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taylorgibbs Feb. 27th, 2009 05:27 pm)
taylorgibbs Feb. 27th, 2009 05:27 pm)AUTHORS: Bree writes for Gibbs and Max writes for Tony and the others. Max has only just started this season in watching the show so asks for a bit of leniency in her portrayal of Tony as she learns the character.
DISCLAIMER: We don't own them. We're not trying to make any profit, etc, etc.
FEEDBACK: Very much appreciated. Flames ignored.
*NOTE* This story is being co-written in roleplay back and forth format, not written for regular fan fic format, so if it reads a little odd in places, the authors really don't mind and hope any readers they may have don't much either. Thanks!
*NOTE2* Just to give something to visualize, the character of Thomas Hilton resembles actor Jeremy Piven and the character of Travis Hilton resembles actor Miguel Ferrer.
*NOTE3* TaylorGibbs will also be writing for Simon Donovan, a Mark Harmon character from The West Wing television series. Princess is written by Max. He is modeled on Michael Weatherly’s character in the Cosby Show.
Gibbs was glad that Tom's body prevented them from seeing very much. He gave Tom a gentle squeeze, promising more later and kicked down the recliner as he pulled his pajama pants up. The motion caused him to cough a few more times and he had to wait thirty seconds before he caught his breath. He wiped a hand over his mouth and it came away bright red. "Give me a minute," he said, standing up and heading into the bathroom, washing his mouth out again before returning.
Gibbs leaned against the wall, looking at the two. "Names?" he asked softly.
"You okay?" the other man said.
Gibbs nodded. "Names," he emphasized.
Simon looked at the man, wondering if he really was okay. The young guy had found them outside, had told them to come inside. Thus far, the boy hadn't spoken and Simon had been with him for a couple hours. "Donovan. Simon Donovan. You guys?"
Thomas rolled his eyes with rising anger. "You just couldn't leave it alone, could you, DiNozzo?" he snapped at the man. "I was waiting for the right time, but ohhhh no, you just had to stick your nose into it and ruin my surprise."
Tony looked back and forth between Thomas and Gibbs. "Should've left more goons to guard them then." Though still shocked at what he'd seen in that chair, he went over to his superior and touched the man's arm with worry. "They were in his limo out front. Just the chauffeur with them, so I took care of it. Boss, you need a doctor right now." So do I, he thought to himself, but it could wait. It had to wait.
The younger Weatherly was a bit shell-shocked at all the new changes in his environment. He'd been around a while now as a clone, and this was far more non-sexual stimulus he was receiving than normal. He stood near Simon, close because he looked like the man who'd spoken kindly to him at the pound, but his mouth stayed closed, not about to open it and risk losing his tongue like he'd seen happen to others.
"Enough, Tom," Gibbs said, but without heat. He accepted Tony's explanation with a nod, but shook his head when Tony said 'doctor'. There was no way he was going to screw this day up more than it already was or damage Tony. And he didn't know a damn thing about this Donovan, just that they looked enough alike to be twins. He wasn't leaving him any place where he could be any power. Or anywhere near his boy.
Gibbs hauled himself off the wall by sheer force of will and walked closer to the youngest man. "Hey, you remember me from yesterday?" he asked softly, gently. "You're here now and I'm going to keep you safe. I promised you it'd be okay, didn't I? I really want to know your name. Don't wanna say 'hey you'. I'm Gibbs. My boy there is Tony. We also call him DiNozzo sometimes. And I guess your friend here is Simon." He gave the boy an encouraging look, hoping he'd speak. "It's okay. You're safe here."
Eyes staying low, body trembling, the boy pressed into Simon and darted a furtive look over at Thomas, the only real human in the room.
"Yes, yes," Thomas sighed, fixing his pants then after another glare at Tony. "You can talk to him, you can talk to any of them. Remember what Travis told you. When you're with me, you do what I say, both of you." He looked at Simon too. That was what the argument on the phone had been about. Thomas didn't own these two clones. Travis did, and he was being a bit of a prick about handing them over.
"Not allowed friends," he said in a voice that was a touch lighter than Tony's, not quite at the full deepening end it would have become one day, assuming he hadn't damaged his own vocal chords with all the screaming he'd done over the past year of conditioning ... and hadn't lost his balls to neutering. He was only eighteen, a legal adult now but very much a helpless boy in this world. "Mr. Donovan has been kind .... like you, sir," he ventured, keeping those eyes low. "Princess ... remembers." He turned his face into Simon's shoulder, his body trembling even more at having spoken more words at one time in months.
"Are you telling me he owns them?" Gibbs asked quietly. "That needs to change, Tom. He won't value them..." Value...had their lives really come down to that?
Gibbs wanted desperately to reach out to the boy but he wasn't ready. That was obvious. But the way Simon touched the boy's shoulder gently said a lot. Gibbs locked eyes with the other man and nodded a silent thanks. "I'm glad you remember, Princess," he said softly. "I meant every word. I want to help take care of you if you and Mr. Donovan don't mind."
"Be my pleasure," Simon replied in just as low and gentle a tone. He extended a hand and shook Gibbs' firmly before turning his attention back to Princess for the moment. The boy seemed to be bonding with him and Simon brought his hand up and stroked through Princess' floppy hair. He looked across the room, nodding at the man called Tony, the older and untouched version of the boy in front of him.
"Hi Tony."
Simon turned to Hilton, wondering if they were here for a visit or to stay.
That hair was definitely floppy. It was a shade darker than Tony's blonde-streaked brown and far less styled. It hung down in waves around his ears, almost touching his shoulders. When he'd turned his face into Simon's shoulder, it had also been a way to hide it behind the curtain that fell around him so naturally now. He'd been deliberately birthed a year ago with longer hair than he'd sported on The Cosby Show, and though he'd been through starvation punishments during that year that showed on his too thin frame, it had grown even more, enabling him to wrap a thick piece of it around his index finger and stretch it across his mouth to suck upon.
Tony couldn't have gone much whiter at seeing that. He'd never sucked his hair as a child, he was sure of it, but was this some sort of cosmic proof that his .... his MODEL ... had a genetic defect in it? Push it too hard and it cracked right back into babyhood? The proof before his eyes almost had him banging his head against the wall again.
"Th...Thank you, sir," Princess murmured to Gibbs from behind that curtain.
Barefoot and dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt that were too big for him, loaned from Travis who hadn't taken the time yet to purchase attire for his new clones, Princess didn't just have longer hair and a higher voice than Tony, he was shorter too. Puberty hadn't quite finished with him when he'd been cloned, and thanks to his brutal life as a clone, it had never caught up. This was one Weatherly who had to look up, just by a couple inches, to a Harmon. At 5' 10" he was still taller than Thomas.
Simon wore the pound jumpsuit. The only reason Travis had given Princess anything to wear was because the boy hadn't been wearing anything when he'd taken him by force from the other owner. Travis wasn't exactly generous to his pets, but keeping them completely naked around his home wasn't his thing. Travis was a cold and mean bastard, not usually quite that twisted and depraved too.
"Simon," Tony said nearly as quiet as Princess in staring back and forth between the two he'd found in that limo. He still couldn't believe that Gibbs wanted PeeWee, had come very close to laying the man out when he'd walked into the den and seen what they were doing. It was their company that kept him in place now, kept his tongue from saying just what was on his mind. It didn't help that Simon, though his West Wing appearances were a few years older than Mark Harmon's ongoing gig as Jethro on NCIS, sure didn't look younger than Boss. They were damn near identical! It was almost making him dizzy.
"You better not have hurt my employee," Thomas warned Tony as he headed to the door, intending to check on his chauffeur. He made sure to pass by Gibbs, running a hand across the man's lower abdomen and placing a kiss on his shoulder.
Tony almost decked him.
Gibbs lurched after Tom, grabbing his wrist. "Don't play me, Tom. Don't make me regret what happened. Understand me?" He spoke low and firmly. "You don't manipulate me...nobody manipulates me. And despite what happened, you hurt Tony I will kill you."
He walked back, a little closer, and turned to look at Tony. "Son, get him some clothes of ours that fit and grab Simon some of my stuff." The jumpsuit offended him and Princess needed some shoes.
"I'm fine," Simon insisted.
"You're wearing street clothes, not a prison jumpsuit," Gibbs retorted.
Simon smirked slightly. "Jar head tactics won't work on me, Gibbs. You were a marine, weren't you? Army ranger, cop, then Secret Service."
"Oh?" Gibbs cocked his head.
"Presidential detail," Simon retorted and Gibbs rolled his eyes. He'd heard that before.
"Hired one of you guys after she was fired from the presidential detail." He'd been ready to say Kate's name but he realized there was no way they would have never met. Different...lives. He wouldn't think of them as shows. "Marine, then NCIS. Tony's always worked as a LEO. He's my senior agent and my second in command." Gibbs knew he was making it clear how the pecking order was.
Simon shrugged, turning his attention back to the younger man pressed against him. He took a chance and stroked Princess' hair. "Good to meet you, Tony." The resemblances between Tony and Princess weren't as strong as with him and Gibbs, but they were still there. But they was something very little boy about Tony and vulnerable. Simon hadn't missed the flash of jealousy that ran through the man as they walked in on Gibbs and Hilton. Just how did Gibbs mean second in command??
"You okay?" Simon asked Princess, wondering how long before they could change that name. It was demeaning to a man, and despite what had happened, the piercings and the obvious lack of completeness there, Princess was a man.
There was no fallen face of disbelief this time from Thomas when Gibbs spoke sharply to him again. He hesitated only long enough to clear the red haze from his eyes and then he limped right back up to Gibbs and shoved him one-handed as hard as he could high in the shoulder with what little strength he still had left. His teeth were gritted, he was embarrassed and hurt and angry all rolled up into one now in thinking he wasn't being allowed to show affection to his own clone.
"I am NOT playing you," he said very low, the emotions he felt for the man mixing with that hurt and anger and physical pain bringing him close to a faint now. "Believe what you want but it's the truth, and so is this. If your boy hurt my employee, I WILL make him pay for it, and if you want to kill me for it after, I'll take my chances. I protect what's mine just like you do, Gibbs, so don't make ME regret what happened, because I'm already beginning to."
Tony had been halfway out of the room to get clothing when Simon and Gibbs started their own pissing contest. It had frozen him in his tracks, wide-eyed and unwilling to miss it. Gibbs versus Gibbs, and just to muddy the waters some more, a little pissant weasel wanting his own respect too.
"Uhhhh just to be clear," Tony chirped, forcing a smile on his face as that second in command to try to diffuse the tension in the air between everyone, "Driving Miss Daisy-boy is just taking a little ..... nap. If he needs some aspirin when he wakes up, I'd be happy to go to the store and buy some." .... and maybe never come back, the deepest darkest selfish part of his nature almost screamed.
