A/N For everyone who was expecting the self defense classes in this chapter, I'm sorry to disappoint you. That was the plan. Then, I read a review from Abstractartist and this chapter was born. It wouldn't leave me alone until I posted it. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews. They help more than I can say.
Disclaimer I don't own NCIS and I'm still not making any money off of them.
Tony pulled his classic Mustang into the drive behind the yellow, antique Charger and shut off the engine. He removed the keys from the ignition and continued to sit there. Tony stared at Gibbs front door and knew he had to do this. The upcoming confrontation was long over-due.
The past week at work had been a living hell. Gibbs had been angry with his senior agent and it had showed. Tony had received more head slaps this past week than he had in the entire previous year. The usually teasing comments had held a more sarcastic, biting edge than Tony ever remembered hearing. The tension in the bullpen had gotten to the point where McGee had even started trying to deflect some of Gibbs' anger onto himself and away from Tony.
Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo had reached his limit that afternoon when Gibbs had told him to get his head out of his ass and do his job or he would find someone who would. Tony had grabbed his gun, badge, and backpack and left a stunned McGee and Ziva staring after him.
Tony had driven around aimlessly and tried to calm down. He knew Gibbs was upset about the relationship between Ziva and himself. Tony had spent two nights the previous week at Ziva's house. Ziva had spent most of the weekend at Tony's apartment. And, Leroy Jethro Gibbs was pissed.
Tony climbed out of the car and shut the door. He knew Ziva would have noticed his arrival. He only hoped she stayed out of it. This was between Gibbs and him. Tony let himself in the front door and crossed through the living room and kitchen. At the basement door, Tony stopped and took a deep breath. Either they would clear this up or Gibbs would hand him his head on a platter. Either way, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was through taking his boss's crap.
As Tony descended the stairs, he could see Gibbs bent over his work bench sketching plans for a new project. Tony reached the bottom and propped a hip on a sawhorse. Even though Gibbs had to be aware of Tony's presence, he never looked up from the drawing.
"Can we talk?" Tony asked quietly.
Gibbs laid the pencil down and pulled off his glasses. He turned on his stool to face Tony and the younger man could tell from his expression that Gibbs was still angry. Gibbs looked at Tony for several seconds.
"Well?" Gibbs finally growled.
"What have I done?" Tony hoped he didn't sound as pitiful as he felt.
"DiNozzo, just go home." Gibbs started to turn back to the workbench.
That casual dismissal was all it took to push Tony past the breaking point. He stood from the sawhorse and faced Gibbs. He could feel his face flush with anger.
"No. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what I did to piss you off. You've treated me like crap all week and I'm sick of it. I want some answers." Tony could feel his hands shaking.
Gibbs had picked up the pencil. He threw it back down and stood up. He faced Tony and took a single step towards his agent.
"You want to know? I'll tell you." The vivid blue eyes glittered with a dangerous light. "I told you to keep your relationship with Ziva out of the office. This week you've made one rookie mistake after another. You've been useless at finding information I've asked for. You nearly got McGee shot on a simple witness pickup. And, it's all because you can't keep your eyes or your hands off of your partner."
Tony refused to back down. "I'm not the computer geek on the team. It took me longer to go through the financial records than it would have McGee. But, I still found the information. And, McGee is the one who didn't wait for me to get there before he went up to the door. I can't have his six if he decides to go all lone-wolf on me, now can I? Maybe that's one lesson you shouldn't have taught him so well. And, I haven't touched Ziva once while we were at work."
"Oh, yeah?" Gibbs took another step. "Well, you should have made sure the cameras were off in the interrogation room before you decided to kiss her."
"She had just finished interrogating a serial rapist, Gibbs. I kissed her on the cheek and told her she did a good job. I've seen you do the same thing with Abby hundreds of times." Tony took a deep breath. "This has all been about Ziva and me, not the way I'm doing my job. Admit it. You're pissed about us and taking it out on me."
Gibbs nearly shouted. "You want me to admit it. Yeah, DiNozzo. You're right. I'm pissed."
"We've done as you asked. We've kept it out of the office. We haven't let it interfere with our jobs. We've taken things slowly." Only a few feet separated the irate agents. "Why are you so mad at me?"
"Because that's my daughter you're sleeping with," Jethro yelled.
"And, I thought I was your son." The silence left in the wake of Tony's pronouncement was deafening.
Tony moved back to the sawhorse and sat. He ran shaking hands through his hair. Jethro still hadn't moved.
Tony looked at the scuffed concrete floor. "Why her, Boss? Why is she more important than me?" He finally looked to the one man he respected. "She's a trained assassin. She could kill me a thousand different ways. If this ends badly, I could be just as hurt as she could. Why aren't you worried about me?"
Jethro moved back to the stool and sat. "Ah, Hell, Tony." He had no idea how to say what needed to be said.
"The night Eli called, Ziva and I talked. She told me I needed to talk to you. I told her you already knew how I felt. Apparently, I was wrong. Or, do you just not care?" Tony knew he had gone way past pitiful.
When Jethro remained silent, Tony stood. "You've made it clear you think I'm a philandering playboy who only wants one thing from women. Apparently, you think I'm a loser as an agent, too." He started towards the stairs. "You'll have my resignation letter first thing in the morning."
"Tony." When he didn't stop, Jethro tried again with more force. "DiNozzo!"
Tony stopped on the stairs but didn't turn around. He refused to let Gibbs see him cry. At this point he didn't have much pride left; but, he wouldn't give Gibbs the satisfaction.
