Gibbs finished his cup of bourbon and poured himself another one. As he returned to his work on the boat, his thoughts went to the case they'd closed today. Or more specifically, Tony's comment on finding some hot chick online – hotjugs24 – who ended up being some old bald guy. Gibbs grinned to himself. Tony's story would have been more believable if the team hadn't decided to find out what this hot chick looked like.

Gibbs wondered how many relationships that started online ended up being good ones. Tony could probably give him the statistics… Tony was good at remembering statistics; it was like he'd memorized them in order to make himself appear smarter.

Taking another sip of his bourbon, Gibbs thought about the chat lines and wondered what the appeal was of talking to people who you'd never met. With a grin lighting up his face, he decided to check it out. What could go wrong anyway? He could make a fool of himself in-front of people he'd never met before…not that he cared about what people thought of him. Besides, he'd had one too many bourbons to care anyway.

Making his way out of the basement, Gibbs located the laptop that Abby had set up for him a few weeks ago. Still unused. Grunting, he picked up the computer and took it back to the basement, where he fell onto the couch with it. As the computer set itself up, Gibbs filled up his bourbon and tried to think of a name for himself. ‘Gibbs' was not a good internet name, or so he'd been told…

Settling onto the couch, he looked intensely at the computer, trying to figure out what name to use. Suddenly he chuckled, "‘Hotsailor'. I'll call myself ‘hotsailor'"

He got onto the internet and was about to register the username, when he realised it would make him sound gay. Frowning, he tried to think of another name. Taking a sip of his bourbon, he thought for a while before eventually coming up with another name. Jarhead seemed to work nicely, but he knew that name would be taken, so he decided on Jarhead426, the digits being the last three numbers of his ID.

Once he'd registered himself, he decided to find anybody he knew. He knew Abby's username was ‘five finger scuito', so he looked around until he located her. But he realised Abby was offline, which he thought was strange before he remembered she was staying the night with McGee.

Gibbs browsed her extensive contact list, chuckling at the usernames. He raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw a handful of people in her ‘collegues' section. He grinned when he saw ElfLord as one of her contacts. He was able to identify everybody's name on the list, except ToyBoy38, but he presumed that was Tony.

Grinning, Gibbs clicked on ToyBoy's name and a mini window appeared, with something at the top telling him not to give out credit card numbers…

For a while, Gibbs just stared at the screen, before eventually typing:

Jarhead426: Hello?

After a waiting for sometime, he got a response.

ToyBoy38: Who's this?

Gibbs licked his lips, suddenly thinking this was a bad idea. Maybe he should just go back to working on his boat… Sighing, Gibbs responded

Jarhead426: I'm Jarhead426
ToyBoy38: Very Funny
Jarhead426: I thought so

Gibbs watched the screen for a while, waiting for a reply, then typed

Jarhead426: I was on the net, just looking around. I'm kinda bored at the moment and most of the people I know are out or in bed

When there was no reply, Gibbs felt like he'd done something wrong. Maybe there were some things he should just leave alone

Jarhead426: And I'm kinda pissed and I just wanted to talk with someone

Gibbs frowned when he typed that. He'd never been this honest with anyone before…maybe it was the whole ‘anonymous' thing

ToyBoy38: Yeah, I know how u feel
Jarhead426: You do?
ToyBoy38: Yeah, sure. Sometimes when I come back from clubbin, I just wanna talk or something, I don't always wanna go straight to sleep
ToyBoy38: U just been clubbing?
Jarhead426: Nah, haven't been clubbing in years
ToyBoy38: Y not? Ur a marine, ur supposed to go clubbing heaps!
Jarhead426: I got married fairly young, there was no real need to go clubbing. Of course, when we were on shore leave away from home and my mates went, I went as well, but..
ToyBoy38: Fair enough. U still married?
Jarhead426: Nope, my last two marriages didn't end very well. Don't intend to get married again any time soon
ToyBoy38: Okay…how many times have you been married?

Gibbs paused before typing his answer, Tony was sure to work out who he was if they followed this line of questioning. For some reason unknown to Gibbs, he didn't want Tony to know he was talking to him.

Jarhead426: A few times….So, are you a cop or something? I've done more talking about myself whilst I've been talking to you, then in the last few years…
ToyBoy38: Lol, yeah, I'm a cop or something
Jarhead426: Ah, what does ‘lol' mean?
ToyBoy38: :o how often do u use the net?
ToyBoy38: don't answer that. Lol is shorthand 4 ‘laugh out loud'
Jarhead426: Okay

Gibbs watched the screen for a while, waiting for Tony to type something else. When it didn't come, Gibbs typed..

Jarhead426: So, what did you mean, a cop or something?

There was a slight pause before Tony replied.

ToyBoy38: I'm a navy cop, I work for NCIS

Chuckling to himself, Gibbs couldn't help but type:

Jarhead426: That anything like CSI?

There was another pause before Tony responded what he thought he would. It was an ongoing joke with the team whenever anybody asked if they were like CSI

ToyBoy38: Only if you're dyslexic
Jarhead426: Lol, was just being an ass, I know who NCIS are, and what they do
ToyBoy38: Right…
Jarhead426: So do you like working there?

Gibbs held his breath as he waited for Tony to reply, half dreading what the younger man would reply. Eventually Tony responded

ToyBoy38: It has its moments

Before Gibbs could ask what that meant, Tony said something else

ToyBoy38: My Boss is a bit of a hard-ass though
ToyBoy38: He says he's supposed to be a bastard, but there's a line, and he's crossed it a few times
Jarhead426: What do you mean?

There was another pause, and again Gibbs held his breath as he waited for a response. Then his screen flashed twice as Tony responded twice in quick succession

ToyBoy38: He doesn't know how close he was to losing me from the team a few times…
ToyBoy38: But that's a story for another time
Jarhead426: What happened? What did he do?

Gibbs heart clenched when he read that Tony had almost left the team, Tony was a great agent, he didn't want him to leave. And he was the only one who could put up with all his bullshit

ToyBoy38: I don't wanna talk about it
ToyBoy38: I think I'm gonna head off to bed now, might c u on here tomoro nite?
Jarhead426: Yeah, maybe
ToyBoy38: Okay…what's ur email address?
Jarhead426: I don't think I have one
ToyBoy38: BS, of course u do

Tony showed Gibbs how to access his email account, then made him send an email to him.

ToyBoy38: C? That was easy, hey?
Jarhead426: Yeah, I guess
ToyBoy38: Ok, well I'll talk 2 u whenever, c u around marine

Gibbs watched as the window said that Tony was now appearing offline. Grunting, he closed off his computer and glared at it. He knew he was hard on Tony at work, hell he was hard on everybody. Not to mention he had a name, a reputation, to live up to, or did he? Putting the computer on the bench top, Gibbs picked up his sander again and resumed work on the boat. Tomorrow was another day, and hopefully ‘ToyBoy38' could shed some light into what Tony was thinking…

It was three days later when the team finally had some time to themselves again. They'd caught a case which had them trekking all over the countryside trying to get a murderer. Gibbs had tried to cut the team some slack, but the case had bugged him and by the end of the last day, he'd been snapping at all of them.

As Gibbs started working on his boat, he remembered the internet discussion he'd had with Tony, and wondered if Tony would be online. Quickly setting down the sander, he wiped some sawdust off his laptop and booted it up, waiting impatiently. Eventually the computer was ready to run, and the internet came up.

Gibbs typed in his username and password to find that Tony was offline. Grumbling to himself, he realised that Tony had probably gone out tonight to work off the last few days off frustration. Gibbs knew how he felt, part of the reason he'd decided to build the boat was to work off frustration.

Sighing, he went picked up his cup and filled it with bourbon and started working on his boat.


"DiNozzo, don't you have work to do?!" Gibbs snapped, glaring at the younger agent from behind his desk
"Yes, boss, I'm just waiting for…" Tony trailed off as he realised Gibbs wasn't listening anymore
McGee gave him an apologetic look and went back to work. Tony and McGee had been arguing over the location of Abby's new tattoo, but the noise had been getting to Gibbs. Gibbs knew he should cut them some slack, after all they weren't on a hot case, and they'd finally got their murderer yesterday, and their reports were in.
Getting up, Gibbs took the finished reports up to the director who was in a meeting and came back to his desk. Trying to look busy, Gibbs checked his emails before logging into his ‘other' email account. There was 12 new emails in his inbox, 11 from people he didn't know, and one from ‘ToyBoy38'.
Gibbs grinned and opened the email.

To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: work sucks
I'm bored, we just spent the last three days tracking down a murderer and now we're waiting for another case. My boss is being a bastard as usual; u'd think he could cut us some slack. God, sometimes I think I'm gonna just shoot him…or punch him. Anyways, better get back to work before he realizes I'm slacking off…
How's ur last few days been?

Frowning now, Gibbs clicked reply and responded.

To: ToyBoy38
From: Jarhead426
Subject: work sucks
My last few days have been uneventful, mostly, pissed a few people off but they'll get over it.
Maybe ur boss just had a bad few days or something?
Semper Fi

Gibbs clicked send and got up to retrieve a cold case from the cabinet. When he came back, Tony had already replied.

To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: Re: work sucks
A bad few days? Everyday is a bad day with my boss, he just can't seem 2 b nice. It's like the word isn't in his vocabulary.
And y the hell r u siding with him? Is this some kind of marine thing? U all piss everybody off & stick together?!

Gibbs widened his eyes at the angry reply he'd received. Not knowing what to say initially, Gibbs looked at the file he'd picked out, before clicking the reply button

To: ToyBoy38
From: Jarhead426
Subject: Re: work sucks
Whoa! Cool down. Didn't mean to piss you off. And in any case, you never told me your boss is a marine. Chances are that he knows he pushed you to your limits and just needs time…or something

After sending the email, Gibbs covertly watched Tony. The younger man seemed to be working intensely on something on his computer, and didn't show that he'd even noticed he'd received an email. He watched Tony click his mouse a few times and continue typing, but gave no appearance to be not working. Not that Gibbs would have called him on it…Several minutes later Gibbs received an email

To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: Re: work sucks
Sorry 4 getting pissy, I didn't sleep much last nite and kinda have a hangover…
Anyway, yeah, my boss is an ex-marine, gunny sergeant. And now he's watching me, I'd better get back to work, he'll kill me if he realizes I'm emailing people.
I'll b online 2nite if u wanna talk…

Gibbs sighed, thinking he needed to improve his ‘covert observation skills'. Looking at his watch, he realized it was time for lunch, "Right, you three can take an hour for lunch," Gibbs told them without looking up


Gibbs opened his box of noodles from the Chinese shop and watched his laptop boot up. He easily logged onto his chat room internet thing and found Tony already online.

ToyBoy38: Good 2 c u turned up
Jarhead426: Of course I was going to. So, how are you doing?
ToyBoy38: Better, my boss let us take an hour for lunch, then was actually pleasant 2 b around for the rest of the day
Jarhead426: Told you to give him time
ToyBoy38: God, I hate it how he does this 2 me

Gibbs frowned and waited for Tony to explain himself

Jarhead426: How he does what to you?

After a while, when Tony didn't reply, Gibbs typed

Jarhead426: You still there
ToyBoy38: Yeah
Jarhead426: What does he do?
ToyBoy38: Nothing
Jarhead426: You wanna talk about it?
ToyBoy38: He can be just so annoying and I hate him, and then he can be … I don't know
ToyBoy38: There are times when he can be nice, and he smiles a lot. I love his smile; he should do it more often though
ToyBoy38: I'm not gay, or at least I don't think so, he's just…

Frowning, Gibbs thought he knew where Tony was going with this.

Jarhead426: What do you mean, you don't think so?
ToyBoy38: I've kissed a guy before; it didn't do much for me, but my boss…
ToyBoy38: He has me wondering about myself
ToyBoy38: But you probably don't wanna hear about this, ur a marine and I know the whole ‘don't ask, don't tell' thing

Gibbs watched the screen, wondering if he wanted to know more, and realised that he wanted to hear what Tony had to say.

Jarhead426: Don't stop on my account, sounds like you need to talk about this, and I'm not a bigot
ToyBoy38: Sure?
Jarhead426: Wouldn't have said so, if I didn't want you to
ToyBoy38: Ok. Well, I guess I started thinking of him like this the first time he went undercover after I began working with him. He got shot and I was the first on the scene
ToyBoy38: The shot missed all major organs; there was just a lot of blood. If he'd been shot several inches in any direction, he could have died, or been seriously injured
ToyBoy38: We still managed to get the drug runners, but I didn't have that sense that we'd won this time. I've seen people shot before, but I realised that my boss wasn't immortal. U know what I mean? Or am I talking thru my ass?

Gibbs remembered the case. It was a few months before he'd hired Kate. The drug runners panicked at some meeting they'd attended and decided they couldn't trust him, so they shot him. Shortly after being shot, Tony turned up. When he'd seen Gibbs, Tony's face had paled so much Gibbs thought he'd pass out.

Jarhead426: No, I know what you mean. Same thing happened with me and a fling I had in Paris, but that didn't work out…but I know what you mean
ToyBoy38: Anyway, afterwards I just looked out for him more, until I realized I wasn't watching him because I was concerned as much as …I think I was falling for him. Which is why his cutting remarks and his bad attitude piss me off so much
Jarhead426: Have you talked to him about it?
ToyBoy38: Nah, he treats everybody like that. But when he says he doesn't know why he hired you, or something that makes you feel incompetent… So many times I was so close to either hitting him or leaving the job for good

Gibbs tried to swallow around the lump that was lodged in his throat, and took a deep breath before replying

Jarhead426: What made you stay?
ToyBoy38: I don't know, but I don't know if I'll have the strength to stay next time…

Closing his eyes, Gibbs tried to think of something to say when Tony replied again

ToyBoy38: They say love conquers all, but I don't know if it will this time…sometimes enough is enough

Sighing, he cursed his inability to communicate with people as he found himself not knowing what to say

ToyBoy38: Brb, door

Gibbs frowned at the computer, then typed

Jarhead426: Brb?

When Tony didn't reply, Gibbs began to get worried, wondering if he'd said something wrong

Jarhead426: Hello?

Gibbs started getting anxious when he still didn't get a response, what the hell does brb mean?

Jarhead426: You there?

After several minutes without a reply, Gibbs shook his head, he needed coffee.

Jarhead426: Sorry if something I said offended you, it wasn't intentional

Eventually Tony replied, making Gibbs sigh with relief

ToyBoy38: Lol, sorry. ‘Brb' is shorthand for ‘be right back', forgot ur not all that familiar with the internet…kinda remind me of my boss…

There was ‘silence' as Gibbs hoped Tony wouldn't find out he was speaking to him over the net

ToyBoy38: Ur not my boss r u?
ToyBoy38: U 2 have a lot of similarities. Ur both marines, both been married – and divorced, both had a fling in Paris, and both have difficulty with anything technical…
Jarhead426: Hey I never said anything about anything technical – just computers

And phones…and, anything technical, Gibbs thought to himself, but thought it would be better not to type

ToyBoy38: Right, anyway I gotta go, an old friend just turned up.
Jarhead426: Okay, might email you tomorrow, if I don't get too busy
ToyBoy38: Lol, okay, cya marine
Jarhead426: Cya

Gibbs watched as Tony went offline, and lay back with his hands behind his head. Well, he'd certainly learnt something interesting about Tony tonight, a few interesting somethings… Gibbs grinned as a plan took form in his head…

Gibbs sighed as yet another day ended. It had been two days since he'd formed his plan, but the perfect opportunity to execute it hadn't presented itself yet. And he was starting to have second thoughts about his plan. All of a sudden it seemed like a bad idea and besides, he had no idea how Tony would respond

And another reason he was fearful of initiating his plan was that it seemed like Tony had finally found somebody. Not that he'd said anything, but he seemed happier and his eyes seemed to twinkle... that, and he hadn't been online since the other night, the night when his ‘old friend' had turned up. Gibbs wondered just how good a friend this old friend was...

Taking a sip of his bourbon, he logged online and saw that Tony was still offline, and that he had no new emails. Grumbling, he turned back to his boat and resumed work on it, thinking about whether he should forgot about his ‘perfect plan'.

The more time went on, the more he was reluctant to do it. But by the same token, the knowledge he'd gained the other night made him want to go ahead with it…

As he turned back to the workbench to fill up his cup, he noticed his computer flashing as Tony was online and had started a conversation with him. Gibbs grinned taking the computer to the couch and sitting down with it in his lap.

ToyBoy38: Hello

Jarhead426: Hey. Where have you been lately? Haven't seen you on here for ages

ToyBoy38: Lol, it's only been 2 days…We had a case and we were half-way across the country…

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the screen. Liar. Why would he lie? It's not like he'd pass judgment on him if he had found somebody...at least not if he didn't have some invested interest in Tony being single... maybe he knew who he was and was trying to call his bluff...

Jarhead426: Really?

ToyBoy38: Yeah, my boss had us working pretty hard, hardly slept for the last few days

Oh I'm sure you haven't slept for the last few days, but I doubt it has anything to do with your boss working you too hard...Gibbs' thoughts went off on a tangent as he thought about all the ways he could make Tony work hard...Grinning to himself, he tried to decide what to respond, but Tony beat him to it

ToyBoy38: So what've u been up 2 recently?

Jarhead426: Not a lot, mostly just work

ToyBoy38: Sounds like fun…So wot exactly do u do?