Princess answered Simon by moving his head eagerly into that hair stroking as he watched everything going on from under those long lowered lashes. He watched Gibbs the most. He wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable or upset or feeling awkward to be around an older version of himself. Chances were, he'd seen more than his share of Weatherlys in the last year so Tony was nothing new to him. What was new was Gibbs and Simon, two strong men who both seemed sincerely kind, and one of them daring to threaten an owner!
"Makes two of us," Gibbs growled., but being shoved when he was pretty weak anyway drove him back against the wall and he heard something snap. He wouldn't give in, especially with another guy here threatening his territory, but he was starting to worry. "Forget it happened. Just temporary insanity on my part." he tried to suck in breath casually but it was getting hard. "Tony is who matters. My son means everything to me." He said it purely to strike out at Tom, knew he'd struck a blow.
"Thanks for the sitrep, Tony," Gibbs replied, knowing he sounded out of breath.
Simon wasn't going to let the guy fall down and die, propriety and their roles be damned. "Stand down, Gibbs. You don't look so good."
"I'm fine," Gibbs growled. No way was he going to let Donovan get his hooks in.
Simon shook his head, even though he understood and would react in the same way. Simon knew his first concern needed to be Princess. The boy was starting to come around and accept affection. He was even talking. Simon sent Gibbs a challenging look, letting him know that it wasn't over.
His fingers ran soothingly through Princess' hair, arm gentle around his shoulder. "Do you like the name Princess?" Simon asked. "It doesn't seem to suit a handsome guy like you."
Gibbs watched the way Donovan was with the kid and felt a bit of jealousy well up inside him. He arched an eyebrow at DiNozzo, motioning him to the door. "Clothes."
He wanted to ask Tony to give him a shoulder and help him to the couch but he didn't dare show weakness in front of any of them. It'd rock Tony and Princess too much and the others would take advantage.
Thomas honestly couldn't understand why the man was striking out at him, why he wanted to hurt him. What had he done that was so bad? Shown affection? That was bad? Not understanding the apparent crime in Gibbs' eyes, why the man was determined to push him away now after what they'd shared, Thomas looked away and limped away, right out the door to his limo.
Thank God the chauffeur was unconscious and the windows were tinted. No would could see his own breakdown.
"Doctor first," Tony decided and headed to the door too. Hopefully he could catch Thomas before he left and do whatever was necessary to get a doctor there before Gibbs collapsed. If the man wasn't going to take care of himself, Tony was going to do it for him.
"Princess is my name," the boy said, cocking his head in confusion after giving a worried look at Gibbs. "What I like isn't relevant, sir. I've never had any other name until Master gave me one." Because his role had been unaccredited and he was one of those clones who didn't have any memory of anything but that one appearance. He had nothing to draw on, no family or friends in his canon background, nothing but knowing he'd been a college student and suddenly waking up in a world of pain.
"DiNozzo, I'm fine..fine." Gibbs closed his eyes, leaning against the wall so he wouldn't fall over. "Tony..." he began again, sighing and coughing a few times.
Simon breathed a sigh of relief as Tony walked out. Gibbs clearly wasn't happy but he wasn't chasing after Tony either.
"What you like is relevant to me and Gibbs...right Gibbs?"
Gibbs lifted his head, nodding. "If you want a different name or a nickname..." He paused to try to suck in breath. "We'll come up with something together."
"Or he can." Simon shot back.
Gibbs only nodded and Simon tightened his arm around Princess' shoulder. "Want to sit down?" he asked gently. If he had Princess settled, he could go help Gibbs, who was slowly sliding down the wall.
"If you wish it, sir," Princess said meekly, his body easy to steer in any direction Simon wanted to send him.
"We're going to find you a great name," Simon told the boy, leading him to the chair and easing him down. With a gentle pat to the head, Simon rushed over to Gibbs, who looked only semiconscious now.
~~~~~~~~~
"PeeWee!" Tony shouted, banging on the window of the limo. "Open the fuck up!"
"Fuck off!"
"Open up unless ya want Gibbs to die in there!"
That got Thomas to not just open the door but to yank Tony inside, slamming it behind him. "Die?"
"Yeah." Tony had to look down. He couldn't take seeing the man's teary face that Thomas was quickly trying to wipe away on his shirt sleeve. "I pulverized him yesterday and he's getting worse."
"I told him he could have a doctor," Thomas sighed. "What do you want me to do? He obviously hates me." The man was sitting on the side of his hip, leaning on his arm to keep pressure from hurting him even more.
Seeing that made Tony wince, remembering his sacrifice for them, especially for Gibbs. "He won't go to a doctor. His hackles are ..... " Tony closed his mouth. Thomas and Gibbs had shared a bonding moment in talking about feelings and desires earlier in that den, or at least Thomas had foolishly thought they had, but Tony wasn't interested in bonding with Thomas at all, he was only interested in getting a doctor no matter what it took. "Bring one here."
There was no hesitation. As hurt as he was at being pushed away, Thomas nodded his head. "Okay."
"Okay? Just like that?" Tony expected a big fat shoe to drop as he watched the chauffeur begin to stir in the front seat.
A dark brow rose on the ashen face of the other man. "Yes just like that. Look, I'm going to be honest with you, DiNozzo, just like I was with him, for all the good it did me," he muttered. "I don't love the guy, but he means a lot to me. A LOT. I thought maybe I could have something with him, something nice, no strings, certainly not meant to come between you too, but he's so military he sees games everywhere, and other than putting you two in bed together in setting this all up, I haven't played a single game. Even if he hates me now, I care about him .... and you."
"No you don't," Tony laughed harshly.
Thomas reached out and gripped the man's hand, trying to lock eyes with him. "I care enough about you that I think you should know how he really feels about you ...."
Not trying to pull away, Tony's eyes widened, waiting to hear it.
"DiNozzo, he told me he .... " But then Thomas sighed again and shook his head, dropping the hand. "No, I'm sorry, I can't. It was said in confidence ...... I think."
"Know what? Just as well," Tony decided with a purse of his lips, taking the high road for once and pretending it had nothing to do with worry over what the man actually felt for him. "Maybe you're not so bad after all, PeeWee. Get a doctor here and I'll reconsider friending you on Facebook."
Thomas would have laughed but he was all out of energy by then. He laid down his head on the seat as Tony climbed out. "DiNozzo, if he asks ..... don't tell him ... please."
Tony didn't have to ask what that meant. Thomas didn't want the Marine to think he was weak, the reason he'd given it right back at being disrespected like that in front of everyone. Like Tony, what Gibbs thought of him as a man was very important to Thomas. He'd rather Gibbs hate him than think he was a push-over pussy.
"You're coming back, right? He wanted to take care of you .... and I told him I'd help."
"No he doesn't," Thomas groaned and used his foot to close the door on Tony. "He's got his boys to take care of. I'm just the easy to forget human."
The limo pulled away and Tony went back into the home, again skipping the clothes and going right to the side of the stubborn man he loved.
~~~~~~
When Tony walked in, Simon gripped his arm. "A doctor. He's got internal injuries, probably a collapsed lung. Dammit, if they had Jack here instead of him, he'd be able to help."Don't know what things are between you guys but I don't want to see him die. What sort of bargains do I have to make to get him a doctor?"
Gibbs was aware of the voices and latched onto one. "Tony? Gotta tell Tony how I feel. Tell him, tell him! Tom, tell him. Rather die than hurt him..." He started coughing again, reaching out for the man. "Tony? Sokay. Don't blame..." Gibbs forced himself to consciousness by sheer will.
"Tony..."
"It's my fault, Boss, I lost my head yesterday and you're paying for it now." Signaling Simon to help him, they were able to move Gibbs to the sofa with minimal jarring of his body. "But you're not gonna die, I promise you. I won't let you." He looked over at Simon too. "PeeWee's getting a doctor for him. No bargains. He's crazy about Gibbs, the only reason you two are here now." Tony pressed his face against Gibbs' and whispered by his ear, "Hold on, Boss, hold on and we'll make love all night just as soon as you're better."
He told himself he had no intention of following through on it, but just like Gibbs, the true master of deception and manipulation, Tony had learned that sometimes it was necessary even with ones you love.
"Princess help?" the boy said and crawled over on his hands and knees to lick the hurting man's hand.
If Tony hadn't been so out of his mind with worry for Gibbs, he would have come up with a great quip at seeing that.
'You're the bottom?" Gibbs managed to groan in reply, resting his head against Tony's. "Holding you...to it...son. Gibbs forced his eyes open again to see the younger version of Tony kneeling at his side. "Don't have to...don't do...that." Gibbs was touched by the boy's interest in helping and ran that shaking hand through his hair much as Simon had done. "Sit. Tell me...about you."
He had two Tonys here and a guy who looked just like him and knew he'd be making a power play. Gibbs levered himself up slightly. "Stay...on my six...son."
Simon started pacing, walking to the door, looking out, walking back. He was deeply worried about the situation and the damned jarhead trying to come on to his boy.
His BOY? Where had THAT come from???
Princess was very different than Tony. He obeyed instantly and stopped licking that hand. Speaking, however, was very difficult for him after deep conditioning against it. Moving his head, he carefully pressed his face low between the man's legs over those pajama bottoms, thinking that maybe he could help in that way instead.
"Jeeze, Boss," Tony tried like hell to tease, to not anger again, "what are ya hiding down there, the Jewel of the Nile? First PeeWee and now this one?"
"Oh, Princess...no...no..." Gibbs' body was twitching pathetically but he lifted the young man's head away. "Not now. Maybe later. Safe here...don't need...to do that..." He watched as Simon came up behind the boy, lifting him gently off and away.
Gibbs turned to look into Tony's eyes, reading the turmoil in his eyes. "Belongs to you," he said admitting it with stark honesty. "If you want, it's yours."
Simon couldn't explain the flash of anger he felt when the boy acted like he was going down on Gibbs. Not him. Not his boy. "Princess, he's hurt. He doesn't need that." Simon tipped the boy's chin up, forcing that gaze on him. He wouldn't take advantage of the young man, but a dark part deep inside him wanted to.
"Gibbs." Tony lifted the man's hand, curling his fingers under and laying a soft kiss on the knuckles. "I don't think I'm the one you should give it to. You know me," he tried to say lightly, his lips twisting in a familiar DiNozzo smirk. "I'll just mess it up, typical Tony. The one who deserves it left to get you a doctor. Don't worry, he kept your secret, wouldn't tell me. And don't worry, I'll always have your six, always ..... Dad."
Every hour that went by that Tony didn't break again, every hour that went by that Gibbs was in trouble and needed him, gave him confidence, maturity, and a sense of right. Unfortunately, that sense of right was pointing in the wrong direction now, but at least he was trying.
