Thanks once again to everyone who had taken the time to read/review and for pointing out any corrections that needed to be made.
Found it impossible to be without a dog, and so went and looked at puppies about a week ago, and in about two weeks, I will collect my brand new puppy from her home and she will be on her way up North. Am very excited; she is lovely!
Tony faces his first session of psychological evaluation and he and Gibbs uncover a worrying and dangerous link to their case. Next-of-kin is discussed and both Tony and Gibbs make a decision regarding the case that neither of them is too happy with.
Tony looked at the clock with an unrealistic yet ardent desire to see the hour hand move as quickly as the minute hand.
He knew and understood that coming to NCIS would require him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation; after all, his new employers wanted to make sure they were getting someone who was firing on all cylinders.
Still, that didn't mean he had to like it.
Doctor Alicia Barton was very attractive, with her sleek black hair and her long, shapely legs, but the way she kept studying him before making notations in his file was more than slightly off-putting.
"I can't sign you off until we actually talk, Agent DiNozzo," the Doctor pointed out wryly.
"I'm not an Agent yet," Tony pointed out.
"But you hope to be?" Barton asked, watching the way her patient fidgeted with the cuffs of his sleeves. "Because if you do, then you've actually got to answer one or two of my questions."
"One or two, huh?" Tony asked with a wry grin and a doubtful expression.
"For starters," she smiled. She was used to dealing with all sorts of people who came through her doors and most of them were less than happy at the idea of talking to her. DiNozzo's team leader was one of the worst offenders; Gibbs was constantly deflecting her questions, silently glaring or even going to the great lengths of inventing a case to get him out of her office.
DiNozzo, it seemed, would be just as much of a challenge, and a more colourful one at that. Gibbs would normally say as little as possible and she was forced to read between the lines; with everything she had heard about DiNozzo, she suspected she'd have to wade through an awful lot of bullshit before getting to anything even remotely enlightening.
"I don't know what you want me to say; I've been through these things before and nothing has changed since my last psych. eval.," Tony pointed out with a shrug. He had always hated the compulsory counselling sessions and had never found them particularly helpful or informative.
"Really?" the Doctor questioned with a tone that Tony knew held danger. "So you don't think that getting shot in the line of duty changes anything?"
Tony sighed and rubbed at his eyes; normally he had no trouble running circles around the shrinks he was forced to see but clearly his exhaustion was hampering his efforts.
"A lot happened in Baltimore," Tony conceded. "But nothing life-changing. In this job, there is always the possibility of getting injured, and you prepare yourself for that eventuality as much as you can; some cops manage their whole careers without having to pull their gun, but I didn't know too many of those cops in Baltimore."
"It's a dangerous city to be a policeman," Barton nodded. "Did that ever worry you?"
"Not really, you can't approach the job like that," Tony shrugged, and it was true; you couldn't. If every case he tackled was hampered by worry and self-doubt then the case closure rate would never even reach double figures.
"So you never got worried for your safety?"
Tony resisted the urge to growl out loud; he knew where she was going with her line of questioning and what she was insinuating. He was well aware that his personnel file held a few notations about his seeming lack of regard towards his own personal safety; everyone he had ever worked with for any great period of time seemed to have something to say on the matter.
Gibbs had certainly questioned his approach to the job while in Baltimore, and Sam Jacobs had done his best to try and change Tony's more proactive stance towards policing. In Philadelphia, Danvers had just told him to make sure he didn't take down his partner in the crossfire.
"Self-preservation is a sensible quality in this profession," the Doctor commented casually while carefully watching her patient. She had read the notations in his psych. profile that questioned whether or not he had a death wish; he didn't strike her as someone who was particularly careless, but the number of hospital visits alone indicated that there was a serious underlying issue that led to his recklessness.
"And you don't think that's a quality I possess," Tony stated rather than questioned; he had faced that opinion one time too many. Ok, so he'd had a few more bumps on the head than most cops, but that didn't mean he went looking for criminals who would cheerfully swing a lead pipe at his head.
