Gibbs and Ducky came around the corner of the hallway leading to interrogation, just as Tony was ushering his father into the small interview room. Gibbs caught no more than a glimpse of silver hair and a well cut suit before the two figures stepped over the threshold. But as the door slowly closed behind them he could hear the elder DiNozzo making exactly the same kind of sarcastic remarks about the drab décor and lack of room service that Tony always made when he was held captive.
"Clearly the apple didn't fall too far from the tree." Ducky murmured.
"We'll see." Gibbs was curt.
"Jethro, I know how you feel about the man," Mallard counselled softly. "But this is hardly the time or the place."
Gibbs wasn't sure that was going to matter. He could forgive DiNozzo Snr his drinking after his wife's death. God knows he understood what it was like to lose yourself in pain and grief. Part of him might even accept that the man had tried to do right by his son growing up. Certainly Tony had never wanted for anything money could buy. And some people just weren't cut out to have children. But his continuing distance now that Tony was an adult filled Gibbs with fury at the senseless, useless waste. Seeing Maddie Tyler had been a bitter-sweet reminder of what might have been. Gibbs could never have that with his daughter. Tony wanted that with his father. Except the man simply didn't seem to give a damn.
After the plague, when the sight of Tony beginning to chafe at his invalid regime, voicing his protests about the bland food, the tedious and uncomfortable breathing exercises and complaining about being stuck indoors, had been enough to the dark days in isolation to the back of his mind Gibbs had realised a few certain truths. First, that sound as Tony had fought for each breath in the isolation chamber would haunt him until the day he died. Second, if Tony died, he would grieve for him as a mentor and a friend, but mostly as a father. Third, as Tony slowly recovered he had been plagued by nightmares of not being able to get enough oxygen. He had often woken in wide-eyed terror, gasping for breathe, with Gibbs' name on his lips. Not his father, never his father.
Just thinking about what that signified made Gibbs blood boil. He wanted to take DiNozzo Snr, slam him up against the wall and then shake him until his teeth rattled. Maybe then it might be possible to get through to the man what he was missing out on.
"Just going to ask him a few questions, Duck." Gibbs smiled dangerously.
"Indeed," Mallard reproved. "I know you, Jethro. The kind of questions you're thinking about could end your career. Do you really think Tony would thank you for that?"
"Frankly, I don't have the first clue where DiNozzo's head is right now," Gibbs was frustrated. The admission was a hard one to make. Over the years he and Tony had become so good at reading each other that words were often unnecessary. Tony so studiously ignoring the topic of his father being in town had thrown the former Marine. A word or two, a shared look, even a roll of DiNozzo's eyes could have conveyed volumes, but Tony had remained uncharacteristically tight lipped. Not to mention, his senior field Agen,t who had resisted giving out sensitive information under the effects of dehydration, sleep deprivation, torture and truth serum, had blurted out the details of an ongoing investigation simply because his father had asked. "He screwed up, Duck."
"Don't be too hard on the boy. He made a mistake, but the man is his father, after all."
"And he's my Agent!"
Hearing the emotion in his own voice Gibbs bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, knowing exactly how jealous that had sounded. Predictably, Mallard did not react to his outburst, except to raise a knowing brow, with served merely to fuel the team lead's already growing irritation.
"This isn't about me and his father," He attempted to defend himself. "It's about Special Agent DiNozzo releasing details of a highly sensitive NCIS international security situation to a man wearing a visitor's badge just because he happens to be his father."
Mallard opened his mouth to reply but any further comment he might have made was cut off by the sound of the door to the interview room opened, as Tony prepared to step out into the hallway.
"Aren't you going to question me?" His father's voice asked.
"Not me, that's called conflict of interests," Tony explained. "Special Agent Gibbs, will be along shortly."
"Gibbs?" The anticipation and amusement in the man's voice came through loud and clear and grated on Gibbs' ears. "So, I finally get to meet this legendary Boss of yours?"
"Yeah, I guess you do," Tony sighed. Then he paused, as if considering his next words carefully, before asking. "Dad, whatever is going on, just tell Gibbs the truth. Please?"
"You worry too much, Junior, " His father dismissed his concerns. "There's nothing going on. Frankly, I don't see why you wouldn't just explain what this was all about back at the Hotel like I asked you to. We could have had a drink and straightened things out in no time."
"Because, like I've been trying to tell you I'm a Federal Agent, Dad and I have a job to do," Tony sounded weary as if they had had this conversation many times on the ride back from the Adams House. "Look, just stay put. Don't try to leave. Gibbs is already on his way down, he'll be here any second."
The two men waiting in the hallway watched silently as Tony closed the door and turned around, to lean back against it, effectively blocking the exit. Slumping slightly against the woodwork he raised his eyes to heaven as if asking for strength before he closed them tight shut, clenching his hands into fists in an effort to hold in his emotions and screwed up his face into a groan of frustration.
"Could this day get any worse?" He muttered, sotto voice.
"I don't know, are you afraid he's gonna try to make a run for it?" Gibbs asked dryly, observing the way his Agent was standing guard.
At once, Tony's eyes snapped open, his head swivelling around so fast he almost fell over. Seeing the two men standing there watching him he coloured slightly at being caught in such an unguarded moment. Ducky's expression seemed kind of sympathetic, but Gibbs was completely unreadable. Hastily, he straightened up, tugging sharply on his suit to bring it into line and pasting on a weak smile as he took a placating step towards his Boss.
"Gibbs, you're here. And Ducky. Ducky's here too, Ducky," Tony seized on the word like a lifeline. "How is your mother doing today?"
"Its very kind of you to enquire again, Tony," Mallard regarded him fondly. "But her condition remains much the same as it was when you asked me first thing this morning."
