A Cry for Help Part 11B
Here's the second half.
Jethro Gibbs turned off the main highway onto the two lane road that would lead them to Stillwater. He should be at the hospital in a little over an hour where he would hopefully find out exactly what was going on with DiNozzo. The team leader was well aware of the fact that his usual gruff tactics wouldn’t work this time; he had to show Tony that he was willing to listen to what his senior field agent had to say.
Listening was not one of his strengths; he had three ex-wives that would testify to that. Perhaps if he had taken the time to listen to the younger man, Tony wouldn’t be lying in a hospital in his hometown. DiNozzo had practically been screaming inside the past few weeks for someone to hear him and Gibbs had made a feeble attempt to talk to his agent earlier this week. He allowed his thoughts to drift back to that particular conversation. The words began to replay in his mind forcing Gibbs to wonder if he had handled the situation well or if he had just permitted Tony to frustrate him so that he would leave the younger man alone.
****flashback****
Gibbs had been watching his senior field agent for the past half hour. Tony was finishing up the paperwork on their latest case, staying long after Ziva and McGee had gone home. DiNozzo would always read and sign off on the other agent’s reports before he gave them to Gibbs, making sure that there weren’t any loopholes that would come back and haunt them later.
He noticed that several times, Tony would close his eyes and massage his temples as if he were trying to fight off a headache. DiNozzo looked like crap. How had he missed the dark circles under Tony’s eyes? Maybe he should insist that the agent take a couple of extra days off.
He stood and walked over to DiNozzo’s desk. As Gibbs sat on the edge of the desk, Tony sat up and ran his hand through his slightly disheveled hair.
“Sorry, Boss,” Tony apologized. “I was just taking a little break.”
“It’s all right,” Gibbs assured him. “I know you’ll get it done.”
“I’m almost finished. Ziva actually gave me a report that was grammatically correct.”
Gibbs smiled at the young man’s jibe. Tony had accused Ziva of reverting back to her old speech patterns after returning from Israel. “Maybe she’s finally getting back in the swing of things.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“You want me to finish up for you?”
Tony shook his head. “I got it, Boss. Why don’t you go on home? I won’t be much longer.”
“I’m not in any hurry,” the team leader replied.
“I guess I better get this done so we can both go home.”
“I guess so.” Gibbs didn’t offer to move, knowing that his close proximity was making the younger agent nervous.
“Is there something else you needed, Boss?” Tony anxiously inquired.
Now that Gibbs was sitting closer to DiNozzo, he could see the fine line of exhaustion around Tony’s eyes and he was sure that the agent had dropped some weight. The team leader realized that he couldn’t remember the last time Tony had taken the others up on the offer of ordering takeout.
“DiNozzo, are you all right?” Gibbs wanted to know. He had the feeling that he would get the same answer that he always got when Tony was questioned about his health.
“I’m fine, Boss,” Tony answered a bit too quickly.
“You don’t look so good,” he pointed out to the senior agent.
Tony’s grin didn’t quite reach his eyes. “That’s just nearly impossible unless you count the time I had the plague, but personally, I think it was the blue lights,” DiNozzo surmised. “I don’t think I’ve worn the color blue since then.”
“DiNozzo…”
“Gibbs, I’m fine!” Tony forcefully repeated.
The ex-Marine bristled. There had been very few times that Tony had raised his voice to him. It wasn’t that DiNozzo was afraid to stand up to him or disagree with him, but Tony could usually do so without losing his own temper. Of course, recent events had caused everyone’s tempers to flare, but Gibbs had assumed things had settled back down. Maybe he was wrong.
“You sure about that, DiNozzo?”
Tony didn’t look up from his desk. “I’m sorry, Boss. I’m just a little tired.”
“A little?”
“Okay, a lot.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to say. We’ve worked the last 72 hours straight,” Tony reasoned. “Most of us mere mortals get tired every once in a while.”
Gibbs leaned in closer until their faces were just a few inches apart. “Don’t try and give me the runaround, Tony.”
“Just returning the favor,” DiNozzo snapped.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Tony looked away. “Nothing. I didn’t mean anything by it. Like I said, I’m tired and I just want to get these reports done so I can go home.”
“If you have a problem with me, I expect you to come directly to me and you know that. It’s not like you to beat around the bush, Tony.”
“Speaking my mind only seems to get me into trouble.”
“Since when?”
“Since the toothpick took over.”
Gibbs sat up and stared at his senior field agent. “What are you talking about? You having problems with Leon?”
Tony snorted. “Forget it, Gibbs. It’s no big deal. You know Director Vance has never liked me. I guess some days, I just take it personally.”
He knew that Tony was right. Vance had always seemed to have a problem with DiNozzo, but the team leader assumed it was because Tony never allowed Leon to see the real Anthony DiNozzo. But lately, the Director had been praising DiNozzo’s work, leading Gibbs to believe that Vance was slowly getting used to how Tony operated.
“He’s been very complimentary of your work lately,” Gibbs said, hoping to bait DiNozzo into opening up even more.
