But only after Tony turned it down."
"Are you sure? Rota is one of the best positions in the Agency," Ziva pointed out dubiously.
"I don't know why you sound so surprised. DiNozzo has had job offers flowing for years. From every alphabet agency along with the most prestigious police departments. And I'd bet whatever you want that our former Director Morrow hadn't lost hope of poaching him one day or another."
"When did she offer him Rota?" asked Gibbs in a sharp tone.
"From what I know, just after you returned from your Mexican siesta."
Gibbs pressed his lips together and his gaze drifted away. He couldn't believe Tony had refused Rota to stay on a team where he obviously didn't feel wanted anymore. At least Balboa was right about one thing when he said that Tony was loyal to a fault.
Once again, he found himself drawn up into the thick fog dulling his mind. Although the logical part of his brain was thoroughly cataloguing what had been said since they had entered the conference room, the meaning of the words failed to permeate his consciousness, somehow reminding him of water drops rolling off the plumage of a duck.
He suddenly felt incredibly old and tired. He needed time to think and get a grip on the situation. He needed his basement and a shitload of Bourbon. Or more realistically, he needed to go down the gym and take it out on a punch bag, in hope of wearing off the numbness stiffening him.
Later, he would blame this uncanny numbness for lowering his guard and not reacting quickly enough when the door burst open once again.
"You bastard!"
The shout startled him, but before he could fully turn around, a fist painfully collided with his jaw and sent him backwards flat on the floor. Seeing stars for a moment, he blinked to clear his vision and found a disheveled Jimmy Palmer standing over him, his face contorted with rage as he struggled to get free from Ducky, who was doing his best to restrain his assistant from punching Gibbs again, one arm wrapped across his torso and the other one gripping his arm.
In a split second, Ziva and Abby were by Gibbs' side to help him up and McGee dashed towards Palmer. Balboa was quicker than him though and grabbed him by the upper arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you," he said in a confidential tone.
"Are you nuts?" protested McGee fiercely as he tried to free himself. "He assaulted a federal agent."
"So what?" muttered the other man between his teeth whilst tightening his grip. "Don't you think your boss has enough on his plate for now? You really want the news to spread that the famous Agent Gibbs had his clock cleaned by the Autopsy Gremlin?"
A trace of hesitancy flickered through McGee's features as he weighed his options, then he let out a sigh. Feeling his stance relax minutely, Balboa let go of his arm and nodded approval.
In the meantime, Gibbs had managed to get on his feet and awkwardly stood between Ziva and Abby, looking with bewilderment at the two medics who continued to perform their odd pas-de-deux in the middle of the room.
With a not so gentle shove, Palmer broke away from Ducky and stepped backwards, panting, his nostrils flaring in anger. The lips of the med student were pressed in a thin hard line and his body language was displaying a ferocity Gibbs would never have believed him capable of.
"Mister Palmer!" scolded the elder man whilst absently massaging his shoulder. "This is certainly the most stupid thing you have ever done on my watch!"
"With all due respect, Doctor Mallard," replied Palmer in a clipped tone which contradicted his words, "don't count on me to apologize."
He threw a hostile look at the rest of the people in the room, before fixing his glare on Gibbs, and the former Marine had to admit that the kid had got balls.
"He got just what he deserved," added the young man unrepentantly, his hands still clenched in tight fists. "And I'd gladly…"
"That is not what I'm talking about," Ducky cut him off with aggravation. "Jethro's jaw has had worse and at this very moment, his well-being is the least of my concerns."
He sneaked a stern look at Gibbs, then slowly shook his head.
"Your hand, Mr Palmer. I'm talking about your hand."
Jimmy looked down and winced as he tentatively tried to flex his fingers. His phalanges were raw and had already started to swell. Reflexively, Gibbs rubbed a cautious hand along his sore jaw and winced in spite of himself. The kid also had a damn good right jab, he had to give him credit.
"You have a fine future ahead of you as a doctor, my dear boy," Ducky kept admonishing his assistant, "but you have to be more careful with your hands. They're the most precious tools in our profession. You need to remember that."
Taken aback by Ducky's genuine concern, Palmer's anger faltered. His features softened and he sheepishly lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Doctor Mallard. I… I didn't… I'm truly sorry…"
Ignoring the stares aimed at them, the older man stepped forwards, took him by the arm and gently coaxed him towards the exit.
"Never mind, my dear boy. Let's go and check the extent of the damage, shall we?"
"Ducky!"
Abby's plaintive voice made them stop as they reached the door. The Doctor glanced over his shoulder and slowly shook his head.
"Not now, Abby. Please, not now."
Just before he left the room, his eyes briefly fell on Gibbs, tinged with something that the former Marine couldn't precisely define but which looked disturbingly like pity. The unpleasant feeling in Gibbs' guts suddenly intensified. Pity wasn't the kind of emotion Ducky usually showed in regard to Gibbs. As he recalled, the only time had been after they had found out about his girls.
After several seconds of awkward silence, Balboa cleared his throat and checked his watch.