Gibbs raised his eyebrow at the screen, wondering what he should say...he could hardly say he worked at NCIS, that'd be like just telling Tony, ‘by the way, you know how you've been bitching about your boss, and declared you're love for him...well guess what? Surprise!'. Yeah, no thanks, he thought to himself as he tried to come up with a way to avoid the question.

Jarhead426: This and that...Recently I've been training up some new people, they work really well together…one of them will be taking over from me in the next few years, gotta make sure he's ready

ToyBoy38: Ok...u didn't really answer my question, is it confidential or something?

Gibbs smirked as Tony provided a way out for him.

Jarhead426: Yeah

ToyBoy38: Fair enough. So, u thinking of retiring soon?

Jarhead426: Eventually, give it 5 more years or so...

ToyBoy38: Exactly how old r u?

Damn, backed myself into a corner again. Gibbs grumbled, rubbing his face, he had to watch what he was saying...

Jarhead426: How old do you want me to be?

ToyBoy38: That depends

Jarhead426: On what?

ToyBoy38: A lot of things...Really, how old r u?

Jarhead426: How old r u?

Gibbs grinned to himself, he liked playing games with people's minds.

ToyBoy38: 38

Jarhead426: Liar

ToyBoy38: Y?

Jarhead426: You took a while to respond, like you had to think about what answer to give, most people know their age straight off, without thinking, unless they've recently had a birthday, or don't want to tell somebody their real age

ToyBoy38: That's not necessarily true

Jarhead426: Fine

Gibbs watched the screen for a while, waiting for Tony to say something else. Eventually he responded

ToyBoy38: Ok, I'm 33

Jarhead426: I'm 45

ToyBoy38: Serious?

Jarhead426: Nope. 50

ToyBoy38: Damn. I thought you were like, late thirties or something...

Jarhead426: Sorry to disappoint you

ToyBoy38: I'm not disappointed. Hell, my boss is about your age, not sure exactly how old he is

Jarhead426: Yeah, but you don't like your boss

Gibbs waited for Tony to respond. Maybe he'd said the wrong thing? Well that was the impression he'd gotten anyway. Tony loved him; he just didn't like him…if that made sense

ToyBoy38: True, he's a bastard. But you're different, you're kinda nice

Jarhead426: You don't think you're boss can be nice?

ToyBoy38: I don't wanna talk about my boss

Jarhead426: Okay, but you brought him up

ToyBoy38: Yeah, well I don't wanna talk about him now.

Jarhead426: Okay

Frowning at Tony's seemingly sudden change of attitude, Gibbs waited for Tony to continue the discussion, thankfully he didn't have long to wait

ToyBoy38: I wanna talk about you

Jarhead426: What do you wanna know?

ToyBoy38: Well, wot do u like 2 do when ur not working?

Jarhead426: Um, sailing

Gibbs thought for a moment, deciding that he might figure out who he was really speaking to – if he already hadn't – if he didn't say anything else

Jarhead426: Reading, watching movies, that kind of thing

ToyBoy38: Cool. What kind of movies r u in2?

Jarhead426: Pretty much anything, haven't been to see a movie in quite a while though

ToyBoy38: Righto...U seen The Recruit?

Gibbs frowned as he tried to place the movie, wondering if Tony had ever mentioned it...

Jarhead426: Don't think so

ToyBoy38: Fight Club? Come on, everybody has 2 have seen that movie

Jarhead426: Yeah, I managed to see that one

ToyBoy38: Wot did u think of it?

Jarhead426: It was ok, the ending was good

ToyBoy38: Ur not much of a movie buff, r u?

Jarhead426: Not really. Manage to see a movie now and then, but most of the time I'm busy with work or other things

ToyBoy38: Yeah, righto

Jarhead426: How about yourself, what do like to do when you're not working?

ToyBoy38: Clubbing...

Gibbs waited for Tony to add more, intently watching the bottom of the window as it said that Tony was writing something. Gibbs grinned, figuring that Tony was starting to flirt with him online, and that he kind of liked it.

Suddenly, his computer told him that Tony had gone offline. Gibbs frowned, waiting impatiently for Tony to come back and wondering why he'd suddenly decided not to talk to him anymore.

After five minutes, Gibbs wondered if Tony would be coming back, or if he'd decided to call it a night, or maybe if his ‘old friend' had turned up again.

Gibbs groaned and took a sip of his bourbon. Closing his eyes, he wondered why he hadn't noticed that Tony had been in love with him before. It's not like the man had been overly subtle about it. But apparently too subtle for him to catch on.

Opening his eyes, Gibbs watched the clock on his computer slowly count the minutes. He heaved out a big sigh, wondering what he'd said to Tony to make him leave without so much as a goodbye. If it'd been anyone else, he could've reasoned that they'd been called into work or something similar…but he knew that wasn't the case

Gibbs looked at his watch, it was almost 1 o'clock, exactly 25 minutes since Tony had said something. Closing his eyes, he gave Tony another 5 minutes before shutting down his computer.

Grumbling, he poured himself another bourbon and prayed that they didn't get a case tomorrow, because if they did, he could not be held responsible for the bad mood he would be in...

Gibbs sat behind his monitor, glaring at his screen. He hadn't ended up getting much sleep last night. Tony signing off without saying goodbye had put him in a bad mood, and had preoccupied his thoughts whilst trying to fall asleep. In the end, he'd gotten up and worked on the boat until he eventually fell asleep beneath it.

Thankfully, the team had noticed he was in a bad mood, and had stayed clear of him. well, all of the team that were here at the moment, anyway. Tony had yet to show up. He was an hour later, and Gibbs was going to kick his ass for it.

As if reading his thoughts, the elevator dinged and Tony strolled out. The younger man had his carefree attitude on, but Gibbs saw that it was just a façade. He didn't look much better than Gibbs felt.

"Boss," Tony greeted as he entered the bullpen, "The power went off in my house last night and I slept in, then I was stuck behind this guy doing like…I swear he almost stopped…then there was a crash, and traffic is just…"

Gibbs held up his hand to stop the flow of words as Tony began to get worked up, "Just don't do it again, DiNozzo,"

"Huh?" Tony asked, confused that Gibbs had let him off so easily

McGee and Kate were now openly paying attention to what was going on. Everybody had expected Gibbs to rip Tony a new one – including Gibbs, who was also confused by what he'd just said.

Gibbs made a shooing motion with one hand, "We don't have any active cases, things like these happen occasionally,"

Everybody in the bullpen gaped at Gibbs, wondering what the cause was of his change in behavior.

"Gibbs, are you feeling okay?" Tony asked

"I'm fine!" Gibbs snapped, "Everybody, back to work,"

Tony shrugged, heading towards his desk now that Gibbs had returned to normal.

After half an hour of pretending to do work, Gibbs decided to get a coffee; his other one finished a life-time ago.

When Gibbs returned, he had a tray full of coffees and a caf-Pow! He set a coffee on everybody's desk, then the rest of the tray on McGee's, "McGee, take the tea and caf-Pow! to Abby and Ducky,"

Tony grinned, "Huh, you got laid last night, didn't you, boss?"

Gibbs glared at him, which made Tony put his head down and started writing his report again.

As Gibbs got to his computer, he noticed somebody had sent ‘Jarhead426' an email. Glaring at the screen, he clicked on the email and read the message.

To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: Sorry
Hey, sorry about last nite, for some reason, my internet stopped working last nite. Although I found out this morning why. Turns out my landlord is revamping the building again and was playing around with some stuff last nite, and cut the phone cable.

Then he managed to cut the power to the house. Don't ask me how he did that without getting electrocuted. According to him he was just playing around, but to disconnect the power, he woulda had 2 b outside at the electrics box… so, welcome to my world.

And that's not even mentioning what he did to the water system. Just had a pissy kinda two days, but anyway, I don't wanna talk about all that…

As a side note, my boss is acting strangely, he was actually kinda nice today…not sure why…

Anyways, gotta go, talk to ya later


Gibbs raised his eyebrows. He knew there had been a rational reason for Tony to disconnect from him like that, and now he had his answer. Gibbs smiled and replied, keeping it short and sweet

To: ToyBoy38
From: Jarhead426
Subject: Re: Sorry
That sucks. You got anybody to stay with whilst they screw around with your apartment?

After pressing the send button, he picked up some paperwork, and tried to lose himself in that until he received a reply. Eventually, his screen began blinking at him again with a new message. Clicking on the message made him frown

To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: Re: Sorry
Nah, not yet. If this had happened a few days ago, I woulda stayed with my friend – I told you about the guy who's here for a few weeks from Italy? – but he's kinda being strange at the moment

Gibbs was about to reply when he saw ToyBoy38 appear online on the instant messaging service. Smiling again, he appeared online and replied straight away

Jarhead426: Nah, you didn't mention him. Strange how?

ToyBoy38: Ah, well, he's here for 4 weeks, he arrived a few days ago, think I was online to you at the time. He was gonna stay with me, but kind better accommodation.

Jarhead426: Are you two a couple?

Gibbs held his breath as he waited for the answer. Hoping for a negative one.

ToyBoy38: We have a history, but before he flew out of Italy, I made it clear that I didn't wanna go back there. He's a great guy, but there's usually a reason why things didn't work out the first time, so I wouldn't want to go back there

Jarhead426: So, I take it, his being strange, is that he didn't quite get the message

ToyBoy38: Affirmative, and it's just made things kinda weird, and I don't wanna ask him if I could stay over, he'd get the wrong idea

Jarhead426: So, what's ur back up plan?

ToyBoy38: I don't really have one. I could ask one of my mates, but my work tends to have strange hours, so I'd be reluctant to ask them

Jarhead426: What about someone from your work? Maybe your boss? You could try talking to him away from the work situation. You said he was being nice earlier

ToyBoy38: Yeah, I don't think so…it wouldn't work.

Jarhead426: Why not?

ToyBoy38: Because I've stayed at his place before, and nothing happened. It was a disaster, and that's putting it nicely

Gibbs closed his eyes, trying to remember why it had been such a bad experience for Tony

Jarhead426: Maybe this time it'll be different. Just, give it a go, it might work out. In any case, I gotta go, I've gotta get ready for an important meeting

ToyBoy38: Ok, mite talk 2 u 2nite, I'll let u know how it goes

Jarhead426: Ok, cya

Gibbs signed off and stared at the screen a bit longer. Then he sighed, hoping that Tony would ask him if he could stay with him whilst his apartment got fixed.

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Gibbs looked at the clock again, wondering why time seemed to go going slower today than any other day. It was almost two o'clock and Tony had still not asked anybody in the bullpen if he could stay with them. The younger agent hadn't left the bullpen, so he couldn't have asked Ducky or Abby yet either.

After stretching, Gibbs stood up and looked at his three agents, "Right, everybody up, let's go,"

McGee began getting his gear ready, whilst Kate and Tony looked at him with confused expressions.

"Boss, I didn't hear the phone ring, we got a case?" Tony asked, with raised eyebrows

"No, Tony, I'm buying lunch today, and we are all eating out. McGee, call Abby and Ducky," Gibbs replied, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world

Fifteen minutes later, the team was outside a nice looking pub, looking at the menu.

"So, what is the cause of this occasion, Jethro?" Ducky asked the question on everybody's minds

"I thought it was time we all did something together again, besides investigating a case. A few months ago, we did this sorta thing on a regular basis, but recently we've been too busy," Gibbs replied, hoping his answer would suffice

"I see," Ducky replied, wondering if there was more

Gibbs sighed, "And we need to stick together. Things like what happened to Agent Jones, kinda reminds us of how dangerous the work is we do. We see each other more often than family members, why not work with that?"

The rest of the team nodded in agreement. The mention of Agent Jones served as a reminder to the whole group of what they dealt with on a regular basis. Agent Jones had been with NCIS for four years, and had been killed in the line of duty as they tracked down a serial killer. His death had hit the agency pretty hard, as everybody got along with him.

The team ordered their lunch and talked about everything under the sun, enjoying the early afternoon. Gibbs leaned back in his chair, reveling in the small stroke of luck that had him sitting next to Tony.

Ducky nudged his arm, saying quietly enough that only Gibbs would hear him, "Jethro, I believe you and I need to have a chat later,"

Gibbs frowned slightly, "Of course, Ducky,"

Ducky smiled and gave him a small frown, "What are you up to, Jethro Gibbs?"

Gibbs smiled openly, "Ah, that's need to know,"

Ducky chuckled, then turned his attention back to the main discussion.

"…but when she went back to kill him, to deliver the killing blow – because one is never enough – he was gone. And then the camera zooms so you can see behind her, and there he is. She realizes like, a second afterwards and slowly turns around…" Abby was saying

"What's this?" Gibbs asked

"Wolf creek. The most disturbing movie I've seen in a long time," Abby responded, before carrying on with her description

Gibbs nodded and half-listened to her. After a few minutes, Tony turned around to face him, saying quietly, so as not to disturb Abby's story, "Boss?"

"Yeah, Tony," Gibbs responded just as quietly

"Could I stay at your place for the next few days?" Tony asked, hope shining in his eyes

Gibbs grinned, "Your apartment being renovated again?"

"You could say that. I told you the power went off last night. The landlord did that. And he screwed up the water system," Tony sighed in frustration

"Of course you can stay with me," Gibbs told him

"Really?" Tony asked

"Tony, my place is always open for you to use. And as far as I'm concerned, you'd be better off living with me, than staying in the stingy apartment block that you currently live in," Gibbs replied honestly

"You asking me to move in with you….Jethro?" Tony asked with a grin

Gibbs returned the grin, "Tony, the offer is always there,"

Tony frowned slightly, "Ok, what's the catch?"

"There is none," Gibbs replied, "You need a better place to live, that apartment block needs more than a few dozen renovations. And your landlord needs more than a good talking to – which I'd be more than happy to do,"

"O…kay. Think I'd need some time to think before moving in with you. But for now, I'll take up the offer to stay with you until the renovations are finished," Tony responded

Gibbs shrugged, "The offer's always there. You need any help bringing some stuff over?"

"Nah, should be fine. Thanks, Gibbs," Tony said

"Not a problem, Tony," Gibbs replied, mentally doing a little dance of triumph

"DiNozzo, you ready yet?" Gibbs asked, standing up and turning off his lamp

"Not yet, just gotta finish this up," Tony replied, looking up at Gibbs, "Besides, I need to drop past my place to pick up all my crap,"

Gibbs strode around to the front of Tony's desk, peeking over to see the computer, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Checking my email," Tony responded, clicking on something to make his screen go blank, "You don't have the internet at your place, do you?"

"Nope," Gibbs replied, stepping back a bit, "You use the internet much?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Gibbs, sometimes I'm not sure how you get by without the internet,"

"Easy," Gibbs replied, "I have a boat,"

Tony rolled his eyes again, "No, boss, you have the skeleton of a boat,"

"I'll get it finished one day," Gibbs replied, "You sure you don't need help picking up some of your stuff?"

"I'm sure, boss," Tony responded, "I'll pick up some Chinese on my way over,"

Gibbs scoffed, "Tony, I can cook. Take-out is for eating on the run at the office. At home, I like to have a home-cooked meal,"

"So I suppose you'll want to know what time I'll be in?" Tony asked

"Well, that would be a good idea if you were planning on eating tonight," Gibbs remarked

Tony grinned, "So, will it be a candlelit dinner?"

"That'd ruin the surprise," Gibbs returned the smile, "Tony, give me a call when you leave your place, ok?"

"Okay, boss," Tony replied

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Gibbs turned the veggies down to a simmer and checked on the meat in the oven. As he took off his oven mitts, he looked at the clock. Tony hadn't called yet, so he had enough time to quickly check his email before the younger man arrived.

Gibbs quickly made his way into the basement and turned on the laptop, waiting impatiently for it to boot up. He tapped his knuckles against the bench as the computer was finally ready.

Logging onto the site, he found that he had a few new emails, one of them from Tony.

To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: Thanks
Hey, thanx 4 the advice 2 ask my boss if I could stay with him. I asked him over lunch & he said yes. In fact, he was very good about it, even going so far as 2 ask if I wanted 2 permanently stay with him. But I think that's more 2 do with the fact that he hates the area & apartment I'm living in @ the moment, & he thinks my landlord is a bastard.

In any case, I'm not going 2 b able 2 talk 2 u as much now, his place doesn't have the internet, so I'll be reduced 2 only talking 2 u @ work…under the watchful eyes of my boss.

*sigh* and now I'm wondering whether I'm doing the right thing, I like u…I've never met u, but u sound nice, & caring… ur like the polar opposite of my boss, who is a bastard, & can hurt me without even thinking about it. & I know I've known him 4 longer, & I'm attracted 2 him & everything, but… I'm kinda confused @ the moment.
Sorry if this is making u feel awkward, but I needed to tell you…

Anyway, I've gotta go, my boss is expecting me at his place soon for dinner…
Cya, ToyBoy38

Gibbs blinked at the message on the screen, then read it again to make sure he'd seen it right. Cursing silently to himself, he tried to think about what to reply…there was no way he could tell Tony who he was. It was too late in the game to reveal his identity…

To: ToyBoy38
From: Jarhead426
Subject: Re: Thanks
I'm glad that you're boss gave you a place to stay, although, I never doubted him. Perhaps him offering you a more permanent solution was him looking out for one of his own, or maybe it was his way to express his feelings towards you. Let me give you a piece of free advice, ask him about how he feels about you, or tell him how you feel about him. He might just tell you the truth.

