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Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat nervously in his kitchen – he would have denied he was anxious, but … perhaps he was. As he nursed a cooling mug of coffee, he thought back over the last 3 months and how it had all begun …
PREVIOUSLY
Gibbs liked to go into his backyard each morning before going to work – a moment of communing with nature before plunging into the nasty side of humanity which he often encountered in his job. He stood on the decking and breathed deeply, letting a feeling of contentment wash over him,
“What the hell!” he exclaimed.
He hurried down to the grassed area and stared at what he saw – a youngish man lying spread-eagled face upward to the sky. He was wearing a lab coat and he was …
“Tony!”
The man stirred at being addressed and his eyes blinked open, “Gibbs?” he managed.
“Tony! What are you doing here? What happened?”
Tony struggled to a sitting position but then flopped back down again, “Whoo! Headrush!”
“Tony, what happened?” asked Gibbs again.
“You know who I am?” asked Tony cautiously.
“Of course I know who you are, dumbass! I’m just not sure what the hell you’re doing lying on my grass … in a lab coat!”
“Ahh,” said Tony thoughtfully, “This might be kinda hard to explain …”
“You think!” demanded Gibbs.
Tony carefully made his way back to a sitting position, “Um … this might sound kinda odd, but how do you know me?”
“What?” shouted Gibbs.
“Uh, Gibbs … would you mind keeping it down? I’ve got a killer headache going on here … and you shouting isn’t doing a lot for it.”
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” said Gibbs crossly but at a slightly reduced volume.
“I know … believe me, I know … and I’m trying to … but it would be really helpful if you could tell me how you know me.”
“Hah! Is this one of your tricks, DiNozzo? You got some sort of hidden camera set up? Am I going to see this on We-tube later on?”
“I don’t know,” said Tony, “What’s We-tube?”
“You know, it’s an internetty thingy that people do things on.”
Tony shook his head carefully as he digested this, “Nope, still don’t understand,” he admitted, “But I haven’t got a hidden camera set up so I don’t think you need worry about … well, whatever it is that you’re worrying about.”
Gibbs looked around suspiciously but decided, for the moment at least, to believe Tony about the hidden cameras, “Go on,” he said.
“What do you mean, go on?”
“You know, tell me what’s going on.”
“I will,” promised Tony, “But could you please just tell me how you know me?”
Gibbs frowned even more ferociously but in the face of what seemed to be honest bewilderment from his unexpected visitor, relented, “You’re Anthony DiNozzo. You worked with me as my senior field agent …”
“Worked?” asked Tony, “Ooh, am I dead? Did you think you were seeing a ghost?”
“No, I didn’t think you were dead, so I didn’t think I was seeing a ghost. But if you don’t start making sense soon, you might wish you were dead.” He stopped as he saw what was almost a fond smile on Tony’s face – admittedly he didn’t have much experience of triggering fond looks, but he thought that’s what he saw in front of him.
“Uh, OK … and how long ago was it that I worked for you?”
“Two years. You went to work at the field office in Rota, Spain. You haven’t been back to this country since.”
“Two years,” mused Tony, “And not back in this country. OK, that’s good.”
“Good? Why’s it good? And why are you wearing a lab coat? You undercover or something?”
Tony managed to scramble to his feet, “No, I’m not undercover. And I’m wearing a lab coat because I was working in a lab. I’m Tony DiNozzo but I’m Dr Anthony DiNozzo – a physicist working in time and dimensional applied physics.”
“W-what?” Gibbs looked around for hidden cameras once more, “What?”
“Could we go inside, do you think? And could I have a coffee – caffeine burst injection would come in real handy right now.”
“Are you telling me you’re from the future?” asked Gibbs blankly.
“Don’t know,” confessed Tony, “What’s the date?”
“October 27, 2015.”
“Then no, I’m not from the future. It was more a sideways jump.”
Gibbs groaned; he wasn’t the only one in need of caffeine.
