Lion Rampart – Chapter Two

Title: Lion Rampart

Author: Ladyholder

Fandom: NCIS, The Sentinel, Barney Miller, Criminal Minds

Relationships: Tony/Gibbs, Blair/Jim, Wojo/Barney

Genre: Oh, So AU and a Mystery

Warnings: Mention of murder, possible torture and I’ll add more as it comes. Expect sex, some rock and roll, the drugs are iffy and you can be certain that there will be low humor.

Notes: Yes, I am aware of what happened in the show BM. Tough. I wanted a good set of really tough characters to be decent role models for a young Tony DiNozzo and they fit. If this wigs you out, try the ‘back’ button. Both you and I will be happier.

Beta: No Beta

Prologue and Chapter One

Chapter Two

The thing about governmental architecture, Tony had discovered over the years, was that it was invariably drab in appearance. Well, unless the decade it went up in was a decade full of drugs or hippy’s, but the theory was mostly sound.

The headquarters for NCIS had to have been built after the drugs and the hippy’s time in office, because it had all the inherent grace of a herd of drunks on greased ice. That is to say none. Hopefully the interior was better than the exterior. If not, he was going to have to redecorate and to hell with whatever anyone said.

“So. This is where you work?” Tony asked his Sentinel as he got out of the car and looked at the building in front of him. He had lost the driving battle that morning due to a blowjob from Jethro and fast hands. He was going to have to work harder at figuring out ways to hide the keys to the cars so his blood pressure stayed in the normal ranges.

“Yup,” Jethro agreed. Since they had taken Tony’s car to work, he was gentle as he closed the driver’s side door. The one time he had slammed it, his Guide had given him a look that would have peeled paint. Not something he wanted for their first day in to work.

Tony stared over at his Sentinel and raised an eyebrow at the short reply. “You aren’t going to get away with the taciturn thing with me, Jethro. Use your words. I know you have them.”

“Ha, ha,” Jethro deadpanned and Tony flashed him a grin. When he didn’t say anything else, his Sentinel sighed and nodded. “Mostly, the people in there will be shocked and kind of floored that I Bonded. Plus while I was online, I wasn’t… Working at my full capacity. I mean, every unbonded Sentinel is hindered to an extent by that state, so I worked with what I had. At least I don’t have a Conservator at the moment, so you don’t have to eject them.”

“Small favors for you,” Tony agreed. “Okay. So. We are here to do the official check in, drop off the evidence you got from Sparky and then we need to head to your house to meet your daughter, unpack and maybe shower before coming back here in the morning?”

“Sounds about right,” Gibbs agreed before walking around the car to escort his Guide into the building. “And we need to make a stop in Forensics. Abby is going to love you.”

The thing about being a Sentinel in a Federal level agency is that there were a ton of hoops that had to jumped through due to his senses. The Government acknowledged that Sentinels and Guides were able to sift through information that their mundane coworkers could only find with sophisticated forensic equipment. They really did. But they wanted everything backed up in triplicate. Gibbs had spent a good portion of the time they had been secluded getting his report ready. There were only so many times he and his Guide could fuck and Bond before his dick was rubbed raw.

Tony at least had understood and had spent just as much time cleaning up the last of his reports for the old Captain. That foresight had been what had allowed them to leave the PD behind so quickly. While they had been in the Baltimore S&G center, Miller had drawn him aside to talk to him about his new Guide and lay down the law on how the younger man would be treated. Jethro ran one hand through his hair and remembered the smiling tone the other Sentinel had worn when he had made his point.

“If Tony DiNozzo is ever damaged due to something you could have prevented, and didn’t, you will never be found. And we will be there for him, taking care of him, when you die your grisly death. Do you understand?”

Not being a complete moron, he had nodded. Over forty years old and a man who was older than his father had made him squirm. The last time he had been threatened that well had been when he had gone to talk to Shannon’s father and ask him for his daughters hand in marriage. It had been just as disconcerting too.

Gibbs kept a hand at the small of Tony’s back and he was happy that his Guide was letting him. He was getting the impression that the other man was humoring him a lot. Opening the door into the lobby, the Sentinel let his senses spin out, testing the current interior of the space against his memory of it and it came up clean. So did the guards.

