Chapter 13
In the parking lot of the old recreational building, McGee is at the first NCIS car showing the Wilkinson and McCloud families the photographs of Jamar and Vanessa together. In the second NCIS car, Lance Wilkinson is handcuffed in the backseat. With the situation under control and the once feuding families becoming friends again, Gibbs motions for Tony to come over to where he is. Tony walks over to Gibbs while Chioke remains with Ziva near the second car.
"It seems everything…" Tony begins to say.
"What the hell were you thinking by bringing Chioke here?!" Gibbs exclaimed. "He could've been hurt today."
"I told him to stay…"
"Even with telling him to stay in the car, you shouldn't have brought him. I know you couldn't leave him with Jamie due to her depression…"
"She only gets out of bed to use the bathroom. She wouldn't actually be watching him if I left him at the apartment."
"But why didn't you leave him with Abby?!"
"I didn't think…"
"Obviously you didn't think, Tony." Gibbs said. "I know you wanna spend as much time with him as you possibly can… But it was very foolish and irresponsible of you. Chioke doesn't need to be exposed to situations like this. What if those families didn't stop fighting?"
"I know you're disappointed in me. I'm disappointed in me too."
"It's not that I'm disappointed in you… It's just… You wanna protect Chioke and keep him safe, right?"
"Of course I do."
"I didn't have the privilege of watching my daughter grow-up passed the age of eight years old. I didn't get to see her go thru the rebellious teen years or even be there to keep her safe and to protect her from life's miseries. I never got to be there for her when she needed me the most." Gibbs said. "What you have with Chioke is special. He looks to you to keep him safe, to protect him. Being a good parent isn't all about spending as much with your child as you possibly can. It's also about keeping your child safe. Chioke needs you to protect him. He counts on you to keep him safe."
Tony now looks to Chioke who is still standing with Ziva by the second car. Chioke smiles at Tony and waves.
"You're a good father to him, Tony. But you need to be more." Gibbs said. "You need to be his protector. Cuz without you, he's defenseless from the world's cruelty."
"You're right, Gibbs." Tony said.
"I'm always right." Gibbs stated with confidence.
"Here we go… Your ego of being right all the time is once again going to your head."
Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head. Tony begins to rub his head.
"Just cuz you're married to my daughter, doesn't mean I'd ever go easy on you, DiNozzo."
"That may be true… But you've definitely become more of a softy towards me." Tony grins. "Admit it, Gibbs. You love…"
Gibbs smacks Tony on the back of the head again.
"What I love is the confidence you have from being married to my daughter." Gibbs stated.
"Really?! You think it makes me a better investigator?"
"Nah… It just gives me more opportunities to smack you on the back of the head."
Gibbs smirks and walks away as Tony shakes his head.
"About yesterday…" Tony begins to say to get Gibbs' attention. "How did you know I was singing that South Park song?"
"Jamie and I talk to each other. I know more about you then I'd like. But don't worry, DiNozzo, I won't ever tell anybody your secret."
"Wait… What?!"
Gibbs finally walks away trying hard not to laugh. Tony is left standing there, wondering what Gibbs knows about him.
Eventually, the NCIS team is finally home in D.C. Ziva, McGee, Tony and Chioke all go to their homes while Gibbs stays at the NCIS building.
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Gibbs is up in MTAC. He's once again communicating with the special team that's been pursuing the assassin named Amir. The special team is currently in London, England. Amir is trapped in a burning hotel. With the hotel on fire, a fire that Amir started, firemen are all over the place. In order for the firemen to do their job, the special team has no choice but to stay outside of the hotel. Each member of the special team has a camera attached to their hats so Gibbs can watch the video feed.
"There are a lot of people coming out of the building, Agent Gibbs." The team leader stated.
"Amir started the fire, so he obviously has a plan." Gibbs said. "Check everybody that comes out of the building, even the firemen."
"Roger that." The team leader acknowledged.
As the special team checks everybody that comes out of the burning building, Gibbs continues to watch the video feed. Lots of people are coming out of the burning building and the special team is doing their best to check all of them so that Amir doesn't slip passed. From one of the team's video feeds, a hang-glider is seen launching off the roof of the hotel.
