Episode tag for "Call of Silence."
"Old Friend"
"My flight's supposed to arrive around 7:00"….."Yes, Mom, I'm looking forward to seeing you, too"…."I know, I wish Rachel was coming, too, but if she's got other commitments, what can we do?"…."Ok, Mom, look I have to go now but I'll see you tonight"…."I love you, too." Kate had been on the phone with her mother for the past half hour confirming their Thanksgiving plans. It was obvious the other woman was excited to be seeing her daughter for the holiday, even to those who could only hear Kate's half of the conversation.
The bullpen was relatively quiet on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, with many agents already having begun their holiday weekend. The MCRT was not on rotation for the holiday this year, but they were all present that morning wrapping up last minute details so they could enjoy a rare long holiday weekend.
"So your Mom sounds pretty excited, huh, Kate?" Tony had been listening to his partner's conversation curiously. Kate rarely spoke about her parents, but he knew she came from a large close-knit family and that her folks valued big family gatherings.
"Excited is an understatement. But I wish my sister was coming. Mom really wanted to have everyone together for once and Rachel is the only one who isn't going to be there."
"Hmm. That's too bad."
"Yeah, she has some mysterious 'other plans.' I suppose we'll have to try again next year to get everyone together, since we're supposed to be on-call for Christmas."
"So what about you, Probie? You going to spend Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad, too?"
"Mom and my sister. My father's deployed." The team knew McGee's Dad was an Admiral in the Navy, but the younger man rarely spoke of his father personally, and Tony detected what he thought may have been just a hint of bitterness in the younger man's response.
"Well that's nice, McGee. About spending Thanksgiving with your mom and sister, I mean. Not the part about your dad not being able to make it," Tony added with unintended awkwardness that he hoped the junior agent would not notice.
Kate abruptly stopped typing and looked over at Tony as she was struck with a question that had just occurred to her. "What are you doing for the holiday, Tony?"
It was a question her partner usually received with secret dread. To say his father was not big on spending holidays with his son would be putting it mildly. Tony hadn't spent a Thanksgiving with the man since he'd been a minor, and most of those since his mother had died had been spent quite uncomfortably, trying to be on his very best behavior for either a new stepmother, or a potential new stepmother-to-be.
In college, he'd dreaded the holidays because it meant all his buddies left town to be with their families and he was left to find his own entertainment, which had often involved either alcohol or a girl, and sometimes both. When he'd become a cop, he'd learned that volunteering to work holidays was the best way to avoid the awkward conversations about how he planned to spend his time off, and this strategy had carried over into his first couple of years with NCIS. He suspected Gibbs was on to him, but to his boss' credit, the question had never actually been posed, much to Tony's relief.
Last year had been somewhat unusual. He had ended up spontaneously spending most of the holiday weekend with Special Agent Paula Cassidy, who had been forced to cancel her Thanksgiving plans with her family due to having to escort a suspect from Guantanamo Bay to DC. It had been one of the best holidays in recent history for Tony, though the memory was now slightly tainted. With a sharp pang of regret, he remembered that he hadn't spoken with Paula in months, first due to his own hurt feelings after she'd made it clear that she wanted nothing more than a casual relationship, and after that mostly based on the assumption that she'd likely moved on with someone else. Or, knowing Paula, maybe several someone elses. And after she'd been promoted to an Agent Afloat position a few months ago, well, goodness knows she had plenty of opportunities. She's only surrounded by, like, 5,000 or so men, Tony thought with chagrin.
But no matter, because this year, this year, Tony had plans of his own. Very special plans. And he found that he was looking forward to Thanksgiving more than he could remember since he'd been a small boy. Now he just had to figure out how to answer Kate's question without giving too much away.
"As a matter of fact, Kate, I have plans to spend Thanksgiving with an old friend."
Kate smiled in relief, glad to hear that her partner wouldn't be spending the weekend alone. "What's her name, DiNozzo? Or is it that cashier you couldn't take to the ballet the other night?"
That went exactly according to plan. Of course Kate would assume it's a woman. Playing along, Tony simply looked at his partner, waggled his eyebrows, and smiled wolfishly.
Shaking her head, Kate jokingly admonished, "Just make sure you don't forget to come back to work on Monday."
Looking around at the faces of his coworkers who had been, quite frankly, bored out of their minds all morning and counting down the minutes until they could begin their holiday weekend, Tony teased, "And miss all this fun?"
