Chapter 11 - Big Fight
Gibbs glared back at Tony, his blue eyes shooting daggers. It was a good thing that he was holding Trisha; if he weren't he probably would already have gone after the younger agent.
Trisha looked back and forth between the two. She really didn't like the intense look on Gibbs' face. When Tony took another step towards them, she felt Gibbs' body become more rigid. She turned and whispered into his ear, hoping to calm him down a bit. "Gibbs it's alright, he apologized to me. He didn't do it on purpose." Trisha pulled back a little from Gibbs to see his reaction.
Gibbs' face gave away nothing. He nodded in response to Trisha, but gave away no other indication of emotion. "DiNozzo," he growled, "you have one minute to explain why I shouldn't rip you a new one. Now speak!"
Tony gulped and took a deep breath. "Boss, I… I know what I did was stupid. But I was drunk and I wasn't thinking. And when Kate told me to go home, I got pissed. I had my mind set on apologizing to Trisha, right then and there. You know how I am once I get something in my head… one track mind. I didn't mean to hit you like that, either, it's just that you opened the door at the exact same time I charged. I wanted to hit the door, not you." He stopped talking and looked at Gibbs.
Reaching his hand into his pocket, Gibbs pulled out a set of keys and threw them to DiNozzo. "Good. Now get out of here," he ordered.
Tony stared at the keys in his hand. "You took my keys, Boss?"
"Well yea, DiNozzo. You were drunk," Gibbs answered.
Tony thought for a moment. "So if friends don't let friends drive drunk, does this means we're friends, Boss?"
Gibbs shook his head and scowled at him. "DiNozzo!"
"Right, I'm gone!" Tony exclaimed as he turned and made a beeline for his car. He hopped in, started the car, and honked the horn as he drove away.
Trisha let out a breath she had been holding in. "Well, that went well, I guess. You can put me down now, Gibbs," she told him.
Gibbs set her down but kept a strong hold on her shoulder. "You and I need to have a talk. Now," he growled.
Trisha shook loose of his grasp. "Me? What did I do?" She turned and walked into the house.
Kate gave Trisha a questioning look when Gibbs slammed the door behind her. Trisha, looking quite confused, just shrugged. She walked over and sat on the couch near Kate.
Gibbs stormed into the living room. "Trisha, what were you thinking? Were you even thinking? You could have gotten hurt!" he said loudly.
Trisha made a face back at Gibbs. "What are you talking about? And in case you haven't noticed, I'm already hurt!" she said jokingly, pointing to her black eye.
He got angrier, "I'm not kidding around, Trisha! You don't just go up to a drunk, even if it's someone you know! You should know that!"
"Ok, first of all, you can stop yelling at me! And I didn't just walk right up to Tony. I made sure he was safe to go near first," Trisha replied, trying to stay calm. "I don't see why you're so mad. You need to chill out."
Kate had been intently watching Gibbs. After Trisha told him to 'chill out,' she watched his eyes turn a darker shade of blue. She knew that look all too well from watching Gibbs during interrogations - he was about to explode.
"I'll be in my room," Trisha said as she moved to get up.
Gibbs grabbed her and pushed her back onto the couch. "You'll go when I'm done with you!" he roared. He had his hands grasped tightly around her arms, holding her in place. His face was only a few inches from hers now. "If you wanted to go see Tony, you should have woken one of us up! Not just have gone out there by yourself! And what, you made sure it was safe? How?"
Tears were welling up in Trisha's eyes. "I asked him!" she replied quietly, but still with force.
"You asked him?" Gibbs repeated. "Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?" When Trisha didn't reply, he yelled, "Well, do you? What the hell made you want to go see someone who just showed you bloody pictures of your parents, anyway!"
"Jethro!" Kate said forcefully. "That's enough!" She put her hand on his shoulder, hoping to quell his anger.
Instead, Gibbs unleashed his anger on her. "You stay out of this, Kate! This is between me and her!"
Kate was taken aback. "Gibbs, listen to yourself! What's gotten into you?"
He shook his head and unwittingly tightened his grasp on Trisha's arms. "I said it's none of your damn business! Stay out of it!"
Kate's mouth hung open in shock. She was about to yell at Gibbs when she noticed the painful look on Trisha's face. Trisha's hands were prying at Gibbs' hands, trying to loosen his grip on her arms. He was holding onto her so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
"Gibbs, stop it!" Kate yelled as she grabbed his arms. "You're hurting her!"
He whipped his head around to look at Trisha. She had tears streaming down her face. Gibbs immediately let go of her arms when he realized how rough he was being. "Trisha," he started. He reached his hand out, but Trisha smacked it away.
"What do you want from me?" she yelled through her tears. "I've done nothing but love you, I don't have anything else to give you!"
Gibbs reached out and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, baby. I really am," he offered.
"No, Gibbs! Let go! Let go of me!" Trisha cried as she pushed against his chest. When he let go of her, she looked right at him. "You're a liar! You promised me you wouldn't…"
"I didn't mean to," Gibbs said quietly. "I was just worried…"
"You promised me, Gibbs! You told me you wouldn't hurt me like all the others!" She stared into his eyes. "You took me away from my best friend and told me that I could trust you! You liar, I hate you!" With that, Trisha jumped up and ran to her room. She slammed the door and locked it behind her. She dove onto the bed and hugged a pillow to her chest.
Back in the living room, Gibbs and Kate could hear Trisha crying. Gibbs cringed and put his head in his hands. Kate sat down next to him on the couch, glaring at him.
"Gibbs, where did that come from? An hour ago Trisha was cuddled into you on the bed! Why did you yell at her like that?" Kate asked angrily.
He turned his head, meeting her gaze. "She scared me, that's why! When I saw her out there with DiNozzo, all I could think about was her safety. I know he wouldn't have hurt her, but what if it would have been someone else, Kate? I was just trying to make a point. I yelled at her because I care." Gibbs hung his head and looked at the floor.
Kate put an arm around his shoulders. "You know, you have a funny way for showing people you care. Don't worry, Jethro. She'll forgive you."
Gibbs shook his head. "She told me she hates me…"
She reached under his arm and put her hand on his chest. "Hey, if I had a quarter for every time you acted like a bastard… well, I'd be rich!" Kate smiled when Gibbs looked at her. "Wait a little and then go talk to her. She'll forgive you, she just needs a little time, alright?" Kate kissed him lightly and put her head on his shoulder.
Gibbs rested his head on top of Kate's. "I hope you're right, Kate. God, I hope you're right."
A/N: Spring Break for me starts tomorrow afternoon and runs until the 19th, so it might be some time before I get to update. My home computer is a piece of trash. Don't worry, the story will eventually have a happy ending!