With Simon again, Princess struggled to keep his eyes on the man's face, looking at everything but directly in the other man's eyes. That had been beaten out of him too. "Later?" he asked very quietly. It was telling, though perhaps not noticeable yet, that with the human gone, Princess was taking his direction from Simon, asking him for clarification.
"Later?" A surge of jealousy ran through Simon. "If you both want that. Or if you want to...with me. That would be nice." he was trying to be so gentle, trying not to ask for what he thought he wanted. He took Princess' face a little more firmly in his hands. "I'd like to see your eyes. They'll tell me a lot about how you're doing. Do you think you could be brave enough to do that, Princess?"
"Ah, Tony..." Gibbs coughed again, closing his eyes briefly. "You're the only one worthy. The only one. Yours to have..." Gibbs tried to focus on breathing. "Nobody else...I need...on my...six. Trust you. Alone. My boy...my son..."
An image of Thomas' wet face flashed behind Tony's eyes, but he pushed it aside and nodded, kissing the man's knuckles again. Ah well, if Gibbs really did hate their owner now, all the better, he decided. Except there was one problem with that. If he himself wasn't going to give the man what he wanted, and the man didn't want Thomas anymore, who would?
He glanced at Princess and felt an even deeper clenching in his gut. For some reason the thought of Thomas being with Gibbs wasn't nearly as bothersome as Princess being with him. Thomas didn't look anything like him. Princess, under all that hair and slimmer, slightly shorter body, was still Tony .... and how weird was that?
Damn. Damn. Damn.
In his newfound maturity he was working hard to selflessly want Gibbs to be happy with a bedmate, but did that bedmate have to look like him?!
"With you," Princess repeated like a trained parrot, smiling until the man mentioned his eyes. Fear flashed through them and tears sprung to the corners. Was the man making him do it just so he could punish him? He'd been tricked often enough by others, clones and humans. Trusting anyone was near impossible now.
"Chopper!" Tony called out at the sound of one coming from the front of the house. "Hold on, Boss, hold on." He kissed the man's lips and raced to a window. "Medics."
Armed soldiers were coming out flanking three men, two of them carrying a stretcher, one of them barking orders. Only Simon would recognize the one in charge. Princess had come and gone from the pound during Carl's day away. Thomas had put in a call to Thorne, and once Carl had gotten details about what had happened, he'd insisted on taking a chopper in case the man's lungs were on their last legs. The armed escort was Admiral Thorne's doing. He let the naval hospital take care of clones all the time for the community Houses, but until he got to know them, knowing that many clones were not quite what they seemed, he didn't take chances in trusting them. As far as he was concerned, the four in the home that Thomas had told them about were to be treated with caution.
Carl, on the other hand, being a doctor at the core flew right into the house, calling out, "We're here to help! Who's in charge?!"
Gibbs coughed a few times and tried to sit up. "Me. M'in..charge."
"Sir!" Simon called out, putting helping Princess on hold for now. "Mr. Gibbs is hurt, internal bleeding maybe. Broke a rib or two, I think. Stubborn too."
That delivered, he turned back to Princess. "Don't cry. You don't have to look yet. It wasn't an order. And none of us here will hurt you. I know you'll have to learn to trust. Remember how I told you earlier that I was a federal officer before, that I used to help protect the president? Gibbs and Tony do the same thing, but they take care of the military, navy and marines. You can trust us, Princess. We're going to work with you and help."
Simon gently led Princess over to Tony. This man's relationship with Gibbs was complex, at one moment they seemed to be father and son and the next lovers and he knew Tony would need some support.
"He's a tough jarhead," he said to Tony, squeezing his shoulder. "But he'll be okay." It felt nice to have both boys close to him here.
"He better be," Tony muttered as Carl barked more orders and Gibbs was placed on the stretcher. Worried eyes tracked everything those medics did in getting the Marine ready for transport. His hand, subconsciously, reached out to hold Simon's. It was as if the Harmon in Simon called to the Weatherly in Tony. "I did this to him. We were just ...born .... and I completely freaked out and he let me beat the shit outta him. If he dies I'm gonna kill myself," Tony said seriously in a whisper.
Princess stayed very close to Simon. The man confused him but he definitely felt a sense of safety with him, just as he did when near Gibbs.
"Donovan?" Carl asked, not having gotten the names of the clones in the house from Thorne. "That you, mate?" It wasn't racist thinking to not be able to tell some characters of the same Model apart. It was logical. "What happened here?" He looked down at Gibbs as he put an IV into him. "Got room for everyone or they can stay here and wait. Your call."
The man had said he was in charge and no one had disputed him. Carl wasn't familiar with the NCIS fandom so he had no idea who he was talking to.
Simon squeezed Tony's hand and then put a gentle arm around his shoulders. "He let you. He is at least as much to blame. It'll be okay. You'll see. He's mean and tough and he's a fighter."
"Gibbs," Gibbs groaned out. "Jethro Gibbs, Special Agent. They...they come with me. Understand" He reared up enough to grab the man's arm. "They...stay with me...stay safe. My...responsibility...keep...them safe."
"Donovan here, sir!" Simon called out. "That's Gibbs, he's a marine and a NCIS agent, federal officer. I have his second in command, Tony, here with me and my new friend Princess as well." As he said their names, he squeezed their shoulders.
"Got it." Carl nodded briskly to both Harmons and then signaled to the others to lift and carry him to the chopper. He noticed that Simon was calling him sir, something many clones did, out of a wise sense of self preservation, when in the pound, but it certainly wasn't expected to hear outside it. Then again, Carl was military and Carl was a Scottish blueblood with a direct line going all the way back to the first king of that country and had not long ago been Chieftain of his clann before his Uncle Dougal had managed to win it away from him. So being called sir didn't bother him one bit. He'd just never expect it from anyone outside his family or who wasn't lower on the chain of command at base.
"You're not going anywhere without me," Tony said firmly and went out of the room next to that stretcher, reaching for the other Harmon's hand now.
"He's going to sleep soon," Carl told them all. "Narcotic should take affect in a couple minutes, then I'll examine him and do surgery if necessary. You'll all be safe on base. It's a clone-friendly place, my father-in-law is the Admiral, and from what I gather, he's related in some way to Mr. Hilton."
Gibbs squeezed Tony's hand. "Tell 'em...Tell 'em. Meds...don't work...so good... I'm too...tough." Despite what he said, Gibbs was starting to float and he stretched a hand up to stroke over Tony's lower lip. "Stay close...son."
Simon recognized authority and had been in the structure long enough that calling Carl 'sir' was second nature. "Come on, Princess. We're going for a ride in the copter. Don't worry. Gibbs and I will be very close by and we won't let anything happen."
If those soldiers thought anything strange about their passengers, they were too well-trained to say a word of it. They were escorted on and then off again when they arrived at the base, and only there did Carl notice that Princess was barefoot as they moved quickly across the cold wet surface towards the hospital. He also noticed that Princess didn't complain and sighed inwardly at coming to a conclusion. A sub. Had to be a sub. To Hilton or one of the Harmons, though, was the question.
It never crossed his mind that Princess might belong to Tony. Carl was very aware of that lifestyle because of having a house with more than a few men in it who lived that way, and he'd guessed correctly that Princess was heavily into it too, whether naturally or by force, but he didn't get the same vibe off the other Weatherly quite as strong. Sub too to at least one of those Harmons, probably the hurt one, but alpha on his own, very strong too.
He briefly wondered as they unloaded Gibbs into the surgical prep ward if Simon had done this damage on the man in a turf war over the other two. As much as he liked the Harmon, he'd seen so much since coming to Havensport that it wouldn't surprise him.
"You're gonna cut him?" Tony asked as he soothed through Gibbs' hair with his hand, a nervous gesture more for himself than for the Harmon who might have been unconscious by then.
"Quiet," Carl said as he undressed Gibbs and placed meta-touch Sentinel hands carefully around the man's chest. He was feeling for the injury, feeling for just where the damage was and using his combined skills of doctoring and Clan to determine if opening the man up was the solution.
"Don't blame yourself, Tony," Gibbs said hoarsely. "Didn't mean it." He reared up again, gripping Carl's arm. "Accident. My boy didn't mean...it. I'll take...punishment. Promise!" He struggled up a little taller, half sitting up by sheer force of will. "Don't hurt him!" His voice was intense and he knew his eyes were burning with worry.
Gibbs let out an animal moan of agony as the hands brushed over his skin, falling back, eyes locking on Tony.
"You did this to him?" Carl's face to Tony was definitely showing surprise at hearing that from Gibbs.
"Don't punish him!" Tony cried, losing himself in that fear of humans against clones and jumping at Carl to protect the man on the table. "It's my fault! It's my fault!"
"Jesus! Back off! I'm trying to save him, not hurt him!" Guards came to Carl's assistance, and in the ensuing struggle Tony was caught with a rifle butt to that kidney. He went down with a howl and just barely managed to crawl back to the table to grasp onto the Harmon's leg. Carl, jamming more narcotics into that IV, let him cling to Gibbs so long as he wasn't being attacked any longer. "Fool," he hissed down at Tony. "I'm not gonna hurt anyone. You gotta trust me. You're safe here, I swear you're safe here."
Assuming he didn't attack anyone again in a misunderstanding. Those guards wouldn't shoot, but they'd definitely put him down even worse if they had to.
"Tony....Tony! He managed to pull himself up a little. "Not his fault! Not..." He started hacking hard now, gasping, huge wheezes as air tried to force itself. "Hurt too. Take care of my boy...first." He couldn't do more than slump back the few inches back to the table. "Injured himself. Beaten. By...another...Save him...from himself..
His eyes started closing despite his strongest efforts to stay awake and finally darkness clawed him down and refused to let him go.
"Stay outta my way," Carl snarled at Tony, in full doctor-mode as he worked first to get that lung re-inflated. Tony, painfully climbing back to his feet, clutched Gibbs by the legs the entire time but stayed silent for now.
When he was finished, the torso wrapped and Gibbs settled into a private hospital bed, then Carl turned back to the other clone, and his face showed sincere sympathy again now that he had time to deal with Tony. "I can't even pretend to know what you've been through, mate, but if you really are NCIS, then use your gut and look around, open your eyes and really look. There isn't a single person here who'd hurt either of you just because you're clones. Admiral Thorne won't allow that sorta bullshit. He's a child of missionaries, grew up in Africa, and I swear to you, even if not for that, I wouldn't tolerate it either. This is my hospital, this isn't that hell-hole of a pound I've gotta work at too."
"You work there?" Tony growled, taking an aggressive step towards the man.
