Kate hadn't been able to sleep very well. Full moons did that to her. They made her feel slightly wired and like she'd forgotten to do something before climbing into bed.
She'd given up on sleeping around 5, feeling as if she had just been cat-napping anyhow.
She was the first one in, even before Gibbs. She was tired though, sporting casual and a ponytail.
She sat at her desk with her coffee thinking about the interviews she'd done so far with Gibbs in regard to Pvt. Combs. They had driven up to Toms River, New Jersey to interview his family yesterday. She cringed inwardly thinking about the raw agony that came off them in waves. They were absolutely devastated. He was one of three brothers, and the family was close knit. Neighbors and local friends indicated that the young man was well liked, an upstanding kind of guy, and had few if any real enemies. Further research lead them to his ex-girlfriend, who was now living in Utah with her new boyfriend, who had not been anywhere near DC in the last year. That left them with nothing. No leads up to date. And a very angry Gibbs.
But Kate had also taken notes on the names of Combs' two best friends, who had moved out of the area as well, and who were her next choices to go see as soon as she had addresses confirmed.
Around 7:30 Gibbs rolled in, giving her a barely raised brow as he passed her desk to his. "Morning," he murmured.
"Good morning Gibbs," she said brightly, trying to hide a smirk as he winced a bit at her very awake tone.
She knew that there was a reason Gibbs came in and drank tons of coffee. He was not a morning person. Actually, not an afternoon or evening person either, she thought with mild amusement.
He took his trench coat off and then looked directly at her, icy gaze close to blank, "You following up on the BFF's?" He then sipped his coffee, bliss suddenly obvious on his countenance as he closed his eyes briefly.
"Yes," she responded evenly, "At eight I'm going to start calling around to confirm where they are."
He grunted with a nod, and then sat down, immediately opening his file drawers and rifling around.
They were both silent, preparing for the day when McGee came in with a smile and nod, around 8:15. He also went right to work, looking for anything in cyberspace that could point to why someone would have murdered Pvt. Combs.
Around 9, Kate made eye contact with McGee. They had a silent conversation with their eyes. Tony was about to be late again. And they could feel the tension coming from behind Gibbs' desk. The situation was gasoline about to encounter a lit match.
By 9:30, Kate had one interview scheduled with Jim Lyons, who had known Combs since high school. It would be a few hours ride to Baltimore. She was supposed to go with Tony. But now…
"Dammit, DiNozzo," Gibbs growled pulling out his phone.
Apparently, after a few rings, Tony didn't pick up. McGee and Kate glanced at each other in something close to horror when they heard the Boss' tone, deadly quiet, "Agent DiNozzo, you are on thin ice. You already screwed up enough. Never be unreachable." Then he flipped the phone closed.
"Kate, take McGee with you," Gibbs said calmly…almost sadly, Kate thought.
"Ah…Boss…"McGee began, obviously worried that either Tony would be angry with him for going with Kate, or that Gibbs was going to annihilate Tony altogether without one of them there when their SFA eventually arrived.
"Agent McGee?" Gibbs asked softly, tilting his head expectantly and staring at him, reminding Tim of the chain of command.
"Yessir…Gibbs-Boss- going," he grabbed his pack in a hurry, inwardly cringing for Tony, and left with Kate.
Shit shit shit…He was going to be dismembered when he got in. He was an hour late. And he saw that Gibbs had called… He should have called when he woke up, but the fog around his mind was like a thick blanket. He felt like Hell. Maybe he was getting sick after all. His eyes and throat burned a little and his body ached everywhere. It took two cups of coffee he drank way too quickly in order for him to fumble himself into his jeans and sweater. Shaving seemed like way too much effort but at least his face and teeth were clean.
He debated calling out sick…but Gibbs was already unhappy with him. Likely he needed to just face the music and let Gibbs blow up so they could move past it.
He tried to think about what he did when he got home last night…why he was so out of it this morning...and then smiled. Renata had called him and they went out for drinks…but he thought about her face lit up by the bar …a different bar then they'd gone to before…where were they again last night? The name of it was eluding him. In fact, the whole place was eluding him. Where had they been? Where had he been?
He looked at the floor where he usually tossed his clothes until he got up in the morning and threw them in the hamper. What had he even been wearing? Did he get a chance to change after coming home from the airport ?
Mild panic crawled up his nerves. He couldn't ignore that he was losing bits of time.
He paused in his frantic scramble to get out of the house as the realization sunk in. Something was wrong with this relationship. Or maybe something was just wrong with him. Either way…maybe he should be grounding himself, in case he was somehow a danger to the team…But right as he had the thought of talking to Gibbs about it, of stepping back from the job, a searing pain shot through his head.
