AUTHORS NOTE: So I know it's taken me FOREVER to get this chapter out but Real life has been totally getting in the way recently! I was also having issues getting this chapter out. Nothing I did just seemed right to me, but I finally just gave in. I'm not completely content with this chapter, but I think it works well enough. Some of the characters seem a bit OOC but I I think it works. I hope you enjoy!!!
Steph
Rigged ::: Chapter 6
Abby came bounding into the squad room the next day a huge smile on her face. “Ziva!!!” she exclaimed as she rushed over to her friend's desk.
Ziva looked up from her computer screen and her eyes automatically fell to Abby's hand where a shiny new ring was located. “Oh my gosh, he finally asked you?”
“Yeah...last night it was so romantic and amazing!” Abby gushed as she went about to tell Ziva exactly how Timothy McGee asked her to marry him. “We're going to try and do a quick wedding since neither of us want to do the big thing really. But I do want one person with me, will you do it?”
“Of course I will,” Ziva said with a huge smile.
It was then Tony and Gibbs came walking into the room and both looked at each other weirdly when they saw the grinning girls. “What did we miss?” Tony asked smirking.
Abby thrust her left hand at Tony smiling.
“Oh finally the Probie did it,” Tony said acting like it wasn't a big deal. “I told him to do it a long time ago.”
“No you didn't you only mentioned it a few days ago.” McGee said rolling his eyes as he walked to Abby and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Tony can vouch for me though and say I did want to ask you even before the baby came up.”
Tony seemed to think about that for a second but then nodded his head. He loved the fact that both Abby and Tim were madly in love with each other. “It's true, we talked about it that night we went out for drinks, he had the ring and everything and by the amount of lint on the box I would say it had been in his pocket for a while.”
“Not that it would matter, I wouldn't care if he did just come up with the idea when he found out I was pregnant. At least that would mean he was being a man about it. Not that he isn't being one now.” Abby added before she pulled out of Tim's arms. “Oh and speaking of special stuff...are you all going to Jimmy's birthday party tonight?”
“I was planning on it,” Ziva said with a nod. “It's at the club that Charlie plays at every once and a while, right?”
Abby nodded her head, “Yeah at nine O'clock, because the band comes on at nine-thirty.”
“Are you coming, Boss?” McGee asked noticing that Gibbs was being rather quiet while the conversation was going on.
Gibbs shrugged, “I'll have to see, depends on if we have a case come up or not.”
Abby made a face and shook her head, “There will be no case because I know these things. Plus you've gotta come no matter what. You never come out to group things and this one is special!”
“We'll see Abbs,” Gibbs said in a voice that said to give it a rest.
Tony secretly hoped that Gibbs would be able to come that night. He knew they weren't on the best of terms at the moment, but he really wanted a chance to talk to the other man when they weren't in 'work mode'.
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To Gibbs' dismay not a single case came up that whole day, which meant his whole weekend was free. Part of him was excited because that meant he got lots of time to work on his boat. The other part was anxious because now it meant he could go to Jimmy's birthday party that night.
The whole team had left work a bit early in order to go home and get ready for the party. Gibbs didn't have a problem with this since they had been rather bored most of the day anyway. Gibbs found himself actually eating dinner in his own kitchen and then going up to take a shower. The major problem came when he stood in front of his closet and had NO idea what he was supposed to wear. The first he wanted to call for clothing advice was Tony but he quickly pushed that thought aside. Their relationship was too strained at the moment to even think about asking the younger man for something like that.
Sighing he went to his nightstand and grabbed his phone to call the only other person he knew would have information for him.
“Hello?” McGee's voice sounded on the other end.
It still confused Gibbs when he called Abby's phone and a very male voice answered. “McGee it's Gibbs, is Abby available?”
“Sure thing Boss,” McGee said before putting his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and calling for Abby. A second later she came on the phone.
“You better not be calling to cancel!” Abby exclaimed in her best threatening tone. “Because if you are I can't promise you that life won't be a lot harder for you in the days to come.”
Gibbs rolled his eyes as he walked back to his closet. “I'm not canceling, I was calling to figure out what in the world I should wear to this shin-dig.”
Abby smiled big when Gibbs asked this question. “Go casual...Tim's wearing jeans and a t-shirt so you could do the same. It's an all night coffee shop with a rock band playing, so really you can wear anything you want.”
