When Fornell left, Gibbs headed down to autopsy again. This time he found the two just sitting and talking. As Gibbs walked in, Ducky stood up, as Tony continued to look down at the floor in shame. Gibbs tried to make eye contact with Tony, but Ducky interrupted his attempts.
"Well, Anthony and I had a very interesting talk, Jethro." Ducky stated. At the sound of his name, Tony stood up and slowly made his way over to them.
"Apparently, Anthony has been attending A.A. meetings since his return, per a-certain-someone's request, who will remain nameless. And, although he does admit that he has never stopped drinking completely, he is consuming less alcohol now than he has in years." Ducky repeated Tony's confession. Tony stood there waiting for a lecture from Gibbs, which never came.
"Since I got off that ship, I barely consumed any alcohol. I had one drink on Sunday, and that was the first in three weeks, Boss." Tony admitted, avoiding eye contact.
"Which means, you are not an alcoholic Tony. Though, I am no doctor." Gibbs added softly. "Who told you that you were an alcoholic?"
"It. . .it doesn't matter." Tony answered, still looking down.
"If he had gone through any type of alcohol withdrawal, he would not still be suffering from it now, after this long of a time." Ducky added.
"Another rather interesting piece of information is that Anthony said his father has been in and out of the hospital with the same symptoms, just more severe." Ducky continued. This comment ignited a strong reaction from Gibbs.
"Your father?" Gibbs repeated giving a strong stare at Tony, who did not look up at him.
"Hey!" Gibbs barked. Tony visibly jumped, and he could not help but look at Gibbs.
"What is going on?" Gibbs forced. Tony shook his head in frustration. Gibbs cuffed his hand around the back of Tony's neck pulling him closer to him.
"He has been staying here in D.C. the last few months. I have been staying with him, since I got back." Tony explained defensively. "He really is an alcoholic, Boss. He doesn't keep any alcohol in his suite. And, he has been sick, so I haven't had a chance to go out drinking a lot lately. That is big part of the reason that I haven't had any."
"He has had the same symptoms?" Gibbs said. Gibbs and Ducky exchanged an understanding look.
"Yes."
"And you have been staying together?" Gibbs repeated.
"That would explain why you weren't at your apartment last night."
You. . .you went to my apartment?" Tony asked.
"Yes, the one that still has no working utilities and has that not-lived-in look." Gibbs said slowly and accusingly.
"Yes." Tony repeated and tried to step back away from Gibbs, but he just stepped closer to Tony.
"You both are obviously being poisoned with something." Gibbs ordered.
"What!?" Tony said.
"I just talked with Fornell about this case. He said the mobster in the photo is trying to kill his former associates."
"You really think that we are being poisoned? That is kind of an unusual approach for a mobster." Tony stated in disbelief. "Usually, they send their hired guns."
"We just need to figure out what might be tainted."
"What about the bank manager. Why was the daughter targeted?" Tony asked.
"Ziva is working on that. Most likely, he is targeting family members, too." Gibbs offered.
"All right Tony. We need to start breaking down everything that you may have touched, swallowed, or inhaled that came from inside that apartment, within the last forty-eight hours." Ducky stated as he pulled him back over to the chair. "You also need to be more honest with me about your symptoms." Gibbs nodded at Ducky and left autopsy. "Gibbs said you were complaining of a scratchy throat before, also." Tony nodded in confusion.