Couriers...Delivering a Package, 2/?, NCIS,
Title: Couriers...Delivering a Package (Part 2/?)
Author: Katty, aka merry_gentry
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Het, pre-slash Gibbs/Tony atm
Rating: PG/Pg-13, atm
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, they do not belong to me. They do conjure up rather pretty images in one's mind, though, don't they? ^_^
Author's Notes: This is part two of my ongoing 'Couriers' story. Oh, the oncoming horror. ;p But, yay! Gibbs meeting Tony! Also, this part is a little longer, but not as long as I'd actually like, so I'm hoping the next one will be longer. Aren't you lucky? *g* it also occurs to me that I might have fudged the dates slightly. If this deeply offends you, then please help! My timeline for this is all over the place atm, so I apologise for that!
Summary: What might have happened if Gibbs had turned down Franks' job offer for NCIS? What would happen to their little family then?
Part one can be found here.
Baltimore, October 2001
After he had tracked down and returned DuLac’s son, Gibbs had found discrete job offers coming his way. It amused him, almost, to find himself tracking people down from one side of the country to the other. It was probably what led Stephanie to demand a divorce. Having a husband who was never home wasn’t exactly the foundation of a truly successful marriage.
Gibbs had agreed, after several plates had been thrown across the kitchen - and none by him - and had found himself in Baltimore the next day.
And that was where he met Tony.
***
Detective Anthony DiNozzo. Only son of Gabriel DiNozzo - the founder of DN Industries. Disinherited, and currently in the employ of the Baltimore PD.
Gibbs had stood behind the yellow crime scene tape with the rest of the gawkers watching the younger man move around, and he saw that DiNozzo’s eyes were never still, and never missed anything. He noticed DiNozzo’s easy manner with the CSIs, the press and the other investigating officers. Not the most senior officer on the scene, but DiNozzo had a way of organising the people around him calmly and without them realising it, and Gibbs could practically see the cogs in the man’s head working through the evidence before him.
He was perfect.
***
“Detective DiNozzo?”
Tony turned at the sound of his name, and saw the older man ducking under the tape.
“Whoa, whoa! You can’t come in here, sir,” Tony said, moving to intercept and looking around frantically for the junior officer who was supposed to be in charge of keeping everyone back.
The other man frowned as he straightened up.
“Don’t call me ‘sir’,” he said, glaring at Tony. “You DiNozzo?”
Tony opened his mouth to reply, then his eyes narrowed. “Yeah,” he said, "but something tells me you already knew that, right?"
The older man just smirked and ducked around him, and Tony spun on his heel to see him walk right up to the body currently being loaded into the ME’s truck.
“Hey!” Tony jogged a little to catch up, but the intruder hadn’t even tried to touch anything, least of all anything important. “Who are you?”
The man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a wallet, and then a driver’s license from that which he handed over to Tony.
“Gibbs. I was hired to track him down.” Gibbs cast a scornful look at the covered body before the truck doors were slammed shut.
“Gibbs, huh?” Tony handed the license back. “Well, I’d say you found him.”
“Yeah, but now I gotta hang around and find out how he was killed before his wife could do it for him.”
“His wife?” Tony asked, his interest raised.
“Annette Jacobs. Navy lieutenant, deployed on the Lincoln.”
“Would you mind coming back to the station to answer a couple of questions?”
Gibbs met Tony’s eyes, and Tony could see the amusement barely hidden by a faint scowl.
“Am I a suspect, detective?”
Tony rolled his eyes. “No, sir. But - seeing as you seem to know a lot more about this than we do…we’d appreciate your help.”
The scowl dissolved into an even smaller grin.
“We, DiNozzo?”
“Fine - me. I would appreciate your help on this case. The one with the dead body and the unanswered questions? Or, I can haul you in for obstructing an investigation. Your choice.”
The grin grew slightly, and Tony grinned back.
“Only if you’ve got coffee.”
“Can do.”
***
Of course, the husband had been killed by nothing more glamorous than a bar fight combined with an unhealthily large amount of alcohol in his system. Still, the widow Jacobs would probably take some comfort in the fact that the bastard was dead.
The investigation itself, however…Gibbs had been impressed, and, really? He didn’t get to say that a hell of a lot.
DiNozzo’s partner had taken over the investigation, calling seniority, but had dumped it back into Tony’s lap as soon as he had realised there was no juicy murder behind it. DiNozzo, instead of complaining about the additional workload, had taken the case, followed up every lead and witness, and closed the whole thing by himself.
