Chapter six
”Tony…” Gibbs gently ruffled Tony’s hair, trying to wake him up. It was six pm, and he was getting seriously hungry.
“Mpf…what?” Tony managed to open one eye and tried to focus. He looked at Gibbs and suddenly seemed to realize where he was.
“Hi,” he smiled, pulling Gibbs back down. “What are you doing out of bed?”
Gibbs leaned in to give him a quick kiss, but before he could react, Tony had flipped him over and straddled his hips. He was still entwined in the rumpled sheets, and looked utterly debauched.
“Now, you’re not gonna do something stupid, like citing rule twelve or worrying about my career, are ya…Boss?” Tony cocked an eyebrow, a challenging expression on his face, as he looked Gibbs squarely in the eyes.
“Tony,” Gibbs said quietly, “I’m not gonna lie to you. This won’t be easy. But,” he paused, I’m not about to let ya go.” He tugged at the younger man, who finally relented and lay down beside him. “I want this, what ever ‘this’ is.”
Tony opened his mouth to reply when suddenly Gibbs’ phone went off. He glanced at the caller ID and flipped it open immediately. “What’ve you got, Abby?”
“The prints belong to a Marie Warner, maiden name Cameron. Is…uh…that your ex-wife, Boss?” she asked tentatively.
“Yeah, it is. She kept hubby number three’s name after they split up.” Gibbs ran a hand over his weary eyes. “Thanks, Abby, we’ll talk later.” He hung up and tossed the phone on the nightstand.
Tony was sitting up. “I guess we know who sliced my tires?”
“I’m so sorry, Tony, for getting you in the middle of this.”
“I’m here by choice, remember? I’m just where I wanna be, Jethro. I don’t care about my car…”
Jethro shot him an incredulous glare
“Okay, so that was a blatant lie,” Tony admitted, smiling a little, “but I’m more worried she’s gonna come after you.” He got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats he’d thrown over the back of a chair by Gibbs’ bed this morning. Sitting down on the bed again, he looked around the room.
“Seen my socks?”
Gibbs chuckled. “Somewhere between here and the front door, I guess. Things got a little out of hand.”
“No regrets, right?”
Gibbs leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Tony’s shoulder blade.
“Nah,” he quipped, “hot young thing like you?”
Tony glanced at him; biting his lower lip as his face fell a moment before he composed himself.
“I want more than sex, Gibbs. Much more. Think you can handle that?”
Gibbs mentally slapped himself from making that stupid remark. He didn’t want Tony to question his sincerity. “I want more, Tony. But I need to resolve this situation with Marie before it escalates out of control”. He ran his hand down Tony’s back.
“Yeah.” Tony got up. “I’ll just grab a quick shower and get dinner started. I take it I’m still cooking?”
Gibbs smiled and stretched out on the bed. “You got that right.”
Tony just snorted and walked into the master bathroom. The sound of running water made Gibbs mind wander as he imagined what it would be like to join Tony. He closed his eyes and marveled at how much his life had changed in the last 24 hours. From the shock and sorrow of finding his house invaded, to the realization that Tony wanted something more from him. Something he’d never dared hope for.
The door opened and a very wet DiNozzo came in search of clothes, water staining Gibbs’ carpet as he crossed the room.
“I have towels, ya know.”
“You must have stolen those at boot camp, Gibbs. Ever hear of fabric softener?” Tony huffed, rooting through his bag, pulling out a small towel. Tossing the bag to one side, he glanced at Gibbs. “Can I borrow some sweats?” Gibbs untangled himself from the sheets and went into the bathroom, smacking Tony’s ass as he passed him.
“Bottom drawer.”
The bath smelled like Tony, and he paused momentarily by the door, just drinking in the familiar, yet enticing scent filling the warm room. Stepping into the shower, he found himself reaching for Tony’s soap. The warm water soothed his mind and Gibbs found himself looking forward to the evening ahead. And not just for the sex, although he had to admit he did want more, much more. He liked spending time with Tony, much more than he’d have thought, given their differences.
******
Gibbs’ kitchen was considerably larger than Tony’s. It was a kitchen made for a family, Tony thought, wondering briefly whether Gibbs had regrets, not having kids in his life. Well, it’s not like I’ll be able to fulfill that wish, anyway, he thought wryly. Turning towards the fridge, he realized they hadn’t picked up anything for dinner. They would probably have to go shopping. He actually felt like cooking, rather than just ordering in. Probably because he wouldn’t do it alone, he mused, thinking about the evening ahead.
