The Bitter End

Title: Bitter End 04

Author: Daedalus / Tak / Whatever, as long as the clock keeps ticking

Fandom: NCIS

Category: Slash

Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo – Allusions to Tony/Jeanne and Gibbs/Mann

Rating: PG for now (will be NC-17 later on)

Genre: Angst (a lot of it) – Action – Character study – First Time

Summary: What could have been a tragedy forces Gibbs and DiNozzo to realize they can’t deny what they long for any longer. But a ghost rises from the past and beats them to the game.

Spoilers: Every season from season 1.

Warnings: Homophobia

Disclaimer: Don’t own, don’t sue.

Thanks to Joey, who does an amazing job, for betaing this fic. And thanks to her for coming up with the name for ‘Chris’.





Well, that was new. A parody of a crime scene. They had had meat puzzles, a man organizing the abduction of his wife and child for money, a fratricide stripper, but this, well, not yet. It was more disturbing than some of the crime scene they had had to investigate because of the sheer strangeness of it all. The police had secured the perimeter.





‘Special Agent Gibbs? I’m Detective Hugh Dowling.’





Gibbs spared him a brief nod and shook his hand before asking: ‘What have you got?’

‘As you can see, an envelope pinned on tape. Looks strange, huh? Four guys were beaten in this same alley the last four weeks. One per week.’

‘What. No surveillance?’





Dowling scratched the back of his head thoughtfully.





‘Well… The guys did not agree to lodge a complaint, and both the boss and the patrons of the bar said it would be bad publicity.’

‘What day did it happen?’





The detective narrowed his eyes at Gibbs, setting his jaw.





‘Every Friday night, apparently.’

‘So you’re telling me somebody comes and bashes young gay men every damn Friday night and you’ve done nothing about it?’

‘At the victims’ demand.’

‘And how is-‘

‘Their boyfriends… or rather, their official boyfriends are all Marines. You’re NCIS cops. You know all about “Don’t ask. Don’t tell”. So don’t tell me if you were gay, your boyfriend was beaten outside a gay club and your name had to come on some official paper, you wouldn’t do it…’





Gibbs rolled his eyes, heaving a sigh, and looked at Tony, who had a strange look on his face. Perhaps too detached. Someone else would have not seen it. But it was Gibbs’ job and joy to watch Tony – and he knew. He turned back to the police officer.





‘You could have placed one or two undercover guys to see what was happening. Same MO, two Friday nights straight… that’s one thing. Four??? Come on! Even you could figure out something to do. You’re LEOs, not schoolteachers.’





Gibbs looked pissed and the policeman recoiled.





‘D’you have any children, Detective?’ Gibbs asked.

‘Yeah. A daughter and a son.’

‘How old is your daughter?’

‘She’s nineteen, Sir.’

‘So sometimes, she goes out with her friends… To have a drink or two, maybe. If this was one of her haunts, and if it was young women who were assaulted, d’you think you’d let people tell you how to do your job?’





Dowling set his jaw but did not answer.





‘Those boys have parents, Detective. They have the right to be protected like any citizen of this country. I would understand the need for discretion and the need to keep the club open, but after the second bashing, you SHOULD have kept a guy on guard, just in case. And now I guess you’re gonna tell me that you opened the envelope and were foolish enough to inhale whatever was inside?’





Tony flinched, but the Detective just frowned.





‘No! I’m not that stupid! I mean, we saw the addressee, found out that you existed for real, so we didn’t touch anything…’

‘You’re not wearing gloves…’ Gibbs noticed.

‘I… I’ve got rid of them already…’





The NCIS agent sighed and turned towards McGee.





‘Take his print. I’m sure that jackass touched the envelope or the tape at some point with his bare frigging fingers.’





The grey haired man put on his gloves and squatted in front of the tape, snatching the ‘letter’ coolly while Tony and Ziva started to shoot and sketch the area. The indignant conversation – from the cop’s part – died down as he and McGee went further away from the ‘crime scene’.

He stood up, knowing better after the ‘incident’ with the plague than to try and open it like that, and secured it into an evidence bag.





‘When you’re done, we go back to headquarters’, he said.





His team nodded, searching the area, as Tony approached him when he entered the perimeter, scanning the ground with his eyes.





