Thank you for all the reviews, I really love each and every individual one ^^ And CelticAngel18 and JB5391 have drawn magnificent pics for this story, again located on my profile :)
Gibbs glanced over at Tony as he was driving home. The kid was staring out the window, his eyes occasionally going to close but he just kept them open, as if scared to go to sleep. He took great interest in prodding at his pot however, and was slightly impressed by how big it was.
Gibbs could tell that something was wrong though. He knew that the kid would still be quite scared over his ordeal, of course he would be - but he wasn't saying anything. He even gave Gibbs a smile when he saw him looking. The older man bit his lip. That was a fake smile, he knew.
"Tony, about today..." He started, and saw Tony freeze slightly, before answering (Too cheerfully),
"Yeah Boss?"
"...You can cry if you want." Tony looked up at Gibbs in amazement. Ok, he wasn't so surprised that Gibbs had guessed what he was feeling, but more that he thought Tony needed to cry,
"I'm fine. Why would I need to cry?" Gibbs looked slightly shocked at the sudden moody tone in Tony's voice and answered, pulling up at his house,
"You got your arm broken Tony, and kidnapped. They wouldn't feed you or change you and you'll have the emotions of an 18 month old." He said all this as if it was obvious, making Tony blanch and answer back,
"Remember when you chained me to a psychopathic killer? Or when I was drugged and kidnapped looking for a missing marine? Or how about when I fell out of a plane? Seriously Gibbs, wouldn't you think after all of these, nothing would upset me anymore? It's not as if I went home and cried for two hours straight after getting home from the whole Jeffrey White thing."
Appalled, Gibbs got out of the car and hastily round the back, unstrapping Tony and picking him up. Making sure the kid had a tight hold on his blanket, Gibbs went into the house. It was only then he tried to coax it out of him, cuddling him softly, That was all it took. That small bit of contact and Tony started to sob, his breath coming out in gasps,
"It was horrible," He wailed, "I thought you weren't coming!" Gibbs choked back the small sob that threatened to come out and whispered,
"Don't you ever think that Tony," He pressed a small kiss to Tony's head, "Don't you ever think that. I will always come for you - always. You got me?" Tony nodded bleakly and sniffed, trying to get rid of the tears,
"I'm just... being silly." He mumbled.
"No you're not Tony," Gibbs replied, "You were scared, which is completely normal. I'm just sorry I didn't find you sooner." The baby stuck his head on Gibbs' shoulder, probably leaving a trail of snot while there, and sighed. Gibbs merely held him, rubbing his back and hearing the soft breathing,
"How about some food?" He asked, and felt a nod against his ear. He stood up, and headed to the kitchen,
"Would you like beans on toast?" Gibbs offered, glancing up and down his shelves to see what they had. Tony snuffled and answered,
"Yes, thanks. Can I have a drink too?" He sounded so hesitant to ask that, so scared - that Gibbs wanted to throttle someone. Without a word, he poured some juice into a sippy-cup and passed it over. Tony tried to grab it, before realising he had a pot on his arm. Thankfully it was his left, so he still had full use of his dominant hand. Gibbs tutted in sympathy and muttered,
"They made it so big. I don't think you're likely to chew it off..." Tony smiled wanly and answered,
"What if I went to Tony Junior while I was asleep and accidentally started to chew at it, and then swallow some and choke?" He snickered at the pale colour Gibbs had gone, before whining,
"It's too heavy! And my arm's itchy!" Gibbs rolled his eyes but patted Tony's head affectionately and put a plate down in front of him, saying,
"You ok to eat it yourself?" Tony shook his head, looking up at the older man with a puppy like expression on his face. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, as normally Tony would whine until he was given the fork, but he didn't say anything, and picked up the fork himself, emptying the food into the baby's mouth with an almost weary expression. He wondered why Tony was suddenly almost insistent on being treat so babyishly. However, Gibbs felt himself relaxing as he fed him, and found he didn't mind - at all.
Soon, Tony was full, and smiled contentedly up at Gibbs, who softly smiled back. Lifting Tony up out of the high chair, he murmured,
"I think it's bedtime." At once Tony scowled and said,
"No. I want to stay here with you," He saw the glare he was getting and added, "Please? I really don't want... I don't want to go to sleep yet... I know I'll- I'll have nightmares about it..." He looked so downtrodden relaying this to the older man that Gibbs softened, and backed down almost immediately,
"Ok, but how about we just do something that doesn't require a lot of energy?" Tony brightened and suggested,
"How about a movie?"
