Tony's Salvation Chapter 13
Tony yawns and stretches slightly, as he gradually acknowledges that his body doesn't want to sleep anymore. He blinks as he takes in his surroundings, slightly surprised that Gibbs hadn't had him move to the spare bedroom. The soft form beside him brings his focus to the woman who's entered his life and is currently occupying his mind. He's a little surprised by the trust she has in him. He's more surprised by the trust he has in her.
He smoothes the blanket over her and rolls to his feet. Within seconds he's entering the kitchen where Gibbs, Tim and Abby are all discussing Tony and his brother. Tim gets up to let him sit down but Tony waves him off, heading straight for the coffee pot. He pours a cup and starts drinking it down making the others stare at him in mild shock.
"Boss, who is she? Why do we trust her so much after so little time? Better yet why does she trust us?"
"What do you mean Tony?" Gibbs puts up a hand to prevent Tim and Abby from saying anything.
"I can understand trusting her because she helped me with my migraine. Why does she trust us though? She's a combat veteran, and she totally trusts us after two days? It just seems odd to me."
"I trusted you on less time than that Tony." Gibbs reminds his senior agent.
"You had already checked into my background boss. She hasn't had time to do any research on us."
Abby pipes up, "That's not strictly true, Tony. I met her at a seminar three years ago. She's had plenty of time since then to check out NCIS."
Tim listens to what everyone else is saying before sitting back in his chair. He waits for everyone else to quiet down then says, "She's following her gut."
All eyes turn to him and he blushes faintly. Gibbs nods and pats his shoulder, then turns to Tony.
"McGee's right. You are too; she is combat hardened and yet she came in here ready to trust the entire team on Abby's word. I think if you ask her she's done some homework on all of us, might have a complete dossier on each of us."
"Yes I did some homework; no I don't have full dossiers on anyone. I trust my gut when it comes to people that I interact with." Laurie's standing in the doorway, looking mildly amused to find them all talking about her.
"What kind of homework?" Gibbs is asking not interrogating…yet.
"Interviews with others that you've worked with including the LA branch of NCIS. Nothing else."
"Nothing else?" Gibbs isn't sure that he believes her. Neither are the others.
"Gibbs, up until three days ago, I was a fully active and deployed Navy SEAL. You know as well as I do how often we get leave time."
"Still you've had three years to look into us."
"Believe it or not, not everything revolves around NCIS and its team members. I have another life that has little to do with the military."
"What about your doctorate in medicine?"
"I'm retired from it. I do keep up to date credentials though in case I'm needed in an emergency."
Tony comes over and drapes an arm over her shoulders. She smiles up at him as he hands her a glass of milk. The others hide smiles at the gesture; to them it means that Tony is on the mend. Tony looks around the kitchen then says, "I'm hungry anyone else want something to eat?"
"Not if you're cooking DiNozzo." Gibbs smiles at his agent letting him know that he's kidding.
"Boss, I'm wounded. You've put a knife in my heart boss." On and on Tony prattles as he digs in Gibbs fridge for what he wants. Abby hugs Tim as they listen to Tony complain about Gibbs comment.
Gibbs comes over to stand next to Laurie. He leans close and says sotto voce "Don't know what you did or how you did it, but that is the man I've known for ten years. Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet, gunny. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Whatever daddy DiNozzo did to him, he's not out of the woods quite yet."
"One Tony DiNozzo breakfast special coming up. Scrambled eggs with toast and bacon, as well as milk for my lady."
Laurie raises her glass in thanks as he passes by and kisses her on the cheek. Tim picks up his laptop and moves it into the den. On his way he whispers a quick thank you in Laurie's ear. Tim then heads upstairs to take a quick shower before the meal. Abby bounces excitedly from the room and Gibbs meets her in the den. He then proceeds to have a conversation with her in Sign language.
"Abbs, calm down. Laurie says that this could be a false start. We need to keep positive but it's possible that he could recede again."