As for me, Tony, you can't like me, we've never met, or even exchanged pictures…I'm guessing the internet can exchange photos. Besides, I'm straight, you seem like a fantastic guy, so if I did lean that way, then by all means… But I think you should try your luck with your boss. Staying at his place may just have a few benefits, if you know what I mean…

Good luck, and I'll talk to you soon, Jarhead426

Gibbs sent of the email and began closing down the computer when he heard his phone ring. Racing upstairs, he managed to get it before it stopped ringing

"Gibbs," he answered

"Boss, it's me, I'm about ten minutes from your place, I just had to stop for a few things on the way," Tony said on the other side of the phone

"You better not have picked up anything for dinner," Gibbs threatened

"Wouldn't dream of it, boss," Tony replied, with a hint of a smile, "Just picked up some alcohol,"

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the phone, "Tony, you realise you still have two full six packs here from the last time you came over?"

"Yes, boss," Tony answered

Gibbs frowned, "Okay then, well I'll see you in 10, and not a minute later,"

"Yes, mum," Tony answered as Gibbs hung up

8 minutes later Gibbs heard Tony's car pull up on his driveway, followed by the sounds of car doors opening and shutting. Eventually Tony opened the door to the house and walked in.

Gibbs smiled at the sight of Tony walking in with his duffel bag and a brown paper bag.
Looking through his cupboards for a particular spice, he heard Tony dump his bag, then walk up behind him.

"Smells good, boss," Tony said, peering over his shoulder into the saucepan

"That's because it is good, Tony," Gibbs replied, adding some spices to it

"Is it ready yet?" Tony asked

"You're two minutes early," Gibbs replied, with a smile, "Get some plates out,"

Tony smiled and got a few plates out of the cupboard and placed them on the breakfast bar, "I've got something for you,"

Gibbs turned around, "Better not be de-caf coffee,"

Tony laughed, "Would I do that to you, boss?"

"Yep, and Tony, at home, I'm either Jethro, or Gibbs," Gibbs replied

"Okay…Jethro," Tony said with a smile, then turned around to get the brown paper bag, "This is for letting me stay here,"

Gibbs frowned as he took the bag, "Tony, you didn't have to do this,"

"Just open it," Tony responded

Gibbs smiled at Tony's eagerness, and pulled the bottle of Jack Daniels out of the bag.

"I was gonna get you something more creative, but I was in a hurry – " Tony said

"Tony, it's great," Gibbs interrupted, "Thank-you,"

"Just a token of my appreciation," Tony commented as he started to blush

Gibbs grinned, putting the bottle down as he took one of the saucepans and drained it, "Well, let's get on with dinner, before it goes funny. And later, we'll crack open that bottle of bourbon,"

"Sounds like a plan, bo-Jethro," Tony replied, quickly correcting himself

The next morning, Gibbs gave Tony a lift into work. The night had passed by uneventfully; the dinner between the two men was as good as they could both have hoped for. They had talked warmly throughout the dinner, and Tony had automatically started doing the washing up after dinner had finished.

They had shared a drink after dinner, before Gibbs headed down to the basement to do some work on the boat. Tony followed him after a while and helped Gibbs with the sanding. Eventually Tony had fallen asleep under the boat, which Gibbs took as a hint to go to bed. Gibbs woke Tony up and helped him up to the guest room.

As the two men got into the elevator, they heard somebody shout to hold the elevator for them. Tony held the doors open as Ducky came across the parking lot and into the elevator with them.

As Ducky saw Gibbs, he narrowed his eyes at him, "Jethro, you didn't come to see me yesterday,"

"Sorry Duck, I got sidetracked," Gibbs replied, "I'll follow you to autopsy if you like,"

"That'd be great," Ducky replied with a smile, as the elevator set in motion

Gibbs followed Ducky off the elevator when it arrived at autopsy, wondering what the older man wanted to talk to him about.

As Ducky entered autopsy, he turned on the lights and took off his hat and jacket. As Ducky hung up his coat, he called over his shoulder, "So, Jethro, how did last night go for you?"

Gibbs frowned, "What do you mean?"

Ducky turned around, fixing his friend with a knowing gaze, "Oh, don't act as if you don't know what I'm talking about. Anthony stayed at your house last night, did he not?"

"Yeah, he did," Gibbs replied, subconsciously straightening up

"Well?" Ducky asked

"Well what, Ducky?" Gibbs asked, confusedly

"Did you get what you intended to get?" Ducky responded

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gibbs replied

Ducky walked up to Gibbs to stand in his personal space, "Lately you have been acting very much like the dog that didn't get a bone. And I have seen the glances you have been throwing at young Anthony when he hasn't been watching. Jethro, those glances are not those that a supervisor or team leader sends to his subordinates,"

Ducky paused and watched the emotions flittering through Gibbs' eyes, "Then yesterday your behavior changed radically, almost as if you knew that Anthony would ask you to stay at your place,"

"Ducky, how would I know – " Gibbs replied

"Jethro," Ducky interrupted, holding up his hand, "What exactly is going on between Anthony and yourself?"

"Nothing," Gibbs replied, glaring at Ducky

"Don't lie to me, Jethro," Ducky responded

Gibbs took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Nothing is going on between us. Tony stayed at my place last night, and will be for the next few weeks, because his apartment is being renovated again. Nothing would ever happen between us, I'm straight, and so is Tony,"

Ducky scoffed, "Tony is very open minded, and I've seen the way he looks at you,"

"He looks at me the same as he looks at everybody else, he doesn't – " Gibbs responded

"If you truly believe that, then you really are as blind as everybody believes you are. Jethro, whatever game you are playing, you'll want to tread carefully, because this is Tony's feelings you are playing with, and if you hurt him – " Ducky interrupted

"I will not hurt him!" Gibbs interrupted angrily, "I know what I'm doing,"

"And just what are you doing?" Ducky asked

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Doctor Mallard," Gibbs replied coldly, "What I decide to do is none of your business,"

"But when it involves Anthony and his welfare, it is my business, Agent Gibbs" Ducky responded, in the same tone of voice

"If you are done, Doctor, I have work to do," Gibbs told him

"For now, I'm done," Ducky replied, watching as Gibbs turned around and strode towards the exit, "But if you hurt Tony with your games, then you and I will be having more than just words,"

Gibbs paused at the doorway, before biting the inside of his lip to keep from saying anything, and walked through to the elevator.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Gibbs sighed as he sat in his chair, taking a sip of his coffee. After his conversation with Ducky, Gibbs had gone to the coffee shop and ordered two extra strong cups of coffee. He'd managed to drink the first one on the way back to the office. Today was going to be a very long day.

He peered over the top of his monitor to covertly observe Tony. He seemed to be doing that more often now than he had been before. Tony looked perplexed, seeming to be in deep thought about something. Finally, the younger man snapped out of it and continued typing away on his computer.

Gibbs grinned as he watched Tony type, Tony's typing was only marginally better than his own. McGee had tried to teach the two of them to type better. Gibbs hadn't lasted five minutes before becoming frustrated at the computer and running away to his safe haven for coffee, whilst Tony had lasted a lot longer, but had been distracted by a few windows that had just ‘popped up'.

Shaking his head, Gibbs returned his attention to the computer screen in front of him. After almost an hour of reviewing cold cases, Gibbs decided to check his email to see if Tony had replied to his last message.

As he signed online, Tony began talking to him almost straight away.

ToyBoy38: Who the fuck do you think you are?

Gibbs frowned at the screen, wondering what he'd done to make Tony pissed off at him so soon. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that he had a few unread emails, Gibbs quickly replied before checking to see if Tony had emailed him first.

Jarhead426: What do you mean?

ToyBoy38: Are you stalking me?

Jarhead426: What??

Gibbs opened the email from Tony and quickly read it as he waited for Tony to reply.

To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: What the fuck?!
I think hoping him to have the same feelings as me is just wishful thinking, but who knows…

Hangon! How do you know my name? How the hell do you know my name? I never told you who I was. I swear if you tried finding me through NCIS without telling me… that's how you did it, didn't you? You sick mother fucker!

I knew there would be something wrong with you! If you so much as try to contact me again, you'll never hear the end of it! Leave me alone

Gibbs closed his eyes and swore several times under his breath. How could he have been so stupid? Gibbs swore again and wished the floor would open up and swallow him. Sighing heavily, he looked back up to his screen as Tony replied

ToyBoy38: You know what! You've been following me, haven't you?

Jarhead426: No!

ToyBoy38: Then how the hell do you know who I am?

ToyBoy38: Do you know where I live as well?

ToyBoy38: And I suppose you know where I hang out

Gibbs bit his lip until it drew blood, how would he explain this to Tony?

Jarhead426: Okay, stop

ToyBoy38: Don't you tell me to stop! Hell, YOU stop! You're the one who's stalking me!

Jarhead426: I'm not stalking you

ToyBoy38: Then how do you explain how you know my name?

Gibbs swore and wondered the same thing

Jarhead426: I wanted to check you out

ToyBoy38: WHAT?!

Gibbs swore again, this time aloud

Jarhead426: That came out wrong

Jarhead426: What I meant was I wanted to make sure you were…no, that won't sound right. I checked your profile, wasn't hard to figure out who you were. Especially when you talked to me about your boss

Gibbs grinned, hoping that wouldn't sound too bad. When no response came, his grin disappeared and he tried again

Jarhead426: I'm not a stalker…but I needed to make sure you weren't. As paranoid as it sounds, I check any girlfriends and…to make sure they don't have a criminal record, I want to make sure they aren't a murderer or something

ToyBoy38: And that's supposed to make it right?!

Jarhead426: Hey, I value privacy, but I also value my life

ToyBoy38: Don't ya think NCIS would've picked me up if I was a murderer?!

Gibbs slapped his forehead at that and grumbled at himself.

"Gibbs are you okay?" he heard Kate ask

Gibbs looked up and forced something that looked like a smile, "I'm fine, Kate,"

"You don't look fine, boss," McGee agreed

Gibbs growled at them, "I. am. fine."

McGee and Kate shrugged, shooting a glance at Tony – who couldn't keep his eyes off his screen and looked more pissed off than Gibbs – before going back to work

Gibbs raised his eyebrows as he thought of a reply

Jarhead426: I had to make sure that you were actually employed by them. You wouldn't believe how many people say they are a federal agent and are actually …somebody else. Point is, I couldn't trust what you said

ToyBoy38: YOU couldn't trust ME?!

Jarhead426: I didn't say that

ToyBoy38: Yes, you did

ToyBoy38: So, how the hell did you track me down?!

Jarhead426: Through the NCIS database

Gibbs intently watched the screen as he waited for a reply, hoping Tony could forgive him

ToyBoy38: And how did you get into the database, it's kinda secure

Jarhead426: I, umm, hacked into it

ToyBoy38: You don't have security clearance for this sort of thing?

Gibbs frowned as he tried to think of some techno babble to make his story sound good. As he came up with something that sounded plausible, he saw Tony look at McGee and call to him.

"McGeek, we've got a hacker. Somebody hacked into the database a few days ago, they're still online, I'm talking to him now," Tony told McGee

"Okay, keep him talking, I'll follow his ISP address," McGee replied

SHIT! Gibbs cursed in several different languages as he thought of the repercussions of if he was found out.

ToyBoy38: You still there

Jarhead426: Nope, look I've gotta go, my doorbell is ringing

ToyBoy38: I'll wait

Jarhead426: Sorry, I can't. Talk later, bye

Gibbs signed out and closed the window as he heard Tony bang his fist on his desk

"He just signed out, McGee," Tony told him

"Ah, hang on," McGee replied, typing away frantically at his computer

"You get him?" Tony asked

"I'm still trying to isolate the signal, you may have had him on long enough to leave a good trace," McGee replied

"Where is he, McGee?" Gibbs asked as he stood up on shaky legs, making him have to steady himself before walking to McGee's desk. He figured he'd draw less attention to himself if he acted like he wanted this guy found, rather than trying to impede their search – not that he knew how he'd do that

"In this area, I'm still narrowing it," McGee replied, still typing frantically, "Wherever he set up, it was a pretty secure area,"

"What did he get into, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked

Tony was still sitting in his chair, staring at his screen as if he hadn't heard Gibbs

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked

Tony looked up sharply, "Boss?"

"What did he hack into?" Gibbs asked

"Ah, personnel files, boss," Tony replied

"Did he say whose?" Kate asked, "And how did you find out anyway?"

"It was mine," Tony responded, ignoring the other question

"I lost it, boss," McGee said suddenly, "But he was somewhere in this building or just outside,"

"He was in the building?!" Tony asked incredulously

"Yeah, I couldn't isolate it any further," McGee replied, "Sorry, Tony,"

Tony frowned, "He said he had to go, the doorbell was ringing,"

"There aren't any residential buildings in this area," Kate commented

"I know that, Kate," Tony snapped

"He knew we were coming," McGee deduced

Tony sat down and stared at his computer, before putting his head in his hands

"McGee, keep an eye on it, if he shows up again, get him," Gibbs ordered

McGee frowned, "But I didn't identify the code, boss, the only way I'd know is if he contact Tony again or tried to – "

"McGee! Just…do your thing," Gibbs interrupted, "DiNozzo, with me,"

Tony looked up with a frown, "Boss?"

"Now, Tony," Gibbs replied

Tony shrugged before getting his gun and following Gibbs to the elevator. As he stepped inside, Gibbs started the cart before pressing the emergency stop.

"Boss?" Tony asked

"We're getting coffee, Tony," Gibbs replied, "But from now on, you're not going anywhere without somebody…preferably me, you got that?"

Tony met Gibbs eyes, trying to read him, before nodding, "Yeah, boss, I got it,"

Gibbs smirked and rolled his eyes, "Gee, DiNozzo, don't sound too enthusiastic about it, or anything,"

Tony smiled, "Okay, sounds good, boss,"

Gibbs silently groaned and felt like slapping himself. Whilst pretending not to know about the ‘stalker' and subsequently appointing himself Tony's bodyguard, he'd dug himself into an even larger whole, and he wasn't sure how to get out.

Gibbs smirked to himself, he was now protecting Tony from his stalker, one ex-marine Gunny Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Shaking his head, Gibbs thought about the inevitable fall-out if anyone found out. He'd just have to make sure nobody did find out. Whilst he may be able to explain his actions to himself, convincing somebody else may not be as easy.

But even thinking about the whole thing, he wasn't sure that he could explain it to himself. Why had he made up an alias on the internet and befriended Tony? Why had he kept his identity a secret? Why was he pushing ‘ToyBoy38' to see the better side of his boss? And to confess to loving him?

Gibbs frowned to himself, there was one reason he could think of, but it didn't fit the facts. After all, he'd been married four times and generally loved women – not men. He'd never given men a second glance. So, why had he concluded that his feelings ran at a deeper level than boss-subordinate?

"Shit," Gibbs muttered, frowning even deeper

"Boss, I'm just gonna head down to Abby," Tony announced, getting up from his desk

Gibbs looked up, "Okay, just hang on a sec, and – "

"Ah, boss really, I'll be fine, it's only the level below ours, and I doubt my stalker will have the guts to kidnap me in the middle of a federal building," Tony interrupted, walking out of the bullpen

Gibbs sighed and nodded, almost glad that he didn't have to push the bodyguard idea any further. He felt as though every time he accompanied Tony anywhere, he kept digging the whole deeper. And he was already in way over his head.

Gibbs wished he could talk to somebody about it. But the only people he would tell, already knew one side of the story and probably wouldn't be willing to hear his side, he doubted he would get past confessing that he was Tony's stalker.

His other mates were either, too far away to care, or they'd tell him to suck it up, or they wouldn't want to have anything to do with him – especially when he got to the part about his feelings for Tony. He had other friends, but he wasn't sure he wanted to tell them about something so personal.

And then there was his sister, Jade. He didn't know how Jade would react. In the past, she had always been supportive of him and his decisions, but in recent years they'd barely kept in contact. Hell, he even had no idea what country she was currently in. He felt ashamed that they hadn't kept in close contact; they'd been the best of friends when they were kids.

Gibbs sighed and ran a hand through his hair, this was not helping. As Gibbs decided that he should probably do some work, his phone rang. He answered it in his usual gruff manner and listened for several seconds before hanging up.

"Okay everybody, get your gear, we have a case," Gibbs announced, getting out of his chair, "McGee, gas up the truck, Kate, get Ducky, I'll get Tony,"

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Okay, Petty Officer Peter Franklin joined the marines in 1992, coming straight out of college. After training, he was deployed overseas for eighteen months. Three months after coming back, he got married …" Tony informed the team, giving them the history of the marine they found dead just off the navy base

After Tony finished with the history, McGee jumped in with his findings on the marine's financial records and phone records. Once McGee had finished, Kate explained her findings on the conversations she'd held with the marine's friends and collegues.

After the team had finished the briefing, Gibbs turned back to the team, "Okay, Kate, DiNozzo, go talk to the wife, see how family life really was. McGee, check out the car dealership where he got that car,"

"Aw, can't I go to the car dealership? I speak the language of car – " Tony whined

"You'd be in there all day, Tony," Kate interrupted

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Tony replied, "Boss, really, I think I should go…talk to the wife,"

Gibbs hid a smile at Tony's correction. He loved it when he could get Tony back on track with just a look.

"So, what are you still doing here?" Gibbs asked, without his usual bite. He'd made progress with Tony over the last few days, even if the methods he'd used were questionable, and he didn't want to lose that.

Gibbs watched the team depart the bullpen and get onto the elevator. Rubbing his chin, he decided to write a quick email to ‘ToyBoy38' before seeing Ducky and Abby for their findings.

