Paperwork is lame. Throwing paperclips at Kate when she's not looking, however, is fun. Especially when you get rewarded with a Level Four Death Glare. The kind that reminds Tony of the ones he'd get from Sam when he was trying to study. Oh yeah, bugging Kate is tons of fun.
Ping! Too bad. Ricocheted off the computer monitor. But it got the very special agent a glare anyway. And what's this? Do his eyes betray him, or does he see a 'Tony' forming on her lips?
"Tony," Kate bites out.
Oomph! Damn. He thought Gibbs was still on his coffee run. Back to work then.
"Sorry, Boss."
"Yep," Gibbs replies in a knowing voice. Is that a twinkle in his eye?
Right. Work. Suppose this is better than field work. Field work means someone's dead. And that's never good, even though it breaks the monotony.
Oh. He's supposed to be typing.
Bzzz. Huh. Tony checks his phone on his desk. Nada. The buzzing noise continues, before "Enter Sandman" begins to play.
Tony's eyes widen. That's his family phone; Dean's ringtone. Dean knows not to call during work. Something bad must be going down.
Getting up from his desk, Tony pulls his phone from his pocket and answers. Kate is shooting him a funny look. Best to take this somewhere private. The bathroom should suffice.
"Dean."
"Dad's missing."
Whoa. Their dad…missing? That can't be right. The John Winchester, Hunter Extraordinaire, simply does not go missing.
"You sure?"
"Do you seriously think I'd be calling if I wasn't sure?"
"That may be…but this is Dad we're talking about. You sure he's just not out celebrating?"
"He'd never be gone this long. As Sam would probably put it, even 'Jim, Jack, and Jose' couldn't keep him this long."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to recruit Sammy. Dad went missing in Jericho. That's not too far from Palo Alto."
"Good luck with that. Keep me posted."
"Okay."
It would be three days until the Winchester world got turned upside down. It would be another week until Tony heard from Dean.
Sitting in his apartment, it was hard not to keep staring at the phone. Surely Dean would have called him if something happened. Tony just hopes that when he does get a call, it won't be for the worst.
Bzzz. Tony snatched up the phone in an instant.
"Talk to me."
"Dad's gone underground. And the demon's back."
"What?"
"Sam's girlfriend Jess was killed by the same thing that killed our mom. We're still trying to find Dad…but I don't know how that's going to go. He's left us coordinates…"
"That's so typical of him! Why can't he ever be upfront about things?" John can be a real ass. That's probably why his enemies and allies want to fill him full of buckshot.
"'Cause he's Dad. Anyway, Sam and I are on the trail. Hopefully we'll find him soon."
"I'm sorry that I can't be there. I'll try to put in for leave time…"
"No! You don't need to do that Tony. Sam and I will find Dad. Don't worry about it. Besides, that boss of yours would hunt us down if you didn't return on time."
"I should be there. John's my dad too."
"No one is saying he isn't. But you don't need to lose your job over this. We'll find Dad, and when we do, we'll call you and you can come and kick his ass."
"Heh. Will do."
"I've got to go. And Sam says 'Hi.'"
The phone call ended. It looks like life is going to get a little more complicated. Tony sighs, and drags a hand through his locks. He'll do his part in looking for dad through the legal system, but it isn't likely to help at all. The man has so many aliases, it's a wonder he can keep any of them straight.
Why does his family have to be so messed up? Most people don't have to worry about finding their father in an arrest warrant or death certificate under the name 'John Nugent' or 'John Jagger.'
Notes: Not sure how I feel about this one. But Tony needs to know about the events, so this is what happened. Let me know what you think.
Standard Disclaimers.