Well, if being followed by Gibbs for the majority of the day and a half the case took could be called ‘by himself’.
At the end of it, Gibbs had grinned and handed Tony a business card.
“If you’re looking for a new job, call me.”
Gibbs had left DiNozzo outside the Baltimore PD with a look of dumbstruck amazement on his face, and had reflected as he drove away that he probably shouldn’t be so pleased that his particular line of work had become so busy that he could justify hiring someone to help.
***
Of course, DiNozzo had called him. It was just a pity that neither of them were particularly techno-savvy. Still, that would come later.
***
It amused Gibbs how quickly DiNozzo had fallen into calling him 'boss'. Of course, it was probably a compromise for the younger man - police chiefs and captains no doubt insisted on the honorific, but Gibbs had persistently refused to acknowledge Tony until the ex-cop had come up with 'boss'. Gibbs had already been turning away when he stopped and looked back at Tony.
"Think you can live with that?" Tony had asked with a cheeky grin, and Gibbs had glared. Tony's grin had only grown - even then he had been able to read Gibbs' surface moods like a book - and Gibbs wasn't annoyed. Not really.
"For now."
Tony had simply rolled his eyes when he thought Gibbs wasn't looking, and that was that. But, for all of the 'yes, boss'-ing Tony threw out, Gibbs had noticed that Tony had used that brain that had been so evident in Baltimore. He definitely wasn't one to just blindly follow orders, and for some reason that made Gibbs perversely pleased.
***
Gibbs had never asked Tony what had led the younger man to accepting his offer. After all, the pay was unpredictable, the health-benefits debatable and they didn't have any back-up beyond each other.
Still, DiNozzo actually seemed happier than he had been when Gibbs had met him in Baltimore and he was good at the job. Too good, in fact, and probably should have been out solving cases, but Tony seemed content.
So Gibbs pulled his work records from Peoria, Philly and Baltimore.
Well, it seemed like the thing to do at the time. If Tony had trouble following him, Gibbs really wanted to know. Preferably before it caught up with them.
There were a lot of commendations from his immediate superiors in Tony's files mixed with at least one reprimand from every PD concerning DiNozzo's insubordination. So far, Tony hadn't pushed any boundaries too far, but Gibbs decided it was worth keeping an eye on. Just in case.
***
And then Tony met Abby.
Gibbs had treated her to lunch expressly to introduce the two to each other. Abby did a lot of work for him on the sly, and it really wouldn't help if she got her temper up because of DiNozzo. After all, it wasn't like he had ready access to another forensics lab.
Tony had turned his easy charm on the Goth girl like a light, and Gibbs had nearly burst out laughing when Abby had narrowed her eyes at him as if to say 'I've figured you out, mister'. In retrospect, she probably had. Tony, shocked that his first method of attack when it came to anyone, female or male, young or old, had failed, had sat back in his chair in silence, a slight frown on his face as he watched Abby tell Gibbs everything that had happened to her since they'd last spoken.
It wasn't until dessert had been served that Abby finally cracked. She had been eyeing up Tony's chocolate gateaux since it had arrived at the table, and she had been alternating her gaze between it and her lemon sorbet constantly while simultaneously carrying on her conversation with Gibbs. Tony had suddenly excused himself from the table, and Gibbs had given Abby a stern glance when the girl had twitched her spoon ever-so-slightly. But DiNozzo had returned, with an empty plate, and had proceeded to slice the gateaux into two uneven halves, sliding the larger one onto the empty plate and placing it next to Abby's sorbet.
He hadn't said a word, and Gibbs had watched the whole thing with a grin.
Abby had then alternated her gaze between the chocolate gateaux and Tony while the other man had simply dug into his dessert. Finally, she had broken, and finished off both the sorbet and the gateaux.
When Gibbs had finished saying goodbye to Abby outside the restaurant, she had flung her arms around Tony. The poor man hadn't known whether to hug back or scream for help, but Tony had patted her gingerly on the back, and grinned at her when she released him.
"I'd better be seeing you again, mister," Abby had glared at him, and Tony leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Better believe it," he had grinned, and Gibbs rolled his eyes, already halfway to his car.
"Move it, DiNozzo!"
Tony had come running up behind him, turning around once to wave before grinning at Gibbs.
"Did I pass?"
"In the car, DiNozzo."
"Yes, boss," Tony had automatically replied, but he had been smiling when Gibbs gunned the engine. Gibbs had smiled back, an honest-to-God actual smile, before he had pulled out into the lunchtime traffic and Tony had leapt for the 'oh shit' handle above his door.
My fic masterlist is here.
