Chapter 5: You cannot open a book without learning something (Confucius)
After finally figuring out what rules number 3 and 5 were – McGee almost wet himself with puppy-like enthusiasm when Vance casually inquired – the director of the NCIS had unknowingly begun to work on rule number 45 (McGee didn't know what this one said), starting with reading not only Anthony DiNozzo's personal file. He had to admit that Gibbs was right. He hadn't done his homework when taking over the mess Jen Shepard had left.
#3: Never believe what you're told. Double check.
He had believed the summaries instead of reading entire personnel files. He had believed the scathing comments of both Officer David and agent McGee concerning their colleague, never trying to reconcile this with what he heard from the USS Reagan.
He had believed that Gibbs had the God-like ability to figure out everything.
Now, an innocent man was dead and someone was still leaking information.
The solve rate of the MCRT had dropped below the rates of any other team, and whatever cases were solved were due to Gibb's efforts. The cases they did solve were high-profile enough to gloss over that nothing happened anymore in the cold-case department when they were not hunting the occasional serial killer, and also he had turned a blind eye on that fact.
#5: You don't waste good.
The agent in front of him proved to be an intelligent, witty, humorous young man who regaled him with a funny anecdote from his time spent at Harvard where he had gained his doctoral degree. The conglomerate of master and bachelor degrees in forensics, criminal law, psychology, sociology, and a course in profiling were obtained from different institutions, wherever he had been living and working at the time.
His FLETC records were almost perfect. McGee was always bragging about his skills using a computer, while making it seem like DiNozzo could not even switch it on the right way. What the computer geek had left out, though, was that he himself barely knew which part of a gun had to point away from him, and that running after a suspect was something he rather left to anyone else. After investigating a bit by himself (Delores Bromstead from HR was a rather willing source of information that would nix McGee's chances to ever be promoted to anything but probationary agent) he had figured out that DiNozzo had done all the computer work that Miss Sciuto could not manage during his time in a two-man team with Gibbs.
Well, and he guessed that you couldn't be close to Tony Stark and not know anything about computers.
DiNozzo's face closed off, a solid mask slipping in place when his friend was mentioned, and he denied having any close relations to the engineer. He was rather convincing when he told Vance that they just loosely kept contact after having spent most of their childhood and awkward age together.
It took the director a while to figure out that the agent tried to make sure that his friendship with the genius would not be exploited, stating very directly that he had no influence whatsoever on Tony Stark, and whoever tried to would have to make it past the lovely Miss Potts, anyway.
Vance actually backpedaled, assuring the other man that this was never his plan.
At some point, DiNozzo sighed.
"Why don't you just stop beating around the bush, director? Tony Stark won't start a hostile takeover of the NCIS if you send me back to the USS Reagan. I won't lie to you and tell you that I'm happy about it, but you're the boss, and I still like my job as an investigator. At least…"
Here, he interrupted himself, averting his glance. At least the people aboard appreciated his work and didn't treat him as if he couldn't tell his ass from his elbow. Yeah, he was sick all the time because the stupid floor moved all the time, but at least he didn't have belly cramps every morning before he went to work.
"I read the complaints you filed with HR and director Shepard, agent DiNozzo. I am deeply sorry that nothing was done against the obvious disrespect, especially when you were the one doing all the work. You will not be sent back as Agent Afloat. I already implemented some of the suggestions you made right after director Shepard took over. Why Officer David was treated different from any other foreign agency liaison is beyond me."
"I'd rather not be there when she figures out she lost her security clearance", DiNozzo said with a frown, having Vance sigh.
"She has been complaining since she is back, trying to rope Gibbs and McGee into making me take her back with all the rights she had under director Shepard. She will, eventually, after she finished FLETC training and we have a position as an agent she can apply for. Before that, though, she is the Mossad liaison, at a liaison's payment, with a liaison's rights."
Taking a sip from his coffee, Vance looked at the younger man.