‘You alright, boss?’ he whispered.

‘I’ll be, if this turns out to be nothing…’, he answered, producing the bagged envelope.

‘It is never nothing’, Tony remarked bitterly.





He looked at the young man, who had turned away from him. Ziva was retrieving what looked like old, long-dried blood – surely that of the Marine’s boyfriends who had been mugged – as well as some remnants of vomit – which was more or less predictable given the fact that they were outside a club where they served alcohol. McGee was looking around. Tony was frowning, cocking his head to the side before kneeling down and picking up what seemed a metallic clip of something.





‘What’s that?’ he said, clearly puzzled.





McGee stood up and opened an evidence bag for him.





‘Well… I don’t know. Looks like it’s from… some sort of electrical device… We’ll know more when we get it to Abby…,’ McGee answered.

‘Yeah alright…’





They spent some more time on the ‘scene’ but found nothing. Gibbs was a bit… perplexed by the fact that the taped area of the crime scene seemed to stop abruptly at the wall. They had retrieved it for analysis but something in the picture did not seem quite right.



He knew they would have to return eventually. That did not mean they were done there yet. So they taped the area, officially, that time, and while Tony and himself would interview the owner of the place, Gibbs sent Ziva and McGee back to headquarters to process the evidence and fill the paperwork.





**

*







Tony and Gibbs had been waiting for five minutes when a fairly handsome man in a bathrobe opened the door.



He had obviously just gotten out of bed and Gibbs caught himself wondering briefly if he wore anything underneath those… ‘clothes’.





‘Yes?’





The man looked at them both, his eyes lingering on Tony, and Gibbs felt a prickle of jealousy tickle the nape of his neck. He could feel Tony fidget behind him, but from where he was standing he couldn’t see his expression. The man’s eyes gazed back at him when he flashed his ID card.





‘NCIS.’

‘I see that. Can I help you?’

‘You know NCIS?’

‘I’ve met some guy who knew NCIS. Handsome guy.’





He smiled sweetly, and Gibbs had the feeling there was more than he let on.





‘You the owner of the bar?’

‘No. Co-owner… Sort of. But David is asleep. You’ll have to wait till this evening if you wanna talk to him.’

‘We might. What do you know about the attacks that were perpetrated against your community?’





The man tensed.





‘I know it happens. I know we’re not the only ones in the US to have who face the narrow-mindedness of some rednecks. It… bothers me that they chose our bar to work, and if the police were doing their job well, they’d place someone outside to watch and catch the bastard, but we can’t afford to close and let them know we are afraid of them.’

‘Do you think the guys who were attacked were… the provocative kind?’

‘Hell no! Three of them are friends of mine. Ask them about Chris – they’ll know. They’re discreet. Even more so that their sweethearts are Marines. Older ones at that. They come to the bar to talk with friends, have some fun. Their boyfriends have kept quiet about their sexuality for so long to avoid any kind of problems… I mean, you’d met them in the street, apart from the fact they aren’t married and they don’t have kids, you’d never guess they’re gay. You know, not every one of us likes to parade on a tank in a thong, waving the rainbow flag and everything. You don’t have to be a queer to be in love with a man. Actually, as far as I am concerned, I want people to see that I’m not different. So I don’t go out in the street bragging about my loving cock. As far as I know, your boy over there could be one of us, could have been fantasizing about you for *years*, maybe feeding you bullshit like he’s fucking at least a girl a day, while he only wants you to hug him tight for a while…’





Gibbs really did not know where that had come from, and as he turned to look at Tony, flushed and gaping as he was trying – and failing – to come up with an answer, conflicting emotions playing on his face, fleeting so fast Gibbs wondered for a while whether Tony wasn’t hiding facts from him indeed… And seeing that Tony was no help in that case, he turned back to ‘Chris’, only to find him leering at Tony, a smug smirk on his lips, that he was biting, his eyes alight with mischief.



Gibbs could not help it, he took a step on the right so that he was keeping Tony out of the leering man’s view, and forced Chris’ gaze to fall on him instead.



He hadn’t even realized what he was doing or why, before he’d done it. To him, Chris was a threat. Which was ridiculous, because Tony wasn’t interested in men.



