Section 55

"Calm down, Tony. You need to take a deep breath and relax. You are so tense; you're going to snap." Jethro took his hand. They had spent a relaxed evening on their balcony sipping wine. Jethro had held Tony during the night, but knew Tony hadn't sleep much and not deeply. Tony had been quiet this morning while getting ready and now that it was nearly noon, he was becoming more anxious all the time. "Everything is going to be fine."

"Promise?" Tony hated the weakness in his tone.

"No matter what we find out, it doesn't change anything with us or our family." Jethro gave Tony a reassuring hug and he really wanted a nice discussion with Senior about his emotional abuse.

"Why don't we call home? We have a while before they get here."

"Isn't it too early?"

"It's almost six, dad will be probably be up." Jethro was happy to see Tony perk up and quickly dialed the number. To his surprise, his dad didn't answer the phone.

"Gibbs." Abby hissed. "It's Gibbs."

"Abby, why are you answering the phone?" Jethro fended off Tony's grab for the cellphone.

"He wants to know why I'm answering the phone." He could hear Abby whispering loudly. He could hear noises in the background.

"Hi, Boss."

"McGee, why are you and Abby answering the phone? Is dad okay?"

"Yes, Jackson is fine."

Fending off the continuous assault over the phone, Jethro put it on speaker. "Then would you like to tell me why you are answering the phone?"

"No." McGee said weakly.

"McGee." Jethro said firmly.

"Well…"

"Give me the phone. Son, how's your trip going?"

"Dad, what is going on?"

"We had a small incident, nothing to worry about."

"We've almost got him." An unknown voice shouted in the background.

"Got who?"

"Zuma was a bit upset over you leaving. He kept going up and laying on your bed and whimpering. Then Abby brought dinner over. I thought I had the door shut but he somehow got in. So Abby went up to get him and he decided to try to hide. While she was trying to get him out from under the dresser well…"

"What happened to Zuma? Jackson, is he okay? Where is he?" Tony was distraught.

"The fireman is almost to him."

"Fireman? There's a fire?"

"No, no. He's a friend of McGee's."

"Dad, what happened to Zuma?"

"Somehow he managed to get up in your box springs and well… he got tight." Jackson said. "Now don't worry. Abby called McGee and we turned the box springs over but couldn't get him out. McGee called a fireman he knew who came and brought a friend. They're cutting him out."

"We've got him."

Tony and Jethro could hear the shout. Then they heard the howling coming closer and closer.

"Here, come to Auntie Abby." Tony smirked as the howl turned to yelps of distress.

"Give him here." Jackson could be heard. "Hush you little fuzzball."

Tony could hear his father-in-law trying to calm Zuma down but the yelps turned to a heart-rending whimper. It was breaking his heart. He could hear Jackson speak to Abby, then the line went dead. "They hung up!"

At that time, Gibbs cellphone rang again. It was Abby. "You're on speaker, Tony. Say something."

"Hey, Zuma, it's okay." The whimpers ceased and he could hear Zuma giving small barks. "It's okay." The barking became frantic. Suddenly, there was Zuma taking up the whole screen and pawing the phone.

"Easy, Zuma." Gibbs commanded. "How's my boy?"

"He's fine." McGee spoke up. "Not a scratch but your box springs are in bad shape."

Tony punched Jethro's arm. "I told you no one was using those old metal things anymore. We are getting a new box spring."

"Well, yeah, they cut it up. We have to." Now that Zuma was safe, Gibbs was happy for the distraction they provided Tony.

"And a new mattress."

"They didn't cut the mattress."

Tony slugged him again. He crooned to Zuma who was still trying to get to his favorite people.

"Ooops. Say good-bye, Zuma." They caught a glimpse of McGee carrying Zuma at arm's length rushing from sight.

A brisk knock had Tony tensing again.

"Dad, we'll have to call you back later." Jethro disconnected the call. "Relax." Jethro stroked Tony's hair. "I'll get it." At the door were two men, one the lawyer from NCIS.

"Signor Gibbs," Rossi began, "May I present my employer, Signor Calogero Moretti."

"Signor Gibbs." Moretti bowed slightly.

"Signor Moretti," Gibbs felt Tony's hand on his back. "May I present my husband, Anthony DiNozzo."

"It is my pleasure, Signor DiNozzo. I have looked forward to this day. I took the liberty of ordering for us. Perhaps we could begin our discussion over a nice glass of wine?" He gestured to a bellhop who stood with a tray to the side. "Maybe on the balcony?"