My please-give-me-a-prompt begging-page is here.
Author: Katty, aka merry_gentry
Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Het, pre-slash Gibbs/Tony atm
Rating: PG/Pg-13, atm
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, they do not belong to me. They do conjure up rather pretty images in one's mind, though, don't they? ^_^
Author's Notes: This is part two of my ongoing 'Couriers' story. Oh, the oncoming horror. ;p But, yay! Gibbs meeting Tony! Also, this part is a little longer, but not as long as I'd actually like, so I'm hoping the next one will be longer. Aren't you lucky? *g* it also occurs to me that I might have fudged the dates slightly. If this deeply offends you, then please help! My timeline for this is all over the place atm, so I apologise for that!
Summary: What might have happened if Gibbs had turned down Franks' job offer for NCIS? What would happen to their little family then?
Part one can be found here.
Baltimore, October 2001
After he had tracked down and returned DuLac’s son, Gibbs had found discrete job offers coming his way. It amused him, almost, to find himself tracking people down from one side of the country to the other. It was probably what led Stephanie to demand a divorce. Having a husband who was never home wasn’t exactly the foundation of a truly successful marriage.
Gibbs had agreed, after several plates had been thrown across the kitchen - and none by him - and had found himself in Baltimore the next day.
And that was where he met Tony.
***
Detective Anthony DiNozzo. Only son of Gabriel DiNozzo - the founder of DN Industries. Disinherited, and currently in the employ of the Baltimore PD.
Gibbs had stood behind the yellow crime scene tape with the rest of the gawkers watching the younger man move around, and he saw that DiNozzo’s eyes were never still, and never missed anything. He noticed DiNozzo’s easy manner with the CSIs, the press and the other investigating officers. Not the most senior officer on the scene, but DiNozzo had a way of organising the people around him calmly and without them realising it, and Gibbs could practically see the cogs in the man’s head working through the evidence before him.
He was perfect.
***
“Detective DiNozzo?”
Tony turned at the sound of his name, and saw the older man ducking under the tape.
“Whoa, whoa! You can’t come in here, sir,” Tony said, moving to intercept and looking around frantically for the junior officer who was supposed to be in charge of keeping everyone back.
The other man frowned as he straightened up.
“Don’t call me ‘sir’,” he said, glaring at Tony. “You DiNozzo?”
Tony opened his mouth to reply, then his eyes narrowed. “Yeah,” he said, "but something tells me you already knew that, right?"
The older man just smirked and ducked around him, and Tony spun on his heel to see him walk right up to the body currently being loaded into the ME’s truck.
“Hey!” Tony jogged a little to catch up, but the intruder hadn’t even tried to touch anything, least of all anything important. “Who are you?”
The man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a wallet, and then a driver’s license from that which he handed over to Tony.
“Gibbs. I was hired to track him down.” Gibbs cast a scornful look at the covered body before the truck doors were slammed shut.
“Gibbs, huh?” Tony handed the license back. “Well, I’d say you found him.”
“Yeah, but now I gotta hang around and find out how he was killed before his wife could do it for him.”
“His wife?” Tony asked, his interest raised.
“Annette Jacobs. Navy lieutenant, deployed on the Lincoln.”
“Would you mind coming back to the station to answer a couple of questions?”
Gibbs met Tony’s eyes, and Tony could see the amusement barely hidden by a faint scowl.
“Am I a suspect, detective?”
Tony rolled his eyes. “No, sir. But - seeing as you seem to know a lot more about this than we do…we’d appreciate your help.”
The scowl dissolved into an even smaller grin.
“We, DiNozzo?”
“Fine - me. I would appreciate your help on this case. The one with the dead body and the unanswered questions? Or, I can haul you in for obstructing an investigation. Your choice.”
The grin grew slightly, and Tony grinned back.
“Only if you’ve got coffee.”
“Can do.”
***
Of course, the husband had been killed by nothing more glamorous than a bar fight combined with an unhealthily large amount of alcohol in his system. Still, the widow Jacobs would probably take some comfort in the fact that the bastard was dead.
The investigation itself, however…Gibbs had been impressed, and, really? He didn’t get to say that a hell of a lot.
DiNozzo’s partner had taken over the investigation, calling seniority, but had dumped it back into Tony’s lap as soon as he had realised there was no juicy murder behind it. DiNozzo, instead of complaining about the additional workload, had taken the case, followed up every lead and witness, and closed the whole thing by himself.
Well, if being followed by Gibbs for the majority of the day and a half the case took could be called ‘by himself’.