Gibbs looked at what he had to choose from. If he was really going to go casual he would wear his somewhat baggy Khaki cargo pants and an old t-shirt from the Corps. The only times he really felt like letting his hair down sota speak was when he was working on his boat, and that was what he would wear at those times. “Okay Abbs...I think I've got an idea now.” with that he hung up his phone and went about picking out his outfit.
A few miles away Tony was having the same problem. Unlike Gibbs he had a million different things to choose from but he was still not sure what to wear. He knew the atmosphere of the coffee shop was between calm and rock depending on the group that was playing. Charlie's band was between a punk and rock style so with that in mind Tony grabbed a pair of jeans, his Doc Martian boots and one of his more form fitting t-shirts.
Once he was dressed he looked at himself in the mirror and had to admit he looked pretty good. What he didn't want to admit was that he was dressing for somebody other then himself. If Gibbs actually showed up, he wanted to look good. Sure, he always dressed nice for work and Gibbs saw him then, but this was different. This wasn't in a work environment so Tony was able to act himself. The question that kept coming to mind though was, 'who am I really?'
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Charlie's band was already on stage playing when Gibbs walked into the building. The little hole in the wall coffee shop was packed with people sitting around drinking their coffee or dancing on the small dance floor in the middle of the room. Gibbs had to admit it reminded him of some bars he used to frequent when he was younger and that was at least slightly comforting.
“Gibbs over here!” Abby called from the large booth where the whole gang was already sitting.
With a slight smile Gibbs walked over to the group and took a seat on the end on the other side of Abby. “Happy Birthday Palmer.” he said to the younger man who was watching his husband singing lead with his band on stage.
Jimmy turned to Gibbs and smiled, “Thanks Gibbs...I'm glad you could come.”
Tony sat in shock, not because Gibbs was actually there, but because of what he was wearing. He never saw Gibbs wearing his Khaki cargo pants and t-shirts outside of his own house. He had to admit he liked it...maybe a little too much. “Hey Boss...we've already got coffee and stuff, the waitress should be around again, or you can go up to the counter and order something.”
“I'll just go up there,” Gibbs said before he headed up to the counter and ordered a simple black coffee. The young woman behind the counter looked at him strangely, since they were known for their fancy coffee drinks, but he didn't let it faze him. Once he had his drink he headed back to where the rest of the team was sitting and sat in the same spot. He watched as Abby talked happily with Ziva and Jimmy about weddings and babies. McGee seemed happy to just sit there with is arm around Abby's shoulders and listen to the conversation. Gibbs knew the other man would make a great father and husband because he simply adored and loved Abby.
Tony got up and moved around so he was sitting next to Gibbs. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say to the older man, but he just needed to clean the air of the tension between them and this seemed like the best place and atmosphere to do it. “Hey.” he simply said.
Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the younger man, “Hey.” he repeated wondering what was going on. He and Tony hadn't talked in a non-work related matter since before 'IT' happened.
“I was getting sick of baby and marriage talk.” Tony explained nodding towards the other three members of their team. “Ducky was here, but had to head out and deal with his mother. I guess she really knows how to rattle the help.” he chuckled.
“She sure knew how to rattle you.” Gibbs said with a smirk. “I think that was the only time you actually whined about having to do something related to a case.”
Tony rolled his eyes, “Those dogs were insane and the woman was even worse. I would do what she asked me to do and then she would forget who I was and hit me. I think I got more beat up with that women then I do going on normal calls.”
As Tony talked he couldn't help but feel a weight lifted off his shoulder. He missed being able to joke around and be playful with Gibbs. At the moment he almost forgot what had happened a few days earlier and everything was back to normal.
Just then Abby hopped up, “I'm going to go dance!” she said and reached out for McGee's hand. “Come on Timmy.”
Tim made a face for a second before giving in and letting her lead him to the dance floor, where he actually seemed to be enjoying himself.
Ziva sat there for a second before she too got up. “Wana dance....either of you?” she asked looking from Tony to Gibbs then Jimmy.
“I'll definitely pass,” Gibbs said honestly having no idea how somebody could dance to the music that was playing. Actually what he really wanted to know was how Jimmy Palmer had ended up married to a punk-rocker. They seemed to be total opposites but also seemed to adore each other and worship the ground each other walked on.
“I will,” Tony said as he hopped up and took Ziva's hand.
Gibbs watched Tony and Ziva dance to the song and was shocked to feel jealousy shoot through his whole body. He couldn't believe it but he wanted to be the one out there with Tony, dancing to the insane sounding music.