"Sounds good." Gibbs stepped back and waved them in.

In no time, the four men were sitting in the conversation area on the balcony. Moretti looked around and gestured. "I trust that you are happy with your accommodations?"

"It..." Tony cleared his throat. "It was very nice of you to make the arrangements."

"When my father Taviano had a stroke several years ago, I was trusted with the Fabbri file. It has been an honor to fulfill his vows."

"Who is…" Tony took a deep breath suddenly not sure he wanted to know. "Who is Cristian Antonio Fabbri? Is he my father?"

"No." Moretti shook his head. "I'm sure that your husband has a strong suspicion. Otherwise, he would not have directed your Agent McGee on his current path." Moretti looked Tony straight in the eye with a gentle smile. "You are Cristian Antonio Fabbri. You have your mother's eyes and her smile."

"You know my mother? My real mother?"

"Si." An almost identical look of irritation crossed Tony and Gibbs' faces as a knock interrupted the conversation. Moretti simply gestured for Rossi to handle it. "I have known your mother all my life. I did not become aware that she was a client until my father's stroke."

"She's still alive?" Jethro interjected.

"Si. She is alive and in good health."

"Didn't she want to meet me?"

"She wants very much to meet you, however…" Signor Moretti frowned as his phone rang. Pulling it out, he looked at the screen. "One moment, please." He stood and went to stand near the wall while the bellboy was setting the table under Rossi's careful watch.

"Hanno visto lui ancora?"

"Io sono con lui ora." Moretti replied.

"Sta bene? Con tutto ciò che orribile uomo ha fatto?"

"Sì. Suo marito sembra prendere cura di lui." Moretti met Gibbs' eyes.

"Vuole incontrare me?"

"Ha appena chiesto la stessa cosa di te."

"Avete spiegato?"

"Sto solo cominciando. Vuoi che mandi Rossi a prendervi?" Moretti asked.

"Non ancora. Se vuole ancora incontrare me in seguito..."

"'Lo fara'. Vi posso dire. Dopo che ho spiegato, avrò Rossi portarlo a voi, sì?"

"Sì."

The call disconnected. Moretti was sure that the faint reply was uttered through tears at odds with his impression of the woman he knew. Pocketing his phone again, he returned to the waiting men. "Shall we begin our meal while I answer your questions?"

Section 56

Afterwards, Tony couldn't remember what he had eaten. Urged by Gibbs, Tony had mechanically cleaned his plate while focusing on Moretti's comments and answers to Gibbs' questions. Tony had added questions a few times, but had mainly allowed Gibbs' to conduct the interrogation. As they seated themselves, they agreed to dismiss the formality and use first names, except for Gibbs. Only a select few would ever use his first or middle name.

"You say that you know Tony's mother. Is that who ordered the spying on us?"

"We did not consider it spying more watching over Antonio to be sure of his welfare."

"Why the cabin?" Tony asked.

"Your mother was concerned about the situation and felt that at times you needed somewhere to retreat and heal. She had the cabin made for you."

While Tony processed that answer, Gibbs took over. "The files on Benoit and Senior. How could you let that go on? Do you have so little regard for the victims?"

Calogero looked offended. "Of course we care. Our operatives took the pictures and documented the evidence. It was then turned over to the proper international authorities. We took every opportunity to stop the atrocities."

"But you didn't stop Senior."

"He was your father, Antonio." Calogero explained. "While your mother suspected all was not well between you, at the time, he was all you had. Once you married, your mother knew you would have all the support you needed."

"But our marriage… it wasn't…. we didn't…" Tony struggled for the words.

"Your mother was aware of the circumstances of your marriage. She was also aware of your relationship with Gibbs."

"Why didn't she stop homeland security?"

"Gibbs, there are other forces at work. Antonio's mother was not able to stop them, but she immediately ordered the documentation to solve the issue sent to you via Rossi."

"Talk about cryptic." Tony smirked at Vincente. "Would it have hurt you to explain a few things?"

"From our observations, you deal well with cryptic." Vincente motioned at Gibbs.

"Touché." Tony acknowledged with a smile at Gibbs.

"That is what we need to discuss." Gibbs was irritated. "Who's your plant? For you to know the type of information about our personnel lives, you have to have someone on your payroll."

"Ah." Moretti and Rossi exchanged a look, before Moretti answered. "Our client thought you would pick up on that. Let me say, we have not approached any of your team or paid any of them to gather information. That being said, there are some acquaintances who have unknowingly provided information."

