Chapter Text
“After this is all over, I’ll take you to a friend of mine who is much better with species masking spells than I am and we can find out what species you really are.” Gibbs murmured softly as they rode the elevator up to Abby’s lab. “Todd and McGee don’t really have anything to report, yet.” Gibbs added almost as an afterthought, wanting to bring Tony up to date on the case.
Dropping a Caf-Pow on Abby’s desk, Gibbs asked “What you got, Abbs?”
“Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!” Abby excitedly greeted, turning around in her poodle skirt and grabbing the Caf-Pow to take a big gulp of it. “The tox screen on the fairy is very puzzling. Normally, I’d say she died of natural causes, but she’s nowhere near the normal age a fairy dies and has none of the other indicators that usually come with a heart attack in her bloodstream. I’m still digging deeper.”
Abby paused to take a breath and Tony interjected, “What about the evidence I brought, Abs?”
“Oh well I haven’t had a chance to do much with the green thread. It looks to be a clothing fiber, but I can’t tell you more than that right now. The plastic container has seen better days and the prints on it are in such a bad condition that I can’t use them to match to anything without a lot of work trying to clean them up and guess at the smudged parts.” Abby slurped her Caf-Pow.
Abby continued explaining, “Her blood work looks high for potassium chloride, which would be accurate for a heart attack, but it looks off to me. The drop of liquid identified as potassium chloride, which is very curious. I still have many more tests to run to ascertain what really happened and any possible suspects we might have.”
“Thanks, Abbs. Keep looking.” Gibbs praised as he and Tony headed up to the bullpen. They would have to search harder to find the answers this time, it appeared.
“Agent McGee and Todd, find me something useful when I return,” Gibbs demanded, “DiNozzo with me.”
“On your six, boss.” Tony announced, following Gibbs into the elevator and down to the parking garage.
Gibbs gestured towards the car, moving around to the driver side himself. Tony quickly climbed into the passenger side. “Where are we going, boss?”
“It’s time to pay a visit to your father.” Gibbs grumbled.
Gibbs would rather be hunting down clues related to the case, but they literally had nothing to go on besides Abby’s suspicion that it was murder and potassium chloride might be involved. They didn’t even have Ducky’s autopsy report, yet. The information agents McGee and Todd had dug up had not been remotely helpful. It painted a picture of a loved fairy that no one would want to do in, which was not helpful in figuring out what actually happened to her.
Gibbs had decided to instead investigate why Tony’s species had been purposefully blocked while he waited for more information on their current case. Starting with Tony’s father, who was the only one alive that they knew from that time, Gibbs was determined to find out why this had happened. Gibbs knew Tony wouldn’t be happy about it, but he hoped that it wouldn’t go too badly.
“If it’s all the same to you, Gibbs. I’d rather not.” Tony murmured, moving to get out of the car.
Gibbs quickly started the engine and took off. “It’s not the same to me. Buckle in.”
Tony grumbled, but fastened his seatbelt. He didn’t have a death wish and knew Gibbs wouldn’t drive slow enough for him to chance jumping out.
Tony wasn't looking forward to this confrontation with his father. He hadn't seen his father since he was twelve, but his memories of his father were nothing good. He couldn't imagine his father willingly telling them anything. In fact, he was pretty sure his father would inwardly be smirking that Tony still didn't know who he was or something like that.
He wondered though if his heritage was the reason that he'd always felt like his father thought he wasn't good enough. He'd never known what he’d done, only that his father hadn't wanted him around and shipped him off as fast as he could when the opportunity presented itself. Nothing he'd done had ever made his father want to spend time with him. Maybe now, he'd at least get to find out why, though he doubted it.
The car screeched to a halt in front of Senior's mansion, bringing Tony abruptly out of his thoughts. With a gulp and grimace, Tony got out of the car. His back was stiff and he looked like he was walking to his own execution.
