Just like you chapter 7
"Hey kiddo!"
"Uncle Steve?! What are you doing here?!" Tony asked surprised jumping to his feet from where he sat on the floor outside the classroom where his Dad as well as his teachers were having a meeting.
"I came to check up on you." Uncle Steve's tone told Tony that his honorary Uncle already knew everything, which in a way didn't surprise Tony, but the fact that the man was here, in his school on a Monday afternoon was indeed a surprise. Not having seen his Uncle in six months though Tony didn't care if the man was angry or not, just melted into the strong arms of his Uncle. "Come on kid let's get you home so we can talk."
"I'm supposed to…" Tony started, but Uncle Steve had already knocked on the door where the meeting was taking place and opened the door before Tony could stop him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but if it's okay, I'd like to take my godson home now, unless you of course need him for anything." As soon as Tony heard his Principal give his permission Tony bent down and started packing away the assignments he had been working on. "Looks like you've been working hard." His Uncle commented with a look at the number of books and papers Tony tried to stuff into his bag.
"Yes sir."
"So…" Steve started as the pair made their way outside and to his parked car. "I heard that you decided to get into some trouble while I was gone."
"Yes sir." Tony blushed.
"Uhhuh and how did that turn out?"
"Pretty much as I expected it to." Tony confessed, sitting down on the front seat next to his Uncle.
"Is there something you haven't told your Dad yet?"
"No sir."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes sir."
"Good boy."
"What are you really doing here? Not that I haven't missed you, I'm just surprised."
"Well I'm here right now as I said to check in on you, but if you are talking about what I'm doing in Washington, I finished up two months early. Imagine my surprise when Leroy calls me as I'm heading to the airport to fill me in on what you've been up to."
"Sorry" Tony muttered quietly. His past months of trouble wasn't exactly how he wanted to greet his Uncle.
"You really did everything you did because you missed him, didn't you?" Steve asked, his voice soft and understanding.
"Yes sir."
"It couldn't have been easy."
"I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't stop."
"I believe I don't have to tell you that you should have called me, Tony. You know I would have talked to Mike or Jack for you. I wasn't close by and I'm sorry for that, but you know I would have listened and done everything I could to fix the situation."
"I know. I'm sorry I didn't call you."
"Especially since I heard that you didn't want to put your troubles on your Dad's shoulders right then and I for one know that neither Mike nor Jack always is that easy to explain things to. Not to say I or you for that matter don't love them, but I've been there, done that. Sometimes they start barking before you get a word in. And with that I think you've heard more than enough about this, so how about you make me a promise, kid. In the future you'll call me if anything like this is going on."
"I promise Uncle Steve."
"Good. I believe Mike is watching Tim so why don't we go inside and see what kind of welcome I get." Steve grinned as the car came to a stop in the middle of the driveway where Gibbs usually parked his car.
"You do know Dad id going to be livid at you for occupying the whole driveway?!"
"I haven't seen Leroy in 6 months, he'll be too busy hugging me to murder me."
"For your sake I hope so." Tony answered with a small smile, grateful to have his Uncle there giving him a little breathing room, even if he still wasn't sure he deserved it.
-Just Like You-
"Uncle Steve may I ask you something?"
"Sure, kiddo what is it?" Steve had ordered him to take a break after two hours of studying and had told him to go outside and let off some steam. Somehow Tony had even tricked him into throwing a football with him. After 30 minutes though Steve requested a short break which lead to them sitting at the back porch just enjoying each other's company.
"Can you make sure Dad is okay?"
"What do you mean?" His Uncle was clearly surprised by the request and moved a little so he could look right at Tony.
"This mess of mine can't be easy for him." Tony explained. "First he has 3 long cases without a break and then he has to start straightening out all of this the second he gets a well-deserved break. Besides, with all the trouble I seem to find I'm not exactly the perfect son he deserves."
"Anthony Leroy Gibbs. Your Dad is fine and…"
"You have barely seen him yet!" Tony interrupted heatedly.
