"So, are you Tony DiNozzo or Tony Winchester?" Gibbs casually demanded, taking a sip of bourbon.
"What do you mean, Boss?" Tony asked cautiously.
When Tony had been asked to come over to Gibbs' place he hadn't been expecting a meeting in the basement about his origins. Frankly, he hadn't known what to expect. Maybe pizza, or steak, if he was lucky. But not an interrogation.
"When your brothers came to visit you in the hospital, I thought I recognized Dean. So I racked my brain for a few days, and then I remembered where I saw him: on the FBI's Most Wanted list.
"It turns out Dean is reported to have two brothers: a younger one named Sam and an older one named Tony. Do I need to continue?"
"Boss, I…"
Gibbs dropped a thick manila folder on the work table in front of Tony.
"Don't lie to me."
Tony and Gibbs stared eachother down for what felt like eons before Tony looked away.
Eyeing the liquor left in the bottle, Tony said, "We're going to need more bourbon."
"So, you're telling me that after your parents were killed by vampires, John Winchester took you in and raised you on the road alongside his boys. And that you wanted to fight evil from the other side, so you left the hunting life behind?"
Tony rubbed the back of his neck, "Look, Boss, if you don't believe me…"
"Oh, I believe you," Gibbs responded, getting up from his seat after knocking back the rest of his bourbon.
Tony was stunned. Did he hear that right? "What?"
"I said, DiNozzo, that I believe you." Gibbs had moved over to the skeleton of a boat, and picked up a piece of sandpaper.
"…Why?"
"Back in the 80s I had a run in with a wendigo. My unit was doing an exercise in the Montana woods when we were it wasn't for a man named Bill Harvelle, we'd all have been slaughtered. We had to tell our CO that a grizzly attacked." Gibbs delivered slowly, smoothing splinters from the wooden frame.
"And?" Tony asked after a minute.
Powder blue eyes met green, "And afterwards we drank ourselves stupid. But it made believers out of us. No amount of Jack can erase those kind of memories."
After a moment, Tony motioned towards the folder on the table. "I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot...but what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to work on my boat."
Tony stared at Gibbs, uncertain about what that meant. He was startled when something hit his chest. Out of reflex, he caught it: sandpaper. Tony smiled, and began to work.
His secret was safe with Gibbs.
"Uh, Boss...do you go against or with the grain?"
Notes: I know this is short, but I think it adequately describes what would happen. Thank you for all the reviews/favorites/alerts. I love you guys.
Standard Disclaimers apply, as always.