"I have no idea, that's why I'm asking you," the Doctor pointed out patiently.
"I've had a few trips to the hospital, but it's not because I'm trying to get myself killed; if I wanted to do that, I have a perfectly good service weapon with a clip full of ammo," Tony pointed out, gesturing towards his empty holster. He was glad that he'd left his gun back in his desk drawer; he was beginning to feel the temptation of shooting if not himself then certainly his shrink.
"Have you thought much about that?"
"I am now," Tony said with the raising of an eyebrow as he feigned amusement when really he was doing his best to resist the urge to hit himself repeatedly on the head; he was not feeling up to playing head games. Why couldn't this evaluation have waited a few more days until he was completely recovered from his little tumble down the stairs?
"Before I sign off on your file, allowing you to officially begin your career as an NCIS Field Agent, I need to make sure that you are healthy, and I'm not talking about your physical recovery," Barton stressed. "A physician needs to be the one to decide whether or not your injuries are preventing you from doing your job, just as I need to be the one to decide whether or not you are up to the mental demands of this job; not just for your own sake, but for the sake and safety of the people you will be working alongside.
"You seem like an intelligent young man, Agent DiNozzo, and I'm sure on a better day you would be perfectly capable of playing all sorts of mind games with me, leading me in circles; now I'm sorry if my profession makes you feel uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to do my job.
"We will have a few sessions together before I can draw up an accurate summary of your psychological profile; until you let me do my job, then you will not be able to do yours beyond your probationary period. Am I making myself understood?"
"Crystal," Tony smiled. He would be a little more alive the next session and then he could work on projecting whatever image he needed to in order to keep the ridiculous counselling sessions to a minimum.
"Until next time then," Doctor Barton nodded a goodbye as she handed him an appointment card. She was sure that she would be seeing the complex young man many times throughout his career at NCIS.
"Everything go ok upstairs?" Gibbs asked as his latest recruit returned to his desk with a sigh.
"Erm," Tony said noncommittally. "Have you managed to find out anything else about Parks?"
Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the deflection but otherwise let it pass; he was no fan of the compulsory counselling sessions either and saw them as both a waste of time and departmental resources.
"One or two things have cropped up," Gibbs gestured for the younger man to come over to his desk.
"Let's see," Tony muttered as he read the information on his Boss' computer screen, stopping in shock as he recognised some familiar names. "The Diablos? Seriously?" he asked as he looked at Gibbs for confirmation.
"Seems like he's done a few jobs with them, working on contracts and trusts for their some of the businesses they have acting as fronts, mainly; he's got a reasonable enough reputation within his own field, but he's not stayed with any one law firm for more than a couple of years."
"Trouble, or something else?" Tony asked, aware through his own experiences that the reasons behind a short stay weren't always to do with a penchant for attracting trouble.
"Nothing to indicate why he left; it could just be a personality clash with the higher ups, and with his route towards partnership being side-tracked, maybe he went looking for some extra income," Gibbs shrugged. It was all conjecture at this stage and he didn't like that, but he wasn't really interested in the lawyer; he was interested in who Parks answered to and obeyed.
Tony and Gibbs had spent their day sifting through paperwork, eager to find anything that might help them to understand what it was about the lawyer that had brought an experienced Staff Sergeant to sweat so profusely with fear and anxiety in his presence; a link with a criminal gang as influential as the Diablos explained a lot.
"No wonder Henson was nervous," Tony wondered aloud. "The DC branch of the Diablo crime organisation is notoriously ruthless, and their links to the Sinaloa Cartel would be enough to make even the most hardened man scared shitless."
"We need to know how Henson might know about that association," Gibbs said with frustration, looking back through the many files on his desk as he realised that the case was getting more and more complicated.
"Do you think they're involved in the smuggling ring?" Tony pondered.
"They could be involved in the distribution, although they primarily deal with drugs, not guns," the Senior Agent pointed out.
