In the head at 5am this morning...
Not mine, don't own them. Bellisario can kick my ass if he wants. (not beta'd but willing, if you volunteer)
Spoilers for Deliverance
"So, I did a dumb thing tonight, Boss."
A small grunt might have been heard over the sanding but he wasn't sure.
"Don't worry; I already slapped myself in the head for it."
That was definitely a grunt, a slightly amused one even. Score one.
"I asked Franks if Tomas was your son."
Slight, very slight hesitation in the swish of the sanding but then a normal resumption of the rhythmic noise.
"I did the math, came up with 18. Nice even number, Boss."
Yeah, nothing on that one. Wasn't his best effort. He was still up by one.
"But, after asking, I realized I knew the answer already. I am an investigator and the first rule of any investigation is to already know the answer before asking. I did. Just didn't realize it."
The sanding stopped, tools dropped on a table. He didn't have to look up to know what was going on, his own eyes on the step under his feet. He heard the swallow taken from the perpetual mug that sat on the right side of the workbench, the slight, very slight smell of bourbon.
He wasn't sure he even wanted to count this as score two.
"And I knew," he waggled his beer bottle at the work bench, "I knew the answer already. Because, see, the person I was asking about? I kinda know him."
Was that a small grunt? He ignored it. He was on a roll.
"He'd never let anyone be alone, not if he knew about it, about them. Hell, if he even suspected! He'd do anything to help his own, protect his own. And ex number one, ex number two, anyone else be damned."
He'd find out why Franks hadn't told Gibbs later. Just another reason why he didn't like - or trust - Franks. Tim and Abby could be happy to see Franks each time he popped up but he knew better.
"He isn't my son."
Eyes up at the quiet admission, nodding. "Yeah, I know. And, I mean, I knew. Already. I just add to, well, as soon as I said it I knew, I did, totally..."
"Tony."
He snapped his mouth shut. OK, score one of the other side.
"She...yeah, if I'd known she was here..." A shrug and a sip out of the mug.
"Yeah." He finished his beer, stood, started walking back up the stairs.
"Tony?"
"Yeah, Boss?" He ducked his head down, looked between the slats.
"Semper Fi."
Was that...? Yes, it was, the big score! A small grin, both sides of the mouth up, mug raised. Score two to one, Dinozzo wins and the crowd goes wild.
Tony smiled back and then continued walking up the stairs. "Hoo-rah, Boss. Hoo-rah."
Spoilers for Deliverance
"So, I did a dumb thing tonight, Boss."
A small grunt might have been heard over the sanding but he wasn't sure.
"Don't worry; I already slapped myself in the head for it."
That was definitely a grunt, a slightly amused one even. Score one.
"I asked Franks if Tomas was your son."
Slight, very slight hesitation in the swish of the sanding but then a normal resumption of the rhythmic noise.
"I did the math, came up with 18. Nice even number, Boss."
Yeah, nothing on that one. Wasn't his best effort. He was still up by one.
"But, after asking, I realized I knew the answer already. I am an investigator and the first rule of any investigation is to already know the answer before asking. I did. Just didn't realize it."
The sanding stopped, tools dropped on a table. He didn't have to look up to know what was going on, his own eyes on the step under his feet. He heard the swallow taken from the perpetual mug that sat on the right side of the workbench, the slight, very slight smell of bourbon.
He wasn't sure he even wanted to count this as score two.
"And I knew," he waggled his beer bottle at the work bench, "I knew the answer already. Because, see, the person I was asking about? I kinda know him."
Was that a small grunt? He ignored it. He was on a roll.
"He'd never let anyone be alone, not if he knew about it, about them. Hell, if he even suspected! He'd do anything to help his own, protect his own. And ex number one, ex number two, anyone else be damned."
He'd find out why Franks hadn't told Gibbs later. Just another reason why he didn't like - or trust - Franks. Tim and Abby could be happy to see Franks each time he popped up but he knew better.
"He isn't my son."
Eyes up at the quiet admission, nodding. "Yeah, I know. And, I mean, I knew. Already. I just add to, well, as soon as I said it I knew, I did, totally..."
"Tony."
He snapped his mouth shut. OK, score one of the other side.
"She...yeah, if I'd known she was here..." A shrug and a sip out of the mug.
"Yeah." He finished his beer, stood, started walking back up the stairs.
"Tony?"
"Yeah, Boss?" He ducked his head down, looked between the slats.
"Semper Fi."
Was that...? Yes, it was, the big score! A small grin, both sides of the mouth up, mug raised. Score two to one, Dinozzo wins and the crowd goes wild.
Tony smiled back and then continued walking up the stairs. "Hoo-rah, Boss. Hoo-rah."