A/N: Here's another chapter folks, to my latest followers & favourites, welcome aboard! So glad to have you with us on this continued adventure for the family & team. To my reviewers, thank you so much, love hearing your thoughts, so thanks!
To my guest reviewers: Ladyaloysius: Thanks for all your reviews! So glad you're with us on the ride in Naples!
None: The grandbabies, yes, that would be a fun subject for Kelly to stir her dad with!
Guest #1: Yea, Gibbs is still a little well, let's just say the 'Mrs Gibbs' thing will soon be gone!
Guest #2: Not sure where you got that quote from, but it basically means to make fun of, in a light hearted way.
Sue Dooely: Thanks so much! So glad you're enjoying this!
Quick note on this chapter, when I started writing it was kind of confusing to have Linda talk about Tony and his fahter by first name, 2 Tony's = wayy confusing! So to relieve that I have used 'Junior' & 'Senior' for her thoughts, so we can keep it clear. This seperation is only for her thoughts & it by no way infers how she thinks about either man, if I've used those words by any other character, it is for a reason. Now let's see how the conversation goes..
Linda's eyes widened, she wasn't expecting Junior to be here "Anthony" she whispered
"I've got nothing to say to neither you or him, so you can go on your merry way" Tony replied.
Gibbs flashed a look between the pair, he wasn't quite sure what to do, he wasn't going to invite her in, because clearly Tony didn't want anything to do with her.
Linda could see that he wasn't happy to see her, but Senior had asked her to come speak to Gibbs "I wasn't expecting to see you here, I thought you'd be well, looking for your sister, she's still missing isn't she?"
Gibbs could see Tony tense further, so he spoke quickly "Ms Turner, I have numerous teams working on locating Commander Kaplan both here & back in the US, and I currently have the teams on rotation to eat, which is what we're doing now" he explained.
Linda just nodded "fair enough" she took a deep breath "if I could trouble you to spare a minute, I'd appreciate a word" she said to Gibbs.
"Don't ignore me" Tony stated "I told him I wanted nothing to do with him! So you fall into that category too!"
Linda sighed, but tried to say something "And your dad just aske.."
"He's not my dad!" Tony exclaimed.
Shannon didn't like that this had all come back up, especially given the audience "why don't we go outside, let everyone else eat" she suggested.
Before Tony could say anything he'd seen Gibbs walk out basically herding Linda with him, he really didn't want to speak to her, but the look on Shannon's face made him realise she merely wanted to move the discussion away from everyone, he motioned Ziva to come too, wanting her with him too.
Ziva was glad to be with Tony this time, he wasn't looking good & she didn't like it one bit. She knew though that this woman clearly came here for a reason, she just wondered why?
Shannon guessed that Tony's father had asked her to come, she saw that Linda was now even more nervous than a few minutes ago "Anthony Senior asked you to come & speak with my husband?" she enquired.
"Yes" Linda agreed, Senior had told her that his son had disowned him but to have heard him almost shout he wasn't his dad, she really didn't like hearing it, she'd try to mend a broken fence "he's…"
"I don't care about his feelings!" Tony interrupted "he only wants you to speak to Gibbs to make him feel better, to make him feel like he's actually doing something!"
"He wants to help" Linda said gently.
"He should have thought about that 40 years ago!" Tony replied briskly "maybe you could have said something too you know!"
"I didn't know" Linda replied
"Bullshit!" Tony remarked.
"Your mother was spirited away for most of her senior year, we all thought it was because she had to take care of a failing aunt, we never got told why, and your parents never mentioned it either" Linda tried to explain.
"You were supposedly my mother's best friend & now you seem to be my father's soul mate, why the hell should I believe that!" Tony retorted.
"Because it's the truth" Linda said softly.
"Yea well, I don't believe that" Tony replied.
"Surely you would have suspected something" Ziva noted "it wasn't like she went to a different city"
Linda looked at this lady, she spoke with an accent & with that hair, she could only presume this was Ziva David, Senior had told her about the lady "there were always rumours whenever a girl suddenly went away but I'm sure you can understand how big New York City was even back then. But I would also presume that where-ever Patricia was sent they didn't really allow for the girls to leave the premises" Linda replied.
Shannon nodded in agreement, from what she knew of the practices, the facilities certainly didn't look favourably on allowing the girls to leave until after they'd given birth.