He quickly logged onto the site and opened a new email.

To: ToyBoy38
From: Jarhead426
Subject: Sorry
I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier that I knew who you were. I know it probably freaked you out, but really, I'm not stalking you. I can't really explain why or how I found out, it just seemed right at the time, and now I'm regretting it.
I hope this won't come between us, I'm enjoying the friendship we're sharing. I also hope that in the future, I'll be able to explain my actions to you and hopefully you will understand and be able to forgive me.
But for now I guess you don't want me to contact you, so I will respect your wishes. If you want to contact me in the future, then that is up to you, whenever you wish.
I hope you have the courage to tell your boss how you feel, I believe you may be surprised, life isn't as much of a bitch as some people think.
All the best with the future, and stay safe
Jarhead426

Gibbs nodded to himself, rereading the email before deciding that it was right. After sending it off, he signed off and got up. The email had been harder to write than he expected. Words had never come easily to him, and he'd needed the email to be perfect, or as close to perfect as possible.

Sighing, he entered the elevator and traveled down to Abby's lab. As he exited the elevator, he walked straight into Abby, or at least, she walked into him.

Abby looked up with a shocked expression, before her expression turned serious, "Gibbs, just who I wanted to see,"

Gibbs frowned at Abby's attitude, "Likewise,"

"Okay, follow me," Abby commanded, going into her lab

Gibbs followed Abby, asking, "Something wrong, Abs?"

Abby turned around, looking angrily at him, "You tell me, Jarhead426,"

Gibbs raised his eyebrows in shock, "What?! What the hell are you… ?! How did…?!"

Abby growled, asking "How do you think? Tony asked me to trace his stalker next time ‘Jarhead426' came online. What the hell were you doing? What's going on?"

"Shit!" Gibbs exclaimed, turning away

"Yeah, that's right, shit," Abby responded, "Now, are you going to explain yourself?"

Gibbs turned back to Abby, "Who else knows?"

"What?!" Abby exclaimed, "Why? Are you trying to cover up your actions already?"

Gibbs scrubbed his hands over his face, then looked hard at Abby, "Look, Abby, I'm not proud of what I did, but I can explain,"

"I'm waiting," Abby replied coldly

Gibbs sighed, looking to the ceiling for support, "I never intended for any of this to happen," he started, looking back at Abby, "One night I went on the internet to see what all the fuss was about. After a while I started looking for people I know. I found your user address after a while and found Tony's name. I just … "

Gibbs paused and looked at a point over Abby's shoulder, "The team only sees me in one light, they think of me as a stubborn bastard of an ex-marine who is always pushing them, sometimes too far…" Gibbs sighed, thinking that this shouldn't be this hard

"I wanted to see how Tony would see me if we didn't work together… We got talking, and after a while I realised that I didn't want him to know who I was…it was just…we were talking as though we were friends," Gibbs looked back at Abby, wondering if he was making any sense

"And I was really enjoying being friends with him. Then after a while, he …" Gibbs stopped short, trying to decide what to say, "Um…he made it impossible – well not impossible, but just… a really bad idea for me to identify myself. He told me stuff that I don't think he would ever tell me, not willingly anyway –"

"He told you that he loved you," Abby interrupted, clarifying for Gibbs that she already knew about Tony's infatuation with Gibbs

"Yeah," Gibbs confirmed with a sigh, "And then I just kept digging the hole deeper. And… after a … that is to say…" Gibbs stopped to gather his thoughts, "Then I slipped up, I called him ‘Tony' and he'd never told me his name. Then I tried making an excuse to get myself out of it, but… now he thinks he has a stalker,"

"Gibbs, you shoulda just told him!" Abby exclaimed

"And say what?" Gibbs asked, "Oh, by the way, you know how you've been bitching about your boss, and declared you're love for him…well guess what?..."

"It's better than making him think he has a stalker!" Abby replied

"He would have quit!" Gibbs half-shouted

"Isn't that what you want?" Abby threw back at him

"What?!" Gibbs shouted, "What the hell made you think that?!"

"Well the way you treat him would be a good place to start," Abby replied, "You have no regard for how he feels – at all. Did you know that the day he saved Atlas and survived in the sewers, he almost quit? Your quip about McGee sitting at his desk almost had Tony leaving. He works long and hard and waits so long for you to give him a complement, and then you just throw it back in his face. He feels worthless and he's had enough,"

"What do you mean, he's had enough?" Gibbs asked, narrowing his eyes at Abby

"I mean, if you don't act fast, he's gonna be out of here. By the end of next month, he'll be working for Fornell – he didn't want to leave DC," Abby responded, "Happy now?"

Gibbs opened his mouth, then closed it again. He sighed and shrugged, responding quietly, "I had no idea,"

"Well you do now, just what are you going to do about it?" Abby asked coolly

"Christ Abby, I don't know," Gibbs replied, going to sit on one of Abby's stools in front of her computer, "I don't want him to leave,"

Abby scoffed, "And I'll ask you again, what are you going to do about it?"

"Ease up, Abs," Gibbs responded, rubbing his head, "How much has Tony told you about our conversations?"

"Just about everything," Abby replied

Gibbs sighed, "I, uh, think I've figured out why I wanted ‘ToyBoy' to tell his boss about how he feels,"

Abby waited in silence for Gibbs to continue, after the silence dragged out, Abby asked, "Okay, why? Because you wanted him to feel more pain when you reject him?"

"No," Gibbs looked up at Abby, shaking his head, "I think I love him. I was thinking about this earlier and I think a lot of the reason I didn't want to tell him who I was, was because I love him"

Gibbs smirked, "Why did I ask him to ask me about staying with me whilst his apartment is being renovated? Hell, I even told him that staying at my place may have some benefits… I don't think I would have said something like that unless I was prepared to do something about it,"

Gibbs sighed and looked at Abby, suddenly embarrassed for saying so much, "And ah, that's my little confession,"

"Gibbs, I thought you were straight," Abby eventually said, surprised that she hadn't known that he'd swung both ways before

"I am … I mean, I was," Gibbs replied with a frown, "Apparently I'm not anymore," Gibbs paused, his frown getting deeper, "Ah, Abs?"

Abby looked at Gibbs, watching as he appeared to get more embarrassed than he was before, "Yeah?"

"Um, it's not abnormal to ah, change your sexual preference at my age, is it?" Gibbs asked, "I mean, I could always tell a good looking guy from an ugly or normal looking guy, but I was never really attracted to any of them. But I guess… I don't know, I think there was always something different about Tony,"

"He's one of a kind," Abby responded

Gibbs looked off into the distance, "I remember when we first met, he was undercover, posing as a drugs dealer and … " Gibbs stopped talking and looked to the doors of the lab as the swished open

"Ah, boss," a surprised looking McGee greeted as he entered the lab, "I couldn't reach you on your cell. The car dealership was a bit dodgy, so I watched it for a while, I think they may be dealing drugs from there,"

Gibbs got off the stool, "Okay, let's go. Where are Tony and Kate?"

"They're gonna meet us there," McGee replied

Abby grabbed Gibbs' arm, shooing McGee off with her free hand, "We'll finish this later," she said softly

Gibbs nodded, then a slightly panicked expression crossed his face, "Are you gonna tell anyone?"

"That you're the stalker?" Abby asked to clarify

Gibbs nodded again. Abby studied his face for a while, "It's our little secret, only if you promise to tell Tony,"

"It'll get worse, he'll hate me…and he'll leave," Gibbs told her

"Well, you should've thought of that before," Abby replied

"What?!" Gibbs hissed, "Abby, you can't … he will leave. He won't only leave me. He'll leave this whole place, including you"

"I told you he's not leaving DC, so I'll still see him, it's up to you to – " Abby responded

"Abby, you can't make me do this," Gibbs half pleaded

"It'll only get worse if you leave it, then it'll explode in your face. It will come out eventually, whether you plan for it or not," Abby told him, releasing his arm, "Now go, you have criminals to lock up,"

Gibbs sat on his couch, cradling a glass of bourbon and staring into
space. He'd thought over Abby's words, telling him to bite the bullet
and tell Tony. She was right, it would come out eventually, and it
would be better for him if he broke the news to Tony instead of him
finding out somehow else.

The drug bust in the car dealership had gone well, and the guy who
was running it all eventually confessed to the murder of their
marine.

Gibbs sighed and took a sip of his bourbon, wondering if Ducky had
figured out what was going on yet…

"Boss, do you actually have anything edible in this fridge? I mean,
I'm guessing this…whatever it is, died and came back as something
else," Tony commented from the kitchen, holding up something that
looked vaguely like the curry he'd cooked two weeks ago.

"Or are you just growing a colony of mould in here?" Tony asked,
going back to looking through the fridge, "I mean, I could kind of
see you as a scientist…" Tony frowned and looked at Gibbs, "Actually,
I take that back, you wouldn't have the patience,"

"Tony," Gibbs responded, getting up from the couch, "Let's just go
out for dinner, ok? My shout,"

Tony stood up straight and narrowed his eyes at Gibbs, "What's the
catch?"

"None," Gibbs smiled

"Cool," Tony replied with a big grin, "I'll just get changed,"

Gibbs watched Tony walk to the guest room, wondering if he was taking
advantage of Tony, "Tony, wait,"

Gibbs frowned as he realised he'd just spoken and silently groaned to
himself.

"Ah hah, I knew there was a catch," Tony said, walking back to
Gibbs, "So, what is it?"

"Tony, I have to tell you something," Gibbs sighed and faced the
inevitable, "And we both know how bad I am with words, so I'll just
say this straight up,"

Tony frowned, "What is it, boss? You're starting to scare me,"

"Tony, I love you," Gibbs said after a while, then widened his eyes
in surprise with what he said, thinking Oh shit, where did that come
from? That's not what I meant to say

Tony raised his eyebrows, his mouth agape

"Ah, that's not what I meant to say," Gibbs quickly said, with a
nervous laugh and running his hand through his hair, "What I meant to
say was…"

"Hang on, you love me?" Tony asked, his voice beginning to work again

Gibbs sighed, "Ah, could we come back to that point in a sec? I've
kinda got something more pressing to say," Gibbs paused and collected
his thoughts, "Okay, now you know your stalker?"

Tony nodded and Gibbs continued

"I'm him, well I'm not your stalker, I never stalked you. I'm the
internet guy, I'm Jarhead. I was gonna tell you who I was, but I
started digging a hole for myself and didn't know how to get out. And
I liked our friendship, it was great, we were friends. And then I
slipped up and said your name, and couldn't explain how I knew,"
Gibbs said quickly, looking into Tony's eyes, then away again,

"And I know I shoulda just come clean right then, but I didn't and I
screwed up. Then you thought I was stalking you, but I wasn't,
because I already knew that you were you. So I had to cover my
tracks, but I didn't know how and … I really screwed up," Gibbs
finished his rambling

Tony's frown deepened as Gibbs finished his confession, asking
quietly in a skeptical voice, "You're Jarhead?"

Gibbs nodded, "Yeah, and you're ToyBoy,"

Tony opened his mouth to say something, then frowned and thought
better of it. Nodding to himself, Tony turned around, "I need some
time to think,"

"Okay," Gibbs said quietly, as he watch Tony disappear into the guest
room

Sighing quietly to himself, Gibbs wished that things had gone better.
Not that he had expected them to. No, he hadn't expected Tony to
laugh at him then run into his wide open arms and kiss him deeply,
then lead him to the master bedroom where… No, he hadn't expected
that.

Gibbs returned to the couch and sat down again, putting his face in
his hands. He didn't really know what to expect when he told Tony the
truth, he hadn't really thought it over much. But that certainly
wasn't what he'd expected.

Scrubbing his hands over his face, Gibbs looked up and glared at his
wall, wishing he'd had some forewarning.

A noise in the next room alerted him that Tony was coming out of the
guest room. Gibbs stood up and looked to see Tony walking down the
hallway with his gear.

"Where are you going?" Gibbs asked, hating the worried and slightly
jealous tone in his voice

"Abby said I could stay at her place if you became to difficult to
stay with," Tony replied, without stopping

Gibbs sighed, then picked up his keys and made his way to the door

"Where are you going?" Tony asked from behind him, sounding slightly
angry

"You left your car at the office," Gibbs stated in response

"I called a cab," Tony told him, pushing past him, "Should be here
soon,"

"Tony – " Gibbs said

"No, Gibbs. I'm going, and I don't need a lift. I'll see you at the
office tomorrow…maybe," Tony interrupted

"What do you mean `maybe'?" Gibbs growled, pushing the door back
closed as Tony opened it

"Exactly that Gibbs. I don't know if I'll be at the office tomorrow,"
Tony replied, looking up at Gibbs defiantly

"Hang on, no, you are not quitting!" Gibbs told him

"That's my prerogative. If I want to leave, then that is up to me!"
Tony responded, pulling the door open again and shoving past Gibbs

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Gibbs growled, following Tony
out the door

Tony sighed with relief when he saw his cab waiting for him and made
his way to it, "Gibbs, I don't need your permission to leave, I'll
take my resignation straight to the director,"

"Like hell you will!" Gibbs told him, grabbing Tony's upper arm

"Let go of me," Tony turned around to face Gibbs, "Now! Gibbs,"

Gibbs reluctantly released his hold and watched as Tony threw his
stuff in the cab and climbed in. The younger man didn't look back as
the cab took him away from Gibbs and his house.

After finally returning into his house, Gibbs looked around and wondered what to do next. He'd played his hand and lost. Scrubbing his face, he decided that working on the boat would calm him down a bit.

As he drew up to the boat, he ran his hand along the frame, feeling its smoothness. With a sigh, he picked up the plane and began sanding. Generally the motions of sanding the boat would help clear his mind and let him think, however today it seemed, the boat had other plans.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he frowned at the wood and put the plane down. There was no way continuing work on the boat would help with his current problem. Sighing, he scanned his shelf for his desired bottle, quickly picking up the bourbon.

Another quick search located his cup. Gibbs shot down the first cup, relishing the burn of the alcohol down his throat. He poured himself another cup and downed it just as fast, hoping it would take away the heaviness of his heart.

After pouring his third cup of bourbon, Gibbs sat on his workbench and sipped at it. As he stared at the skeleton of his boat, he thought over his conversation with Tony. He couldn't have planned it to go any worse; everything had gone pear-shaped.

Maybe he should have ignored Abby's wise words of wisdom. But then, it would have been ten times worse when it did come out.

Perhaps he should have just kissed Tony senseless and then talk… or not. He could have had ‘jarhead' to arrange to meet Tony – although that probably wouldn't have worked either as Tony thought he had a stalker and would have invited the entire team to witness the meet. That could've been fun…

Gibbs took another sip of his bourbon. How could he have screwed up so royally? And how the hell was he gonna get Tony to stay?

Taking a deep breath, Gibbs scrubbed at his face. He couldn't bear the thought of losing Tony. And for something so trivial. Well, it wasn't really trivial. Tony had shared his soul with him, thinking he was somebody else.

But then, in the end, if they could get past this ‘thing', this not trusting thing, then everybody would get what they want. Tony would get him, and Gibbs would get Tony, and then who else cared about whatever else Tony had told him? Sure, everybody thought Gibbs was a bastard, and occasionally his words and actions cut deep, and for that he had a lot of ass-kissing to do… or if Gibbs had his way, then a lot of other things involving Tony's ass to do…

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Tony rang the doorbell again, hefting his shoulder strap higher onto his shoulder. Eventually the door opened and a confused Abby looked out.

"Tony!" she exclaimed with happiness, opening the door, then when she got a good look at him, she changed her tone, "What the hell happened? What did Gibbs do?"

Tony attempted a smile, but failed miserably, "I, ah, can I take you up on that offer?"

"Of course you can, Tony!" Abby replied, getting out of the doorway, "Here, let me take one of your bags,"

Tony followed Abby through her apartment and into the spare room, dumping his stuff on the bed.

"Make yourself at home," Abby told him, then rethought it and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the room, "But first, you need coffee, or a beer, or something stronger,"

"Coffee will be fine, Abs," Tony replied, sitting on a stool

Abby nodded and quickly filled up her pot, "Okay, spill. What happened?"

"Gibbs," Tony said simply, "Gibbs happened,"

Abby patted his hand, "Honey, you're gonna have to be more specific than that,"

Tony sighed and got up, "God, I don't know. You'd think I'd know the man a bit better now that I've worked with him for so many years, but I don't! He's such a bastard, and he spends most of the time reminding me of it. And believe me, I needed reminding because I was starting to think of him as a person,"

Abby nodded at him, handing him his coffee.

"Thanks," Tony mumbled, cradling the cup in his hands

"So, what happened?" Abby asked

"Where do I begin?" Tony asked, with a small laugh

"The beginning would be good," Abby replied with a smirk

Tony sighed, "Ah, okay. Gibbs said he was gonna take me out to dinner because he had no food in his fridge, then he decided that he needed to tell me something urgently and told me he loved me. Then he told me that he was my internet friend and – "

"Hang-on, back up. Did you just say that he told you he loved you?" Abby asked, raising her eyebrows

"Yeah, I did, I mean he did. Anyway, he was Jarhead all along and – " Tony paused at Abby and gasped, "Oh shit. He told me he loved me,"

Abby smiled, "Okay, then what happened?"

"I walked out on him, told him I needed time to think," Tony said quickly, as if saying it quicker would make it not to have happened at all. Tony put his head in his hands, mumbling, "Oh shit, what did I do?"

