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sam_storyteller ([personal profile] sam_storyteller) wrote2005-07-12 10:40 am

Good Boy; NCIS, R.

Title: Good Boy
Rating: R for violence (no sex)
Summary: Tony needs Gibbs. Gibbs has his uses for Tony, too.
Author's Notes: Set basically in the same universe as the NCIS/Dexter crossover. I'm...quite disturbed that this came out of my head, in fact.
Warnings: Graphic depictions of implicitly-condoned serial murder.

Now available on AO3.

[livejournal.com profile] reena_jenkins has done a podfic of this fic!

Originally Posted 2.14.09

***

Snapshot:

He grows up in a house with everything but love. Sad story, but true.

He runs wild on an estate. Kills squirrels. Crack shot.

Snapshot:

His first real kill. Junior at boarding school.

He never takes souvenirs, already aware he's going to be a cop. Too dangerous to keep evidence around. While he takes them down he plays a movie instead. He prefers black and white, he discovers later, because when he watches the movie later the memory comes back in overwhelming technicolour.

And Bogart, but he's not sure why.

Snapshot:

First police job. He has to move on when things get intense, people get a little close. He bounces around for years after that. Never letting anyone get too hot on his trail. Nobody really suspects. He's very careful when he kills. And he kills scumbags, so the police don't even care too much.

Snapshot:

NCIS. Recruitment. Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Tony recognises something -- something of the predator in Gibbs. And oh how he wants to please him, because Gibbs challenges him. Whacks him in the back of the head but indulges his quirks. Makes him feel like more.

He doesn't kill for almost a year and a half. He fights it off as long as he can, because of Gibbs. He can be better than this. He can watch the movies, that'll be enough.

For a while.

Snapshot:

His first kill as an NCIS agent. He can't resist. He picks a petty officer that everyone knew willfully killed civilians in Iraq. During peacetime occupation. Even Gibbs hasn't got much nice to say about the guy.

Tony takes the photos and takes them to Abby in the lab. When she brings them up, when he shows them to her, he's so excited he's practically climbing the walls.

"You're really into these, huh?" she asks. "Oooh."

"Oooh?" he says.

"I like this one," she says, pointing to his work his work! "It's going on my wall."

"Really?" He's so pleased. She beams at him.

When he comes down to the lab, for months after, it's like killing all over again. Every time they investigate one of his kills, he gets to take the photos. It's such a high.

Snapshot:

Third kill as an NCIS agent. Just after Cate Todd's death. He's angry, and hurting for Gibbs because Gibbs blames himself, and Tony gets sloppy.

Two weeks later, that's when Gibbs comes to him.

"Stand there," Gibbs says, and Tony stands very still in the dark, empty office after everyone's gone. Gibbs circles him once, steps up into his personal space, and smacks him hard on the back of the head.

"Thank you, boss," Tony says quickly. "Why am I thanking you?"

Gibbs just stares at him.

"Boss, seriously, what'd I do?" Tony asks.

Stare.

"Boss?" He's scared now.

"Willa Macintosh," Gibbs says softly, and Tony's guts go cold.

"Who's -- " he starts, and Gibbs smacks him so hard he jerks forward. Gibbs props him with a hand on his chest.

"Don't lie to me."

Tony fumbles for a minute. "What do you want me to say, boss?"

"I asked some questions," Gibbs said. "And followed my gut. And I found out about Willa. And the others. So I want you to answer me when I ask you this."

Tony nods, swallowing.

"Was she your first?"

"Yes," Tony says. Gibbs steps back and picks up a notebook on his desk. Gives it to him. Gives him a pen.

"Make a list," he says.

"Boss, I -- "

"Make a list," Gibbs says, iron in his voice but still almost...gentle. "I want to know all the names. And what they did."

Tony's head snaps up.

"You're not the kind of man who picks 'em at random," Gibbs continues. "You killed them because they did something. I want that list on my desk tomorrow. You bolt tonight, I'll find you and kill you myself. You still here tomorrow, we'll talk," he says, and walks away.

Snapshot:

"You never, ever kill again without my permission. I will tell you where and when."

"How?"

"You'll know."

Snapshot:

Once in a while Tony knows he's going to be sent after someone but he gets a little ahead of himself and he doesn't wait for the signal, for that look in his master's eyes that says it's Tony's turn to run loose. Gibbs never says anything, just looks disapproving and whaps him on the back of the head a little harder than normal.

But when he does let Tony off the leash, when they know someone did something bad and can't prove it in court, when Gibbs wants blood and Tony gets to play, oh yes. Only three times in two years and it's so good. It's all Tony needs.

Then Gibbs is gone -- hurt, amnesiac, gone to Mexico. Suddenly Tony's the boss. He wishes Jenny understood, he wishes he had someone to tell him what to do, because Jenny's stupid little undercover job is good but it isn't enough, nothing's enough and he's lost.

He fights and fights and fights and considers whether it wouldn't be better for everyone if he killed himself, or Gibbs for abandoning him, or everyone. But he does the job, and he watches the movies, and he plays Jenny's little games but soon it's not going to be enough --

Then it's not. And there's an innocent woman but she's close and convenient and Tony's so sorry afterwards. But there's nobody to be sorry to.

