SquidgeWorld Archive

Man Of Mystery
by Jools
jul_cat_29@hotmail.com


Tony's sleep was interrupted by the shrill beeping of the alarm clock, invading his still foggy brain and making him grunt in annoyance, hinting at Gibbs to turn it off. When nothing happened, he grunted more loudly and, keeping his eyes shut to avoid the light he could feel coming through the window, he reached over and switched the offending item off. Satisfied, he flopped down, expecting to land on his lover's chest. Instead, he collapsed onto just bed sheets, and his eyes snapped open. Gibbs must be making breakfast.

He pulled himself out of bed, stretching fully and groaning in satisfaction as his neck popped. He wandered into the kitchen, scratching his bare chest, only to stop in confusion when there was no sign of Gibbs anywhere. Looking over at the door, he frowned when he noticed that Gibbs' jacket was gone. His frown deepened when he spotted a note, taped to the spotless counter, clearly written in Gibbs' handwriting.

GONE AWAY FOR A FEW DAYS, TAKE CHARGE AT NCIS. WILL CALL YOU LATER.
JETHRO.

Tony stared at the note for a few moments, taking it in. The writing was neat and precise as usual, but written somewhat hurriedly. The message was terse, leading Tony to believe that Gibbs was upset about something. Where could he have gone? And why hadn't he told Tony where he was going? It must have been something sudden. His mind whirled with possibilities, and he forced it to stop, taking a deep breath, trying to take Gibbs' advice and think before he acted. Crossing to the window, he saw that Gibbs' car was still there. He crossed to the phone and called the older man's cell phone, only to discover that it was off. He sighed in confusion and frustration and not just a little bit of hurt that Gibbs would just take off and leave with no explanation.

He made his decision, stepping back into the bedroom and throwing on some clothes, whatever took the least amount of time to put on. Shoving the note in his pocket, he grabbed an energy bar and left the apartment, locking the door on the way out and proceeding to drive to work at an even higher speed than usual.

He arrived an hour earlier than usual, and instantly tried to call Gibbs on his cell phone again, receiving the same result as last time. He slammed the phone down, making the few other agents in the room glance over at him in some surprise. Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to calm down. Gibbs had left a note. It wasn't very explanatory, but it was a note, at least. He was thoughtful enough to leave a note?but Tony couldn't help the terrible feeling that something was wrong bubbling up inside his chest unpleasantly.

Crossing over to Gibbs' desk, he checked his messages, only to find the records empty. If Gibbs had received a phone call from whoever had driven him away, assuming that was what had happened, they had known his cell number. Tony sighed heavily. He had a lot of possibilities, but not enough evidence to back any of his `what ifs' up. And he refused to admit that he was being melodramatic, because there was something not right about the whole situation. Gibbs wouldn't just take off without telling him why unless it was something really important. But it looked like he'd left of his own accord; there was no sign of a struggle in the apartment, and if there had been one Tony knew he would have woken up.

Sitting back down at his own desk, he began to piece together what he did know, waiting for the call that Gibbs had promised. It was not until half an hour later that Kate arrived, balancing her bag and coffee expertly.

"Hey Tony. Where's Gibbs?" She greeted as she put down her stuff.

"He's not coming in today. He put me in charge." He said nonchalantly, flicking through a recently retrieved address book that belonged to Gibbs.

"He's not coming in? He never said anything."

"I know." Tony said icily.

"Well did he call you? Did he say where he was? Why he's not coming in when we're in the middle of a murder investigation?"

"No, Kate, he didn't tell me anything except that he wasn't coming in. So I guess we've just got to get on with the investigation ourselves. Is that ok with you?" Tony said harshly, his own worry making him antagonistic towards Kate, who was unwittingly rubbing in what he already knew and resented; that Gibbs had left on some business of his own without sparing Tony more than a fleeting thought.

"Hey, take it easy, Tony." Kate said carefully, knowing that something was really wrong if easy-going Tony was snapping at her. "It's just a little strange, that's all." Tony didn't answer her, still flicking through Gibbs' address book as though a name would suddenly appear to him. "What are we going to do then?"

"I don't know?I'm waiting for him to call in."

"I meant about the murder case, Tony." Kate corrected him.

"Oh?you aren't worried about Gibbs?"

"Gibbs is Gibbs. He can take care of himself. I'm sure he'll be back soon with a perfectly good, if brief, explanation. What about Lieutenant Payne's murder?"

