Chapter Fifty-Four
The following morning, Tony was the first one to wake up and he looked over at Gibbs still sleeping away next to him. He felt liberated in a way to have managed to get over the hurdle that the rape had placed in front of him and to have finally been intimate with Gibbs in a way he could only have dreamed of before all of this happened. Now, though the next step lay ahead of him before he could actually say that he had overcome the rape and everything that it had placed in front of him. He had come through the overdose, albeit with difficulty, he had come through the investigation and the trial that followed and had seen his attacker and accomplices sent to jail. Now, though he had to take that final step and return to the job he loved, to become a full time active NCIS Field Agent again.
The first step would be to call the Director. He’d been cleared to work both physically and mentally…but still he would have to inform the Director of his planned return because of the temporary Agent filling his spot on Gibbs’ team. He thought about doing that while Gibbs slept, but then decided against it and got up, pulled on some sweat pants and headed towards the kitchen. He was going to make Gibbs breakfast in bed to continue their celebrations from the night before. Maybe one day they’d be celebrating Tony managing to overcome the rape totally, but for now this was enough.
Tony set about making breakfast for Gibbs whilst amusing himself thinking back to the events of the night before, he’d had sex before but as he thought about it he realised that last night had been more about ‘making love’ than just sex, which was something he’d never experienced, even with Jeanne.
He put the eggs and bacon on a plate and then dug around Gibbs’ kitchen for a tray that he could carry the plate and hot cup of steamy coffee upstairs with. He found one and after giving it a quick once over with a wet cloth, loaded everything onto it and headed back up the stairs towards the bedroom which he should really start calling ‘theirs’ rather than just ‘Gibbs’’
Gibbs was still asleep when he entered the room so he placed the tray on the bedside cabinet and climbed back into bed, spooning up behind Gibbs and reaching round to tweak the man’s nipples. That got him a groan and Gibbs’ eyes opened.
“What you doing, DiNozzo?” he asked, sleepily.
“You know, after last night I think you can call me Tony, but I digress, I made you breakfast in bed,” Tony replied, his voice light.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Gibbs said, pulling himself up and sitting in bed. Tony sat up next to him and handed him the tray that held his breakfast and coffee. He hadn’t made himself anything, but he wasn’t feeling hungry and although he would need some coffee to take his morning tablets, he figured it could wait until Gibbs was done with his breakfast and up out of bed.
Gibbs leaned over and gave Tony a peck of the cheek and then began eating the breakfast his lover had prepared for him. Once he was done, he handed the tray to Tony. “Gonna grab a shower, hadn’t you better take your meds?” he said, pushing back the covers and getting out of bed.
Tony looked at him, still naked from the night before and smiled. It was hard to concentrate on everyday things when he had a sight like that in front of him! “Yeah, I’m on it, boss,” he said, the old phrase slipping out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
Gibbs smiled and headed to the en suite bathroom. “To repeat your earlier words, after last night, hadn’t you better call me Jethro?”
Whilst Gibbs showered, Tony thought about calling the Director and discussing the ‘back to work’ plan he had formed in his head. He thought about talking it over with Gibbs first but decided that he’d been making big decisions for himself for years before Gibbs came along so why should now be any different?
He headed down to the kitchen with the tray, emptied the dirty dish and cup into the sink and headed to the phone. He dialed the number for the NCIS HQ at the Navy yard and waited to be connected to the Director’s office.
“Director Shepherd’s office, how may I direct your call?” Cynthia said, answering the phone.
“Hey, Cynthia, it’s Tony DiNozzo, I was wondering if I could have a word with Jenny?” Tony asked.
“She’s free for the next five minutes, I’ll just put you through,” she said, putting Tony on hold and then transferring the call. “I have Tony DiNozzo on the line for you Director,” she said into the intercom.
“Thanks, Cynthia, I’ll take it,” Jenny replied. “Tony, how are you feeling? I hear the court case went fine, what can I do for you?”
“I got the all clear from the NCIS shrink and my medical docs think I’m okay to go back to work, so I wanted to talk to you about coming in and arranging a date for me to start back. I’m going crazy here with nothing to do and Gibbs’ place isn’t exactly set up the same way as my own apartment was in the way of entertainment,” Tony said, sighing. He would definitely have to dig out some of his DVD’S and things and set up the sound system if this thing with Gibbs was going to become permanent, which it looked like it was.
Jenny sighed to herself and thought about what to do, she had known that Tony would eventually want to return to work, but she’d hoped she would have had longer to prepare herself.
“I need to research some things before we meet, so could we do it next week some time?” she asked, trying to hide the jealousy in her voice. Tony was living with Gibbs now? When had that happened?
“That sounds fine, I can come in after I see my therapist on Tuesday?”
“What time would that be?”
“About midday.”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay, see you then. I better go, Gibbs is banging around in the kitchen looking for coffee and you know how he can get,” Tony said, laughing, before handing up the phone.
The Director put down the phone and stared straight ahead. Ever since Tony’s overdose, Gibbs had been stuck to his side like glue. He’d barely shown up at work when usually she had to order him to go home to rest and he’d stuck his teeth into the investigation of Tony’s rape and dug around, working McGee, Ziva and Abby harder that he had ever done before. She’d never seen him like that before, not even with Ari after Kate had died. What was it that was so special about the man that made Gibbs so concerned that he would call off work for as long as he had and now it seemed that Tony and Gibbs were living together? No, this wouldn’t do, something had to be done and it looked like she was the only one who saw it.
She pulled up the health care guidelines and started reading through them. Surely there was something in there that would give her grounds to ‘retire’ Tony out of NCIS and back into some local police department and then she would have Gibbs all to herself - the way it used to be. The way it should be.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who will catch DiNozzo when he falls?
Chapter End Notes:
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post this chapter - I was in hospital for three weeks and then it's taken me this long to get back to the fic, from now on there should be regular updates. Only two chapters left! Enjoy!