SquidgeWorld Archive

Family Affair
by Gigi Sinclair

"What happened, Kate? You tell him he's the father?"

Kate Todd looked away from the sobbing Navy lieutenant on the other side of the glass and rolled her eyes. "Funny, Tony. You been saving that one?"

"I keep a notebook." Tony shrugged. "What's his problem?"

"0400 this morning, neighbours complained about noise from his suite. The police went in and found the lieutenant with a dead woman. As," she added, "You would know, if you'd shown up on time."

Tony held up the unopened Starbucks cup he'd brought in with him. "Never underestimate the importance of brown nosing. That's a tip, Kate," Tony grinned. "You should write it down."

Kate didn't. She did reply, with distinct smugness: "Gibbs is at a preliminary hearing all morning. He wants us to ID the vic before he gets back."

"Easy." Deciding to cut his losses, Tony opened the cup. He nearly choked when he got a taste of the Gibbs-strength coffee inside, but, since Tony wasn't about to give Kate any satisfaction whatsoever, he forced himself to swallow. "We'll just ask Boy George over there." Stifling a cough, he pointed to the lieutenant in the interview room.

"He doesn't know," Kate replied, without losing any of the smugness. "He says he picked her up in a bar last night. The only name she gave him was Kandi. With," she added, voice saturated with disdain, "An 'I.' And a 'K.'"

"Oh." Well, Tony thought, that was even better. This way, they had a legitimate shot at impressing Gibbs with something they found out all by themselves. Not that Tony had been waiting two years for that chance or anything.

"Ducky's with the body," Kate said. "I figured if you talk to Lieutenant," she glanced at her notes, "R.K. Leonard, I'll head down and see what the autopsy turned up."

"Or," Tony countered, "You can talk to the lieutenant, and I'll go see what it turned up."

"He'd be more likely to talk to you."

"Why? Are you suggesting I'm a better interrogator?"

Kate's wince was small, but Tony saw it just before she said: "No, but you are a man."

She was good, Tony thought, but not quite good enough. He sighed heavily and shook his head. "Gender bias, Kate? I really thought you were above that."

She scowled, which Tony took as a sign of victory. He took a celebratory sip of coffee and coughed as it seared his esophagus. "Fine," Kate finally gave in, "We'll both see Ducky. But if you try and horn in on my investigation, I'll tell Gibbs you were late."

"And I'll tell him you're a raging sexist."

Kate raised her eyebrows. "Boy George, Tony?"

"'The Crying Game', Kate. It's a cultural reference."

"Sure," Kate smiled and let the door swing, forcing Tony to grab it before it slammed shut on his face, "How's Commander Voss these days, anyway?"

***

"Well, one thing I can say is that Miss Kandi wasn't entirely au naturel, if you take my meaning." When Kate and Tony arrived at Ducky's morgue, the woman's body was already spread out on the table. She wasn't young, or particularly good-looking by Tony's standards. Then again, he thought, he was starting to wonder whether he was even capable of recognizing a beautiful woman any more.

"Breast implants?" Kate asked. "That's great."

"Glad to see you're so egalitarian on the subject," Tony quipped automatically. She didn't even look at him.

"They have serial numbers, Tony. We can find out where she got them."

Tony's momentary embarrassment disappeared almost immediately, when Abby put her head around the door, said: "Got it!" And Kate looked like someone had popped her balloon.

"Already?" She sounded almost irritated.

"Gotta stay on the ball, Kate," Tony patted her sympathetically on the shoulder and followed Abby over to her station.

"She got the upgrades in the Daniel Auschlander Clinic in Boston," Abby told them, as he and Kate stood behind her. McGee, who Tony knew never got strayed far from Abby if he could help it, was already there, and he looked particularly interested when she started to suck on her Big Gulp. "Pretty upscale place, from the looks of it. I can think of better ways to spend my money."

"I don't know," Tony replied. "Little bit of work and you'd make a great Elvira."

McGee coughed, but Abby just smiled and held up a print out. "Who wants to give them a call?"

"I..."

"I will," Kate broke in, grabbing the print out and heading towards the elevator before Tony could even finish his sentence. Trying to regain his cool, Tony took a casual sip of coffee, scorched his tongue, and got a look of undisguised concern from McGee.

"What are you looking at, probie?"

McGee glanced at Abby, who was already absorbed in her screen. "Gotta stay on the ball, DiNozzo."

When he couldn't immediately think of a witty comeback, Tony headed for the elevator. The door was already sliding shut and, naturally, Kate made no attempt to hold it for him. Which meant he had to stand, choking back Gibbs's coffee and knowing McGee was smirking on the inside, until the elevator came back.

By the time he got up to his desk, Kate was already on the phone. Tossing the coffee cup in the garbage, Tony leaned back in his chair and opened his email. It wasn't like this was the only case they had going, after all. Even if Kate did get this one, that didn't mean he couldn't have another. There was always plenty of death to go around, as Gibbs himself might say.

The thought had barely crossed Tony's mind when the chair tipped backwards and Tony found himself staring at an upside-down Gibbs, in full courtroom suit-and-tie regalia. "Boss! I thought you were at a hearing."