"Alpha 1… Take half the team and follow that hang-glider!" Gibbs exclaimed. "The other half stays at the hotel."
Half of the members of the special team run to their cars and follow the hang-glider that's soaring through the air. Gibbs looks to the side.
"Enhance the image of the hang-glider." Gibbs said to the technician.
The technician starts the image enhancement of the hang-glider that was captured on video. As half of the team follows the hang-glider and the technician keeps trying to enhance the image, after a couple minutes, the hang-glider seems to be descending into a nearby park.
"It appears he's landing in the park." The team leader stated.
"Don't hold back. Get in there." Gibbs said.
The cars break through the fences and race into the park. The hang-glider finally lands in an open space. The members of the special team that chased the hang-glider are now cautiously approaching it. The technician finally enhances the image of the hang-glider and put it up on the screen for Gibbs to see. The hang-glider was a decoy; a dummy dressed in Amir clothing with a camera attached to it and flight controls that can be remotely operated.
"Alpha 1… Get your team back to the hotel, now!" Gibbs exclaimed. "It was a diversion!" He looks back to the video feeds of the team members who are still at the hotel. "Echo 7, the firemen that are coming out… Check them! Check them now!"
Echo 7 grabs a fireman and takes his mask off. The other members of the special team, who are still at the hotel, also check the out-coming firemen.
Almost a block away, a fireman takes his mask off. Amir smirks as he tosses the mask and fireman's coat into the alley. Amir watches as he outsmarted the special team by forcing them to separate. He was able to slip passed the smaller amount of his pursuers due to the overwhelming amount of people that were still evacuating from the burning hotel and that still had to be checked as they were coming out. Amir laughs as the rest of the special team arrives at the hotel. Amir finally walks away a free man, once again, escaping the possibility of being captured by NCIS.
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Meanwhile, in Tony's apartment, he and Chioke are sitting in the kitchen eating a late snack. As usual, due to her depression, Jamie is lying in bed. After finishing their snack, Tony cleans up while Chioke goes into the living room and continues working on a drawing.
Tony goes into the bedroom, grabs a change of clothes and heads into the bathroom in order to take a shower. Chioke watches as Tony finally closes the bathroom door. Chioke walks to the table in the living room and grabs his drawing. He walks to the bedroom door and looks in at Jamie lying on the bed. Chioke takes a deep breath and enters into the room. He walks around the bed to face Jamie. Chioke hands the drawing to Jamie. She looks at it.
The drawing is that of seeking forgiveness. The drawing consists of a sad little boy, Chioke, and an angry woman, Jamie. The little boy is sitting on the floor crying. The boy's eyes are looking at the woman as tears are falling from them. The woman, who is set as standing on the opposite side of the drawing, away from the little boy, has an angry expression on her face and is looking away, as if she doesn't care about the crying boy. Darker colors were used in the area of the little boy to help express a sad feeling. Across the top of the drawing are the words: 'I sorry Mommy.'
Jamie looks to Chioke and slowly puts the drawing down. Chioke is looking downward with a sad expression upon his face.
"What are you sorry for?" Jamie wondered because she really has no idea why Chioke drew this or what his reasoning is.
Chioke points to Jamie's abdomen area. He then begins moving his hands.
'My fault.' Chioke signed.
Jamie notices tears falling from Chioke's eyes. Jamie places her hand under Chioke's chin. She gently pushes his face upward so they see eye to eye.
"What happened isn't your fault." Jamie said. "What makes you think it is?"
'I too scared. Not lay on floor like should have. Bad man hit you.' Chioke once again points to Jamie's abdomen area. 'Lose baby is my fault. I sorry.'
"Losing the baby isn't your fault. I lost the baby cuz of that bad man. The bad man is the one who decided to hit me. His decision to hit me was his choice. It had nothing to do with you." Jamie said. "Yes I'm sad that I lost the baby. But it's not your fault, Chioke."
