Sunday, 0106, Bethesda Naval Medical Center
Gibbs opened the door to DiNozzo's room and walked in to find DiNozzo and Benoit laughing together. If the laughter had a hint of hysteria in it, that wasn't surprising, but it was surprising to find the pair of them seeming so relaxed together. DiNozzo looked up and saw Gibbs, and his expression sobered instantly. Then his eyes widened and he started laughing afresh. Benoit looked up and bit her lip at the sight of him. She tried to stifle her own amusement, but giggles burst out despite her efforts.
"DiNozzo?" Gibbs said, letting the door fall shut behind him.
DiNozzo strangled his laughter and spoke in a throttled voice. "Yeah, Boss?"
Gibbs turned to his companion. "Dr. Benoit?"
"Yes, Bo –" She broke off. "Yes, Agent Gibbs?"
He glanced back and forth between them. "Care to share the joke?"
They both looked up at him with wide eyes. "No," they said in unison, only then looking at each other.
"Okay," Gibbs said. He wasn't altogether thrilled that they were in here talking at this hour, but he hadn't set any curfews. Then he noticed something else about his agent that seemed odd. "DiNozzo, why are you wearing scrubs?"
DiNozzo's jaw dropped. "I . . . um . . ." He shot Dr. Benoit a disgusted look. "Why didn't you remind me to change?" he hissed.
The look she gave him was austere. "I'm not helping you cover this up," she said. She glanced up at Gibbs, then back at DiNozzo. "I'm on his side."
"You barely know him," DiNozzo snapped.
"You wouldn't have worked with him for six years if you didn't trust him, and he seems much more worried about taking care of you than you do." Gibbs found that a very interesting remark, but DiNozzo didn't seem to appreciate it.
He sat back, glaring dourly at her. "I'm not talking to you."
"Tony!" she exclaimed, sounding slightly anxious. "I'm not helping you hide from your boss, or at least not something like this."
"Something like what, Dr. Benoit?" Gibbs asked.
She looked up at him, but she didn't immediately say anything. Instead she looked over at Tony, as if giving him the opportunity to give himself up. He glowered at her, then gave Gibbs a hangdog look. "I wanted to go see if I could talk Brody out of this insanity."
Gibbs had been afraid it was something like that the minute he saw the scrubs, but hearing DiNozzo admit it just fueled his anger. "DiNozzo! So help me, if you can't think straight, you need to let those of us who can guide you."
"I am thinking straight, Boss!" DiNozzo shot back. "If I can talk to him, I can make him see reason. He's a good guy, really. I told you that. I just need to –"
"He set the whole thing up," Gibbs said, unable to listen to any more of DiNozzo's desperate babble.
DiNozzo broke off. "What?"
"Brody," Gibbs said, to clarify. "He set the whole thing up." DiNozzo still wasn't getting it, which was odd. DiNozzo was usually sharp as a tack. "He hired those guys to attack you, DiNozzo."
DiNozzo's face went paper white. His jaw worked soundlessly, and after a moment he started shaking his head.
"I'm sorry, DiNozzo, but it sounds like he never changed so much as he started to let his real intentions show. According to Mark Simons, the guy who tried to –" DiNozzo raised a hand as if to ward off a blow, but Gibbs didn't feel like he could soften this. "The guy who tried to rape you," he said. "According to him, Harris approached his friend Terry and asked him to find some guys to make you think they were going to, so he could stop them and get a hook into you."
Benoit had looked anxious during DiNozzo's babbling, but now she seemed horrified. She took DiNozzo's hand and gave Gibbs a worried look. "He's shaking," she said softly. "Tony?"
Gibbs drew closer to the bed, but DiNozzo's eyes were hazy. He didn't seem to see either him or Benoit. "DiNozzo?" he asked, but there was no response.
Benoit looked up at him. "I think you'd better get his doctor. He's going into shock."
