Mind Games
One-Shot

Summary: Gibbs and his dad, Jackson, have a fight. It's amazing how Tony's childhood can put things into perspective. Gibbs/Tony - Father/Son. (Tony's father isn't nice.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hope you guys enjoy! :)

Mind Games:

Gibbs had been to visit his father in Stillwater on the weekend just passed, and everyone on team Gibbs had been hoping it would do him some good; they had quickly found out that they'd been wrong. They all felt how their fresh start to the week was anything but pleasant. Gibbs had been like a mini tornado, rampaging through the Navy Yard sending secretaries scrambling for files on cold cases and the younger agents cowering behind their desks, including McGee a couple of times. Tony's head slaps had been harder and Abby hadn't gotten a 'CafPow!' all day. Ziva and Ducky had been completely ignored and even the director was a little nervous around the force to be reckoned with that was Gibbs.

When the MCRT was dismissed by their boss, Ziva and McGee all but ran to the elevator, but not Tony. He stayed at his desk a bit longer, being in no rush to leave.

"Are you one of my agents DiNozzo?" Gibbs questioned sharply, looking over his computer at the younger man.

Tony wasn't surprised by the deadly pitch in his boss's voice. He ignored the warning though and replied with a casual, "Yeah."

"Well I just dismissed my agents so why are you still here?" Gibbs continued just as sharply.

He was trying his best to put Tony off wanting to find out the cause of his bad attitude. He knew it was pointless though; the younger agent had certainly adopted his stubborn streak.

"Well, I'm all out of steak and beer so I figured we could share." Tony responded lightly as he shut down his computer.

Gibbs gave a hint of a smile at the fact that Tony has effectively just invited himself over to his place for dinner; it was so classic DiNozzo.

"One hour DiNozzo." Gibbs replied gruffly as he grabbed his gear and left in the elevator. As Tony collected his things and got ready to follow his boss's lead, he mumbled, "On your six Boss."

Like clockwork Tony arrived at Gibbs' house at 19:00 on the dot. Upon pushing the unlocked front door open, he was greeted with the sight of Gibbs dishing the cowboy style steaks onto the plates. He went up to his mentor, grabbed the meal and cutlery held out to him, fetched himself a beer and sat on the couch. Gibbs sat down next to him not long after and they were finished eating in a matter of minutes. Neither of them had eaten all day and the steaks were like heaven on a dish.

They sipped on their beers in silence until Tony finally found his voice.

"Take it your weekend fell though then?"

"Yep."

"Did you even stay the whole weekend?"

"Nope."

"Okay, you gonna just tell me what happened or am I going to have to keep playing twenty questions?"

"We had an argument." Gibbs deadpanned.

"I figured that much, you wanna elaborate?" Tony pried.

"Same thing we always come back to. At...Shannon and Kelly's funeral, he..." Gibbs stopped for a second, the memories of his girls still painful after all the years. "He bought along a date. He's apologized about it plenty of times but it came up again and I got..."

"...protective." Tony finished quietly. They were his girls; DiNozzo knew Gibbs would defend their honour with his dying breath.

"Yeah." Gibbs agreed, taking another swig of his beer.

"A stupid mistake."

"What?" Gibbs asked, having no idea what that referred to.

"It was a mistake on his part and he's sorry Boss. He wants to make amends; it's pretty obvious."

Gibbs was surprised at the younger man perception and the more he thought about it, the more he realized he had over-reacted at something when he really needed to just clear the air and move on. He knew his dad was trying and he suddenly seemed to decide that, on some level; that was all he needed to know.

"How can you tell Tony?"

"I know the love of a father when I see it; spent my entire childhood chasing it." He admitted softly.

Gibbs heart ached for him. He regarded Tony as the son he'd never had and he hated to see him in any kind of pain. He knew Tony though; the kid needed a confidant, someone who he trusted to keep the discussions under tight wraps. He needed to talk about his troubles sometimes just to get them off his chest. A weight lifted without being worried what had just been said would be spread far and wide."

"Whatcha mean?"