He perused the empty fridge. Barring a few condiments and the usual suspects; egg, butter and a wilted tomato, there wasn’t much to produce a meal out of. The freezer held mostly coffee, not exactly a shocking discovery, he snorted.
“Find something?”
Strong arms embraced him from behind as Gibbs held him close. He leaned into the embrace, resting his heads against Gibbs’ shoulder.
“Nope, there’s not a whole lot to eat.”
“I planned to go shopping this morning, but we got sidetracked. Twice,” Gibbs grinned. “You wanna order in?”
“Nope,” Tony replied. “Get your keys, we’re going shopping!”
******
They arrived back an hour later. The neighborhood seemed quiet, only a few kids playing ball in the park up the street could be heard. Tony looked for signs of anything out of the ordinary, but everything seemed in order. They collected the bags from the trunk and went back inside.
“I thought I’d put these on the grill. That okay with you?” A bag of pork chops sat on the counter. Rooting around the cupboards, Tony pulled out a couple of bowls. Gibbs watched him, fascinated by this side to the younger man. He worked efficiently, chopping and mixing ingredients for the marinade. Placing the chops in a shallow dish, he poured the mixture over the meat, leaving it to one side.
Glancing up, he saw Gibbs studying him.
“What?” he frowned.
“Nothing, just haven’t seen you do this before.” Gibbs was sitting by the kitchen table, reading the sports section of the evening paper.
“There are a lot of things you haven’t seen me do, Jethro,” Tony grinned as he walked over to the other man. He leaned down for a quick kiss, “That’s what makes life interesting.”
Gibbs laughed. “Life’s sure not dull with you around, DiNozzo.”
Tony turned back to the counter and hummed a Sinatra tune that popped into his head; “That’s life,” he sang, chopping vegetables for a salad. Gibbs just shook his head and went to fire up the grill.
The evening was still warm, and they went to sit in Gibbs’ backyard, having a couple of cold beers. This is nice, Gibbs thought, having someone around. A gentle breeze rustled through the cherry trees, adding to the sense of peace he felt. He turned towards his companion, looking at his profile. Tony looked deep in thought, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Stretching languidly, Tony hoisted himself off the bench as he looked at his surroundings.
“You spend much time here?”
“Not really,” Gibbs replied. “I tend to end up in my basement.”
“Shocking,” Tony said dryly. “It’s nice,” he declared, “private.”
“Private? You have something in mind?”
“I might,” Tony shot him a mischievous smile, before checking the grill. “I think it’s ready. You mind setting the table while I put the chops on?”
Tantalizing aromas soon filled the air, wafting into the house where Gibbs set the kitchen table. A few minutes later, light chatter filled the room as Gibbs tried to teach Tony the finer points to boat building.
******
McGee couldn’t believe he was doing this. Glancing at his watch, he decided to give it another hour. The agent thumped his head on the steering wheel a couple of times and berated himself for his stupidity. What the hell did he hope to accomplish with this? Tony and Gibbs would hardly be making out on the front porch. McGee banged his head again and suddenly blushed when he saw an old lady walking a German Shepard staring at him, openly skeptical, before crossing the street to pass his car on the other side.
“Great, now you’re scaring little old ladies shitless as well. Good one,” he muttered. “Not your weekend, McGee.” He resumed scanning the house and the street. A very familiar black car passed slowly by, disappeared around the corner and was back a few minutes later.
Picking up his phone, he hit speed dial three and waited for a reply.
A moment later she replied. “Hi, Tim. Listen, I can’t talk, I’m kinda in the middle of something here.”
“Anything I can help you with?” He could hear her fidget around in her car, probably trying to come up with an excuse.
“No, no, no. Just stuff. Female…uh…stuff.”
“You’ve passed my car twice, Abby. What the hell is going on?”
“I’m just looking for a place to park,” she answered lamely.
“The driveway not wide enough for ya?” He couldn’t quite keep the annoyance out of his voice.
“Where are you?”
“Just up the street from Gibbs’ house, by Maiden Lane,” McGee replied and hung up.
A couple of minutes later a sheepish-looking Abby got into the passenger seat of his car. She turned to look at him and all her abundant energy was back in a flash.
“Why are you here? Did Gibbs ask you to watch the house? Is he afraid she’ll come by again? He wouldn’t tell me anything, just hung up, Gibbs-style. One of these days I’ll have the nuns talk to him about manners. He might listen to them, especially Sister Agatha. She can outstare anyone. There’s a rumor she even managed to outstare the…”
“Abby,” McGee interrupted, “who are you taking about?”