"I don't worry about you because I didn't think I had to," Jethro admitted. "And, Ziva isn't more important to me than you are."
"Could have fooled me." Despite Tony's efforts, Jethro still heard the sniffle.
Jethro sighed. "Tony, Ziva wasn't in Somalia because you killed Rivkin. She was there because of me. I'm the one who left her in Israel. I left her there because I had to make a choice. It was either you or her. I chose you."
Tony turned and held onto the railing. Now his hands were shaking with shock. Never could he have imagined his boss's confession.
"Why?" Tony asked hoarsely. "Why me? Why not her?"
Jethro knew he had to answer honestly. "Because, she forced me to choose. Ziva was angry, hurt, scared, confused. She didn't know who to trust. Eli was messing with her head. Probably forcing her to choose between us or him. On the tarmac, Ziva gave me an ultimatum. It was either you or her. One of you had to leave the team. I wasn't going to let her manipulate me like that. She wouldn't have come back and worked with another team. And, I wasn't going to lose you."
Tony turned and sunk down sit on one of the wooden steps. His elbows were braced on his thighs and this hand hung loosely between his knees. The fight had gone out of the younger agent. Jethro watched as Tony seemed to fold in on himself.
Jethro sighed again and shook his head. He had hoped they had finally managed to get past the years when Tony needed reassurance. Apparently not.
"Tony." When DiNozzo looked at him, Jethro continued. "You were right. You are my son. You know I'm not good at this." He waved a hand back and forth between them. "But, you are as important to me as Ziva. Never doubt that. My reaction to you and Ziva has nothing to do the fact that it's you. I would have this reaction to anyone she chose to be with. I would be ready to rip the head off of any guy who thought he had the right to sleep with my little girl."
As Tony continued to listen, Jethro snorted in self derision. "Truth is I'm the one who couldn't keep your relationship out of work. Rule 51…Sometimes you're wrong. And, this time I was definitely wrong. Guess I've been a hypocrite. It's been okay for me and Liz to spend the night together; but not you two. For that, I am sorry."
"If I keep seeing Ziva, are you going to keep giving me crap?" Tony asked quietly.
"Maybe." Jethro managed a small smile. "I'll try not to. That's the best I can promise, Tony. Most dads get years to prepare for this. I was thrown into the role with two kids who were already adults. I'll try to keep that in mind. And, if I'm a little overprotective of Ziva, you're gonna have to deal with it. I made a promise to take care of her and to be the exact opposite of Eli. That isn't going to change."
Tony stood and moved back down the stairs. He crossed the basement and stood in front of Jethro. There was one more thing he had to know.
Tony stood with his hands in his pockets. "This week, it felt like you were choosing her over me. It hurt. A lot. I know you've told Ziva. Right now, I think I deserve to hear it, too."
Jethro knew what Tony was talking about. "You aren't going to make this easy are you?"
"No." Tony tried not to smile.
"I apologized. Isn't that good enough?" There was some of the old sparkle back in those blue eyes.
"Nope." Tony wasn't leaving until Jethro said it.
"Fine." Jethro knew Tony was as stubborn as he was. "I love you, Tony. Now, go away. Go annoy your girlfriend. I've got a hot tub to design."
Tony smiled and headed back to the stairs. Halfway up, he stopped and leaned over the rail.
"Gibbs?" When Jethro looked up, Tony grinned. "I love you, too, Dad."
He jogged the rest of the way up the stairs. As he passed through the door, Tony heard Jethro mutter, "They're both brats."
Tony moved his car to Ziva's drive and parked behind her Mini Cooper. Apparently, she had been waiting on him. Ziva opened the door as soon as he reached the front porch.
"Hey," he greeted Ziva before he kissed her.
She held on to the front of Tony's shirt and studied him. "Are you all right?"
"I am now." Tony moved her back into the house and pushed the door shut with his foot.
"Did you get everything sorted out?" Ziva had been worried about the two men in her life all afternoon.
"Yeah, I think so." Tony kissed her again.
"You are not going to tell me what he said, are you?" Ziva wanted answers.
"No, I'm not. It's between him and me." Tony tried again to distract her with the most effective method he had at his disposal.
"Tony…" Ziva tried to dodge his advances.
"Zee-vah," Tony cut her off. "Don't push. I promise we're okay. Now, can we leave it at that?"
"Yes, for now." Ziva wrapped her arms around his neck. "If you do not wish to talk, what do you suggest we do?"
Tony was about to answer when they were startled apart by a knock at the door. Ziva opened the door to find Gibbs standing on the other side. His Sig and his badge were clipped to his belt.
"Come on. We got a case. Dead Lieutenant on the steps of the Lincoln memorial." Gibbs started back down the steps. Tony ran to his car and grabbed his stuff. Ziva quickly gathered her gun, badge and back pack. She shut and locked her front door and joined the men in her drive.
Gibbs held out his hand. "DiNozzo, give me your keys." When Tony dropped them in his hand, Jethro threw them to Ziva. "David, head to the Navy Yard and pick up the truck. DiNozzo, you're with me."
As they headed to Jethro's car, Ziva slid behind the wheel Tony's precious Mustang. Before she shut the door, she could hear Tony complain, "But, Boss, I could have moved my car."
As she turned the key and listened to the powerful engine, Ziva smiled. Jethro was right. They were not a normal family. But, they certainly weren't boring either.