Abby touched Tony's shoulder from across the bar, hoping her touch would give him the support she thought it would, "It's okay, we can make this better,"

"How?" Tony asked, looking at Abby, "I walked out on him,"

"Yeah, well he kinda deserved it," Abby replied

"Yeah, he did," Tony replied with a sigh, "But I also kinda threatened to quit. And by threatened, I mean he thinks I'll be handing in my resignation tomorrow,"

"Uh oh," Abby responded

"Exactly," Tony replied, "I mean, I wasn't going to, I just said it,"

"Oh dear," Abby said

"Yeah," Tony mumbled

"No, I mean, ah. I already put that idea in his head," Abby told him, "I told him you were sick of his shit and were planning on resigning and joining the feds,"

"I'd never join the feds," Tony replied, frowning at Abby

"I know, I just kinda hoped it would make him get his act together and do something about you and him. And I told him you would be gone in about a month, if that," Abby told him, "Sorry,"

"Yeah, well he did do something about it. He told me and I didn't even take the hint," Tony responded, "And now he thinks I'm leaving,"

"Okay, I have a plan," Abby replied, holding up her finger, "This is what you do…"

Gibbs took another sip of his bourbon as he thought over his current problems with Tony.

“Screw it,” Gibbs told himself as he stood up, deciding to resolve this ‘thing’ with Tony.

Staggering to his stairs, Gibbs decided he’d had enough of beating around the bush with Tony. It was time to face his feelings and to open up to the younger man. Gibbs shuddered at the thought of opening up about his feelings, but it was all for the better good. And in the end, they would live happily ever after.

Gibbs smiled at the thought as he reached the top of the stairs. Before he knew it, Gibbs found himself outside Abby’s apartment, waiting for Abby to answer her door.

Suddenly the door opened as Abby answered the door. Gibbs frowned and looked at Abby, up and down. what she was wearing stunned him into silence. She was wearing black lacey underwear, with knee-high black boots to match. The bottom of her briefs were tied to a strap on her thigh, which housed a paddle.

“Gibbs?” Abby asked, playing with the whip she held, “What are you doing here?”

“Ah,” Gibbs replied, looking over Abby again, before coming to and looking inot Abby’s eyes, “I wanna talk to Tony,”

“He’s not here,” Abby replied, going to close the door.

Gibbs put his foot out and pushed back on the door, “Abs, I know he’s here,”

“He doesn’t want to talk to you,” Abby replied, sounding irritated

“He doesn’t have to, I just want him to listen,” Gibbs told her

“Gibbs, just leave! He doesn’t want to see you, at all. He doesn’t want to talk to you and he sure as well doesn’t want to listen to you!” Abby exclaimed, seeming to run out of patience

“Abby, I love him,” Gibbs replied, confused at Abby’s reaction

“And what’s up with that anyway? People’s sexual identity doesn’t just change, especially when they’re your age!” Abby responded

“Abs, why are you acting like this?” Gibbs asked, concerned, “Are you on drugs?”

“God Gibbs! Wake up and smell the coffee!! Tony doesn’t like you, he hates you and never wants to see you again!!” Abby exclaimed, “Can’t you take a hint?”

Gibbs frowned, “But…he said he loved me…”

“Well, he lied. He knew all along about the internet thing and decided to play you. Yeah, he told you he loved you, but it was a joke!” Abby told him coldly, “Besides, he’s found somebody else,”

“What!” Gibbs asked, feelings his gut drop, “But he – ”

Gibbs was interrupted by a moan from behind Abby. Gibbs caught his breath as he looked over Abby’s shoulder and saw Tony pressed against the wall by another man.

The two men were locked in a kiss, with Tony’s head was resting on the man’s shoulder. Gibbs saw that the stranger was balls deep in Tony’s ass and was stroking Tony’s erection. There was a silver ring around Tony’s cock which prevented him from coming.

Gibbs noted the men’s clothing, or lack thereof. Tony was completely naked, wearing only a black studded collar and handcuffs, whilst the other man was bare-chested and had his pants around his ankles.

Tony moaned as the other man thrust his hips forward, pushing his ass back for more.

“Who… ?” Gibbs murmured to himself, wondering who the stranger was

The other man broke off the kiss with Tony and looked in their direction, and Gibbs felt his heart clench as he recognized the man. Fornell smiled at him gleefully before closing his eyes and rocking harder into Tony, making the younger man cry out in pleasure.

Gibbs woke up, sitting bolt up-right and hit his head. Gasping and holding his head, he blinked furiously, trying to orientate himself. Eventually, he realised that he’d fallen asleep under his boat in his basement.

Still breathing heavily, Gibbs wiped his forehead and looked around the basement, wondering whether or not there was any truth to his dream. Sighing to himself, Gibbs shook his head, deciding that it was all fiction.

Gibbs got out from under the boat and poured himself a bourbon, deciding to forego sleep. There was only a few hours left until he would have to get up anyway, and there was no way he was going to try to sleep peacefully for the last of them.

Sighing, he picked up the sander and began working on the boat.

Gibbs waited anxiously in the elevator as it made it’s way to the bullpen. His midnight dream had seriously thrown him. the idea that Tony had known all along who he was and had played a practical joke at his expense was a scary thought. But the idea that Fornell was screwing Tony was terrifying.

He’d ended up getting to the office early to take his mind off it. Working on cold cases for the better part of 6 hours however, hadn’t helped.

He’d ducked out to get coffee, but his local haunt was under renovation, so he’d had to travel to the next one he knew of. Anyway, an hour and a bit later, he was back and on a coffee high.

He’d downed two before he’d made it back to his car. The third had been drunk between the coffee shop and the office. And now, he was finished off his fourth.

The elevator door dinged and opened, forcing him back into reality. As he approached the bullpen, Gibbs had a flashback to his nightmare and felt his anger and frustration levels rise.

Fornell was sitting on the edge of Tony’s desk, sharing bagels and coffee and talking amicably with Tony.

“Jethro,” Fornell greeted him as he walked towards his desk

“What are you doing here, Fornell?” Gibbs asked, trying to keep his voice warm, but failing miserably

Fornell smiled at him, “Get up on the wrong side of bed this morning, Gibbs?”

“You get bitten by scorpions in Mexico, Fornell?” Gibbs asked dryly

“I didn’t go to Mexico,” Fornell stated, a bit confused

“Yeah, well I didn’t go to bed,” Gibbs responded, seeing Tony cringe – or maybe that was a figment of his imagination. “What are you doing here, Fornell?”

“Just chatting with Tony,” Fornell replied, smiling at Gibbs’ reaction. Turning to Tony, Fornell smiled, “See you later, sweetcheeks,”

“Sweetcheeks?” Gibs asked as he followed Fornell to the elevator

“Yeah, that’s what Tina calls him,” Fornell replied

“Your girlfriend?” Gibbs asked as the elevator arrived

“No, a mutual friend. Long story,” Fornell responded, getting into the elevator

“I have time,” Gibbs replied, following him in

“Gibbs, I need to – ” Fornell said

“Fornell,” Gibbs interrupted him, switching the emergency stop button, “What the hell were you talking to Tony about?”

“Getting a bit jealous, Gibbs?” Fornell asked, mockingly

Gibbs shoved Fornell into the side of the elevator, “You stay the hell away from him, you hear?”

“Okay,” Fornell eventually agreed

“Good, now scoot,” Gibbs told him, bringing the elevator back to life, “And I swear, if I catch you in here for anything other than official business, I’ll rip you’re balls off,”

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The rest of the day went by without incident. Tony and Gibbs never seemed to be alone together, so they didn’t have the chance to talk.

Gibbs eventually gave up trying to get the younger man on his own, vouching to go to his house tonight instead. With a sigh, Gibbs got up and headed to the elevator for coffee.

Then fate stepped in, in the form of Tony getting into the elevator before the doors closed. Once inside, Tony hit the emergency switch, shutting down the elevator and turned to Gibbs.

“Gibbs,” Tony said

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs replied, bracing himself for what was coming

“Um, about the other night – ” Tony started

“I’m sorry, Tony, I shouldn’t have done it,” Gibbs interrupted, “Could we just forget it happened? And, ah, maybe just stay as friends…?”

Tony looked at Gibbs in shock, stunned into silence

“I mean, a relationship between us would never work, especially with the bad start we’ve gotten off to. So maybe it’d be best to forget about the whole thing and get on with our lives,” Gibbs laughed nervously, “I mean you need a strong base for a relationship, ours is a bit shaky. Chances are, it wouldn’t get much better and we’d keep screwing up…”

After a moment of silence, Gibbs continued, “Well, I mean, you probably wouldn’t screw it up. But I sure as hell would. You know, there’s a reason behind why I’ve been divorced three times and can’t hold down a relationship and… Right?”

Gibbs sighed and closed his mouth, aware that he was blabbering. He searched Tony’s face and hoped Tony would disagree with him and tell him to give the relationship another chance, or even a fresh start.

Tony thought for a while, before eventually nodding, “Yeah, right. You’re right…” Tony met Gibbs’ eyes, “Yeah…it probably wouldn’t work out anyway…”

Gibbs felt his heart clench at Tony’s words and worked hard to keep his face neutral, “Okay, uh, so, no hard feelings?”

Tony paused, searching Gibbs face, then audibly swallowing, he plastered a smile on his face, “Uh, no, why should there be? Can’t screw something up we don’t start – self preservation,”

Gibbs tried to smile, “Right…okay, good,”

Tony nodded and switched the emergency switch, bringing the lights back on and the elevator back to life.

Gibbs looked with disdain at the empty coffee cups littering the table in front of him. In the last two hours or so, he’d downed 5 coffees.

As the cups began moving, he looked up to see a waitress collecting his cups. The waitress smiled at him, asking in a voice full of humor, “Would you like another coffee?”

Gibbs nodded mutely and saw the flash of confusion cross the waitress’s face

“Are you serious?” she asked, a bit unsure

Gibbs looked around the coffee shop then back at the waitress, “Yeah,”

The waitress nodded and walked away to do his bidding.

Gibbs stared at the table, as if it held all the answers. Suddenly his vision began to blur and his sinuses blocked up. With embarrassment, he belatedly realized he was crying.

He swore to himself silently and frustratedly swiped away the tears that had fallen. He hadn’t cried since … well, he couldn’t remember the last time.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to reason with himself, telling himself that he was being stupid. It’s not as if Tony ever really liked him, it was his own construction of fantasy. But why Tony? He was straight, damn it!

Gibbs wiped his face again, trying to dry his face and look normal. Subconsciously, he thought of a reason why his face was wet and red. His face was hot with embarrassment as he thought that everybody in the café was staring at him, judging him to have a weak character.

Straightening up and looking around, he found everybody was engaged with other business and weren’t all staring at him with their mouths hanging open.

Sighing in relief, he cleared his throat and went back to his thinking. What was he gonna do now that he’d made a fool of himself? It’d be impossible to continue working with Tony. The younger man would forever be shoving it down his throat, reminding him of his failures and of this cruel joke.

“Your hot black, extra strong coffee, sir,” a voice on his right told him, setting down his large takeaway cup

Gibbs looked up at the waiter, hoping his face didn’t give away his sorrow and desperation, “Thanks,” he mumbled

“Are you okay, sir?” the waitress asked

Gibbs withdrew his eyes from the waitress’s and silently cursed his eyes for giving him away, “Yeah,” Gibbs responded, “I’m fine. How much do I owe you?”

The waitress quietly inspected his face, then told him, “Well you don’t look it,” she patted his arm, “The coffee’s on the house,”

“Thanks,” Gibbs replied, blinking hard a few times as his eyes threatened to well up again, almost as if the waitress’s sympathy had made his grief worse. Gibbs summoned his energy and gave the woman a small smile, which saw her on her way away from his tables, leaving him to the growing darkness in his mind

Gibbs brooded over the situation for a while longer, thinking over different possibilities. Eventually, he stood up and collected his half empty cup of coffee. On his way out he saw the waitress give him a small smile, which he returned with a nod of thanks.

When Gibbs returned to headquarters, the last thing he expected – although in hindsight, he should’ve thought of – greeted him at the entrance to the elevator, Abby the hurricane.

Abby grabbed Gibbs’ arm and pulled him into the waiting elevator, punching the close door button followed by the button for autopsy.

“Abs, I’m really not in the mood for this,” Gibbs said tiredly, running a hand through his hair

Abby glared at him, but didn’t say anything. As the elevator began moving, she jabbed the emergency switch and moved into Gibbs’ personal space. “What the hell were you thinking?” Abby demanded

“I don’t know, what did I do?” Gibbs replied, shooting her a look

“You just destroyed the best chance of something good happening to you, and to Tony,” Abby told him, “And don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,”

Gibbs sighed, looking to the ceiling for support, “It was for the best,”

“Like hell it was! What made you think that?!” Abby exclaimed

“I would have screwed it up, more than I have already. There’s a reason I’ve been divorced three times. Besides, who ever heard of a 50 year-old straight man turning gay for a subordinate half his age?” Gibbs asked

“You’re not 50 yet, and Tony is older than 25,” Abby pointed out

“I know that Abby,” Gibbs replied, leaning against the side of the elevator, “But it would still never work. I screwed up royally, and I don’t know how to make it better… And he doesn’t even like me – ”

“What?! Who told you that?!” Abby interrupted

“Nobody, don’t need to be told,” Gibbs responded, “Abs, I’m too old for this and I’m – ”

“Gibbs, if you don’t get your act together and go make up with Tony, I’ll – ” Abby interrupted

“What? Kill me and put my body in a place where nobody will ever find it? Yeah, I’ve heard that one before,” Gibbs interrupted

Abby glared at him, “Gibbs, he loves you, and you love him. I don’t see why you’re both making this harder than it should be,”

“He doesn’t love me, and I don’t know what I feel at the moment,” Gibbs replied, “I just know it’d end badly,”

“Stop being so damn pessimistic!” Abby told him, “Why don’t you just give it a try?!”

“Well look what I’ve done to our relationship already!” Gibbs exclaimed, pushing himself off the wall, “He can’t even look at me anymore. I betrayed his trust! I – ”

“Am being an idiot!” Abby interrupted, “Yes, you screwed up, but in the end that means nothing. He loves you and you love him, and you both know how each other feels,”

“Abs – ” Gibbs started

“No Gibbs. You’re not listening to me. You need to go after him,” Abby interrupted

“I can’t. Look Abs, the relationship would never work. And besides, I don’t even know how I feel about him,” Gibbs replied

“So, you’re just gonna leave it like this? Leave him hanging? How do you think he’s gonna feel seeing you everyday without telling you how much you mean to him and – ” Abby asked

“He’s not gonna see me everyday,” Gibbs interrupted quietly

“What do you mean?!” Abby demanded

“I’ve given this some thought, and it would be difficult working with him and … everything, so… I’m gonna transfer, or resign,” Gibbs responded, looking at the ground

“You’re leaving? You’re just going to run away from this?” Abby asked

“Don’t push me, Abby,” Gibbs replied, “It’s for the best,”

“For who?!” Abby demanded

Gibbs scrubbed his hands over his face, “For both of us. He deserves a good life, with somebody who will make him happy. I can’t give him that,” he sighed, “And don’t try to make me change my mind, it’s already made up. I’m off to see the director now,”

“Gibbs – ” Abby tried, “You can’t just leave without resolving this,”

“I don’t know how,” Gibbs responded, then leaned across and started up the elevator again, signifying that the conversation was over.

Tony sat at his desk, staring into space. Hearing the elevator ding, he glanced in that direction to see Gibbs come out of the elevator and stroll up to the director’s office.

Tony sighed and looked at his computer, hoping he could distract himself from today’s events.

“Why the sad face, Tony?” Kate asked from her desk

Tony looked over at Kate and imagined her reaction if he told her why he was feeling so depressed. She’d either be disgusted or would laugh at him, or maybe she would just stare at him, not knowing what to do.

He didn’t have the energy to come up with an imaginative and witty comeback. Or to even try to use any brain power. He just felt mentally drained. It was almost like somebody had sucked the life out of him.

“Tony, you okay?” Kate asked when Tony didn’t reply

Snapping out of his reverie, he leveled his gaze to Kate’s and slowly shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, making to stand up

Before Tony could think of an answer, his phone rang, giving him a viable out. After answering his phone, Tony stood up and left the bullpen, calling over his shoulder that he was going to see Abby.

As he arrived in the lab, he noticed the lack of noise. Abby wasn’t in a happy mood.

“Abs?” Tony called as he entered

“Tony,” Abby replied, appearing from nowhere, “We need to talk,”

“O-kay,” Tony responded, frowning

Abby led Tony into her office and sat him down, making sure to close the doors.

“What’s up?” Tony asked

“You have to talk to Gibbs,” Abby told him, “He’s planning on leaving,”

“Permanently?” Tony asked, feeling lightheaded at the prospect

“Yeah,” Abby responded, “He told me just now. Tony, he loves you. And he wants to have a relationship with you, but he thinks he screwed up so much that you don’t want to be with him,”

Tony frowned, “Why does he think that?”

“Because he’s not thinking straight,” Abby replied, “Tony, if you want him, you have to go get him and knock some sense into him. And if you need a golf club for that, then I have one you can borrow,”

“I was thinking baseball bat,” Tony tried to keep the mood light, even though he felt like he was loosing the battle

“I have one of those too,” Abby smiled, then pushed his chair towards the door, “Go get him, tiger,”

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Gibbs sat in his room with his back against the mattress, replaying his conversation with the Director in his head.