--
"What about this one?"
"No."
"Erm... this one?"
"No."
"This one!"
"No."
Tony huffed and asked, "Why can't we watch any of them? I usually watch one of the Bond films when I'm hurt..." He thought this might make Gibbs' mind up, but instead he still got a firm and resounding 'No.' Whining pathetically, Tony pulled at Gibbs' trouser leg and asked,
"Whyyyy?"
"Have you seen the age certificates on them?" Tony frowned and glanced at the covers of the movies he had discarded. All of them were either 15's or 18's. He pouted and said,
"But I'm older than that!" He prodded at the box miserably and asked,
"Fine, what do you suggest?" Gibbs grinned and said,
"I got Abby and McGee to bring some round, they should be here..." The doorbell went, and the two younger NCIS team members made their way inside the house. They were each carrying a DVD, making Tony narrow his eyes as he tried to work out what sort of movies they'd brought. Abby immediately threw the DVD over to the sofa and picked Tony up (Mindful of his arm) and hugged him tightly, whispering into his ear. McGee took the more subtle approach of giving Gibbs the movie he was carrying and saying,
"I think I got an ok one Boss, you weren't very specific."
"Spefific..." Tony copied, before shaking his head, "Spe... Pesficic... Specipic..." Gibbs couldn't help but laugh and McGee had to chuckle as well. Tony frowned before pulling at one of Abby's pig-tails childishly and asking,
"What didya bring round?"
"I brought a movie that Gibbs said you might be interested in watching," Her eyes twinkled as she walked over to the sofa and sat Tony down gently, passing him his blanket and saying, "He wasn't very specific about which one, only that you'd probably like a Disney film." Tony's jaw dropped and he looked over at Gibbs, who stared right back until Tony sighed and dropped his eyes, asking,
"Fine. Which ones did you bring?" McGee showed his and said,
"The Lion King, and Abby brought..."
"A classic: Robin Hood!" Tony had to grin at her enthusiasm and said,
"Can we watch Robin Hood?" Gibbs took the DVD off Abby, who was crowing over McGee about the fact that her movie was chosen and not his. Slotting it into the player, Gibbs turned and said,
"Are you two staying?" Abby shook her head and said,
"We're making him over-excited, he needs some sleep. I love you baby." She added as they walked out the door, making Tony roll his eyes,
"I'm not over-excited at all!" Gibbs merely laughed at this and shook his head, ruffling the baby's hair affectionately. The opening credits started to roll, and Tony shuffled so he was against Gibbs more comfortably, eventually just sitting on him and clutching his blanket, dummy firmly in his mouth. Gibbs smiled at this, and pretended not to notice Tony giggling childishly to any bits that were purely for kid's enjoyment. He did however, notice when the kid's eyes were shutting slowly, and waited until he was fast asleep before turning the film off. It had gotten to near the end anyway, as Robin and Maid Marion were about to get married - but it was obviously too long for Tony.
Gibbs carefully laid Tony down in the crib, mindful about what the kid had joked about earlier about him eating the pot. He ran his fingers through Tony's hair and turned the light off, turning the baby monitor on and going downstairs, but this time he didn't go to his boat. Instead he rootled around the living room for a while, smiling every time he found one of the kid's babyish scribblings amid the general mound of toys.
--Tony's dream/POV--
"Does the brat want some food?" The man asked sweetly, his eyes glinting. He laughed as he practically force-fed the woman sat opposite me. She ate it, and I could tell she really wanted it - she was so hungry - but she didn't want to eat in front of me. Dammit I'm hungry! Why won't they feed me? I didn't do anything wrong!
Before I know it tears are leaking through my eyelids, and as the hot, salty water runs down my face, all I can think of is GibbsGibbsGibbsGibbs...
"Aw, look, did we make him cry? Get over it brat!" My eyes welled up, and I was aware of more jeering, but all I could think was that they sounded exactly like my father. That's what's really stinging right now. The fact that now it's my Dad yelling, abusing. Lacey's not the first person to break my arm...
--Normal POV--
Gibbs had only been downstairs for about half an hour or so, flicking through some paper-work he really needed to do, when he heard it. The baby monitor crackled to life and he heard the steady slow moan of a child who's about to cry, but they themselves don't even know it yet. And then there it was, the crying set in, sounding so heart broken that Gibbs ran up the stairs and pounded through the bedroom door.
