Fox's Den

Chapter Four

 

Damn the weekend had flown by so damn fast! Thankfully due to the nature of the unforeseen circumstances the Director had seen fit to give them until the following Monday to get things worked out before being called back in to work. McGee and Kate weren’t so lucky. With both Gibbs AND Tony out of the office they were stuck working Cold Cases with another team. Their tongues would definitely be wagging by the end of the first day and the Rumor Mill would definitely see an increase in juicy gossip. Especially once HR got wind of the change.

 

Tony smiled as he thought of what Kate’s reaction to his and Gibbs…revelations…would be. Oh they had no intentions of out and out telling everyone but if asked they wouldn’t lie either; at least, not to their friends/co-workers/family. Everyone else could go jump off a bridge for all they cared.

 

He’d called Kelly’s school this morning and informed them she would be out until Wednesday…maybe even the whole week, due to a family emergency. She would definitely be back to school the following Monday though. Gibbs and Tony had already talked about keeping her home so that Jethro could be filled in on everything he’d missed so far in her life.

 

Walking back into the house from his car carrying two totes Tony smiled at the look on Gibbs face. The last time he’d carried two totes this color in they had held an assortment of drinks and drink mixes. Gibbs hadn’t been too Happy once he’d found out what was in the unlabeled bottles even if he’d know that they contained some sort of alcohol…

 

%Flashback%

They’d gotten most of the larger things situated and sorted and placed earlier. Tony’s large TV in the living room along with his sectional sofa and chair set. They’d kept Gibbs coffee table because it had, oddly enough, fit better with the new living room suite than the one that had come with the set. They had placed the other one in the attic for now.

 

They had kept Gibbs Dining Room set because it had more room, but they had replaced the one that was in the kitchen with Tony’s set. Tony’s bedroom suite had been dismantled and placed in the attic for now, the only thing that remained had been his mattress, which they had used to replace Gibbs old mattress in the master bedroom.  Kelly’s clothes had been gone through and all of the stuff that she didn’t fit had gone into boxes to be taken to Goodwill later.

 

They had moved on to the kitchen by this point. They had put Kelly to bed and Tony had just come down from the attic, after storing the empty totes there, to see Gibbs unpacking the last two totes that belonged in the Kitchen.

 

He just stood in the doorway watching as Kool-Aid pouches, canisters, teabags, and coffee were pulled out by Gibbs before being placed in the cupboard. Gibbs had just turned around and grabbed an unlabeled bottle and had turned back to place the two bottles in the cupboard when he paused, he’d noticed they weren’t labeled.

 

Tony was having a hard time keeping a straight face. He knew what was in those bottles. They had been part of a Christmas package that his Aunt had sent him last year; several certificates to some of Tony’s favourite clothing stores, and a lengthy letter were also a part of the package.

 

Kelly’s package contained two bottles of homemade berry punch, a new pair of hiking boots, and a new subscription to one of the few car magazines (that didn’t feature half naked women), and certificates for several clothing stores and toy stores. His Zia said Kelly grew like a damn weed so instead of getting her something that didn’t fit she gave her certificates.

 

He was still wondering whether or not it was a good idea to let her read that magazine subscription. Knowing his luck she’d ask for an RC car for her birthday. His aunt was an enabler and he really shouldn’t encourage her. Thankfully she hadn’t mentioned taking Kelly hunting…yet. She always brought him venison when she bagged herself a deer so he knew Kelly had no problems with eating it.

 

“Tony? What the hell is this?” Gibbs had asked.

 

“Open it and find out.” He replied, a slight smirk on his face. He’d just barely managed not to bust out laughing when Gibbs not only opened the bottle but took a slug from it as well, after smelling it to make sure it wasn’t something completely disgusting that is.

 

Watching as Gibbs capped the bottle and turned to Tony with a glare had Tony fidgeting a little.

 

“What the hell is alcohol, unlabeled alcohol, doing in easy reach of Kelly?” Gibbs had said.