Gibbs patted Tony's shoulder in an attempt to comfort as he walked past him and up the drive to knock on the grandiose door. A servant answered the door and Gibbs quickly demanded to speak to Anthony DiNozzo Sr.
The servant shook his head, “I’m afraid, Master DiNozzo is not at home.”
“Oh good.” Tony felt a sigh of relief go through him as he quickly moved to return to the car. “That means we can go back to NCIS headquarters.”
“Not so fast, DiNozzo.” Gibbs glared and Tony stopped in his tracks, turning around slowly to face Gibbs with a frown on his face.
Before Gibbs could say anything further, the servant gasped. “Tony? Tiny Tony?”
“Huh?” Tony eyed him in confusion. He’d never liked the name Tiny Tony. It had just been another reminder of how little his father thought of him.
“Oh, you wouldn’t remember me, but that’s what we used to call you before your dad shipped you off to boarding school. I can’t believe how you’ve grown.” The servant babbled.
Tony raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Gibbs. Gibbs took advantage of the seeming kinship the servant had with Tony to push harder on Anthony DiNozzo Sr.’s whereabouts, “Are you sure Anthony DiNozzo Sr. isn’t at home?”
“Oh.” The servant gasped again. “Well he said he wasn’t at home, but I’m sure he didn’t mean to his son. It’s been so long since you were here. Come, right in.”
Gibbs and Tony exchanged another look as they entered the house. Last Tony knew his father had disowned him. Why did a servant think he’d be welcome in his father’s house? The mysteries continued to grow, it appeared.
They moved quietly as was habit for them and overheard a loud voice in the library. It was clear that voice was exceedingly unhappy as the yelling could be heard at the entrance even though the library was on the other side of the house. Immediately curious, Tony and Gibbs snuck closer to the library intent on seeing how much they could hear of what was obviously an argument happening over the phone, completely forgetting about the servant.
The servant vanished to get tea and coffee, assuming they’d wait on the settee for Anthony DiNozzo Sr. to greet them. When he returned, they were nowhere to be found. His first thought was, “Oh no, I’ve lost Tiny Tony again. Senior’s going to kill me.”
“I agreed when you had that crazy half sister of yours seal away my son’s powers, but you’re going too far this time.” Senior shouted.
“I don’t care which of you is crazier. The point is that my son is as good as human now and he’ll stay that way if I have anything to say about it.” With that parting shot, Senior slammed the old rotary phone down with a click.
Gibbs and Tony exchanged a look. They decided to keep quiet in hopes of hearing something more compromising than what they’d heard so far. At this point in time, they only knew that Senior had purposefully blocked Tony’s powers through the use of whoever was on the phone’s sister and that something else was going on.
Unfortunately, the conversation was clearly over, so they returned to the living room quickly before it could be noticed that they were gone. Gibbs and Tony quietly settled back against the settee near the entrance and started up a conversation to make it seem like they had been there the entire time.
Tony wanted to curse at how close they’d been to getting some real dirt on Senior. Especially when he realized that they had no information on who had been on the phone with his father, so they’d missed out on the chance to identify him and figure out just who his half sister was and what she’d done to block his powers.
The servant had informed Senior of his son’s arrival not daring to mention that he’d lost his son or the other man with his son.
Senior glared at his servant. “Why did you let my wayward son in? You know I disowned him.”
“I’m sorry, sir. It’s been so long I forgot.” The servant bowed, hoping his master would not lash out in anger as he normally did when something displeased him.
Still glaring at the servant, Senior stormed past him and out into the living room. He supposed he should find out why his wayward son had returned.
The servant quickly followed after Senior shocked to discover Tiny Tony and his friend on the settee. They hadn’t been there before. The servant gasped, “Where did you come from? You weren’t here before.”
Tony and Gibbs glanced at each other before shrugging in unison. “We’ve been here the entire time.”
The servant fumbled to get words out, but after a glare from Senior bustled off to the kitchen to get coffee and tea.
“Why are you here? Do you need money or something?” Senior sneered.