As he silently acknowledged the small chuckle from Kate, Tony caught his boss watching him out of the corner of his eye. Gibbs had not participated in the discussion regarding his team's Thanksgiving plans, and certainly no one dared to ask the fiercely private man any questions about his own.
Whatever Gibbs had been looking for in Tony's face, he'd apparently been satisfied that he'd found it because he finally turned his gaze back onto his computer.
Tony wondered briefly what had sparked his boss' curiosity before turning his thoughts back to his partner. Wouldn't Kate be surprised if she knew his real plans?
I actually meant what I said for a change, Kate. I really am spending my holiday with an "old" friend.
Uh-oh. I didn't think about how I was going to ring the doorbell, Tony thought as he stood outside the front door of the small but cozy house, his hands full carrying the bags containing part of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner he'd pre-ordered from a local restaurant a couple of days before. He just managed to get a pinky finger extricated from the handle of one of the bags, and carefully reached over to hit the button.
It took a while for the home's single occupant to reach the door, but that was to be expected. Tony waited patiently until he finally heard the halting footsteps, and then the door being unlocked and carefully opened. "Oh, hey, kid. What are you doing here?"
Tony pushed down his disappointment, covering it with his warmest smile. The other man's confusion didn't come as a complete shock, after all. "Don't you remember, Ernie? I called you a couple of days ago to ask you about having Thanksgiving dinner with me."
"Oh! Yes, of course, I remember now. You'll have to excuse the forgetfulness of an old man. Please come in. I could use the company." With a slight wink he added, "I don't get out too much these days, you know."
Tony entered the quaint living room and then took his bags over to the small table adjacent to the kitchen. "I just have a few more bags in the car. Wait 'til you taste this dinner, Ernie. It's from this little homestyle restaurant in DC. Doesn't look like much from the outside, but the food is to die for." Tony flinched just a bit after the words came out. Maybe "to die for" wasn't the best phrase to use in the presence of someone as senior as his dinner companion. But the other man didn't seem to notice at all.
"Can I help you with anything, son?"
Tony actually felt goose bumps at the older man's use of the term "son." His father had always called him either Anthony or "Junior," certainly nothing he'd ever considered to be a term of affection. It was likely a factor of the significant age difference between them, and perhaps nothing more, but the elderly man's use of the word still warmed his heart. "No, please, Ernie, let me get the rest. Just make yourself comfortable at the table and I'll take care of everything else."
Tony carefully brought in the rest of their dinner, including the turkey, and arranged the feast on the small table. Recalling where to find everything else they needed in Ernie's kitchen from his stay in the man's home a few days prior, he set the table. When he was completely satisfied with his work, he took his place across from Ernie and poured some wine in each of their glasses.
"Thank you, Agent D—" It soon became clear that the older man had forgotten his last name.
"Tony. Please, I would be honored if you would just call me Tony."
"Alright, then. Thank you, Tony."
"You're welcome. And thank you. It's not every Thanksgiving I get to have dinner with a real-life American hero."
"Not trying to be nosy or anything, but don't you have parents of your own, kid?"
"My mother died when I was eight. I have a father, but to be honest with you, he's not real interested in spending time with me." Tony couldn't believe he'd just been so bluntly honest with someone he barely knew, but there was something about Ernie Yost. He had a feeling he'd answer pretty much anything the other man asked him.
"That's a shame. Nice kid like you? Do you at least have a girl?"
Several girls. Ok, so there was one question he couldn't give Ernie a completely honest answer to. "None at the moment, no. Guess I haven't been as lucky as you were."
The older man's eyes became sad and distant for a moment, no doubt remembering his beloved Dorothy whom he'd just recently lost after fifty-eight years of marriage. "Dorothy was a peach. Great cook, too."
"I'll bet she was. You must've had some wonderful Thanksgiving dinners. If you don't mind my asking, did you not have any children?"
"Couldn't."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." Tony silently wondered why they didn't adopt, but kept the question to himself. Enough of the older man's past wounds had been opened up in the past week, and his newfound friend certainly did not want to add to them.
"Oh, it's alright. Dorothy and I were very happy for fifty-eight years together. We were never lonely. I can't ask for much more than that. I'm a blessed man."
"You deserved it," Tony said simply.
His dinner companion seemed to suddenly remember something. "Say, do you want a ticket for the Metro? I have ten rides left on it, and I don't really have any place to go these days."
It was the same ticket he'd offered to Tony, Gibbs, and everyone else on the MCRT numerous times, but obviously didn't remember. "No, Ernie, I want you to keep it. You know why?"
