Chapter Text
PART ONE
"Please, say it isn't so!" Tony groaned with disbelief. He stared at the younger man with the messy hair and blank expression who was so totally focused on his work. "How can anyone—besides Gibbs that is, because he never watches movies—not have seen Star Wars? And you call yourself a red-blooded American?"
The object of Tony's curiosity paused in his work and looked up at the NCIS agent with a look of confusion. "All humans have red blood, no matter their nationality."
Tony rolled his eyes at the younger man. "It's an expression. You're as bad as Ziva, but at least she has the excuse of being born in another country.'
"I often wonder if Zach is from another planet," one of the other scientists said as he collected soil samples. He was about Tony's age, with curly blond hair and a beard that hadn't quite grown in fully yet. "Don't try to understand it. He just is what he is."
"No," Tony said and shook his head as he looked back at Zach Addy who had gone back to collecting bone fragments from the pile of compost. They were investigating the mangled remains of a body that had been destroyed in a wood chipper and left to decompose in a composting bin on the base in Anacostia. As talented as Ducky and Abby were, there was no way that they would ever be able to piece this body back together without help, or six months in which to do it, which was why Gibbs had called in the team from the Jeffersonian. Dr. Temperance Brennan and her team usually worked with the FBI, but Gibbs had called in a few favors and now they were working with NCIS's MCRT.
Tony's job was pretty simple right then: keep them safe, make sure they didn't compromise any evidence and stay out of their way. It was a boring assignment and Tony would have rather been tracking down possible witnesses with Ziva and Gibbs, or even going through computer records with McGee, trying to trace the rented wood chipper. Instead, he was stuck with the weird scientists.
"No," Tony repeated. "That's not acceptable. You, Dr. Addy, have got to climb out of the lab and see the world."
Zach paused again and frowned at Tony. "Special Agent DiNozzo, I do not believe that watching a movie—even a series of movies—could be considered seeing the world. And I do not spend all of my time in a laboratory."
"Yeah, he builds airplanes and flies them in his spare time," Hodgins said teasingly. "I've been telling him forever that he needs to get out more."
"See that," Tony told Zach. "You should listen to your friends. You need to get out more."
Zach continued to place particles into a bag and sighed. "Fine, I will watch this movie." He paused and looked at Hodgins. "Do video stores still rent DVDs? Would I need a membership?"
Tony and Hodgins both groaned. Then Tony smiled. "Forget it. You can come to my place. I've got all six episodes on BluRay. We can do a marathon this weekend. Assuming neither of is called out for a case."
"That will be acceptable," Zach said without looking up. "Thank you Special Agent DiNozzo."
"You should really call me Tony," the agent said, "especially if you're going to spend all day watching movies with me."
Zach looked up again and gave Tony a small smile. "Tony. You may call me Zach."
"DiNozzo!" Tony turned sharply and saw that Gibbs had returned and was talking to Dr. Brennan. They were making their way over to where Tony was standing. Tony went to meet them half way. "Leave the kid alone to do his job and do yours!"
"Right Boss!" Tony said. "What exactly should I be doing? I mean, you said stay and watch the Jeffersonian scientists. Is there something I should be doing now instead?" Gibbs rolled his eyes and reached out to smack the back of Tony's head. "Sorry, Boss."
"Dr. Brennan said that they are just about finished here," Gibbs said. "When they're done, I want you to go with them back to the Jeffersonian. They find anything, I want to know it."
Tony sighed. "Boss, can't McGee go? He's a science ge… guy like them. He'd fit in so much better." Gibbs just glared at Tony until the younger man relented. "How long?"
"Until I say different," Gibbs said. "Until further notice, you're on their team. They work, you work. They go home, you go home. You'll check in with me, but I want eyes and ears in that lab." Gibbs paused before saying a softer tone, "Tony, you know what's important and what's not, McGee doesn't always."
Tony brightened at the compliment and felt a little better about being banished to the Jeffersonian. "Thanks Boss."
"Special Agent Gibbs," Dr. Brennan said, interrupting. "With a body this deteriorated, it will take some time before we have any useful information to share. Perhaps it would be better if Agent DiNozzo—"
"With all due respect, Dr. Brennan," Gibbs said, halting her mid stream. "This is my investigation and I do not like having my evidence in a place where I have no control of it, in the hands of people I do not know. I know your team is very good at what they do or else I wouldn't have gotten you involved, and I'm sure your team are all trustworthy; however, there are a lot of people who have access to your facilities and a lot of variables that I have no control over. So, Agent DiNozzo will be with your team for the duration of this investigation."
"Fine," Dr. Brennan said coolly and then walked over to where Zach and Hodgins were now packing up their gear and the evidence bags.
Gibbs waited until they were all out of earshot before turning to Tony. "You should be careful with the kid."
Tony snorted. "He's not exactly a kid, though he does look like one, doesn't he?"
"How old?" Gibbs asked.
"Twenty-three," Tony said sheepishly. He was more than ten years Zach's senior. "But he holds two doctorates. He's a smart guy."
"Seems very naïve," Gibbs said. "Just go easy on him. And be careful. You know that they work with the FBI. Anything that happens on that team has the potential to make the rounds."
Tony frowned. He knew that. There were only two people at NCIS who knew that Tony was actually bisexual: Gibbs and Abby. He'd made sure of that over the years. He knew that being openly gay or bisexual in either law enforcement or the military could be dangerous. Hell, they'd investigated enough hate crimes at NCIS for him to know it was dangerous. Gibbs had always cautioned Tony to keep this part of his life quiet and Tony knew that it was out of fear for his safety, but sometimes Tony got tired of all the lies.