“Sister Agatha! You really have to pay attention, Tim. She’s the…”
“Not her! Why would Gibbs ask me to watch the house?” McGee said very slowly, enunciating every word carefully.
“Oh.”
Abby looked very unhappy. “You didn’t know?” She looked out her side window, studying a cat perched on top of the fence surrounding a small park.
“He’ll be so mad at me,” she sighed, leaning against the glass.
“You rather I asked Gibbs myself?” Tim was not about to let her of the hook.
“No, no, no! You can’t do that!” She fell silent again, picking at the studs running down the side of her leather coat.
“Pinky swear?” She looked at him pleadingly.
McGee held out his pinky finger, curios as to what this might be. Knowing Abby, it could be just about anything.
Abby took a deep breath, before she plunged into her explanation. “Gibbs’ first ex-wife is stalking him. At least I think she is. She slashed the tires on Tony’s baby last night, when he spent the night there.”
“Why would she do that? Did she think Tony was another redhead?”
Abby shot him a glance, looking at him intently before turning away again. “Dunno, Tim. All I know is that Tony found all his tires ruined when they were leaving this morning. He lifted a print that came back to her. That’s all I know. You’ve met Gibbs, right; he’s not exactly a fountain of information. And for once, neither was Tony. He couldn’t get out of my lab quick enough.”
Abby sounded hurt. McGee knew she hated being kept out of the loop, especially when her friends were in trouble.
“Why was she even on file? Has she been arrested for something like this before?” McGee suddenly realized he was scanning the street in front of them, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
“She was charged with DUI a few years back, around this time of year, actually.” Abby fell silent for a moment. “Maybe this is some kind of ritual she goes through every year. Maybe it’s their anniversary, or when they broke up. I didn’t have a chance to ask him. You know what the Boss is like.”
Yeah, McGee knew. “You seriously think she’ll come by?” Subconsciously, he checked for his gun as he started to peruse the street more closely.
“I don’t know. I just won’t be able to sleep knowing she might go after them.”
“And what were you planning to do if you saw her? Take her down?” He looked at her incredulously. “They’re big boys, ya know. They can take care of themselves.”
“Wait a minute,” she said, turning towards him again, “what ARE you doing here, Agent McGee? And don’t try to lie, I always know when you lie.”
McGee tried desperately to fight down the deep blush he felt creep up his face, to no avail.
“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Abby smiled, pulling a bag of candy out of her jacket, popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth. “I’m ready for you now, Maestro,” she grinned.
“I…ah…” he began. “Please, Abby, don’t make me say this!”
She just cocked an eyebrow and waited patiently, eating another piece of candy.
“Fine, what the hell,” he muttered, “I’m so fucked, anyway.”
“I think Tony and Gibbs are involved…in love…”
Abby's laughter filled the car. “What, you’re hoping to catch them in flagrante delicto, are you? Necking on the front porch? Oh, Tim, Timmy, Timmy. Sometimes you’re so blind to what’s right under your nose.”
“Are you telling me they are…uh…seeing each other?”
“I don’t know if they are, Tim, but they have such a crush on each other it’s bound to happen. Are you seriously gonna tell me you didn’t see this?” She shook her head. “There was something different about Tony today, maybe he’s decided to use this opportunity.”
“Listen,” McGee said, “I know you’re worried. Why don’t you go get us something to eat, and we’ll stay here for a while, ease your mind, okay?”
“Oooh, a stakeout!” Abby practically bounced across the street as she left.
******
The lights had gone out a couple of hours ago, and everything had been quiet since. It was 2 am and they were fighting over the last of the jelly filled donuts when a light blue car caught McGee’s attention. It had passed through the neighborhood half an hour ago, but hadn’t slowed down. Now it was back and came to a halt a bit further down from Gibbs’ house.
“Abby,” he said quietly, pointing at the car in question.
“Should I call Gibbs?” she asked, concern bleeding into her voice.
“No,” McGee decided. “If she’s just sitting there, we’ll tell him in the morning, he can deal with her then.”
The words were barely out of his mouth before a woman exited the car, ran across the street and paused momentarily in front of Gibbs’ front door. Before McGee could react, she was inside.
“Call Gibbs,” he ordered, setting down the street, his weapon drawn.
Chapter End Notes:
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