"He won't Gibbs; she won't let him. We have her for at least two weeks and this is only day two. We have to think positive Gibbs. If she can accomplish this much in two days, imagine what Tony'll be like in two weeks!"
Gibbs has to admit that his Goth has a point.
In the kitchen Tony finally slows down when the toast starts popping up. Laurie's there to assist him and he looks at her as he hands her a spoonful of eggs to taste.
"Those are some of the best eggs I've ever had; you could always come be our breakfast cook if you want something to do in the early morning."
"They're just eggs."
Laurie helps him scoop everything onto platters before replying.
"Tony, I'm a professional chef. I get paid top dollar for meals like the one you've just created. I don't give out praise like that unless it's deserved. Believe me, if something tastes like shit, I'm gonna tell you that it tastes like shit."
He smiles at her honesty and calls the others in to eat. Idle chatter fills the air as they eat breakfast. When Tim comes around collecting plates to put in the dishwasher, Laurie looks at the others and says, "If you want to continue looking into the past you're welcome to do so. I'd recommend that you do it at the Navy Yard so that you won't get in trouble for not coming in today. Tony and I will be out for the day looking at possible restaurant locations, so if you come up with any questions for us, please write them down and we can discuss it later tonight. Tony, I'm going to shower then meet you in the den in 30 minutes."
"Make it 45 so that I can get a shower in too."
"Copy that."
She leaves and the others are left standing in her wake. Clearly she's a woman used to giving instructions and having them followed. Abby smiles and says, "I'm gonna go wake up my babies. Timmy you want to come with me?"
"I'll follow you in Abbs; I need to check on something on the way in."
Abby waves as she takes off. Tim looks at Gibbs who cocks an eyebrow at him knowing that the junior agent has a question on his mind.
"Boss, can she give us orders like that?
"McGee, she's a lieutenant commander in the navy."
"So, technically yes? I just, I've never seen you—never mind." He can tell that his thoughts are getting him buried higher and deeper.
"DiNozzo, go get changed and take the commander out for the day. McGee," he sighs, "go warm up the car."
"On it boss." McGee grabs his laptop and scampers out of the house still marveling at Laurie's audacity in speaking to Gibbs the way that she does.
Gibbs gets to the doorway and looks back at Tony. "Hey DiNozzo, thanks for breakfast. Don't let the little dictator boss you around too much."
With that Gibbs is out the door and heading for the car. He motions for McGee to scoot over and Tony sighs imagining the ride that Tim is in for. When the car screeches out onto the street Tony can feel the tension that he's been trying to ignore, settle in again.
A soft touch on his shoulder brings makes him sigh yet again.
"What is it Tony? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I – do we have to go anywhere today?" the tension in his voice almost matches what she's sensing rise in the rest of his body.
"I'd like to get some groceries, but we can do that later. What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I just…don't know."
"Well then, since we're not going anywhere, how about we go back inside and put a movie on?"
He follows her docilely enough to the den, and then stops.
"Can…can I just hold you?"
She nods and he encloses her in his hug. She can feel him shaking and knows that the events of the previous night are catching up to him.
*He's okay Gibbs. We may end up spending the day at your house, but he's going to be okay.*
Gibbs lets out a silent sigh at the mental communication. Tim looks over at him, noting the decrease in speed and knows that the commander had to have told him something.
"Did the commander tell you that Tony'll be all right?"
Gibbs glances over at him and Tim shrugs, "It was obvious, once I thought about it, that she sent us away as a diversion. This way she can help Tony without us around and he won't be as self-conscious about what is going on."
Gibbs smiles as he says, "And Tony still calls you Probie."
Tim sighs, "I think it's like you and Mike Franks. He still calls you Probie, even after all these years apart. Mike isn't as malicious as Tony can be at times, but I know that he trusts me to have his back and I trust him to have mine."
"Wisely spoken McGee."