Gibbs took off and shoved the door open, hurrying to the nurses station. "Need a doctor quick," he said.
"What's wrong?" asked one of the nurses while the other one started dialing.
"Dr. Benoit thinks he's going into shock." He lingered long enough to hear the nurse speaking to Dr. Tsu then went back to DiNozzo's room. There he found Benoit tucking the blanket tightly around DiNozzo, talking quietly to him, her voice calm and soothing, belying the tension he read her shoulders.
"It's okay, Tony, you're safe. Everything is okay. Look at me?" DiNozzo did not appear to be responding.
Ordinarily, Gibbs would walk up and give the younger man a sharp smack on the back of the head, but stitches combined with the recent trauma there made that an impossibility. He walked over to the side of the bed and gave Tony a noticeable tap on the top of the head. "DiNozzo!" He used a soft but imperative tone.
Like a switch flipping, DiNozzo blinked and turned to look at him, his eyes wide and still slightly dazed, but aware of Gibbs, finally. "Yeah Boss?" he said.
"You're safe, DiNozzo, it's okay." Tony's brow furrowed, and his eyes were filled with a sort of desperate vulnerability that awoke the father in Gibbs. "You're okay. Just breathe."
DiNozzo let out a shuddering breath. "Brody . . . he didn't . . ."
"He did, Tony," Gibbs said, settling on the side of the bed, keeping DiNozzo's gaze on him. "I'm sorry, but he did."
"But he beat the crap out of that guy."
"Broke his jaw," Gibbs said, nodding. "And paid through the nose for it, too. Evidently they've been blackmailing him." That had been the reason for the meeting Palmer had witnessed. A reminder that not only could they go to the authorities, but they could reveal the truth to Harris's 'boyfriend.'
"He paid them?" DiNozzo said, his voice ragged. Tears welled in his eyes, betrayed only by a slight glimmer and liquidity to his gaze.
Gibbs nodded. "But we've got Simons, and he's given us the names of the other two. We'll get them all, DiNozzo. It will be fine."
The looming tears began to stream down his face, then, and DiNozzo touched his own cheek, looking almost puzzled. Gibbs shifted closer and pulled DiNozzo into his arms. His agent stiffened for a moment, but Gibbs wouldn't let him pull away. A second later, his resistance collapsed, and he clutched at Gibbs as he wept like a lost child. Gibbs stroked his hair – what there was of it – gently, and murmured words of comfort.
The doctor came in, and Benoit rose to head her off. Gibbs was glad. He was reasonably sure that the need for her was gone. DiNozzo was still shaking, but the tremors were gradually being subsumed into his sobs. Gibbs hoped the emotional release would be good for him.
DiNozzo cried himself into exhaustion, finally falling asleep. Gibbs tucked him in, feeling somewhat paternal, an emotion he would never confess to DiNozzo. For one thing, the younger man would probably have no idea what to do with the information, for another, it could interfere with their working relationship.
He drew back once DiNozzo lay on his side with the blankets drawn properly close around him. It was then that he realized that though Benoit had sent the doctor away, she hadn't gone herself. His eyes narrowed, but the look she gave him was unrepentant. Gibbs walked towards the door, gesturing with his head for her to accompany him.
She followed, looking puzzled. "Yes, Agent Gibbs?" she asked when the door was shut behind them.
"Have you had any discussion about your reasons for coming back here?"
She shook her head. "I've been letting him guide the conversation," she said. "It seemed wisest."
"How did that come about, anyway?"
She shrugged. "He stopped in the middle of his escape attempt to cover me with a blanket while I slept in the waiting room."
Gibbs stared at her disbelievingly for a long moment, then rolled his eyes. "Only DiNozzo."
"What?" she asked, and he just raised his eyebrows. She rolled her own eyes. "Okay, so it probably wasn't the best thing to do during an escape attempt, but it was kind of sweet, especially under the circumstances."