Tony shook his head at his father’s audacity. “Like I would ask you for money. You disowned me, remember?”
Senior glared at his son. Before things could get too derailed, Gibbs butted in, “Actually, we were wondering what you could tell us about Tony's enchanted heritage.”
Senior sputtered, clearly caught off guard. “Enchanted heritage? I don't have any enchanted heritage.” Senior tried to deflect, worried about how much they knew.
“Not you, him.” Gibbs tilted his head to indicate his agent.
“How could he have enchanted heritage when I don't have any?” Senior attempted to snow them.
Gibbs wasn't buying it, but he hated wasting time even more. Standing to his full height and using his presence to intimidate, Gibbs growled “We know he was placed under a masking spell. Now, what do you know?”
“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Senior protested.
Gibbs snarled, slamming his hand down on the table.
Senior jumped, looking a bit wide eyed at Gibbs.
“Don’t give me that bullshit. I know you’re lying. Now, tell me the truth.” Gibbs channeled all of his power into his death glare. It was days like these where he wished he was actually allowed to kill people without probable cause.
Senior whimpered. He had experience with bullies, but nothing had prepared him for dealing with Agent Gibbs. He couldn’t hold out any longer, but tried to retain some semblance of control. “Fine, if you must know. I had his abilities blocked as soon as I realized exactly what his mother was. The witch conned me into marrying her without any knowledge of what she truly was.”
Inwardly Tony breathed a sigh of relief. His powers came from his mother’s side. While he still had no idea what species he was, it filled him with great relief to know that those powers would be shared with her and would not be tainted by his father’s murky personality.
Gibbs stared at Senior for a bit longer trying to ascertain the truth and whether he was hiding anything else. Well Gibbs knew he was hiding more. He hadn’t mentioned who he’d had block Tony’s abilities, for instance, but Gibbs knew there were many fairies that were willing to do this for the right price or if they thought they were helping. He even knew some sorcerers that could do the same.
Deciding there was no point in attempting to ferret anything further from Senior at this time and that they’d be better served tracking down whoever he was talking to on the phone, Gibbs glared harshly at Senior one more time before storming out the front door leaving it wide open for Tony to follow and shut behind him, which Tony quickly did having been shocked out of his introspection about his mother’s family.
As they drove off, Tony called McGee. “McGeek, do a background search on my father and all of his connections. Especially any that might have a connection to the enchanted kingdom.” His father definitely was hiding something, but Tony didn’t know what or if it related to the case.
Tony knew some of his mother’s family was still alive, but he had never met any of them and didn’t even know her maiden name. He had a vague memory that they lived in London somewhere making it impossible for them to have been related to this murder. After this was over, he might see if he could dig information up on them. They might know what his species is. Tony had no idea if they did or not as his father had kept his mother’s relations well away from him his whole life.
“What? Tony? How does this relate to the case?” McGee protested as he was in the middle of trying to find information on their killer though he was still getting nowhere.
“I don’t know, McGee. It’s just a hunch, right now. We’ll be back soon and Gibbs will want the information though.” Tony explained. He wasn’t sure it actually tied into the case, but he knew Gibbs would want the information as soon as they arrived and it would be better for McGee if he had it and of course, Gibbs would never give McGee a heads up. He would just demand the information and growl when it wasn’t available.
Tony lapsed into silence for the rest of the drive. Something about his father’s attire was bothering him. He felt like there was something there that tied into the case. If only he could figure out what it was.
“McGee what have you found on Senior’s connections?” Gibbs demanded as soon as they entered the bullpen.
“I haven’t had any luck. Senior knows so many people that it’s almost impossible to narrow the field without further information. I did find an online community that is anti-enchanted creatures that Senior belongs to. It looks like he’s belonged to it since before Tony’s birth. I’m still trying to figure out who else belongs to that community.” McGee expounded.
“Alright. Let’s dig deeper. Guaranteed Senior knows more than he’s letting on, but we’ll save re-questioning him until we have more information. What else do we know?” Gibbs growled.