“Hello Agent Gibbs! Welcome back. Director Morrow is in his office, Abby is in her lab and Ducky is out with Gerard on a body call for Johnson’s team,” the head security guard, a Todd Johnson reported. After his first week in the building, everyone had learned that letting him know where all members of his team were was the best idea. Less wear and tear on the nerves if nothing else.

The Bond sparked with amusement and Tony looked back at him as he emptied his pockets. “Have you been throwing your weight around?”

“Nope. Don’t have to,” he said simply. After five years with the agency, if the people he worked with on a daily basis hadn’t caught a clue, he would have requested that Morrow find them someplace where they couldn’t do any harm. Iowa came to mind. He carefully set his own gun, badge and holster in a basket by the detector.

“Who is this then, Agent Gibbs?” Johnson asked as he carefully waved Tony through the metal detectors and scanned his basketful of miscellaneous stuff.

Gibbs waited until he had made it though his turn at the metal detector and picked up his gear. He was back at NCIS now and he felt naked without his badge on.

“Gibbs?” John pressed as he held up his clipboard for visitors.

“He’s my Guide, Todd,” the Sentinel announced as he maneuvered them into the elevator. Step one in getting Tony introduced around the office. Informing one of the biggest gossips in the building, done.

“Just so you know, I can tell you are getting a kick out of that every time you say it,” Tony murmured as he stared at the numbers moving slowly upward.

“I figured,” Jethro nodded.

The bull pen was just like he had left it and Pacci had apparently left his stuff on his desk alone. He had four desks in his row, and only his had anything on it. The other three were totally bare, without even computers to show that anyone else was using them.

“Why am I not surprised that you are doing this alone?” Tony asked as he walked into the center of his row and looked at each desk in turn.

“Because you are a smart man and you figured out what the empty desks mean?” Gibbs asked as he grabbed the paper memo’s out of his ‘IN’ box. Most of them were junk, but he still had to look over them to see what to ignore. His eyes on the memo detailing the motor pools expectations for their cars when he waved over at one of the passing agents. “Christopher Pacci, I would like you to meet my Guide, Tony DiNozzo.”

Jethro could feel Tony’s amusement at the introduction and shrugged. Neither he, nor his Guide were big sticklers for company manners if they didn’t have to use them.

Tony waved and moved to lean against the desk across from his. Good lines of sight, and with that one taken, the two of them could keep an eye on most of the room. “So, this coffee thing he has. How often should I let him top off the tanks? And do you know if we need to get his stomach checked for ulcers?”

Gibbs watched the little drama unfold over the next memo from HR. Apparently they weren’t happy with him and how he treated their people. Lucky for him, he now had Tony to take up that slack. Pacci was staring at the Guide and Tony finally waved one hand in front of his face. “You in there?”

Jerking his head back, Chris looked back at Gibbs and he nodded. Yup, that was his Guide. All six feet, two inches of the Italian was his. “Well, okay then. I’m Chris Pacci, like Gibbs said. As for the coffee? The blacker and more bitter it is, the better he likes it. Straight up too. Given how he gets when he hasn’t had any for a while, I would say top off his caffeine levels every hour or so. And there is no way in hell and ulcer could survive in his gut.”

“Oh. Joy. I am going to be rationing that. I don’t need you giving yourself a heart attack from an overdose.” Tony stared at him and Gibbs just shrugged. He got his coffee from a small shop about five minutes walk away from the building and he had been getting it at a half-caf strength for the entire time he had been with NCIS. Not that he was going to tell anyone.

“So, now what?” Pacci asked.

“Now I take him up to see Morrow and you can let Abby know that we will be down there in about a half hour,” Gibbs responded. Most of the paperwork in his hand went into the trash and the one only thing he saved was the memo from HR for Tony to smooth over and a leave form. “We are heading upstairs, Guide.”

“Right. Nice meeting you Pacci. Hopefully I will be able to get to know you soon. Despite mister over-protective here.” Tony said over his shoulder as Gibbs ushered him up the stairs to the Director’s office.