"Well, good," Tony floundered. "That's good because she hasn't got any worse."
Silently waiting, Gibbs simply raised a brow, reminding DiNozzo that he had asked a question, knowing full well that although Tony seemed to be studiously avoiding all eye contact with him, he would not miss the gesture.
"Look Boss," Tony grasped the nettle. "I know this looks bad."
"Damned straight it does," Gibbs didn't beat around the bush. "You told your father why Prince Sayif was under NCIS protection and where he was staying."
Tony's face reddened, his ears turning bright pink, as he straightened almost to attention, in the midst of everything else he had almost forgotten that moment of weakness when his father had fixed him with a stern look and he had blurted out everything the man wanted to know. No wonder Gibbs was pissed. Inwardly, he was mortified that he had disappointed this man. Guess this day could get worse after all. But he didn't break eye contact and he didn't make any attempt to deny his behaviour.
"I know, I screwed up," He admitted. "Its just I wasn't exactly expecting to see him and suddenly there he is and he's calling me "Junior" and giving me that look and its like I'm ten years old again and trying not to let on that I got a "F" in Math."
"It is remarkable how one's parent's never loose the knack of making one feel like a child," Ducky observed. "Don't you agree, Jethro?"
Gibbs shot him a venomous glare, knowing full well that the ME was making reference to his relationship with his own father. He wanted to argue that this was different. That he hadn't almost screwed up that case in Stillwater because being around his father had made he act like a kid. But he couldn't deny that old scores to settle with Chuck had clouded his judgement for a time.
"Um," Tony looked a little sick, which at least proved he knew how serious this was. "Does the Director know?"
The former Marine narrowed his eyes as he looked back at his senior field Agent. He figured he could probably keep Vance from knowing about this, this time. Even so, he couldn't afford to cut Tony any slack. That could cost them both their careers and whilst Gibbs was prepared to sacrifice his to protect the younger man, he wasn't about to let the best young Agent he had ever worked with get canned because of a boneheaded mistake. He didn't give a rat's ass that DiNozzo wouldn't like what he was about to do, he had to get him to fly straight and get his head back in the game where it belonged.
"You screw up that bad again and you'll get a whole lot more than a failing grade," He warned. "And you won't have to worry about what the Director will do, I'll put you on suspension so fast your head will spin. Are we clear, Special Agent DiNozzo?"
He saw the way that Tony's eyes widened and his face swiftly paled as if Gibbs had landed a physical blow. In the past nine years his unconventional methods had earned him more than his share of formal reprimands from various Directors, for everything to pissing off beltway lawyers and high-ranking politicians to not following procedure when he opened that envelope with the Plague. His hot-headedness and tendency to act without thinking, had resulted in a number of informal sanctions and training sessions from Gibbs, designed to knock him into shape. But he could count on three fingers the times he had screwed up sufficiently for Gibbs to invoke formal disciplinary proceedings.
"Won't happen again, Boss." Tony assured him, his eyes dark and serious.
"So, what have you got?"
Gibbs deliberately withheld absolution. He needed DiNozzo to remember this lesson. Tony winced slightly at the coolness of his tone but Gibbs watched with quiet pride as the younger man visibly gathered himself together and returned his focus to the case.
"I don't know why my father is in town, but I do know that he didn't know the Prince was in Washington until he saw him at the Navy Yard. Believe me, surprise is not an emotion he's comfortable with, he likes to be the one calling the shots."
"Anything else?"
"It is possible that my Dad turning up after all these years, the very same day of the attempt on the Prince's life, when he just happens to have history with the Ibn Alweens could just be a co-incidence."
"You forget how I feel about co-incidences?" Gibbs challenged.
"He's not a killer, Boss," Tony stood his ground. "Whatever else my father might be he would never willingly get mixed up in something like this."
It was on the tip of Gibbs tongue to ask the younger man if he really thought he knew his father well enough to make that kind of judgement call about his innocence. From what Gibbs could gather the two men were virtually strangers to one another, As far as he could tell Tony had barely spent any time with his father growing up, even less since he had graduated High School. Hell, Gibbs was pretty sure he had spent more time with Tony in the last nine years than his father had during his whole lifetime. But the question was too cruel, and besides it was un-necessary, Gibbs was confident he could handle DiNozzo Snr.
"Still gotta get some answers." He reminded the younger man.
"I know," Tony made a face. "The thing is, Boss, he'll try not to give them to you. Everything, I know about deflection I learned from that man. He never would give me straight answer to a straight question. Just try not to kill him, please?"
Gibbs blinked at the unaccustomed note of pleading in DiNozzo's voice. It was an unwelcome reminder that this man wasn't just any suspect - he was Tony's father. A man's whose affection and regard his senior field Agent still desperately wanted. And much as Gibbs might want to exact justice for everything he had done, he owed it to the partner who had watched his six all these years to treat his flesh and blood with at least the appearance of civility. Gibbs clenched his jaw. Maybe if he thought of the interview as an undercover operation with some nameless mark, a man whose son he hadn't come to love like his own, he might just get through it without socking the guy in the jaw. With that firmly in mind, Gibbs reigned in his feelings, turned on his heel, arranged his face into a mask of politeness and entered the interrogation room without another word.
"You know, this is just like that movie. You know, the one where..," Tony began automatically, only to pause as a truly horrifying and dreadful thought occurred to him. "Actually, I can't think of a single movie that can even begin to describe what I'm feeling right now."
"There, there my boy," Ducky patted his shoulder comfortingly "Jethro, has become rather adept at dealing with your foibles over the years, I rather think he can manage a few minutes alone with your father."
And then he turned away to go into the observation room, leaving Tony alone in the hallway.