“Abby confirmed that the fairy died of an overdose of potassium chloride. Ducky’s autopsy report coincided with Abby’s stating the cause of death to be a heart attack caused by an overdose of potassium chloride. Both suggest that only someone with medical training could have killed the fairy. Abby is running the green thread now for DNA as well as brand identification, so that we can trace where someone may have gotten the item of clothing it belonged to. She hasn’t started on the container or any of the other evidence.”
Tony gasped. That’s what was bothering him about his father’s shirt. His father had been wearing a green shirt when they got there. It even had a barely noticeable tear that no one would have noticed. He only noticed it because his father was usually spotless and a loose thread was not normal for him.
“What is it, DiNozzo?” Gibbs prompted impatiently.
“My father was wearing a green shirt with a tear in it when we were there earlier. Do you think he could be the one who killed this fairy?” Tony paled at the thought. He couldn’t believe his father could be behind this.
“Let’s find out.” Gibbs commanded.
Everyone scattered to their desks. Kate and McGee continued digging into the murder. Tony settled in at his desk, putting his gear away and sending out a request to McGee to send him all the info he had so far on his father’s associates. Tony wanted to see if he could narrow down who might have helped his father block his abilities. Maybe there was one that he’d seen more than others or something.
Tony started digging into his father’s associates. He specifically looked for any with a medical background. Perhaps there was a drug that could block an enchanted person’s ability. They could also have supplied his father with the potassium chloride used to kill the fairy. There were a few with obvious medical backgrounds, but he didn’t recognize any of them and couldn’t imagine them being involved with blocking his abilities.
He hadn’t thought his enchanted abilities being blocked tied into the case at first, but now he was almost positive that it was related. He just had to figure out how. He just couldn’t wrap his head around why his father would be doing something like this. He didn’t even understand why his father purposefully blocked his abilities.
Though he did have a better understanding why he’d always felt that his father didn’t really want him around. Even when he’d come home on breaks from boarding school, his father did his best to ignore him and pretend he didn’t exist. Apparently, it was due to his enchanted abilities though he still wasn’t sure why his father was so against enchanted creatures.
His disownment had been both a shock and somewhat expected. He’d known for a long time that his relationship with his father was not going well. He just hadn’t realized how bad it had gotten until the disowning. Still he’d decided to make the best of it and really set out on his own in college.
That’s part of why he’d checked out so many psychics. He wanted to get to the bottom of this sense he had that he didn’t belong. It was only now though that he was really beginning to understand why he’d felt that way.
He hoped to return to the enchanted kingdom with his powers intact at some point. He had a feeling that it was the lack of access to his abilities that made him feel like he didn’t belong and why the feeling wasn’t there when he was in the enchanted kingdom. The natural magic of the enchanted kingdom was enough to temporarily fool his body into thinking his powers were back. His body knew that it should have other capabilities and that’s why that impression of not belonging had always been there.
He’d never known consciously that he was missing something, but his body had always known. It had been trying to tell him something from the very beginning. He hoped that once this case was over he’d be able to explore his new abilities. Finally, he would truly belong somewhere.
Shaking his head to free it from the musings, Tony focused back in on his father’s associates. There were many shady people in the list. Tony wished he was more surprised by this. Still they needed more information. Maybe he could go back to the enchanted kingdom and see if anyone could help him remove the block on his abilities.
Surely anyone who could remove it could also block them and thus would be a suspect. He was about to speak up and suggest that when Abby rushed upstairs. “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it.” She mumbled under her breath shaking her head with tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong, Abby?” Tony asked.
“It’s the green thread you brought me.” Abby only partially explained.
“What about it?” Tony prompted wanting to get to the bottom of Abby’s strange behavior.
“I found some dead skin cells on it and they’re a partial match to you.” Abby blurted out, not sure how to share the terrible news.
Between Tony’s suspicions and Abby’s evidence, Gibbs was ready to lock Senior up behind bars for the rest of his life. “That’s enough evidence. Let’s take Senior in for questioning. McGee with me.” Gibbs barked, heading for the elevator.