 

“Hey! It’s not within easy reach of her. I kept all of my alcoholic drinks in that locked cabinet unless they were in the fridge. Kelly knows not to touch anything that is alcoholic, not that I ever kept much of it around to begin with. Those two bottles, the two bottles of wine and a few assorted varieties of alcohol that I use for cooking are about what I have all the time. Maybe a 6 pack that ends up getting pushed to the back of the fridge on occasion but that’s it.” Tony said. He didn’t keep a whole lot of consumable alcohol for the simple reason that he wasn’t going to let himself become an alcoholic like his father.

 

Yeah he cooked with the stuff but the alcoholic content had pretty much evaporated by the time he was done…only the subtle flavor remained.

 

“What is this stuff then? Why was it in a cold storage box?” Gibbs asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“It’s home-made Apple Pie. My Aunt Anna makes it and sends me a bottle or two from her newest batch for Christmas. It’s to be kept cold for freshness; which is why it’s in the box. I keep it in that box in the fridge. She always sends Kelly some Berry Punch or preserves for Christmas as well. She owns several acres of land and is always sending me things, whether it be fresh picked sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, plums, pears, apples, zucchini, eggplant, or some sort of venison; usually Jerky, bologna and Venison Steaks or Venison Burger.” Tony shrugged lightly. He’d long since gotten used to his eccentric aunt.

 

“I though you didn’t associate with your family?” Gibbs asked quietly as he placed the cold storage box in the fridge.

 

“I don’t. Neither does Aunt Anna. She has never seen eye to eye with the family, came to blows with my father a few times and cut ties permanently once I was 18.” He shrugged. His Aunt was the only good one in the whole bunch as far as he was concerned. He chuckled at the glint in Gibbs eyes. Oh if only Gibbs knew. Maybe he’d have to invite Zia over so she could meet Gibbs. They’d get along wonderfully, he thought.

%End Flashback%

 

Smiling at Gibbs he reassured him that this was only Photo Albums of Kelly.

 

 As he walked into the living room and set the totes down he wondered at what Gibbs reaction would be to seeing his Aunt. Opening the first tote he began pulling out photo albums. Gibbs had sat down next to him when running feet could be heard.

 

“Don’t run in the house.” Tony said to Kelly as she came skidding into the living room.

 

“Sorry Papà.” Kelly said before squirming her way in-between Tony and Gibbs causing both men to chuckle.

 

Leaning back he placed the first album down on Kelly’s lap before opening it. As he explained what each picture was and when it had been taken Tony smiled. Shooting a look at Gibbs he saw how happy the man was. He had one arm wrapped around Tony and Kelly, his other hand resting lightly on the photo album, his eyes taking in the moments that Tony had captured on Film.

 

As they went through Kelly’s life captured on Film Tony explained each one. Kelly’s birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and other holidays; vacations or just small moments that he had captured on film and placed in the albums.

 

Some of the pictures were absolutely embarrassing for him though. Usually pictures someone else had caught on film and given to him, moments that had him laughing and reminiscing about the events surrounding the pictures or just plain wanting to hide his face.

 

There were pictures of Kelly sitting on a toolbox with a plastic screwdriver in her hand. He’d forgotten those were in there. The next one depicted Kelly with a grease smudge on her cheek laughing as she was swung around by Dom with a laughing Tony in the background.

 

Several candid shots of Kelly looking in to a car’s engine as Brian pointed something out to her. Kelly was sitting on a pony at a fair. Kelly laughing as she rode some ride, jumping up and down as she was handed a huge brown teddy bear, holding a bag with two tiny goldfish swimming around in it. There were pictures of Kelly at a Zoo. She was standing in front of the alligator exhibit waving, a picture of her with a Huge Boa constrictor wrapped around her, her feeding a small monkey with the zookeeper keeping an eye on her and the monkey, there were some with her petting a beautiful wolf cub that had lost its mother.

 

Eventually they came upon the one that contained pictures of a vacation they had taken to visit Tony’s aunt. There were pictures of him and Kelly in the pool.

 

Kelly was sitting on a black and silver motorcycle that was parked in the garage and one of her laughing as she clung to the handlebars while a dark haired woman pushed the bike out of the garage and into the sun.

There was a photo of Kelly laughing as she sat on a chestnut colored horse with Tony behind her. Kelly and Tony riding side by side as they cantered along a dirt path.