"True, but there are all sorts of over the Border deals," Tony was letting his mind explore the possibilities and was so relieved at finding a possible lead that he was happy to temporarily ignore the gravity of uncovering the possible involvement of a major Mexican Cartel with a US military base. "Drugs normally go North across the border into the US and while guns go both ways, a lot go South into Mexico to arm the Cartels for their wars.
"The Cartels are getting more and more violent, fighting for control of the border and the supply routes that go with it; military grade hardware might be just what the Sinaloa Cartel are looking for to give them a head start over their rivals," Tony concluded.
Gibbs couldn't fault the man's logic but he really hoped that he was wrong; he was not entirely sure that he could trust in himself where the Cartels were involved, given his past.
"And the Diablos?" Gibbs asked, wanting to hear the rest of the younger man's ideas.
"Well, the Cartels operate in their own areas back in Mexico, because those supply routes are vital to their organisation, so like most Cartels they usually end up with all sorts of alliances to handle international business; they have all sorts of people acting as go-between for them in Europe and they've been expanding into Asia. Maybe the Diablos handle things on the East Coast for them, act as buffer between the authorities and the Cartel," Tony shrugged.
There were indeed many alliances, especially between the Cartels and various criminal organisations within the US, but they had nothing to prove that the Sinaloa Cartel was involved with the gun-running that was occurring out of Norfolk Navy Base.
"You've seen what they do to people who cross them, Gibbs," Tony shuddered as he remembered some of the images of decapitated and mangled bodies of former enemies to the Cartels. "The Diablos are a pretty brutal organisation, but their reputation is nothing compared to the Sinaloa Cartel; if he knows about that particular working relationship, Henson should be terrified."
"I can't see him agreeing to help them in the first place, though, and there certainly seems to be no financial incentive given the lack of funds in his bank account," Gibbs shook his head. The Staff Sergeant had a few disciplinary issues, but nothing beyond a mild case of insubordination, and certainly nothing that would explain how he might have involved himself with a major Cartel.
"Maybe the smuggling started off small," Tony suggested.
"And things snowballed…" Gibbs added, still trying to see the link between a few greedy Marines and a deadly Cartel. "The wrong people started to get interested in what they were selling and word got around; threats?" he asked the younger man.
"They could certainly make the kind of threats that would be hard to ignore, even for a combat experienced Marine like Henson," Tony pointed out.
"None of this will get us a search warrant," Gibbs frowned. They had finally found a promising lead on the smuggling ring with Henson, but because of the circumstantial nature of it all there was nowhere they could go with it; it was frustrating, to say the least.
"I'll go and get us something for dinner…and a coffee, of course," Tony grinned. "Then we can get back to finding something that any sensible judge would be nuts to overlook."
"Take Abby with you," it was likely that they would need her techno-magic to help them find something more than circumstantial to link Parks, Henson and the Diablos together. "Try to get something that won't offend Duck too much," Gibbs suggested wryly; the M.E. may have gone home for the night, but Gibbs didn't doubt for one moment that there would be another lecture on the horizon if DiNozzo was discovered to have eaten anything even remotely unhealthy.
"Pizza has vegetables on it," Tony grinned as he headed towards the elevator.
"So…how is everything going?" Abby asked as she bounced on her toes, watching their take-away being prepared behind the counter.
"Every time we seem to find a good lead, we run into one obstacle or another," Tony sighed. He was still not back to full health after the shooting in Baltimore and the tumble down the stairs had taken a lot more out of him than he would ever admit to; at the same time, he knew that the case needed to be solved quickly, before any more weapons fell into the wrong hands.
"Now we find out that there is the possibility of one of the most dangerous Cartels in the world being involved, and I get the feeling that things could go very wrong if we're not careful with this; they are not the kind of people you want to notice you."
"Sounds like you could be learning the Forties sooner than I thought," Abby pointed out with a frown. She had never liked it when the job put her friends at risk and with Gibbs' team currently reduced to only the Senior Agent himself and DiNozzo, who was completely new to the Agency, she was doubly worried.
