Not surprisingly, the workshop was dark but Tony could just see his boss sitting in the corner whittling a piece of wood. Tony began, once again, exploring the stuff on the shelf. He was careful with his injured hand. "You know boss, you and I have a lot in common."
Gibbs said nothing in response so Tony continued. "My father is a jerk too. They both try to buy us off instead of giving us what we want. My father just shows it to other people a lot more than your father does. Your father has a nice shiny inviting outside."
"Reverse psychology does not work on me DiNozzo." Gibbs said in response.
"Who said I was using psychology?"
"So you aren't trying to get me to defend him?" Gibbs questioned. Tony did not respond. The silence stretched before a minute before either man spoke. Surprisingly, Gibbs spoke first. "LJ always said my father didn't mean to do what he did."
"Sounds like a wise man," commented DiNozzo.
"He was" responded Gibbs.
"How did he die?" Tony questioned.
Gibbs turned to Tony and looked him in the eye. "You already know," he stated definitively.
"I thought you might want to talk about him" Tony admitted.
"I don't mind talking about him. I don't want to talk about how he died" responded Gibbs.
"Would you rather go inside?" Tony asked, knowing broached he'd a sore subject.
"In a minute" Gibbs responded. They spent a few more minutes looking around in silence before they went inside.
Once again, Jack was there to meet them at the door. He handed each a beer as they walked in. "I was hoping you guys would make it in soon. The game is about the start," indicating the football game. "Do you guys want some pie?"
Tony looked at his boss confused. Gibbs father had more moods swings than Ziva when she was PMSing. One moment he was jolly, the next he was chewing Gibbs out, then he was back to jolly.
Gibbs simply shrugged. He had long ago realized there was no use in trying to figure out what was going on inside his dad's head.
Soon all three were enjoying themselves again. The game put them all in a better mood. It was fun to see Gibbs and Jack cheer together as they looked very similar screaming for their teams. Tony loved joining the Gibbs men in the moment.