"No. Why?"
"Because then you can come back to NCIS and visit me. And Kate and Gibbs and McGee, too."
"Oh, I'm sure you all have more important things to do than to be bothered by an old man."
"Don't be ridiculous. Besides, we could all use a break from Agent Gibbs every once in a while. Do you have any idea what it's like to work for the man? You know, he was a Marine, too."
"He took me to dinner." Ernie said it as if he'd just remembered, and Tony knew it was likely he had. "You know, he tricked me. That man was never at Iwo Jima."
"Yeah, well, that's Agent Gibbs for you. He's a sneaky guy, Ernie."
Corporal Yost seemed to still be remembering his dinner with Gibbs. "He's very proud of you."
Momentarily stunned, Tony looked up from the bite of stuffing on his fork. "He said that?"
"No, not exactly. I told him what a fine young man I thought you were. Men like Agent Gibbs, they don't say very much. But he was proud. I could tell."
Tony wanted it to be true, but his skepticism eventually won out. Touched by the other man's compliment, he replied, "You are a fine man, Ernie Yost." Holding up his wine glass, he proposed a toast.
"To heroes."
A while later, feeling overstuffed and sleepy, Tony and Ernie had settled on the couch to watch some of the Cowboys game. After about an hour, Tony noticed his companion was looking very tired, and taking that as his cue that the older man needed some rest, he stood up and stretched.
"Ernie, I really enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with you. Thanks again for letting me come over and hang out with you."
"It was my pleasure, young man. It was the first holiday without my Dorothy and I wasn't sure how I…" He was on the verge of breaking down again, as he had in the bullpen days ago when the team had first met him.
"Well, I'm very glad I thought of inviting myself over. But what are we gonna to do with all this food?"
Unfortunately, it was impossible to find a take-out Thanksgiving meal for just two people, so Tony and Ernie had found themselves with several days' worth of leftovers. "I have meals brought in. You should take it, since you don't have a girl to cook for you."
Tony tried to argue, but the older man was insistent, and quite stubborn when he wanted to be. So, a few minutes later, Agent DiNozzo found himself in his car with what seemed like about a weeks' worth of food. The problem was that he didn't really want to eat turkey every day for the next week.
Driving home, he was trying to think of someone who could use all that food when he realized that he had no idea how his boss had spent his Thanksgiving. In past years, he'd wondered with a sort of passing interest what Gibbs did during his holidays, but this year, before Ernie Yost had entered their lives, he had been more curious than ever. But it wasn't the kind of question he'd been comfortable asking his superior, particularly since he'd been burned in the past by digging too closely into the other man's personal life.
Now he was confronted with the thought that perhaps Gibbs had spent his entire Thanksgiving Day alone in his basement, and a strong wave of guilt passed over him. I could just stop by and drop off some food. I could pretend I was in the neighborhood. I wouldn't even have to go inside. At that moment he spotted a Starbucks up ahead, and made a last-minute decision to pick up some coffee for his boss. Because you can't have pumpkin pie without coffee, he reasoned. And if you're Gibbs, you can't have anything without coffee, really.
So with a steaming cup of fresh coffee and enough leftovers to feed a small army, Tony turned onto Gibbs' street. As he was approaching his boss' house, he noticed a silver convertible backing out of the driveway. He pulled over to the curb, watching as the car containing the mysterious redhead, backed into the street and pulled away.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course Gibbs didn't spend the holiday alone. How could I have forgotten the redhead? Suddenly feeling embarrassed and very foolish, Tony briefly considered whether or not to just drop off the coffee and maybe the pie on Gibbs' doorstep, ring the bell once, and run back to his car in enough time to take off before Gibbs got to the door. Or better yet, I'll just leave and pretend I was never here.
Deciding the latter was his best course of action, he put the car back into drive and was just about to pull out when his phone rang. Gibbs.
As nonchalantly as possible, he answered. "Hey, Boss. What's up?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Are you coming in or were you planning to sit out there in your car all night?"
Crap. How does he do that? Gibbs must have been watching out the window as his mysterious friend drove away and noticed his car sitting there. "Uh, actually, Boss, I was in the neighborhood but I just realized how late it is…"
"It's 8:00, DiNozzo. I know you don't go to bed anywhere near this early." Tony looked up and saw Gibbs was now standing in the doorway, cell phone in hand, staring at him.
