Hey :) Thanks for all the incredible reviews, I'm so sorry I haven't replied to many, but I haven't got the time :( Please bear in mind I read them alland take them all to heart ^^ And to those people worried about the case itself, don't sweat, there will be progress eventually, but I really like focusing on Tony and Gibbs ;)
Also, the soft toys used in this chapter are Beanie Babies, if that helps you imagine it better ;)
"Tony, you've been whining for about half an hour now, what do you want?" Tony blushed, not realising he'd been making any noise. To be honest, he wasn't really aware what he'd been whining about.
"Er, can I..." He just gave up, not knowing what to ask for. Gibbs rolled his eyes but put the paper down that he'd been trying to read and looked down to the floor, where Tony had been sat, extremely close by as always, quietly using the soft toys Abby had brought round to make a crime scene. He shook his head and asked,
"Hey Gibbs, betcha' can't tell who did it!" Gibbs grinned and looked down. A dog was lying on the ground surrounded by yellow crayons (Presumably being used as crime scene tape) and several other soft toys (A German Shepherd, a slightly nervous looking hamster with bulging eyes, a mangy looking brown dog and a peacock).
"They're the investigators," He told Gibbs, pointing to them, "And those," He said, pointing to a line up of various animals, "Are the suspects. The dog," He waved to the 'dead' toy, "Was found at 0500 by a neighbour. He died at about 0400."
"You got an M.E to tell you that kid?" Gibbs asked, sounding amused. Tony nodded and replied,
"Yup, over there," He nodded to an owl sat a bit further away, and continued, "The forensics expert," He now pointed to a black panther, "Said that a bullet found at the scene was shot, but not at a body, and the M.E confirmed that, the victim had an overdose."
"So the bullet was a red herring," Gibbs humoured him, nodding, before asking, "What did he overdose on?"
"Er..." It was clear Tony hadn't thought of this bit, "Cough syrup." Gibbs chuckled and asked,
"Out of the big alphabet soup mix, who're investigating?"
"The FBI started," Tony told him, pointing to a rather tired looking rat sat in a corner, "But they found a navy suspect, so NCIS got jurisdiction."
"Why did the FBI start?"
"'Cause they're always trying to steal out cases, bast..." He glanced at Gibbs again, "Ah... 'cause the victim was... married to someone who got Christmas cards off the President's PA." Gibbs snorted and asked,
"You finished briefing me yet?" Tony nodded and asked,
"Guess who did it."
"You never guess a suspect Tony, you have to get the evidence..."
"I've got the evidence. I know who did it, you have to guess, and I'll tell you whether you've got it right or not." Tony sounded rather impatient now, so Gibbs looked Tony's line-up up and down and finally pointed to a monkey,
"Him." Tony's mouth fell open,
"How did you guess? I've got nearly a gazillion suspects!" He hadn't realised this slip into childish language, so Gibbs acted as though it hadn't happened, although slightly scared that Tony may slip into Tony Junior for good. He merely smirked and said,
"So who're the investigators?" Tony blushed slightly but pointed to each in turn,
"That's McGee, the hamster, and Kate's the..."
"Shi-zu." Gibbs finished for him, smiling at the memory. Tony nodded and added,
"And you're the German Shepherd, Ducky's the owl, and Abby's the panther."
"You missed one DiNozzo."
"I'm the peacock." Tony mumbled. Gibbs quirked an eyebrow and asked,
"Why?"
"Pretty to look at, shows off around the ladies, but once it's initial function has been used, it kinda wilts into the background." Gibbs felt rage well up inside him. He picked Tony up, careful not to disturb the 'crime scene',
"Tony," He started, bouncing the baby up and down on his lap, "You could never wilt into the background. You're always there, wherever I go, and you're a damn good agent. You're never going to be past your sell-by date, or whatever the hell you're talking about, so cut the BS now." Tony nodded, but still looked over at the toy peacock pretty doubtfully. Sighing, Gibbs grabbed a different toy and put it in the place of the peacock,
"There, happier?" He nodded and saw Gibbs get a camera out,
"You moved to the modern world Boss?" He asked, tongue in cheek, "Finally figured out that digital cameras are easier to use than those old ones that had smoke coming out of them?"