Jamie sits up and gently wraps her arms around Chioke. After a couple seconds she leans back a bit.
'In morning, I wake up in bed. I left before find me. Not wanted you be mad. But I not know you never mad.' Chioke signed.
"I could never be mad at you. I was the one who found you lying on the floor outside of the bedroom." Jamie said.
'You bring me in bed?'
"Yes, I did." Jamie said with a smile. "I'm sad about losing the baby, but you can help me get thru the sadness."
'How? What I need do?'
"It makes me feel happy to have you lying in bed next to me. Will you lay with me as much as you can until I'm happy again?"
'I can do that. I want mommy be happy.'
"You can start right now."
Jamie begins to lean back into the bed. She keeps a hand on Chioke to help guide him into the bed with her. Chioke climbs into the bed. He lies in the bed facing Jamie.
Jamie cuddles with Chioke until Tony gets done in the shower. Tony eventually makes his way into the bed where Chioke is already sleeping in Jamie's arms. Once in the bed, he leans toward Jamie. Tony is behind Jamie and unaware that Chioke is also in the bed. He moves closer to Jamie and wraps his arm around her. Tony moves his head to look over Jamie.
"Chioke got here first, so he gets my arms tonight." Jamie said.
"I'm surprised he's in here. He's been avoiding you the last three weeks." Tony stated.
"It's been taken care of. He thought me losing the baby was his fault. The poor little guy."
"Oh man… I had no idea he thought that."
"Like I said, it's been taken care of."
There's a moment of silence as Tony places his head on Jamie's shoulder and looks at her while he's stroking her hair.
"So how are you feeling?" Tony asked in concern.
"Obviously I'm sad about what happened." Jamie replied.
"I know how much you wanted…"
"Chioke called me mommy."
"I can tell that makes you feel happy."
"How can it not? I mean, he doesn't have to call me mommy, but it shows how much he accepts me as his new mother."
"I know what you mean… He's been calling me daddy for three weeks now. It feels nice."
"As for the baby… We'll just have to try again."
There's a moment of silence as Tony and Jamie look at each other.
"I see I'm gonna have to fight for your cuddling arms for the next few weeks, aren't I?" Tony asked.
"You'd never win anyway." Jamie replied.
"I see how it is. I don't get cuddling. You're mean."
"But you still love me."
"I guess so."
"What do you mean, you guess so?! You meanie." Jamie said as Tony gives her a quick kiss. "Remind me to smack you on the back of the head later."
"I got enough of that from your dad today." Tony said then paused for a second. "When you talk to your dad, what do you tell him about me?"
"I never tell him specific things about you. I only tell him about stuff we do together. Well… Not everything we do together."
"Oh… You mean you never told him my secret?"
"Let me guess, he was messing with your head again, right?"
"Your dad seems to enjoy messing with my head."
"It's fun for him, especially since you're married to me." Jamie stated. "He probably only mentioned something about a secret cuz everybody seems to have one. Besides, I'd never tell my dad about your childhood blankie that you gave to Chioke."
"I just hope Chioke never tells anybody about it." Tony laughs slightly. "But if you know what's good for you, you'd never tell your dad about the blankie."
"If you're not careful I'll add another owed Gibbs-slap."
"I'm so scared." Tony said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "I'm shivering in fear."
Jamie swings her hand upward, toward Tony face. The back of Jamie's hand smacks Tony on the forehead.
"Ow." Tony said.
"You deserved it." Jamie said.
"You know what you deserve…"
"A back massage?"
"Since Chioke is sleeping, I'll let your punishment slide this time." "Tony said. "But next time, you'll feel my wrath."
"And what wrath might that be?"
"When I think of something good to be my wrath, I'll let you know."
"That's what I thought." Jamie rolls her eyes.
Tony leans forward and kisses Jamie on the lips. Then he lies next to Jamie and cuddles her from behind. Chioke remains sleeping in front of Jamie and cuddled in her arms. Finally, Tony and Jamie also go to sleep.
THE END
This concludes the story "The Color of Skin". Coming soon will be the next story in this series. But until then, I hope you enjoyed this story.