"Clearly." Gibbs let go of the chair, which sprang Tony back into an upright position. "So this is how you spend your time when I'm away."

"Kate's just looking into a lead," Tony replied, but it sounded a little weak even to him. "What happened with your case?"

Gibbs shook his head, like it was some minor detail. "Judge remanded him to custody. We're going to trial in a few weeks. What's Kate got on Kandi Doe?"

"It was a joint effort, really. Definite teamwork. She's got breast implants, from some clinic in Boston. The vic, not Kate. Yet, anyway." Tony smiled. Gibbs didn't. "Place called Ausslander or something like that."

A flicker of something that may have been interest crossed Gibbs's face, then disappeared again. "Daniel Auschlander?"

"You know it?"

"I know a lot of things." Now he smiled, but it was so quick, Tony couldn't be entirely sure he hadn't imagined it. Then Gibbs's hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed briefly, disappearing again when Kate came over.

"Kandace Weissfell," she declared, like, Tony thought, she'd just scored the final field goal of the Super Bowl. Or IDed a Jane Doe in the morgue. "And she wasn't just a patient, either. She was on the board of directors of the Robert Caldwell Elective Surgery wing."

"'I'm not just the president,'" Tony joked, still acutely aware of Gibbs's body beside him. "'I'm also a member.'"

Kate cracked a smile, which surprised Tony more than the unexpected touch from Gibbs. "I don't know if she got a staff discount, but her coworkers are very concerned to know how she ended up dead in DC with a casual pickup. I think her husband's pretty interested, too."

"Then let's head out to Boston." Tony reached for his coat.

Kate nodded. "I'll get my stuff."

"I don't think that's necessary."

Tony glanced at Kate, who looked back at Gibbs. "Sorry, sir?"

"We'll get the FBI in Boston to look into it."

"You want to trust the FBI?" Kate repeated. Tony couldn't blame her. He was about ready to start looking for the discarded pod, himself.

"We don't even know how this woman died. Until we have reason to suspect the lieutenant killed her, I don't see any reason to traipse all the way out there."

"Traipse?" Tony said, as Kate protested:

"He's in the interview room crying right now. If that's not a sign of guilt..."

"It could be a sign of emotion, Todd." Gibbs stretched and headed over to the elevator. "Some people have them. Or so I've heard." Gibbs never had to wait for the elevator. As usual, it appeared the instant he pressed the button, and he disappeared.

"Well, I'm not giving up," Kate said, peevishly. "I'm calling them back."

"Go girl." Tony turned back to his screen.

And got halfway through an extremely detailed blonde joke from one of the agents over at the JAG office before Kate said: "Get over here, Tony. Now."

She sounded urgent enough that he didn't even put up a token resistance. "What is it?" Kate's eyes were glued to her screen. Tony leaned over behind her and, within seconds, saw exactly why she looked so shell-shocked.

Under the header "The Robert Caldwell Elective Surgery Wing" was a long list of questions that, presumably, were frequently asked about plastic surgery. Since Tony had no burning desire for a nose job or a tummy tuck, he skimmed over that to the photograph at the bottom of the webpage.

It was subtitled: "Dr. Robert Caldwell, 1951-1986", but the picture was obviously mislabelled, because it was Gibbs.

Of course, it was Gibbs twenty years ago, with longer, dark brown hair and a blue striped Eighties tie, but it was still Gibbs. Tony blinked. "What the hell...?"

"It's him," Kate agreed.

"It can't be." Tony shook his head.

"Tony, it looks exactly like him."

"So it's a coincidence." It had to be.

"Maybe it's his brother or a cousin or something."

"Gibbs doesn't have any brothers." He was an only child, he'd told Tony that himself. "God, this is..." Creepy, but also bizarrely fascinating. "Let's go ask Ducky."

"Don't be stupid. Even if he knows, he'll never tell," Kate started, but she was right behind him when the elevator doors opened, promptly this time.

Ducky and Gibbs were talking. Tony could hear them, speaking quietly, as he headed up the hall. He was about to let himself in to Ducky's office when Kate held a finger to her lips and leaned up against the door.

Well, Tony thought, at least she'd learned well.

"I think you ought to let them know," Ducky was saying, as Tony hunched over Kate, ears straining. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed. That doesn't make it any of their business."

"They are your friends, Jethro."

Tony didn't get to hear Gibbs's reply to that. A bowling ball, or something remarkably similar, hit him squarely in the back. He let out a moan, and turned to see Abby standing behind him, fist raised. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" Kate hissed, too late. The doorknob turned and all three of them dived for cover, just as the door opened and Gibbs came out into the hall. When he'd passed, Abby said: "What are you..."

"Show her, Tony," Kate instructed as, showing poise even Tony had to admire, she scrambled up from the floor and, tottering only slightly on her two-inch office heels, headed down the hall.

***

"Mm. I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating cookies. Or anything else." Abby leered appreciatively at the picture of the late Dr. Robert Caldwell.

The fact that, before shock set in, Tony had thought more or less the same thing didn't keep him from saying: "Abby!"

"Maybe," she continued, speculatively, "he was a crazy doctor, and Gibbs is the result of some wacky cloning experiment."

