Chapter Eleven: Father Dearest
Tony arrived at Gibbs' house after work. He let himself in and sat on the couch. He knew Gibbs hadn't arrived yet due to the absence of his car. He wondered what was taking him so long. Had he run into traffic? He sat and waited the man to arrive.
Gibbs walked up to Tony's apartment and didn't bother knocking. He knew the door would be unlocked due to Senior's arrival. He walked in and shut the door quietly behind himself.
A voice came from the kitchen, "Junior? I thought...You're not Junior."
"Nope. Jethro Gibbs. I'd say it was a pleasure, but, under the circumstances, it's not really, is it?"
"Well, I'm assuming you know who I am. Who exactly are you?"
"I am your son's boss," Gibbs informed him.
"Oh, yeah. I might remember Junior saying something about you."
"Oh, when? When you were kicking his ass?" Gibbs decided to get to the point.
Then, Senior put on a big smile, which pissed Gibbs off further. "I don't think you're in any place to tell me how to parent."
Gibbs smiled back and nodded. "Nope." He dropped the smile. "But I'll be damned if I'm gonna let my Senior Field Agent be benched whenever you visit. He's too important for that. And I'm not gonna sit by while your parenting turns into abuse."
"I've been raising Junior for thirty three years. I think I know a little more than you," Senior said viciously.
"You know him? I bet you do. I bet you know how scared he is of you. I bet you know that you can do whatever you want to that kid, and he won't do anything. Because he's scared? No. Not that he isn't scared, but if he was only scared, he'd kick your ass. He doesn't because you're his father, or at least he still thinks you are."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Senior roared.
"That you haven't been his father for the past twenty five years. Your wife died, and Tony lost his father," Gibbs told him.
"How dare you! My wife- "
"-Cared for Tony. I know. He loved her almost as much as she loved him. And I think you should be ashamed of how you have treated him."
"He's fine," Senior told him.
"He's broken! You broke him! Do you understand? Your boy, your child can't trust anyone! Because of you! You broke his trust! You broke him, emotionally...and physically. You know, he was scared to death that you were gonna come back. I heard you told him you would come back if he told anyone what you'd done. So, I guess you do know it's abuse. Is that why you came back? You had a feeling he broke his promise that he shouldn't've had to make in the first place?"
"You got some nerve! I love my son!"
"Well, you got a funny way of showing it. I think he still loves you for whatever reason, but I know you don't love him. No one treats someone they love like that. I mean, you broke him, stretched him beyond his limitations, and you don't care. You couldn't care less! And that's why I'm pissed. If Tony doesn't understand that he's too good a kid to have a father like you, I'm more than happy to drill it into his thick head."
"He's only a good kid because of me. I raised him! I made him who he is today!"
"Oh, I don't doubt that you influenced who he is today. I mean, because of you, he has trust issues, low self-esteem. He doesn't believe that anyone could care about him. And that's because of you," Gibbs explained.
"You don't know anything about my family!"
"I know more about him than you. I don't use him as a punching bag. That's you. I know about him. I know his strengths, and I know his weaknesses. I know his fears. I know what he needs, and I know how he thinks. You- You don't know any of that. The only thing you know is that when you hit him, he doesn't hit back."
Senior's face turned a new kind of red. "Get out."
"You can't tell me to leave. You don't live here. And you don't scare me. Sorry. You're gonna leave, back to New York or wherever you came from. You won't come back anymore. You will stop traumatizing that man, so he can heal. Understand?"
"No. Junior doesn't want me to leave. He already lost his mother," Senior told him.
"He's already lost his father!"
"I am the only parent he's got left."
"I think he's better off with no parents than with you alone. You only want to stay to hurt him. Don't you understand that? Every time you see him, he gets hurt! And that's what got you on my bad side! I care too much for him, for his future, to have all that disappear because of you! He deserves to live without constant fear. He is more afraid of you than the criminals he deals with every day! Does that not bother you?"
"I wanna see Junior."
"Naw, that's never gonna happen. He's safer where he is," Gibbs told him.
Now Senior was fuming. "Tell me where my son is, Gibbs! Now!"
"No," Gibbs uttered the word.
That's when Senior made his move. He tried to go at Gibbs to tackle him, but it didn't take long for Gibbs to pin him to the ground. "I told you," Gibbs said as he held him down, "that you don't scare me."
"What," Senior said, failing to escape Gibbs, "What do you want?"
"The way I see it, you have two choices. Either go back to wherever you came from, or I call for backup and have you arrested right now. You choose."
"How do know I won't come back later?"
"Because we both now know that I can best you. And, if you do come back, you be sure to know, I won't go easy on you."