"Ask Donovan," Carl sighed, refusing to take the challenge for another physical encounter. "He knows what I do there." Carl had nothing to be ashamed of; Simon had been there almost the full three month period and had seen a lot.
"Oh I'll ask," Tony said, not at all standing down yet. "And if you're responsible for cutting that kid's nuts off, I'll rip off yours and feed them to you."
It made Carl smile just a bit despite the sick feeling in his stomach at hearing that about the boy. "Looks like I should watch your show. I bet it's really good."
"Because of him." Tony looked over at Gibbs in the bed, and every dark expression on his face melted away. "He's really gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, he is. Keeping'm over night for observation, but I think he'll be fine. Where's Mr. Hilton? I'll need him to sign papers."
Tony shrugged. "Dunno. Don't even know how to reach him."
"Oh. Well I imagine the Admiral knows." Carl clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'll be by later to check on him. Relax and get some rest." He motioned over to a padded chair by the bed. "And didn't he say something about you being hurt?"
"No." Tony's head shook as he went over to that chair, pulling it up closely to the bed. "He was just confused, the drugs working. I'm fine."
Carl's head cocked, but Tony knew how to hide pain very well, and Carl was a busy man and didn't have time to chase down reluctant patients. Shrugging, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
~~~~~~~
Simon was very nervous to be in his jumpsuit here but wouldn't get in the way of Gibbs' treatment. He didn't want to end up back in the pound, accused of running away from his owner. He hated the fact that Princess didn't have shoes and edged toward a supply cabinet and snagged some sterilized booties. "Here. You put these on. We'll clean your feet up really good when we get back to our place, okay?"
Princess stared at the booties in his hands like he'd never seen anything like them before. His face went white and his head started to shake back and forth, a low moan of confusion starting as he dropped them, backing away from Simon. "Noooo .. noooo .... noooooo .... "
The poor Harmon had no idea that though occasionally Princess had been allowed clothing on outings away from home with his owner, not once, never even in the harshest weather or setting, had he been allowed anything on his feet. Always nude at home, always barefoot everywhere.
Simon immediately dropped the booties, that had to be the problem. "Princess, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to hug you, I am going to comfort you. If I scare you, you have to tell me in words. Understand me?" Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the boy into a hug, trying to soothe him with soft whispered words.
In that hallway, Princess was stiff in Simon's arms, not daring to struggle but also not daring to trust. The only sign of their growing connection was the slight flushing to the boy's face, the slight hitch to his breath, his body definitely wanting to be in those arms though he had no idea how to verbally express it.
Simon saw Carl come out and stepped into his path, holding Princess all the while. "Is Gibbs going to be okay?" he asked in a low, urgent voice. He'd see Gibbs and Tony when they'd visited the pound, had seen the way Gibbs seemed genuinely concerned about him and McNeil both. As soon as he had answers, he and Princess would sit with Tony. Like it or not, they were a brotherhood of sorts now, different from their time in the military but he was sure Gibbs would understand the brotherhood mentality.
He cuddled Princess close, stroking his hair and the back of his neck soothingly. Simon couldn't deny that a connection was growing between them, and it was actually...nice.
"Yeah, he was lucky. He never woulda made it without medical care. Don't suppose you know where Mr. Hilton is?" He looked the boy up and down, noting how gentle Simon was being with him. "He need anything? Tony mentioned something about .... " Carl grimaced. "An alteration that was done to him," was about as careful as he could say it in not wanting to upset the kid.
"No idea. He left in a hurry. I think he has some...unfinished business...with his brother." Simon hugged Princess closer, offering support. "I don't know much about it, just that he came to us unclothed. Would you be willing to take a look?"
Before Princess could make a sound, Simon hugged him closer. "The doctor just wants to make sure that you're well healed, Princess. Gibbs and I would be really upset if you were sick or had an infection. We'll let him look at you and I'll be right here beside you the whole time."
Doctor.
There was only one sort of doctor Princess knew, only one sort of doctor who dirtied his hands on dirty clones, and feeling sure that he was about to be hurt again by this one, the boy did the only thing he could do. He fainted.
"Fucking Franke," Carl muttered. "He fucking terrorizes them even when he doesn't have to. Bring him over here and we'll strap him down on an exam table. I don't feel like getting clocked again if he wakes up fighting."
Simon lifted him and placed him gently on a table. "Was Tony combative?" he asked, making short work of the jeans and threadbare boxers, pulling the shirt up. The piercings glinted, the skin reddened around them. It was clear they were healing. "Former owner must have been a bastard to do this to him," Simon remarked. "Scared to death. Barely talks." Remembering that he shouldn't be this outspoken, Simon fell silent, standing guard.
Binding those arms and legs, just to be on the safe side, Carl began poking and prodding around the boy. "Some owners are definitely bastards. Thank God they're few and far between. Doesn't help this poor kid now," he sighed as he also examined the scars from that castration surgery, "but if Hilton's related to Thorne, he's bound to have a better life now than he had. Looks like puberty didn't finish with him," he noted, brushing his fingers over a chest that was naturally devoid of hair, tugging very lightly on the hoops in those nipples to see if there was drainage.
"I can smell something, a lotion or wax of some kind, that's been used on his pubes, legs and under his arms." They were bare too, but the lingering scent his Sentinel nose picked up proved it wasn't natural like the hairless chest and rump. "He's been underfed, that's for sure. I'll send you home with some vitamins." He carefully looked in the boy's mouth, moving his pierced tongue around and checking those teeth. "Good dental care. His owner wanted him to stay pretty." He said the word "pretty" very sarcastically. "Obviously was into marking." Not just the tongue, nipples and thick barbell through the cockhead, there was a row of hoops running along the underside of his shaft all the way back to the anus.
Carl sighed when he unbound him enough to turn him over and examine closely there too, spreading the boy's cheeks wide to both their views. "No delicate way to put this. He gets a lotta use. I've got some cream that'll help ... assuming," Carl said with a look at Simon that was almost dangerous for a moment there, "that no one is planning on using him for a while so he can get some good food and real rest." He released those baby-smooth cheeks and looked through the long hair framing the too thin face. "Clean, no lice." There were hoops in his ears too, both of them holding a set of three of different sizes, dainty gold with diamonds, just like the ones below on that body. Carl would have bet the farm they were all real and the gold was top quality. "You can tell Mr. Hilton, if he wants the brand and tattoo on his ass removed, I'd be happy to recommend a good plastic surgeon for them."
One cheek sported two letters burned deep into the flesh, probably owner initials, and the other cheek sported a three inch by three inch tattoo of a rose holding those same initials in one of the petals.
"Not going to hurt him," Simon said in a low voice. "Can't speak about Gibbs, but I'll protect him. You're damned right I'll protect him. Nobody'll get in my way." Simon had no idea where this protectiveness came from, but he was determined. "He needs a champion and I'm it." Could be Gibbs as well, Simon didn't particularly care, but he was going to be there for his new charge.
"Good to hear it." Carl smiled and put out his hand to the man. "I'll trust him into your care then, but I still need to speak to Mr. Hilton."
"Wouldn't expect any less, sir," Simon replied, continuing to stroke his hair. "Never dealt with a slave before. Not sure I'm doing it right."
"Unfortunately, I've dealt with one. My cousin was abducted, came back a mess. He's a lot better now, but sometimes the conditioning still rears its ugly head and fucks with him." He started to put clothes back on the boy, murmuring, "Simon ..... if, after you find the real man under this slave exterior, he wants to be a willing slave for Hilton ... or you and Gibbs ... that's one thing I'll never understand but I won't interfere in anything consensual between adults, but if I ever see him again in here and find out he's not willing ...... "
"I will protect and defend him,' Simon said in a barely controlled voice. "And that means nothing were ever be nonconsensual on my watch. He needs a protector and he found one."
"What about Tony?" Carl paused in that redressing. "I'm not stupid. In my House there's several couples of guys like him and Gibbs ..... like you and Princess. He's having a real hard time with this cloning thing, isn't he? Just about took my head off thinking I was gonna hurt Gibbs, punish him or something for getting hurt and needing medical help."
"I barely know him, but yeah, he seems a little high strung," Simon admitted. "Think they're having relationship issues. Were they a couple in their original incarnation?" Simon didn't address if he was bonding with Princess. "Interesting dynamic. At one point they seem father/son and at another they seem like lovers. Can't figure it out yet, but I will. Gibbs is very protective and throwing around his Alpha-ness."
"Honestly, I haven't seen any of their show, but I'm guessing, since I did hear it's a primetime major network TV hit, they aren't a couple on it. Gibbs spoke right out, said he was in charge .... over you too?" It was Carl's way of saying that he thought Simon was alpha too and could just as easily be the leader of that grouping.
"Mmm, well that remains to be seen," Simon retorted. "Don't kick a man when he's down but I'm nobody's pushover either, sir. I came in to a situation where he was obviously badly injured, wasn't there more than ten minutes. Walked in on his human pleasuring him, he and Tony had some obvious tension between them and their human, the brother of mine." Simon made a face, expressing his distaste at that.
"He collapsed, Tony had his human call for help, and we're here. Whirlwind."
"Oh." Carl frowned, seeing something new there he hadn't expected. "So you're saying you're not brothers of the same House? You belong to humans who are brothers? Just so I have this straight for the medical records, Thomas Hilton owns Gibbs and Tony and Princess .... and there's a brother who owns you separately? What's his name?" He patted the unconscious boy gently on the leg with a smile, glancing down at him again.
"Maybe eventually, but not yet. Truth was I was just glad to get out of there, as you know." Carl knew how close they'd shaved it. "They're brothers, maybe even twins given the ages, or the ages they look. Travis and Thomas Hilton. Thomas owns Gibbs and Tony. Travis got me from the pound yesterday and I don't know where he got Princess from. He came to us unclothed, assume it wasn't a pleasant environment."
Simon motioned down to Princess. "He's still out, should we be worried?"
"Pretty sure he's just sleeping. Probably exhausted, poor kid. If you want, there's an empty room next door, you can put him to bed in there til he wakes? I don't mind." Carl headed to the door. "Think I'm gonna see if I can track down the Hilton brothers. As much as I think of you as regular guys just like me, the reality is ... you're not. I've gotta follow protocol and not piss off any owners who might then take it out on you, y'ken."
"Yeah...I'd like that." Simon released the boy's bonds and carried him gently toward the room. "Thank you..." He understood the protocols and nodded. "Don't want anyone to get punished. Think we all have enough to deal with."
"Mmphm, that's for sure." Carl disappeared down the hall, trusting Simon to take the empty room and not cause any trouble.
Simon brought Princess into the other room, laying him down gently and stroking through his hair. "I'm going to look out for you, kiddo. That is a promise..." He sat in a chair, taking the younger man's hand and stroking it slowly, unable to puzzle out this growing bond but completely at home and comfortable with it. He'd learned to roll with the punches a long time ago. It was a nice change from his former life, a guardian of a different sort.