When Gibbs was a lad in Stillwater in the 1960s, his girlfriend Josephine Cutler was a Star Trek fan. Gibbs wasn’t a fan but he willingly (more or less) sat in the family room at her house and watched the show with her. He had never admitted to his NCIS team that he was, accidentally, a Star Trek buff but his familiarity with the show meant that the explanation Tony gave him wasn’t as incomprehensible to him as might have been expected.
“I’ve been working on the possibility of parallel universes existing,” said Tony as he sat with a large and strong mug of coffee. “It’s taken a few years but a few weeks ago I realised that we were getting to the stage of being able to try the experiment of visiting one of the parallel realities.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Yeah, why do you want to visit one of these parallel wotsits?”
Scientist Tony was properly scandalised, “Because it’s there! It’s part of exploration, it’s part …”
“Yeah, yeah … I get it. Or rather, I don’t but I guess it doesn’t matter. If I had to understand every motive … well, I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. Go on …”
“Well, there’s not much more to it than that … what?” asked Tony as he saw a sceptical look on Gibbs’s face.
“The Tony DiNozzo I know … knew … would always have more to say. Let’s just say, he liked to talk.”
“So do I,” confessed Tony, “But the Gibbs I know … knew … wasn’t much for the chatter.”
“How do you know Gibbs?”
“He’s the gendarme at my local enforcement centre.”
“Gendarme? You’re French?”
Tony frowned, “I don’t think so. I mean, I speak the same language as you. As far as I could figure from observations …”
“Observations? You been spying on us?”
“Not exactly spying,” hedged Tony, “More like reconnaissance … anyway, I could see that basically it seemed that our social structures were alike but that some of our terminology might be different. Our gendarmes keep people safe … and they’re based at enforcement centres.”
“Like our law enforcement officers … in stations or precincts,” interpreted Gibbs.
Tony shrugged, “I guess. Anyway, that’s how I know Gibbs. We met at a club – learning how to fight … or fight back.”
“Self-defence?” suggested Gibbs.
“Yeah. Anyway, my Gibbs wasn’t much for chatter. So, I was trying to keep the explanation brief. Maybe too brief. Do I look the same as your Tony?”
Gibbs considered this question. Part of him was still inclined to think that this was all an elaborate prank, but he didn’t think that he and Tony had ever been on the sort of terms which would have led DiNozzo to think a practical joke was a good idea. With this in mind, he studied Tony more closely,
“Huh, you’ve got the same hair and eye colour, both tall … you’re fatter than he is …”
“Hey!” said Tony indignantly, “I work in a lab … and I’ve been busy … not able to spend so much time pumping metal or running … I’ll get around to it. And metabolism changes as you get older, you know …”
Gibbs ignored this interruption although he felt it was a very DiNozzo justification, “Last time I saw him, he had longer hair. He doesn’t wear a ring …” Gibbs pointed to a signet ring on Tony’s little finger.
“Huh, DiNozzo heirloom … it’s a real diamond.”
“My DiNozzo never wore his but I reckon he’s got one,” said Gibbs.
“So in this universe, I’m in a different country? Unlikely to come back?” asked Tony.
“Reckon so. Does it matter? I figure you’ll be going back, won’t you? Experiment worked, so all’s well?”
“Yeah, about that,” said Tony, “That was the plan … but …”
“But?” asked Gibbs with a sense of foreboding.
“Well, the equipment kinda … well, blew up.”
“Excuse me?”
“At least, I think that’s what happened. I switched it on, and it was supposed to come with me. But there was a bang just before I flipped … and when I woke up … here – well, I was here, and the gear wasn’t.” Tony shrugged helplessly and took another sip of coffee.
“So, what are you gonna do?”
“I guess I’ll have to rebuild the equipment … and then work out how to get back.”
Gibbs took refuge in his own coffee and waited for what he suspected was inevitable.
“Could I stay with you while I figure something out?” asked Tony hopefully. It turned out that the DiNozzo innocent and persuasive gaze existed in more than one universe.
Gibbs found himself effectively evicted from his basement as Tony got to work – he needed space and he needed a space away from any casual observation. Perhaps, mused Gibbs, he was different in Tony’s universe as it was unlikely that there would be many casual observers in his basement.