"I?ok?you should go and talk to his ex-wife, see if you can find out what their relationship was like, whether he had any enemies, whether she had motive and opportunity?"

"Tony, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Kate. What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stay here and wait."

"For Gibbs' call?" Kate asked, frowning.

"For Abby to get me a result on that fingerprint left on the gun." He snapped. "Now would you please go interview Francesca Andrews?"

"Fine. I'm going." Kate huffed, grabbing her bag and coffee again and heading out of the door, leaving Tony to list all the names in Gibbs' address book that he didn't recognize, then look them up on his computer.

* * * * * * * *

Two hours of checking later, he was still nowhere. All the names in Gibbs' address book that he had checked out turned out to be NCIS operatives working in other locations or past victims, hardly suspicious people any of them and although he was worried and by now angry at Gibbs, he knew that he had to draw a line somewhere and calling ever single one of them up to find out if they had any information was definitely stepping over that line.

To say the least, he was in a foul mood. He had no idea where his lover was, he'd had to go through two more conversations explaining that Gibbs was not coming in to Ducky and Abby respectively, without giving anything away regarding their relationship, and he was just plain pissed off that Gibbs hadn't called yet.

The phone rang just as Kate stepped out of the lift. He lunged for it, answering before the first ring had finished.

"Gibbs?"

"No, Tony, it's Abby. Are you ok? You sound kind of?breathless."

"I'm fine, Abby, what is it?"

"I got a match on that fingerprint from the gun. Are you sure you're ok? You sound like you've been running a marathon?or something." She said suggestively. Normally Tony would have responded cheekily, but at that moment he was too tense.

"Abby, whose print did it match?"

"Ok, Mr. Snappy, it matched a man called Guy Sykes. I checked out his file and he's served time in jail twice for assault, as well as one conviction for grand theft auto and a load of other felonies."

"Thanks Abby. And hey, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, Tony. I'm kind of worried about Gibbs myself, I mean, it's not like him to just up and leave in the middle of a case, right?"

"Right, Abs." Tony said softly, glad that she understood. "Bye."

"Hey, Tony, I talked to Francesca Andrews." Kate said as soon as he had put down the phone.

"Yeah, I just got the name of the guy who left that fingerprint on the gun." He said.

"Was it Guy Sykes, by any chance?"

"It was. Who was he to Payne?"

"A dissatisfied customer. Payne was dealing drugs. He kept cutting it so it had less and less effect on his customers, so they would buy more. Sykes worked this out and went to tell Francesca, and she said he was acting crazy, said he was going to kill him. She didn't want to tell us straight away because she's been sleeping with Sykes, and she didn't want to believe it was him, but he's been missing since it happened and she decided to come clean."

"I wish they were all as easy as this." Tony said, shooting her a half-hearted grin.

"I hear you."

"Hey, Kate, I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."

"It's fine. Do you want to tell me what's going on now?" She asked gently.

"That's the problem. I don't know what's go-" He was interrupted by his phone ringing, and he pounced on it, almost dropping the receiver in his frenzy.

"Hello?" He asked cautiously.

"Tony? It's Gibbs."

"Thank God. Where the hell are you?" Tony asked, an enormous sense of relief washing over him.

"I can't tell you."

"What do you mean? Why not? What the hell is going on?" Tony demanded, his worry and anger building up all over again.

"I had to go. I got a phone call this morning from an old friend. He's in trouble. I couldn't wake you because he told me not to?he risked enough getting me involved."

"Are you in danger?"

"I don't know, Tony." Gibbs answered honestly. "But I know you're worrying, so I called to say don't. I'm gonna be fine. This friend though?he's in a state. He needed my help, Tony. I had to give it to him. You can appreciate that, can't you?"

"Yes, I can appreciate you wanting to help your friend, but I'm also worried about you, ok? I don't know where you are. And the fact that you're whispering adds to that worry, ok?"

"If my friend knows I'm calling you, he'll?"

"He'll what? Get angry? Shoot you?" Tony demanded, fear adding to his fury.

"Look, Tony, his daughter's been kidnapped. Would you have said no? The kidnapper said no cops. So I can't let you get involved."

"What do you think you can do to help? The police need to be involved-"

"He's demanded a ransom of $500,000. We're going to take it to him. That's all."

"No it's not." Tony said, his throat tightening. "You won't stop there. You'll try and jump the guy, and you'll get hurt in the process. Tell me where you are."