"Things will change, agent DiNozzo. I have been sloppy when taking over, and I will remedy that. Gibbs told me I broke rules 3 and 5, and I think he was right."
With that, the director grabbed another file from his desk, handing it to a flustered DiNozzo who apparently knew exactly what those rules said, especially number five. They still had a mole to catch. So Vance would use his resources.
DiNozzo took the file, whispered something that sounded like "rule 45" to himself, making the director look at him.
"McGee couldn't tell me what that rule said."
DiNozzo just looked at him.
#45: Clean up the mess you made.
Vance intended doing exactly that.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs couldn't help but glance over his shoulder every now and then, looking up the mezzanine and the stairs that led to the director's office, wishing he had some of those superpowers the people in the movies DiNozzo kept citing used to have. Super-hearing would be rather useful in the moment. His former SFA was up there for quite a while now, and even Cynthia was not willing to spill anything that might go on in there.
Ziva had been more than cold to DiNozzo in Cartagena, but she was pissed ever since Vance had made very clear that she would not return to the conditions director Shepard had granted her, taking it out on everyone around her. Obviously, Ziva David did not need any training how to be an investigator, no matter how many people told her that she was severely lacking in this regard.
Not that Tony had been the epitome of happiness when he saw the former Mossad agent, but at least he had been civil. The older agent would've liked to think that DiNozzo was happy seeing him… he'd been professional, though, polite… and nothing like the Tony he knew and… appreciated. He had expected him to make jokes, a ton of movie references, and… well, to whine a bit more to be allowed back to DC.
He had been rather indifferent, though, when Gibbs told him that he would accompany corpsman Taylor Henley to the US for his trial.
Most probably he was just waiting for Vance to send him back to the Seahawk. It was not like Tony could refuse if he wanted to keep his job. At least this was what Vance had made pretty clear after first assigning Ziva and DiNozzo to secure Shepard's funeral and then sending him away and breaking up the team.
This time, though, Gibbs would throw a rather memorable tantrum to keep his best agent. He was sick of cleaning up after David and McGee, the past few months making him realize just how much work his SFA actually put into keeping the team going. But…
DiNozzo was in there for too long, now.
He didn't actually expect him to be sent back to sea. Otherwise, Cynthia would have appeared already, providing Tony with travelling information… God, he really needed somebody to distract him from their whining and bullshit they thought he would be interested in. McGee and David were chatting about how much they liked their tea or coffee in the moment, instead of working on their reports, and it was driving him up the wall!
Abby was missing, too. He had thought she would be hovering around, pouncing on Tony the moment she set her eyes on him. Ducky had greeted Tony as if a long lost son had reappeared, and also Palmer had hugged the returned Agent Afloat. All in all, Tony had seemed happier to meet the two of them than meeting his old team.
What the hell had he missed here?!
When he finally heard someone exiting the anteroom to Leon's office, not only Gibbs turned his head. By now, the entire bullpen had stopped working and started to secretly (or not so secretly) watch Gibbs. Vance was escorting Tony out of his office. They were talking, but they were too far away to be heard. Both men were exchanging a handshake and a smile before Vance headed back into his room, while DiNozzo sauntered down the stairs, heading directly for his abandoned desk where he had parked his gear.
"So, did our dear director send you back to the big bad ship? Did you cry?" Ziva taunted, wiping non-existent tears from her cheek. DiNozzo ignored her, rounding his desk.
"Oh, but didn't you like it there, Tony? All those pilots? I heard they believe themselves better than God. Should be right in your league, right?" While Tony frowned at McGee, Gibbs sent him a glare. If looks could kill, the little computer genius would have been dead. A fighter pilot had to believe he was better than anyone. Otherwise they would not step a foot into those flying death traps.
DiNozzo simply turned to Gibbs, not even talking to those two as he lifted his backpack, putting one strap over his shoulder.