"Wouldn't that make Gibbs, like, twenty years old?" Not that it wasn't an intriguing prospect. Tony had a hard enough time imagining Gibbs in his mid-thirties, the age of the man in the picture. Some days, Tony wasn't even sure Gibbs had been born in the traditional sense. He seemed like the kind of guy who'd sprung fully formed and forty-five from some rock face or Nordic iceberg.

"Maybe it was a cloning and accelerated ageing experiment," Abby suggested. "Or maybe we could just ask him." She picked up her phone. With a kind of morbid car-wreck fascination, Tony watched as she dialed Gibbs's extension and said, as if she was discussing the weather:

"Tony and I were wondering if you have anything you can tell us about Robert Caldwell." Abby paused, then grinned. "Right. OK." Another pause. "Sure thing. Thanks." She hung up the phone and turned back to her computer screen. When it didn't seem like she was about to say anything, Tony prompted:

"Well?" He couldn't help himself.

"Oh," Abby glanced over her shoulder. "He hung up."

Some days, Tony thought, it really wasn't worth coming in to work.

It was another hour before Tony saw Gibbs again. It was lunchtime and, as Tony came into the near-deserted bullpen, he saw Gibbs sitting at his desk, holding a pencil in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Tony smiled tightly, and, when Gibbs didn't seem to notice, sat at his own desk.

"GRID," Gibbs said suddenly. Tony looked up to see Gibbs staring at him across the space between their desks.

"Grid?" He didn't see how that would help in this case, but Gibbs was the boss. "OK. Where do you want us to search?"

Gibbs shook his head, but he was smirking a little, so Tony let it go. "Gay-related immunodeficiency disease. It's what they called AIDS, for a while."

Tony didn't remember that. "Not really PC, huh?"

"Not really accurate, either." Gibbs looked at him evenly. Tony swallowed, one of his usual reactions to being studied by Gibbs. "My brother had it."

"Your..."

"Half-brother. And he's been dead nearly twenty years, so, no, I didn't lie to you. I am an only child."

Tony laughed, but not even he could inject much humour into it. "That's kind of technical, boss."

"I'm a technical kind of guy." He glanced away, but only for a second. "He stayed with his father when our mother left them. I barely knew Bobby. He told us he was sick, but he didn't get into details. You can imagine why." Tony could. He tried to picture telling a man who'd named his son Leroy Jethro, not to mention Leroy Jethro himself, that he was suffering from something that used to be called gay-related immunodeficiency disease.

Well, Tony thought, from what he'd heard about AIDS, that might have been the easier way to go.

"That's for your ears only, Agent." Tony felt an embarrassing warmth in his chest, which he countered by laughing and throwing himself so casually into his chair, he nearly fell out. "And now you know, you can get your mind back on the case, all right, DiNozzo?"

And that was it. Tony waited for Gibbs to say something more, but he didn't. The clicking of Gibbs's keyboard was the only sound in the room, and, finally, Tony turned back to his own computer, but not back to the case.

***

Kandace Weissfell died of a badly timed brain aneurysm. When Lieutenant Leonard found out, he sobbed with relief until he was led from the room by a couple of disdainful MPs. Kate went to call the clinic back, still wondering out loud about Robert Caldwell. Tony wasn't about to tell her.

He worked the rest of his shift and, left the office as soon as he saw Gibbs go, although he didn't head home.

"Was he gay?" Gibbs was in the kitchen when Tony let himself in, staring into the refrigerator like it held the secrets of life, or at least a really good sandwich.

He didn't look up when Tony arrived, although he did take out a bottle of ketchup and what looked like pastrami. He didn't ask what Tony was talking about. "We weren't close. I know he slept around, but I don't know who with."

"But he was a good guy. He worked at an inner-city hospital." St. Eligius, according to Tony's research. Whoever that was. Tony had lost his Catholicism at about the same time as he lost his Italian, and his virginity. It was a busy year.

"That doesn't make him a saint, Tony." Tony, not DiNozzo. Tony decided to take that as a good sign. "But he didn't deserve to die like that." Gibbs stood up and looked at him over the refrigerator door. "No one does."

"Did it..." Tony frowned, not even sure himself what he wanted to ask. "I mean, did it make you..."

"I got married for the first time three months after Bobby died."

That pretty much said it all.

Tony couldn't say what, exactly, possessed him, but he knew he had to do it. He crossed the room and put his arms around Gibbs from behind. Gibbs didn't exactly melt into the embrace, but he didn't pull away, either. "You went to the dedication of the clinic." It had taken some Abby-worthy Internet-delving to find the pictures, but Gibbs was there, March 11 1997, beside a woman in a large hat and a handsome black man in a white coat.

"I had to."

"I know." Because he was Gibbs. Tony let go and reached past him for the provolone. "I'll make dinner."

"I am capable of putting meat in a bun."

Tony leered. "I'm counting on it."

Gibbs laughed sincerely, and stepped away from the fridge, leaving room for Tony. Both of these things gave Tony a deep surge of satisfaction. Almost as deep, he thought as he started on the sandwiches, as the satisfaction he got from knowing something Kate didn't.

END