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Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs has a surprise for Shepard.
Chapter twenty-five

Tony closed the door behind Abby and locked it securely. They needed a quiet evening, just the two of them. He didn’t look forward to going into the office tomorrow, and frankly, didn’t quite know what else Shepard could have to say.

Returning to the kitchen, he decided they needed a cup of coffee, made from his hidden stash. A bag of Viennese Roast Columbian coffee, bought at a specialty shop this afternoon. Not as strong as the sludge Gibbs normally favored, but Tony wanted to keep his stomach lining. He made a pot and carried two mugs into the living room where Gibbs was sitting by the French doors, looking into the back garden.

Two squirrels were fighting over the seeds Tony had put on the bird feeder yesterday, running up and down a tree, and chasing each other around the garden. Finally they seemed to reach a truce, carrying away food to their respective hoards.

“Smart move,” Gibbs commented, nodding towards the two combatants, raiding the feeder from opposite sides.

“The big one’s probably planning to raid the little one’s hoard later tonight,” Tony chuckled; as he handed a steaming cup of coffee to the man he loved.

“This is good stuff,” Gibbs murmured, savoring his first taste of the hot brew.

“I’ve found this little hole-in-the-wall shop where they sell the most amazing coffee. I thought I’d check it out.” Tony perched on Gibbs’ armchair, put his arm around the other man’s shoulder and drew him closer.

“Didn’t know you cared that much about your coffee, Tony,” Gibbs smiled, rubbing his face against the soft fabric of Tony’s sweater.

“I don’t,” Tony leaned in for a slow kiss, “but you do.”

“I could get used to this,” Gibbs sighed.

“What, good coffee and a great kiss?”

“Having you around,” he said quietly. “I know it’s too soon to move in, but I would like us to spend as much time together as we can. And it doesn’t have to be here, you know, we’ll alternate. Don’t wanna loose more time.”

“I know.” Tony kissed the top of his head as he snuggled closer. “I’m not looking forward to sleeping alone again, either,” he sighed. “We need to work it out as we go along, Jethro. I’m too drained right now to think about anything. And the last thing I wanna think about is packing my bags and going home.”

“You holding up?” Gibbs pulled back a bit to get a good look at the man sitting next to him.

“Yeah…no…not really. There was so much venom and hatred spewing forth from that woman it nearly scared me. I haven’t paid much attention to what Ziva said, you know about me having to be careful, but that banshee raving on in our living room tonight, she was…well…not quite right,” he said carefully, trying to put his thoughts into words.

“I’ve seen her this driven before, in France, but not with this added element of hatred and jealousy.”

Gibbs got up, grabbed his crutches and walked towards the stairs. “You coming?” he called over his shoulder. “I need a shower.”

Tony got up and stretched languidly, closed his eyes and reached for the ceiling. When he opened them again, Gibbs was staring at him, his expression a mix of pure lust and deep love. It nearly took Tony’s breath away. A sense of calm enveloped him, soothing away the tension the afternoon’s events.

“C’mere,” Gibbs reached out his hand, and drew Tony close, just breathing in the scent of him. “I needed that,” he sighed.

They made their way upstairs, with Tony shedding his clothes as they went. As he stepped out of his pants, Gibbs groaned.

“You in pain, babe?” Tony teased, knowing full well the effect he had on the older man.

“I’ll get you for this,” Gibbs growled, sitting down on the stool they still kept in the bathroom. He divested his clothes in a hurry, leaving them in a pile by the hamper.

“You getting sloppy, Marine?” Tony cocked an eyebrow, looking at him sternly.

Gibbs laughed, a rich, hearty laugh Tony hadn’t heard often, and the knowledge he’d made him feel like this, gave Tony the warm and fuzzies, as Abby would say.

Together they ducked into the shower, letting the warm water wash everything that had happened this afternoon away.

******

The following morning Tony drifted slowly towards consciousness. He was still basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking the night before. The first time they made love it was intense and frantic, both men racing towards completion, having waited too long for this to happen to slow down.

But last night, things had been a bit different. Gibbs had made love to him, all of him. He had filled him physically and mentally, enveloped him in a feeling of togetherness, mixed with desire and love. Deep all encompassing love. It had been slow and lazy, each taking the time to map the other man’s body, caressing and exploring. In the end, Gibbs had turned him on his side, entering Tony from behind as he held him close, sliding in and out in a maddeningly slow pace. In the end, all Tony could feel was Gibbs. Inside him, around him. Nothing else existed, just the two of them. His orgasm had taken him by surprise and he’d cried out, just faintly registering Gibbs muffled gasp a minute later.