"I'll be reporting back as your SFA in a week. I have to sort out a few things, my flat is still sublet, all my stuff and my car are in storage. Vance approved that and wants to talk to you, agent Gibbs. Have a nice evening, probationary agent McGee. Officer David." Nodding at the two other people who were sending him confused looks, DiNozzo just turned around and left the bullpen, entering the elevator before anyone could come up with a smart (or scathing) retort.
With another glare, Gibbs stood up and moved around his desk. DiNozzo rarely took an authoritative approach when interacting with his co-workers, he was only doing that when also his patience ran out on them.
Gibbs himself was only agent Gibbs, when he was in deep shit with the younger man, and he could only speculate what was wrong. While he was good at reading other people, well, criminals mostly, women and DiNozzo were a riddle wrapped up in an enigma most of the time.
Cynthia by now was used to the fact that he just passed her, marching into the director's office like he owned the place. Morrow and Gibbs had been buddies, so he didn't care. Shepard sometimes had locked the room. Vance…
Vance was expecting him this time.
What he didn't expect was for Gibbs to knock and politely wait until the director called him in. When he had closed the door behind himself, the investigator turned to the man behind the desk, sending him a look.
Tony once had called him a functional mute – a very astute observation. Gibbs was fine with being silent. He could talk if needed (otherwise he would be a crap cop, interrogations didn't work without communicating). With most people, a glare was enough most of the time to transmit what he wanted.
Vance gestured for him to sit down, watching the lead agent of the MCRT. When the man still didn't talk, he just started to tell him how life in the MCRT would change.
Gibbs' fist almost broke the table top once he learned how McGee and David had treated his second in command during his journey of self-discovery in Mexico.
He'd always been ashamed of his own behavior when he came back, dumping DiNozzo like he was trash even before DiNozzo started separating himself from the team. He had also thought that DiNozzo was able to look through the act of him playing the alpha wolf, taking back his position, expecting everyone to accept it.
His SFA had accepted it, but back then, it was mostly because David and McGee weren't his problem anymore and he could concentrate on the undercover op without having to work four jobs at the same time. He never knew that Tony was offered and gave up a team lead for staying with him, willingly exposing himself to the hell his co-workers created because he realized that his boss was still struggling with his memories and everything else that had happened.
And all Gibbs did was letting the duo infernale insult him at every possible occasion, and blaming him for keeping things from him that actually were not his business.
Vance glared at the shell-shocked man in front of him.
"Both of us fucked up, Gibbs. I'm not the only one who broke rule #5."
Tony DiNozzo took a deep breath when he finally left the Navy yard. He hadn't expected McProbie and the Ninja-chick to break into heartfelt declarations of affection once he returned. He had also not expected them to be this hostile.
Obviously, Vance had been hunting a mole in NCIS, was still hunting him or her, that being the real reason for breaking up the MCRT. The man had apologized profoundly for treating him the way he did. He'd been working on fake information (and did a crap job getting to know his employees), though, but Tony didn't really want to hold it against him. It was in the past, he could not change it, anyway. They had an adult conversation on how Leon could make it up to him, how they could put his education and his experience to good use.
He knew that a part of the opinion his co-workers had about his stemmed from his own behavior. But they never took the effort to dig deeper. What hurt more was how Gibbs treated him. He, after all, knew all about Tony's education. At least that sealed the deal for him to keep things professional, and only professional with his team mates.
Stepping onto the sidewalk in front of the building, he sighed. Gibbs had brought him here, he knew what he had achieved throughout his life (and thoroughly mocked his PhD in criminology when they still were a two-man-team), he had basically been living in the other man's guest room for months because his heating was broken almost permanently. Gibbs didn't talk a lot, but he made conversation during dinner or on weekends when they sat in front of the tv, watching a game. DiNozzo did not know how much of that the older man had forgotten after he'd been severely injured in that accursed explosion.
DiNozzo had never blamed Gibbs for leaving, after all, his life had just been turned upside down and inside out.