Linda looked to Junior, she'd try a different avenue to try to make peace "your mum.."
"Mother" Tony interrupted her.
Linda swallowed, he was really mad, she could understand it, she herself was shocked at the news, but still she'd promised Senior that she'd try "I loved your mother dearly, she was a gentle & beautiful soul, always tried to do the right thing by everyone, she was never the person that caused problems, she was the peacemaker in fact."
Tony was frustrated "what's any of that got to do with anything!"
Gibbs could see Tony was likely to blow another gasket & that wouldn't be good "Tony" he called gently, and only continued once he was looking right at him "go back inside with Ziva & get something to eat, you're due back at the office soon & I don't want it to be on an empty stomach"
Tony wanted to protest, he didn't want Linda speaking to Gibbs & Shannon about him, without him, but he saw the way Gibbs was looking at him, along with Shannon, for them it wasn't about talking about him behind his back, it was about talking to Linda so he didn't have to, and that he could handle "ok"
"Don't forget your ice cream in the freezer Tony" Shannon remarked, it was drew a smile from him, which she was grateful for.
"Thank you" Linda remarked once Tony & Ziva had gone back inside.
"Ms Turner, I sent Tony back inside for him, so he wouldn't get worked up again, I did not do it for you" Gibbs retorted, he wanted to be clear with that.
Linda just nodded, Senior had told her about Gibbs & the relationship he had with Junior, she could see it in front of her.
"What exactly did Senior want you to tell us?" Gibbs asked & continued "because we will not attempt to play peacekeeper, if Senior wants Tony to forgive him, he won't be using us to do it, he has to do it himself" he didn't want to be put in the middle & he certainly wouldn't allow Senior to use his & his wife's relationship with Tony to smooth his way.
"Tony just wants the chance to try, he's beside himself about it all" Linda remarked.
"And you?" Shannon prodded.
"I can't say I'm not shocked about it, Patricia never seemed the type to have given up a child, family was the most important thing to her" Linda admitted, before continuing "she was an extremely private person, she only moved to the US when she was 15 & it took over a year before she invited anyone over to her place. She was one that would rather spend time at home than be out with friends, Tony was the only one that was really able to get her out for a length of time, he was a care free fun, kind of goofy kid back then & she loved it & him for it"
"Something changed senior year though?" Shannon asked, she could see it all over the woman's face.
"She was at school on a Friday & come Monday, she was gone, all we were told was that she had to suddenly rush off to take care of a failing aunt, I presumed it was one back in the United Kingdom, as that's where her family was from, when I pressed Tony on it, that's the story he told us too" Linda answered.
"But you sensed something" Shannon remarked.
"While Patricia was away Tony became extremely withdrawn & quiet, his friends at the business school he attended said he rarely participated in anything outside of class. He claimed it was because he was upset at Patricia's absence, but I always got the feeling there was something more. When she got back right before exams, she seemed fine, her usual self, except her & Tony would always wander off on us when we went out as a group, that was the only way they were initially allowed out, in a group. I tried to get her to talk to me about things, but all she kept saying was she was worried about the aunt she'd cared for & left, because she had to graduate. I took that as the reason behind it, she was a family person after all, and appeared very close to her relatives back home" Linda explained.
"So you never suspected that the pair of them…..?" Gibbs prodded again.
"No" Linda replied firmly "I remember a girl at school trying to spread that rumour, but it was put to bed as soon as Patricia returned & hooked back up with Tony, it wasn't really customary for the parents to allow the kids access to the other party if a baby had been produced, so the pair getting together again put that rumour to rest & made everyone believe the aunt story"
"Now knowing what you know, can you think of anything strange that occurred during that whole period?" Gibbs asked, he was now really curious about why the pair got back together or rather why the parents allowed it.
Shannon watched as Linda thought about it.
"Well, when I had my daughter, Patricia was always wanting to nurse her, I considered that normal just because of our friendship, I would nurse Junior & we'd swap, but whenever we'd meet up, she'd always go straight for her" Linda replied.
"I meant in relation to the pair getting together, like you said it was normal back then" Gibbs remarked.
"Tony's parents seemed fine with it, I think his father liked the fact that Patricia came from a well to do upper class British family, and he'd get the chance to use the connections in business, though I never really saw any of that happen" Linda answered.