At the end of it, Gibbs had grinned and handed Tony a business card.
“If you’re looking for a new job, call me.”
Gibbs had left DiNozzo outside the Baltimore PD with a look of dumbstruck amazement on his face, and had reflected as he drove away that he probably shouldn’t be so pleased that his particular line of work had become so busy that he could justify hiring someone to help.
***
Of course, DiNozzo had called him. It was just a pity that neither of them were particularly techno-savvy. Still, that would come later.
***
It amused Gibbs how quickly DiNozzo had fallen into calling him 'boss'. Of course, it was probably a compromise for the younger man - police chiefs and captains no doubt insisted on the honorific, but Gibbs had persistently refused to acknowledge Tony until the ex-cop had come up with 'boss'. Gibbs had already been turning away when he stopped and looked back at Tony.
"Think you can live with that?" Tony had asked with a cheeky grin, and Gibbs had glared. Tony's grin had only grown - even then he had been able to read Gibbs' surface moods like a book - and Gibbs wasn't annoyed. Not really.
"For now."
Tony had simply rolled his eyes when he thought Gibbs wasn't looking, and that was that. But, for all of the 'yes, boss'-ing Tony threw out, Gibbs had noticed that Tony had used that brain that had been so evident in Baltimore. He definitely wasn't one to just blindly follow orders, and for some reason that made Gibbs perversely pleased.
***
Gibbs had never asked Tony what had led the younger man to accepting his offer. After all, the pay was unpredictable, the health-benefits debatable and they didn't have any back-up beyond each other.
Still, DiNozzo actually seemed happier than he had been when Gibbs had met him in Baltimore and he was good at the job. Too good, in fact, and probably should have been out solving cases, but Tony seemed content.
So Gibbs pulled his work records from Peoria, Philly and Baltimore.
Well, it seemed like the thing to do at the time. If Tony had trouble following him, Gibbs really wanted to know. Preferably before it caught up with them.
There were a lot of commendations from his immediate superiors in Tony's files mixed with at least one reprimand from every PD concerning DiNozzo's insubordination. So far, Tony hadn't pushed any boundaries too far, but Gibbs decided it was worth keeping an eye on. Just in case.
***
And then Tony met Abby.
Gibbs had treated her to lunch expressly to introduce the two to each other. Abby did a lot of work for him on the sly, and it really wouldn't help if she got her temper up because of DiNozzo. After all, it wasn't like he had ready access to another forensics lab.
Tony had turned his easy charm on the Goth girl like a light, and Gibbs had nearly burst out laughing when Abby had narrowed her eyes at him as if to say 'I've figured you out, mister'. In retrospect, she probably had. Tony, shocked that his first method of attack when it came to anyone, female or male, young or old, had failed, had sat back in his chair in silence, a slight frown on his face as he watched Abby tell Gibbs everything that had happened to her since they'd last spoken.
It wasn't until dessert had been served that Abby finally cracked. She had been eyeing up Tony's chocolate gateaux since it had arrived at the table, and she had been alternating her gaze between it and her lemon sorbet constantly while simultaneously carrying on her conversation with Gibbs. Tony had suddenly excused himself from the table, and Gibbs had given Abby a stern glance when the girl had twitched her spoon ever-so-slightly. But DiNozzo had returned, with an empty plate, and had proceeded to slice the gateaux into two uneven halves, sliding the larger one onto the empty plate and placing it next to Abby's sorbet.
He hadn't said a word, and Gibbs had watched the whole thing with a grin.
Abby had then alternated her gaze between the chocolate gateaux and Tony while the other man had simply dug into his dessert. Finally, she had broken, and finished off both the sorbet and the gateaux.
When Gibbs had finished saying goodbye to Abby outside the restaurant, she had flung her arms around Tony. The poor man hadn't known whether to hug back or scream for help, but Tony had patted her gingerly on the back, and grinned at her when she released him.
"I'd better be seeing you again, mister," Abby had glared at him, and Tony leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Better believe it," he had grinned, and Gibbs rolled his eyes, already halfway to his car.
"Move it, DiNozzo!"
Tony had come running up behind him, turning around once to wave before grinning at Gibbs.
"Did I pass?"
"In the car, DiNozzo."
"Yes, boss," Tony had automatically replied, but he had been smiling when Gibbs gunned the engine. Gibbs had smiled back, an honest-to-God actual smile, before he had pulled out into the lunchtime traffic and Tony had leapt for the 'oh shit' handle above his door.
My fic masterlist is here.
My please-give-me-a-prompt begging-page is here.