 

There were a few candid shots of Kelly holding something up in the woods, a fireman’s boot, a really old headlight, a pretty river stone, some quartz, and of her and Tony laughing as he carried her on his shoulders.

 

Tony knew Gibbs would enjoy the next ones. He remembered this day well because Kelly had nearly given him a heart attack that day. Smiling he watched as they turned the page. The first pictures were of Kelly standing in front of an old house, then of her tugging on his hand and trying to drag him into this house. Then several pictures of Kelly in various areas of the house, then one of him with a panicked look on his face, then of him standing in a doorway and Kelly was visible in the room sitting on what had at one point been a small boat laughing. The next one was of Kelly sitting in front of his aunt as she helped Kelly to maneuver the small boat’s motor. The next one had Kelly leaning over the edge then Tony’s hand grabbing her and then suddenly he’s in the water glaring at the camera and a picture of Kelly laughing.

 

The album ended with Kelly in front of a bonfire roasting marshmallows with Tony’s help and a picture of Kelly, Tony, and his aunt standing in front of the bonfire and laughing. Closing that album Tony grabbed the next one, which happened to be the one of their Florida Vacation. Smiling he knew Gibbs would get a kick out of some of the pictures in there.

 

Opening it he set the album on Kelly’s lap and let her explain the pictures, with a little input from him every now and then. The first picture was of a sun rising on the beach, Kelly had taken that one. Turning the page Tony had to hold in a chuckle at the look on Gibbs face, it was worried, shocked, proud and dismayed all in one. Kelly was sitting on the edge of a large plexi-glass tank and petting a small shark, a baby which is the only reason he’d let Kelly do so. The next several pictures showed Kelly feeding some dolphins and laughing as one of the handlers helped her into the tank as Brian slipped in beside her so they could swim with the dolphins. The handler had showed Kelly how to signal to the dolphins for them to perform different acts or stunts. That had been a highlight of Kelly’s day. It was one of the many exciting things that Vinnie had managed to wrangle for Kelly and the rest of them. For a bunch of guys to have fun like that it had to have been hilarious to see.

 

As they progressed through the album Tony had to laugh. Looking back at some of the stunts him and his buddies had pulled to make Kelly laugh he seriously had to wonder what had been going through their heads. There were pictures of Kelly clapping and laughing as a handler had a small Killer Whale come up and splash Kelly. Kelly laughing as Vinnie poked at a seemingly sleeping otter only for it to smack him with its tail before moving away, getting Vinnie wet in the process. Kelly had gotten close to a Galapagos tortoise and was having a ball walking next to it.

 

Dom and Brian had taken her into the shark enclosure because Tony had needed to get more film since the roll he was using was almost out. Kelly sat on Dom’s shoulder as she pointed at some of the different species of sharks. They’d been halfway through the enclosure with the tentacle creatures like squid and octopus and jellyfish by the time Tony had caught up to them. They had gone on to see the manatees, sting rays, and other assorted sea creatures before leaving and heading to the next stop.

 

There were pictures of Kelly with Steve, who Kate was currently dating, Vinnie, Bobbie, Dom and Brian as well as a good portion of pictures of Just Kelly or Kelly and Tony; pictures of Kelly screaming and laughing as they rode several rides, pictures of her standing in front of a T-Rex skeleton, Raptor Skeletons, Ancient Egyptian artifacts, sitting on a Wooly Mammoth replica and standing in front of several other different historical artifacts and objects.

 

The ones of them on the beach, Tony covered in sand because he’d fallen asleep sunbathing and Dom, Vinnie and Brian had decided to ‘bury’ him and had enlisted Kelly’s help, at least according to them. He thinks it may have been the other way around. They had played volleyball taking turns on whose team Kelly was on, often times she’d be on either his, Vinnie, Dom, or Brian’s shoulders to serve the ball. They had built a huge sandcastle and Kelly had decided she was the queen of it and had made a makeshift crown out of paper machete and construction paper.

 

They had gone looking for seashells with Brian and had instead come back with two buckets full of seashells, sea glass, some starfish and coral and a lot of sand. They had sat down later and discarded the things like driftwood, broken shells, and the occasional piece of normal glass.