"And there aren't many people he'd do it for," Gibbs remarked. He needed her to know that, in the hopes that she would understand what it meant. Her description of their relationship had revealed, among other things, that DiNozzo had never displayed the darker sides of his personality to her. Obviously she knew now that they existed, but she still hadn't gotten enough knowledge to know just how hard it was for DiNozzo to trust. By extension, he hated to betray a trust – and his guilt over having betrayed her trust was a large part of what had brought them all here.
"Did that man really hire three guys to rape him?" she asked abruptly, her tone fierce.
"To make him think they were going to rape him," Gibbs corrected. So that he could, he thought but didn't add aloud.
"It's moments like this when I question my stance on the death penalty," she muttered.
Gibbs shrugged. "Not me," he said, and she looked up at him with a glint of humor in her eyes. "Look, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention what you just saw . . . not even to DiNozzo. He's going to be embarrassed enough as it is."
"Oh, I know," Benoit said. "He's a man." She took in a deep breath. "You are going to get these bastards, right? Make them pay?"
"Already in progress," Gibbs said. "In fact, I should be going. I just had to tell DiNozzo so that if the FBI showed up to ask him questions, he wouldn't try to brush them off."
"I'll stay with him," she said.
"Good. This should all be over by noon, but I don't want him leaving till I'm here to pick him up."
"I'll see to it," she replied.
He nodded and, after taking a last look in on DiNozzo, he left. Part of him wondered why he was so willing to trust Benoit with DiNozzo, but then he remembered DiNozzo's relaxed state upon his arrival, and the laughter that had filled the room. He called Ziva as he left the hospital. "We all set?"
"We have acquired Terence Hamlin with very little fuss," Ziva replied. "He was out partying until the bulls came home, so I approached him with an offer he could not refuse."
"He confirm Simons' story?"
"He did, although I had to be somewhat persuasive."
"Keep them both on ice. Everyone's still there, right?"
"Yes, Boss. Should I go pick up Dr. Benoit?"
"No, she's staying with DiNozzo."
"But – is that a good idea?"
"Better than leaving him alone, and I don't need her working. Get all the evidence ready for review, and that includes getting their stories written up and signed." Gibbs hung up and dialed another number, one he probably should have called more than a day ago. A tired voice answered. "Fornell, I need to see you now," Gibbs said.
"It's after two in the morning, Gibbs."
"No kidding, Fornell. What does that tell you?"
Fornell sighed. "Where do you want me to meet you?"
"That's up to you. I can be at your place in ten minutes or less."
"With or without a ticket?" Fornell asked dryly. "See you here. I'll have coffee."
Gibbs flipped his phone shut and glanced in his rearview. If Harris tried the little trick he'd pulled on Palmer on him, he was going to have a rude awakening. The drive, however, was uneventful. He pulled up in front of Fornell's place and paused for a moment, contemplating just exactly what he was going to tell Fornell – and just how pissed DiNozzo would be when he found out. He shrugged and got out of the car. It couldn't be helped.
Sunday, 0325, NCIS Headquarters
Jimmy sank into a chair, thankful that the preliminaries were over. He and Dr. Mallard had spent hours at the crime scene because Agent Peterson's team wasn't particularly efficient. They couldn't collect the body, first because there were photographs that still needed to be taken, then because the sketches hadn't been completed. Then Agent Peterson had argued with Dr. Mallard about whether or not he could provide an accurate TOD, which had set Dr. Mallard's back up and made everything more difficult.
Jimmy vastly preferred working with Agent Gibbs, who had some respect for their time and efforts, even when he seemed not to.
His cell phone rang, and Jimmy pulled it out. He didn't recognize the number, but anyone calling at this hour had to have an urgent reason. Flipping the phone open, he said, "Hello."
"Jimmy, this is Brody." Jimmy sat up straight, alarm coursing through every vein. "How's Tony?"
"I . . . I honestly don't know," Jimmy said. "I haven't seen him for hours. I got called in to work, and I haven't heard a thing."
