Tuesday
Chapter 7
Tony and Chioke arrive at the NCIS building. Tony is practically half asleep while Chioke is wide awake. They go to the elevator. Tony first drops Chioke off with Jamie, in the Forensics Lab. He then takes the elevator to go upstairs. He steps off the elevator and walks to the work area. He stops between his desk and Ziva's. Ziva looks up at him as he yawns and he tries hard to keep his eyes open. Tony remains between the two desks and begins doing some exercises to help wake himself up.
"Late night?" Ziva asked.
"Introducing Chioke to movies was definitely a bad idea." Tony stated.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" McGee asked.
"In total… Roughly 15 minutes in doze off time the entire night." Tony said. "I seriously have no idea how he can even function right now."
"What movies did you two watch?" McGee asked another question.
"Toy Story, Over the Hedge, Shrek, Ice Age, The Lion King, Finding Nemo and Curious George."
"Which movie did he like the best?" Ziva asked.
"His favorite was, The Lion King. He also really liked Curious George too." Tony answered. "He seems to really like lions and monkeys."
From his desk, McGee notices Gibbs step off the elevator.
"So Tony, you never told us how it feels to have Gibbs as your father-in-law." McGee stated.
"It's weird. When I see him, I don't know whether to call him; Boss, Gibbs or Dad." Tony said. "But actually…" He paused for a couple seconds as he thinks about it. "I honestly don't know how it feels cuz I haven't really given it much thought."
As Gibbs walks by, he smacks Tony on the back of the head.
"But apparently, it hurts." Tony said as he rubs his head.
"That should help wake you up DiNozzo." Gibbs stated.
McGee and Ziva laugh.
"We don't have time for giggles people! We have a missing person to find! We need something to work with before he dies!" Gibbs exclaimed in a strong voice. "Do any of you have anything significant that pertains to this case?!"
Ziva and McGee immediately look down at their computers and begin working. Gibbs places his coffee on the desk. He turns around and glares at Tony.
"Boss, I'm so tired, I can hardly even see right now."
Gibbs grabs his coffee and walks over to Tony. He places the coffee in Tony's hand.
"That'll wake you up."
Gibbs then walks away. Tony takes a sip of the coffee and almost gags.
"Holy crap!" Tony exclaimed. "How the hell does he drink this?!" He takes the lid off of the cup and puts his nose to it. He smells the coffee and his eyes tear up a bit. "I'm definitely awake now."
Tony walks to his desk and sits down.
After a couple minutes, Ducky enters into the work area.
"Do any of you know where Gibbs is?" Ducky asked.
"Whatever you do, don't tell him you're tired, cuz it's a major health risk." Tony stated.
"He was here a couple minutes ago." Ziva said. "What do you need him for?"
"I know you're looking into a Doctor Robert T. Williams…" Ducky begins to say. "He's a brilliant surgeon who kinda reminds me of a surgeon I met…"
"Ducky, please…" Ziva sighed to make him get to the point.
"I don't know him personally. But his brother is a medical examiner and may be able to give you some insight…"
"Ducky… We're trying to find the Lieutenant without Doctor Finger Swap knowing about it." Tony said.
"I know. But him and his brother had a falling out many years ago and haven't spoken to each other since. So maybe he can help." Ducky stated.
The team all look at each other.
"It's worth a shot." McGee said.
Meanwhile, down in the Forensics Lab, Abby and Jamie are sitting on the stools watching Chioke as he curiously looks around the Lab.
"Remember not to touch anything, Chioke." Jamie stated.
Chioke nods his head.
"Chioke, I heard your favorite movie was The Lion King and also Curious George." Abby said.
Chioke turns to face her and nods his head in excitement. He then gets down on the floor, on his hands and knees, and starts imitating a scene from the movie, The Lion King, for them. Abby and Jamie laugh as they find it to be so adorable. He then waves for them to join him. The two girls get off their stools and get onto the floor. The three of them are now on their hands and knees, moving around the lab.
Gibbs steps into the lab to see all three of them moving around the room, like lions. Abby and Jamie are roaring, as all of them are playfully swatting at each other. Abby notices Gibbs standing there with a shocked look on his face.
"Gibbs, come join us." Abby said.
Chioke stands up and walks over to Gibbs. He grabs Gibbs by the hand and pulls him into the room to where they're playing. Chioke gets back onto the floor and begins swatting playfully at Gibbs' leg. Abby and Jamie are roaring at Gibbs. Gibbs just stands there looking at them.