Gibbs raised his eyebrow, sounded like Senior was like his father!
"What about hers?" Shannon asked.
"I'll be honest, even though Patricia was my closet friend growing up, I never really got to know her parents, Martin & Susan Paddington were even more private than their daughter. They spent a lot time going between the UK & US, their older sons didn't make the move over, so they would go & see them, but Patricia never went & they didn't come for her wedding." Linda remarked.
"Clive Paddington?" Gibbs asked, that was one uncle that he knew about. He had to wonder why the siblings riff though.
"Yes, he was one of her older brothers, the oldest was Jeffrey though, I'm afraid that's all I know about them" Linda remarked.
"Look, I'd love to stand on the street & talk history all night, but Senior's not coping that well & I only came to see if you'd at least talk Junior into seeing him again, that's all I'm asking for." Linda asked.
"We will convey the message that he wants to see Tony, but that's it. Don't expect anything, especially in the near future, all Tony is concerned with right now, along with the rest of us, is locating his sister" Gibbs replied.
Linda nodded "We're staying in town until this gets sorted out, he wants to know his daughter's ok, it's been eating away at him for 45 years & he isn't going anywhere until he hears that she's at least safe. He isn't going anywhere until he can at least speak to Junior again; he really is scared of losing him, please ask Tony to speak to his father"
Shannon eyed the woman "I can't speak of what it's like to keen that secret from a child but I can speak about what it's like to give a child up & I for one do not understand how a person can just let it go on for so long! If it had been eating Senior up for 45 years, he should have done something about it! And a lot sooner!" she exclaimed "so you'll forgive me for giving a rats about Senior & how he's coping, there is only person I am concerned with & that is Anthony, a man I consider a son, as much as my own flesh & blood is. And I will not allow Senior or you to shift the responsibility of this mess onto him. Responsibility lies with the person who is responsible for the secret having been kept, that being Senior & he is the parent, so he should act like one! If he wants to speak to Anthony, then he should be here, not you! And you shouldn't be asking Anthony to be the one to make contact"
Gibbs was wide eyed, he knew his wife had a temper, but this outburst had come out of nowhere, he'd seen no signs of the simmer that usually happened before hand, he had to agree with what she was saying though.
"Senior knows he's got a lot to make up for, but he can't start if Junior won't talk to him at least" Linda replied timidly.
"Perhaps he should try making the contact himself, it isn't up to Anthony to make the effort" Shannon retorted angrily.
Gibbs was getting a little concerned about his wife, but he wasn't going to say anything right now, he saw a marine patrol approach.
"Excuse me sir, is everything alright?" Corp Ellis asked.
"You can escort this lady off our base Corporal" Shannon stated.
Ellis flashed a look to Gibbs.
"You hear her marine, show this lady the exit" Gibbs added, he had to say this patrol came at the best time, he wasn't sure what was going on with his wife, & and wanted to extricate themselves from Linda.
"Yes sir" Ellis nodded instantly, he shifted his attention to the lady "Ma'am, this way"
"I'm sorry for upsetting you all, it wasn't my intent, I merely don't want a father & son to be lost to each other" Linda remarked.
"Well, the father can work on that" Shannon replied flatly.
Gibbs watched as the marine pair escorted Linda down the street to their vehicle, it wasn't until they were out of ear shot did he speak to his wife, pulling her into his hold he spoke softly "All's ok Shan"
"The nerve of that man & that woman to try to put it on to Anthony to make the contact!" Shannon gritted out.
"Not right, but we'll tell him that he only has to go see Senior, when & if he is ready to do, not for any other reason" Gibbs said.
"Some people just don't deserve to be parents" Shannon sighed.
"Nope" Gibbs agreed "but he's one of ours now Shan, we've got him well looked after" he said gently & confidently.
Shannon nodded "we do, we need to find his sister Jethro" she knew that like her husband, each of them had wished they'd had a sibling, which was why they kept trying for a second after Kelly, so to be able to give that gift to Tony, would be just wonderful.
"We will, we'll find her" Gibbs replied, it was obvious he needed to find Patricia not just for Tony's sake, but for all their sakes.
A/N: Hmm... me thinks the woman got a talking to! Good thing Shannon & Gibbs took over the conversation, Tony wasn't really coping, but could Gibbs gut be right on his wife? Is there something going on with Shannon? She did kinda of blow up.
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