It had been a fun packed week for all of them and Kelly.

 

Once they had finished with that album Tony picked up the next one and set it down in Kelly’s lap before getting up to start dinner. Once that was done he went back to re-living Kelly’s life through the photographs. Once they had finished with the albums and then eaten dinner and put Kelly to bed him and Gibbs had sat down on the couch relaxing and talking about Kelly’s life. Her likes and dislikes, her favourite activities, her dislike of most things girly. Gibbs had even asked what Kelly had said meant. Tony had to take a deep breath as what she had said hit him hard. It would explain why Kelly had been clingier than normal and why she didn’t seem to want him out of eyesight for too long. He had already beaten himself up for leaving let alone thinking it was what was best for Kelly. Gibbs was right, he was an idiot sometimes.

 

As they just sat there in silence while Tony got a handle on his still slightly frayed emotions Gibbs thought back on the day and everything he had learned. Tony smiled slightly when Gibbs asked him about certain events or pictures. Filling Gibbs in on the different adventures that Kelly had had and what he had missed in her life made him smile as he thought back to those precious moments in time. Eventually they headed to bed.

 

Tony had called Kelly off school for the week so she could spend some time with her dad but also so they could get into a routine of sorts, especially since both him and Gibbs would be back at work soon. They also needed to give Abby some sort of explanation as to what was going on. That was certain to be an…interesting…conversation. Not to mention how to explain Gibbs’ sudden interest in taking vacation and Tony’s taking one at the same time without it sounding like something out of a damn soap opera. Though really, it was something you would probably see on one but shit happens.

 

Tony had quickly become accustomed to waking up with Gibbs’ arm wrapped around him or him wrapped around the older man. He’d also become quite accustomed to seeing Gibbs and Kelly work on the boat, though there was a distinct lack of bourbon which, while odd was definitely a refreshing change for them both.  Somehow both Kelly and Gibbs had managed to get him to help sand the boat, it was probably Kelly’s puppy eyes and Gibbs subtle but there smile. Another thing that Tony quickly became accustomed to; Gibbs’ smiles. The man was positively stunning when he actually smiled, it was no wonder that his ex-wives had fallen for him. Tony found himself falling for him all over again, Kelly always seemed to know when to make Gibbs smile and how, something Tony was learning as well. It would be strange seeing Bastard Gibbs make an appearance once they were back at work.

 

He should have seen it coming, they both should have but they hadn’t. As the weekend rolled around and their return to work and Kelly’s return to school drew closer, Kelly became clingier. They had gone to the Jeffersonian and Tony had gone to get something for them to eat, while Gibbs and Kelly finished walking around the exhibit on Ancient Peru, and when they had met back up Kelly had clung to him the rest of the time. He hadn’t cared at the time but he should have known that things wouldn’t stay as calm. That night him and Gibbs had been awoken to Kelly’s screams, they’d rushed to her room to find her crying and Tony had immediately sat down on her bed to calm her down. They’d managed to get Kelly to fall back to sleep and had gone back to bed.

 

Sunday drew to a close and after having a barbeque they had gone inside and relaxed, watching a movie with Kelly. That night Kelly had another nightmare and come Monday morning she didn’t want to go to school. She wanted to stay with Tony and she couldn’t. In the end they had managed to convince her to go, they’d had to drop her off and rush to the office because they were running late. That had definitely caused more rumours because they had driven in together in Gibbs’ vehicle.

 

After being at work for a couple of hours Gibbs was going to be on his fourth coffee run of the day. Simply because he was tired of listening to the endless conversations about why Tony and himself came to work together, or why all of a sudden they have the same address. And that’s just the ones not about Kelly.

Just when he was about to enter the elevator a woman with dirty blonde hair and blue-green eyes stepped out looking like she’s completely frazzled or running away from a bad situation. She sees Gibbs right in front of her and collapses. Gibbs catches her just in time.

 

Cradling her in his arms he says “DiNozzo get Ducky quick.”

 

TBC…

 

AN: Yes I am Evil. 50%Angel 50%Devil