"I spent years trying to figure my father out. One minute he was charming and kind. On occasion he'd even tell me he was proud of me, give me a complement. I lived for those moments Gibbs. Sometimes nothing mattered but my father's approval. Other times he would just put me down, call me names. He'd get depressed and cynical. Get frustrated with me and tell me I was useless and selfish. He was constantly in my head. I could never decide whether he loved me but said things he didn't mean, or he was right and I was pathetic and a failure and all the other labels he pinned on me with his sarcastic comments.

"He tried so hard to rip my beliefs out of me. He'd tell me I didn't deserve an opinion and that I was wrong and he was right."

"One night, he was saying how he was better than some other guys, and I told him that he was wrong, that everyone is equal because that's what I believe. I put up a hell of an argument, trying to change his mind. You know what his response was?" Tony asked rhetorically, the pain of the memory rising to the surface. "He laughed at me, just laughed Gibbs. I asked him why he said things he didn't even believe. He said and I quote, 'that's the bait, and you jump every time.' With this sick grin of satisfaction like he'd won or something, on his face."

"My entire childhood Gibbs, that's what it was; bait. And I was the trusting idiot that always jumped; the 'perfect fish' as he'd put it." He laughed bitterly at the absurd nature of comparing your child to something you catch on a hook for fun.

"I asked him why he would do that to me, he said it was because people were going to play me my whole life and I had to learn that my opinions and beliefs were irrelevant and wrong, that no-one cared about what I thought. Said my problem was that I never shut up or gave it up; I could never learn to just hold my tongue."

"I said I needed him to just be my father. To support me, hug me or something, have some compassion and he simply asked, 'what would you learn from that?'."

"Tony..." Gibbs sighed softly, trying to think of a way to make Tony understand just how important he was. Then a though struck him, something he'd never understood until now. "That's why you didn't call him when you had the plague."

"Showing pain was never acceptable Gibbs, it's a weakness. You're meant to grin and bear it. Admitting to it makes you soft and gets you no-where."

"You know, before mom died and he got all depressed, we had a wonderful family. We talked, loved each other like families should. Then after, everything changed. He snapped at me all the time and whatever I did wasn't good enough. Felt he had to teach me the 'rules' as he called them. Mind games Gibbs, mind games. I had a favourite Teddy Bear when I was a kid. He said one day I might just wake up and my bear would have been in an 'accident', I was only ten or so but I knew what that threat meant, that he'd break it. I hid my bear whenever I left the house, just in case. He always said that friends were expendable, that they come and go and they'll only use you and dump you when they get sick of you. When I got my report cards back it was mostly high grades, but they didn't matter; they were expected and only acknowledged by this nod of satisfaction. But if there was anything less on there, he'd give me this look of disappointment beyond anything; that look said enough." He said sadly, almost remorseful for missing out on having the normal relationship every child should have with their father.

Everything about Tony's defences made so much more sense now. The 'idiot' role was his shield, his mask. Tony trusted very few people because he'd been told that they only wanted something from him, not to simply be his friend. Tony's father and his 'rules and baiting' had cracked something in the other man that Gibbs was determined to do his best to fix.

"Tony, you're the best young agent I've ever worked with and I'm so proud of you. You don't need to protect yourself from everyone and everything anymore; I've got your six, I hope you know that." Gibbs said staring the other agent in the eyes intensely.

"I know, and I'm working on it but it takes time. Thanks though Boss; that means a lot." He said truthfully.

Gibbs looked at Tony as he finished his beer. He truly admired the courage and determination of the man he saw before him. Tony turned his head to lock onto Gibbs' gaze and told his mentor exactly what was on his mind.

"You're lucky Gibbs. You know your father loves you. When he says it, he means it. You can see it in his eyes; he's proud of you. You know he loves you and it's totally unconditional; I don't think I'll ever know that for sure. You're not just a high maintenance possession, your Dad really cares. Don't throw it away. You should take a few days, were just on cold cases. Go to Stillwater and be with your Dad."

Gibbs though about that for a minute and then reached a conclusion. "You know, you're right. That's a good plan except, why don't you take the time off too and come with me. Dad gets a kick outta ya being there. What do you say?"

The response made Gibbs crack a smile, a rare occurrence indeed. Tony sounded like a six year old being taken to the local candy store, beaming grin on his face.

"Road trip?"

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed reading this :) Reviews are like candy...I eat them all up and they're lovely to look at! :D Thanks a bunch, they mean a lot :) Thanks for reading!