Timothy McGee and Abby Sciuto were soon enlisted to the task although Gibbs managed to keep the insights obtained from Star Trek days to himself. There were many things that Gibbs found odd about the whole situation but one of the oddest was seeing Tony engaged in what were (to Gibbs at least) abstruse scientific conversations with Abby and McGee – from the expressions on their faces, they found it odd as well.
Ducky Mallard was also admitted to the secret and took great delight in carrying out a physical examination of Tony to see what differences there might be. It turned out that the answer was surprisingly few although it seemed that the appendix was a highly functional part of anatomy in Tony’s universe and that wisdom teeth did not exist.
The basic equipment proved to be relatively simple to recreate although the initial compiling of the necessary equations and formulae was more difficult. The most difficult part was building what Tony called the pulsometer – it had a much more technical term – but he described it as the driving force of the uniswitch. That part of the mechanism needed, ideally, to be built in a clean environment which proved difficult to reproduce in Gibbs’ basement. It also required a compound which had not, so far, been created in Tony’s current universe – it took several days before Tony succeeded in recreating it.
“That’s it?” asked Gibbs as he gazed at what looked a like a small battery pulsing with a blue light.
“Yep, at last,” said Tony as he rubbed his eyes wearily.
“Huh,” said Gibbs, trying not to feel too underwhelmed, “So, you can go now?”
“I guess,” said Tony.
“You guess?”
“Well, not guess obviously – I’ll have to do some complicated calculations. I mean, I’m not sure if it’s just a matter of reversing what I’d input to get here … I don’t know what the effect of the explosion was. But I reckon, I’ll just try a simple reversal to start with … and hope that works.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
Tony managed a shrug, “Well, if it doesn’t … I guess … well … I don’t really have a clue.” He smiled brightly.
Gibbs found himself unexpectedly worried by this nonchalance, “You sure you want to try?”
“I need to go back,” said Tony, “Can’t hang around here … bumming off you, Gibbs.”
“No need to take a risk though,” said Gibbs, “If you need more time …”
“Time!” Tony huffed a laugh, “Not sure that’s on my side, Gibbs. You know, you’ve been great … putting up with me … moving out of your basement and all … I just wanted to say … well, you know …”
Gibbs waved a silencing hand, “No need. I figure I owe my DiNozzo something … and this is my way of doing that.” The grim look on his face suggested to Tony that the two had not parted on good terms. “When are you going?” asked Gibbs emotionlessly.
“I thought I’d try tomorrow.”
Gibbs nodded bleakly, “OK, cowboy steaks tonight?”
Tony’s face lit up, “Great! You know, I’ll miss steaks. In my world steaks are frowned on a bit although the synthetic ones are OK when you get used to them.”
Gibbs shuddered, “In that case, it’s definitely cowboy steaks!”
It had been agreed that it would be best to move the equipment out to Gibbs’ cabin. If something went wrong and there was another explosion nobody wanted to destroy Gibbs’ house. Accordingly, the next day, Gibbs, McGee, Abby and Ducky loaded the machine on to Gibbs’ truck and drove out to his cabin.
There, just before noon, they gathered to say goodbye,
“I’ll miss you!” wailed Abby, “And I can’t even tell you to write!”
“I’ll miss you too,” consoled Tony, “And I’ll send positive thoughts! Tim, it’s been great – couldn’t have done it without you. And thanks for telling me about the mcnicknames – great idea. If … when … I get back I’m totally trying them out on my Tim!”
Tim hoped that the other Tim would not curse him across the parallel universes, “Great to know you, Tony … hope all goes well … well, you know. Hope we don’t see you again – not because something’s gone wrong, of course … just …”
“I know, Tim … thanks again.”
“Anthony,” said Ducky, “I wish you safe passage and a successful conclusion to this enterprise. I fully intend to do more research on the appendix and perhaps link it to a consideration whether a fully functioning appendix is somehow related to the nonappearance of wisdom teeth … why …”
“Thanks, Ducky,” interrupted Tony, “It’s been … an experience. And Gibbs, well … you know, thank you!”
“Look after yourself,” said Gibbs gruffly.
“Always!”