“I bet he has,” Tony mumbled under his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Gibbs could feel a set of eyes bearing down on them. Looking up, he saw the Director leaning on the railing, watching him and DiNozzo. His steely gaze followed Vance as he came down the stairs and joined them at Tony’s desk.
“Working late, gentlemen?” Vance inquired.
The team leader could sense the tension radiating from Tony. What was going on between DiNozzo and Vance? Gibbs had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“We’re just finishing up.” Gibbs took the reports from Tony. “Go on home, DiNozzo. Get some rest. I don’t want to see you in here for two days.”
DiNozzo nodded and stood up. Gibbs didn’t miss the fact that Tony had to grab onto the desk to steady himself. “Are you okay to drive?”
“I’m fine, Boss.”
“You do look tired, Agent DiNozzo,” Leon added. “I’m on my way home. I’ll be glad to follow you to your apartment to make sure that you don’t have any problems.”
“I’ll give him a ride, Leon,” Gibbs insisted.
“It’s all right, Boss,” Tony said. “Director Vance is going that way any way. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“Tony, I…”
“It’s all right, Boss. Just forget everything I said. It’s just the fatigue talking.”
Gibbs started to protest, but the edginess in DiNozzo’s voice begged him not to say anything else. He nodded as he watched DiNozzo and the Director walk towards the elevator. Something was definitely wrong. The team leader decided that he would give DiNozzo a day or so to rest and then he would get some answers.
“Ah, hell,” he growled as he threw down the reports on his desk. Grabbing his jacket, he headed towards the elevator. He was going to make sure that DiNozzo made it home, if for no other reason than to ease the gnawing feeling in his gut.
****end flashback****
DiNozzo had made it home that night and Vance had continued on to his house. Gibbs had pulled over and waited until he saw the light come on in Tony’s apartment. Satisfied that DiNozzo was safe, he peeled off towards his own house. He now wished that he had gone up to check on his agent. Maybe Tony wouldn’t be in the mess that he was in now if Gibbs had just kept after him until he wore the agent down, forcing DiNozzo to tell him what was going on.
Gibbs tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “I should have known.”
He hadn’t realized that he had spoken out loud until Abby had said, “What?”
Taking a deep breath, he replied, “I should have known that Tony was in some kind of trouble.”
“Why do you say that?”
“All the signs were there and I ignored them.”
“No, you didn’t. Tony is an expert at hiding things,” Abby pointed out. “He always has been.”
“He was trying to hide too many secrets and it was beginning to become too much for him. Vance was using him, just like Jen did and now he’s paying the price again.” Gibbs didn’t bother to hide the anger in his voice. He knew that Abby would realize that his rage wasn’t directed at her. “What gave Vance the right to do that to him? What gave him the right to force one of my agents to work undercover without my knowledge? Tony vowed never to do that again, so Vance has to be holding something over DiNozzo’s head.
“I should have known when Vance started bragging on DiNozzo that something was up. Now, Vance has gotten Tony in the middle of something that…”
“That what?” Abby pressed.
“That could ruin his life.”
“Gibbs, we have to protect him.”
“We will,” he vowed.
The two of them rode in silence for the next few minutes. Gibbs forced himself to calm down, knowing that he wouldn’t be allowed to see DiNozzo in his current frame of mind. He finally broke the silence when they were about 30 minutes away from the hospital. “How did he sound when you talked to him, Abs?”
He recalled their earlier chat and she had told him how Tony had actually laughed when she told about Palmer getting a tattoo, but she had started crying and hadn’t been able to finish relaying the details to him.
Gibbs looks over to see Abby intently studying her gloves. “Abs? How did he sound?” he asked again.
“Tired, maybe a little scared. He was in pain. Tony wasn’t too happy that we were going through his emails, but he wasn’t mad either. It was almost like he didn’t care.”
“Did he say that?”
“No, not in so many words,” she replied. “He just said that he was tired of everything. I’ve never heard him sound so lost, Gibbs.”
“We’ll just have to help him find his way back, Abs.”
“What if we’re too late?”
Gibbs reached out and squeezed her hand. “Positive thoughts, Abs. Positive thoughts.”
“I’m trying, Gibbs. I’m really trying.”
“I know.”
He turned the car into the hospital parking lot. “We’re here,” he informed her. He shut the engine off and stared at the building in front of him. “It’s changed a little since the last time I was here.”
“When was that?”
“When my mom died,” he quietly answered.
Gibbs smiled when Abby laid her head on his shoulder. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“I’m fine. Right now, our main concern is DiNozzo.”
Abby nodded eagerly. “Then let’s go see our boy!”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Gibbs stepped out of the car and waited for Abby to join him. Together they walked towards the entrance of the hospital. He knew that Abby anxious to see Tony, but Gibbs had to admit to himself that he was a little nervous. What was he going to say to DiNozzo to make the young man believe that everything was going to be all right? How could he even make that promise to Tony when he wasn’t sure he believed it himself?