Slow Burn

A/N: Spoilers for Till Death Do Us Part… and everything else in this chapter you can blame on Kesterpan's bunny farm.

Chapter 5 – Baptism by Fire

As Dr Ryan moved forward to hug Parker, Tony looked beyond them to where Gibbs stood by the cars, his blue eyes fixed on mother and son. Tony could see the signs of tension in Gibbs' body language and felt a rush of sympathy for the guy.

For some reason, the scene struck Tony as almost a lonely image, as if Gibbs was being excluded from the family moment.

It had been a nightmare 24 hours.

The only positive being that Director Vance was now safe after bizarrely and rather creepily waking up next to a corpse.

Well, perhaps not the only positive, if he was allowed a mental diversion into the personal for a moment.

Tony didn't underestimate what it meant that Gibbs had opened up to him about his worries over Ryan. For a functional mute to not only confide in Tony but listen to him as a trusted friend and then in the midst of his distraction, to recognize Tony's own insecurities and seek to reassure him was… huge.

But now there'd been this threat to Dr Ryan's son.

Leaving Ziva to finish up with the local LEOs, Tony made his way over to Gibbs, who glanced at him briefly as he arrived. "Anything useful?"

Tony shook his head. "Not from the kid, no, Boss. He says he didn't see or hear anything. A couple of the other kids saw the car though and from the description of the driver, it looks like a pretty good fit for Dearing... and he was alone. It seems Dearing's doing his own dirty work now."

Gibbs nodded briefly. "Makes it more personal."

"Yeah, it would," Tony agreed. "And he certainly got Dr Ryan's attention," Gibbs shot Tony a look but didn't comment, "but then I guess something like this would scare the crap out of any parent. Kid doesn't seem too affected by it, which I guess is a good thing, right? Anyway, he's been too busy flirting with Ziva, who was at the grinding her teeth and looking around for a paperclip stage by the end of it, which is never a good sign, as you know."

Gibbs' mouth twitched at the corner and Tony counted that as progress as he went on. "Parker seems to like being the centre of attention though but then any kid would, I guess. At least he'll have a few tales to tell to his school friends."

When Gibbs didn't reply, Tony watched mother and son for a few moments before looking around at the usual bustle of a crime scene. "D'ya think Dearing would've followed through on his threat?"

Gibbs shrugged, his eyes not leaving Ryan and Parker. "Hard to tell."

"Hopefully the call was just that... a warning and a reminder of what he can do." Tony watched Parker gesturing animatedly as he related something to his mother. Tony nodded in their direction. "Kid seems to have a lot of self confidence... either that or he's covering it well."

"His mother's son." Gibbs' words were so quiet, Tony could barely hear them and wondered if the older man was almost talking to himself.

Not sure how to respond to that, Tony felt safer changing the subject.

"Still, at least we know for sure now, right, Boss? That Dr Ryan's not involved in all this. That must put your mind at rest a bit."

Gibbs sighed tiredly, nodding. "Yeah, guess it should."

Tony stared at Gibbs, wondering at the choice of words.

Should, not does?

He opted for a neutral question, pushing down his worry for the Marine with difficulty. "D'ya want me to organize a car for them both, Boss, take 'em to your place?"

Gibbs shook his head and his voice was wry. "No. Expect they'll go home. I doubt Parker wants to be somewhere he's never been before, with a guy he only met today."

With that, Gibbs walked off towards Ryan and Parker, leaving Tony to frown after him, trying to absorb this new information about Dr Ryan.

They'd been dating for months, so how come Gibbs had only just met her son?

Dr Ryan was gone.

Tony gazed almost blankly at his computer screen, trying to process the briefing Gibbs had just completed and its implications.

Whatever strings Dearing had pulled to spring Dr Ryan's ex out of jail had had a dramatic and immediate effect on the woman.

Tony may not have liked Ryan but he felt nothing but sympathy for her now. He could only imagine the kind of fear that could have caused someone as outwardly confident as Dr Ryan to just abandon her life like that.

Whatever the problem was with her ex-husband, it must have been pretty terrifying and the obvious assumption would be some kind of physical abuse... of mother alone, or mother and son?

That was anybody's guess, although he assumed Gibbs must know some of it. But Parker didn't look or behave like an abused kid... he was too self confident and cocky for that.

Although it might explain Ryan's jumping jack personality and need for control.

But whatever the crime, it had been enough to land her ex in jail, and was enough to make Ryan flee now.

And it wasn't even a wait and see what her ex did, kind of reaction. It was an instant run for the hills. She'd taken her son and gotten the hell out of Dodge, leaving behind her work, her home, her kid's school and his friends, her life... her lover.

But why didn't she let Gibbs try to help her?