He turned around, wanting to feel Gibbs close again. The bed was empty. The other side of the bed was cold to the touch and when he listened, the house was very quiet. Too quiet. He walked downstairs into the kitchen only to find it empty. Looking around, he saw a note propped up against the coffee maker. He snatched it up, as a sense of foreboding doom suddenly looming in the room.

The note was brief. ‘I need to do this, Tony, need to make this right. J.’

Tony put the note back down and groaned loudly. How the hell did he manage to sneak out of the house like that? Tony ran to the front door and was about to run outside when he remembered he was still naked. Shit. He made sure both cars were still in the driveway before resigning. At least Gibbs hadn’t tried to drive himself. Realizing it was a losing battle he went in search of the bathroom. It was nearly seven, and he needed to get ready, anyway.

Drying off, he looked into the bedroom closet, wondering what to wear. The meeting called for a certain degree of formality, and he chose a dark suit. It wasn’t his favorite, but what he’d named a power suit. Well tailored, conservative. A crisp white shirt and dark purple tie completed the look. He wondered what Gibbs was doing at this very moment. If last night’s meeting was anything to go by, nothing pleasant. Sighing, he walked to his car. He would soon enough find out anyway.

******

“Hello, Jenny.”

A startled Shepard whipped around at the sound of Gibbs’ voice.

She quickly composed herself and smiled icily. “Breaking and entering, Special Agent Gibbs. Now isn’t that going to look good on your record.”

“Not worse than extortion, falsifying evidence…the list goes on, Jenny.”

“It’s Director Shepard, Agent Gibbs.”

“Whatever you say, Jenny.” His face was impossible to read, half hidden in the darkness. She turned on the lights, looking more closely at the man she had been in love with once. He looked confident, she realized. This infuriated her further.

“Extortion? Falsifying evidence? My, oh my what tales we weave…”

“I think, Jenny, the appropriate quote would be ‘what a tangled web we weave’. And I’ve gotta tell you, Director Shepard, you’re well and truly tangled.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re on about. Is this another one of your tall tales?” She felt confident again. She had gone off the rails last night, but was certain her side of the story would be the one people would believe.

She went over to her desk, and sat down behind it. If Gibbs thought he could beat her at her own game, he had another thing coming.

“Why are you here, Gibbs? Protecting your little boy? I thought DiNozzo would be able to defend himself, but then again, I’ve been wrong about him before, haven’t I.”

She took a sip of her coffee, looking composed and ready.

“I must say, Gibbs, you didn’t seem too surprised at finding out Tony is gay.”

“He’s bi, actually, and why should it matter?”

“You don’t care he’s lied to you? Betrayed your trust?”

“There have been other people who have failed me far worse.” There it was again, that little half smile that made her stomach flutter with uncertainty.

“Like who?”

Gibbs got out of his chair and walked over to Shepard, sitting down in front of her. He had two files in his hand. The slimmer of the two was a black file he was almost caressing. The thicker file was a dark red one, with what looked like bats at the cover. She frowned, it didn’t look very official. Whatever Gibbs thought he had, it couldn’t be anything substantial.

“You.” The statement was delivered matter-of-factly, as blue eyes held hers steadily.

There it was again, that little seed of uncertainty at the back of her mind.

Shepard frowned, wondering what he thought he had up his sleeve this time.

“How did you phrase it last night, Jethro? ‘For Christ’s sake, Jethro, you got something to say? Then say it and get the hell out.’”

“I can’t remember,” Gibbs smiled. “Why don’t we check it out? What did I teach you, Jenny, trust, but verify, wasn’t it?”

He turned around and an image of Gibbs’ living room filled the plasma screen. Shepard watched in horror as the scene from last night was played out before her eyes. Her mind went blank as she was forced to see herself rant and rave, threaten and abuse DiNozzo.

“You taped it, you little shit?”

“Someone with my best interests at heart placed the camera there without my knowledge.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you? You think you can come in here and blackmail me?”

“That’s rich coming from you, Jen.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean,” she snarled.

Gibbs turned around and pressed another button. Her own voice, getting more and more agitated as she tried to get the psychologist to fabricate evidence.

“You had my office bugged?” Shepard’s voice was lethal. She was not going down without a fight. “How do you intend to explain that? That tape is not admissible in court, how on earth could you think this would have any influence on how I’m handling DiNozzo?” She laughed, “You’ve gotta do better than this,” she smirked.

“You think you’re the only one with friends in high places, Jenny?”

“Friends, Jethro? You haven’t cared about politics your entire life. Don’t try playing with the pros, Gibbs, you’re way out of your league.”

Gibbs remained unfazed. “Remember Nice, Jenny?”

A frisson of fear shot through her. “Of course I remember Nice. What about it? Are you suddenly begrudging me the successful outcome of the LeCourt case?”