"Who?" Jethro demanded.

"Your former director Sheppard provided a lot of information, mainly complaints about you and DiNozzo to an old friend of hers."

Tony and Jethro exchanged glares. Jenny had so much to answer for in her life. Gibbs hated what she had done to Tony in ordering him to not provide protection and for putting him into the Benoit situation. "Who else?"

"You realize that your acquaintance was not aware that they were speaking to someone who we spoke to?"

"Who?" Jethro repeated.

"I hesitate to cause problems for the person involved. Such joy for life…" Moretti started to explain.

"Abby." Jethro and Tony chorused to Moretti's surprise. Jethro brushed off some irritation. Abby was Abby and neither he or Tony would want her to change.

"Who?" Tony's voice had an edge of anger. "Who betrayed Abby?"

Moretti took a long sip of his wine while studying Tony over his wineglass. Interesting. He saw none of the righteous anger that Gibbs did over being spied on. However, a hint of impropriety aimed at a colleague and Tony became angered on her behalf. Tony truly held his team as family and would protect them. Rather than upset their conversation, Moretti decided to explain. "Sister Therese Joseph."

"You put a spy among the nuns?" Tony was stunned.

"No, no. Please," Moretti hastened to explain. "Sister Therese Joseph is a nun. She is also a dear friend of your mother."

"My mother?"

"Yes. Your mother."

"My mother's friend is a nun?" Gibbs felt his gut churning as Tony pursued his line of questioning but kept coming up with an illogical conclusion.

"Si. For many years."

"Who is my mother?"

"Sister Martha Agnes."

Section 57

"Please be seated. Sister Martha Agnes will be with you shortly."

After Moretti had dropped his bombshell, he had provided few answers insisting that it was his clien't place to explain the details. Information about Tony's father would also have to come from his client.

Understandably, Tony was more than a little shocked and Gibbs was more than a little angry at the lack of details. Before the entire situation blew up, Moretti had announced that if Tony wished to meet his mother, she was waiting for him in local church. A quick call had summoned Giro and the car. At the church a young nun had lead them in to a small meeting area.

Gibbs thanked the sister before she left and went to stand by Tony. "You okay?"

"I mean; I know I'm unique but my mother is a nun. A nun! I feel like I'm in a bad "B" movie."

"Don't worry, your father wasn't a priest."

Tony turned and immediately saw his eyes in her face. Dressed in traditional habit, he couldn't immediately tell her hair color. "Um… Hi."

"Hello, Antonio. You've grown a lot since I last saw you."

Seeing that Tony was beyond words, Gibbs stepped forward. "Hello, Sister, I'm…"

"My son-in-law, Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"My reputation precedes me." Gibbs said dryly.

Tony drew a deep breath. "I need…" He reached out for Gibbs' hand.

"Please sit," Sister Martha Agnes said, sitting down on a chair in front of two chairs around a small table. "I'm a little older than you expected, I guess. You believed you were born to a teenager, perhaps?" She smiled when Tony nodded. "I wasn't too young to know what I was doing. I just did it anyway. How do I explain?"

She continued without waiting for a reply. "I was a spinster as you would say. I was never beautiful or pretty."

It was true, Tony thought. She wasn't beautiful in the normal sense but had classic features. Her beauty was more that of Katherine Hepburn than Marilyn Monroe.

"I didn't have gentlemen callers. Only those who had an eye on my family or their concerns. I had resigned myself to being alone. Destined to care for my aging parents and then my sister Anjelica's children. I did some charity work and I remember the first time I saw your father. I wanted him, more than anything, more than I should have and I didn't care who I hurt. Not my parents, not him, not his wife..."

"He was married?" Tony asked. Had he exchanged one cad for another dad?

"Yes, but do not think what you are. He was not the type to be unfaithful. That's one of the things I admired about him."

"Did you love him?"

"I thought I did." His mother smiled sadly. "If I had really loved him, I wouldn't have torn his world apart the way I did for one night."

"One night?"

"That's all we had, Antonio. He had come to a charity event alone, as I usually was. I stayed near him all night; made sure his glass was always full. I had taken a room in the hotel. I convinced him to sleep it off before going home, but when I got him in my room…I remember his face the next morning, the self-loathing over what he had done. Then he told me he had come alone because his wife was sick the night before, she was pregnant."

"He has other children?"