"Okay guys. Not that I'm not having a lot of fun with you, but duty calls. So, if you don't mind…"
He straightened his jacket and was heading, in turn, to the door when McGee's voice made itself heard.
"How did you know?"
Balboa looked at him quizzically. "How did I know what?"
"That Tony would resign. If it has been brewing for as long as you pretend, how did you know that he would do it precisely today?"
Balboa took a deep breath and tilted his head back.
"It was a fluke. I was in the bullpen, last Friday, when your boss put the finishing touches to your handy work by letting DiNozzo know his high opinion of him. After everything that had been brewing for months, as you said, it didn't take a rocket scientist to guess there was little chance of DiNozzo showing up on Monday." He glanced towards Gibbs. "Always spot-on, Gibbs. That must be a sniper's quirk."
Your sex life and your life in general doesn't interest anyone here.
Gibbs' chest tightened uncomfortably as his harsh words resounded in his head. He hadn't meant it literally. He had been frustrated and cranky all day for a variety of reasons which had nothing to do with Tony. His remark had only been one of his usual meaningless outbursts. A stupid trick for letting off steam. Surely, Tony couldn't have taken it at face value, could he? Did it really need so little to push him over the edge and make him leave?
Balboa slowly retraced his steps and went to place himself just in front of him.
"I won a lot of money today and I should certainly thank you for that. But I won't." He nodded towards the three others. "They may have dug the grave, but you are the one who drove the nails in the coffin. You could have made a difference, but you chose to bury your head in the sand and to purposely ignore what was happening. Thanks to you this agency not only loses a damn good investigator, it also loses a very good man. I don't know what you had in mind by doing it, but I sincerely hope it was worth the price you'll have to pay."
Balboa crossed his arms and waited, but Gibbs remained silent, his eyes firmly fixed on the wall in front of him as the last shreds of haze in his head slowly cleared away and the remaining pieces of the jigsaw finally fit together, revealing the appalling picture of the slow decay of his relationship with Tony.
From the corner of his eye, he could see McGee and Ziva looking at him expectantly whilst Abby's eyes were downright boring into him. Just like Balboa, they were waiting for answers. The trouble was that he couldn't give them what they wanted, because doing so would force him to acknowledge a reality he wasn't yet ready to cope with.
How could he look Abby in the eyes and admit in front of her that since he had come out of the coma, he hadn't been able to recall the smallest thing about Tony and that his main reason for being so distant towards the younger man had been because he didn't have the slightest idea of who he was, except for what was written in black and white in his file? Well, at least until Balboa's fierce tirade gave him an outline of the missing parts.
How was he supposed to face the hurt on her face when telling her that he was the one responsible for her little homemade family being shattered beyond repair?
She saw him as a superman, but the truth was that he was just a liar and a coward. An impostor, who had purposely chosen to hide behind a mask, for fear of being seen for what he was, an old fool with a spotty memory.
Instead of facing reality and dealing with the consequences, he had preferred pretending things were back to normal, when they couldn't have been further from it. If only he had been less arrogant, things could have been so different. But now, anything he could do was too little too late. The damage was done and nothing he could say would change it, unless… unless he could find Tony and tell him the truth face to face, hopefully the young man was willing to listen and forgive. This was his only chance to make things right.
When his eyes finally met Balboa's, all traces of his earlier turmoil were gone, replaced by cold and unwavering determination.
"You said you got business to attend to. I won't keep you."
Balboa raised a skeptical eyebrow then, after a few seconds, turned on his heel without a word and left the room.
"Boss?" ventured McGee hesitantly, only to be immediately silenced by one of Gibbs' death glares.
"I thought I gave you an order. Get it done." He shot a quick glance at Ziva, who was still standing beside him. "Ziva, give him a hand. Now."
"But…" she tried.
Gibbs' features darkened even more.
"Did I stutter?"
Ziva instantly looked down and shook her head.
"No..., boss. We're on it," she mumbled under her breath. And without further ado, she hurried out, almost dragging McGee behind her.
Left alone with Abby, Gibbs slowly headed to the door and crouched down to pick up the stuffed hippo and the DVD box still on the floor. His damaged knees made a pop when he stood up, but he ignored it, just as he tried to ignore the twinge of pain in his chest at the sight of Abby's distraught face, focusing instead on the dull ache radiating through his jaw.
His expression softened as he held the two items out to her. He could see a new wave of tears welling up in her eyes as she tentatively reached out.
"I'm sorry Abs," he said softly.
He had already broken rule n°8 by assuming things when he should have checked, so what was just a little bit more?
Abby's eyes widened at his sacrilegious statement and they silently stared at each other for a moment, until she finally stepped forwards and went to snuggle into his arms.
"You gotta find him," she whispered, her chin resting on his shoulder as she stared at the ceiling in hope of holding back the tears threatening to fall. "Promise me. We have to say sorry and... And, Tony needs to know we love him and... Oh, Gibbs this is so awful. I was such an awful friend. Promise me, you'll find him."
"Yes, Abby," he hushed her. "I promise. We'll find him. I swear."
To be continued…
And now... back to Providence. ;D