"Why not…" Gibbs shrugs his shoulders and gets on the floor.
Now, all four of them are on their hands and knees moving around the room, acting like lions. As Gibbs, Jamie and Abby act like lions and roaring at each other, Chioke changes to acting like a monkey.
After a minute, Tony, Ziva, McGee and Ducky enter into the lab. They stand by the entrance in shock at what they see. They all look at each other.
"In the jungle, the mighty jungle…" Tony begins to sing.
Gibbs immediately stands up and begins fixing his clothing and brushes off any possible dirt.
"…The lion sleeps tonight." Tony continued.
Ziva, McGee and Ducky shrug their shoulders and join Tony in singing.
"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight." The four of them sing.
Now, the four of them start laughing, as do Abby and Jamie as they get back onto their stools. Gibbs stands there in embarrassment. And Chioke has the biggest smile on his face.
"Why aren't you three upstairs working?" Gibbs asked.
"And miss the fun of the jungle…" Tony grins. "I think not."
Chioke runs over to Tony and Tony lifts him into his arms. Chioke wraps his arms around Tony's neck and lies his head on Tony's shoulder. Ducky approaches Gibbs.
"I think I may know someone who can possibly help…" Ducky begins to say.
"Ducky, I don't need a shrink." Gibbs stated.
"No, I meant in regards to Doctor Robert T. Williams." Ducky said. "His younger brother is a medical examiner who I know. He hasn't spoken to Robert in quite a few years cuz something triggered a falling out between them…" Ducky continued talking.
As Ducky kept talking, something just hit Gibbs. He remembers what the man, who found Brian Phillips, said about the night when he found him. Gibbs remembers the late-night conversation with Jamie about what triggered her memory. Then it all made sense to him about how he can get Brian Phillips to remember.
"Triggered memories!" Gibbs exclaimed. "Abs, where's the dog tags?!"
"Over there." Abby points to a table with the evidence on it.
Everyone is confused as Gibbs runs to the table, looking for the dog tags. Gibbs grabs the dog tags and heads for the door.
"Gibbs, should we bring in Robert's brother?!" Tony shouted. He gets no answer. "Gibbs…?"
"What was that all about?" McGee asked.
"With Gibbs, you never really know." Tony said.
There's a moment of silence.
"Ducky, are you busy?" Ziva asked.
"I have no residents downstairs, if that's what you mean." Ducky replied.
"How would you like go pick-up Robert's brother with me?"
"I'd be delighted, my dear."
Ziva and Ducky walk out in order to leave. Tony realizes Chioke is asleep in his arms. McGee, with his crutch, begins to hobble out of the lab to go back upstairs.
"McGee, wait up." Tony said.
McGee stops and waits for Tony. Tony walks over to the refrigerator where Abby's futon was already setup. Tony carefully places Chioke on the futon. Then he walks over to Jamie. He gives her a quick kiss then walks out. Tony and McGee go back upstairs.
Abby and Jamie are now sitting on their stools. The two of them are looking over at Chioke while he's sleeping, all curled up on the futon.
"I feel sorry for Tony about getting no sleep." Abby said.
"I can't believe they stayed up all night watching movies." Jamie said.
"He looks so peaceful over there."
"Yeah, he does."
"What happened yesterday while he was sleeping, I've never seen anything like that before. The poor kid was having a nightmare."
"I think the nightmare was about what his family."
"What exactly happened to his family?"
"All we know, from what Arthur said, is that his family was caught in a cross-fire between rival Warlords. Chioke was shot and left to die. We really don't know much about it cuz the gun-shot took his voice away." Jamie stated. "He knows English, but he doesn't know how to write. At this moment, it's more of a guessing game as to what he's trying to tell us. But we're gonna change that. He's now starting to learn sign language, as you already know, and I need to start doing some research on schools for him." She added to the conversation. "So in time, if he chooses to tell us about what happened to his family, he'll be able to do so. And we'll be here to help him get through it."
"He's lucky to have you and Tony."
There's a moment of silence as Abby and Jamie just watch Chioke sleeping.
"Gibbs makes a great lion. Too bad it isn't mating season." Abby said with a sexy growl.
Jamie just shakes her head.
Everybody goes off doing their own thing to work on the case, while Gibbs goes to the hospital with the dog tags.