(TBC)
DISCLAIMER: We don't own them. We're not trying to make any profit, etc, etc.
FEEDBACK: Very much appreciated. Flames ignored.
*NOTE* This story is being co-written in roleplay back and forth format, not written for regular fan fic format, so if it reads a little odd in places, the authors really don't mind and hope any readers they may have don't much either. Thanks!
*NOTE2* Just to give something to visualize, the character of Thomas Hilton resembles actor Jeremy Piven and the character of Travis Hilton resembles actor Miguel Ferrer.
*NOTE3* TaylorGibbs will also be writing for Simon Donovan, a Mark Harmon character from The West Wing television series. Princess is written by Max. He is modeled on Michael Weatherly’s character in the Cosby Show.
Gibbs was glad that Tom's body prevented them from seeing very much. He gave Tom a gentle squeeze, promising more later and kicked down the recliner as he pulled his pajama pants up. The motion caused him to cough a few more times and he had to wait thirty seconds before he caught his breath. He wiped a hand over his mouth and it came away bright red. "Give me a minute," he said, standing up and heading into the bathroom, washing his mouth out again before returning.
Gibbs leaned against the wall, looking at the two. "Names?" he asked softly.
"You okay?" the other man said.
Gibbs nodded. "Names," he emphasized.
Simon looked at the man, wondering if he really was okay. The young guy had found them outside, had told them to come inside. Thus far, the boy hadn't spoken and Simon had been with him for a couple hours. "Donovan. Simon Donovan. You guys?"
Thomas rolled his eyes with rising anger. "You just couldn't leave it alone, could you, DiNozzo?" he snapped at the man. "I was waiting for the right time, but ohhhh no, you just had to stick your nose into it and ruin my surprise."
Tony looked back and forth between Thomas and Gibbs. "Should've left more goons to guard them then." Though still shocked at what he'd seen in that chair, he went over to his superior and touched the man's arm with worry. "They were in his limo out front. Just the chauffeur with them, so I took care of it. Boss, you need a doctor right now." So do I, he thought to himself, but it could wait. It had to wait.
The younger Weatherly was a bit shell-shocked at all the new changes in his environment. He'd been around a while now as a clone, and this was far more non-sexual stimulus he was receiving than normal. He stood near Simon, close because he looked like the man who'd spoken kindly to him at the pound, but his mouth stayed closed, not about to open it and risk losing his tongue like he'd seen happen to others.
"Enough, Tom," Gibbs said, but without heat. He accepted Tony's explanation with a nod, but shook his head when Tony said 'doctor'. There was no way he was going to screw this day up more than it already was or damage Tony. And he didn't know a damn thing about this Donovan, just that they looked enough alike to be twins. He wasn't leaving him any place where he could be any power. Or anywhere near his boy.
Gibbs hauled himself off the wall by sheer force of will and walked closer to the youngest man. "Hey, you remember me from yesterday?" he asked softly, gently. "You're here now and I'm going to keep you safe. I promised you it'd be okay, didn't I? I really want to know your name. Don't wanna say 'hey you'. I'm Gibbs. My boy there is Tony. We also call him DiNozzo sometimes. And I guess your friend here is Simon." He gave the boy an encouraging look, hoping he'd speak. "It's okay. You're safe here."
Eyes staying low, body trembling, the boy pressed into Simon and darted a furtive look over at Thomas, the only real human in the room.
"Yes, yes," Thomas sighed, fixing his pants then after another glare at Tony. "You can talk to him, you can talk to any of them. Remember what Travis told you. When you're with me, you do what I say, both of you." He looked at Simon too. That was what the argument on the phone had been about. Thomas didn't own these two clones. Travis did, and he was being a bit of a prick about handing them over.
"Not allowed friends," he said in a voice that was a touch lighter than Tony's, not quite at the full deepening end it would have become one day, assuming he hadn't damaged his own vocal chords with all the screaming he'd done over the past year of conditioning ... and hadn't lost his balls to neutering. He was only eighteen, a legal adult now but very much a helpless boy in this world. "Mr. Donovan has been kind .... like you, sir," he ventured, keeping those eyes low. "Princess ... remembers." He turned his face into Simon's shoulder, his body trembling even more at having spoken more words at one time in months.
"Are you telling me he owns them?" Gibbs asked quietly. "That needs to change, Tom. He won't value them..." Value...had their lives really come down to that?
Gibbs wanted desperately to reach out to the boy but he wasn't ready. That was obvious. But the way Simon touched the boy's shoulder gently said a lot. Gibbs locked eyes with the other man and nodded a silent thanks. "I'm glad you remember, Princess," he said softly. "I meant every word. I want to help take care of you if you and Mr. Donovan don't mind."
"Be my pleasure," Simon replied in just as low and gentle a tone. He extended a hand and shook Gibbs' firmly before turning his attention back to Princess for the moment. The boy seemed to be bonding with him and Simon brought his hand up and stroked through Princess' floppy hair. He looked across the room, nodding at the man called Tony, the older and untouched version of the boy in front of him.
"Hi Tony."
Simon turned to Hilton, wondering if they were here for a visit or to stay.
That hair was definitely floppy. It was a shade darker than Tony's blonde-streaked brown and far less styled. It hung down in waves around his ears, almost touching his shoulders. When he'd turned his face into Simon's shoulder, it had also been a way to hide it behind the curtain that fell around him so naturally now. He'd been deliberately birthed a year ago with longer hair than he'd sported on The Cosby Show, and though he'd been through starvation punishments during that year that showed on his too thin frame, it had grown even more, enabling him to wrap a thick piece of it around his index finger and stretch it across his mouth to suck upon.
Tony couldn't have gone much whiter at seeing that. He'd never sucked his hair as a child, he was sure of it, but was this some sort of cosmic proof that his .... his MODEL ... had a genetic defect in it? Push it too hard and it cracked right back into babyhood? The proof before his eyes almost had him banging his head against the wall again.
"Th...Thank you, sir," Princess murmured to Gibbs from behind that curtain.
Barefoot and dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt that were too big for him, loaned from Travis who hadn't taken the time yet to purchase attire for his new clones, Princess didn't just have longer hair and a higher voice than Tony, he was shorter too. Puberty hadn't quite finished with him when he'd been cloned, and thanks to his brutal life as a clone, it had never caught up. This was one Weatherly who had to look up, just by a couple inches, to a Harmon. At 5' 10" he was still taller than Thomas.
Simon wore the pound jumpsuit. The only reason Travis had given Princess anything to wear was because the boy hadn't been wearing anything when he'd taken him by force from the other owner. Travis wasn't exactly generous to his pets, but keeping them completely naked around his home wasn't his thing. Travis was a cold and mean bastard, not usually quite that twisted and depraved too.
"Simon," Tony said nearly as quiet as Princess in staring back and forth between the two he'd found in that limo. He still couldn't believe that Gibbs wanted PeeWee, had come very close to laying the man out when he'd walked into the den and seen what they were doing. It was their company that kept him in place now, kept his tongue from saying just what was on his mind. It didn't help that Simon, though his West Wing appearances were a few years older than Mark Harmon's ongoing gig as Jethro on NCIS, sure didn't look younger than Boss. They were damn near identical! It was almost making him dizzy.
"You better not have hurt my employee," Thomas warned Tony as he headed to the door, intending to check on his chauffeur. He made sure to pass by Gibbs, running a hand across the man's lower abdomen and placing a kiss on his shoulder.
Tony almost decked him.
Gibbs lurched after Tom, grabbing his wrist. "Don't play me, Tom. Don't make me regret what happened. Understand me?" He spoke low and firmly. "You don't manipulate me...nobody manipulates me. And despite what happened, you hurt Tony I will kill you."
He walked back, a little closer, and turned to look at Tony. "Son, get him some clothes of ours that fit and grab Simon some of my stuff." The jumpsuit offended him and Princess needed some shoes.
"I'm fine," Simon insisted.
"You're wearing street clothes, not a prison jumpsuit," Gibbs retorted.
Simon smirked slightly. "Jar head tactics won't work on me, Gibbs. You were a marine, weren't you? Army ranger, cop, then Secret Service."
"Oh?" Gibbs cocked his head.
"Presidential detail," Simon retorted and Gibbs rolled his eyes. He'd heard that before.
"Hired one of you guys after she was fired from the presidential detail." He'd been ready to say Kate's name but he realized there was no way they would have never met. Different...lives. He wouldn't think of them as shows. "Marine, then NCIS. Tony's always worked as a LEO. He's my senior agent and my second in command." Gibbs knew he was making it clear how the pecking order was.
Simon shrugged, turning his attention back to the younger man pressed against him. He took a chance and stroked Princess' hair. "Good to meet you, Tony." The resemblances between Tony and Princess weren't as strong as with him and Gibbs, but they were still there. But they was something very little boy about Tony and vulnerable. Simon hadn't missed the flash of jealousy that ran through the man as they walked in on Gibbs and Hilton. Just how did Gibbs mean second in command??
"You okay?" Simon asked Princess, wondering how long before they could change that name. It was demeaning to a man, and despite what had happened, the piercings and the obvious lack of completeness there, Princess was a man.
There was no fallen face of disbelief this time from Thomas when Gibbs spoke sharply to him again. He hesitated only long enough to clear the red haze from his eyes and then he limped right back up to Gibbs and shoved him one-handed as hard as he could high in the shoulder with what little strength he still had left. His teeth were gritted, he was embarrassed and hurt and angry all rolled up into one now in thinking he wasn't being allowed to show affection to his own clone.
"I am NOT playing you," he said very low, the emotions he felt for the man mixing with that hurt and anger and physical pain bringing him close to a faint now. "Believe what you want but it's the truth, and so is this. If your boy hurt my employee, I WILL make him pay for it, and if you want to kill me for it after, I'll take my chances. I protect what's mine just like you do, Gibbs, so don't make ME regret what happened, because I'm already beginning to."
Tony had been halfway out of the room to get clothing when Simon and Gibbs started their own pissing contest. It had frozen him in his tracks, wide-eyed and unwilling to miss it. Gibbs versus Gibbs, and just to muddy the waters some more, a little pissant weasel wanting his own respect too.
"Uhhhh just to be clear," Tony chirped, forcing a smile on his face as that second in command to try to diffuse the tension in the air between everyone, "Driving Miss Daisy-boy is just taking a little ..... nap. If he needs some aspirin when he wakes up, I'd be happy to go to the store and buy some." .... and maybe never come back, the deepest darkest selfish part of his nature almost screamed.