"I've spoken to him Anthony. He is just happy that you guys are okay, especially you and he is really grateful to have this time off so he can spend time with you guys. Tony, I'd be the last person to argue against Leroy needing a break, but you have my word kiddo that this is exactly what he wants to do during it. He wants to catch up with you and Tim and make sure you are okay. If you aren't, nothing and nobody can stop your Dad from fixing things. As for you not being the perfect son he, according to you deserves: Anthony Leroy Gibbs, he loves you just the way you are. You couldn't be more perfect in his eyes and you are exactly the kind of son he deserves: kind, thoughtful and full of life, but if you don't believe me you can ask for yourself once he gets home."
-Just Like You-
"Hi buddy, how're the assignments going?" His Dad asked coming into Tony's bedroom, bending down to kiss Tony at the top of his head.
"Hi Dad, Uncle Steve helped me with a couple of things so I'm almost finished with Science. And I did my regular homework while we were at school."
"Good boy." Gibbs praised, gently running his fingers through Tony's hair.
"Good to see you too Leroy." Steve said teasingly coming up behind them.
"Steven. You took my parking spot." Gibbs growled playfully before bringing his brother into a tight hug. "Good to see you brother."
"Your son here has been an angel the whole time."
"Good to hear. Tony, your teachers and I reached an understanding. From now on they will call either one of your Grandfathers or Ducky if they can't get a hold of me. And since Steve is planning on staying for a while, I'll include his number as well. Your teachers are going to be assigning you a few extra credit projects to bring your scores back up again and they'll all be waiting on a personal apology. Furthermore, I believe Mr. Jamison wants a word with you tomorrow. Other than that, this is over as far as the school is concerned."
"Okay." Tony answered, not knowing what else to say. His Dad once again started running his hand through his hair, knowing it would help him relax after the verdict.
"If that's all Leroy I believe your son has a question." Tony openly glared at his Uncle. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He wanted Uncle Steve to ask his Dad. And he especially didn't want the question to intervene with this moment. At Tony's unwillingness to speak his Uncle sighed but told Gibbs straight out: "Your son is worried about you. He believes you deserve a break and that he totally screwed it up for you. What is worse is the kid thinks you deserve a more perfect son." His Dad knelt down next to his chair and gently grabbed his chin, forcing Tony to focus on him.
"Tony, I need you to listen to me. I'm fine. Sure, I was tired. Tired of work, never of dealing with you. Spending time with you guys are the only break I need. Did you mess up? Hell yeah. Do I mind starting my break helping you untangle a mess you made because you missed me? No. Not that it was the right way to go about it, but you didn't destroy anything Anthony. I love you Anthony Leroy no matter what you do, you should know that by now."
"I love you too Dad I just thought…"
"You thought wrong son, in my eyes you'll always be perfect, just the way you are. This mess falls on both of us and we'll both learn from it, but it doesn't change anything, especially not how perfect you are in my eyes. You are allowed to make mistakes son, it's part of growing up and it will never make you less deserving of being my son. Never. I promise you that Tony. Kiddo, you are just like me and if I could choose I wouldn't have it any other way."
Tony didn't know what to say so he settled on hugging his Dad tightly for the longest time, enjoying the feeling of being able to nestle close to his Dad's chest and listen to the man's heartbeat, a sound that always calmed him down. Tony felt his Dad's hand rub soothing circles on his back and if possible nestled even closer to the person he loved most in the world. Especially now with the hugs lately being few and far in between, and with Tony growing up and sometimes feeling too big to cuddle, Tony was determined to stay in his Dad's warm embrace for as long as the man happily would hold him.
A/N: For those of you reading The Other Tony as well, you probably have noticed that Uncle Steve here is more relaxed and forgiving than in the other Tony. That's for the simple reason that Uncle Steve had to take on a sterner tone when he became principal. Sure, he is a former marine, but he is still more easy going than Gibbs because that's just his way. You haven't seen much of that side of him before, but believe me you will.