"Funny guy, you could have been a comedian. I thought you might like some pictures of this crime scene, seeing as it's better than some of the ones we get now." Tony frowned, but Gibbs could see him struggling with himself. He knew how much Tony wanted to have some kind of a record of his childhood, but he knew that Tony was also very proud, and stubborn, and would get embarrassed.
"Tony?" The baby looked up and he smiled, his mind made up,
"'Kay." Gibbs smiled and lowered him back on the floor, taking a picture of the kid's crime scene, with Tony himself there, laughing happily as he pretended to read the monkey his rights.
Their soft toy alter egos sat behind him, a German Shepherd puppy sat instead of a peacock.
--
Predictably, soon after this, Tony was bored. Gibbs didn't look like he was doing all that much, so Tony toddled over to him, remembering what Abby had said to him just as they were leaving the hospital,
"How're you feeling?" He asked, trying to clamber up onto the couch, in the end having to be be picked up and put there. He very gently and carefully ran his finger over the stitches, counting them. Gibbs grimaced and said,
"I've been better kiddo, but I'm mending." Tony looked downcast for a moment, before asking,
"Wanna play a game?" The older man rolled his eyes and smiled,
"What kind?"
"Hostipals!" Gibbs chuckled,
"I think you mean hospitals,Tony." The baby just shrugged and asked,
"Want me to be your doctor?" Gibbs shrugged back and replied,
"I guess I'm going to have to settle for you DiNozzo, there's no one else here." Tony grinned before rummaging around in a pile of toys.
Since he had moved in here, the toy amount seemed to have grown substantially, Tony being the most spoilt baby in D.C. What used to be two soft toys, a musical mat, and some colouring books and crayons, had turned into what seemed like thousands of soft toys, and various other plastic toys suitable for 18 month olds. People dropped in every day with something new, on the pretence of seeing Gibbs about a case, but then offering Tony something, which he'd take with a grin, and (after a pointed look from Gibbs), a 'thankyou'.
Ducky had brought him a play medic set, joking that when Tony grew up he may want to follow in his Uncle Ducky's footsteps and be in the medical profession. Tony had giggled, and claimed that he didn't want to move from the 'best job in the world'.
Taking this doctors kit out now, Tony felt like changing his mind. Everyone trusted Doctors, and looked up to them. It was a really respected profession.
"I think 'Doctor DiNozzo' sounds almost as good as, 'Special Agent DiNozzo'." Tony said, as he fiddled with the opening of the box, eventually having Gibbs open it for him. He pulled out a toy stethoscope and said,
"I need to listen to your heart." Gibbs raised and eyebrow and queried,
"Why? I only hit my head." Tony rolled his eyes and stuck the stethoscope in his ears,
"Who's the doctor here?" He pretended to listen as Gibbs obediently stayed still. He put it back in the box and didn't say anything, which Gibbs took to mean bad news. His theory was proved correct a second later as Tony pulled out a plastic syringe. Gibbs' first instinct was to hit it out of the baby's hands before he hurt himself, before laughing softly. It was a toy. He was getting way too over protective.
"Hold out your arm." Tony ordered, looking grim. Gibbs tuck his arm out and rolled the shirt sleeves up. Instead of taking something out, Tony apparently stuck something in.
"What was that, 'Doctor DiNozzo'?" He asked, pulling his shirt sleeve down again as Tony got off the couch. The baby grinned and turned to look at him, before snickering and saying,
"It's crazy medicine Boss, stops you going into one of your moods." Gibbs raised an eyebrow, slowly getting up off the sofa,
"Oh really?" He asked, looking quite menacing as he loomed over Tony. The baby started to giggle nervously before deciding it wasn't worth it and ran off. Gibbs took chase, but Tony was a lot faster than he'd first thought. It took him precisely six minutes to find the kid and catch him, trying hard not to laugh. Tony's childish giggling was so damn infectious.
"Wait, where are we going?" Tony had calmed down enough to realise he wasn't being taken back to the living room, which contained all the fun stuff he and Gibbs could do together,
"You haven't had a bath in quite a while Tony, you don't want people to think you've caught the plague do you?"