"No. I'm not having you out here. I've got enough to worry about." Tony froze. "I didn't mean that." Gibbs backtracked. "I didn't mean it. I just meant- I have to go. He's coming back. I'll call you back when I can. I love you, Tony." The line went dead and Tony moved it away from his ear, staring at it in shock and disbelief. Kate, watching him in a mixture of confusion and concern, leant over and took it off him, hanging it up for him. Tony looked at her, his mouth open and gaping like a goldfish.

"Tony, what's going on?" She asked, gently but firmly. "Where's Gibbs?"

"He's with some friend. His daughter's been kidnapped and Gibbs is going to try and get the kidnapper."

"Is that all he told you?"

"Yeah?and that the cops can't get involved. I don't know where he is? but the friend sounds unstable and he's going to get himself hurt, the stupid-"

"Tony, would you focus?" Kate interrupted. "Did he say he was going to call again?"

"Yes, whenever he could."

"Ok, all we can do is wait for that moment. In the meantime, we have a murderer to arrest. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. I understand." Tony said, visibly pulling himself back together. "Give me two seconds." He picked up his phone and dialled the lab. "Abby? I need you to do me a favour. Reroute all my calls to my cell phone, and trace every single one of them. Thanks." He hung up and looked at Kate. "Let's go get Sykes."

"And on the way over you can tell me what kind of thing you can tell me why you're so worried about Gibbs." She said as they grabbed their stuff. "And don't give me any bullshit about being team- mates, `cause I'm not buying it, not anymore."

* * * * * * * * * *

An hour and a half later, Guy Sykes was seated in the interview room, sweating and nervous as Kate and Tony interviewed him. Kate was sitting down asking the questions; Tony was standing behind her menacingly, watching Sykes' every move.

"Guy, you've been charged with murder. Your prints are on the murder weapon, and you were reported of having threatened to kill him the night before he was shot. If you didn't kill him, who did?" Kate asked him.

"I don't know, do I? It could have been anyone, could have been anybody he was dealing with, he sold some rotten shit, shit that wouldn't do anything for you, he took my money off me, he stole it from me, good-for-nothing bastard?" He rambled on jerkily, his hands shaking in the way of an obvious user who hasn't been able to get anything for a few days.

Tony was getting sick of it. He hated Payne for putting this guy into such a state, but he hated this guy just as much. Sykes needed to confess so that he could wait on Gibbs call, and even though he knew this was a little selfish in the back of his mind he was being consumed by worry over Gibbs. And he was furious too, angrier than he could ever remember being before. Angry because he felt so useless, he kept telling himself, but he knew that there was another reason. Gibbs' comment had struck a nerve deep inside his heart. Because deep down he realized that his lover didn't trust him. This thought made Tony's rage erupt out of him like a volcano, and he stepped forward, slamming his hand down on the table with so much force that he shocked Kate as much as Sykes.

"Shut the fuck up, Sykes!" He yelled. "You killed him and you know it! And we know it too, the evidence proves it, so just admit to the goddamn murder because guess what? You're going down, and you're not going to get out for a long time. So don't fuck us around!" He finished yelling and his words reverberated around the small room, until the only sound was the faint sobbing of Sykes, who had hunched up in his chair, shaking and crying. He raised his head weakly, his sobs sounding like the pitiful mews of a wretched cat, his mouth open and a line of spittle trailing down his chin.

"I did it." He choked quietly. "I did it!" He repeated in a wail, his sobs growing louder and louder. Kate looked at Tony and then at the officer at the door.

"Lock him up." She instructed, and then followed Tony out. "Where are we going?" She asked as they strode back up to the office.

"To do some paperwork. Gibbs still hasn't called. As soon as he does, Abby'll tell us where he is. And I'll go get him."

"I'm going with you."

"You don't have to." Tony told her quietly.

"I know. But I am." She said determinedly. "He may be your lover, but he's also my boss and I'm worried about him too."

"Thanks, Kate.

* * * * * * * * *

Twenty minutes into doing paperwork, or rather, attempting to do paperwork, as Tony sat staring at his phone for most of the time, it rang shrilly, making both him and Kate jump.

"Gibbs?" He answered.

"Yeah."

"Are you alright? What's happening?"

"We've been told where to put the money. We got here early, he's not going to turn up for another hour."

"Where's your friend?"

