There was a strange feeling of foreboding when Tony and Gibbs arrived at their destination, like something bad was about to happen, the kind of feeling that would make any normal person hesitate. That didn't stop Gibbs from jumping off the car before it had even stopped.
"Gibbs, wait!" Tony called after him, but the man was already breaking down yet another front door that day. For a moment, Tony just sat there, staring at his hands on the steering wheel. He hated feeling so envious of this kid who had a father ready to turn over the entire world, just trying to get to the man who took him. "I hope you'll find out what a blessing it is to have been born to such parents," he mumbled and finally left the car, hoping he wouldn't find any dead bodies.
...
Meanwhile, Gibbs was kicking open any doors he saw and yelling for DiNozzo to come out.
Finally, a young man came to him, looking angry and slightly wary. "Who are you? Leave, before I call the cops!"
"Where's DiNozzo!?" Gibbs growled, wondering for a moment if he should have taken his rifle with him... But then again, he remembered that he needed to first find out about his son. Questions first, sniper gone crazy later. This was one of the reasons why his friends had tried to follow him and why he left D.C. earlier than planned.
"I don't know who you are talking about. Now, get out! Last warning!"
Gibbs, being the bastard he was, snapped. Taking hold of the man, he pushed him against the wall with a mad look in his eyes. "Where. Is. DiNozzo!?"
Swallowing, the man mumbled something in Italian. "I-I don't—"
Gibbs pushed harder. "Where!?"
"Upstairs... In the bathroom..."
Throwing the man aside like a piece of trash, Gibbs made his way to the bedroom upstairs. You couldn't go wrong with the loud singing coming from there. After seeing the clothes on the bed and then the closed bathroom door, Gibbs sat down on a chair. While he did 'fancy' the idea of going in there and shooting the man right then and there, he didn't fancy the idea of having to watch another man's naked body. So he waited and took out his gun, holding it between his knees.
"This no longer concerns you, Tony. Go home," he said, when the door opened and the young man entered the room.
"This has everything to do with me." Gibbs looked up and Tony scoffed. "I brought you here, remember? And this is my cousin's house, which by the way, you owe me. Do you have any idea what I had to give up, just to make sure he didn't call the cops?" When Gibbs gave him a blank stare, Tony rolled his eyes and walked closer, eyeing the gun warily. "My car, you dumbass. I gave it to the idiot, so you could leave without any trouble. So please, at least put that thing away."
"Never asked you to do that." Gibbs made no move to put the gun away.
"I didn't say you did, but you owe me anyway, big time. I love that car." Tony glanced over his shoulder when the singing stopped. "Please, Gibbs, put the gun away. You're not going to get your answers with violence. I know him better than you do. He breathes violence."
Before either man could decide or do anything, the door opened and Anthony DiNozzo stepped out. Seeing them there, Anthony went from confusion to anger. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Rubbing his forehead, Tony muttered, "Please, cover yourself..."
Putting his pants on, Anthony narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Tony. "Who is this man? Why are you here?" He noticed the gun when Gibbs stood up, and he sneered. "Well, well. What do we have here?"
The sound of a gun safety going off was the answer he got as Gibbs moved. When Tony tried to hold him back, he pushed the young man out of his way and lunged forward, forcing Anthony to speed-walk backward until his back connected with the bathroom door. "Where's my son!"
"Clearly you know me, but I still have no idea who you are, much less who this son of yours is."
Pushing the gun painfully against Anthony's shoulder, Gibbs snarled, "My name is Jethro Gibbs. You stole my son from my wife, Shannon!"
Anthony stared in bafflement for a moment, and then a look of recognition flashed across his face. He looked from Gibbs to Tony, and then he started laughing, which was an odd mix of amusement and disbelief. "Oh. Isn't this situation just... What's the word? Delicious."
Tony stood behind Gibbs. "Dad, please... Just tell him what he wants to know, and then maybe he won't shoot you."
Again, Gibbs snarled, "Don't make any promises for me!" And then it was like something hit him through the mist of rage, and he blinked. He looked at the amused smirk on DiNozzo's face, and glanced over his shoulder at the worried young man, with his green eyes looking suddenly so bright in Gibbs' eyes, as if asking him, how could he have not seen it? He felt that same odd feeling in his gut from before. "Dad?" Gibbs finally dared to whisper, and Anthony snorted.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You got me. I'm the son of a bastard." Gibbs kept staring at him, which made Tony smile nervously. "I know I've tried to keep you from killing my father, but now you're making me nervous."
"Tony, how old are you?" Gibbs' voice was soft, completely different from before.
"I already told you—"
"Your real age. Forget about the security for a moment. It's important."
Tony furrowed his brows in confusion and Anthony sneered, "Yes. Tell the man the truth, Anthony Junior."
"I'm... I'm twenty-six."
Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were bright with unshed tears. "God..."