“Hopefully. I have a lot of gossip about your Sentinel to share,” Pacci confirmed. Gibbs twitched slightly at that threat. Depending on how much Pacci knew, his Guide was going to get an earful of his exploits. Maybe he should have thought twice about introducing them.

Tony let his own gifts out and took the emotional health of the people around him. Most of the people seemed to be genuinely content and happy to be working in the building. There were no potential suicides or burnout cases on the floor and he was grateful for that blessing. The feel of a burnout case was worse than anyone ever thought, full of unexpected flares of emotion and despair as they moved through their days. The less said about what the other felt like, the better

He forcibly turned his attention to his Sentinel. The older man was walking ahead of him and his ass was flexing right in front of him. The Guide in him was preening that his Sentinel was the best. And hot too. Really, really hot. Tony kept an eye on the firm ass in front of him and he felt his dick twitch. The blush crawling up the Sentinel’s neck showed that he was aware of what his Guide was feeling.

“If you don’t get that under control, I can’t promise that you won’t get fucked within an inch of your life,” Gibbs threw the words over his shoulder.

“You’ll learn that that isn’t going to stop me, Gibbs,” Tony said with a smirk.

“Slut,” Gibbs said fondly.

”I like sex, “Tony admitted without a qualm or a blush.”So you had better eat your Wheaties, old man.”

The fire in his Sentinel’s eyes was very warming and Tony had to bite down on his libido. Hard. When one was meeting ones boss, popping a boner was not a good idea. The area where the Directors PA was stationed was nice. Not imposing or grandiose, but it showed that someone of importance worked in there.

As part of who and what he was, Tony had been calculating all of the items that might be a potential allergen, the entire time they had been in the building. His Sentinel seemed to be fine around a number of different stimuli, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared. At least until they got into the Directors waiting area.

Tony watched as Jethro choked lightly and pulled him back to the area around the landing by the stairs and pulled his head down to rest against his neck. “Easy, Jethro. Dial it down, easy. What set it off?”

“Perfume or something similar,” the Sentinel coughed out. The overwhelming stench of the perfume was eclipsed by the scents of amber, sandalwood and vanilla coming from his Guide’s neck. He breathed deeply, ignoring the bubble of people surrounding them until he heard the distinctive tones of Abby on a rip. Hopefully she was ripping the new secretary a new asshole. Because Morrow’s normal one had never, ever used something that revolting.

“Why is Gibbs snuggled up to you?” Abby asked his Guide bluntly.

The chuckle that shook the frame he was wrapped around felt good. “Because I am his Guide,” Tony said finally.

“Oh!” Gibbs tilted his head slightly and watched as Abby processed that announcement. “That means you are Tony DiNozzo. Lately of the Baltimore PD. Cool. Is Gibbs okay?”

Tony reached up and ran one hand through his hair and he purred softly. Gibbs loved it when someone played with his hair. “Most of the irritant is gone. We just need to figure out what it is.”

“Any ideas?” Tony asked carefully before resuming his petting.

“Whatever it was, it smelled nasty and there was a lot of it.” Gibbs took a final deep breath of the unfiltered scent of his Guide before stepping back.

“Okay, I’ll go look. My sense of smell is sensitive enough to find whatever it is, “Tony informed his Sentinel.”What did it smell like?”

Tony watched carefully as Gibbs drew up the sense memory of what had set him off. “Raw Ambergris, musk – the real stuff and sex pheromones. All of it natural.”

Abby whistled softly from her spot by the Director. “All of those together, plus whatever the carrier base, which is probably also all natural … it has to be hellishly expensive. Ambergris was selling at $20 a gram today.”

“How do you know these things?” Gibbs asked as he looked at the tech. Tony looked at her and wondered the same thing. A discrete sniff ruled her out for the disgusting smelling thing that had felled his Sentinel, but the Guide did find the answer to why she knew the price of a gram of whale puke.

“The perfume she’s wearing, Jethro. For all that it smells like gunpowder, it has ambergris in it to stabilize it.” Tony looked at her and then grinned. “I like it. Very subtle.”

The Goth looked at him and grinned. Apparently he had passed some sort of test. “Thank you. I make it myself.”