“Mossad has always referred to it as the Yitzhak Cohen case.”

“Mossad? Who’s Cohen? What are you talking about, Jethro.” The Mossad angle had her curious, but now she was getting tired of this whole charade.

He turned over the file in his hands and she could see the Mossad insignia embossed in silver on the front. Gibbs pulled out what looked like a photograph and slid it across the desk towards her.

Michel LeCourt’s somber face was staring back at her, bringing back fond memories of her greatest triumph to date.

“I took out a terrorist cell planning attacks all over the Mediterranean. I saved hundreds, maybe thousands of lives. I’m proud of what I did. What’s Mossad involvement in this, and who’s Cohen?”

“Cohen was an Israeli double agent who’d infiltrated the terrorist cell you took out. He had gained the trust of El Haziri, the head of The Light of Allah. If he had lived, he would have provided Mossad will intelligence concerning terrorist cells all around the Mediterranean.”

“And how does that concern me?”

“Michel LeCourt was Yitzhak Cohen. Your craving for personal gain made you take a short cut. We never had a chance to look at the latest Intel, we just rushed to Nice, remember?”

He paused.

“Interesting read, this Mossad file. Told me all about who provided the French police with the information that got me arrested on murder charges. Remember that little tidbit of fact, Director Shepard?” he said calmly.

Shepard went cold. No. Not possible.

“What, found another crime you want to pin on me? My, oh my, aren’t you the paranoid one today. Besides, are you telling me that Mossad knew I’d killed one of their own and never did anything about it?” She laughed. “Just how stupid to you think I am?”

“Apparently, it took them a couple of years to solve the case, to track you down. You wondering how stupid I think you are? Let me spell it out for you, Jenny.”

“You went after my team, Jenny, the people I care about. Your personal vendetta against Tony will hurt the job we’re expected to do here. You think I don’t know how to play ball, Jen, think again. I had a very interesting talk to Senator Nash this morning. He’s a close personal friend of mine; we served in the Gulf together. He had a friendly chat with SecNav over breakfast. Did you know he’s the godfather to Nash’ eldest daughter?“ He smiled, a feral smile Jenny knew he reserved for the moment he took down a perp, got his prey.

“I may not play this game very often, Director Shepard, but when I do? I definitely play with the big boys.”

“Stay the hell out of my team and out of my life. You even consider firing or transferring Tony out of here, my entire dossier goes straight to the top. Including the files revealing you cooperated with DiNozzo’s dad.”

Shepard felt faint. Blood thundering in her ears made it difficult to hear what Gibbs said.

He leaned close. “Cancel your meeting with Tony. This little show of yours has just been pulled.” A quiet menace was evident in his voice.

She became aware he meant now. She looked into his face and saw a fierce determination mixed with another emotion she couldn’t quite place. Loathing. It was loathing, she realized. All respect he might have had for her was gone, because she couldn’t control her jealousy, her need for complete control.

Acknowledging defeat for now, she picked up the phone and told Cynthia to cancel her meeting with Special Agent DiNozzo. She also informed her secretary she would be unavailable for the rest of the day.

“Get out,” she hissed, anger flaring up again.

Jethro just smiled, collected his files and returned to the bull pen. He felt elated and drained at the same time. And a little apprehensive. He didn’t quite know how Tony would react to having his battle fought for him. Hopefully not too badly.

A few minutes later Shepard left the building, no doubt trying to regain control of the situation. Jethro didn’t care. This was a battle he would not lose. The stakes were just too high.

The rest of the team had arrived. They’d left him in peace, knowing he’d talk to them as soon as he was ready. A few minutes later Tony rounded the corner and dropped his bag by his desk.

“Conference room, Gibbs. Now.”

If Ziva and McGee were surprised at him ordering Gibbs around, they kept it to themselves, just continued their work. Gibbs knew full well the minute he left the bull pen they would inform the rest of the team and wait for the outcome.

Gibbs flipped the switch and turned to face Tony.

“Listen,” he began, “I’m sorry I…”

The rest of the sentence was swallowed as he found himself with an armful of DiNozzo, kissing him thoroughly before pulling back, resting his forehead against Gibbs’.

“Thank you,” he murmured, “for doing this for us. I know you needed it.”

“You’re not mad?”

“I’m glad and pissed as hell. I can fight my own battles, but I also know you know that. This was for you as much as it was for me, I get that,” he smiled.

“Is it over?” Tony asked.

“Hopefully,” Gibbs answered as he flipped the emergency switch again.

“No matter what, we’re in this together, right?”

“From here on out, Tony.”
Chapter End Notes:
Thank you all for reading :)

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