Chapter Ten: Complications
"McGee! Go. Help Abby," Gibbs ordered.
"Uh, yes, boss," McGee answered.
"Kate. I want everything since Collins was born."
"Got it, Gibbs," Kate said, already picking up her phone.
Gibbs looked at the sleeping form of his six. He hadn't had the heart to wake him up earlier. But, now, he needed him to help with the case.
"Tony," he said, jogging over to Tony's desk. "Hey, Tony."
Tony sat up groggily, pain clear on his face.
"When were your last painkillers?" Gibbs asked quietly.
"Uh...um...last...uh...yesterday, when you forced me to," Tony remembered.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs warned, "I shouldn't have to force you. Take some more."
Tony gave him a look, then said, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, Tony. Seriously. Come on! Get moving!" Gibbs told him. Gibbs didn't move until he saw Tony swallow the two pills. Then, he told him, "Help Kate."
"Yeah, okay," Tony told him. "Kate, what do you need help with?"
"Yeah, thanks," Kate said, finishing up her phone call. She turned to look at Tony. "You look awful." At the look he gave her, she told him, "Background."
He nodded and set to work, just as Gibbs told them he was going up to MTAC to see the director.
"Background...back...ground...back...ground...background," Tony muttered while he worked.
"Hey! You wanna quit that, DiNozzo?" Kate told him.
Tony rolled his eyes. "You know what it is? You just annoy too easily."
Just then, Tony's phone rang. "DiNozzo." Then, Tony paled. "N-no. Please? I don't- " And the line went dead.
Kate looked up. "Who was that?"
Tony shook his head. He got up and tried to casually walk to the restroom, but, in reality, he probably looked a hot mess.
He got to the restroom and looked in the mirror. He was pale and clammy. He was shaking. 'Why? Why? Why?' he thought. 'I can't do this.' But, he did his best to make himself look normal. He did his best, then walked out. He walked back to his desk.
"Where ya been, DiNozzo?" Gibbs said, walking in.
"The...The head," Tony told him shakily.
Gibbs immediately stopped at Tony's desk. "What?" he asked quietly.
"I...I can't…?" Tony mumbled out as Gibbs remembered Kate was still in the squad room.
"DiNozzo? With me," Gibbs said, leading him to the elevator.
As the doors closed and Gibbs pulled the emergency stop lever, Tony quietly asked, "What?"
"What do you mean what? You look like someone just died. What is it?"
"My...my dad's coming…?...back…? I'm…"
"Yeah," Gibbs told him soundlessly, more than a bit shocked. "When?"
"I don't know. He's getting on the plane now. Boss? It only takes an hour to get to DC from New York?! I don't know what to do," Tony admitted looking around at the elevator.
"Alright, alright. Calm down. You're here all day, and it's safe here. We got hundreds of federal agents here, armed guards. Tonight, you come to my house," Gibbs told him.
Tony tilted his head to the side. "Do you mean that?" Tony asked, surprisingly childlike.
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," Gibbs told him. "And I have a big feeling he'll be waiting at your apartment."
"What if…? What if he finds me?"
"Oh, he won't."
Tony looked confused, but just nodded.
"You okay?" Gibbs asked him.
"I...I'm not sure," Tony told him.
Gibbs nodded, thankful Tony now seemed to trust him enough to be truthful. "Come on."
They went back up to the squad room. Tony sat behind his desk. They worked as though nothing had happened.
And when the day was done, Tony got in his car and drove to Gibbs' house. Gibbs got in his car, however, and drove to Tony's apartment. Whether Tony's dad was there or not, he was gonna find out. He couldn't tell Tony though. Tony would object. Not that Gibbs blamed him. Senior was his father. Maybe Tony would never hate senior, maybe he would always carry a love for his father. Maybe he didn't blame senior. But Gibbs sure as hell did. You never lay a harmful hand on your child. Every parent should know that! And he wasn't afraid of Tony's father. Senior was a coward. Gibbs' plan was to take care of him once and for all. He wouldn't touch him. Wouldn't let the bastard get lawyers involved. But he would talk to him, tell him to stay the hell away from Tony. And, if that didn't work, maybe he could kick Senior's ass a little.