Tony staggered, and sat down on his couch, with a groan. "Great," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. But the pain lightened. Then he tried to resume his thought process, and found he wasn't able to. Whatever he'd been worrying about…Oh yeah, being late. He frowned. "Better go face the music," he sighed, and felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
He jumped up and grabbed his keys off the console table, briefly checking the phone as he locked his door behind him. Gibbs.
Shit.
"DiNozzo," he answered, trying to sound confident…and calming.
"Tony," Gibbs said in the low voice that meant he was about to kill someone with his bare hands.
"Hi Boss. I'm running a little late today." He exited the elevator to his car parked in the garage.
…"A little, DiNozzo ?"
He was silent, not knowing what to say to the Senior Agent.
"Tony," Gibbs finally sighed.
"Yeah Boss?" His heart pounded. He felt like he should be telling Gibbs something. Asking for help. But with what?
"Meet me at Cranes."
"The case-"
"Can wait. The team is on it. You and I need to talk."
Fuck. "Okay, Boss. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
The line went dead , indicating that the call was over, and Tony cringed. The Boss was pissed. If he was getting a private talk…
He blew out a breath of air, trying to calm himself. But he knew that he was likely getting written up. Which wouldn't be a first, but it would be the first time that it was because he was letting Gibbs down, and not just mouthing off to the wrong official. What the Hell was wrong with him?
When he arrived at Cranes Café', near the Yard, it was fairly quiet. The morning rush was over a while ago.
He saw Gibbs already seated at a small table in the corner, the expected coffee sitting on the table. He was on a call, and glanced briefly at the door as Tony came in.
The older man passed his eyes over his decidedly bedraggled looking SFA, and then went back to focusing on his call.
Tony squared his shoulders and took a deep breath as he made his way to the table and sat.
"When I have something, Tom, you'll know it," Gibbs said finally, closing the phone. Then he put it down on the table and looked at the younger man with undisguised scrutiny.
Tony looked down for a moment, and then back up at Gibbs, "So on the Gibbs scale, from Tasmanian Devil to T-rex, how pissed at me are you exactly?" He tried the barest hint of a smile.
Gibbs tilted his head and took a breath. "Disappointed."
Tony felt the word like a knife in his heart. It just…hurt. Worse than he thought it should. He simply nodded and looked down again with a grimace, picking at the edge of the table.
Then he sat back, and gazed back at Gibbs, staring at him for a moment. "Bound to happen, Boss. When you have high expectations…you're bound to be disappointed sometimes."
Gibbs' jaw ticked. The vein in his temple made itself more visible. "DiNozzo, what the Hell is going on with you ?"
Tony said nothing and continued staring at Gibbs.
"A probie…I'd expect to have this talk with. You? You?", Gibbs asked in exasperation.
"Make me understand can't do you job at a crime scene. You contaminate said crime scene." He watched the shock register on the younger man's face. "Yes, your hair was found on the body. You must have leaned over or taken your cap off...at any rate, it's sloppy work and could have cost us."
Tony's lips parted for a moment to say something in his own defense. But no words came out. His eyes widened slightly as he realized he didn't know what to tell Gibbs. "I…"He frowned and looked around, simply confused. How in the world had he contaminated a scene?
"You are distracted, not performing your duties, and you look like what the cat dragged in,"Gibbs said more calmly, with a hint of concern. "What is going on with you? Is it this relationship you're in? Or…are you doing things you shouldn't be doing?"
The last comment shocked Tony into wondering if Gibbs was hinting at his sleeping with Joachim. But how could he know?
"I'm…not sure what you're talking about,"Tony said cautiously, heart thumping, as Gibbs watched him sharply for tells.
"Drugs. Alcohol," Gibbs said plainly, ice blue gaze never wavering from Tony's darkening mossy green.
He was partly relieved Gibbs didn't seem to know about Joachim, but now furious at feeling afraid of being outed, and of Gibbs entertaining the thought Tony would be so irresponsible as to get involved with substances.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at Gibbs, "Have you smelled alcohol on me once?"
Gibbs shook his head slowly.
"Have you seen any indication that I'm doing any kind of drugs? Jesus Christ," he shook his own head sorrowfully, "Do you really know me so little that you would think that Boss? Aren't you a believer in never assume?"
"I know what I see. You are not yourself," Gibbs said calmly, one brow raised, daring the younger man to contradict him.
"Not myself..." he trailed off in disbelief. Tony thought about what had been happening at work, and about why he was late, and once again that damned pain shot through his head, and into his right eye. He winced and rubbed his eyes.
Gibbs was worried now, watching how Tony tried to soothe away the pain he apparently suffered. He saw the younger man's shaking hands and pale skin. And he knew that Tony was hiding something. But what?
