Reverse Psychology - NCIS Story

Choices and Decisions

Chapter 21 - Choices and Decisions

It was 11.30pm when Jenny pushed her way through the front door carrying a sleeping Ziva. She had seriously considered letting the little girl stay at her house over night but, knowing how concerned Jethro was about Tony, she felt it was best to bring her home. He could become quite possessive when it came to where his kids were when one was sick. This had been confirmed when she'd called at eleven to see how things were. Jethro had sounded quite relieved to hear they were on their way.

Stepping into the entry she was met by Gibbs who gently removed Ziva from her arms.

"I'll just take her up to bed," he said quietly. "Can you watch Tony? He's sleeping. Ducky says it's ok. I'll fill you in when I come down."

He turned to head upstairs and Jenny tip-toed into the living room. Tony was now lying on the couch. She was surprised by how peaceful he looked. His colour was good and the drip had been removed. She noticed Ducky wasn't there and assumed he had gone home.

Going into the kitchen she poured two cups of coffee knowing Gibbs would have one regardless of when his last was. She was pleased to see that the situation was definitely calmer. Even Jethro had looked calmer when he'd taken Ziva from her. She hoped the worst was over.

"Hey Jen. Did she behave herself?"

Jenny turned to see Gibbs enter the kitchen. He took the offered coffee and sat at the table, facing the living room so he could keep an eye on Tony.

"Good as gold," Jenny replied, taking the seat adjacent. "She was still very concerned about Tony but I think she understands that he did a very silly thing. She fell asleep in the movie theatre so I just brought her back to my place for a couple of hours until I thought things would be more settled here. So," she paused to take a drink from the steaming mug. "How is Tony? He looks remarkably well considering."

"Yeah, Duck says he's very lucky," said Gibbs, looking over at his sleeping son. "Because we were able to hydrate him so quickly, along with the food in his stomach, he's managed to come out of this quite well. He'll still have a hell of a headache when he wakes but the vomiting seems to have stopped. Ducky took the I.V. out about," he looked at his watch for confirmation, "ninety minutes ago and then he left around eleven. Said it was ok for Tony to sleep, his vitals were all normal. I just need to keep a close eye on him over the next few hours."

He looked back at Jenny.

"I was so scared Jen," he said, fear still evident in his eyes. "I thought I was going to lose him. And all because he overhead something that he misunderstood." He rubbed his hand over his face. "Geez Jen, he could've killed himself."

"Yes, but he didn't," she replied. "What he did was incredibly stupid, but nothing serious happened and hopefully he will learn from this." She paused to take another sip then asked, "Why did he go for the bourbon in the first place?" She was genuinely curious, thinking it was a odd thing for Tony to do.

"He's been asking about alcohol lately," explained Gibbs. "Tim came around yesterday and we were drinking beer down in the basement and Tony wanted one. When I said no, he then thought he'd pour himself some bourbon. He just wanted to be one of the guys, not sure if it was anything to do with his former adult life, or just a curious ten year old fascination. Anyway, we had a big talk on it and I told him that it was strictly a no go zone and made him promise not to touch the stuff or go near it. I guess when he thought I was going to send him away he tried to think of a way to hurt me because he felt betrayed. He tried to tear down the tree house but when that didn't work, his next step was to drink the bourbon. He knew it was something I had strictly forbidden. So flouting the rules was his way of saying 'stuff you' I guess."