Tony breathed a sigh of relief when Gibbs didn’t demand that he accompany him this time. After this afternoon, Tony had no desire to face his father again. Especially not to take him in for questioning. He couldn’t believe his father was behind this. Sure they’d never gotten along, but that wasn’t the same as murder.
Still the evidence pointed to him. Or at least most of the evidence did. Senior didn’t have any medical training to his knowledge.
McGee and Gibbs returned with Senior in tow. They placed him in interrogation room one and left him to stew. He loudly proclaimed that he was innocent and demanded to see his lawyer the whole way in. Gibbs planned to let him cool down before dealing with him.
Once he’d run out of steam, he’d be a lot easier to interrogate. Though they may have to actually get him the lawyer he requested. Gibbs sighed. He hated dealing with lawyers. They made everything more difficult.
Turned out they didn’t have to call the lawyer, after all. Much to Gibbs disgust the lawyer had turned up unannounced and demanded to see Anthony DiNozzo Sr. Tony guessed that the servant had called the lawyer when Gibbs and McGee had hauled Senior away. He didn’t say anything about his suspicions though, knowing an unnecessary comment like that would get a glare or worse from Gibbs at this point in time.
Finally the lawyer finished talking with Senior and they were allowed in. Gibbs had decided to handle the interrogation alone for now. He’d bring Tony in, if it became necessary.
Tossing a picture of the dead fairy on the table, Gibbs demanded, “What did you do to her?”
“I’ve advised my client not to talk at this point in time, so unless you have enough to arrest him, I suggest you let him go.” The lawyer commented.
Gibbs had seen a flash of recognition in Senior’s eyes though when he looked at the picture, so Gibbs knew Senior recognized the fairy in the photo.
“That’s ok. He doesn’t need to talk. We have plenty of evidence. That is Lance Corporal Erica Bodwin. She was killed via a lethal dose of Potassium Chloride. We have DNA that places Anthony DiNozzo Sr. at the scene. In fact, we have a fiber of the very same sweater he is wearing right now. The only thing we don’t know is why. Does this have something to do with your son’s heritage? Is he perhaps a fairy?” Gibbs probed.
Senior flinched, but didn’t say anything. The lawyer looked between Agent Gibbs and Senior and requested, “I need a moment with my client.”
“Of course.” Gibbs stalked out of the room. Senior was involved. He knew it. They had the evidence. They didn’t need a confession. The only reason he’d tried was for Tony. He’d wanted to at least find out what species he was for him.
Senior’s reaction could mean that he was right with his guess and Tony was a fairy. Or it could mean nothing as Senior might be reacting to their earlier evidence tying him to the murder.
Tony noticed Gibbs anger towards his father and murmured, “Don’t let him get to you. Now that we know I’m being blocked, we can see one of your friends and they can tell us what species I am and hopefully get the spell removed. He’s not worth your time.”
Gibbs nodded curtly, though inside he was still seething. He just couldn’t believe a father could do this to his own son. Jail wasn’t enough for scum like him.
A few minutes later the lawyer indicated that they could come back in, Gibbs didn’t wait. He nodded to McGee and they both marched into the interrogation room.
“You’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent.” McGee started reading Senior his rights.
Senior waved his hand, yelling. “What the hell are you people doing? Get my son in here. This is clearly some kind of scheme of his to ruin my life.”
“I promise you this is no scheme on his part.” Gibbs voice dipped into a deep darkness. The same darkness that had allowed him to kill his wife’s murderer.
“I demand that you let me see my son.” Senior ordered trying to keep some semblance of dignity and control in a situation where he had none.
Gibbs looked Senior up and down in disgust. “I’ll see if he wants to talk to you. Cuff him, McGee.” Gibbs ordered as he left.