Princess answered Simon by moving his head eagerly into that hair stroking as he watched everything going on from under those long lowered lashes. He watched Gibbs the most. He wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable or upset or feeling awkward to be around an older version of himself. Chances were, he'd seen more than his share of Weatherlys in the last year so Tony was nothing new to him. What was new was Gibbs and Simon, two strong men who both seemed sincerely kind, and one of them daring to threaten an owner!
"Makes two of us," Gibbs growled., but being shoved when he was pretty weak anyway drove him back against the wall and he heard something snap. He wouldn't give in, especially with another guy here threatening his territory, but he was starting to worry. "Forget it happened. Just temporary insanity on my part." he tried to suck in breath casually but it was getting hard. "Tony is who matters. My son means everything to me." He said it purely to strike out at Tom, knew he'd struck a blow.
"Thanks for the sitrep, Tony," Gibbs replied, knowing he sounded out of breath.
Simon wasn't going to let the guy fall down and die, propriety and their roles be damned. "Stand down, Gibbs. You don't look so good."
"I'm fine," Gibbs growled. No way was he going to let Donovan get his hooks in.
Simon shook his head, even though he understood and would react in the same way. Simon knew his first concern needed to be Princess. The boy was starting to come around and accept affection. He was even talking. Simon sent Gibbs a challenging look, letting him know that it wasn't over.
His fingers ran soothingly through Princess' hair, arm gentle around his shoulder. "Do you like the name Princess?" Simon asked. "It doesn't seem to suit a handsome guy like you."
Gibbs watched the way Donovan was with the kid and felt a bit of jealousy well up inside him. He arched an eyebrow at DiNozzo, motioning him to the door. "Clothes."
He wanted to ask Tony to give him a shoulder and help him to the couch but he didn't dare show weakness in front of any of them. It'd rock Tony and Princess too much and the others would take advantage.
Thomas honestly couldn't understand why the man was striking out at him, why he wanted to hurt him. What had he done that was so bad? Shown affection? That was bad? Not understanding the apparent crime in Gibbs' eyes, why the man was determined to push him away now after what they'd shared, Thomas looked away and limped away, right out the door to his limo.
Thank God the chauffeur was unconscious and the windows were tinted. No would could see his own breakdown.
"Doctor first," Tony decided and headed to the door too. Hopefully he could catch Thomas before he left and do whatever was necessary to get a doctor there before Gibbs collapsed. If the man wasn't going to take care of himself, Tony was going to do it for him.
"Princess is my name," the boy said, cocking his head in confusion after giving a worried look at Gibbs. "What I like isn't relevant, sir. I've never had any other name until Master gave me one." Because his role had been unaccredited and he was one of those clones who didn't have any memory of anything but that one appearance. He had nothing to draw on, no family or friends in his canon background, nothing but knowing he'd been a college student and suddenly waking up in a world of pain.
"DiNozzo, I'm fine..fine." Gibbs closed his eyes, leaning against the wall so he wouldn't fall over. "Tony..." he began again, sighing and coughing a few times.
Simon breathed a sigh of relief as Tony walked out. Gibbs clearly wasn't happy but he wasn't chasing after Tony either.
"What you like is relevant to me and Gibbs...right Gibbs?"
Gibbs lifted his head, nodding. "If you want a different name or a nickname..." He paused to try to suck in breath. "We'll come up with something together."
"Or he can." Simon shot back.
Gibbs only nodded and Simon tightened his arm around Princess' shoulder. "Want to sit down?" he asked gently. If he had Princess settled, he could go help Gibbs, who was slowly sliding down the wall.
"If you wish it, sir," Princess said meekly, his body easy to steer in any direction Simon wanted to send him.
"We're going to find you a great name," Simon told the boy, leading him to the chair and easing him down. With a gentle pat to the head, Simon rushed over to Gibbs, who looked only semiconscious now.
~~~~~~~~~
"PeeWee!" Tony shouted, banging on the window of the limo. "Open the fuck up!"
"Fuck off!"
"Open up unless ya want Gibbs to die in there!"
That got Thomas to not just open the door but to yank Tony inside, slamming it behind him. "Die?"
"Yeah." Tony had to look down. He couldn't take seeing the man's teary face that Thomas was quickly trying to wipe away on his shirt sleeve. "I pulverized him yesterday and he's getting worse."
"I told him he could have a doctor," Thomas sighed. "What do you want me to do? He obviously hates me." The man was sitting on the side of his hip, leaning on his arm to keep pressure from hurting him even more.
Seeing that made Tony wince, remembering his sacrifice for them, especially for Gibbs. "He won't go to a doctor. His hackles are ..... " Tony closed his mouth. Thomas and Gibbs had shared a bonding moment in talking about feelings and desires earlier in that den, or at least Thomas had foolishly thought they had, but Tony wasn't interested in bonding with Thomas at all, he was only interested in getting a doctor no matter what it took. "Bring one here."
There was no hesitation. As hurt as he was at being pushed away, Thomas nodded his head. "Okay."
"Okay? Just like that?" Tony expected a big fat shoe to drop as he watched the chauffeur begin to stir in the front seat.
A dark brow rose on the ashen face of the other man. "Yes just like that. Look, I'm going to be honest with you, DiNozzo, just like I was with him, for all the good it did me," he muttered. "I don't love the guy, but he means a lot to me. A LOT. I thought maybe I could have something with him, something nice, no strings, certainly not meant to come between you too, but he's so military he sees games everywhere, and other than putting you two in bed together in setting this all up, I haven't played a single game. Even if he hates me now, I care about him .... and you."
"No you don't," Tony laughed harshly.
Thomas reached out and gripped the man's hand, trying to lock eyes with him. "I care enough about you that I think you should know how he really feels about you ...."
Not trying to pull away, Tony's eyes widened, waiting to hear it.
"DiNozzo, he told me he .... " But then Thomas sighed again and shook his head, dropping the hand. "No, I'm sorry, I can't. It was said in confidence ...... I think."
"Know what? Just as well," Tony decided with a purse of his lips, taking the high road for once and pretending it had nothing to do with worry over what the man actually felt for him. "Maybe you're not so bad after all, PeeWee. Get a doctor here and I'll reconsider friending you on Facebook."
Thomas would have laughed but he was all out of energy by then. He laid down his head on the seat as Tony climbed out. "DiNozzo, if he asks ..... don't tell him ... please."
Tony didn't have to ask what that meant. Thomas didn't want the Marine to think he was weak, the reason he'd given it right back at being disrespected like that in front of everyone. Like Tony, what Gibbs thought of him as a man was very important to Thomas. He'd rather Gibbs hate him than think he was a push-over pussy.
"You're coming back, right? He wanted to take care of you .... and I told him I'd help."
"No he doesn't," Thomas groaned and used his foot to close the door on Tony. "He's got his boys to take care of. I'm just the easy to forget human."
The limo pulled away and Tony went back into the home, again skipping the clothes and going right to the side of the stubborn man he loved.
~~~~~~
When Tony walked in, Simon gripped his arm. "A doctor. He's got internal injuries, probably a collapsed lung. Dammit, if they had Jack here instead of him, he'd be able to help."Don't know what things are between you guys but I don't want to see him die. What sort of bargains do I have to make to get him a doctor?"
Gibbs was aware of the voices and latched onto one. "Tony? Gotta tell Tony how I feel. Tell him, tell him! Tom, tell him. Rather die than hurt him..." He started coughing again, reaching out for the man. "Tony? Sokay. Don't blame..." Gibbs forced himself to consciousness by sheer will.
"Tony..."
"It's my fault, Boss, I lost my head yesterday and you're paying for it now." Signaling Simon to help him, they were able to move Gibbs to the sofa with minimal jarring of his body. "But you're not gonna die, I promise you. I won't let you." He looked over at Simon too. "PeeWee's getting a doctor for him. No bargains. He's crazy about Gibbs, the only reason you two are here now." Tony pressed his face against Gibbs' and whispered by his ear, "Hold on, Boss, hold on and we'll make love all night just as soon as you're better."
He told himself he had no intention of following through on it, but just like Gibbs, the true master of deception and manipulation, Tony had learned that sometimes it was necessary even with ones you love.
"Princess help?" the boy said and crawled over on his hands and knees to lick the hurting man's hand.
If Tony hadn't been so out of his mind with worry for Gibbs, he would have come up with a great quip at seeing that.
'You're the bottom?" Gibbs managed to groan in reply, resting his head against Tony's. "Holding you...to it...son. Gibbs forced his eyes open again to see the younger version of Tony kneeling at his side. "Don't have to...don't do...that." Gibbs was touched by the boy's interest in helping and ran that shaking hand through his hair much as Simon had done. "Sit. Tell me...about you."
He had two Tonys here and a guy who looked just like him and knew he'd be making a power play. Gibbs levered himself up slightly. "Stay...on my six...son."
Simon started pacing, walking to the door, looking out, walking back. He was deeply worried about the situation and the damned jarhead trying to come on to his boy.
His BOY? Where had THAT come from???
Princess was very different than Tony. He obeyed instantly and stopped licking that hand. Speaking, however, was very difficult for him after deep conditioning against it. Moving his head, he carefully pressed his face low between the man's legs over those pajama bottoms, thinking that maybe he could help in that way instead.
"Jeeze, Boss," Tony tried like hell to tease, to not anger again, "what are ya hiding down there, the Jewel of the Nile? First PeeWee and now this one?"
"Oh, Princess...no...no..." Gibbs' body was twitching pathetically but he lifted the young man's head away. "Not now. Maybe later. Safe here...don't need...to do that..." He watched as Simon came up behind the boy, lifting him gently off and away.
Gibbs turned to look into Tony's eyes, reading the turmoil in his eyes. "Belongs to you," he said admitting it with stark honesty. "If you want, it's yours."
Simon couldn't explain the flash of anger he felt when the boy acted like he was going down on Gibbs. Not him. Not his boy. "Princess, he's hurt. He doesn't need that." Simon tipped the boy's chin up, forcing that gaze on him. He wouldn't take advantage of the young man, but a dark part deep inside him wanted to.
"Gibbs." Tony lifted the man's hand, curling his fingers under and laying a soft kiss on the knuckles. "I don't think I'm the one you should give it to. You know me," he tried to say lightly, his lips twisting in a familiar DiNozzo smirk. "I'll just mess it up, typical Tony. The one who deserves it left to get you a doctor. Don't worry, he kept your secret, wouldn't tell me. And don't worry, I'll always have your six, always ..... Dad."
Every hour that went by that Tony didn't break again, every hour that went by that Gibbs was in trouble and needed him, gave him confidence, maturity, and a sense of right. Unfortunately, that sense of right was pointing in the wrong direction now, but at least he was trying.