He frowned, nevertheless, and Chris smiled sweetly at him.





‘See, here I was being provocative. They really are not. But you know, I’d put a collar on him or something to keep him from getting into trouble. I’m sure he gets into trouble each time he steps forward.’





Despite his irrational mistrust of the man, Gibbs had to smile at that.





‘Perhaps I should do that. He does have a tendency to attract trouble.’

‘Well, keep an eye out for him. It’d be a shame to waste such beauty…’

‘Hey!’ Tony protested loudly, but was ignored by both men.





Chris raised his eyebrows.





‘Pleasure to meet you, Special Agent…?’

‘Gibbs’, the Bossman answered, shaking the proffered hand. ‘I can’t force you to close the bar. Especially since there hasn’t been any murders yet. But I’ll keep some guy around to see if they can find out anything. If you think of anything that might help us, please call us.’

‘And if I just want to have a chat?’





Gibbs laughed.





‘Depends. Have a night… night, I guess. We’ll see you around.’

‘Good bye. Oh, and good bye, Special Agent…’

‘DiNozzo’, Tony said stiffly.





Chris winked at him.





‘I sure hope to see you around.’

‘Wait you just –‘

‘Tony!’ interjected Gibbs.





Tony turned around to look at his boss.





‘What? I was just-‘

‘Do I have to carry you into the car?’





Tony sighed.





‘No, Boss. I’m coming.’





Tony on his heels, Gibbs shook his head and headed back to the car, Chris’ soft laughter ringing as the shut the door.







**

*







An hour and a half later, while Ziva and McGee were in Abby’s lab, the Goth chirping excitedly as she put the metal clip away to analyze and leaned over the transparent box she used to manipulate potentially infectious objects, Gibbs and Tony sat in the car, watching at the tiny screen.





‘Beautifully simple, but it’s so common I’m not sure you’ll get anything if I analyze it. I mean, it’s the type of envelopes you can get in any supermarket. Whoever this is doesn’t want us to find them very quick and-‘

‘Abs. Open it?’ Gibbs interrupted.

‘Yeah. Right, Bossman. So…’





She opened the envelope carefully as everybody was holding their breath.





‘What? How anticlimactic!’ Abby exclaimed, obviously disappointed.

‘Well it’s perhaps for the best. I mean, when I go to a pizzeria and see them pour flour on their-‘ Tony began.

‘DiNozzo, you’ll fill us in on your wonderful phobia of flour later…’, said Gibbs, watching at the man – almost – fondly.

‘Err… You’re right, boss.’

‘So Abs. What do you have.’

‘Well, see for yourself.’

‘I can’t, Abs. I’m in a fucking car.’

‘Right. Here it comes…’





McGee and Ziva leaned forward to read above Abby’s shoulder, while she read the paper aloud for Gibbs and Tony to hear what was written on it.





Crime scene, at a quarter to nine.

I’m warning you: Don’t meet the deadline,

And your ‘precious’ will meet mine.





‘It rhymes…’ Tony said.

‘Very helpful, DiNozzo… I’m surprised you even know what a rhyme is’, Gibbs sighed.

‘What… I was just saying…’

‘It’s pretty bad poetry, isn’t it?’ McGee supplied.

‘Well, I don’t know, you’re the expert in literature here… But my guess is it’s not poetry at all… Just a psycho who thinks it’s funny to play with words as they play with the police…’





McGee rolled his eyes.





‘Sound like Lord of the Rings, to me…’ said McGee absent-mindedly.

‘Ya think so, “Elf Lord”?’ asked Gibbs with a vicious smirk.





Tony, who had been about to say something, chuckled.





‘Any movie line is mine, here, Probie’, he said. ‘If I was there, I would whack you over the head.’

‘Lord of the Rings was a book before it was a movie, Tony’, Gibbs reminded him.





Tony rolled his eyes at Gibbs in playful exasperation, just when the team leader was reaching out, smacking Tony over the head. Tony rubbed the sore spot with a frown on his face.





‘Hey, I didn’t deserve that’, he protested.

‘Don’t think about hitting him. He needs his wits about him.’

‘What? You mean I don’t? Oh, wait… I hope you’re not saying I don’t have my wits about me.’