"Maybe I'm tired of hiding," Tony said quietly.
Gibbs looked at him closely. "Be very sure. Once you make that choice, there's no going back." Tony nodded and Gibbs put a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder. "You know I've got your six no matter what you decide."
"Thanks, Jethro," Tony said. It wasn't often that he used Gibbs' first name but at times like this, when the subject matter was so deeply personal, it seemed more fitting.
"Go," Gibbs said as he patted Tony's shoulder. "It looks like they are about ready. And check in regularly."
Tony smiled. "You got it, Boss."
Tony headed over to where the Jeffersonian team was waiting beside their truck. "Well, I've got room in my car if one of you wants to ride with me."
"You go, Zach," Hodgins said. "I wanted to talk with Dr. Brennan about something."
Tony smiled at the younger man and ignored the way Dr. Brennan began to argue. He'd let Hodgins deal with her. It was obvious that Hodgins was all for letting Tony work his magic with his young colleague. Zach just looked a little nervous but nodded and followed Tony to his car.
Once they were buckled in, Zach said, "I am not comfortable in cars. I know how many people die in car accidents every year. I know how gruesome those deaths can be. I have identified the remains of some."
"Then don't ever get into a car with Gibbs," Tony told him with a chuckle. "He'll put you completely over the edge. But I'm a good driver and I'll make sure we get there safely."
Zach turned to look at Tony, who was pulling the car away from the crime scene and said thoughtfully, "I trust you to look out for my safety. That is odd. I have no reason to believe that way."
Tony glanced over at Zach with a pleased smile. "It's called gut instinct. In my job we learn to trust those instincts. And usually there's a reason for that feeling. It's just your head hasn't made the connection yet. You have been watching me and talking to me for a few hours now. Maybe there are things that you have observed that make you feel comfortable trusting me."
"Perhaps you are correct," Zach said as he sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. "In my work, we are taught to rely upon observable evidence, collect empirical data, using reason and logic to test and substantiate our theories, and then corroborate through duplication. We do not guess and we do not use instinct."
"Everyone uses their instincts sometimes,' Tony said. "You may not with your work, but I think you probably do. For instance, have you ever been looking at a set of bones and gotten stuck? I mean, you just hit a brick wall. But then you think, 'What if I try this?' And it turns out you were right. That's instinct."
"That is not instinct," Zach argued. "That is an educated supposition based upon studying the many variables of the case."
Tony chuckled. "If you say so. But I don't think what you said and what I'm talking about are very far off."
Zach nodded and thought about that for a while, but then his mind turned to others considerations. "Why did you invite me to your home?"
"Because I like you," Tony said easily.
"That does not seem likely," Zach said mildly. "Most people find me very off-putting."
"Yeah, well, they can't see what I see," Tony said. "You study dead people, but I study living people. I can tell a few things about you just from one meeting."
"Is this more instinct?" Zach asked.
"No, this is plain old observation and deduction," Tony said.
"What have you observed?" Zach asked curiously.
Tony paused for a moment to gather his thoughts as they got on the highway. "Well, first of all, you are very intelligent. And I know that not because I've been told your educational background or you job. I would know that even if I knew nothing about you."
"How?" Zach wondered.
"It's the way you study things," Tony said. "You're quiet much of the time, but I can tell that there's a lot going on in that big brain of yours. You watch me. You watch your colleagues. You watch other people. But you also take in other information. For example, what color was the bicycle that was in the yard across from our dead body?"
"Green," Zach answered automatically.
"See," Tony said with a smirk. "You take in all this information. It's kinda cool. I also know that you probably had a rough time at school. You were younger than the other kids and they picked on you because you were so smart. You probably come from a large family."
"How did you know that?" Zach asked with genuine surprise.
Tony laughed, glad that he could surprise the younger man. "You are a watcher. Watchers are usually middle children. The larger the family, the more likely you spent your youth being shuffled along and not necessarily ignored, but not noticed either. It makes you a better observer than others."
"You are a good observer," Zach pointed out. "Does that mean that you are a middle child as well?"
"Nope, I'm an only child," Tony said without the humor that had been present the entire day. "But I was ignored and learned very early what to do to get people's attention. But in order to know what people want from you, you have to be able to watch them and read them."
"What else have you noticed about me?" Zach asked, not completely comfortable with the serious turn their conversation had taken.
"Well, I know that you like me," Tony grinned and just like that the mood in the car seemed brighter. "Even if you do a damn good job at hiding your emotions." Zach flushed a little then. "And I know that you are a good friend, otherwise Hodgins wouldn't care about your personal life. You're loyal and trustworthy; Dr. Brennan obviously trusts your skill and you have chosen to stay with the team rather than go off on your own after getting your doctorates. And I know that you are rather naïve in the ways of the heart."
Zach flushed again and looked at his hands in his lap. "I have not had much success with women. No, that is untrue. I have no success with women. I have been told that I have no skill in bed by the few women I have dated."
"Maybe that's your problem," Tony said casually, though he was a little nervous about bringing such a subject up so early on in their friendship. If that's what this was. "Maybe it wasn't a lack of skill on your part, but a disinterest. Maybe you were choosing the wrong people to date."
Zach blushed again when he realized what Tony was trying to say. "You think I should date men?"
Tony shrugged. "Maybe."
"I have never considered the possibility that I might be gay," Zach said.
"Maybe you should at least consider the possibility," Tony said. "It seems unlike you to form a conclusion before gathering all the facts."
"Perhaps," was all that Zach said in response.