"After Thoughts"
Chapter One (Morning Comes) ---
Tony entered the kitchen the next morning to find Gibbs already awake and up. Gibbs sat at the tiny breakfast table with a coffee mug and the newspaper.
"Morning," the older man greeted Tony with a bright smile. "Sleep good?" he asked, as he took a sip of coffee from his mug.
Tony nodded, and scratched the back of his head. "Yep." he replied, with a lop-sided grin. "Kinda hungry now I guess." he stated as he looked around the kitchen.
"Well I made a pot of coffee." Gibbs pointed out, motioning with his head towards the pot sitting on the counter. "I've never been one to keep a whole lot of food around," Gibbs admitted. "Not since..." he trailed off remembering events from his past. "I usually only keep what I need for a few days, and then start all over again."
"That's okay," Tony said, as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "This'll do for now." He filled up his cup/mug and then joined Gibbs at the breakfast table.
"Here," Gibbs said, as he handed Tony a section of the newspaper that he had pulled out when he first opened it up. "I know you like the funny pages." Gibbs added.
Tony happily accepted the comic strip section of the newspaper from Gibbs with a smile.
"I was wondering," Tony spoke up, after a sip of coffee from his mug. "Are we gonna tell the rest of the team--ya know Kate, McGee, Ducky, and Abby--about us?" he asked, sincerely.
"Abby already knows." Gibbs replied plainly, without looking up from his paper.
"Wait--really?" Tony asked, somewhat shocked by Gibbs' statement.
"Yep." Gibbs replied, as he took another sip of his coffee, and then set the mug back down on the table.
"Okay, then. What about the others?" Tony asked, shaking the former off for the moment.
"Why?" Gibbs asked, looking up from his newspaper at Tony.
"Well, its just that we've been going out for almost seven months now, and I kinda feel like we're deceiving the others--ya know?" Tony replied. He really did feel like he and Gibbs were lying to the others kind of sort of about their personal lives and what not, and they're wasn't much more he hated more than lying to his own partner.
"And I know what you're gonna say Gibbs," Tony spoke again before Gibbs could answer. "'Do you think they can handle it?'" he said, doing his best 'Gibbs' impersonation that he could muster up.
Gibbs chuckled slightly at Tony's impression of him, and shook his head slightly. "Actually Tony, what I was going to say was 'Can you handle everyone else knowing?'"
This left Tony lost for words momentarily as he racked his own brain for a valid response. He played around with his thoughts all through breakfast and all the way, during the drive, to work.
He and Gibbs stepped off of the elevator one right after the other as they headed towards the bullpen and their respective desks.
Gibbs had just sat down at his desk, and had set his coffee cup down in front of him when McGee came strolling quickly towards him from his own desk carrying a small piece of paper.
"Call just came in Boss," McGee informed Gibbs. "Metro Police found a dead petty officer dead in a hotel room in Norfolk, Virginia."
Gibbs shook his head, and rubbed his eyes before standing and retrieving his Sig Sauer and Badge from his desk drawer. He took the piece of paper from McGee, and then grabbed his coffee cup. "Grab your gear!" he barked at the others. "We're going to Norfolk."
Tony, Kate, and McGee all three scrambled to grab up their gear as quickly as they could.
The four of them crammed into the elevator together as Gibbs reached out and punched the button for the parking garage.
Kate and McGee had already been given their assignments, and they were hard at work doing what their boss had ordered them to do.
Gibbs stood silently nearby, sipping from his coffee cup, waiting for Ducky and Gerald to arrive on the scene. Tony joined him after a few moments, and stood next to him silently for a few brief seconds before speaking up.
"I thought about what you said earlier this monring." Tony said, as he watched Kate and McGee moving around the scene.
"Really?" Gibbs replied, plainly. He knew he could not afford to show any real amotion whatsoever around Kate and McGee so he tried his best not too.
"I-I think I can handle it." Tony added. "I really really do."
"Alright," Gibbs replied, plainly, with a nod. "Tell'em."
Tony nodded, and then turned to walk over and tell Kate and McGee. He did not get too far before Gibbs reached out, grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him back.
"After we finish here, DiNozzo." Gibbs said.
"Oh, uh right--right 'Boss'. Gotcha." Tony said, with a nervous grin. Soon after that he walked back over to join the other two in working the crime scene.
A Few Hours Later Back At NCIS Headquarters...
"You did what!?" Kate nearly screamed, after hearing her partner's confession/announcement. Her mind was just absolutely spinning from what she had just heard come out of Tony's mouth.
"Not so loud Kate. Geez." Tony said, resisting the urge to clamp his hand over his partner's mouth.
"Whoa Tony. I gotta say I never would have guessed that you would-well you know." McGee said, from his desk across the bullpen.
It took Kate a few moments to get past the first part, but then once that was doen she just had one other question--well for now anyway. "So, what was it like--wi-with Gibbs I mean?" she stammered, nervously over her words.
"Well I could tell ya, Kate, but then I'd have to kill ya." Tony said, with a grin, making a shooting motion with his finger at his partner.
"Not if I kill you first, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, coming up from behind as he entered the bullpen from around the corner.
"Oh. Sorry Je--err--I mean Boss." Tony stammered, as he leapt off of the corner of his desk and back onto his feet as his boss passed by him. "(Clears his Throat) I, um, was just about to start making those phone calls like you asked, but Kate-" he stammered, flashing a nervous grin, as he stepped back around his desk to sit down.
"Hey," Kate said, backing away quickly. "Don't drag me into this Tony. I was never here." she said, with a fiendish grin, as she turned and headed for the elevator.
Over at his own desk Gibbs tried his best to hide the amused smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
............To Be Continued............
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