Tony was curled up in a ball in the cot, covering his head with his blanket and cradling his arm in a defensive gesture. Gibbs reached in a slowly touched the boy's shoulder, careful not to frighten him. Tony jumped the tiniest amount and glanced up, tears in his eyes and whispered,
"Daddy?" Gibbs' heart flipped sideways but he whispered back,
"Yeah kiddo, I'm here. You ok?" Tony didn't stop crying but held his arms out in desperation. He needed to be cuddled. Needed to have attention. He needed to be babied. To be molly-coddled and played with. In short, he needed a proper childhood.
And Gibbs understood all this. In the one movement Tony had made Gibbs understood it all. That's what made him Gibbs. He did indeed cuddle Tony, and shushed him, sitting down on the wicker chair in the corner of the room and bounced him softly up and down until he'd calmed down enough to say,
"Am I in trouble?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow and lightly kissed just above the kid's eyebrow,
"No Tony, you're not in trouble. Why would you be?" Tony's mouth wobbled and he mumbled something along the lines of, 'The nasty man wanted me to be quiet...'. Gibbs clenched his teeth and he whispered,
"Tony, you can cry as loudly as you want. The only person who'll hear will be me, and I don't care, as long as you're ok afterwards. As long as you can tell me what's wrong." Tony gave a shadow of a smile but whimpered,
"I don't wanna go back to sleep Gibbs... Not yet, please don't make me..."
Gibbs stood up and shushed him, saying, "How about we watch the other movie Abby and McGee brought round?" He nodded and let Gibbs take him downstairs, and sit down on the sofa. Just before Gibbs went to put in 'The Lion King', he asked softly,
"Is it ok if... can I have a drink?" Gibbs felt anger well up inside him - who wouldn't let a little kid have a drink?
"Sure you can kiddo, how does warm milk sound?" Tony eyed him warily and said,
"You're trying to get me to sleep aren't you?" Gibbs shrugged and said,
"You got me. Doesn't it sound nice though?" Tony wriggled slightly in his seat before finally giving in and saying,
"Fine, but you have to read to me when you come back."
"I thought you wanted to watch a film?" Tony shrugged himself and replied,
"We already watched a film, I feel like a story." Gibbs grinned as Tony straightened out where he sat on the sofa, looking very important all the while. He looked so sure of himself as well, which made Gibbs chuckle slightly as he came back in with a bottle of warm milk and sat down.
"You got a story you want?" Tony shuffled, embarrassed before asking,
"Can't you tell one?" Gibbs quirked an eyebrow. Ok, to be fair, he had told Kelly stories that he'd made up, but that was different for some reason. They felt more like private stories, specifically between him and his child.
As soon as that thought came into his head he froze for a second, before recovering.
"Yeah I'll tell you a story," He said, before patting his lap, "Hop up." Tony crawled his way across, almost drooling as he saw the milky liquid sloshing around in the cup. Gibbs offered it to him, and was surprised (But had been expecting it really) when Tony pushed it back into his hands, that small gesture meaning he wanted to have it fed to him, he wasn't through with being babied yet, not by a long shot.
So Gibbs sat there, gently feeding Tony who was lying quite happily on his knee and relayed a story he'd told Kelly years ago. He felt a small pang as he realised it was almost like an insult to her memory, telling this strange baby in the house one of their private stories. Sorry Kells, He thought to himself, But this kid is special to me too. He still felt guilty about it though, and hastily finished it to make a different story for Tony.
In Tony's opinion, it was really good, full of action and adventure, but was quite cheesy in places, with elves living in mushrooms and so on, a kind of children's James Bond film. He listened happily, and hadn't realised it had come to an end. Now he was merely still lying on Gibbs' lap and drinking. He finished it though, and drifted in and out of sleep while Gibbs took him back to his room, changed him and lay him down, before running a hand through his hair (Which had almost become a bed-time ritual) and leaving the door open.
However, Tony didn't have anymore bad dreams after that, only slightly odd ones, about an elf in a tuxedo, who worked in Baltimore as a cop before becoming a 'better policeman' (Which was the phrasing Gibbs had used in the story) and being the pride of the force.
Lol, cheesy or what? Sorry about the delay btw, my keyboard's decided its' sick of my ramblings and has tried to fight back 0.o Oh well, I think it's on the mend. Review? xx