"You're supposed to be my eyes and ears inside the hospital, Jimmy," Harris growled.
"I have a job to do," Jimmy said, not sure why he was defending himself. "Look, please don't call again. Tony doesn't want me talking to you. He was upset that you'd pulled me over."
"Son of a bitch!" Harris snarled. "Are you trying to take him away? I warned you about that."
"I'm not trying to do anything," Jimmy protested. "I'm telling you the –"
Dr. Mallard walked up. "Who are you talking to, Mr. Palmer?"
"Detective Harris," Jimmy said.
"Is that Gibbs?" Harris demanded. "Let me talk to him."
"Hang up, Jimmy," Dr. Mallard said, his brows knit in consternation. "You don't need to be talking to him."
"Let me talk to Gibbs," Harris repeated. Jimmy was getting flustered. He shook his head, not sure what to do.
Dr. Mallard took the phone out of his unresisting hands and pushed the end button. Then he pressed the power button to turn the phone off. "We're in the midst of an ongoing investigation into that man, Jimmy. Speaking to him is dangerous."
"I didn't call him, Dr. Mallard," Jimmy said.
"I know that, but you shouldn't say anything at all to him. Now, go over there." He pointed to his desk. "Write down everything he said – the whole conversation."
Jimmy nodded and did as he was told. There wasn't much to write. It hadn't been a long call. When he was done, Dr. Mallard placed a call on his own cell phone, but after a moment, the doors to autopsy opened and the ringing entered along with Agent Gibbs.
"What do you need, Ducky?" Gibbs asked, and Dr. Mallard turned with a start.
"Jethro, excellent." He closed his phone and put it away. "Mr. Palmer just got off the phone with Detective Harris."
"What?" Gibbs turned on Jimmy, anger in his eyes and voice. "You talked to him?" he demanded.
Jimmy jumped up, alarmed by Agent Gibbs demeanor. "I didn't . . . I wasn't . . . I just answered the phone."
Gibbs drew very close, getting right in Jimmy's face. "What did he say? What did you say?"
"I had him write it all down, Jethro," Dr. Mallard said, picking up Jimmy's jotted notes and holding them out. "There's no need to terrify the poor boy. He's exhausted and not thinking straight. We had to go out on one of Peterson's crime scenes. Poor Jimmy's had a very full day."
Gibbs took the paper from Dr. Mallard and scanned it. Jimmy held his breath, waiting for a dressing down, but Gibbs didn't address the phone call. "I've got Fornell upstairs looking over the evidence. He'll have to make the arrest on Harris or it will look, to use one of Abby's favorite words, hinky."
"I had wondered about jurisdictional issues," Dr. Mallard said. "Have you been to see Anthony, recently?" Gibbs nodded, his expression tense. "How is the dear boy?"
"I left him asleep, Duck," Gibbs said. "But new information has come to light, thanks, in part, to Jimmy."
Jimmy blinked nervously. He didn't know exactly what that meant, but he wasn't sure it was good thing. The look Dr. Mallard set him was approving, but Agent Gibbs seemed almost angry. Jimmy didn't think the anger was at him, but it could be hard to tell with Gibbs.
"What do you mean, Jethro?" Dr. Mallard asked.
"Harris hired three guys to stage an attack on DiNozzo to make their first meeting memorable," Gibbs said. "The net result of which is that DiNozzo suffered a sexual assault four months ago, which Harris pretended to rescue him from." Jimmy sank back into the chair he'd risen from upon Gibbs' arrival, appalled. "The man you saw him with at the bar was one of them, Palmer," Gibbs added, and Jimmy nodded, unable to formulate words. If he'd known that – if he'd had any way to warn Tony – but Tony had barely let him speak when he'd tried to approach him about that incident.
"Jethro!" Ducky exclaimed in protest. "You're saying he deliberately set Anthony up to be assaulted so that he could rescue him and reap the rewards?"