"The 'Forties'?" Tony asked.
"Gibbs hasn't told you anything about the Forties?" Abby asked, aghast. "The Forties are the rules that you want to worry most about; if Gibbs brings out a Forty, then things are way beyond bad."
"Oh…you're talking about his infamous set of rules," Tony finally clicked. "You know, it would be so much easier to work with the man if he wrote them down somewhere."
"Bossman would never write them down, and I'm pretty sure if he knew you had, he would burn them," Abby said with certainty. "But basically, all you need to know is that the Forties are bad…you don't want to hear him bring out a Forty."
"How bad can they be?" Tony asked, almost hesitantly, unsure as to whether or not he really wanted to know.
"Well, Rule 40: If it seems like someone is out to get you, they are," Abby recited. "And that's just how the Forties start!"
"Ok, so I don't want to hear him bring out a Forty," Tony agreed fervently, worried about how bad a 'Forties' situation must be if the rest of them were quite as paranoid. "I think I'm going to need to fill in those next-of-kin forms before we get too much further into this case," he sighed; he was sure that a possible tangle with the Sinaloa Cartel could very well bring out a Forty.
He still wasn't happy about having to replace Sam as his next-of-kin, but he did see the sense in it, even if sentimentality held him back.
"Ooh, who are you going to put down?" Abby asked, eager eyes riveting themselves on DiNozzo's face. She knew that Tony didn't really know anyone in DC except those within NCIS and she was curious to hear his answer.
Ducky was the easier choice, as the kindly old man was already a Doctor and could cut through a lot of medical bureaucracy with his credentials. He was also far more approachable than most; his grandfatherly attitude could placate even the most hospital shy patients.
While Ducky might well be the easier choice, she was pretty sure that Gibbs was the right one.
The gruff former Marine was far from approachable to all but children and red-headed women, and he was not at all patient; however, since DiNozzo had arrived in DC, Gibbs had done more for the younger man than he had done for anyone on his team for as far back as she could remember.
The Senior Agent had been without an adequate team for a long time now, and both Abby and Ducky had shared many a conversation, expressing their concerns over the possibilities that could arise with a team that didn't trust each other, and where half of those involved lacked the adequate training.
Although Abby had not jumped straight on the DiNozzo Bandwagon, she had come to see that Gibbs had already come to trust and rely upon the younger man. She was excited to see how the team would evolve now that Gibbs had free rein to choose his own Agents; with the addition of DiNozzo, the foundations were that much sturdier.
She knew how Gibbs had come to regard the younger man, but she was still unsure as to how DiNozzo viewed the Senior Agent; he respected Gibbs, certainly, but it was unclear as to just how much he trusted the older man. By placing Gibbs as his next-of-kin, Tony would be making a statement not just to his new Boss, but to himself, too, and Abby was certain that he needed to strengthen his resolve in regards to his career at NCIS; she knew that she was sure as hell looking for a sign that he didn't want to leave just yet.
"I don't know," Tony shook his head with frustration. "Maybe I'll ask Gibbs," he said slowly; his eyes, as unfocused as they were, completely missed the way Abby grinned in triumph.
He was limited in choice, given that he didn't really know anyone in DC; NCIS contained almost the limit of his acquaintances in the area.
Gibbs had done a lot for him since he had arrived and he was sure he could trust Gibbs not to take advantage of the position. He liked Ducky and Abby, but he wasn't sure whether or not he could stand Abby's enthusiasm in the face of injury, or Ducky's clucking.
The Senior Agent was certainly not a man to be trifled with, but Tony thought that Gibbs would understand him far more than the other two could hope to do. Tony was the job, and he would not let a concussion or a bullet wound stop him from carrying out his duties; he knew that Gibbs was the same and would understand his need to do something, rather than sit back on his hospital bed and let others do all the hard work.
"You should ask him," Abby advised him. "I'm sure he'd agree."
