Tony's Salvation—Chapter 12
He smiles back at her, realizing that he likes this woman. She makes him feel wanted as well as needed.
"Just out of idle curiosity, are you looking for new housing here too?"
Laurie stares at him and Tony's heart slows. He can't believe he asked her that. He turns away from her; she pulls him back.
"I shouldn't have said that. I'll just go and--"
"Stay…I wasn't expecting that question."
"Yeah, well, I'm not really surprised."
She reaches up and Gibbs-slaps him and he stares at her.
"Stop belittling yourself. I said you surprised me, not that I minded the question. Would I consider looking for housing here? I might... if I had the right incentive "
Hope blooms in his green eyes, as he steps close once again. "What kind of incentive would it take?"
"Not really sure…might take a lot of persuasion."
Her gentle teasing brings a smile to his face. He can think of a lot of ways to persuade her, now that he knows she might be interested in him.
"So, persuasion tactics might be needed. Like this?" He kisses the tip of her nose.
"That's a step in the right direction." She smiles at him and he drops a kiss on her lips.
"Is your hair naturally white?"
"Yeah since I was a kid."
"I don't remember anyone else having hair this color…except maybe my grandmother." His saucy smile and the teasing in his voice tell her that he's starting to break out of whatever funk had encompassed him.
"It's okay Tony; I won't tell anyone you like really older women."
With that statement, light hearted banter begins. Two mental hours pass, mere minutes in the real world and Tony's mental is laughing at some of the outrageous stories they've swapped back and forth. He catches her trying to hide a yawn and knows that he's part of the reason for her tiredness. She's been teaching him how to strengthen his mind and his mental shields.
"You should get some sleep. You and I have a big day tomorrow if we're gonna scout out locations for your restaurant."
"Can I stay here for a while? I like your mind, it's quiet."
"Yeah come here." He escorts her to the bed he's managed to conjure thanks to her teachings. As she lies down, she pulls him down with her and he lays there holding her as she drifts off to sleep. He absently starts stroking her hair and he realizes that for the first time in any relationship he feels…complete and comfortable.
He looks up as a shadow drifts over him; Richie is sitting on the far side of the bed. His ghostly presence is oddly comforting to Tony until he sees his brother's ghost reach out to Laurie.
"You can't have her Richie. She's with me now."
Richie lightly caresses her cheek before gliding over to his brother's side of the bed.
"Take care of her Tony. She needs you just as much as you need her."
"Can you tell me what happened? Where you were? Why I couldn't find you?"
Tony's questions are met with a sad smile. "I will arrange for your friends to find out on the computer. Let's just say that life prior to Maui was almost as good as life after. The best part of my life, aside from the Marines, was the three months of time that I spent with the lady in your arms."
Richie lets his ghostly gaze drift over his two favorite people in the universe. He'd never forgotten Tony, not even when his foster parents had tried to beat the memories away. Instead, he'd locked Tony's image into a safe zone that he could escape to when the beatings got too bad. He hadn't tried to contact his brother for fear of someone, namely father DiNozzo, taking it out on Tony.
"You're looking good Tony. NCIS really does suit you, much better than any of those police departments did. That lady you're trying to keep from me? She'll suit you too, if you let her. Don't shut her out of your life and mind Tony; you need each other."
There's a lengthy pause then Tony asks, "Did she have any inkling at all that you were dead?"
"I blocked her so that she wouldn't."
Two pairs of eyes stare up at him in shock and disbelief. "WHAT?"
Tony looks at his brother, wondering just when he'd gone from being slightly insane to totally crazy.
"Why would you do that to her? My God, Richie, she's a healer!"
"A damned good one, but she would have died if she'd come to our rescue and I couldn't have that. I needed a way for you two to get together; I just didn't anticipate it taking this long."
Laurie looks from one brother to the next, before asking, "Why did you want us to meet?"
Richie sits at the foot of the bed. Tony by now is sitting up, reaching reflexively for Laurie. The former SEAL lets herself get pulled into Tony's embrace.
"You…I knew within three hours of her company that I'd found the perfect woman. She was smart, pretty and knew how to take care of herself. Better yet, she was someone who would be able to understand and relate to my best friend; my brother when the going got rough. I just didn't know where you were anymore Tony."
"Yeah getting disinherited when you're 16 put a bit of a dampener on things. But even if all this is true, why marry her? You could have just had an affair."
Richie glares at his brother before giving him a head slap that even Gibbs would be proud of. "Tony just because our father is a bastard is no reason for either one of us to behave like one. Besides, I loved her."
Laurie stares at her former husband. "Tony has a good point though. Why marry me, we could have been friends."
"I married you for the simple reason that I love you. I just think that Tony is the better man for you." He gestures to the way the two are sitting close together on the bed. "Look at yourself, Tony. You've never held anyone the way you hold her."
Tony has to acknowledge the truth in his brother's statement. He feels extremely protective of the woman in his arms, regardless of her military background.
"As for you my lovely wife, in all the time we were married, you were never that relaxed. That comes from your trust issues. You've trusted Tony from the moment you first set eyes on him."
Laurie exchanges glances with Tony. "I don't remember him being this chatty when he was alive, do you?"
"No, he was always the quiet one, until it came to something important."
"It is important; you two are meant to be together. And I …I want to go home."
Laurie's puzzled, she knows that she felt his soul leave on the day that he'd died.
"I came back to help you two find each other. You did feel me die; I just came back."
Tony is watching the expressions flow across Laurie's face. He finally asks, "Just when did you die?"
"The same day you blew out your knee in college."
Tony blinks in surprise. He'd almost expected to hear that his brother had died when Tony had contracted the pneumonic plague. He still remembers the day when Gibbs had come into the room where he'd been struggling to draw even one breath. The slight tap on the back of his head as well as Gibbs telling him that he wouldn't die; just another miracle pulled off by the boss man.
Still, he could have sworn he'd seen a flash of lavender in his boss's icy blue eyes. Maybe not that day, but in the days following, whenever Gibbs had looked at him.
"I wasn't there, Tony. I was a half a world away keeping my team alive."
"You still helped him. Whenever you would sleep, you would mentally slip over and check on him."
"I don't remember it."
"You never do; not when you're pulling what the others call 'sleepwalking medic'. You know that someone needs your assistance, even when you're half a world away. I've watched many times over the years when you've been so tired that you were out on your feet and still managed to hightail it over to whoever needed healing…it was mostly mental, but every now and then it was a physical healing."
"If she's able to do that, why didn't she heal you?"
"I wouldn't let her. She needed to find you Tony."
Tony is off the bed so fast and slapping his brother so hard Laurie blinks in surprise.
"That lady loved you and you callously leave her. You let yourself die when she's pregnant with your child. A child she then loses due to grief and loss. You idiot!"
He's almost shouting by the time he's finished and glances back to find Laurie sitting there in minor shock. She doesn't remember telling him about losing her baby. Tony slides in beside her, holding her close
"It's okay lady, I gotcha. Go to sleep I'll watch your six." He rocks her as he strokes her hair, gently lulling her into sleep. Once he's certain that she's sleeping he motions for his brother to follow him.
"Don't come near us for a long time. I may not have her abilities, but for what you've put her through I would find a way to hurt you Richie."
Richie fades away and Tony makes sure to strengthen his shields before heading back to the woman who has captured his attention. He pulls her into his arms and falls asleep