Snapshot:

Gibbs comes back.

"Boss, we need to talk."

Gibbs sits back and looks at him. He stands and gestures for Tony to follow him, and they go driving and Tony confesses, confesses it all. When he's done talking, Gibbs ups the speed on the car by about twenty miles an hour.

"I abandoned you," he says finally. "Not your fault. Blood's on my hands."

He turns to look at Tony, and his eyes are very sharp.

"You've got your absolution, DiNozzo. We go on from here."

"Yes, boss," Tony says, and tight tension unwinds in every muscle.

Master's back.

Snapshot:

Jenny's dead and Tony has his orders.

Agent Afloat.

Trapped.

Snapshot:

"You do someone on a carrier, you're gonna get caught," Gibbs says to him. "Every time you get shore leave, call me. You hear me?"

"Yes, boss," Tony says. He's miserable. He's being sent away. He knows it's because he fucked up, he lost Jenny, but it's so hard.

"Hey, DiNozzo," Gibbs says, and Tony forces his eyes up. Gibbs is looking at him with something almost like affection. "I'll find suspects for you. Get shore leave, call me. You do not do anything on that carrier. I'll get you through this."

"Thanks, boss," Tony says. His fingers twitch.

"Keep your weekend free," Gibbs adds. "You and I have work to do."

Snapshot:

Gibbs takes him hunting before he has to leave for the USS Ronald Reagan. Gibbs. Takes him hunting. Looking for a scumbag who deserves to die. It's the best weekend of Tony's entire life. No Ziva, no McGee, no Abby or Ducky. Just him and Gibbs.

And when they find the man they're looking for, Gibbs shows him how to set up a sniper's blind. Shows him how to take aim. Lets him pull the trigger with Gibbs' hands on his, helping him.

It's not a close-up kill and he doesn't get to have all the fun he normally has, but it's still his favourite.

"Look after yourself, DiNozzo," Gibbs says later, as Tony lifts his bags and prepares to board. Tony smells sawdust, and remembers the hunt.

Snapshot:

He hasn't seen Gibbs, actually seen him, in four months, and when Gibbs and Ziva turn up in Cartagena Tony is so relieved.

Gibbs brings him home. Home to Abby with photos of his kills on the walls of her lab, home to NCIS, home to dry land and millions of people where one murdered scumbag won't draw too much attention.

"Please, boss," he says, between cases. "Please, the next one? Please?"

Gibbs looks at him.

"Only if necessary, DiNozzo."

It's another two months before he's allowed off the leash. He didn't even know he had that much self-control. After, it's such a relief, and he ends up for the first time ever in Gibbs's basement, shaking and drinking bourbon while Gibbs works quietly nearby.

When he's finally calmed down, Gibbs looks up at him. Walks to where he's sitting on the stool at the workbench, and strokes his hair once.

"Good boy," he says quietly.

Tony beams.

See? Someone loves him. And that's all he really wants.

END

[identity profile] booster17.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Scary. And plausible. Scarily plausible.

[identity profile] bobbys-girl1.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my - I'm never going to be able to look at Gibbs in the same light again!

[identity profile] cala-jane.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. And I mean it: WOW. I love my fics dark and twisted and still So. Frikin. Believable!
I love Tony's voice, I love how you write about his past and how everything changes when he joins NCIS. The time when Gibbs is not there and how Tony confesses... Pure gold.
I love it.
I love you!
Marry me?
ext_47332: Blue background with sparkly text saying "team hilarity!" (Default)

[identity profile] silentstep.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahahahahaha. Best. Valentine's Day present. Ever.

[identity profile] zanetun.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my God, this is amazing! It just makes so much sense, in a creepily disturbing way~
swordage: rotf Soundwave (science - crocodile skull)

[personal profile] swordage 2009-02-14 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
adjfsksdakfguhsfdjksYES OH MY GOD. I am completely incoherent but bursting with love and adoration and yesssss. This is just - YES. yesyesyesyesyes.

[identity profile] blackalchemist.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
So very very creepily loveable. This tony really reminds me of a dog, particualry a hunting dog, itching to hunt, bit to well trained not to without the sign

[identity profile] sam-storyteller.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
That's pretty much how I'd see him, if he WERE a serial killer...:D

[identity profile] deannawol.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude, that's the most potent, most horrifying fic that I've read in quite a while. Well done but wow... That's .... I gotta get off the internet for a while and hug some bunnies... Um ... Wow...

[identity profile] vashti-lives.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I am seriously creeped out, but in a good way. *shudder*

[identity profile] cat-latin.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, wow. Your brain is a twisty, gorgeous thing.

[identity profile] lurkslikefox.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 10:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Your last you say? Are you sure? You don't feel the urge to write more? Cos I for one would be ok with that. If you felt you had to.
ext_1951: (Default)

[identity profile] mremre.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
OMG this is creeptastic. Amazing, Sam. Amazing.