The way he chose to come back, though…
Shaking his head, Tony sighed again. He had a shitload of things to do, and he had promised himself to not revisit this clusterfuck. He needed a cab, he needed somewhere to sleep, and he finally wanted his life back.
He startled when somebody right next to him whistled, followed by a rather loud "Yo, Mr. DiNozzo!"
Looking up and into the direction of the exclamation the investigator saw a familiar face... wearing jeans and a pullover.
"Happy! What are you doing here? Please tell me T didn't make you drive all the way to DC…" He knew that T might do something like that. Send his driver all the way to DC just to have a familiar face around, to not have to take a taxi. Hogan's clothes didn't make sense, though. He was always wearing a suit, when… coming to think of it, he also didn't see the limo…
"Nope, we took the jet. The boss just said to make sure you'd get in the car. He'd take care of the rest."
Following Happy's thumb that pointed over his shoulder all DiNozzo could make out was a simple yellow cab, with somebody sitting on the back seat. The person turned his head, purple glasses briefly reflecting the setting sun as he waved and grinned all over his face.
Hogan just grinned as his boss' best friend took off towards the car.
Looking around in the rather spacious living room, Dino had finished spooning his dessert into his mouth and already put the bowl away. T had hugged him the moment he'd jumped into the cab (obviously, Happy had a pal in DC who was willing to lend him his car) and not really let go since then, so they lay cuddled on the couch since they had ordered food. Not that he minded. After the rather cold welcome he'd received at the Navy yard, it was definitely great that his best friend was resting between his legs, his head bedded against the agent's upper body, eating his own ice-cream.
Happy took them to Georgetown, to one of those beautiful red-brick buildings, and Dino learned that Stark industries had flats that belonged to the company all over the world. The lovely Miss Potts spent a lot of time in DC, so they also owned one here.
"She's busy in California for the next few weeks. You can stay as long as you want…"
Closing his arms around the man in front of him, Dino kissed the top of T's head.
"How long will you stay?" he asked, watching the spoon disappear in the engineer's mouth, regretting that he had wolfed down his own… maybe T would be willing to…
"Don't even think about it. My ice. I took a week off. Pep almost fainted, obviously, it's the first time since I'm the R&D department head that I'm officially taking a vacation. I don't think I ever really was on a real vacation. I… I'd really like to try this, Dino. So I thought… we might spend some time together, maybe try out this living together thing…"
Dino's gaze strayed to the MARK V suitcase in the corner as he rested his chin on top of T's head. Happy already was on his way back to New York, still amused that Tony Stark of all people high jacked a yellow cab to surprise his best friend. Dino's first thought when he opened the passenger door of that car had been that he wanted to kiss the other man.
He couldn't remember thinking something like that when it came to T before. Sure, they had kissed, they had done a lot more… This time… it felt different, somehow…
"I'll mostly do annoying and boring things… finding a flat, because mine's sublet for another 6 months, getting my stuff and my car out of storage… buy some furniture…"
"Never did anything like that before… might be fun… I could also give the car a once over." T shrugged as he said that, scratching out the last bits of ice cream out of his bowl before putting it on the coffee table before turning around and moving them both down on the couch into a lying positing
"I'd like that", was all Dino managed to get out as T lay down on top of him, watching him out of those warm, brown eyes.
"I'd like all of that", he repeated, cradling T's face in his hands. All of it. Having his car checked. Having company for the annoying stuff. Trying out the relationship-thing.
"Soooo… any chance for me to get into your pants already at the first date?" Stark grinned, and somehow DiNozzo was glad that the insensitive side was still there.
"Hmmmm… nah, I don't think I put out on the first date. I might be talked into a good night ki…"
T leaned down and his lips touched Dino's before he could finish his sentence. They were soft, and warm, and his beard tickled, and when they separated, Dino couldn't help the goofy smile that appeared on his face.
"But we could count breakfast and lunch as second and third", he suggested, grinning along with his best friend.