‘No. But with you, the damage is already done. We’ll be back in a few. You’d better be working on your reports when we arrive.’





With a ‘Good work, Abs…,’ Gibbs turned the communication off, as Tony willed his glare to reach McGee beyond the now blank screen.







**

*







When they arrived in the bullpen, Gibbs told his team he would be with the Director for a while, so they should as well have something to eat. Tony ordered in, for his boss as well, and was trying to wolf down a quarter of a pizza in one go when Gibbs reached his desk, stealing a piece or it before whacking Tony’s head.





‘Hey! What was that one for?’

‘Table manners.’

‘I learned from you’, Tony pointed out as their colleagues were trying very hard not to laugh.

‘Yeah, well you’re not supposed to repeat everything I do. Especially the nearly exploding part. You got that?’





Tony grinned.





‘I’ll try not to get blown up, but forgive me if I like to get just blown once in a while…’





Gibbs chocked on the pizza he was eating and Tony was at his side in a second, hitting him in the back as if it would help him. It did not take long for Gibbs to get better and he glared at Tony.





‘Care to repeat that, DiNozzo?’

‘Aw, come on, this was priceless… I know you don’t think so but –‘

‘Get into the car, everybody,’ Gibbs butted in.





Ziva and Timothy did not wait long and almost ran to the elevator while Tony was lagging behind.





‘So, boss… Who’s your precious…’, Tony piped out cheerfully.





Gibbs turned around wearily giving Tony ‘the’ look. That wiped the smile off the younger man’s face for a moment. He went on walking, not paying Tony anymore attention, but of course, his agent would not leave it alone.





‘Hey… I was just saying. You know. If you have a sweetheart, we’d better know ‘bout it, to protect her, you know. ‘Cause she may be a target.’





There was something more in Tony’s tone. Something bordering sarcasm. Something Gibbs quite did not place. He stopped, faced Tony once more and raised his eyebrows expectantly. Tony had a huge goofy smile on his face.





‘Or… It might be your boat.’

‘I don’t have a ‘sweetheart’, Tony…’

‘Really?? I mean, sorry, that sucks, boss. I mean… you know, you really deserve to be with someone and-‘

‘Save it, DiNozzo…’





Gibbs had turned around again and headed towards the elevator. The thought that maybe they knew kept nagging at him, which was utterly ridiculous, because even Tony had no clue…





‘You’re worried, boss…’





That stopped him. He pushed the button of the elevator to send McGee and Ziva on their way, and gave Tony a warning look.





‘Hey, don’t look at me like that,’ Tony protested, ‘it’s one of the reasons you hired me.’

‘And pray tell, what makes you think I’m worried, DiNozzo?’

‘Well I can tell.’

‘You’re very confident.’





DiNozzo rolled his eyes.





‘My gut… And I…’





Gibbs waited as Tony lowered his gaze for a moment.





‘Well, I guess I’ve learned to know you. A bit. So. What’s up?’

‘Well you tell me…’





Tony observed him for a moment, undoubtedly trying to assess his mood and the possibilities that he could make it out in one piece.





‘Okay. I know you’re worried. And before you say anything, I know it’s pertaining to the case. So. The letter. It was that face you made when you read it. You hid it very well, but you can’t hide from me. Well. You can, but I know when you do it. And you’re doing it right now.’

‘So?’

‘Well. I understand, you know… if you’re seeing someone… or… spending time with someone lately, someone you hold dear – well, I know you love Abby but-‘

‘To the point, DiNozzo.’

‘On it, boss.’





Tony breathed in, casting a concerned gaze at his employer.





‘I understand if you want to… protect that person. Whoever they are. But can’t you trust me with this, boss?’





He looked dejected, and Gibbs knew he had to say something, because Tony still seemed to feel like Gibbs really did not care about him. The lead agent sighed, walked up to Tony, and put both hands on his cheek, firmly. He swallowed. It was not easy. Give him something to let him know he did care, and trusted him, but not enough so that he would not see the real truth behind his words.