Tony sat down on the wooden seat crafted by Gibbs, gave one last beaming smile and hit the button. There was a loud bang, a flash of light and, when the others could see again, they realised that the equipment had toppled to the ground and Tony was gone.
The surprised look on their faces revealed that none of them had expected the experiment to work.
PRESENT DAY
And so, three days later, Gibbs sat in his kitchen wondering why he was so restless and also wondering if he would ever know if Tony had got home or not. Shaking his head against pointless thoughts, he stood up and resolved to go and reclaim his basement. He paused as he saw a shadow at the front door and then, moments later, saw Tony walk in.
“You’re back!” he said.
Tony swayed tiredly. Gibbs hurried to go and support him and lead him to the couch, “What happened?”
“It worked,” said Tony.
“What?”
“And it didn’t …”
“Well, that’s clear.”
“I left this version of the universe, but I didn’t get back to my version.”
“What happened?”
“I couldn’t settle there … everything was too different. Very regimented, authoritarian. I didn’t meet anyone I knew … there was a big underground movement opposing the government. From what I could see … well, I figure it’s likely that you and Tim and Abby would be involved in the opposition. I hope I was …” he trailed off.
“So you came back here? But … the equipment was here … how did you manage?”
“Turns out that the equipment … or a version of it, travelled with me. Which is what should have happened the first time,” said Tony bitterly, “So I could just reverse it. Took me a while to get back here though. Had to hitchhike.”
“So, what? You think the explosion the first time must have thrown you off course more than you thought?”
“I guess. I’ll have to redo all the calculations. Try to work out how much the explosion skewed things … if …”
“If what?”
“If you don’t mind me hanging around a while longer?”
“No problem. Haven’t started building a new boat down in the basement yet?”
Tony laughed, “Hey, that’s a good one … oh, you’re serious!”
So, Tony took up residence again. Abby, Tim and Ducky resumed their efforts to help. Gibbs provided coffee, steaks and a quiet reassuring presence. Occasionally, as they all worked, they would discuss their latest NCIS case and Tony would chip in a random observation which sometimes turned out to be helpful. Privately, Tim begin to think of Tony as their secret wildcard.
A month after the first attempt, Tony declared he was ready to try again.
“Huh,” said Gibbs, “Here, take this.”
“Uh, thank you. What is it?” asked Tony.
“A go bag,” said Gibbs, “If it goes wrong again … and you need to come back here … it’ll help.”
“Wow, that’s great,” said Tony, “It really was a long way back here. That’s a great idea.”
“Hey, don’t sound so surprised,” said Gibbs brusquely, “I might not be a scientific mastermind, but I can still have the occasional good idea!”
The next day, Gibbs’ team got called in to work so weren’t able to see Tony off from the forest,
“Here,” said Gibbs, “Take the truck. I’ll come by in a couple of days and pick it up. Good luck!”
Tony nodded gratefully, “Hey, Gibbs … I just want to say …”
“Enough,” commanded Gibbs, “I know. Believe me, I know.”
The case didn’t take long to solve, and Gibbs was back home the next day. With the next day off, he decided he’d get Tim or Ducky to drive him out the following day to pick up his truck – with that decision made, he then heard a vehicle pulling up on to his drive. A moment or two later, Tony strode in.
“What happened?” asked Gibbs.
“Your go bag turned out to be a great idea, really helpful,” said Tony, “But …”
“But?”
“But I didn’t end up where I planned … so, back to the drawing board.”
“What was it like this time?”
“I met you this time. Did you know, you’d still been divorced three time …”
“Huh, must be a constant in every universe,” said Gibbs wryly.
“And twins must be in your family,” said Tony thoughtfully.
“Twins?”
“Yep, each of your three wives gave you twins. The Gibbs I met was a stay-at-home Dad to six children.”
Gibbs didn’t know whether to smile or grimace.
“And his hair was snow white.”
“Not surprised,” said Gibbs gloomily, “So, what’s next?”
“Well, do you mind …”
Gibbs found that he didn’t mind. Having Tony in the house as a friend was surprisingly easy. Perhaps it had always been happier to have him as a friend than a subordinate. Tony filled the house with his energy and humour and Gibbs was content for him to stay.
