Upping the Ante – Chapter Seven – emersli1

Reading Time:
11 Minutes

In a small bistro close to the VA Center, Tony and Buck sat down to talk.

“OK, so to preface all this I need to introduce myself a little more thoroughly than we usually do in group.  It’s not forbidden to have contact outside therapy… but we tend to leave it up to the individuals.  I’m sorry about this.”

Tony looked at him seriously.  “My name is Tony DiNozzo and I’m a federal agent with NCIS.”

Buck immediately sat straight up.   “Sir.”

“Yeah, no.  And not the point.  I’m still just Tony outside of this conversation.  But …”  Tony sighed.

“This morning I was called in to consult with the LAPD.  A detective named Frank Columbo reached out and requested me personally.  I’m actually the Assistant Director for West Coast operations now, so I don’t do much fieldwork.”  Tony chuckled ruefully.

“I have no idea how Lt. Columbo knew to even ask for me … I suspect that man is an iceberg.  He keeps two-thirds of what he knows under that trenchcoat.  I keep my therapy on the downlow as far as the group is concerned since it doesn’t really have anything to do with my job.  But anyway…”

“Our LA field office really should have been called in, but I decided to take it.  You didn’t mention in group that you were hunted down in your home last night by a man intent on your murder.  And that’s fine.  You have the right to privacy, even within the therapy setting.  But I didn’t want to bring it up since you hadn’t.”

Tony took a bite of his cannoli, and made a bit of a face.  “Hmmm.  I can definitely do better.”  Wiping a bit of cream off the side of his mouth he gestured to the pastry in front of Buck.  “Go ahead.  We’re just having a conversation right now.  Nothing official, you understand?  Good.”

Buck relaxed a little bit and took a sip of his coffee.  It wasn’t bad, but he was nervous so he might as well have been drinking motor oil.

“OK, so… the police can’t tell you much about this for privacy reasons,” Tony grinned viciously.  “But you’re mine, and no Navy veteran is going to get shit shoveled in his direction on my watch, so… Howard Han got a series of medical scans this morning.  Those scans were compared to the last ones taken following his extreme head injury two years ago.”

“I’m going to point out the timeline here, because I want you to really take it onboard.  Your assault occurred in July.  Han wasn’t injured until October, and he was mentally evaluated after that and judged competent and capable to continue to perform all the responsibilities of his job.  That being said, the brain scans show severe damage to the amygdala and hypothalamus.  I don’t know how much physiology you know…”

Buck interrupted the older man.  “Quite a lot actually.  I’m almost finished with my AAS in Animal Management.  After Christmas I’ll start finishing up my BS in Zoology.  I know things are probably a little different in humans, but I know the basics.”

“OK, that’s helpful.  And good for you.  So, in humans, and I don’t have any idea of how it works in other mammals, but I would assume it’s similar…in humans those parts of the brain control emotional regulation and fear response.  Damage to those areas can cause wild mood swings, personality changes, risk-taking behaviors… you name it.”  Tony took a second bite of his pastry, before firmly pushing it away.

“From what is visible on the scans, small shards of the rebar pipe were left behind during surgery.  The surgeons knew this was a possibility at the time, but because of their location retrieval would actually have caused more damage to healthy brain tissue.  Standard protocol is to leave them in place and warn the patient to watch for any potential issues with memory or impulse control.  That sort of thing.”  Tony looked determinedly at the younger man sitting across from.

“Han’s mental deterioration has occurred, according to the doctors who should know, over the past six to eight months.  Time during which he has had limited contact with you, owing to your own injuries.  It plays little to no part in his treatment of you prior to the events of last night.  But as far as last night is concerned…. It plays a significant role in what occurred.  And probably in the assault on your sister as well.  Everyone seems to agree that Howard Han would never have hit her in his right mind.”  The experienced law officer took a drink as he considered the matter.

“I’m not sure whether or not to believe that, honestly.  I mean, the roots had to be there, right?  This is more Aaron’s field than mine, but … well.  You can tell your sister or not as you think best.”

Buck gave the matter some thought, and then shoved it away for more consideration later.

“OK, so what’s the prognosis here?  Is there some type of treatment that can help him?”  Buck cut briskly to the chase.