Anthony laughed, bringing their attention back to him. "Some good it did to me, taking him. He never was worthy of being called by my name. Such a useless and needy little brat, like you wouldn't believe. I only got him for my wife, who then changed her mind and left, leaving me with another man's offspring."
With one swift movement, Gibbs shot the man in the foot.
"Gibbs!" Tony yelled.
"You shot me!" Anthony screamed as he fell down on the floor, holding his foot in agony. Swearing, he crawled toward his clothes, away from Gibbs, who stared at him with ice-cold fury, the gun still pointed at the man.
"You son of..! You took my son! For all these years..! And yet you have the nerve to—!"
"Gibbs, if you don't calm down, you're going to kill him, and you won't ever find out what happened to your son," Tony tried to reason with him and Gibbs shot him a look.
"I already have my answer, and I can't believe how blind I've been, when I knew it from the moment I saw you. I knew, and I ignored it."
...
"When you saw me?" Tony was confused. There seemed to be so much going on, but for a change, he knew nothing, couldn't even guess. It was as if his father and Gibbs were speaking another language.
Before Gibbs could answer, Tony saw it from the corner of his eye, like that scene from a movie; the bad guy was down, and the good guys thought it was safe to drop their guard, but that's when the bad guy pulled out a weapon. "Gibbs!" Tony didn't know what made him do it, but he was suddenly pushing the older man down.
...
Falling down, Gibbs hit his back painfully against the floor. It was a miracle he didn't cause his own gun to go off. That was the least of his worries though, because he had heard another gun do just that. "Tony!" he yelled and was barely in time to catch the heavy weight of the young man, who was now looking confused.
"Couldn't let him shoot you. Don't know why. Didn't mean to... get shot myself." Tony chuckled and then winced.
Gibbs brushed his fingers over the tightly furrowed brows. He didn't have time to think about how much his fingers were trembling or how bad Tony's situation was. He heard the sound behind his back again, and when he turned around and shot Anthony, his hand was steady and no mercy in his heart.
Dropping the gun, Anthony grunted, putting his hand over his chest wound. Even with the blood coming from his mouth, the man had no remorse in him. "Looks like I... took him again."
"Shut up." Gibbs knew he sounded much calmer than what he felt. However, he had no time for the bastard now. After making sure there would be no more surprises coming from the man, he returned to his son. His son... Gibbs swallowed as he fell on his knees and stared at his bleeding boy, truly looked at Tony for the first time. He took out his phone and made few phone calls, hoping the help would get there in time. If not... Then God help those poor souls.
Still furrowing his brows, Tony mumbled, "You didn't... kill him?"
"No. The slimeball is still alive, unfortunately. Don't talk. Help is on the way." Gibbs couldn't hold himself back, and that's how he found himself with Tony in his arms, both trying to stop more blood from escaping the body and to hold his son in his arms for the first time. Maybe for the last time, his mind whispered, but he pushed it away.
"Good... Might be a bastard... Still the only... only one I've got."
"You'd be surprised," Gibbs said gruffly.
"Huh?" Tony blinked. "Why you... so concerned? Sad. I'm just... We're not..."
"We'll talk later, okay? First gonna get you fixed up."
Even half-conscious, Tony looked stubborn. "No."
"You'll forget it and I have to tell it all over again." For a moment Gibbs feared he was looking into the eyes of a dead, but then the eyes blinked, eyebrows furrowed again and Tony snorted softly. Making up his mind, in case the worst happened, Gibbs decided to tell the truth. "You're my son. You are the son who was stolen from me."
Tony stared at him in confusion, and then he lost consciousness.
"Holy—! What happened?" It came by the door, and Gibbs looked over his shoulder, where the 'cousin' had finally been brave enough to enter the room. Gibbs glared, and the young man swallowed thickly. "Look, I heard some of the things. I don't get it, but I don't break my promises. As far as I'm concerned, you shot in self-defense and to protect my cousin." He looked uncertain. "Tony, he is my cousin, right..?"
Gibbs ignored him and kept brushing his fingers over Tony's cheek and forehead. Then he thought he heard the siren of an ambulance and at least one police car. He was surprised that it happened so fast after his call, not that he complained.
"Okay, maybe I didn't completely keep my promise..." The cousin looked sheepish, but one more look from Gibbs sent him out of the room. Even if the look had been grateful, or so he thought.
Gibbs looked down at the peaceful look on Tony's face. If he hadn't known any better, he'd think he was only sleeping. It was then that Gibbs could see traces of Shannon there. Really, though, the young man had parts from almost every member of their family, like pieces of a perfect puzzle, finally coming together. Again, Gibbs wondered how could he have ignored his gut feelings from before. Perhaps this would have never happened...
As he heard the sound of people running through the house, Gibbs whispered in Tony's ear, hoping that maybe he could hear, "You can't die yet. I won't allow it. You don't have my permission. Not like this, Tony..."