Tony finally looked at Gibbs again and opened his mouth to speak, But Gibbs waved him off.
"I'm writing you up for the late. But whatever this is, we can't afford it. You're riding a desk until you're ready to tell me what's going on." It killed him to have to ground the younger man. And to see the hurt in his eyes at what Gibbs had said to him. But something needed to be done.
Tony's mouth twisted a little in anger. Did Gibbs really think he could force Tony to talk to him? About some kind of problem that didn't exist ? "Sure Boss. Are we done here?"
Gibbs nodded once and Tony was gone in a flash.
He sighed and rubbed his face, kneading his eyelids for a moment. When he opened them, there was a feminine hand placing another cup of coffee in front of him.
He looked up, and saw a striking woman with caramel skin and emerald green eyes smiling at him. She casually sat in front of him with her own coffee, flipping back a thick mane of dark hair over her shoulder. She had rosy lips that complimented her brown suede jacket and boots. She had little accents of silver jewelry on, even a ring in her nose.
Gibbs sat back, a brow raised in question.
"Come on Mister Gibbs," she began, accent thick and obviously Brazilian or Portuguese.
"Agent," he said.
"Agent Gibbs," she smiled again, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
He looked at her straight nose, dark lashes and those bright eyes. "DiNozzo knows how to pick em'," he observed neatly. She was beautiful. But something about her made his skin crawl. And what was she doing? Following Tony? Who was she really?
She giggled, "I agree." She sipped her coffee and then pointed at his, "Antonio says you take your coffee black. And you like it strong so that the spoon stands in it."
He let out a small puff of amusement. "That's right." He reached for the cup, smelling the specialty Columbian that Cranes was popular for. He smiled and took a small sip, knowing that there were security cameras all over the shoppes by the Yard to protect the workers. In addition, the café' was about fourteen feet square. She had literal feet between purchasing the coffee and coming to him. She would not have been able to slip anything into his brew without being noticed. "What do you want?"
She sipped her own coffee. "To apologize."
"For what?" he asked evenly.
"Ah," she said straightening up a bit, "Where are my manners? I am Renata. Antonio-Tony's girlfriend." She held a hand out for him to shake.
He took it and gently, quickly shook it. Her skin was cool and soft. "Renata…?"
She just smiled as her hand withdrew. "Just Renata."
"Jethro," he said, playing the game she was apparently running so far. He sensed he was sitting across from the likes of whom he's gone to the ends of the earth to catch, or to put away for crimes that would make horror movies seem like child's play. He sensed great danger.
"I admit I knew Tony was going to meet you here today, and I couldn't help but want to apologize for causing him to be perhaps…off his game? That is an appropriate term, yes?"
Gibbs narrowed his eyes at her, "Who says he's off his game?"
"Well," she had the decency to look chagrined,"he has told me about being distracted and very tired at work…" she slowly swirled the coffee in her cup. "It's not easy when one has found great love…" she smiled. "And …lust."
He watched her form more words with her beautiful shiny lips, and the coffee swirling in her cup. "You know…" she crooned,"how it is when people first fall in love…" her other hand reached over the table to stroke his as it rested on the coffee cup handle. "You can't get enough of each other's skin…each other's taste…" her thumb was moving in circles on the top of his hand and wrist. "There's almost no way to satisfy that kind of appetite."
Suddenly he shook out of the daze he had gone into and growled, pulling back from her and the table. "What Agent DiNozzo does or does not do with his appetites is none of my business unless it interferes with his job." He was feeling very angry with this woman. She was some kind of egomaniac, coming to Gibbs and thinking she had the right to make excuses for his SFA. "And unless it causes harm to him. Because let me tell you, Renata, Tony is family to me. And anyone that harms just one hair on his head is going to have a serious problem."
He had nor real idea yet why, but he had to let her know that hurting Tony had serious consequences. Tony needed to stay away from her. He knew it, like he knew the Sun was hot, but he had no evidence yet to say why.
She smiled and picked up her coffee again, "We are on the same page, Agent Gibbs." She took a sip and put her cup down, and then looked up at him. Her eyes took on a seriousness he didn't expect. "I would never willingly harm Tony. I genuinely care about him. I want you to know that."
And though he had serious misgivings about her, the intensity of her words made them feel sincere...
"I hope that's true." He let out a breath softly he had no idea he was holding.
She sat up straight and suddenly looked at her watch. "Ah, I am late for a rehearsal. I must go." She stood up and pushed her chair in. Out of a fringed suede bag she produced a pair of large sunglasses. She put them on and said, "It's been real, Agent Gibbs. Don't be too hard on him. I will try to give him more rest," she smiled lasciviously, and then was out the door.
Gibbs frowned. Just what the Hell was that?