Kin of the Child, chapter 4 (Patreon)

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“Mr. DiNozzo, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you doing this,” Agent Sandberg said as Tony signed his written statement. 

Tony nodded absent-mindedly. “I understand the difficulties of making convictions stick. I am hoping you can get this guy off the street.” Tony wasn't actually all that hopeful. He had used one of the many lulls in the action to look up conviction rates in Cascade Washington, and this group had some serious issues. From what Tony could tell from the news, the issue sounded less like incompetent lawyers and more like police officers who didn't actually know how to find their ass with both hands and a flashlight.

Tony had spent a decade trying to mitigate the inadmissible habits of three teammates, so he understood that sometimes detectives took actions that they shouldn't. He understood that more than most. Considering that he had been dealing with Gibbs and his selective application of evidence and Ziva and her damn lock picks and McGee…. Oh God, McGee. 

Tony felt so much guilt over the fact that they took a rule-following young agent who eventually would have gotten into the field on his own and had turned him into someone who regularly hacked some of the most secure computers in the country. Sooner or later, that was going to come back to bite Tim in the ass. 

The problem was bending the law and breaking the law were essentially the same thing. It was just a matter of whether you expected to get caught. When Gibbs illegally shared the name of a suspect with dangerous criminals in order to get that suspect killed, in Gibbs’ mind that wasn't conspiracy to commit murder. Because no one could catch him, that was simply bending the law.

Tony jerked his thoughts back to the present. He hated the fact that even though he'd walked away from NCIS, he couldn't reclaim his own thoughts. For the millionth time, Tony wondered if he should be seeking therapy. He looked over, and agent Sandberg was giving him a concerned look.

“Just tired,” Tony said as an excuse.

Sandberg nodded, but he didn't bother looking convinced. “That girl of yours is a cutie.”

Tony smiled. “That she is.” Tali was the sole light in Tony's life right now. The rest of the world might be willing to either walk away from Tony DiNozzo or let Tony walk away from them without a fight, but not his little tiger girl. Or, apparently, his little wolf girl. Agent Sandberg had some magical powers to connect with Tali that fast.

“How long have you two been traveling together?” Agent Sandberg asked.

It made Tony deeply uncomfortable that Sandburg would ask about Tali, especially since Tony was still trying to figure out where Agent Sandberg fit in the grand scheme. Quite frankly, nothing made sense. Tony could certainly understand the FBI putting a liaison in Cascade. After all, if they wanted any of their cases to stick, they needed one. The CPD certainly couldn’t follow through with convictions. However, CID had no business being in this area. There were no significant Army bases, so there weren't a significant number of Army grunts needing to be arrested, and CID, unlike NCIS, had no authority over civilians because they were not a civilian organization. In fact, Tony was fairly sure civilian CID agents had to have a military partner, but Tony wasn't entirely sure on that. He didn't routinely keep up with the regulations of agencies he had nothing to do with.

He gave Sandburg the patented DiNozzo self-deprecating smile #2. “Oh, a while.”

Agent Sandberg nodded. “I hear you.”

Tony frowned. That was an odd statement. Tony wasn't sure if that was supposed to build rapport or just confuse him. 

“Hey man, do you need to call someone? Your wife? Tali’s mom? It may be a little while before the DA can review the statement and make sure that we have all of our ducks in a row.” Sandburg shrugged. “You know how it is.”

Tony didn't know how that was. At NCIS, they took the statement and then sent it over to JAG. JAG certainly didn't hang out in their bullpen, waiting to review witness statements before they let anyone go home. That definitely spoke of a serious lack of trust between investigators and prosecutors. Tony felt like humming the theme song to Law and Order to remind these guys of the part where prosecutors and investigators worked together to bring bad guys to justice.

“Tali and I are on our own,” Tony said. “Where is she?” Tony definitely did not like having his girl out of his sight.

“She's with detective Ellison,” Blair said.

“The deputy captain?” Now Tony was really confused. Deputy captains did not babysit, and worse, Tali had not liked him. Tony had learned to pay attention to her instincts and when she didn't like someone, she had a reason. “Maybe you could go and get her?” Tony suggested.

“I'm sure she's fine.” Sandburg gave him a smile, one that appeared genuine, but this was Tony’s daughter. He was not about to get put off. 

“I really think I need to see Tali,” he said firmly.

“No problem.” Agent Sandberg nodded and that mop of curls bounced around his head. How the hell did this guy work with Army? Something was not right in the state of Washington. Moving like a man who had had too much caffeine and too little sleep, Blair bounced up, did an uncoordinated little hop and then headed for the door.

Weird.

Then again, weird appeared to be the default for Agent Sandberg. Tony stood and walked the room. It was  a small interrogation room with the standard one-way mirror, which Tony kept his back to. In a lot of stations, the soundproofing material took a real beating. Suspects would pick at it until great scabs would come off the wall leaving the room scarred. But this place was well maintained. The whole station was an exercise in contradictions, and Tony didn’t like anything that didn't make sense. He was just starting to get the uncomfortable feeling that he'd been abandoned in a locked room when Agent Sandberg came back in, leading Tali by the hand. 

“Daddy!” Tali sang out her joy. The fear that had been steadily growing since Tony had stepped into the room evaporated and he scooped his little girl up. “How is my tiger girl?” Tony hugged her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “I'm wolf girl now.”

