Chapter 10
Gibbs woke up as the first rays of light colored the sky in hues of blue. He stayed in bed and watched as the light in his room changed from darkness to a dusky grey, muting the colors of his bedspread. The curtains had not been closed last night. He'd basically collapsed onto his bed, wrung out from his orgasm and the emotional turmoil his revelation had left him in. He kicked aside the comforter, needing to cool down. He grabbed the pillow from the other side of the bed and propped it behind his head. Finally comfortable, he wondered if Tony was still asleep. Not a sound reached him from downstairs as he turned towards the door leading into the hallway. The house was eerily silent, only an occasional faint creak as the wind blew through the trees in his backyard.
The night had passed quietly. He'd snuck downstairs a couple of times, checking if Tony had another nightmare, but had found him sound asleep both times. Turing onto his back, Gibbs examined the ceiling as he let his mind wander. A hand slipped under his t-shirt and he stroked his stomach absentmindedly while he thought about the night before. It had been so long since a man had caught his interest. This thing he had for Tony had crept up on him, the depth of his emotions unnoticed until he'd nearly lost him. He suppressed a sudden urge to walk downstairs again, to make sure Tony was still breathing.
The need for coffee finally drove him out of bed. He took a quick shower, not bothering to shave. A sudden flashback to water cascading down Tony's back had him adjusting the temperature. He forced himself to stay under the freezing water for a full minute before turning it off.
"Get a grip, you idiot. You're not 16…you can control this!"
Gibbs dried off quickly, hanging his towel to dry on the rack when he was done. Walking back to the bedroom, he mentally checked off the things he had to get done this morning. The house looked fine, his cleaner had been in earlier in the week, but he still needed to pick up the food for the team lunch tomorrow. He rummaged through his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers and an old sweatshirt, worn soft over the years. Grabbing yesterday's jeans, he shimmied into them, before checking his cell phone. Vance hadn't tried calling him back in, and there was no way he'd leave Tony alone this weekend. There was a text from Ziva, saying she would be making rolls and a challah loaf. He left a quick message on her voice mail before he stripped the bed. He'd tossed and turned during the night and it was so crumpled he wanted fresh linens. Maybe that would help him sleep tonight.
As Gibbs made his way downstairs, he could hear Tony move about in his room.
"You up for some breakfast?" Gibbs called out as he passed the den on his way to get the morning paper.
"I could eat," Tony replied, poking a bleary eyed face around the door. His hair was sticking up in all directions. Tony was leaning heavily on one of his crutches as he pulled the door fully open with his other hand. Gibbs closed the front door behind him, focusing his attention on Tony.
"Sleep ok?" Gibbs asked, as he studied Tony's face for any signs of pain or fatigue. Tony looked pale, but not too tired. He had a bit of swelling on one side of his face, but the bruises had taken on a different color.
"Yeah, no Romulans," Tony replied, walking towards the kitchen. Gibbs followed his progress. He moved better today, not as slowly as yesterday. Another sign he wasn’t in as much pain, Gibbs decided.
"Any headaches?" Gibbs asked as he trailed after Tony into the kitchen.
"No, Mum, I'm fine," Tony said, annoyance seeping into his voice. "Sorry," he said sheepishly when Gibbs glared at him. "Just ease up on the third degree, okay, Boss? I'm not..," Tony paused. "I'm fine," he finished, glancing up at Gibbs.
"Jethro," Gibbs said.
"What?" Tony asked, a look of confusion fleeting over his face.
"I'm glad you're fine, Tony. I also told you to call me Jethro, remember? We're not on the job here."
A small smile crossed Tony's face and his eyes lit up. It was always the small things with Tony; he's forgotten how much he appreciated a word of praise, of acceptance. Not for the first time he wanted to kick DiNozzo Sr's sorry ass, for messing up his son the way he had. Not that Gibbs was without blame. 'I'll do better,' he vowed as he placed bagels and cream cheese on the table, along with cold cuts and a variety of things he hoped Tony liked.
They'd been eating for a while, Tony telling about a trip he'd made to Atlantic City with a couple of his frat buddies, when the door bell rang.
"I asked Ducky to come by," Gibbs said as he went to open the door.
"Morning, Gibbs." Ducky sounded decidedly too cheerful for Gibbs' liking. He'd only had one cup of coffee yet. And if he was lucky, Ducky wouldn't notice anything was off. Something which, he realized with a sigh, was very unlikely. About the same time as hell froze over or Ducky ran out of stories.
******
Ducky entered the kitchen and looked closely at both men. Gibbs had returned to his seat at the kitchen table and was sipping from a large mug undoubtedly filled with coffee strong enough to strip paint. Tony was reading the sports section of the Post, looking better than he had the last time Ducky had seen him.
"Here to check up on me, Ducky?" Tony asked, as he glanced up from his paper. College football, Ducky noted. "Ohio prevails," he said, nodding at the headline.
"Yeah," Tony replied, a gleeful smile on his face, "Ohio's defense intercepted four passes, recovered two fumbles and sacked Miami quarterback Zac Dysert five times!"
"Oh, my!" Ducky wasn't really paying attention to what Tony was saying. American football had never been one of his favorite sports. He much preferred cricket. Tony went on about last night's game for a while, as Ducky took the opportunity to study Gibbs while the wonders of the Ohio defense were hailed.
Before he had a chance to say anything, the front door flew open and Abby called out as she entered.
"You really should lock your front door, Gibbs. You've got precious cargo in the house now, you know!" she said teasingly, completely ignoring Tony's loud objections.