‘I’ll tell you something. There is nobody alive that is more precious to me than you are. Well. Maybe perhaps Abby…’





He gave a vicious smile, but when Tony started to say something, as the gleam of hopefulness that had arisen in those eyes just seconds ago had vanished, he held his face even tighter, resisting the urge to make his point by kissing the man square on the lips, and went on.





‘But I swear. Nobody. You got that?’

‘But you’re still worried, boss.’

‘Yeah, yeah I am. There’s so nut case out there that thinks I have a “precious”, and I don’t know who they think it is, and I don’t want someone to get hurt, abducted or whatever because of me.’





Tony searched something in his eyes, and Gibbs opened himself enough that the young man could feel some of his warmth coming through. Tony gave him a sad smile. There was something in his eyes that Gibbs could not identify, but also some of the peace that he had robbed from him just minutes ago.





‘Got it, boss.’

‘Good.’





Gibbs petted his cheek and let go, calling the elevator.







**

*





‘You know, DiNozzo, you really should-‘

‘BOSS! WATCH OUT!’





And he was already on him, pinning him to the ground, as the gun was fired.





‘Shit…’ He pushed Tony off him to get up, gun at the ready, refusing to look at him just now when the guy who had taken a shot at them may still be there, somewhere, waiting to lodge a bullet in his head.





‘Stay down, Tony. Don’t move…’





He was looking all around him, frantic, trying to stay calm as Ziva too was searching the area, trying to locate the one who had just shot. But there was no one to be seen.



It was his worst nightmare playing all over again. If Tony stood up just now, he would have a hole of his own in the head. He knew it. It had happened once before. Gut feeling. Same situation. Shot at. Someone who took the bullet – Tony – for him. Here they were in a street, but it was all the same.



Though he knew Tony had not been wearing a vest…



He heard McGee checking on Tony, heard him call an ambulance. When he heard Tony’s groan, he was partly relieved, despite how weak his voice sounded.





‘I’m alright, boss. Just a…’

‘Shut your trap, Tony, it’s not a scratch. And stay down’, McGee said.





Well, for once, McGee was saying the right things.



Gibbs exchanged a look with Ziva and took a deep breath.





‘SHOW YOURSELF!’

‘Why, but that is not part of the plan and you know it, Special Agent Gibbs…’





A bit jammed, but… Female voice? What the hell??





‘I don’t like games, Miss…?’





A quiet laugh. It was near. But Gibbs could not see anyone.





‘Well, now… If I told you, I’d be the mouse and you the cats, right? Well, I don’t think I’d like to play that way round. I’ll tell you what. I’m the voice of God. I am Revenge…’

‘What is your fucking name?’

‘You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you? Ooh my… You know, you should… Seize the day and suck the marrow out of life and… I don’t know. Make out with lil’ Tony here…’





Gibbs winced.





‘Oh but I can assure he would like that very much, you know. Well, if you don’t, I do.’

‘She’s mental!’ cried Tony, as loud as he could.

‘Yeah, you would say that, now, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t like to lose your job on this, or to be assigned to another team… That’s why you refused the team in Spain, isn’t it?’

‘What?’





Tony shot Gibbs an apologetic glance, trying to smile. His face was sweating quite a lot.





‘Look, we’ll talk about it later, okay? Now we… Ouch… we have to find that – bitch.’

‘I heard that, DiNozzo. That’s not very courteous.’

‘Well you know what? I don’t do courteous… when people shoot at me.’

‘Oh, but I was shooting at Gibbs, originally. You trained your puppy well, Leroy.’

‘It’s Special Agent Gibbs to you’, the ex-Marine snapped.

‘Leroy. You trained your puppy well. He’s got one keen eye when it comes to finding evidence I didn’t want him to find – or perhaps I did – and gut like your own. But you’re right, DiNozzo – ‘Leroy’ will hurt more if I shoot you. After he kidnapped Katie, and after he had had to kill the blonde bitch who had to dispose of your precious boy, Haswari had planned to take lil’ Tony down the last, even though he did tend to look up to you very much… Or rather to look up at you, but… Perhaps you should ask Tony why he was so pale, earlier. Perhaps you should ask him how he knew it was a gay bar. And perhaps I should put a hole in his pretty little head. Now.’





Tony winced, but Gibbs did not know if it was because of the pain or the memories that a shot to the head triggered in all of them.