"Waiting in the car for the kidnapper to turn up. He says he's going to leave details of the girl's whereabouts where he picks up the money."

"Can you be sure he will?"

"He will." Gibbs said with conviction, but Tony could hear the tiny hint of doubt in his tone, reinforcing his belief that he needed to be there to help him.

"Where are you?"

"I'm waiting somewhere else." Gibbs said guardedly.

"You're going to jump him." Tony said. Gibbs didn't reply. "Jethro. Listen. I don't care how good a friend this guy is. Just don't get hurt." He knew he had to keep Gibbs on the phone long enough for Abby to trace him.

"I'm not going to get hurt."

"Do you expect me to just accept that?" Tony asked quietly.

"I expect you to respect my decisions."

"Even if they're wrong, and you can't see it?" He received no reply again. "I know you don't trust me, Gibbs," he said, highlighted the use of his last name rather than first, "but maybe your own judgment is off here too. He's your friend. You want to get the guy who kidnapped his daughter. But maybe you're going about this the wrong way."

"I do trust you, Tony. But I also trust my instincts. I'll call when this is over."

"If you're still alive." Tony said, letting his fear and dread seep into his tone.

"I will be alive. And when I see you again, we're going to talk about this trust issue. I love you, Tony." This time it was Tony who didn't answer. "Tony? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you." Tony said eventually. "Bye, Gibbs." He hung up the phone, taking a moment to compose himself before dialling Abby.

"I got it. He's in a town not far from here, Roseville Plaza. It's near a park. I bet you anything that's where the ransom is going to be picked up."

"Thank you Abby." Tony said, hanging up and then standing up to face Kate. "She got him. Let's go."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Driving at breakneck speed, for once without any comments or threats from Kate, Tony managed to reach the next town in fifty minutes when it should have taken eighty-five. Once there, he got out, scouting around the plaza to look for a possible position Gibbs would take. He spotted him almost immediately, sitting beneath a monument near the exit of the park.

"Kate, I've spotted Gibbs. You check the details are present as soon as the drop off is made. Contact me immediately. Coms are working. I'll go and see him." She nodded and went off, both of them acting casually like they'd been trained to do.

Tony approached Gibbs from behind, sitting down beside him unobtrusively. Gibbs knew it was him instantly, without looking up.

"You found me."

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Traced your call."

"Smart, Tony."

"Thanks."

"So what are you going to do, now that you're here?" Gibbs asked, still not taking his eyes off the bin, standing next to a bench, where the drop off was going to be made.

"Make sure you don't get shot and killed."

"You shouldn't have come."

"What did you expect?" Tony said, and Gibbs didn't reply. They both knew the answer anyway.

"Here he comes." Gibbs said after a few moments of tense silence. They watched as a tall man dressed in a black sports jacket and too-short jeans and carrying a rucksack approached. He sat down on the bench, bringing the rucksack up onto his knee and clutching it tightly. He looked around nervously, before reaching into the bin beside him as surreptitiously as he could and bringing out a plastic bag. He switched it with another plastic bag from the rucksack and zipped it up, then sat for a few more moments before getting up and heading for the exit, coming straight at them

"Kate, go." Tony ordered, and Kate immediately went over to the bin, retrieving the contents of the plastic bag. Gibbs was already on his feet, walking swiftly over to intercept the kidnapper's path. "Wait!" Tony hissed but to no avail. He followed Gibbs as inconspicuously as he could, drawing his weapon and waiting for Kate's confirmation.

"We've got details, Tony!" Her voice came through eventually, just as Gibbs drew his weapon.

"Freeze, NCIS agent!" The older man called, pointing his gun and caused the rest of the people on the plaza to flee, screaming. Tony knew what was going to happen before it did, diving towards Gibbs a split second before the kidnapper drew his gun with rocket speed. The shot went off just as Tony fired his own shots, three in quick succession, then dropped the gun, collapsing on top of Gibbs on the ground.

Kate relayed the location of the girl to the agents they had put on standby on the way over and ran towards the two agents while calling for paramedics.

Gibbs took a moment to recover, stunned from his tackle by Tony, and quickly realized that the younger agent on top of him wasn't moving. Gently but swiftly, he manoeuvred Tony so that he was lying on his back, and ran his eyes over him, quickly finding the problem. A steady stream of blood was flowing out of Tony's upper arm. The agent was still conscious, but his eyes were clenched shut against the pain.