“Tom,” Gibbs greeted as he walked into the Director’s office

“Jethro,” Morrow looked up, “What can I do for you?”

Gibbs sighed, “I want to resign, effective immediately. I can have the – ”

“Gibbs, you’re not going to resign,” Morrow interrupted him

“Excuse me, Sir?” Gibbs asked

“You heard me, Gibbs. I’m not going to let you resign, you’re the best agent NCIS has – ” Morrow told him

“I doubt that very much,” Gibbs interrupted

“ – and I’m not just gonna let you walk out the door,” Morrow continued, ignoring Gibbs’ interruption

“So transfer me,” Gibbs replied

Morrow laughed, “Not gonna do that either, I’m not stupid, Gibbs. Now, tell me why you want to leave,”

“I can’t do that,” Gibbs responded, “It’s personal,”

Morrow grunted, “Fair enough. You have a lot of leave time on the books, Jethro. Maybe you should use up some of that,”

“How long?” Gibbs asked

“As long as you need,” Morrow replied

Gibbs put his head back against his bed, he would have preferred it if he’d made a clean cut from NCIS, but he owed a lot to Tom.

Getting unsteadily to his feet, Gibbs sipped at his bourbon and continued putting his possessions into his duffel bag. Maybe an extended – very extended – leave of absence was just what he needed to get his head screwed on straight.

Gibbs heard his front door slamming open and shut, followed by a yell of “Gibbs!”

Gibbs sighed, not wanting to deal with Tony now, or in the near future. He wanted to yell at Tony to go away, but stopped himself, he hadn’t had that much to drink yet. Although, he’d definitely had that much coffee to. But on the other hand, he was starting to come down from his coffee high and was starting to feel the effects.

“Gibbs!” he heard Tony call again, followed by the sound of the basement door opening and closing

Gibbs sighed and called, “Up here,”

In a few short seconds, Tony appeared at the entrance to his bedroom. After looking at the duffel bag on the bed and clothes spread out around it, he glared at Gibbs, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“What does it look like?” Gibbs growled back

“You are not leaving,” Tony replied angrily

“I’m not staying,” Gibbs responded

“Yes, you are,” Tony told him

“Why?” Gibbs asked, turning his full attention to Tony, “Why should I stay?”

“Because I love you,” Tony answered

Gibbs scoffed and returned to packing his clothes

“What? That reason isn’t good enough for you?” Tony asked angrily

“Do you think it should be?” Gibbs asked

“Stop that! Stop answering a question with a question! I want real answers!” Tony shouted

“What? What do you want me to say?! You already know that I think this relationship won’t work, so why bother!” Gibbs responded

“Because it’s worth it. And I think it will work,” Tony responded

“I already screwed it up, DiNozzo. I have three failed marriages behind me and a knack for screwing up anything good I have going and – ” Gibbs told him

“Everybody deserves a second chance,” Tony interrupted

“I’ve already had a second chance, and a third, and a fourth,” Gibbs responded

“Not with me,” Tony told him

“Don’t you get it, Tony? I’m a screw-up! I was never good at relationships and I never will be. You would end up hating me more than you do already. And then you would emphasize this by hitting me over the head with a – ” Gibbs raved

“Baseball bat?” Tony offered, holding up the one he’d hidden behind his back, then explained, “Abby offered it to me. Said that if I couldn’t convince you, I’d just have to knock some sense into you,”

Then he set it aside and stepped closer to the older man, “Gibbs, you’re not a screw-up, far from it. From where I stand, you’re a strong man who tries to make everybody believe you’re a bastard – I’m not sure why, I think it’s because you don’t want anybody to get too close..”

“Is it working?” Gibbs asked

Tony stepped closer, “No. You care deeply about everybody you work with and try to protect them from everything, and when we get injured or anything, you feel as if you’ve failed and that you’re too blame,”

“But you don’t won’t anybody to know how much it affects you. So you build walls to hide behind, so people won’t see how vulnerable you are, you don’t want people to see you as weak – and they don’t,” Tony told him

“I’m assuming you have a point,” Gibbs guessed

“I just think it makes for a pretty lonely life. I mean, there’s gotta be times when the walls break and everything gets to be too much, and when that happens, I want to be the person helping you through it,” Tony replied

“Gibbs, not everybody is perfect. You’re blaming yourself for something so trivial. If you hadn’t pretended to be somebody else, I wouldn’t have told you that I love you. It’s just what you choose to do with that information now,” Tony said

“I still think it’s best that we go our separate – ” Gibbs started, but was interrupted when Tony suddenly kissed him

The kiss finished as abruptly as it began and the two men stared into each other’s eyes. Gibbs licked his lips and descended his onto Tony’s, putting his hand on the back of Tony’s head to draw him closer.

Tony obliged and allowed Gibbs’ tongue entry into his mouth, dueling it with his own tongue. Tony pulled Gibbs hips closer to his own and began rubbing his groin against Gibbs’. Gibbs groaned at the sensation and turned then 180 degrees and pushed Tony onto the bed.

“Ow,” Tony groaned, breaking contact with Gibbs’ lips

“What’s wrong?” Gibbs asked breathlessly, afraid that he’d done something wrong

Tony grimaced and pulled something from underneath himself. As the object appeared, Tony smiled and held them up for Gibbs’ inspection, “Furry handcuffs, Jethro?”

Gibbs blushed and avoided Tony’s gaze

“Something you want to share with me?” Tony asked

“Not really,” Gibbs answered, seeming to go even redder

“Okay, so how long have you had this kink? I mean, they look new,” Tony asked, curiosity getting the better of him

Gibbs sighed, “They are. It just developed; I don’t know…I mean, I haven’t tried them yet, so I don’t…”

Tony nodded and rubbed his groin against Gibbs hard bulge, “Definitely something we’re gonna have to investigate later,”

“Okay,” Gibbs murmured, crushing his lips against Tony’s

Tony sucked on Gibbs tongue and ripped Gibbs shirt off, revealing the white tee-shirt underneath. As they rocked against each other groins, Tony broke off the kiss with Gibbs and slid his hands underneath the tee-shirt and relished the feel of Gibbs skin. Taking the tee-shirt off, Tony swapped their positions so that he was on top.

Gibbs moaned as Tony began suckling on his nipple, wondering why he’d deprived himself of this for so long. Tony’s hands went lower and expertly undid his belt, quickly ridding him of his pants and boxers. Tony made a contented sound and captured Gibbs mouth again.

When they broke for air, Gibbs tugged at Tony’s shirt, complaining, “Too much clothing,”

Tony smiled and ripped off his shirt, revealing a tanned hairless torso. Gibbs frowned and sat up, “I thought you had a hairy chest,”

“And what made you think that?” Tony asked, amused

“I’ve seen you naked before, Tony,” Gibbs reminded him, thinking of the iguana

Tony smiled and made quick work of taking off his pants and boxers. Gibbs smiled when Tony straddled his lap and took up where they left off. The feel of their naked bodies gliding over each other was almost too much for them.

“Supplies?” Tony asked still rubbing against Gibbs cock

“Ah,” Gibbs replied, his brain turning to mush, “Top drawer?”

Tony looked and shook his head, “Negative,”

“Duffel bag?” Gibbs asked

Tony’s face took on a displeasurable expression and he began looking through the bag’s contents, “We are gonna have a serious discussion about his whole leaving thing later,”

“Mmm” Gibbs agreed, closing his eyes

Tony pulled out the supplies and looked at Gibbs, “Right, how we gonna do this?”

Gibbs opened his eyes, “I want, you in me,”

Tony’s eyes darkened with arousal, and asked huskily, “Really?”

“Yeah,” Gibbs responded

“Okay,” Tony replied, lubing up his fingers “But just for the record, I’ve never, been with a guy before,”

“What about that guy from Italy?” Gibbs asked, “You said you had relationship problems with him,”

“Nah, we only fooled around,” Tony responded as he slowly began inserting a finger into Gibbs

Gibbs moaned and closed his eyes. Once Tony had his whole finger in, he began finger fucking him.

“Oh God, yes,” Gibbs moaned

“Does that feel good?” Tony asked huskily, “Damn, you’re so tight,”

“Mmm,” Gibbs replied, almost whimpering when Tony removed his finger

Tony slicked up another finger and inserted both, making Gibbs moan with pleasure. As Tony moved his fingers in and out in rhythm, he hit Gibbs’ magical spot, causing him to arch up off the bed.

Breathing heavily, Gibbs opened his eyes, “What was that?”

“You’re prostate,” Tony replied

“God, never feels like that when the doc does a prostate exam on me,” Gibbs remarked

“I should hope not,” Tony chuckled breathlessly

“You know, for somebody who hasn’t done this before, you seem a lot like you’ve done this before,” Gibbs remarked in between gasps

“Like I said, we fooled around,” Tony responded, hitting Gibbs’ magical spot again, ending the discussion

“Oh, fuck,” Gibbs moaned, “Tony, if you don’t get in me now, you’ll miss the final act,”

Pulling out his fingers, Tony slid on the condom and slicked up his cock. “You ready?” he asked as he lined himself up with Gibbs’ hole

“You need a written invite?” Gibbs asked impatiently

Tony slowly pushed forwards, turning Gibbs into a pile of nonsensical goo. When Tony was fully inside Gibbs, he began rocking backwards and forwards. The feel of being inside Gibbs made Tony almost come before even moving.

“Oh, fuck yes,” Tony moaned, enjoying the sensation, “You’re so hot and tight,”

Tony knew when he hit Gibbs’ prostate again, as Gibbs gasped and began muttering something unintelligible. Tony reached up and kissed Gibbs soundly, dueling Gibbs’ tongue for dominance.

“Oh, god, so close, Tony,” Gibbs moaned

Tony reached between them and began stroking Gibbs’ cock in synchronization with the rhythm he set.

Gibbs closed his eyes, “Oh…oh, god, Tony,”

“You’re so hot right now, Jethro,” Tony told him, increasing the speed, capturing Gibbs mouth again

As they broke off the kiss for oxygen, Gibbs moaned, “Need to…Tony,”

Tony leaned down and whispered into Gibbs’ ear, “Come for me, Jethro, come now,”

In answer, Gibbs bucked up, moaning his name and shooting his load over their bare chests. The sight of Gibbs coming pushed Tony over the edge and he came deep inside Gibbs’ body.

Gibbs awoke to the warmth of somebody’s body wrapped around his own. Keeping his eyes closed and schooling his expression, Gibbs pieced together where he was and who was spooning him.

Slamming open one of his drawers and pulling out a handful shirts and throwing them into his duffel bag…Finding a picture taken of the team six months ago…Sitting on the floor beside his bed, drinking from the bottle…Tony arriving…Tony taking off his clothes…

Gibbs groaned into his pillow. He hadn’t planned on this happening and he wasn’t sure where it left him. Had Tony done it as a joke? Nah, there never was a joke…

Turning around in Tony’s arms, he looked at the younger man, noting how peaceful he was when he slept. As if noting that he was being watched, Tony slowly opened his eyes and blinked at Gibbs.

The two men watched each either for a while, content to not say anything. Tony seemed to be still waking up, whilst Gibbs didn’t feel much like talking anyway.

“Thought I dreamt it,” Tony eventually whispered

Gibbs looked into Tony’s eyes, whispering back, “Me too,”

Tony smiled and closed his eyes, “I could go back to sleep,” he commented, before his eyes shot open and he sat up, “What time is it?” he leaned across Gibbs to look at Gibbs’ alarm clock

“9:13. I’m late for work! Shit!” Tony jumped out of the bed and started gathering up his clothes, “I can’t believe I slept in,”

Gibbs supported his head with his hand propped up on his elbow and watched Tony hopping into his underwear.

“Dammit, where’s my shirt?” Tony asked as he located his pants, “Gibbs? Where’s my…?” Tony stopped and stared at Gibbs, “Why aren’t you getting changed?”

“Cos I’m on leave,” Gibbs answered, “Not goin’ into work,”

Tony frowned and looked worried as he walked to the edge of the bed, “You’re still leaving?”

Gibbs shrugged, then looked down, “I dunno,”

“Gibbs, I thought we – ” Tony started

“No, Tony, it’s not you,” Gibbs interrupted, “I just… I think I need time away, to think,”

“What?” Tony asked, sounding hurt, “You mean, after this you’re just gonna run away?”

“That’s not what I said Tony,” Gibbs stated

“That’s what it sounded like,” Tony replied, putting his hands on his hips

Gibbs sat up, “Tony, I … that’s not what I meant. I, um,… everything that’s been happening lately, it’s just got me thinking. I haven’t had a break from work since…2001, but it was cut short because of 9/11,”

Gibbs paused as he remembered getting the call in the middle of his vacation. Gibbs sighed, “Ducky told me he thinks I work too hard, and I think he might be right. I’m starting to feel the strain. One of the first few cases I worked in NIS was a guy who had a breakdown, ended up killing two of his collegues before turning the gun on himself. I don’t wanna end up like that,”

“So, you’re not…trying to get away from me?” Tony asked

Gibbs shook his head, “No, Tony. I was actually thinking…maybe you could come with me?”

Tony sat on the edge of the bed and looked into Gibbs’ eyes, “You want me to come with you?”

Gibbs smirked, “You gonna repeat everything I say?”

“I can’t just drop everything and leave, Gibbs,” Tony sighed

“Why not? I did. Besides, we don’t have any active cases at the moment and – ” Gibbs asked

“Gibbs, we’d be leaving the team two agents down,” Tony interrupted

“They’d get replacements,” Gibbs replied

“And it’s unusual for two people to go on leave at the same time, especially from the same team. And then the team, not to mention everybody else in the agency, would ask questions,” Tony argued

“So we give them answers,” Gibbs stated

Tony scoffed, “Yeah, and what would we tell them? That we finally realised we had feelings for each other and want time to explore the relationship and each other?”

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and he watched Tony’s eyes wander over his naked body, “We can tell them what we like. It’s probably no secret that I’ve taken long service leave, you could say that you had a family emergency…or something,”

“Yeah, or something. Gibbs, they’re federal agents, they investigate things, they’d know something was hinky from the get-go. I mean, I know they’ve got nothing on your gut, but…” Tony sighed, “It’s not gonna work,”

“Mmm,” Gibbs agreed, “Maybe… We could leave it a few days before you take leave?”

Tony turned to look at Gibbs, “Yeah, I guess that could work,”

Gibbs smiled and shuffled closer to Tony, “You know, you could call in and say you’re feeling sick,”

Tony smiled as Gibbs mouth captured his own. Tony moaned into the kiss as their tongues dueled for dominance. When they broke for air, Tony reluctantly stood up and straightened his clothes.

“Gibbs, I gotta get to work,” Tony sighed, still drinking in the sight of Gibbs’ body

Gibbs stood, “You can’t stay a bit longer? I doubt it’d make a difference,”

Tony chuckled and took a step away from Gibbs, “You’re a bad influence on me, boss. They’re gonna send out the search and rescue squad for me soon,”

“So?” Gibbs asked, sounding amused as he stepped closer to Tony

“So, my boss will kill me,” Tony replied, then looked around the room, “Do you know where my shirt is?”

“Wherever you left it,” Gibbs replied

“Gee thanks,” Tony responded as Gibbs backed him into the wall and began kissing him again

Gibbs’ hands roamed down the bare skin of Tony’s back, before settling on Tony’s ass cheeks. Pushing Tony’s ass towards him, their groins collided, causing Gibbs to moan into Tony’s mouth.

As the kiss ended, Gibbs continued sucking, kissing and licking down Tony’s jawline and neck.

“Mmm, Jethro,” Tony moaned, “I gotta go,”

Gibbs hummed noncommittally as he gave Tony a hickey. Tony groaned as his hands felt Gibbs’ dick against his stomach, and began stroking it. Gibbs moaned and attacked Tony’s mouth as his hands slipped into Tony’s pants to grasp Tony’s bare ass.

Eventually Gibbs pulled back and looked at Tony pants, then began working on the belt, mumbling, “Ah, these gotta go,”

Tony chuckled, but helped him get out of the pants, followed by his underwear. Tony closed the distance between them and captured Gibbs’ lips, allowing Gibbs’ tongue entrance.

Tony thrust against Gibbs’ erection, causing the two men to moan. Tony pushed Gibbs towards the bed, but Gibbs tripped over Tony’s clothing, causing both men to end up on the floor.

Gibbs chuckled against Tony’s mouth and flipped their positions so that he was on top. Gibbs started licking Tony’s nipples, flicking them to and fro in his mouth. The younger man moaned and squirmed against him.

“Mmm, you like that?” Gibbs muttered

“Ahh, yea- yes, boss,” Tony replied, closing his eyes

Gibbs grinned and his cock got harder when Tony called him ‘boss’. Gibbs took the other nipple in his mouth and started rocking against Tony erection.

Suddenly Tony stopped squirming and opened his eyes, “Gibbs?”

“Mmm,” Gibbs replied, kissing and licking down Tony’s stomach

“Did you hear that?” Tony asked

Gibbs looked up from what he was doing and looked blankly at Tony, “Hear what?”

“A car door slam,” Tony replied

Gibbs frowned and was about to go back to his work when he heard a knocking at his door.

“Shit!” Tony exclaimed, almost whispering as he jumped up and tried to find his clothes again

Gibbs hmphed and rolled over, before slowly getting to his feet. The knocking came again, causing Tony to growl at the door.