"Why do you care so much about him? He's your employee," Senior spat.
Without even thinking, Gibbs immediately answered, "Because he matters. All he, and, then again, most people, see is that he's street smart, and sarcastic, and that he's rarely serious about anything. He's the funny guy, class clown."
"So?"
"So. I happen to know that he's more than just street smart, way more. He's...a very intelligent young man. And I also happen to know that he's serious about things he cares about. And I, like anyone who knows anything about Tony, know that he's a flirt and he loves movies, TV in general. And I also know that I have never met anyone as loyal as him. He's devoted, faithful to me. Probably the most loyal young agent I've ever worked with. And I can put trust in him because of that. He's my six, and I wouldn't trade him for anything or anyone. Like I said, he's too important to lose. He's good. He doesn't know it, but he's good. And, believe you me, I'm not losing him to the likes of you."
"Where is he?" Tony said aloud in frustration. It had been three hours since he himself had arrived. Gibbs had yet to arrive. Tony had taken to pacing around the room. "Come on," he said, glancing at his watch.
Suddenly the door burst open as Gibbs made his way inside. Tony didn't waste a second to ask, "Where were you? It took you three hours to get here?"
"No. I had something to do. Why?" Gibbs responded.
"Why? Why? Because I've been waiting for you for the past three hours! Where'd you go?"
"Not important," Gibbs dismissed his question. "I'm hungry. You hungry? I'm gonna go see what I got in the kitchen."
Tony's eyes widened in disbelief as Gibbs entered the kitchen. "It is important," Tony said, turning and following Gibbs into the kitchen.
"Why?" Gibbs said, looking in his fridge.
Tony's mouth dropped as he couldn't believe his boss at the moment. "Because! I've been waiting for you for three hours!"
"Yeah, you mentioned that," Gibbs said. "What's your problem? I'm here now, aren't I?"
"The problem is that you said you were gonna be here. You should've told me if you were gonna be late. I'm only here because you asked me to come."
That got Gibbs' attention. He shut the fridge and looked the younger man in the eyes. "You are here to keep you safe."
"So, where were you?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"Why?"
"Because I'm not the one who was threatened! You were."
Tony opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He ran his tongue over his lips as he said quietly, "Matters to me. I trust you, Gibbs, I do. But, look, I can't trust you if you aren't honest with me. You want me to tell you my life story, when you won't even tell me where you went. It's a two way street, Gibbs."
Gibbs thought about that for a minute. Then, looked at Tony. "That was corny."
Tony nodded his head to the side, "I learn from you."
Gibbs crooked a finger, quietly saying, "C'mon," and leading Tony back to the couch. After they sat down, Gibbs said, "I'm gonna tell you something. You're not gonna like it, but I should probably tell you anyway. I was at your apartment."
Tony's face turned from intent listening to confusion. "Why?"
"You're not stupid, DiNozzo. I think you know."
Tony smiled wryly. "My father?" At Gibbs' nod, Tony asked, "Did you kill him?"
"Not yet," Gibbs said. When Tony's eyes widened, he said, "Kidding."
"What did you do?" Tony asked.
"Talked to him a little, then pinned him to the ground," Gibbs said nonchalantly.
Tony's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What?! What, d'you wrestle him to the ground?!"
"Technically." Before Tony could say anything, Gibbs quipped, "But, he instigated it."
"What?" Tony asked in exasperation. "Did he try to kidney punch you?" he said, voice thick with sarcasm.
"That's boxing."
"I know it's boxing! Why did you wrestle him to the ground?!"
"Because," Gibbs said calmly, "he ran at me."
"Is that all?" Tony asked.
"Uh huh. Not that I didn't wanna do more, but it didn't seem very prudent."
Tony smiled a shy smile. "Yeah. Yeah, he has that effect on people. Where is he now?"
"Said he was getting on a plane, goin' back to New York."
"Is he?"
"I hope so because, if not, I may have to kill him."
"Gibbs!"
"Kidding. But I did warn him as to what may happen if he goes near you again. And, DiNozzo, I think you ought to get a restraining order against him."
Tony tilted his head from side to side until he agreed, "Yeah, okay. I gotta break Rule #6. I'm sorry I put you through this."
Gibbs shrugged. "Eh, you're worth it."
Tony smiled. "Thanks."
And the two sat in comfortable silence until Tony stood and said, "I, uh, I guess it's okay for me to go home now?"
"Tony, I told before and I meant it. You're always welcome."
"I know," Tony told him. After a minute, he asked shyly, "Is that forever?"
"As long as you need me, I'm here."