Tony leaned back so he could look at her. “How is my little will wolf girl?” 

She smiled. “The big one says we can stay in town.”

Sandberg appeared surprised. “Did he?” 

“What big one?” Tony asked with a sinking feeling. If a large man took an interest in keeping his daughter around, Tony had an even greater interest in making sure the asshole didn't get anywhere near her.

“That would be Detective Ellison,” Agent Sandberg said. “He was babysitting Tali and they had a good long talk.”

“He can be scary,” Tali said seriously.

“Scary how? Tony asked. He tried to keep all of his fears away from Tali, but he could imagine any number of things that might've happened, and just because detective Ellison was a police officer did not mean, Tony gave him a pass on being capable of committing terrible crimes.

“Scary like daddy is,” Tali said. “He scares bad guys. He's like a tiger!” Tony's eyebrows went up. From Tali that was the highest praise a person could get. Tony wasn't sure she'd even applied it to him. The only person she consistently called a tiger was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Tony wasn't sure she was old enough for most of his movies, but after she had seen Jumanji, she had demanded more, and Tony sucked at saying no to his daughter. He was pretty sure that was going to come back to bite him in the ass when she was a teenager. “Detective Ellison said we could stay in town?” Tony had a sinking feeling for a whole different reason. He was fairly sure that translated into a deputy captain suggesting that a witness who had potentially committed a federal crime not leave town.

Tali nodded happily.

“We’ll see.” Tony tried to keep his voice even, but he was mentally calculating best strategies. If he left, they could still issue a warrant. But if he stayed, he made it easier for an overly ambitious captain to push for charges. Sometimes just being in the sight line of someone was enough to set them off. Boy didn't Tony know that.

Agent Sandberg smiled at Tali. “That's great. Maybe if you stick around, you can see the aquarium. We have sharks on exhibit.” His voice rose with enthusiasm.

Tali’s eyes lit up. Agent Sandberg sure as hell had her number. “Sharks?” She almost squealed.

Agent Sandberg nodded. “Yep. Sharks, and all sorts of other critters. I bet your dad would take you.” Agent Sandberg looked at Tony as if Tony had a choice. After that suggestion, Tali wouldn't let him sleep until she got to see real life sharks. 

“Of course, I will.” Tony said, Agent Sandberg smiled at him. However, Tony's sense of impending doom just got worse.

“Maybe I could be a shark girl,” Tali said.

“But sharks are alone, just like tigers,” Agent Sandberg explained as if this were the most normal conversation in the world. “That’s why wolves are better. Stronger.”

“Do they have wolves at the zoo here?” Tali asked. Before Tony could say anything, Sandberg took a step closer and his expression grew somber. 

“Don't visit wolves at the zoo, sweetie. Being locked up makes a wolf different. It makes them more aggressive, less cooperative. They get fed, they don't have a chance to hunt. That makes everything worse.”

Tali’s lip had the quiver that meant she might start crying soon and Tony gave Agent Sandberg a dirty look. The man obviously had no children and did not understand the horror of a crying child. But just when Tony expected Tolley to have a complete meltdown, Tolley just settled back into his arms. “I don't like zoos,” she announced solemnly. 

Tony held her tighter. “Then we won’t go to one. We’ll visit the sharks.” Tony wasn’t sure an aquarium was better, but if it kept Tali from crying, he would ignore logic.

“Come on,” Blair said, “Let's get you out of here and into someplace more comfortable like our mold-infested, overcrowded break room. I'm sure you'll feel right at home since pretty much every break room I've ever seen is as equally overused and under cleaned as ours.” Sandberg's grin invited comradery, but Tony wasn’t sure he was willing to extend his trust. There were too many questions swirling around Agent Sandburg.

“Sure.” Tony headed for the open door to the interview room. The hallway was as clean and kept up as the interrogation room, so Tony had serious doubts about their break room being as bad as the ones Tony had seen, but for the sake of making peace, he would play along. They were halfway down the hall when Detective Ellison appeared at the far end walking beside a man with a suit. 

The suited man gave a smile that immediately made Tony think sharks and lawyers. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Detective Ellison said, “DiNozzo, don't say a word. This asshole plans to charge you for impersonating a federal agent because he thinks it will make his case against the bank robber stronger—that it will show that we weren't in collusion with you.” Ellison's glare in lawyer’s direction made it clear just how stupid he considered that strategy. “I already have a lawyer coming, and you will not give this asshole anything.”

“Captian Ellison!” the lawyer snapped in a disapproving tone.

Ellison turned to fully face the lawyer. “Detective Ellison,” he corrected the man. “And I am fighting a promotion to captain because of assholes like you who play fast and loose with the rules in order to get what you want. The law is not a game, and you don't get to cheat when mommy isn’t watching to make sure you play fair.”

The lawyer lost most of his color, but before he could respond, Detective Ellison turned back and called over his shoulder. “Blair, stay with DiNozzo and make sure this asshole doesn't play fast and loose until the lawyer gets here.” Ellison strode away, leaving the lawyer with an open mouth. 

Tali started to cry, and Tony clutched his daughter as his worst fears came crashing down around his head. He was going to be arrested. Again. And worse, this time the charge was actually true. He was so screwed.