Senior sputtered, but there was nothing he could do about it and McGee cuffed him. Gibbs exited the interrogation room to find Tony standing outside. He raised an eyebrow, knowing that Tony would know what he was asking.
“I’ll talk to him. There are some things I want to know.” Tony stated in a confident tone of voice, hiding his nerves.
Gibbs nodded and opened the door preceding Tony in, so as to protect Tony from Senior if he needed to.
Tony settled into a casual stance, leaning against the back wall and waited for his father to talk. He may have some questions of his own, but this was his father’s game and it was his move.
“Come on, Junior. You know I’m not capable of this. Surely you can talk to them. Get me out of this.” Senior wheedled.
Tony rolled his eyes. “You know, dad, I might have believed that once, but that was a long time ago. Before I heard you suggest dumping me in the middle of nowhere and leaving me to die when I was still a child. What did I do that was so horrible for you to hate me that much?”
Senior jumped up in shock and immediately started protesting. “Where did you hear that? It’s damn lies. I would never have done that, Junior.”
“I heard it from your own lips, dad, when I was 12. Needless to say it made you disowning me less of a surprise. What I still don’t understand is why?” Tony pressed calmly. He knew his calmness would only infuriate his father more.
“You want to know why? You want to know what you did? You were fucking born. Your mother the little bitch knew full well what she was. She knew she was tainted by the devil and she used her wiles to con me into marrying her and having you. When I found out I made damn sure that even though you had her blood in you, you would never join the devil’s forces.” Senior yelled.
“The devil? Aren’t you being a bit overdramatic?” Tony questioned. It hurt to hear his father refer to his mother as devilish, but he would never show that to him.
“Are you kidding? She’s one of them.” Senior started.
“One of what?” Tony interrupted, hoping to get more information now that Senior was talking.
“Fairies, witches, sorceresses, sprites, whatever damn name they go by in that freaky kingdom where they gain extra body parts and what not.” Senior ranted.
Tony raised an eyebrow, but let Senior rant knowing he’d eventually incriminate himself.
“I had to prevent her evil from spreading. That’s why I made sure to hire someone to block your powers. And you want to know the best part, I did it right at your baptism ceremony under her watchful eyes. Boy was she pissed when she found out.” Senior smirked.
Tony’s eyes grew wide. His mother’s drinking now made a lot more sense.
“But I did it. I succeeded. I saved you from becoming one of them. I was always protecting you. That’s why I wanted to dump you in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn’t have let you come to harm. I just wanted to make sure that you would never become one of them. Somehow though you always ended up joining them. That’s why I had to disown you. I had to make you stop and see how you were ruining your life. I did it for you.” Senior finished plaintively.
Gibbs shook his head in disgust. “That’s enough out of you. McGee, take him to a holding cell and see that he’s booked.”
As McGee, the lawyer, and Senior left, Tony turned to look at Gibbs a lost look in his eye. “You know I always used to wonder what I’d done to earn his hatred. I thought knowing would make me feel better, but I just feel even more sorrow and confusion.”
Gibbs wasn’t one for comfort, but he knew his SFA needed something, “I don’t care what that man has to say. You belong here with us.” Gibbs patted Tony on the back and offered him one of his rare pleased smiles.
Tony smiled back. Belonging, he’d always been searching for that. He still felt a little off because he didn’t have his magic back, but even without his magic, he knew that he belonged here and wasn’t that something special. Not even his father being a murderer could taint that.
Still not everything was adding up for Tony. He could hear Senior yelling about how this was exactly the kind of behavior he expected from the demonic enchanted creatures. Tony also heard the threat that they better bring in an actual human for his trial.
Senior was ranting about how different, unnatural, strange, and many other adjectives enchanted creatures were. Senior ended with how they were all of the devil and would soon all be dead and in hell. Tony shook his head at his father’s insanity.
Despite the lack of medical skills, Tony was having a hard time finding his father innocent with these rants. Tony couldn’t believe his father really was the murderer, but truth was often stranger than fiction. He knew this first hand given his life had turned into a fairytale.