“I know several someones who would adore getting some perfume like that. Do you think you could make a men’s cologne?” Tony asked as he started towards the room they had just left.

“I think so. How many bottles and when?” The Goth asked as she reached into her lab coat and pulled out a zip lock bag full of neoprene gloves. The move was practiced enough to be unconscious, but the Guide was happy to see that she was willing to share her supplies.

Despite his loathing of his Sentinel’s driving, Tony had taken advantage of the drive to read his charge’s medical file. Gibbs had a mild sensitivity to latex, but neoprene was a non-issue. It was a point in favor of his new Agency if they routinely stocked to Sentinel safe standards.

As soon as they rounded the corner into the Director’s waiting room, he could smell it. No wonder Gibbs had reacted. The pheromones were a totally disgusting overlay on what was likely a very nice natural perfume.

There was no real way to block it out, and despite of his more sensitive nose, Tony couldn’t really dial down his sense of smell like a Sentinel could. Using the mental twists that Barney and Jim had spent a summer hammering home, the Guide lessened the impact the scent had on him and started looking for the source. It didn’t take the two of them long to find it. A small battery operated wax heater thing had a puddle of something wax-like in it and the scent was very strong. Even more damning, it was still warm against his skin.

Breathing through his nose wasn’t an option and the Guide had already determined that breathing through his mouth was just as gross. Holding the small warmer away from his body, Tony looked around for something to drop the stinky thing in.

An evidence bag was thrust into his hand and he nodded his thanks at Abby. Then made a mental note to go through the pockets of her lab coat, just to see what she stored in there. “It was the last one I had in my lab. I ways keep extras in case something needs to be resealed,” she explained calmly.

“Well I am glad that you had it there. Can you open it so I can slide this thing in?” Tony asked. The little stone warmer was quickly sealed away and they continued their search just in case. Nothing else stood out as being part of the smell problem. The warmer seemed to be it.

Walking out of the reception area, Tony carefully took his gloves off, folding them up in each other, with the inside surface out, protecting any final bits of evidence that might have stayed on the protective surface. Abby had done the same and she held open the Ziploc bag that had originally carried them. Tony dropped his in the bag and watched as she dropped hers before sealing the bag as well. Returning to where his Sentinel was waiting, he nodded his head at the older man.

When Tony came back, Jethro could tell that they had found something. Hopefully it was whatever was stinking up the place. He gestured to Abby and quietly asked the Sentinel for help. “If we open the bag briefly, do you think you can tell me if it is the scent that you smelled before?”

Gibbs felt his nose scrunch at the thought of smelling whatever it was again. “Sure. Just be ready for me to not be happy at whatever the hell it is.”

The sweet smile that graced his Guide’s face was not too encouraging. “That is a given, Sentinel.”

Abby reached into the pocket of her lab coat and pulled out one of their evidence envelopes and carefully pulled an edge up, before pressing on the air inside, letting some escape. The stench that came out was just as bad the second time as the first and Jethro quickly placed his hand over his nose. “Yup. That is it,” he confirmed.

“Good,” Tony nodded as Abby patted the edge back down.

“I’ll take this down to my lab to see what it is. Remember to bring me a cafpow when you come down to officially introduce me to your Guide, Gibbs! I like him,” Abby commanded as she moved towards the stairs and eventually her lab. Most of the men in the area watched her go, smiling at her enthusiasm.

“Now that we have that out of the way… Do you think it will be safe to bring Gibbs through to my office, Guide DiNozzo?” his boss, Director Morrow asked. Gibbs was fairly certain that Tom had boned up on how to treat a Guide in the five days he had been up in Baltimore, bonding. He was grateful for the courtesy and resolved to be nicer to his boss. Maybe.

Jethro turned to look at his Guide and tried to convey that he was okay. Not that he wanted to smell that shit again, but he was fine. Apparently his partner believed him and nodded. “I think it will be fine, sir. I’m sorry that our first meeting didn’t go smoother though.”

“Nothing you can do, son. And I would rather that you were here and able to help Gibbs than not. So welcome to NCIS,” Tom replied cheerfully before waving the two of them into his office.

Chapter Three