[identity profile] cityatsea.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
this is brilliant and gorgeous, and so, so plausible. love the frame by frame storytelling.

[identity profile] bronwynferchdai.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. You know, I usually write fluffy Donald Strachey fic (love me some Donald and Timmy) but I am totally infatuated with this Gibbs and Tony. Just, so in love.
Creepy,
Bronwyn

[identity profile] sam-storyteller.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Donald Strachey? I'm not familiar with the name.

I love -- and find it pretty canonical -- that Tony has a HUGE CRUSH on Gibbs. :D

(no subject)

[identity profile] isaluna.livejournal.com - 2009-02-15 01:02 (UTC) - Expand

[identity profile] zephiey.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, this is so twisted and perfect!

Good boy Sam!

[identity profile] sgt-majorette.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
My goodness, that's sick! Explains a lot, though...

[identity profile] athousanderrors.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
...your brain scares me. But I kind of really love it.

This is a scarily possible interpretation of Tony's character - and just like your twist on Sheppard's personality, it works.

...of course, now I'm hoping for the non-PG sequel. *grins*

[identity profile] metal-dog5.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I ♥ darkfic, and you've given us a wonderfully twisted yet plausible take of the show.

[identity profile] wondersheep.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
So. Much. Glee!

Not sure what that says about me, but you won't tell a shrink, right?

[identity profile] sam-storyteller.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
I won't tell your shrink if you won't tell mine :D
ext_74: Baron Samadai in cat form (Basement cat)

[identity profile] siliconshaman.livejournal.com 2009-02-14 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Okayyyy... CREEPY !!

and so totally in character.

[identity profile] dine.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
wonderfully in character - this is a brilliant and plausible explanation for them (and one we don't need to stray very far at all from canon to see). it's a twisted but beautiful relationship they've got going
ext_7410: (House Addict)

[identity profile] cageyklio.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
You're so lovely to have around.

Bookmark

26, 43, 59, 92 (long drought), 118, 136

Abby's murder book isn't a real murder book. She doesn't care about the detritus of the cases: the paperwork, the interviews, the dead ends. She only collects the pictures, glossy shades of grey that capture the minute transition from life to death. She puts them in a nice book and she's a practical girl, so it's her murder book.

She'd never endanger Tony by marking them in any way, but she knows where they are and on nights like this, when Gibbs is gone and Tony's walking Shepard's line and not even Ducky's gentle prodding can unknot the fear in her belly, she counts.

She knows the real monsters. She just wants her family back together.

Page 26. 43. 59. 92. 118. 136.

[identity profile] jaydeyn-sitari.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 12:40 am (UTC)(link)

Wow. Does that ever work! :D

:D
Jaydeyn

(no subject)

[identity profile] kismeteve.livejournal.com - 2009-02-15 03:38 (UTC) - Expand

[identity profile] jaydeyn-sitari.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 12:36 am (UTC)(link)

Ok, I love this.

And I have no idea why you think it's weird that you can write this. Am curious now. It's very BDSM without the physical collars, which really works for Gibbs and Tony and if he were a serial killer. That need in Tony to be harnessed, controlled. It really fits them.

Nice, nice work.

And now I'm wondering what Dexter would think about the innocent that Tony killed? Would that put Tony back on the potential victim list?

:)
Jaydeyn

[identity profile] sam-storyteller.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
I think part of it is just that I could get quite so convincingly into the mindset of someone who kills people on a regular basis, and the fucked up relationship he has with his boss. (Not to mention Tony, while funny, is very often a total asshole as well.) And part of it is the...ease with which I tied power-play sex into premeditated murder.

I mean, all that said I'm really proud of it, I'm just also a little wigged at how easy this story came. :D

I think Dexter would understand that once in a while everyone makes a mistake, and after all he understands that you can't control the urge, you can only aim it. Tony didn't have the strict training that Dexter's dad gave him; he's much more dependent on Gibbs, and with Gibbs gone he really got screwed up in the head.

(Anonymous) 2009-02-15 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
Wow. Creepy. And yet, as much as I want to, I can't find a single thing to point at say, "Oh, no! Not in character!" and make myself feel better.
I am now convinced that if Michael Weatherly wants to leave the series, they will write a "Tony is accused and actually convicted of Murder" episode.
Wow, Sam. Wow. I'm going to have nightmares about DiNozzo now.

[identity profile] sam-storyteller.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
My work here is done *grins and dusts hands*

[identity profile] raindroproses.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Aaaaand let me just chime in on the chorus of CREEPY. Creepy formed from pure awesome, but still.

This kinda reminds me of [livejournal.com profile] sardonicsmiley's John/Rodney fic Not the Fine Man You Take Me For (http://sardonicsmiley.livejournal.com/54190.html) (The one where I can't sleep, Rodney McKay will kill me. And John will calmly, supportively watch.), which creeped me out just as much.

[identity profile] sam-storyteller.livejournal.com 2009-02-15 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
I hadn't read that one -- I'll have to check it out. I know I do echo, just slightly, the fic John by...kHo, I think, which was based on Dexter to start with.

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