‘If you touch him I swear…’

‘Oh, come on, what would be the fun in that? I’ll let you all mature a bit, and when you are ripe, I come and reap you. Savvy?’





Not savvy at all. But there was no way they could tell where the voice was coming from. Tony was trying to stand up and Gibbs kept shushing him, ordering him to stay put – the blood loss would be worse if he actually moved.





‘Listen, you bitch… I don’t know who you think you are, but-‘

‘Aw, Agent DiNozzo. I’m hurt. I really thought you addressed women more gallantly.’

‘And I really thought I told you I didn’t bow to women who shoot at me…’





Ziva and McGee had been looking around them for a while. The faint echo of the silenced gun had reverberated against the walls of the narrow alley, and until Abby did a reconstitution of the scene, there was no way they could tell where the shooter was hiding. Ziva spoke up.





‘Why are you talking about Ari?’ she asked.





Her brother had double-crossed them all, but he had still been his brother, and she had loved him. And mourned him. Still did.





‘Can you not guess, Special Agent David? Haswari was my lover. He said we would marry, you know? You should have been my bridesmaid…’





Ziva shivered but squared her shoulders. The voice seemed to come from behind the wall. But behind the wall, there was the club, so it was impossible for the sound to come from there.





‘You’re completely insane’, she whispered.

‘Am I, Special Agent David?’

‘Yes, you are. You really think Ari would marry anybody?’

‘Of course. He loved me.’

‘You really believe that, do you?’

‘Haha’, Tony winced at he laughed, his face filled with contempt. ‘Like he loved that Swedish girl?’

‘No. She was a tool. He loved me.’

‘He used you,’ Gibbs said.

‘Shut up.’

‘He used you, as he used that girl, and Mossad, and myself,’ he insisted.

‘I SAID SHUT UP! Haswari loved me. You just don’t understand.’





Ziva had a bitter laugh, but her voice was hard when she answered.





‘Ari did NOT love you. Ari did not love anybody.’

‘You’re mistaken, “Ziva”… He loved his dear half-sister very much, you know…’





Ziva set her jaw, ignoring the confused look McGee threw in her direction.





‘But since he wouldn’t want me to shoot you and it’d be too easy to shoot Gibbs just now, Tony here will be so kind as to take two more bullets for you two, won’t he?’

‘NO!’ Gibbs interjected.

‘You injured my pride and you hurt my feelings. And you tainted Haswari’s memory.’





The woman sighed.





‘But at least, you obeyed my orders. So I can’t kill him now, can I?’

‘If you have to shoot somebody, then shoot me,’ Gibbs said.

‘Oh no, Leroy, that would please you too much…’





A muscle played on Gibbs’ cheek. He turned to look at DiNozzo. There was a silence, then, before anyone could move-





‘Do it,’ the voice said.





And two gunshots were heard almost simultaneously, Tony crying out in pain as both his legs began to bleed profusely. McGee had wiped out his cell phone and called an ambulance when Gibbs, desperate, incensed, incapable of bashing that woman’s brains in, began to shout in earnest.





‘SHOW YOURSELF, YOU BITCH!!’ he repeated. ‘SHOW YOURSELF, SO I CAN PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MISERY!’





The voice laughed hysterically.





‘I told you already, I can’t. Now. Be a good boy. Oh, by the way, tell your “precious” he should not go out around here on Friday nights, you know… Some people don’t like men like him… It’d be a pity if he got hurt anymore than he has to… Well, good night, Special Agent Gibbs…’





There was a clicking sound, and the voice went dead as Gibbs was looking at Tony, understanding dawning on him. He did not have to believe that woman’s voice, a voice he did not trust… but… he was sure there was some part of truth in what she had said, and as he looked into Tony’s ashen face, damp with perspiration, and lined by a frown of pain, as he looked into Tony’s expressive eyes, his heart skipped a beat. There was remorse and shame so intense in those eyes that he wondered what had triggered it.





‘I’m… so… s-orry, boss…’ Tony said.





And he had to close his eyes.





‘Don’t be,’ he answered softly, kneeling by the young man, taking his hand into his own and squeezing tightly, until the sirens arrived, shrieking into the night…