Gibbs sighed and grabbed a towel from his bathroom; he eyed Tony, commanding, “Stay here,”

“Gibbs, where’s my shirt?” Tony hissed

Gibbs shrugged and shut the door. As he jogged down the stairs, he wrapped the towel around his waist. Opening the front door, he saw a distressed looking McGee and a worried Kate.

“What?” he asked when they didn’t say anything

“Um, I think, ah, did you want to put on some clothes?” McGee stuttered

“Can we come in?” Kate asked at the same time

Gibbs frowned and stepped out of the way, “Sure,”

Gibbs put on the coffee as they made their way in, then turned to his guests, “Now, what was so pressing that you couldn’t just ring me?”

“Tony’s missing,” McGee said quickly, “He hasn’t come in to work, not answering his home phone, his cell’s switched off and he’s not at home,”

“Maybe he’s with a girlfriend and slept in, it happens,” Gibbs suggested

“No, he didn’t have a date last night and in any case, he never sleeps the night with them. His nosy neighbor said he didn’t come home last night. And Tony left work early, said he had something urgent to do,” Kate replied

“Let me put some clothes on,” Gibbs sighed and walked out of the kitchen

As he entered his bedroom, he saw Tony looking under the bed. “Anything under there?” Gibbs asked

“Gibbs, I can’t find my shirt,” Tony responded

“Borrow one of mine,” Gibbs told him as he threw some clothes on, “McGee and Kate are downstairs, they think you’re missing,”

“What did you tell them?” Tony asked

“I said you might be at a girlfriend’s place,” Gibbs responded, throwing a t-shirt on as he walked back out

As he jogged back down the stairs, he heard Kate and McGee talking frantically, probably debating who was going to say something.

“Okay, so …” Gibbs stopped talking as Kate turned to him, then held up the shirt Tony was wearing last night

“You sure you don’t know where he is?” Kate asked

"Oh," Gibbs stalled for time as he thought of an excuse, "Tony
must've left that last time he was here,"

"Nice try, Gibbs, he was wearing this shirt yesterday," Kate replied
dryly

"You pay that much attention to what he wears?" Gibbs asked,
genuinely surprised, although he couldn't deny that he paid that much
attention and more to what Tony wore

"Boss, do you know where Tony is?" McGee asked instead, "Because if
you don't, we need to start searching for him, his stalker is still
at large,"

"That's been taken care of, McGee," Gibbs replied, pouring himself a
coffee

"Okay, but he's still missing," Kate pointed out

"No, he's not," Gibbs responded, inwardly sighing to himself, "He's
here,"

"What?!" Kate exploded, "You mean you had us all worried this whole
time, whilst you…beat around the bush? Dammit Gibbs, we thought
something bad had happened to him! You know how he attracts trouble!"

"Glad to hear you think I can take care of myself, Katie," Tony
answered as he strolled down the stairs

Kate glared at him, quickly turning her anger to him, "And you! You
could have called in and told us you were ok!"

Tony smiled, "Aw, didn't know you cared, Kate,"

"Don't start Tony," Kate responded

"And I believe that – " Tony grabbed his shirt, "Is mine,"

Gibbs smirked at Tony, "Told you, you shoulda called in,"

Tony mock-glared at Gibbs, then gestured to the lounge room, "Can we
talk?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, then turned back to McGee and Kate, "Feel
free to have a coffee,"

Gibbs followed Tony into the lounge room, guessing what Tony wanted
to talk about, asking in a whisper as Tony opened his mouth, "You
want us to tell them?"

"Well what are we supposed to say?" Tony asked, "We don't really have
a
choice,"

"We always have a choice, Tony. As far as I'm concerned, if we don't
wanna tell them, they can wander about us for – " Gibbs started

"But is that what you want?" Tony interrupted

"Tony, I don't mind either way. They can think what they want. I
think Abby and Ducky will figure it out soon – if they don't already
know. Well, Abby knows. And Kate and McGee, I doubt they're far
behind the eight-ball, especially after what they've seen this
morning. I hired them because they're good at what they do," Gibbs
told him, "But at the end of the day, the choice is yours,"

"Ours," Tony corrected him, "I'm not stupid, Gibbs. I know that this
is your first – " Tony stopped himself and looked at Gibbs, who
raised his eyebrow

"Relationship with a man?" Gibbs suggested

Tony paused for a moment, "Yeah. Well, I mean, at least, I think this
is your first – when exactly did you – "

"Tony," Gibbs stopped Tony's ramblings, "Yes, you are my first. But
I'm happy with who I am. I've never cared about what people think of
me, and I'm not about to start now. And I doubt this will be easy,
working together will be – well, we can discuss that later, but we
need to be discreet,"

Gibbs watched the feelings flutter over Tony's face, Gibbs tipped
Tony's chin up, "Tony, this would do more harm to your image than
mine. If you," Gibbs paused and took a deep breath, "If you don't
want a relationship with me, then I'll – "

"No! Gibbs…" Tony stopped as he realised he was shouting. Taking a
breath, he continued, "No, I want a relationship with you, I do, you
don't know how long I've wanted this. I think… I think we should tell
them… I mean, if you want to,"

Gibbs smiled at Tony's nervousness, then realised he probably looked
the same way. "Okay, then let's tell them," Gibbs said and started
walking towards McGee and Kate

"Wait!" Tony hissed, grabbing Gibbs' arm, "Shouldn't we tell them all
together?"

Gibbs frowned, "Well, Abby knows. That leaves Ducky and these two,"
Gibbs paused, "Tony, you free tonight?"

Tony frowned, "Why? .. I mean, yeah, I guess,"

"That a yes?" Gibbs asked. Tony nodded. "Okay, we tell McGee and Kate
now. And tell them all tonight at dinner – kind of like a celebration
meal or whatever, seeing as most of them will know anyway,"

"Didn't think you were into celebrations, boss," Tony muttered

Gibbs grabbed Tony's hand and pulled him towards the kitchen, "Only
when there's something to celebrate,"

Tony smiled and felt his face warm up as he blushed at the comment.

"You two done with your mother's meeting?" Kate asked, winking at Tony

Gibbs looked at Tony, nodding to him.

Tony cleared his throat, feeling his pulse race and his face
redden, "Um, we, ah…Gibbs and I, we're together, we're partners.
That's why I stayed here last – I mean, why I was late for work this
morning,"

McGee smiled, then held out his hand to Tony, then
Gibbs, "Congratulations,"

Tony frowned, "You're not…surprised?"

"Nope," McGee smiled, "Gibbs sucks at – I mean, I followed
your `stalker's' username and traced it back to Gibbs,"

Kate's frown deepened, "You were the stalker?"

"I didn't stalk him, I just knew something that he hadn't told me,"
Gibbs defended himself

Tony turned back to McGee, "But I still thought you'd have been
surprised. I mean, this is second `b' for bastard, badass, ex-marine,
thrice-divorced, Jethro Gibbs, and I'm the chauvinistic pig who – "

"Tony," McGee interrupted, "If I read into all that bullshit and
didn't recognize it for the masks they were, I doubt I'd be working
at NCIS. Besides, in the first year I worked here, I saw the looks
you both through at one another when you thought nobody was working."

"What looks?" Gibbs and Tony chorused

"Hang on, you're both gay?" Kate asked

"I'm pretty sure I'm bi," Gibbs responded dryly, "Especially if my
relationship history is anything to go by,"

"Likewise," Tony agreed

"And you're together?" Kate asked, clarifying for herself

Tony frowned, "You have a problem with that?"

Kate frowned, recognizing Tony's defensive behavior, "Tony, I'm just
trying to get my head around it. I was sure you were both straight,"

Tony humphed and sipped some of Gibbs' coffee, before scrunching up
his face. Turning to Gibbs, he grumbled, "We have got to get you some
better quality coffee,"

Gibbs smiled, "I don't have a problem with that,"

"You don't?" Tony asked, confused

"No, so long as it comes in the hot, extra strong and black variety,"
Gibbs replied

Tony rolled his eyes and looked through Gibbs' cupboards for cereal.

"Up the top, fourth door on the right," Gibbs told him

"So, how long have you two been in this relationship?" Kate asked as
Tony found his favorite cereal

"A night," Gibbs replied

Kate nodded, then smiled, "Cool. So, we're the first to know?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes and took a swig of his coffee.

"Kinda," Tony answered, "You're the first to know that we made up.
But it was Abby who threw us at each other,"

"You guys had a fight?" McGee asked, "Wasn't over the
internet/stalker thing was it?"

Gibbs grimaced, but let Tony do the talking.

"Well, yes and no. It's a long story," Tony responded

"I'm sure it's not that long," Kate told him

"Yeah, but we'd prefer to keep the matter between us," Gibbs replied

Kate nodded. McGee stood up and put his coffee cup in the sink, "Ok,
well, I think the `missing Tony' case has been solved. Tony, you
coming in later?"

Tony and Gibbs exchanged a glance, before Tony sighed, "Yeah, there's
no reason for me to miss a day of work," then muttered loud enough
only for Gibbs to hear, "Even though I'd rather stay here,"

"Okay, we'll see you later then," McGee replied, then added, "We'll
see ourselves out, I'm sure you guys could do with breakfast,"

"McGee!" Kate hissed, elbowing McGee in the ribs

Tony laughed as the front door closed. Gibbs grinned and shook his
head, "I think McGee is starting to take after you,"

Tony mock-glared at Gibbs, "Yeah, well you stay the hell away from
him. You're mine, and mine only, I'm not sharing you with anyone
else, understand?"

"Yes sir," Gibbs replied with a mock salute

"Mmm, I could get used to this," Tony told him as he hugged Gibbs and
kissed him.

Their tongues battled for dominance, as they broke the kiss, Gibbs
sucked on Tony's lower lip. Sighing, Gibbs clarified, "What? Me
calling you `sir'?"

"Yeah, that too. But I was referring to having breakfast with you
and… you coming to attention for me," Tony answered with a grin and
rubbed his groin against Gibbs'

Gibbs groaned, "So, what were we doing before we were so rudely
interrupted?"

"I think you, were about to put this," Tony slipped his hand into
Gibbs pants and cupped his cock, "In here," Tony took one of Gibbs'
hands and slid it into his jeans, stopping at his ass crack

"Oh," Gibbs answered, "Well then, let's see what we can do to fix
that. And ah, seeing as you're running short on time, why don't we
kill two birds with one stone and do it in the shower?"

"Mmm…" Tony considered, "See, I thought we could take care of this
now," he squeezed Gibbs' bulge, "And have seconds in the shower,"

"Aw, now you're being greedy," Gibbs commented

Tony started stroking Gibbs' cock, and whispered in his ear, "Don't
tell me that you don't want it too,"

"Yeah, you're right," Gibbs mumbled, thrusting into Tony's hand

Gibbs' mouth met Tony's and began exploring his mouth again as his
hands ripped Tony's shirt open.

Tony paused and looked at his shirt, "Gibbs, you ripped it, again,"

Gibbs grinned, "The look suits you, Tony,"

Tony growled, "Strip!"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and quickly took his clothes off as fast as
he could, then greedily eyed the remainder of Tony's clothing.

Tony grinned, a thoughtful expression on his face, "Jethro?"

"Mmm?" Gibbs mumbled, working at Tony's belt

"You like being commanded around don't you?" Tony asked

"Huh?" Gibbs asked, looking into Tony's face

"You like somebody being in control over you?" Tony asked, nibbling
Gibbs' ear, "You have a thing for somebody in authority? You obeyed
me as fast as you could when I `commanded' you to strip,"

Gibbs failed to suppress a shiver going up his spine.

Tony smiled, "Is that what those furry cuffs are for?"

"Maybe," Gibbs muttered

"Maybe?" Tony asked, then raised his voice, "I asked you a question,
soldier!"

Gibbs groaned, "Yea- yes,"

Tony smiled, looking down to see Gibbs' cock hard and leaking against
his stomach, "Mmm, we'll have to examine this in more detail when I
come home tonight. Is that what you want?"

"Yes," Gibbs replied

"Good, now, fuck me," Tony said with a smile as he kissed Gibbs' lips

Gibbs moaned into the kiss and made quick work of ridding Tony of his
pants. He turned them around so Tony's back was to the breakfast bar.
Breaking off the kiss, Gibbs patted Tony thigh, "Up,"

Tony jumped into the breakfast bar, "Don't bother with preparing me,"
at Gibbs' odd look, he smiled, "Why do you think I spent so long in
your bedroom?"

"You got supplies?" Gibbs asked

"Jethro, I want to feel you, we're both clean, so…" Tony remarked

"Tony, I think – " Gibbs started

"Fuck me, now," Tony told Gibbs in a commanding voice

Gibbs swallowed and lined himself infront of Tony's hole, then pushed
in in one fluid motion. Taking a moment to collect his breath, Gibbs
started moving in and out of Tony, searching for Tony's special spot.

Tony cried out and arched his back, letting Gibbs' know where to keep
striking.

"So hot and tight," Gibbs moaned, thrusting

"Oh god, Jethro," Tony gasped

Gibbs continued thrusting, hitting Tony's special spot and feeling
the sensations run through his body. he mentally hit himself as he
realized that he'd been missing out on this for so long... and for
what?

"Mmm," Tony moaned, "Just there,"

Tony began counter thrusting to Gibbs, pushing Gibbs' cock further
into Tony's ass.

Gibbs moaned as the sensations threatened to overwhelm him.

"Oh, shit," Tony muttered,

Gibbs stopped thrusting for a moment and pulled one of Tony's legs
over his shoulder, before continuing to thrust. Tony arched up and
gasped.

"Feels so good, Tony," Gibbs gasped

"Mmm, shit, Jethro, so close,"

"Yeah," Gibbs groaned, thrusting harder into Tony's body, "Like that,"

Gibbs began stroking Tony's erection at the same pace as his thrusts

"Jethro," Tony moaned, feeling sparks of pleasure go through his
body, "I need – "

Gibbs thrusted harder and faster, he felt Tony's balls rise

"Jethro," Tony shouted as he came all over Gibbs' hand and his stomach

Tony's muschles clamped down on Gibbs, who came a moment later deep
inside Tony's body, shouting his release with Tony's name on
his lips

Gibbs made himself another cup of coffee and looked through his fridge, wondering what he could have for lunch. The contents of his fridge were looking pretty bad, most of the veggies and diary products were past their expiry date, actually most of the things in the fridge were well past their expiry date.

Gibbs frowned into his fridge, wishing at least something would be okay. Eyeing the pasta, he tried to remember when he'd made it.

"Thursday…or the Friday before," he mumbled, grabbing the dish

As he removed the glad rap and sniffed, he scrunched up his face and put a hand over his mouth, muttering, "Definitely the Friday before,"

As he got rid of the pasta, the phone rang. Putting the dish in the sink, he answered the phone, smiling when he realised who it was.

"Hey, it's me. How're you doin'?" Tony's voice asked on the other end

Gibbs smiled and poured his coffee, "I'm good, how are you? Keeping out of trouble?"

"Oh, you know me," Tony replied, amused

"That's why I asked," Gibbs replied dryly, "So, what's going on?"

"Not a lot, just wanted to make sure that you weren't having second thoughts…again," Tony replied lightly, "Which'd make them third thoughts…technically, but anyway…"

Gibbs put his coffee down, detecting the undercurrent of uncertainty in Tony's voice, "Ah, no, not having second thoughts... are you?"

"Uh, no…I'm not," Tony replied

"Tony, what's up?" Gibbs asked, feeling concerned and anxious

"Nothing," Tony sighed, "I just…" Tony paused and gave a laugh, "I just had a strange thought that you were taking the time now, whilst I'm at work, to leave, and I was afraid that you'd be gone when I got back,"

Gibbs rubbed a hand over his face, "No, decided to give this a go…as long as you want to,"

"Yeah, absolutely!" Tony replied enthusiastically, "I mean, I've wanted this for… I think I'm just a bit anxious about tonight,"

"Yeah, you and me both," Gibbs replied, thinking of the disastrous state of his fridge – not to mention he was so nervous he could almost go for a run around the country and back.

"You're anxious?" Tony asked, a bit surprised

Gibbs scoffed, "Yeah. I know I shouldn't be, I mean they're our friends, but nevertheless, I still am,"

Gibbs heard Tony smile, "Should be a piece of cake, speaking of cake, did you want me to get one?"

"A cake?" Gibbs asked, "I was more concerned about not having anything for main course. My fridge looks like a bomb hit it, and the only thing that's edible in my cupboards is coffee,"

"Coffee?" Tony chuckled, "Gibbs, you can't give them coffee for dinner,"

"Why not?" Gibbs asked, grinning, "I do it all the time,"

"Yeah, I know, and it's not healthy. You really need to take better care of yourself, Jethro Gibbs," Tony berated him

"You're not much better Anthony DiNozzo," Gibbs replied, "I've seen you eat,"

"Okay, point taken," Tony responded

Gibbs laughed, "So, what are you doing over there?"

"We caught a case this morning – which is why McGee and Kate were so worried I wasn't in yet – anyway, it's looking like a suicide at the moment, so it should be finished up before we leave," Tony replied

"So when should I expect you all?" Gibbs asked, looking in his fridge again

"Well, I told them 8 o'clock, I was thinking of coming around earlier…you know, to help and stuff," Tony replied, going slightly red

"Mmm, I like the sound of stuff," Gibbs murmured

"I thought you might, um, anyway, I'll give you a ring when I'm on my way," Tony told him

"Okay, I'll wait expectantly for your call," Gibbs replied, closing his fridge with a grin

Tony smiled, "Ok, see ya later,"

"Wait," Gibbs said quickly, "What did you want for dinner?"