Tony looked sad for a moment, as though remembering something that hurt him.  “Not at this point.  And really, even if he’d been vigilant about continuing his therapy exercises … this was always a probable outcome.  This or extreme loss of memory or executive function.  The brain is an amazing organ.  It can correct, and correct, and correct… until it can’t.  Then you see these kinds of things.  Personality changes.  Hyperfixations.  Detachment from previous friends and family.”

He shook his head.  “No.  Whatever my thoughts on Howard Han’s original personality and behavior towards you in particular, this is a tragic way for his life to end.”

“Wait!”  Buck yelped in dismay.  “You mean, he’s dying?”

Tony nodded.  “He’s decompensating rapidly.  They’ve stabilized him briefly.  He met with his attorney and his captain.  He called and spoke with his brother.  He left a message for his father.  He’s requesting to talk to your sister.  The doctors aren’t giving him much time.  Three months.  And most of that he’ll be very unstable.  They’ve bought him a few days… maybe a week of truly rational thought, but it won’t hold for long.”

Buck sat quietly for a few minutes.  “I feel guilty.”

“You shouldn’t.  You had nothing to do with the accident that caused this injury.  Howard Han can’t say the same.  And his behavior to you and for you was entirely within his control until the last few days to a week.”  Tony shrugged.  “Under these circumstances the LAPD will almost certainly drop any charges.  The DA would decline to prosecute a terminal patient.  And the LAFD will sweep it all under the rug and bury him as a respected member of the first responder community.  He’ll probably even get a plaque somewhere.”

Tony looked intently at Buck.  “Given the choice between an honorable death and an ignominious firing and conviction for domestic partner assault and failure to report, followed by a slow death anyway… one could say this was a kinder end.”

“I’ve given you the information you would have been entitled to had this case come to trial.  And I’ve given you my best assessment of the situation from a lifetime of law enforcement experience.”  The man looked at Buck with a kind expression.  “And I’ll give you my card and contact information.  If you need me for any reason, or just a pickup game of ball…”

Tony pushed his card across the table, official contact information on the front.  Personal contact info scribbled on the back in a distinctive left-handed scrawl that made Buck smile at its resemblance to his partner’s handwriting.  “I’m not much of a ball-player.  That’s more Eddie’s thing than mine.  But maybe.”

“And thanks.  For the info.  For the time.  For the support.  I really appreciate it.”

Buck finished his coffee, having completely ignored his pastry.  If Tony thought it wasn’t worth eating he wasn’t going to bother.  With a sigh, he gathered up his trash watching the older man do the same.  

“I need to get back to my family.  But thank you, again.”  Buck offered his hand.

Tony shook it firmly.

“Any time Evan.”

Buck got back to Pepa’s house, which seemed to have become their base of operations, shortly after lunch.

Maddie was sitting on the sofa with her eyes closed beside Christopher, who was describing the documentary on Antarctica in excruciating detail as it played on the television with the sound turned down.

Pepa met him at the door and herded him into the kitchen, where Abuela was already dishing up a bowl of soup for him.  “Sit, Evanito.  You look worn out.  And you’re much later than Eddito told us to expect you.”

Abuela brought the soup to the table and laid it in front of him.  “Now mi angel, eat your lunch.  Time enough for discussion afterwards.”

The two ladies bustled around the kitchen.  Apparently they had Paco in the backyard tending to the smoker while they had sent Eddie to the store for fresh vegetables.  The house was full of the sounds of home, with quiet conversation and Chris’s documentary playing in the background.

Buck ate his soup with an absent-minded air, something which concerned both women.  Buck was nothing if not enthusiastic about their cooking, so this bore watching.  Eddie had warned them of Buck’s tendency not to eat when he was stressed.  They would keep an eye.

Eddie came through the door with several bags from the local organic market just as Buck was finishing his lunch.  He moved through the kitchen, dropping the bags on the counter and a kiss on each cheek.  Then he swung around to the table, grabbed Buck’s empty bowl, and deposited a kiss onto his cheek as well.

A pointed comment sounded from the living room.  “I haven’t gotten my kiss yet, have you Aunt Maddie?”

Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes while Buck and Abuela giggled.  Moving into the front room he deposited a kiss on the very top of his son’s curly head and then offered Maddie a gentle peck on the cheek as well.

“There.  That’s everybody with a kiss.”  Eddie ruffled Chris’s hair as he spoke.

“I’m hurt Sobrino.  Is there no kiss for your tired old uncle, hmmm?  The one who’s been out in the sun slaving over a hot smoker for hours?”  Chris giggled merrily.  Tio Paco could be such a troll.

Pepa swatted her husband on the shoulder.  “Travieso!  Te daré un beso que hará que se te derrita el cerebro y se te salga por las orejas.  You have spent most of the day asleep in the hammock under the tree.”

Paco laughed, and accepted a steamy kiss from his wife that had his mother-in-law tutting and his son sighing with an air of long-suffering patience.

Luis turned to his younger cousin.  “Hey little cuz.  The grown-ups have things to talk about that they don’t want us to hear.  But I have a fiendish plan.  I know where mama keeps her car keys.  What say we head for the park instead of sitting here being bored to tears?  We could get ice cream after, and then come home and bounce around the house on sugar highs for the rest of the day.”

Christopher looked suspiciously at his daddy and papa, and then met his uncle’s eyes.  Getting the nod there, he stood and gathered his crutches under him.  “OK.  Let’s do this thing.  Wait.  You didn’t really steal Tia Pepa’s car keys, did you?  I don’t want any part of that.  I’m young, not stupid.”

Pepa looked at her seventeen-year-old son, trying to look repentant.  “Consider it an extremely short term loan.  Back in two hours joven.”

“Yes mama.”  “Yes tia.”

Giggling together the two boys went off for their adventure.  As the door closed behind them the mood in the room dropped considerably.

Maddie sat up a little straighter on the sofa with Eddie sitting beside her.  Abuela took her usual armchair with Pepa and Paco sharing the small loveseat.

“Alright Evan.  You texted that you had information about … what’s been going on.”  She took a deep breath.  “I need you to be completely honest with me.  I have a decision to make in the next few hours, and I really need all the information I can get.”

Buck held his sister close as she cried quietly into his shoulder.

After he had shared the information he’d gotten from Tony with his family, tears had begun slipping down Maddie’s face.  Thinking of the medicine in the kitchen, Buck knew what decision his sister was facing.

“What do I do, Evan?  I’m getting older … it may be my last chance… but …”  She took a deep breath.  “He would have killed you Evan.  If you hadn’t had hand-to-hand training, he could have killed you.  How can I just … disregard that?”

“But …  but in the beginning … he was my friend.  He helped me, supported me.  We had Buff-Fridays and karaoke nights… he made me laugh.  He made me feel … safe.”  She looked lost.  “He’s dying.  What do I do?”

Pepa came and sat beside the younger woman.  “Nina, listen to me.  Take any idea of this being your last chance out of your head.  If a baby is what you want … well there are ways.  Paco has donated to one of his cousins who had mumps as a child.  And one of my cousins Marla … her wife’s brother donated to them.”

Maddie grew quiet, listening to the woman’s advice.  “No, what you must consider … at this point, it is only a possibility.  And you were not trying to have a child.  You simply got caught up in the moment.  Plan B is a responsible solution to that circumstance.  But…”

Maddie looked up.  “While it is not your last chance, it is his last chance.  As you say, he is dying.  There will be no other chance for him.  But if children had truly been important to him … well, he is certainly old enough to have had them if he wanted them.  And no child deserves to come into the world only to be resented by the only parent they have.”

Maddie’s spine stiffened abruptly.  “I know what I need to do.  I will never risk another child growing up in that sort of environment.”

The room grew even quieter.  The men had been quietly talking in the corner, feeling that the women could give better advice in this circumstance.  But now, Maddie had all their attention.

It was Eddie who spoke first.  “That sounded … very pointed and personal.”

Maddie looked at her brother.

“It was.  It is.  I’d like to believe I could never… be like them.  But I won’t risk it..  As Pepa said.  No child deserves that.”

Buck returned to the sofa, sitting beside his sister and reaching carefully for her hand.

“Maddie, is this about Daniel?”