Tony continued to try and find a way back to his own universe … and Gibbs continued to wait and see what happened.
“What happened this time?” asked Gibbs as Tony stood dripping with mud in Gibbs’ kitchen.
“Turns out that your cabin is a health farm in the other universe,” whined Tony, “And I landed in a mud bath.”
“Bathroom, now!” snapped Gibbs, “Stop dripping that stuff on my floor …”
“It’s probably not mud,” reasoned Tony, “It’s probably very expensive mineral … but you don’t care about that. I’ll go to the bathroom.”
“You do that,” said Gibbs sternly. Tony didn’t see the smile threatening to crack Gibbs’ face.
NCISNCIS
“I couldn’t stay there, Gibbs,” said Tony desperately, “They were all into crystals … fortune telling … reading earlobes …”
“Earlobes?” asked Gibbs.
“Yeah, I know. Weird, huh? They reckon that every lobe is unique and provides clues to the inner you. So unscientific!”
Gibbs pulled on his earlobe but couldn’t think of anything to say except, “Your bedroom’s ready. Don’t forget to restock your go bag!”
“Thanks, Gibbs,” said Tony disconsolately, he trailed his way to what had become his bedroom.
NCISNCIS
“You were in line to be president, Gibbs! I mean, not of a big country … but part of this country. As far as I could tell, the United States never became … well … united. And you were up for being president of Pennsylvania. Apparently, your father had been president before, so it was kinda in the family.”
“And I agreed?” demanded Gibbs incredulously.
“Well,” said Tony fairly, “It was difficult to tell ‘cos I didn’t get to meet you in person. I just saw you on their version of TV and you looked pretty comfortable with it all. That blue-eyed gaze and silver hair made you pretty damned popular, you know.”
Gibbs shuddered. “Can see why you didn’t want to stay,” he observed.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Tony, “It had its good points. But it was vegetarian …”
Gibbs took the hint, “Cowboy steaks tonight.”
“Thanks, Gibbs. And I’ll restock the go bag.”
NCISNCIS
“I was what?”
“That’s right. Married to the Queen of England. Seems you bonded over a love of horses.”
“I was King of England?”
“Technically no. You were her consort but,” Tony added encouragingly, “I reckon you were the power behind the throne. Not that there was a lot of power to have … it being a constitutional monarchy … most of the time.”
“And I didn’t mind? Didn’t mind all that ceremony … walking three paces behind …”
“Guess you saw it as duty. But I learned something.”
“What?”
“How to do great roast beef … want me to cook it tonight?”
Gibbs was still in a daze at the news of his latest configuration and nodded absently.
“Great,” said Tony, “I’ll just go and repack the go bag.”
NCISNCIS
“I did what?”
“A fashion designer. Big in Paris and New York. Took them by storm with your homespun approach.”
“My what?”
“You transformed sacking into the most desirable material being used for formal wear. And apparently in previous years you’d popularised sailcloth, recycled tins and …”
“I don’t want to know,” said Gibbs firmly, “Really, I don’t want to know.”
“I understand,” said Tony sympathetically, “It’s probably for the best …” he gave an artistic shudder which chilled Gibbs to the bone.
NCISNCIS
“Go on then, tell me,” said Gibbs resignedly.
“No, this is a good one,” said Tony affirmingly, “You were an artist. Painted seascapes – very brooding, atmospheric … I went to see an exhibition of your work at the National Gallery here in DC. Made me feel I needed a raincoat … and those pills … what are they? The ones Tim lives on when you drag him to some boat?”
“I don’t drag him,” said Gibbs stiffly, “I take him on an assignment pertinent to his job investigating the navy. And they’re called Dramamine.”
“That’s the ones. Well, I felt like I needed some after looking at your pictures of the sea,” he seemed to sense this could be taken the wrong way, “But it’s good … all good … it’s because they were so lifelike. Yeah, I think I’ll go and unpack.”
“You do that,” said Gibbs sternly.
As they sat over what had become the traditional coming home/failed again meal that night, Gibbs asked a question.