With Simon again, Princess struggled to keep his eyes on the man's face, looking at everything but directly in the other man's eyes. That had been beaten out of him too. "Later?" he asked very quietly. It was telling, though perhaps not noticeable yet, that with the human gone, Princess was taking his direction from Simon, asking him for clarification.
"Later?" A surge of jealousy ran through Simon. "If you both want that. Or if you want to...with me. That would be nice." he was trying to be so gentle, trying not to ask for what he thought he wanted. He took Princess' face a little more firmly in his hands. "I'd like to see your eyes. They'll tell me a lot about how you're doing. Do you think you could be brave enough to do that, Princess?"
"Ah, Tony..." Gibbs coughed again, closing his eyes briefly. "You're the only one worthy. The only one. Yours to have..." Gibbs tried to focus on breathing. "Nobody else...I need...on my...six. Trust you. Alone. My boy...my son..."
An image of Thomas' wet face flashed behind Tony's eyes, but he pushed it aside and nodded, kissing the man's knuckles again. Ah well, if Gibbs really did hate their owner now, all the better, he decided. Except there was one problem with that. If he himself wasn't going to give the man what he wanted, and the man didn't want Thomas anymore, who would?
He glanced at Princess and felt an even deeper clenching in his gut. For some reason the thought of Thomas being with Gibbs wasn't nearly as bothersome as Princess being with him. Thomas didn't look anything like him. Princess, under all that hair and slimmer, slightly shorter body, was still Tony .... and how weird was that?
Damn. Damn. Damn.
In his newfound maturity he was working hard to selflessly want Gibbs to be happy with a bedmate, but did that bedmate have to look like him?!
"With you," Princess repeated like a trained parrot, smiling until the man mentioned his eyes. Fear flashed through them and tears sprung to the corners. Was the man making him do it just so he could punish him? He'd been tricked often enough by others, clones and humans. Trusting anyone was near impossible now.
"Chopper!" Tony called out at the sound of one coming from the front of the house. "Hold on, Boss, hold on." He kissed the man's lips and raced to a window. "Medics."
Armed soldiers were coming out flanking three men, two of them carrying a stretcher, one of them barking orders. Only Simon would recognize the one in charge. Princess had come and gone from the pound during Carl's day away. Thomas had put in a call to Thorne, and once Carl had gotten details about what had happened, he'd insisted on taking a chopper in case the man's lungs were on their last legs. The armed escort was Admiral Thorne's doing. He let the naval hospital take care of clones all the time for the community Houses, but until he got to know them, knowing that many clones were not quite what they seemed, he didn't take chances in trusting them. As far as he was concerned, the four in the home that Thomas had told them about were to be treated with caution.
Carl, on the other hand, being a doctor at the core flew right into the house, calling out, "We're here to help! Who's in charge?!"
Gibbs coughed a few times and tried to sit up. "Me. M'in..charge."
"Sir!" Simon called out, putting helping Princess on hold for now. "Mr. Gibbs is hurt, internal bleeding maybe. Broke a rib or two, I think. Stubborn too."
That delivered, he turned back to Princess. "Don't cry. You don't have to look yet. It wasn't an order. And none of us here will hurt you. I know you'll have to learn to trust. Remember how I told you earlier that I was a federal officer before, that I used to help protect the president? Gibbs and Tony do the same thing, but they take care of the military, navy and marines. You can trust us, Princess. We're going to work with you and help."
Simon gently led Princess over to Tony. This man's relationship with Gibbs was complex, at one moment they seemed to be father and son and the next lovers and he knew Tony would need some support.
"He's a tough jarhead," he said to Tony, squeezing his shoulder. "But he'll be okay." It felt nice to have both boys close to him here.
"He better be," Tony muttered as Carl barked more orders and Gibbs was placed on the stretcher. Worried eyes tracked everything those medics did in getting the Marine ready for transport. His hand, subconsciously, reached out to hold Simon's. It was as if the Harmon in Simon called to the Weatherly in Tony. "I did this to him. We were just ...born .... and I completely freaked out and he let me beat the shit outta him. If he dies I'm gonna kill myself," Tony said seriously in a whisper.
Princess stayed very close to Simon. The man confused him but he definitely felt a sense of safety with him, just as he did when near Gibbs.
"Donovan?" Carl asked, not having gotten the names of the clones in the house from Thorne. "That you, mate?" It wasn't racist thinking to not be able to tell some characters of the same Model apart. It was logical. "What happened here?" He looked down at Gibbs as he put an IV into him. "Got room for everyone or they can stay here and wait. Your call."
The man had said he was in charge and no one had disputed him. Carl wasn't familiar with the NCIS fandom so he had no idea who he was talking to.
Simon squeezed Tony's hand and then put a gentle arm around his shoulders. "He let you. He is at least as much to blame. It'll be okay. You'll see. He's mean and tough and he's a fighter."
"Gibbs," Gibbs groaned out. "Jethro Gibbs, Special Agent. They...they come with me. Understand" He reared up enough to grab the man's arm. "They...stay with me...stay safe. My...responsibility...keep...them safe."
"Donovan here, sir!" Simon called out. "That's Gibbs, he's a marine and a NCIS agent, federal officer. I have his second in command, Tony, here with me and my new friend Princess as well." As he said their names, he squeezed their shoulders.
"Got it." Carl nodded briskly to both Harmons and then signaled to the others to lift and carry him to the chopper. He noticed that Simon was calling him sir, something many clones did, out of a wise sense of self preservation, when in the pound, but it certainly wasn't expected to hear outside it. Then again, Carl was military and Carl was a Scottish blueblood with a direct line going all the way back to the first king of that country and had not long ago been Chieftain of his clann before his Uncle Dougal had managed to win it away from him. So being called sir didn't bother him one bit. He'd just never expect it from anyone outside his family or who wasn't lower on the chain of command at base.
"You're not going anywhere without me," Tony said firmly and went out of the room next to that stretcher, reaching for the other Harmon's hand now.
"He's going to sleep soon," Carl told them all. "Narcotic should take affect in a couple minutes, then I'll examine him and do surgery if necessary. You'll all be safe on base. It's a clone-friendly place, my father-in-law is the Admiral, and from what I gather, he's related in some way to Mr. Hilton."
Gibbs squeezed Tony's hand. "Tell 'em...Tell 'em. Meds...don't work...so good... I'm too...tough." Despite what he said, Gibbs was starting to float and he stretched a hand up to stroke over Tony's lower lip. "Stay close...son."
Simon recognized authority and had been in the structure long enough that calling Carl 'sir' was second nature. "Come on, Princess. We're going for a ride in the copter. Don't worry. Gibbs and I will be very close by and we won't let anything happen."
If those soldiers thought anything strange about their passengers, they were too well-trained to say a word of it. They were escorted on and then off again when they arrived at the base, and only there did Carl notice that Princess was barefoot as they moved quickly across the cold wet surface towards the hospital. He also noticed that Princess didn't complain and sighed inwardly at coming to a conclusion. A sub. Had to be a sub. To Hilton or one of the Harmons, though, was the question.
It never crossed his mind that Princess might belong to Tony. Carl was very aware of that lifestyle because of having a house with more than a few men in it who lived that way, and he'd guessed correctly that Princess was heavily into it too, whether naturally or by force, but he didn't get the same vibe off the other Weatherly quite as strong. Sub too to at least one of those Harmons, probably the hurt one, but alpha on his own, very strong too.
He briefly wondered as they unloaded Gibbs into the surgical prep ward if Simon had done this damage on the man in a turf war over the other two. As much as he liked the Harmon, he'd seen so much since coming to Havensport that it wouldn't surprise him.
"You're gonna cut him?" Tony asked as he soothed through Gibbs' hair with his hand, a nervous gesture more for himself than for the Harmon who might have been unconscious by then.
"Quiet," Carl said as he undressed Gibbs and placed meta-touch Sentinel hands carefully around the man's chest. He was feeling for the injury, feeling for just where the damage was and using his combined skills of doctoring and Clan to determine if opening the man up was the solution.
"Don't blame yourself, Tony," Gibbs said hoarsely. "Didn't mean it." He reared up again, gripping Carl's arm. "Accident. My boy didn't mean...it. I'll take...punishment. Promise!" He struggled up a little taller, half sitting up by sheer force of will. "Don't hurt him!" His voice was intense and he knew his eyes were burning with worry.
Gibbs let out an animal moan of agony as the hands brushed over his skin, falling back, eyes locking on Tony.
"You did this to him?" Carl's face to Tony was definitely showing surprise at hearing that from Gibbs.
"Don't punish him!" Tony cried, losing himself in that fear of humans against clones and jumping at Carl to protect the man on the table. "It's my fault! It's my fault!"
"Jesus! Back off! I'm trying to save him, not hurt him!" Guards came to Carl's assistance, and in the ensuing struggle Tony was caught with a rifle butt to that kidney. He went down with a howl and just barely managed to crawl back to the table to grasp onto the Harmon's leg. Carl, jamming more narcotics into that IV, let him cling to Gibbs so long as he wasn't being attacked any longer. "Fool," he hissed down at Tony. "I'm not gonna hurt anyone. You gotta trust me. You're safe here, I swear you're safe here."
Assuming he didn't attack anyone again in a misunderstanding. Those guards wouldn't shoot, but they'd definitely put him down even worse if they had to.
"Tony....Tony! He managed to pull himself up a little. "Not his fault! Not..." He started hacking hard now, gasping, huge wheezes as air tried to force itself. "Hurt too. Take care of my boy...first." He couldn't do more than slump back the few inches back to the table. "Injured himself. Beaten. By...another...Save him...from himself..
His eyes started closing despite his strongest efforts to stay awake and finally darkness clawed him down and refused to let him go.
"Stay outta my way," Carl snarled at Tony, in full doctor-mode as he worked first to get that lung re-inflated. Tony, painfully climbing back to his feet, clutched Gibbs by the legs the entire time but stayed silent for now.
When he was finished, the torso wrapped and Gibbs settled into a private hospital bed, then Carl turned back to the other clone, and his face showed sincere sympathy again now that he had time to deal with Tony. "I can't even pretend to know what you've been through, mate, but if you really are NCIS, then use your gut and look around, open your eyes and really look. There isn't a single person here who'd hurt either of you just because you're clones. Admiral Thorne won't allow that sorta bullshit. He's a child of missionaries, grew up in Africa, and I swear to you, even if not for that, I wouldn't tolerate it either. This is my hospital, this isn't that hell-hole of a pound I've gotta work at too."
"You work there?" Tony growled, taking an aggressive step towards the man.
"Ask Donovan," Carl sighed, refusing to take the challenge for another physical encounter. "He knows what I do there." Carl had nothing to be ashamed of; Simon had been there almost the full three month period and had seen a lot.