"Two before, the one she was carrying and one after. Where was I? Oh, yes. I told him that no one would know, that I'd never say anything. Best laid plans…" His mother shook her head. "Of course, it didn't work. Not after I realized you existed. I refused to tell my parents who the father was. They were so angry they threatened to disown me but the only person I told was Father Antonio."

"Antonio?"

"Yes, I named you for him. I told him in confession. I was on my knees for months with my rosary. I decided to keep you, you know. My parents were irate, but I pleaded and finally they agreed it would be part of my penance. It was such a scandal in our town. I stayed home, went nowhere."

"Why didn't you keep me then?"

Her eyes seemed to turn deep blue and her face reflected her sadness. "You were due in June. My family decided to take a trip before you were born. Of course, I was unable to go. They were on Alitalia Flight 112 when it crashed into Mount Longa. My whole family was gone; my sister, my brother-in-law, my nephew and my parents. Everyone died but me… I was beside myself with grief. My brother-in-law's family offered to make the arrangements and I accepted. I never expected your father to be there at the funeral. When he saw me…his face… I tried to avoid him, but he cornered me… I remember looking over his shoulder and seeing his wife standing there holding his child. The expression on her face…the devastation."

"Again, my brother-in-law's family came to my rescue. You were born that night. Labor brought on by stress and grief, the doctor said. They offered to let me stay with them until I was recovered and could take you home. That family was the DiNozzos. Senior and his wife came to the funerals. I believe my brother-in-law was his cousin." Sister Martha Agnes looked past them as if seeing the past. "I met her in a small courtyard where I would go to pray. She was crying; so heartbroken. She had just lost another child. The doctors told her there would be no more."

"Oh, Antonio. I prayed so long. There was a young woman who wanted a child so desperately. It appeared that she and Senior were happily married. I felt God was guiding me. So, although it was the hardest thing I had ever done. I offered to let them adopt you but insisted that they keep the name Antonio. I've never forgiven myself for giving you up; for what they did to you."

Tony looked at the tear that was rolling down her check. "You didn't have any way of knowing. It's not your fault."

Gibbs looked proudly at his husband. Tony had such a forgiving nature. He would eliminate anyone trying to take advantage of it, but he knew Tony's mother would not waste his forgiveness.

"Is that when you joined the convent?"

"No. That was later. Much later. I went home trying to put a life back together without you. I threw myself into charity work; anywhere I could be near children. It was another year that Father Antonio before came to me. He had seen the calling in me. I told him I could not do so. I could not commit my earthly self for I held the family estate. When my family died, I had sold the businesses and lived frugally in the family home. It was Father Antonio that took me to Taviano Moretti. He offered to help me. I decided to sell the family home, but decided to keep the villa where my family spent weekends when I was a girl. They drew up papers, put things in trust for you. Only once your birthright was secured did I feel that I could enter the convent."

Tony's mother smiled. "In the midst of all that, your father arrived. He wanted to know where you were. He had talked his wife into accepting you, but it was too late. I took him to Signor Moretti. Your father hired him to investigate your life. He began sending me copies of the reports. I was devastated by what I had done. When he realized that your birth had not been formally registered in the United States; he and Signor Moretti took steps to protect you."

"Does my father live near here? I looked for the Fabbri family but wasn't able to locate him."

"Antonio, you and I are the last two of the Fabbri family. I could not give you your father's name."

"So you are Martha Fabbri?" Gibbs clarified.

"I was Brigida Fabbri. I am Sister Martha Agnes now. I chose the name Martha for the woman that would have been stoned in the Bible. It seemed to be appropriate after what I had done. I chose Agnes for St. Agnes of Assisi and decided to minister to the poor."

"Does my father live in Rome?"

The sister looked shocked. "Your father wasn't Italian, he is American. That's how Signor Moretti was able to file paperwork for dual citizenship when he filed your adoption papers."

"If my father was an American, how did you meet him?"

"He came as a sort of diplomat. After the scandal broke, he was forced to return to America in disgrace."

"My father? Is he still alive?"

"Yes, Antonio, he is."

"Who is he?"

"I cannot say."

"What do you mean you cannot say? I have a right to know."

"Yes, you do." Tony's mother bowed her head. "But I made a vow to protect his career, his family."

"I'm his family, too." Tony protested, "You can't do this to me. Not when I've come all this way."

"I will have Signor Moretti contact him. It must be his decision. It is up to him to reveal his identity."

"Where does he live?" Gibbs demanded. "You can tell him at least that. You owe him that much."

Tears streamed down her face as she whispered, "Washington, D.C."