"Yeah," Tony nodded, not convinced. "Maybe. Come on, we should take him his coffee if we're hoping for a nice word from him for the rest of the evening."
Abby skipped out of the take-away joint behind him, happy that Tony's actions were pointing towards a more permanent position at NCIS. "Don't forget, we need to go and get my Caff-Pow, too," she sang with a smile.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Tony rolled his eyes; between Ducky and his tea, Gibbs and his coffee, and Abby and her sickly, sugar infused Caff-Pows, NCIS seemed to suffer from a serious over-dependency on caffeine.
It was nearing two in the morning, and Gibbs and Tony had spent more time than was healthy sifting through information on their computer screens and leafing through files that they had already reviewed at least twice, hoping to find some snippet of information that could give them a link between Henson and whoever could be running the smuggling ring.
They needed a break, and a cup of coffee just wasn't going to cut it.
Gibbs had felt his hatred of lawyers growing exponentially as the hours dragged by as they still had nothing; Parks had shown up just as Henson was going to start talking, and now the SSg. wasn't saying a word from the comfort of his cell.
He looked across at DiNozzo's desk and saw the younger man rubbing at his eyes as he sifted through yet another military personnel file. He remembered what the younger man had said about how his old partner, Jacobs, had handled him when he needed a stress reliever.
"Come on, DiNozzo," he said as he got up, taking his sidearm from his desk drawer. "Grab your gun."
Tony frowned briefly but did as he was told, too tired to argue. He knew that Gibbs hadn't found anything new, as the older man would have let him know as soon as he had discovered something even remotely hopeful. He followed the Senior Agent to the elevator and watched as Gibbs hit the button for the basement; once the doors opened, Tony trailed after the man through several corridors, realising that he needed to do a few days exploring of the place so he knew where everything was.
"Come on," Gibbs nodded towards the door ahead. He saw DiNozzo's expression turn to confusion as he took in the large room before him. "We needed a break," Gibbs explained as he checked his weapon.
Tony looked at the gun range in front of him; logically he knew that many law enforcement buildings had their own range, but he had never really thought about one at NCIS. Like Gibbs, he got his gun out and made the various safety checks before going towards one of the booths and strapping on the ear protection.
Gibbs set up the first target and put it at the closest setting, watching as Tony methodically shot his weapon, securing a neat, centre mass targeting. The tension in the younger man's shoulders had eased just a little.
DiNozzo had told him that when he was suffering through a bad case, Jacobs had often taken his down to the gym to work out some of his frustrations on a punch bag, and sometimes he had taken him for a lesson at the gun range. Gibbs didn't think his new partner needed much more in the way of training, but he found himself assessing the young man's abilities anyway; when the case was over, he would take Tony to an outdoor range, and then his own personal lessons could begin.
For now, though, this would have to do; DiNozzo was in no shape to hit the gym or go on one of his runs.
They had each attacked several paper targets at various distances, both of them hitting exactly what they were aiming for, when Tony took off his goggles and ear-muffs and looked at the Senior Agent with a frown marring his features.
Gibbs removed his protective gear and waited for the younger man to talk; the tension was greatly eased and so it was mission accomplished, but they still had a case to get back to.
"I'm really going to hate myself for this," Tony started, looking slightly disgusted with himself for speaking aloud his current thoughts. "But I think we're going to need some outside help on this."
"Fornell?" Gibbs had already guessed what DiNozzo was going to suggest as he had been thinking the same thing for the past half hour.
"Fornell," Tony agreed with a sour taste in his mouth.
"Fornell," Gibbs sighed as he got out his phone; he actually quite liked the FBI Agent and he found the man more than capable, but that didn't mean that he was ever going to enjoy asking Fornell for help.
And there you have it, another chapter finally done. Let me know what you think or if you spot any mistakes.
Next up – the FBI get involved in the case, as everyone works to bring a close to the gun trafficking, and Gibbs tells Tony about the infamous Rule 12.