"I'm a big boy, Abby, I'm perfectly able to take care of myself," he protested. Abby simply kissed Tony on the top of his head and flopped down in the chair beside him. "I've got donuts," she declared, placing a big box in the middle of the table. "So, how is everyone this morning?" Abby asked, looking around the table.
"I understand you had quite the nightmare last evening, Tony." Ducky accepted Gibbs' offer of a cup of tea and studied Tony's face for signs of fatigue. He silently berated himself for not having thought of counseling for Tony sooner. Things had moved too quickly at the hospital, both Gibbs and Tony so intent on getting him out of there.
"What!" Abby shrieked. "Why didn't you tell me, Tony," she admonished, hitting him lightly over the head.
"It wasn't that bad," Tony protested. "And I slept all through the night."
"He did," Gibbs said. Ducky looked at him curiously, had they spent the night together?
Ducky saw the moment Gibbs realized how his statement could be taken. His face blanked, and he turned to towards the counter again, grabbed a box of tea bags and started peeling the plastic off. After failing his third attempt, he unceremoniously sliced the pack open, dumping the bags in an empty jar he yanked out of a cupboard by the oven. He threw a tea bag in a mug and filled it with boiling water.
"I didn't know drank you much tea, Jethro," Ducky said as Gibbs thumped the mug down in front of him.
"I don't," was the curt answer. Ducky didn't reply, just took a cautious sip of the steaming brew.
"I bought it in case DiNozzo wanted it," Gibbs continued. Ducky saw Tony flush lightly and a smile played around his lips. Ducky mentally rolled his eyes at the two men's inability to see that what they had was within reach. Well, Abby could be very persuasive. If anyone could make this happen, it would be their resident matchmaker.
"You still should have told me," Abby said quietly. "I would have stayed with you, made sure you didn't have any more nightmares. You should have made sure, Gibbs!"
"I did, Abbs. I checked up on Tony a couple of times last night. He slept soundly if his snoring was anything to go by. I could hear him from the top of the stairs," Gibbs said, smiling lightly.
"Hey! I do not snore," Tony said, poking his finger at Gibbs. Gibbs just snatched the sports pages and refilled his coffee.
"Now, now!" Ducky admonished. "If you two can't play nice, I'll have to put you over my knees."
Tony choked on his drink and Ducky watched in fascination as his ears turned a bright red.
"Interesting!" Abby said, her eyes gleaming mischievously. "Anything you'd like to share with the group, Tony?" she continued, laughing as Tony tried to silence her with his best impression of a Gibbs glare.
Knowing when to stop, Ducky opened the box of donuts Abby had brought, the incident seemingly forgotten. He could see Gibbs throwing little glances at Tony, an intent expression on his face.
An hour later Abby and Tony were seated in the living room, Abby chatting away while Tony listened, leaning back in Gibbs' old, soft chair. Ducky watched Abby's animated face as she was giving him the full story of her latest date, her hands flying through the air as she told her tale. Tony had a soft smile on his face, interjecting a word here and there, as he listened.
Ducky turned back to Gibbs who had finished the sports section and moved on to the Metro section of the Post.
"Anything happen last night?" he asked Gibbs. "You look tired."
"No." Gibbs offered nothing more as he held his eyes firmly on the newspaper in front of him.
"Fine, Have it your way. I'm a patient man," Ducky said. "I want to check up on Tony, then I'll be on my way. I'm meeting Mr. Palmer at 11, so I better get a move on."
"Do we have a case?" Gibbs asked, checking his cell phone.
"Inventory," Ducky sighed. "It's been very hectic lately, so I'm afraid we're forced to spend Saturday counting rubber gloves."
Gibbs just snorted and got up. "Abbs, you staying? I need to head out for a while." He walked into the living room and picked up his wallet from the coffee table. "You need anything?"
"Beer still off the table?"
Gibbs just shook his head, smiled fondly and was off.
"Would you like Abby to leave the room, Tony? I need to examine you."
"He'll be fine," Abby scoffed, got up and pulled Tony t-shirt over his head. "Tony is a fine specimen of the species, but I think I've seen…." She trailed off, looking in horror at Tony's torso. "Oh…"
"Abby, could you fetch my bag from the hallway, please." Ducky said quietly, sensing Tony's discomfort.
"What? No. Yes. Bag, right." She went to fetch the bag as Ducky pulled a chair over and sat down next to Tony. He reached out and patted Tony gently on the shoulder.
"So, my dear boy, how are you feeling?" Ducky asked. Abby had placed the bag by Ducky's chair and sat quietly by Tony's feet, rubbing gently up and down his calf.
"I'm much better," Tony said, tugging at Abby's pigtails. "Much, much better," he repeated when Abby glanced up at him.
Ducky took his vitals, examined his dressings and fussed about for a while, asking questions as he went.
"Do we need to we call Palmer?" Tony asked.
"What? Ah, very clever, Tony. No, you'll be fine." Ducky ran his fingers gently over the goose egg on the back of Tony's head. "The swelling's going down, any headaches?"
"No," Tony replied. "Not today. My leg aches a bit, and I'm still a little sore from the beating. Nothing I can't manage though."
"Any numbness, pins and needles?"
"Not that I've noticed, no."
"Let me know if the pain gets worse or you're running a fever." Ducky looked sternly at Tony who nodded quickly. "I promise," he replied.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Be sure to get the rest you need. No strenuous activities." He picked up his bag and asked Abby to walk him to the door.
"I'll stay until the Bossman comes home," she assured him. Abby lowered her voice. "We'll talk later about OLB," she said, winking before giving him a peck on his cheek.
Ducky had a small smile on his face as he unlocked the door on his Morgan. Another week in Tony's company would surely break through the defenses of any man, even one as stubborn as Gibbs.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks to TaylorGibbs for the beta :)