Tony DiNozzo was pissed. The more he thought about his conversation with Kate the angrier he became. There was nothing iron clad that said he and their fearless leader were exclusive and after all they had only been bumping boots for a couple of weeks but Tony had secretly hoped they were.

However, his talk with Kate had blown that idea up in his face. The way she had described Gibbs' flirting with Melissa, their dead bodies half-sister, he had arrived at the conclusion that Gibbs had merely been passing time until the next curvy red-head had come along. And now she had!

The little voice in the back of his mind laughed sarcastically, he really should have know better; Had he Anthony DiNozzo really thought that he was enough to hold Gibbs' attention, maybe he should just have put it down to stress relief and moved on. Trouble was it had felt like more.

Yes there were times when the sex was hard, fast and rough, but also there had been times when they'd kissed and cuddled. They had made love for hours, slow and sweet, something Tony had never figured his boss would indulge in. Because let's face it Gibbs had always been the full-frontal, in your face, assault type.

God knows what he'd do now, how the hell was he going to watch Gibbs with someone else, it would be like salt to an open wound! The only way he could see out of the situation, with at least some of his dignity intact was to transfer or leave. If he transfered he wasn't guaranteed a position away from D.C. which still meant daily contact with his lover. The more he thought about it, the more leaving started to appeal.

TBC

Exiting the elevator, Tony and Kate walked back into the bullpen. Tony tried his best to school his emotions, years of keeping up his mask should have made this easy to do, trouble was he had to face Gibbs and Tony had the suspicion that Jethro would see straight through him. As he delivered his report he refused to look into his bosses eyes, all he wanted was to get this case finished as quickly as possible and then he could make his arrangements to leave.

Gibbs studied the man in front of him, DiNozzo had delievered his report. He'd done it in a precise and efficent manner, however Jethro's gut was screaming at him that something was seriously wrong with his lover. He definately needed to get a minute alone with Tony to find out what had happened.

Tony quickly retreated behind the relative safety of his desk and continued his research on their current case. Keeping his head down he could almost feel Gibbs' gaze, he knew his boss was watching him but he also had a feeling Kate had noticed something was off with her partner too. He knew he'd been very quiet since getting back from their interviews in Baltimore and Harmony, but he really didn't feel upto placating them and playing nice. He was hurting and he could feel the tears beginning to sting at the backs of his eyes. Rising quickly, trying his best not to lose it in front of them, he quickly made an excuse about following up on a lead and made his way to the elevator. If anyone could help him it was Abby.

As he walked into the lab, Abby was busily tapping away at her keyboard, he quietly walked up behind her,

"Hey Abs," he said, it almost came out as a whisper.

"Oh God Tony, you scared me," looking closer at her best friend she could see how upset he looked, "Honey what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just needed to get away for a few..." his breath hitching as he spoke.

Abby didn't know what was wrong, she didn't need to know, well not just yet. What she did need to do was comfort her friend. Stepping forwards she gently took Tony into her arms, she could feel the wet warmth of his tears against her neck as he let go.

Letting him cry himself out, she felt his body start to relax as he was drained of the emotions he'd been bottling up.

"Come on baby," urging him to go with her she lead him through into her office and pulled out the futon. Making him lie down, she softly brushed her fingers through his hair in a slow, calming motion.

"I don't know what's going on Tony but you need to relax, this isn't like you. I'll keep everyone else out, so just close your eyes and get some rest."

"Thank you Abs," he murmured as he began to drift off.

Waiting until he was asleep, Abby returned to the lab. She still had work to do, but she couldn't help wondering what or who had hurt him. Whoever it was would pay for it, that was certain!

TBC