“Huh, Tony …”
“Gibbs?”
“Seems to me that you spend a lot of time in these alternate universes looking to see what I’m doing.”
“I suppose.”
“Why’s that?”
“Um … it gives me a good clue about what the place is like?” suggested Tony.
“Wouldn’t you know if you’d got back to your universe?” asked Gibbs with unusual gentleness.
“Gibbs?”
“Are you sure you want to go home?”
“Gibbs? What are you talking about? Of course I want to get back. What makes you say that?”
Gibbs reached into his jeans pocket, “This,” he said, “I was putting some washing in your room and I found this.”
Tony reached out and took the pulsometer in his hands.
“What’s going on, Tony? Did you ever go back?”
Tony swallowed, “I did the first time. And it was like I said – a horrible alternate universe. And so I came back.”
“And the next time?”
“You remember? I went on my own?” Gibbs nodded. “And I forgot to take this,” Tony gestured to the pulsometer.
“So, why didn’t you just come back and get it?”
“I was going to … really, I was but then …”
“Then what?”
“Then I didn’t. I was kinda spooked about what happened the first time. I was worried that I’d find something even worse …”
“But you might have found home,” Gibbs pointed out.
“I know … but I thought that one time I’d just pretend I’d gone back.”
“And the other times? Did you ever try to go back?”
Tony lowered his eyes to the floor and shook his head, “No, I never did. I kept on meaning to, but I’d get to the woods … and back out.”
“And the stories you told … about the other places?”
Tony grinned, “It was kinda fun to think up what to tell you … and to see your face.” He gazed at Gibbs, “But I know it was wrong. I promise I’ll try for real … tomorrow …”
“See that you do,” said Gibbs sternly, “And this time, I’ll go out there with you. And you’d better let me have that battery thing … make sure you don’t accidentally leave it behind.”
Tony nodded humbly. There were no cowboy steaks that night.
NCISNCIS
The next day, Gibbs drove Tony out to the woods.
“Thanks, Gibbs … for everything … and I’m sorry,” said Tony.
“Don’t apologise, it’s a sign of weakness,” ordered Gibbs, “And you’re not weak.”
“Even though I’ve been a coward all these months?”
“You’re not a coward. You were just taking time …”
“Thanks, Gibbs … it’s been … real …”
“I don’t even know what means,” confessed Gibbs, “Now, are you going or not?”
“I’m going … and maybe this time I’ll see you at that martial arts class …”
“Semper Fi,” said Gibbs. It was the last thing he said before Tony threw the switch and disappeared.
As Gibbs sat in his living room three days later, he wondered if he had made a mistake in making Tony go away. He wondered if he should reach out to the Tony DiNozzo making a success of his life in Rota … and then the door opened, and Tony walked in.
“Didn’t work, huh?” asked Gibbs trying to ignore a bubble of happiness in his chest.
“It worked,” said Tony.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I got back. Went back to my lab. Even saw Tim, Ducky and my Gibbs.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I realised although I was home, I wasn’t home.”
“Excuse me?”
“I didn’t feel at home there. This is my home now … this is where I want to be … with this version of Tim, Abby, Ducky – they’ve become my friends more than the others ever were. So, I came back.”
“So I see.”
“Abby told me that she could make me a false ID. Tim says he could make it look as if I’ve always been here. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t done it already. The other Tim and Abby wouldn’t do that. And the other Gibbs – who is a great guy – but he’s got his own family and his own friends … I don’t think he’d ever be the friend to me that you have.”
“So, what do you want to do?”
“I went to my old apartment. Picked up some stuff that means a lot to me. Emptied my bank account, sold my apartment and transferred everything into precious metal and jewels – enough to give me a start here. I’ll be able to do scientific research here. I’ve got no family there back there, Gibbs – I figure I’m better off here. How does that sound to you?”
There was a weighty pause, “Guess it sounds like cowboy steaks tonight,” smiled Gibbs, “Welcome back, Tony … welcome home.” He patted Tony gently on the head as he walked to the kitchen.
Tony breathed a sigh of relief as he relaxed at last. Home had a good sound … Home Sweet Home had never sounded so good.