"In a nutshell," Gibbs said.
"Does Anthony know yet?"
"I just told him," Gibbs said, which explained his dour expression. "He didn't take it well. I left him with Dr. Benoit and rousted Fornell out of bed. Palmer, he's going to need to interview you about that traffic stop earlier today." He held out the sheet of paper that contained Jimmy's account of the phone call. "Here, take this to him and tell him what happened."
Jimmy nodded and took the paper. He hurried out of autopsy wondering how soon he could get away to go check on Tony.
"Gibbs, there's more you haven't told me, isn't there?" Ducky asked as soon as the doors had shut behind Palmer.
Gibbs seemed to clench into even tighter knots. After short silence, Ducky pulled out a bottle of scotch and poured two shots. Gibbs downed his but shook his head when Ducky made to pour him another. "The bastard's been raping him, Duck," he said simply.
Ducky stared at Gibbs for a moment, then downed his own tot. "What do you mean, Jethro?" he asked, leaning against his desk. He didn't put the scotch away on the off chance they'd need it again.
"I mean that DiNozzo's been so damned depressed that he let Harris rape him repeatedly without either recognizing it as rape or making a real effort to get him to stop."
Ducky nibbled on his lower lip, considering what best to say. He knew what Gibbs was really upset about. Given the close watch and careful monitoring he tended to keep his team under, it had to devastate him to discover that he hadn't seen just how badly off Anthony had been. The thought that the young man had been enduring repeated sexual attacks for weeks if not months was horrifying, but to Gibbs it represented more. It represented a basic failure on his part to recognize Anthony's state of mind.
"Jethro, you and Anthony have a great deal in common," Ducky said finally, and Gibbs turned to look at him with a puzzled, almost angry glower.
"What do you mean?"
"You both keep the central parts of yourselves hidden away from everyone around you, even – or perhaps especially – from those closest to you."
"Not the point, Ducky," Gibbs said. "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't pursue it."
"You're a very private man, and you respected Anthony's privacy. That's –"
"He was being raped, Duck," Gibbs snapped. "That I should have picked up on."
Ducky knew he wasn't going to win this one, so he gave up with a sigh. "I assume Agent Fornell knows all of this."
"He does."
"Does Anthony know you've involved him yet?"
Gibbs shook his head. "Hell, Ducky, Tony still doesn't know he's been raped yet," he growled in clear frustration. Ducky knit his brows, a little confused. Gibbs grimaced. "Last time we talked about it, he was still explaining why the whole thing was his fault. I hope he's past that now, but I'm not holding my breath."
"His fault? How could it have been his fault?"
"He wasn't clear enough. He didn't fight back hard enough." Ducky shook his head. That really wasn't good. "Ducky, what am I going to say to him if he doesn't figure out that Harris was screwing with his head from the start?"
"I hate to say it, Jethro, but it sounds as if the dear boy needs counseling badly."
"And we both know just how well he'll take to that," Gibbs muttered.
"Almost as well as you would yourself," Ducky replied. For that matter, he wasn't altogether sure that Gibbs himself didn't need counseling over this, not that he'd accept it if he did. But there was a reason that grief counselors and therapists were provided to co-workers when one of their own had been badly traumatized. Ducky shook his head. Gibbs would never accept that, though he might push Ziva and McGee into taking advantage of it if such were offered. Then again, he might not.
Ducky supposed he'd better make himself available in case one of them needed to talk.
"I'd better get going," Gibbs said after a moment.
"Jethro, if you need to talk –"
"I know," Gibbs replied as he headed out the door.
Ducky knew he'd have to be satisfied with that.
When Gibbs arrived at the squad room, Fornell looked up to see him emerging. He gestured with his chin towards the elevator, and Gibbs held the door for him. He stepped inside, Gibbs released the door, then hit the emergency stop. "Yeah, Fornell?"
"Is this all you got, Gibbs?" Fornell asked, sounding a little incredulous.