"Oh, um…" Tony said as he thought

"And don't say pizza," Gibbs interrupted

"Why not?" Tony asked, "Actually, don't answer that. I dunno, surprise me,"

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Gibbs looked around the kitchen a final time, quickly checking the veggies and potatoes. Tony had called and told him he was on his way.

Gibbs bent over and checked on the chicken in the oven, it was doing quite nicely if he thought so himself. Grinning to himself, he thought he'd have to cook more often.

"Nice ass," he heard a comment behind him as he felt somebody slap his ass

Gibbs straightened up with a smile and turned to face Tony, "Thanks, yours isn't so bad either,"

Tony blushed at the compliment, "But, ah, the trackies don't do it enough justice,"

Gibbs looked down at what he was wearing, he was wearing navy blue track pants and a grey long sleeved t-shirt under a white t-shirt with some emblem on the right breast. "I was going for comfort rather than fashion, besides, I was going to change before anyone got here,"

Tony hmphed, "So, how was your day?"

Gibbs chuckled, "Busy, I had to go grocery shopping and an old granny threatened to beat me up with her walking stick,"

"Why? What did you do?" Tony asked, stifling a laugh

"I don't know," Gibbs replied, leaning in to kiss the other man and wrapped him in his arms, "How was your day?"

"Boring," Tony responded, "You weren't there. McGee had a smile on his face the whole day, Kate was strange – like she felt out of place, and Abby and Ducky were…Abby and Ducky-like,"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and grinned. Tony leaned in and kissed Gibbs, he nibbled at Gibbs' lip, then pulled back.

"So, what's for dinner?" Tony asked

"Roast chicken, veggies and mashed potatoes," Gibbs replied

"Gravy?" Tony asked

"Of course," Gibbs replied indignantly

Tony smiled, "Well, how far along are they?"

"Veggies and mash are almost done, chicken still has about an hour," Gibbs responded

"Good, then we can turn these off," Tony replied, turning off the heat to the veggies and potatoes, "So that we can have some fun,"

"Yeah?" Gibbs asked, letting Tony pull him towards his bedroom

"Yeah, it's had me hot and bothered all day," Tony replied

"Really?" Gibbs asked, genuinely amused

"Yeah," Tony responded, pulling Gibbs towards him and rubbed his groin against his, whispering huskily into his ear "I could barely think straight,"

Gibbs grabbed Tony's ass and pulled their bodies closer, crashing his mouth to Tony's. Their tongues fought for dominance as their hands roamed over each other's bodies. Eventually Tony pulled back and eyed Gibbs.

"What?" Gibbs asked huskily

"Strip," Tony replied

Gibbs gulped and quickly pulled his clothing off. Tony smiled at the response, "Okay, now lay on your back, hands stretched above your head,"

"Tony – " Gibbs started

"Now, Jethro," Tony commanded

Gibbs did as he was told and watched as Tony located the furry cuffs and dangled them in-front of Gibbs.

"You want to play, Jethro?" Tony asked

Gibbs swallowed to moisten his mouth which had suddenly gone dry, "Yes,"

Tony smiled, "Good boy,"

Tony knelt between Gibbs's legs and reached over to cuff Gibbs's wrists to the end of the bed, "That okay?"

"Yeah," Gibbs replied, blushing uncontrollably, "Tony…"

"Yeah?" Tony asked, sitting back

"I-I've never done this before," Gibbs told him

"Me either. But I know the basics, besides, I don't know about you but I don't wanna do anything hard core, just see where this takes us. Okay?" Tony asked

"Yeah," Gibbs replied, still a bit nervous

"Okay, what's your safeword?" Tony asked

"I need one?" Gibbs asked, then answered anyway, "Boat,"

Tony laughed, "Original,"

"Thanks. Tony, you're overdressed," Gibbs complained

"Hey, I'm the one calling the shots," Tony told him, but got off the bed and started to slowly strip.

Gibbs gasped as Tony took off his pants, bucking against the restraints. Tony watched Gibbs's efforts and smiled.

Tony grasped his own cock and started stroking it slowly, "You want this, Jethro?"

"Yes," Gibbs replied

"Yes, what?" Tony asked

For a second Gibbs looked confused, his brain not fully functioning, "Yes, sir,"

Tony smiled, stroking himself again, "Damn, you're so hot,"

Gibbs licked his lips and watched Tony's technique intensely, as if it was his life line. Tony closed his eyes and fastened his rhythm, flicking his hand over the head every now and then. Eventually Tony opened his eyes dipped his thumb into the precum pooling at the head of his cock.

Tony walked towards Gibbs and held his thumb to Gibbs's lips. Gibbs licked Tony's thumb and sucked the digit into his mouth and played with it.

Tony smiled and sat between Gibbs's legs again, capturing Gibbs's mouth with his own, causing Gibbs to moan and thrust against Tony's body. Releasing Gibbs's mouth, Tony began kissing and sucking his way down Gibbs's body. Tony played with Gibbs's nipples, making Gibbs moan

"Tony," Gibbs said breathlessly, thrusting against him again

"Mmm?" Tony asked as he put his tongue into Gibbs' belly button

"I want you.." Gibbs paused to take a breath, "I need…"

Tony looked up and smiled, "What do you need, Jethro?"

Gibbs took a shuddery breath, "You to fuck me,"

"Okay," Tony replied, his finger circling Gibbs's hole

"No," Gibbs gasped, "I want you, now, I can take it,"

"You don't want me to prepare you?" Tony asked

"I want it rough," Gibbs responded

Tony grabbed the supplies from the top drawer of the bedside table, holding up a condom for Gibbs to see, asking if he wanted it. Gibbs shook his head, thinking of their earlier performances that day

Tony took a deep breath and slicked himself up with the lube. Looking up at Gibbs, Tony saw Gibbs biting his lower lip.

"You ready?" Tony asked

Gibbs nodded, not trusting his voice.

Tony lined his cock up at Gibbs's entrance and started pushing. Gibbs moaned at the pressure and closed his eyes, his hands holding onto the edge of the bed.

When Tony was fully in Gibbs, he leaned down and made a trail of kisses down Gibbs's jaw to his neck and started sucking and biting at a spot, then kissed it better.

"God, you're so tight," Tony muttered into Gibbs's neck

Gibbs moaned and tried to push his body against Tony's to get some friction, "Ah…Tony,"

Tony grinned and held Gibbs's hips down, "No, I'm the one who does the moving," Tony whispered into Gibbs's ear, "Understand?"

"Yeah," Gibbs croaked

"Yes … ?" Tony asked

"Uh…Yes, sir," Gibbs replied

"I want to hear you beg, I want to see you wanting to come so much it hurts, I want you to shout, I want you to scream, I want to hear you scream my name when you come," Tony whispered, "Clear?"

"Yes sir," Gibbs replied with a nod

"Then, beg," Tony commanded

"I – I can't," Gibbs responded quietly

"Can't or won't?" Tony asked

"Tony – " Gibbs started

"No, call me ‘sir'" Tony corrected

Gibbs pushed back, his physical need taking over as he got even more turned on. Tony smiled and kept Gibbs's hips down.

"Dammit Tony, I can't – I need you to move," Gibbs said, getting frustrated, clenching and unclenching his fists

"Beg for me, Jethro, beg," Tony whispered

"Argh," Gibbs moaned, "Please, I need … "

"What do you need?" Tony asked

"God, I need you to fuck me, I want – please, I need you to move, sir…" Gibbs continued rambling as he tried to get some friction, his hands tugging against the restraints as he pushed into Tony

Tony smiled and started rocking backwards and forwards into Gibbs, hitting Gibbs's prostrate every time. Gibbs cried out and arched against the sensations, completely losing himself in it

"Fuck yes!" Tony exclaimed, watching the myriad of emotions on Gibbs's face

"Mmm, you feel so good," Gibbs mumbled

Tony began kissing Gibbs's nipples, then bit down on one of them, making Gibbs lose his breath and arch against him

As Tony thrust into Gibbs, he held the base of Gibbs' cock to keep him from coming. Gibbs opened one eye at Tony and moaned at the feelings running through him, he was closer than he thought to coming.

Tony bit down on Gibbs's other nipple and watched as Gibbs arched again, he played with the nipple with his tongue and bit down again

"You like that, Jethro?" Tony asked

"Yes," Gibbs answered breathlessly

Tony moved up and started marking the other side of Gibbs's neck. He could hear Gibbs breathlessly gasping and saying things, not making much sense.

After a while, Tony stopped moving, making Gibbs open his eyes and look at Tony confusedly. Tony knelt up and pulled Gibbs ass into his lap, putting Gibbs's legs over his shoulders to increase the depth of penetration.

When Tony began moving again, Gibbs began moaning louder, shouting out profanities every now and then.

"I need – need to come," Gibbs moaned

Tony continued thrusting hard, fastening his pace and hitting Gibbs's prostrate on every stroke. Tony let go of Gibbs's balls and started stroking his cock in time with his own thrusts.

"Please," Gibbs murmured, "I need – please,"

"Come for me, Jethro," Tony told him

"Tony!" Gibbs shouted as he came hard between their stomachs

Gibbs muscles clamped around Tony, which milked Tony's orgasm from him, also shouting his release.

Tony put Gibbs's off his shoulders and onto the bed and lay beside the older man. Gibbs sighed and nuzzled closer to Tony, "Can you take the cuffs off?"

Tony raised his gaze to Gibbs' arms, "But they look so good on you,"

"Mmm, but they're not supposed to be a fashion statement," Gibbs replied

As Tony undid Gibbs's cuffs, they heard a wailing sound coming from downstairs.

"What the hell is that?" Tony asked

Gibbs slowly got up, then realised, "Oh shit, the fire alarm,"

As they headed down the stairs, they saw a light haze of smoke coming from the kitchen.

"The chicken!" Gibbs exclaimed, running to the oven

"I'll get the chicken, you get the alarm," Tony told him

Gibbs nodded and ran to where the alarm was located, quickly flicking the battery out and turning off the alarm. As he walked back into the kitchen, his phone rang.

"Yeah, Gibbs," Gibbs answered, pausing whilst he listened then replied, "No, just a burnt chicken, it's all under control now… yeah, thanks,"

"Your alarm is monitored?" Tony asked once he'd put the phone down

"Isn't yours?" Gibbs asked as he watched Tony run water over the black chicken

"Don't think my alarm even works," Tony replied

Gibbs sighed and opened a few windows to let the smoke out, "What the hell are we gonna feed our guests with now?"

Tony stopped running the water and looked at Gibbs with a grin, "Pizza?"

Hey Tony, could you get the door?" Gibbs called from outside as he
turned over the onions

"What did your last slave die of?" Tony called back as he finished
making the salad and went to get the door

Gibbs grinned to himself, but decided not to respond. Instead, he
leaned to see through the door and see who had rang the doorbell. He
watched as Tony walked down the hall to the door.

Gibbs cocked his head to the side and checked out Tony's ass, it was
one fine piece of art. Gibbs unconsciously licked his lips and
decided he was glad that he'd made Tony wear his baggier pair of
jeans; the tighter pair were only to be worn when they were alone.
Tony didn't agree with him, but had agreed to wear the baggier pair
today and they'd finish their `discussion' later.

Tony opened the door and was almost knocked over by Abby, who had
enveloped him in a huge bear hug. McGee must have told Abby earlier…
or Abby had just figured it out on her own â€" seeing that Tony was in
Gibbs's house and that they'd invited everybody around for dinner.

McGee was standing beside Abby, and looked a bit concerned for Tony's
welfare. But Abby eventually let Tony go and walked into the house.
McGee stood for a second, looking a bit awkward before going to give
Tony a handshake, which Tony took, before pulling him in for a brief
hug.

Grinning, Gibbs leaned back to the barbeque and put the onions in a
bowl and started putting the steaks on the grill. As Gibbs was
seasoning the steaks, he heard the doorbell sound again. This time
Ducky was at the door, holding a bottle of red wine and a six-pack of
beer.

"I wasn't sure which was more appropriate," Ducky told Tony, as Tony
showed him in
Gibbs smiled and turned back to the barbeque as he heard the screen
door open and someone come out to join him.

"Ooh, smells good!" he heard Abby exclaim

"Yeah, well that's because I cooked `em," Gibbs replied, turning
around to see Abby, who'd been peering over his shoulder. Gibbs
raised his eyebrow at her, forcing back a grin

"What?!" Abby asked, then put her hands on her hips and
complained, "Hey, you stare over my shoulder all the time, so why
can't I stare over your's? … Besides, it looks good,"

Gibbs grinned and turned back to the steaks, "So, how was work?"

"Ah, nothing interesting. I was building a pyramid when Tony came in
and …" Abby stopped talking abruptly, then around at Gibbs, "Why did
Tony come in late?! Kate and McGee were looking for him for, like,
forever, and then he just turned up. But he was gone most of this
morning!"

Gibbs thought of why Tony had been late into work this morning, of
how he'd looked this morning when they got out of bed, and when they
were in the kitchen… Gibbs cleared his throat and forced his mind
back to the present conversation. Noticing that he was turning pink,
Gibbs turned away from Abby and turned the steaks.

"Oh my god! You didn't!" Abby exclaimed, almost jumping up and down
on the spot, "I mean, I thought that was what this dinner was about,
how could it not be? You never invite us all over for dinner. And
especially if it hadn't gone to plan. So you and Tony â€" "

"Hey, Abs," Gibbs hissed, "I don't want the whole neighbourhood to
know, okay? Besides, I'm not sure if Duck knows yet,"

"Of course he knows," Abby said, matter-of-factly, "He knew before
you knew, the duck-man knows it all,"

"Yeah, but I don't know how he's gonna react," Gibbs replied,
focusing on the steaks so he didn't have to look at Abby

"What do you mean?" Abby asked

Gibbs sighed, "I don't know. I guess I thought that you wouldn't all
be so understanding and …happy about it, I thought at least somebody
was not gonna be okay with it,"

"And you thought that was Ducky, now that he's the only one you
haven't told yet," Abby deduced

"I guess," Gibbs responded, putting some sausages on the grill

"Gibbs, you have nothing to worry about. Like I said, he probably
already knows, and when have you ever known him to react badly to
anything?" Abby asked

"I can think of one instance off the top of my head," Gibbs replied

"Really?" Abby asked, shocked

"Yeah, it was before you joined NCIS. But that's not for me to
discuss, if Ducky wants you to know, he'll tell you," Gibbs replied

"He swore you to secrecy?" Abby asked

"No, but he didn't need to," Gibbs responded

"Oh, Gibbs that's not fair, you can't tell me something, but not tell
me all of it! Now I wanna know what it was!" Abby complained

"Abs," Gibbs said, turning to the young woman, "Can you go get me a
plate for the steaks?"

Abby growled at him, before turning away to do as he asked.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00

Half an hour later, the team sat down to enjoy the meal. As everybody
found a seat and began eating, Tony nudged Gibbs, exchanging a look
with him. Gibbs sighed and stood up, motioning for Tony to stand next
to him.

"Okay, ah, before we start eating, we have an announcement to make,"
Gibbs announced, pausing for effect before continuing, "Tony and I
are seeing each other. And ah…yeah,"

The reaction from everybody at the table was as they'd expected,
seeing as everybody already knew, except for Ducky.

"A toast, to the new couple," Abby said, raising her glass

Everybody at the table raised their glasses and toasted Gibbs and
Tony, who sat down. As Gibbs sat down, he glanced at Ducky, who
hadn't moved since his announcement. Gibbs sighed and took a sip from
his glass before getting up and kneeling next to Ducky.

"Hey, Duck, can I have a word?" Gibbs asked quietly

Ducky nodded and followed him out of the room. Gibbs turned around
when they were out of hearing range of everybody else and put his
hands in his pockets, waiting for the inevitable. He didn't have to
wait long

"Jethro, is this wise?" Ducky asked

"What? Dating Tony?" Gibbs asked

"Yes, given your history with relationships," Ducky responded

"Just what do you have a problem with? Our being gay? Or the fact
that â€" " Gibbs asked, beginning to get worked up

Ducky frowned, "Jethro, you know how I feel about homosexuals,
especially given that my son was one of them,"

Gibbs sighed, "Yeah, well that's why I thought you'd disapprove,"

"I don't disapprove," Ducky said quickly, "I'm sorry if I led you to
believe I did. I believe a better word for it would be worried.
Worried that you may end up hurting Anthony, or Anthony you. And yes,
I will have a chat with young Anthony later,"

"Oh, right," Gibbs replied, "We've thought it over and we've talked a
bit about it, we need to have a serious talk about it, but we jumped
the gun because Kate and McGee found out this morning,"

"I see," Ducky responded

"But Duck, we've been beating around the bush for a good month or
so," Gibbs told him, "Besides, I thought you were trying to push me
and Tony together,"

Ducky took a deep breath, "I just want you to be careful, Jethro,
both of you,"

Gibbs gave a small smile and put his hand on Ducky's shoulder, "Hey,
we're not gonna end up like your son, besides, the circumstances are
different,"

"I just worry," Ducky explained, with a sigh

"I know," Gibbs replied, then gave Ducky's shoulder a squeeze, "Now,
cheer up and try to be happy. If your steak needs to be done a bit
longer, just give a yell,"

Ducky smiled, "Of course,"

"Great, and we can talk again later," Gibbs said, leading the older
man back to his seat