Tony closed his eyes and willed his clamouring heartbeat to shut the hell up for a few seconds, as he silently slid the door open a few inches and listened intently for any sound of his pursuer. He wished he had time to put on the trousers he was clutching like a lifeline, but he couldn't afford to rest here for long - his nakedness made him feel extremely vulnerable and, to compound that, he'd also lost his cell phone and did not have his gun.

He had no hope of being rescued. He had already been captured four times and on each occasion he had been forcibly stripped of some clothing and then released and told to run. He was being toyed with - the thrill was in the chase and the maniacal laughter echoed in his ears as he had fled. Tony knew that if he was caught again it would be all over. There would be no mercy shown.

Goosebumps shivered over his skin and his limbs trembled as he hesitated, unsure of his next move. One thing was certain, he couldn't stay here like a sitting duck. Of all the invaluable lessons that years of working with Gibbs had taught over the years, his boss had always emphasised one - If someone was after your hide, don't stay in one place - it's much harder to destroy a moving target.

"DiNozzo! You can run, but you can't hide."

Shit! The ominous voice was closer than Tony had anticipated. He had procrastinated too long. He had no choice but to fight back - now, before it was too late!

He stealthily moved from the closet and moved swiftly down the corridor and ducked through a door, leaning back against it in panting relief. His green eyes darted around the room, hoping to see some kind of weapon or anything...but apart from a huge bed, there was nothing of use.

Suddenly he heard a noise from the other side of the door.

Footsteps! Slow. Steady. Sinister.

Tony cast a look of sheer anguish at the room. He eyed the bed with trepidation, he knew it offered the best chance of concealment. It was the obvious hiding place. He moved.

The footsteps got closer and then stopped abruptly. From his vantage point, Tony could see the doorhandle being slowly depressed. His breath caught, and although he was chilled, sweat began to bead across his brow. It seemed to take forever for the door to swing open with a slight squeak of its hinges, and a menacing shadow fell across the threshold. Tony could sense that the room was being scrutinised carefully. To his horror, the relentless predator walked further into the room and stopped dead by the bed.

Tony shrank back into the concealing darkness and made himself as small as possible, he hardly dared to breathe in case it alerted the heightened senses of the man hunting him, but the panicked thump in Tony's chest seemed to reverberate around the room.

Without warning the bedsheets were ripped away and there was no mistaking the roar of thwarted rage that sounded in response. Tony peeped out from behind the opened door and saw his opportunity, his adversary was rummaging around the bed, his back resolutley turned - this could be Tony's one and only chance for attack!

Like a screaming banshee he launched himself at full speed toward the man. The collision was full impact and they both fell to the bed in a tangle of bodies and mashed, tangled limbs.

"Ooof! What the fuck? DINOZZO!"

"Got'cha! Now it's your turn to lose some clothes." Tony began to tug at Gibbs' shirt.

"Of all the sneaky, underhand tricks."

"Sore loser." With a triumphant yell, Tony succeeded in removing the concealing cloth.

"May I remind you," Gibbs snarled balefully, "that I am still half dressed and you have nothing left to lose."

"Ah, but you have to run now - The hunter is now the hunted!"

Gibbs wriggled out from under Tony and stood up.

"Bring it on." Gibbs briskly ran from the room as Tony slowly counted to thirty.

"...28 Mississippi, 29 Mississippi, 30 Mississippi. Coming ready or not," he hollered.

"Promises, promises," shouted back a disembodied voice.

"Jarhead, you're so going down." Tony sniggered to himself, as he made his way from the spare bedroom to the living room. A flash of blue jeans streaking past the window had him sprinting outside.

"You cheater, Jethro! No going outside!"

"Sucker!" Came the faint reply.

The bang of the front door told Tony that Gibbs had crept around the house and let himself in. He threw himself back the way he came.

*CRASH!*

"Tony, what was that?"

*Moan*

"DiNozzo! Answer me?" Gibbs tone was sharp, which meant he was worried. He dashed into the entrance hall and saw his lover's prone body lying at the bottom of the steps that led down to the basement.

"TONY!"

Running downstairs, Gibbs crouched down by Tony's side and cradled his face.

"What the fuck have you done? You always take it too far."

Tony made a grab for the nearest ankle and yanked Gibbs onto the floor. With a swift movement he rolled on top of the spluttering, indignant man, straddling his body and making himself quite comfortably at home.

"You bastard! I thought you were hurt."

Tony trailed an insulting finger along Gibbs jaw. "Who's the sucker now?" he whispered. His long fingers moved to the buttons of Gibbs' jeans and began to deftly undo them. Not waiting to pull them off, he slipped his hand inside.

"Mmmm mmm...gone commando have we?"

Gibbs smacked Tony's ass - hard! "I thought I'd help you out."

"You thought having no underwear would get you off one minute sooner, you mean. Submit!"

"WHAT?"

"Say submit and I'll share the spoils of victory with you."

"No way!" replied Gibbs emphatically. "You were naked first."

"I can be dressed first too. Submit!"

Gibbs weighed his options. "Submit," he whispered sullenly.

Tony softly kissed his lover as a reward for his good behaviour and waggled his brows wickedly. " I think we should play strip hide and seek more often, Boss."