In a crisis, there was no one Tony trusted more. Gibbs would be the first person he'd turn to if he needed help... had done so more times than he could count.

So after several months of them being together, surely Ryan had learned that much about the Marine? This ex must be one scary son of a bitch if Ryan thought the situation was beyond even Gibbs.

A part of Tony also felt ashamed and mean that he was pleased that Ryan was gone. But did it mean that their relationship was over too, or just on hold?

Jeez, what a mess.

The Marine' protective instincts were strong and if Ryan had rejected his help, Gibbs must be hurting. Not that you'd have known it during the briefing. Gibbs' mask had been firmly in place throughout, before the Marine headed out of the bullpen in the direction of the break room.

At the risk of incurring his wrath, Tony had to see if Gibbs was okay.

His mind made up, Tony rummaged in his desk drawer to dig out his lunch. Ignoring Ziva's warning look to leave well enough alone, Tony headed for the break room to find Gibbs on his own, sitting at the table, sipping coffee and staring into space.

God... things must be serious if he's drinking this swill.

Tony poured himself his usual coffee mixture and sat down next to Gibbs, pushing one of the sandwiches in his direction across the table.

Gibbs looked down at the sandwich and then up at Tony, raising an eyebrow.

Tony smothered a smile, shrugging as he removed the wrapping from his sandwich. "Figured you hadn't had time to eat today so got double rations. Gotta keep your strength up."

Gibbs smirked, just a little, and something inside Tony eased at the sight. "Yes, mom."

Tony snorted, almost choking as he took a large bite out of his sandwich. "You know I'm right. Now just eat up... dear."

Tony grinned as Gibbs rolled his eyes before unwrapping the sandwich and taking a bite. They ate in companionable silence for a while and Tony was sipping the last of his coffee before he spoke again.

"I'm very sorry about Dr Ryan."

Gibbs didn't reply, merely shooting him a glance but it was too brief for Tony to get more of a handle on it, but he didn't seem angry at Tony for asking.

"Her ex must be a pretty scary guy to make her leave town like that. She wouldn't be persuaded to go into protective custody, with Parker?"

Gibbs rubbed his hand over his face, shaking his head. "Nope."

The speed with which Ryan left had surprised him.

Gibbs knew how unsettled she'd been after the scare with Parker yesterday, but he hadn't figured on this reaction to Dearing's next play. Gibbs couldn't help feeling upset and more than a little responsible that Ryan didn't feel safe enough with him to risk staying.

But there was also some part of Gibbs that felt relieved that Ryan had left. Maybe now he could concentrate on his job for a while instead of having his head messed with every time they were in the same room.

And Gibbs felt equally guilty about feeling that relief.

Tony's voice brought him out of his thoughts and Gibbs turned his attention to his friend, touched by the support so clearly being offered... surprising himself yet again how at ease he felt with that.

It reminded him of the other day in the elevator. Gibbs wasn't sure what had possessed him to open up like that about Ryan, to let himself be vulnerable in front of Tony.

But it had felt... right... at the time.

And still did.

There was always something settling about Tony's unconditional support and understanding, which was a stark contrast to how Ryan made him feel.

"Maybe she's been looking after herself for a while now and finds it difficult to let someone else do it, even if she shouldn't have to... even if that's our job?" Tony ventured.

Gibbs shrugged. "Maybe. DoD agents'll help get her and Parker safe." He sipped his coffee, grimacing at the taste.

Tony chuckled. "I could go for some of the decent stuff if you want? Or stuff you call decent and the rest of us call road tar."

Gibbs shook his head, smiling briefly. "No time... How you doing with Cole back on the scene?"

Tony allowed him the change of subject, not wanting to push too hard.

"Okay, I guess... He's not my first choice of who I'd like to see back in the building." Tony looked down at his coffee. "It brings up some stuff I'd rather forget, but hey... if it's necessary, it's necessary. And it made sense to try and lure Dearing out like that, even if it didn't work at the coffee shop."

Tony been taken aback when he'd suddenly seen Cole being escorted through the bullpen and had felt unsettled for a while, despite understanding why the guy was here. But the whole thing had happened so fast that he hadn't had time to think about it too much yet...and if Gibbs thought Cole could be a useful tool, then that was fine with him.

"Dearing's one step ahead all the time so far. Gotta turn that around, Tony."

"We do," Tony agreed, gathering up their sandwich wrappers and dumping them in the trash.

He turned back to Gibbs. "And if it means involving Cole in whatever it takes, Boss, then bring it on. I'll be happy to involve whoever you like... hell, I'd welcome even Trent Kort." Tony paused, considering. "Well, okay maybe not Trent Kort... happy and Kort don't belong in the same sentence but Cole? Yeah, if it means we can end this with Dearing, without further bloodshed."

TBC…