"Tony. Tony, open your eyes. Look at me." Gibbs instructed him, and Tony obeyed, revealing eyes full of pain. "Don't you dare lose consciousness, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." Tony gasped, as Gibbs ripped his sleeve off to reveal a deep tear in Tony's arm where the bullet had sliced through.

"How badly is he hurt?" Kate asked as soon as she reached them, dropped to her knees and lifting Tony's head off the hard ground.

"It sliced him. It's not too bad but he's losing blood fast."

"The paramedics are coming soon."

"It's?just a scratch." Tony choked out, trying to grin but ending up grimacing in his efforts to assure them he was ok through the sounds of sirens wailing closer.

"Tony, shut up and let me bind this." Gibbs told him, working frantically to form a makeshift tourniquet of Tony's torn sleeve.

"We'll take over, sir." The paramedics said, gently moving Kate and Gibbs to one side. "He'll be fine." They lifted Tony onto a stretcher and into the ambulance as quickly as they could, Kate and Gibbs watching from behind.

As it drove away, Kate took hold of Gibbs' arm; his shirt soaked in Tony's blood.

"Gibbs. Let's go. We'll follow him to the hospital."

"It's my fault." Gibbs said dazedly.

"Gibbs, come on." She said, leading him firmly towards the car. Gibbs acquiesced, but murmured once more as he followed her.

"My fault."

* * * * * * * * * *

Two hours later, and Tony was released from the hospital, the only sign of his injury a white bandage wrapped around his upper arm and the paleness of his face.

"Hey." Gibbs greeted him in the corridor.

"Hey." Tony replied, not quite meeting the older man's eyes.

"I'm going to wait outside for you, ok?" Kate excused herself, sensing the tension in the air. Her heels clicked on the hard floor as she strode away until they were left alone.

"So, how's the arm?"

"It stings a bit, but it'll mend." Tony replied. And it's my left arm, so I can still write."

"Tony, will you look at me?" Gibbs asked. Tony lifted his eyes to Gibbs', letting the older man see the hurt he was feeling, not just physically. "That talk we need to have?about trust. I do trust you, Tony. Don't ever think that I don't."

"If you trusted me, you wouldn't have lied to me." Tony said quietly.

"I never lied to you."

"You kept things from me, it's the same thing."

"I had good reason, Tony; my friend's daughter was kidnapped. I had to keep it from you."

"What you said on the phone-"

"I didn't mean it. I was stressed, I-"

"You didn't need any other stresses placed upon you." Tony finished.

"Yeah." Gibbs said, relieved that the younger agent understood him.

"Like me." The relief vanished.

"Tony, you're not a stress. I just didn't want to see you get hurt-"

"Give me a break!" Tony snapped. "I'm damn good at my job and you know it, so don't pull that shit on me. I don't need to be protected, ok? I can hold my own. Everyone needs backup on this job, everyone's in danger, including you. You could have died today Gibbs, and if you had where would that have left me? Did you even think about that?" Gibbs didn't reply. "You didn't, did you?" Tony continued quietly. "You weren't even thinking about me."

"Tony, you're tired, can we have this conversation another time when you're up to it?"

"I'm up to it now, Gibbs. It's you who isn't. Don't belittle this, ok? Would you just be honest for once? With me and with yourself. Stop avoiding this just because you don't want to do it right now."

Gibbs took a few moments to reply. "I'm truly sorry, Tony. You're right. Everything you're saying is right. And I'm sorry."

"Is that all you're going to say?" Tony asked, softly incredulous. When Gibbs didn't reply, his tone hardened again. "Then I guess this isn't working as well as we thought it was. I can't be in a relationship with the man of mystery, ok? I don't think we can do this anymore if we're not going to be honest with each other. I'm sorry, too." He finished and stood for a few moments, Gibbs with his head down, giving no sign of offering a response. "See you at work, Gibbs." Tony said quietly before turning to leave. When he was halfway down the corridor, Gibbs turned.

"Let me give you a lift home."

"I'll go with Kate." Tony answered, not looking back. He exited, not seeing his boss standing alone in the otherwise deserted corridor, a solitary tear running down his cheek.




The End!


Note: If you thought I was evil last time, look at this! I'm sorry I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better, this isn't the final word... there will be a sequel! You just won't get it for a while! Don't worry, though. I am a firm believer in Gibbs/Dinozzo. So you probably know how it's going to turn out....mwahahahaha!