Inveigh

Gibbs had been gone to Mexico for a while and Tony was struggling to cope. Ziva and Tim’s attitude had gone way beyond what any normal person could tolerate without exploding. If Jenny hadn’t dragged him into the frog op, he would have found it a lot more difficult to avoid using the bottle to dull the pain.

That was literally the only good thing about the frog op. The rest of it was just a huge disaster. He couldn’t get the girl to fall for him because it was obvious he loved someone else. On top of that, she truly didn’t know anything and it rubbed him the wrong way to even be trying to use her.

Normally, he would confide in Ducky, but Ducky was too wrapped up in his own hurt over Gibbs leaving like he did. He tried to confide in Jimmy, but it just wasn’t the same. There was no way he could confide in Tim, Ziva, or Abby as they were a significant part of the problem.

He tried to confide in Jeanne, but turning them into problems Tony DiNardo would have made it so that any advice or comfort offered was worthless. He stopped trying after a week when he realized it made no difference. He supposed he could have confided in Jenny, but it had always ended poorly for him when he’d confided in a superior.

Staring out at the snow and Christmas decorations, he hung his head. He couldn’t believe that this op was going over Christmas. He didn’t want to spend Christmas with Jeanne or her father. Fortunately, Jeanne had bought the lie that he had to work and wouldn’t be available. Unfortunately, that meant he was going to spend Christmas alone with only holiday movies for comfort yet again.

He should be used to this by now given that’s essentially how he grew up, but it ate at him more and more every year it happened and unfortunately it was a more common occurrence than he wanted. Staying late at the office to avoid going home, Tony worked through McGee and Ziva’s incomplete and overdue reports. That was how he happened to be in the bullpen when Ducky went through on his way home for the holiday weekend.

As Ducky walked past, he suddenly remembered that his mother kept asking after the Italian gigolo. “Do you have plans for Christmas?” Ducky probed, he’d promised his mother he’d invite the Italian gigolo over for Christmas if he could. Truthfully, he hoped Tony had other plans. He knew he wouldn’t be good company upset as he was with Gibbs.

“Just me and the movies.” Tony pasted on a fake smile like that’s all he needed.

Ducky sighed. He’d have to invite Tony over now. He couldn’t in good conscience do otherwise. “My mother’s been asking after her Italian gigolo. We’d love it if you joined us for Christmas dinner.”

“Sounds good.” Tony agreed. At this point, he’d agree to anything that would allow him to avoid being home alone. “Should I bring anything?”

“A nice bottle of wine, perhaps.” Ducky suggested, donning his cap and heading out the door.

“Will do.” Tony agreed as he continued working on his report. Just because he now had Christmas plans didn’t mean he had any desire to head back to his empty apartment tonight.

As Christmas day rolled around, Tony threw on his best Italian suit. He needed to play up the Italian gigolo bit for Ducky’s mother. He’d picked up a nice 43 Cabernet Sauvignon to offer Ducky for the wine.

He wasn’t at all sure how this was going to play out. Ducky was so frustrated with Gibbs and his mother was so out of it these days. It was guaranteed to be better than staying home alone, however.

Ducky laid out all the holiday food on the table. The table was so laden it was practically groaning. They dug in and Tony gracefully handled Ducky’s mother feeling him up and being so excited about his presence.

After Ducky’s mother went to bed though was when the real fun started. Ducky pulled out his scotch and the two of them talked. Before they knew it they were both complaining about Gibbs leaving the way he did. They both inveighed against the injustice of the way Gibbs left.

Tony spouted on about how he’d been so dedicated to Gibbs and got just a you’ll do. Ducky rambled on about how he’d been Gibbs best friend for years and had never even known he’d had a fourth wife. As they drank the scotch and became more and more inebriated, Tony’s gripes turned more personal.

He complained about how he’d loved Gibbs for years and how he’d thought the guy returned his feelings at least a little only to find out he didn’t mean a thing to him as he couldn’t even remember him after he lost his memory. They both had many other reasons to inveigh against Gibbs that they shared with each other over the course of the night and through the many bottles of scotch.

The next morning, they both woke up with raging hangovers. As they nursed their headaches, they bonded even more in the light of morning. While they hadn’t resolved any of their issues with Gibbs, they had deepened their relationship together.

In the months after, they continued to bond over their anger with Gibbs. If Gibbs ever returned, they both planned to give him a piece of their mind especially over Gibbs treatment of the other. They had at least found a confidante in each other that while it didn’t fix anything, did help them handle the stress better.

Tony still struggled with Ziva and McGee’s attitude towards him and with the frog op, but at least he didn’t feel like it was completely hopeless anymore.