“You okay?” Jimmy asked as he eyed Gibbs worriedly. After working with Ducky for so long he had begun to learn how to read people really well. Right now he could read that something was going on between Tony and Gibbs, but he wasn't sure what.
Shaken out of his thoughts by Jimmy's question he turned to the younger man. “Hmm?”
Jimmy laughed, “I asked if you were okay. You were kind of spacing out there.”
“I'm fine,” Gibbs said maybe too quickly.
“Okay...” Gibbs Jimmy said even though he didn't really believe him. “We should really go out and dance too, we're acting like party poopers...and this is MY party.”
Gibbs shook his head, “Go ahead, but I'm going to stay right here and drink my coffee.”
Jimmy shrugged, “Suit yourself,” he said before heading off to dance as well.
It was about fifteen minutes later when Tony came back to the table for a drink of his coffee. “You really should come out and dance with us.” he said to Gibbs who was still the only person sitting at the table. “I will go slow for you.”
The way Tony said those words, had Gibbs almost choking on the sip of coffee he had just taken. “You're not going to give up until I agree are you.”
“Nope,” Tony smirked before bounding back out onto the dance floor. He didn't know why but he felt great that night. It was almost as if he was drunk and his inhibitions were completely shot. But he wasn't drunk, heck he had only been drinking coffee since this was indeed a coffee bar.
Gibbs almost decided to back out and simply leave the party all together but then realized he wasn't a coward and he could go out and dance. He had done this kind of thing as a kid, this wasn't any different. Taking a deep breath he headed out to where the rest of the team was dancing or simply standing around talking and moving slightly to the music.
“Yay you've finally come out here!” Abby shrieked as she hugged Gibbs around the neck and then started dancing next to him. “Come on Boss Man...I know you've got some rhythm in those bones.”
Tony danced over to Abby and Gibbs a smirk on his face. “See I knew you could do it!” yelled over the music.
He wasn't really sure if he was doing it, but Gibbs was out on the dance floor and he didn't feel like a complete freak. “You're going to pay for this DiNozzo.” he yelled back but there was no malice in his voice as he said those words.
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It was almost two in the morning when the group started to split up. Charlie was done singing and took Jimmy home since their babysitter needed to be home before three. Abby was beginning to not feel well so McGee had decided to take her home as well. So that left Ziva, Tony and Gibbs sitting at the table still drinking coffee. Everybody has loosened up quite a bit over the past few hours and were really enjoying themselves.
“So who thinks we'll be called into work tomorrow and we'll all be walking around like the living dead?” Tony asked as he put his empty coffee cup on the table in front of him.
“If you continue to say things like that we will definitely have a case come up tomorrow.” Ziva pointed out looking at Tony with a playful glare.
Gibbs laughed, “She's got a point there Tony, if you mention it it'll probably happen.”
Zive chose that moment to stand up and stretch, “I think I am going to head out too.”
Tony almost found himself telling Ziva not to leave. It was brought to his attention that if she did leave then he and Gibbs would be there alone. But instead of saying that he simply nodded his head and wished her a good night.
Once Ziva was gone Gibbs sat there sipping his coffee not sure what to say to the other man. The atmosphere of the club was calmer now, quiet music playing giving it an almost romantic feel.
“Maybe we should um...talk?” Tony asked quickly and rather out of the blue. He didn't know what gave him the nerve to suggest such a thing but now that he did he couldn't really take it back.
Gibbs looked at Tony like he had two heads but did nod his head. “yeah...talk...”
Tony sighed and was quiet for a second before he started talking again. “We've gotta work together...daily and survive times like these. Something screwy happened but yet we're trying to act like it didn't happen. I'm cool without telling anybody else, but Gibbs...we're going to go completely insane if WE don't talk about it.”
“I'm used to keeping secrets and ignoring things DiNozzo,” Gibbs pointed out. “How long did you know me before you knew about Shannon and Kelly?”
“This has to do with both of us, God Damn-it!” Tony exclaimed not able to stop from getting pissed off. “You act like nothing ever happened but I'm fucking falling apart inside!”
Gibbs looked around the room noticing a few people looking in their direction. “Let's leave.” he simply said as he got up and headed to the door. He went directly to his truck and waited for Tony to kick it in gear and realize what happened.
Rigged by Gibbs_Teff