"Right. I'll be right there." Hanging up his phone and knowing he was caught with no possible way out, Tony grabbed the coffee and the pumpkin pie. He was just gonna have to be stuck with the rest of these leftovers, cause there was no way he was hauling all that to his boss' door and then having to explain exactly why he'd thought Gibbs might be in need of all that food.
When he approached the doorway, Gibbs gave sort of a half smile and got out of the way so Tony could enter his house. But Tony was still trying to get out of the awkward situation. "Actually, Boss, I just came over to drop off some pumpkin pie I had left over from dinner with my friend. Sort of a last-minute decision, really, since I was nearby. I can just drop it off here and be on my way if it's all the same to you."
"It's not." Gibbs just then noticed the coffee. "There a Starbucks in your friend's house, too?"
Tony was seriously praying it was dark enough to cover the fact that he was blushing furiously. Laughing nervously, he answered, "Oh, uh, no, Boss, of course not. There was one on the way so I stopped. I don't know what I was thinking. I should have known you had company."
"Had company, Tony. Company's gone now, as you can see. No reason you can't come in and stay a while." Only Gibbs would make an offer of hospitality sound like a command, one Tony knew he could no longer resist.
"Sure, Boss. For a few minutes, I guess." Tony entered the house rather reluctantly, handing Gibbs the coffee and the bag containing the pie, both of which Gibbs took to the kitchen.
"You gonna have a piece of this pie with me, DiNozzo?"
"Yeah, ok. A small piece. Thanks."
Gibbs nodded towards a chair at the kitchen table, silently instructing Tony to have a seat, which he did. A couple of minutes later, Gibbs joined him at the table.
"Looks like you had a good day, DiNozzo. Am I allowed to ask who your friend is?"
If I tell him, I wonder if I'm allowed to ask who the redhead is. Probably not. He could have lied. Gibbs would surely know it was a lie, but would probably not press the issue. Still, it was his boss who had paired him with Ernie Yost, trusting him with the older man's care while they'd been searching for the information necessary to clear his name. It seemed right to tell Gibbs the truth. "Actually, Boss, I spent the day with Ernie Yost."
Gibbs sat silently for a moment as he processed the information. When Tony had first told Kate he was spending the day with an "old friend," Gibbs had studied the younger man carefully. He wouldn't have put it past DiNozzo to make up imaginary plans for the holiday in order to not have to feel embarrassed in front of his teammates. After watching Tony for a moment, he'd realized his agent was telling the truth, but still he'd assumed the other man was spending the day with one of his frat brothers. Instead, Tony had volunteered to spend the day with a lonely man who was fifty years his senior. DiNozzo, it seemed, was a never-ending source of surprises. Pride welled up inside him, but he simply responded with a quiet, "That's a good job, Tony."
For the second time that day, the same warmth washed over Tony that he'd felt when Ernie Yost had called him "son." Not knowing what to say, he bestowed his boss with a slight smile and a nod of acknowledgement.
"You know, I should probably get going, Boss."
"You getting up early to go shopping tomorrow or something?"
"Shopping? No way. I wouldn't be caught dead at a mall on Black Friday. Besides, I do most of my shopping online."
"You're not planning to special order another pair of sunglasses, are you?" Cause the last thing I need is you buying another expensive pair of sunglasses before I get the ones I already ordered you.
"Not anytime soon," he said with a dejected sigh. Had he not been caught up in his disappointment all over again, he might have thought to analyze the slightly out-of-place question a bit further. Instead, he was a little upset at having been reminded of the loss of his sunglasses all over again, after what had been such a lovely day thus far.
As he stood up to leave, he was hit by another wave of embarrassment. "Sorry I just showed up without calling, Boss."
"No need to call first, Tony. Door's always unlocked and I'm usually in the basement. You're welcome anytime."
The younger man had been so embarrassed, he'd simply exchanged a brief "Good night" with his boss and hurried out the door. It wasn't until he was halfway home that the full implication of Gibbs' words sunk in.
Gibbs just gave me an open invitation to his home. Sure, Gibbs had sort of said once before that if he felt like talking about his father anymore, his basement would always be there. But this was broader than even that. He'd pretty much just told him to drop by and visit whenever he wanted.
At that moment, Tony couldn't imagine any reason ever presenting itself for him to just show up at his boss' home unannounced, let himself in, and go charging down the stairs to the other man's basement to hang out.
Little did he know that in a few short weeks, his world would be rocked to the point that he'd find himself doing exactly that.