"Oh I'll ask," Tony said, not at all standing down yet. "And if you're responsible for cutting that kid's nuts off, I'll rip off yours and feed them to you."
It made Carl smile just a bit despite the sick feeling in his stomach at hearing that about the boy. "Looks like I should watch your show. I bet it's really good."
"Because of him." Tony looked over at Gibbs in the bed, and every dark expression on his face melted away. "He's really gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, he is. Keeping'm over night for observation, but I think he'll be fine. Where's Mr. Hilton? I'll need him to sign papers."
Tony shrugged. "Dunno. Don't even know how to reach him."
"Oh. Well I imagine the Admiral knows." Carl clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'll be by later to check on him. Relax and get some rest." He motioned over to a padded chair by the bed. "And didn't he say something about you being hurt?"
"No." Tony's head shook as he went over to that chair, pulling it up closely to the bed. "He was just confused, the drugs working. I'm fine."
Carl's head cocked, but Tony knew how to hide pain very well, and Carl was a busy man and didn't have time to chase down reluctant patients. Shrugging, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
~~~~~~~
Simon was very nervous to be in his jumpsuit here but wouldn't get in the way of Gibbs' treatment. He didn't want to end up back in the pound, accused of running away from his owner. He hated the fact that Princess didn't have shoes and edged toward a supply cabinet and snagged some sterilized booties. "Here. You put these on. We'll clean your feet up really good when we get back to our place, okay?"
Princess stared at the booties in his hands like he'd never seen anything like them before. His face went white and his head started to shake back and forth, a low moan of confusion starting as he dropped them, backing away from Simon. "Noooo .. noooo .... noooooo .... "
The poor Harmon had no idea that though occasionally Princess had been allowed clothing on outings away from home with his owner, not once, never even in the harshest weather or setting, had he been allowed anything on his feet. Always nude at home, always barefoot everywhere.
Simon immediately dropped the booties, that had to be the problem. "Princess, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to hug you, I am going to comfort you. If I scare you, you have to tell me in words. Understand me?" Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the boy into a hug, trying to soothe him with soft whispered words.
In that hallway, Princess was stiff in Simon's arms, not daring to struggle but also not daring to trust. The only sign of their growing connection was the slight flushing to the boy's face, the slight hitch to his breath, his body definitely wanting to be in those arms though he had no idea how to verbally express it.
Simon saw Carl come out and stepped into his path, holding Princess all the while. "Is Gibbs going to be okay?" he asked in a low, urgent voice. He'd see Gibbs and Tony when they'd visited the pound, had seen the way Gibbs seemed genuinely concerned about him and McNeil both. As soon as he had answers, he and Princess would sit with Tony. Like it or not, they were a brotherhood of sorts now, different from their time in the military but he was sure Gibbs would understand the brotherhood mentality.
He cuddled Princess close, stroking his hair and the back of his neck soothingly. Simon couldn't deny that a connection was growing between them, and it was actually...nice.
"Yeah, he was lucky. He never woulda made it without medical care. Don't suppose you know where Mr. Hilton is?" He looked the boy up and down, noting how gentle Simon was being with him. "He need anything? Tony mentioned something about .... " Carl grimaced. "An alteration that was done to him," was about as careful as he could say it in not wanting to upset the kid.
"No idea. He left in a hurry. I think he has some...unfinished business...with his brother." Simon hugged Princess closer, offering support. "I don't know much about it, just that he came to us unclothed. Would you be willing to take a look?"
Before Princess could make a sound, Simon hugged him closer. "The doctor just wants to make sure that you're well healed, Princess. Gibbs and I would be really upset if you were sick or had an infection. We'll let him look at you and I'll be right here beside you the whole time."
Doctor.
There was only one sort of doctor Princess knew, only one sort of doctor who dirtied his hands on dirty clones, and feeling sure that he was about to be hurt again by this one, the boy did the only thing he could do. He fainted.
"Fucking Franke," Carl muttered. "He fucking terrorizes them even when he doesn't have to. Bring him over here and we'll strap him down on an exam table. I don't feel like getting clocked again if he wakes up fighting."
Simon lifted him and placed him gently on a table. "Was Tony combative?" he asked, making short work of the jeans and threadbare boxers, pulling the shirt up. The piercings glinted, the skin reddened around them. It was clear they were healing. "Former owner must have been a bastard to do this to him," Simon remarked. "Scared to death. Barely talks." Remembering that he shouldn't be this outspoken, Simon fell silent, standing guard.
Binding those arms and legs, just to be on the safe side, Carl began poking and prodding around the boy. "Some owners are definitely bastards. Thank God they're few and far between. Doesn't help this poor kid now," he sighed as he also examined the scars from that castration surgery, "but if Hilton's related to Thorne, he's bound to have a better life now than he had. Looks like puberty didn't finish with him," he noted, brushing his fingers over a chest that was naturally devoid of hair, tugging very lightly on the hoops in those nipples to see if there was drainage.
"I can smell something, a lotion or wax of some kind, that's been used on his pubes, legs and under his arms." They were bare too, but the lingering scent his Sentinel nose picked up proved it wasn't natural like the hairless chest and rump. "He's been underfed, that's for sure. I'll send you home with some vitamins." He carefully looked in the boy's mouth, moving his pierced tongue around and checking those teeth. "Good dental care. His owner wanted him to stay pretty." He said the word "pretty" very sarcastically. "Obviously was into marking." Not just the tongue, nipples and thick barbell through the cockhead, there was a row of hoops running along the underside of his shaft all the way back to the anus.
Carl sighed when he unbound him enough to turn him over and examine closely there too, spreading the boy's cheeks wide to both their views. "No delicate way to put this. He gets a lotta use. I've got some cream that'll help ... assuming," Carl said with a look at Simon that was almost dangerous for a moment there, "that no one is planning on using him for a while so he can get some good food and real rest." He released those baby-smooth cheeks and looked through the long hair framing the too thin face. "Clean, no lice." There were hoops in his ears too, both of them holding a set of three of different sizes, dainty gold with diamonds, just like the ones below on that body. Carl would have bet the farm they were all real and the gold was top quality. "You can tell Mr. Hilton, if he wants the brand and tattoo on his ass removed, I'd be happy to recommend a good plastic surgeon for them."
One cheek sported two letters burned deep into the flesh, probably owner initials, and the other cheek sported a three inch by three inch tattoo of a rose holding those same initials in one of the petals.
"Not going to hurt him," Simon said in a low voice. "Can't speak about Gibbs, but I'll protect him. You're damned right I'll protect him. Nobody'll get in my way." Simon had no idea where this protectiveness came from, but he was determined. "He needs a champion and I'm it." Could be Gibbs as well, Simon didn't particularly care, but he was going to be there for his new charge.
"Good to hear it." Carl smiled and put out his hand to the man. "I'll trust him into your care then, but I still need to speak to Mr. Hilton."
"Wouldn't expect any less, sir," Simon replied, continuing to stroke his hair. "Never dealt with a slave before. Not sure I'm doing it right."
"Unfortunately, I've dealt with one. My cousin was abducted, came back a mess. He's a lot better now, but sometimes the conditioning still rears its ugly head and fucks with him." He started to put clothes back on the boy, murmuring, "Simon ..... if, after you find the real man under this slave exterior, he wants to be a willing slave for Hilton ... or you and Gibbs ... that's one thing I'll never understand but I won't interfere in anything consensual between adults, but if I ever see him again in here and find out he's not willing ...... "
"I will protect and defend him,' Simon said in a barely controlled voice. "And that means nothing were ever be nonconsensual on my watch. He needs a protector and he found one."
"What about Tony?" Carl paused in that redressing. "I'm not stupid. In my House there's several couples of guys like him and Gibbs ..... like you and Princess. He's having a real hard time with this cloning thing, isn't he? Just about took my head off thinking I was gonna hurt Gibbs, punish him or something for getting hurt and needing medical help."
"I barely know him, but yeah, he seems a little high strung," Simon admitted. "Think they're having relationship issues. Were they a couple in their original incarnation?" Simon didn't address if he was bonding with Princess. "Interesting dynamic. At one point they seem father/son and at another they seem like lovers. Can't figure it out yet, but I will. Gibbs is very protective and throwing around his Alpha-ness."
"Honestly, I haven't seen any of their show, but I'm guessing, since I did hear it's a primetime major network TV hit, they aren't a couple on it. Gibbs spoke right out, said he was in charge .... over you too?" It was Carl's way of saying that he thought Simon was alpha too and could just as easily be the leader of that grouping.
"Mmm, well that remains to be seen," Simon retorted. "Don't kick a man when he's down but I'm nobody's pushover either, sir. I came in to a situation where he was obviously badly injured, wasn't there more than ten minutes. Walked in on his human pleasuring him, he and Tony had some obvious tension between them and their human, the brother of mine." Simon made a face, expressing his distaste at that.
"He collapsed, Tony had his human call for help, and we're here. Whirlwind."
"Oh." Carl frowned, seeing something new there he hadn't expected. "So you're saying you're not brothers of the same House? You belong to humans who are brothers? Just so I have this straight for the medical records, Thomas Hilton owns Gibbs and Tony and Princess .... and there's a brother who owns you separately? What's his name?" He patted the unconscious boy gently on the leg with a smile, glancing down at him again.
"Maybe eventually, but not yet. Truth was I was just glad to get out of there, as you know." Carl knew how close they'd shaved it. "They're brothers, maybe even twins given the ages, or the ages they look. Travis and Thomas Hilton. Thomas owns Gibbs and Tony. Travis got me from the pound yesterday and I don't know where he got Princess from. He came to us unclothed, assume it wasn't a pleasant environment."
Simon motioned down to Princess. "He's still out, should we be worried?"
"Pretty sure he's just sleeping. Probably exhausted, poor kid. If you want, there's an empty room next door, you can put him to bed in there til he wakes? I don't mind." Carl headed to the door. "Think I'm gonna see if I can track down the Hilton brothers. As much as I think of you as regular guys just like me, the reality is ... you're not. I've gotta follow protocol and not piss off any owners who might then take it out on you, y'ken."
"Yeah...I'd like that." Simon released the boy's bonds and carried him gently toward the room. "Thank you..." He understood the protocols and nodded. "Don't want anyone to get punished. Think we all have enough to deal with."
"Mmphm, that's for sure." Carl disappeared down the hall, trusting Simon to take the empty room and not cause any trouble.
Simon brought Princess into the other room, laying him down gently and stroking through his hair. "I'm going to look out for you, kiddo. That is a promise..." He sat in a chair, taking the younger man's hand and stroking it slowly, unable to puzzle out this growing bond but completely at home and comfortable with it. He'd learned to roll with the punches a long time ago. It was a nice change from his former life, a guardian of a different sort.
(TBC)