Funny." Tony remarked drily,
"I thought so." His boss replied, giving him an overly cheery grin as he went into the bathroom, depositing Tony on the closed toilet lid while he started to run the bath.
--
"I was never allowed nice baths," Tony stated, as Gibbs softly washed his hair, again one hand on his back, "The water was either too warm or too cold, and I was lonely." The hand rubbing his head stopped for a minute, before Gibbs asking quietly,
"You were alone when you had baths?"
"Well, no, but I could never really make great conversation with the Nanny. I mean, she was great and all, but as soon as there was no danger of me drowning she had to go make the beds or something. So I never had anyone to play with."
"So what did you do?" Gibbs was interested, Tony never really talked about his childhood much,
"I just sat there really. Watched the bubbles pop. Not a lot you can do in a bath." Gibbs ground his teeth as he remembered how much fun Kelly had when it was her bath time. When she was little, him and Shannon always sat in there with her, fooling around, telling her stories, blowing bubbles with her, and when she was older, and she didn't need them in there anymore, she still had daft games, even if they made no sense. She loved having baths.
"No one even ever give you a bath toy or anything?" Tony shook his head,
"My Father didn't really see the point. It's just money that could instead be spent on more alcohol, parties and suits." He said bitterly, and the hand on his back was now rubbing it. The hand that had been washing his hair was now reaching over the side of the bath to give him something.
"Here," Gibbs dropped a rubber duck over the side of the bath, "Play." Tony looked at him doubtfully and said,
"No offense Boss, but I really don't see what I can actually do with this. I mean, all the other toys are great, but this is just a duck." Gibbs quirked an eyebrow and said,
"I'm sure you'll manage." And he did. Not in the really normal child way, as he brought in his adult memories to entertain himself,
"Aah, Mr Palmer, will you run these bloods to Abby please? And while you're up there, tell Jethro to stop adding so much bubble bath, my beak is soapy." He got a small swat on the head and grinned up at his boss.
--
"Bedtime," Gibbs said to him, as soon as he'd got Tony into his pyjamas from the bath. The baby started to pout, and Gibbs added, "How do you feel? You said at the hospital that you were tired and had a headache." Tony considered this for a moment and replied,
"I feel way better than I did last night, and the headache's gone. But I guess..."
"You're tired," Gibbs finished the sentence and said, while he headed toward the kitchen, "You know what my Dad used to do, if I couldn't sleep?" Tony shook his head, and looked up at Gibbs as he was plonked down on a counter,
"Before I went to bed, he'd give me some warm milk. It makes you feel really full, and sleepy. Want some?" Tony nodded happily, licking his lip eagerly. Gibbs grabbed the baby's sippy-cup and poured milk into it, before heating it up. When it was done, he passed it to him, who hastily took it and started to drink. The gulps became less frequent, and soon he was drinking it really slowly, eyes closing as he leant against Gibbs' stomach, whilst sat on the counter.
"Nowit's bedtime." Gibbs said, plucking the cup from out of his young charge's grasp and gently scooped him up, knowing that if he bounced at all, Tony would easily bring all that milk straight back up.
"'M not... tired..." Tony slurred, his eyes shutting as soon as he was put in the cot, a pale blue blanket pulled over him by the older man, "Wanna stay... up with... you..." Gibbs shook his head, smiling,
"Not gonna happen DiNozzo, you need sleep." He switched the baby monitor on again, but didn't go down to the basement. He clipped the other monitor to his trouser pocket and went downstairs, clearing away the cup that had the milk in and tutting as he cleared away the mess of the toys spread around his living room. As he tidied he just smiled more, feeling warmer.
He loved having a baby in the house.
Review? And I know this sounds slightly bizarre, but does anyone want to do a drawing of something that's happened in the story? It's just, I've seen some other stories that people have drawn pictures for, and I thought you could like, put them on deviant art and I could put the link to them on my profile. Lol, merely 'cause I thought some parts might be cute to draw... Tell me if you wanna :) I'd try, but I really can't draw lol ;) xx