A high pitched sound came out of Tony’s throat as he laughed nervously. How could being so close to Gibbs in a dark elevator ever be cosy? He rubbed his clammy hands against his pants to regain some sense of control over the situation and turned to his Boss.
“What would you like to do, light some candles and talk about our feelings?” Tony snorted, hoping Gibbs wouldn’t notice his nerves.
For the hundredth time, he wished he hadn’t left his desk for a stupid cup of hazelnut flavored coffee. He swore to himself he’d lay off the caffeine as soon as he got out of the elevator. Tony had almost forgotten about Gibbs entirely when he heard his husky voice in his ear.“Sure… You start.”
Was he imagining things now or was Gibbs smiling? He turned his head to look his Boss in the eye but could barely see him, yet Tony knew he was sitting right next to him so he didn’t dare move. “Hah that’s a good one, Boss. Tony DiNozzo doesn’t do feelings. I only do hot chicks, if you know what I mean.” He winked at Gibbs even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to see it. “I think I got it, thanks for the graphic explanation” Gibbs growled as he shifted his position and his arm brushed against Tony’s.
“So,” Tony asked casually, trying to hide his grin. “What about your feelings?” Before Gibbs had the chance to answer, the elevator lights went back on and the elevator proceeded to descend until finally they had reached Abby’s lab.
Just before the doors opened, Gibbs turned around to face a flustered Tony and answered his question in an even more casual manner. “Oh, unless I get stuck in an elevator, I manage to keep my feelings in check.” And with that he turned around again - leaving Tony speechless - and strode into Abby’s lab, yelling at her to turn down the volume of her so-called music as if nothing had happened.
“Oh Gibbs, you’re lucky you’re so hot or I would kick your grumpy ass out of my lab! You disturb my friends you know, Major Mass Spec works extra fast to please you but does he ever get thanked for it… Okay… back to the fingerprint!” Abby smiled as Gibbs shot her a warning look. AFIS had found a match within no time, the fingerprint on the murder weapon in their current case belonged to a guy with an impressive criminal record and who was also the ex-boyfriend of the Petty Officer that had been murdered.
Gibbs smiled contently. From the looks of it, this was going to be an open and shut case. He gave his forensic heroin a chaste kiss on the cheek and paid no attention to Tony who was still standing in the doorway as he walked back to the elevator.
Tony was just in time to slip through the closing elevator doors and neither man spoke until they reached the bullpen.
The rest of the day had flown by as they had chased and brought in their suspect for questioning. He’d made a scene at first but Gibbs rarely had any trouble getting a confession and this though guy had been no exception. Apparently the dead Petty Officer had been having an affair for months and when her boyfriend found out, he’d shot her without blinking.
They had wrapped up quickly and as soon as Gibbs had given the order to go home, Tony had almost run towards the elevator.
The case had taken his mind off of Gibbs’ last words in the elevator but now he was alone at home, the full force of those words hit him. ‘Unless I get stuck in an elevator...’, Tony muttered while he took off his expensive leather jacket and tossed it onto the couch.
He couldn’t recall a single moment where Gibbs hadn’t had his feelings under control. Actually , he couldn’t recall a single moment where he’d had seen Gibbs having feelings at all. Not the kind Tony had when the corner of Gibbs’ mouth arched lightly if he didn’t want to admit to being amused by Tony’s lighthearted pranks on his teammates. Or when Gibbs was standing so close to him he could smell hints of coffee and sawdust.
Gibbs’ head slaps had never bothered him, not when he could have his Boss so close and let himself drown in those eyes for a moment before the moment ended again.
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard knocking on his front door. Tony frowned as he wondered who was on the other side and opened it. The sight of those amused eyes made him take in a sharp breath and he felt his heart skip a beat.
“Thought you could use some powerfood before going on that date.” His visitor offered him the pizzabox he was holding. “Boss, hi…pizza…why…who…”
Tony decided to keep his mouth shut as he clearly couldn’t sort his thoughts when Gibbs was laughing like that, his teeth exposed in a wide grin and small wrinkles near his eyes.
The younger agent realized he was still standing in the doorway, holding the front door so firmly that his knuckles had turned white.
“Cat got your tongue DiNozzo?” Gibbs’ soft voice made Tony’s head jerk up and meet his eyes again. “Eh, Boss, come in! I was just getting ready for my date, still deciding if I should go with the white shirt or the blue one”, he babbled.
Finally he regained the sense of his legs and he took a few steps away from the door. At last he could tear his eyes away from Gibbs who was still smiling. He opened the pizzabox and smiled just as wide. “Aw, Boss, my favorite!” he looked as happy as a little child who had just seen Santa. “Yeah yeah, let’s eat, I’m starving.”
Gibbs had gone back to his usual self and the moment passed. They talked about work while Tony savored every bite of his pepperoni pizza. Pizza was God’s gift. Along with movies. When they had devoured the whole pizza, they fell in a comfortable silence.
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” For a moment, Tony wanted to ask what he had to get ready for. Then he realized he was supposed to be on a date. With a woman. He had the impulse to laugh as it was a ridiculous idea that he would ever be interested in anyone else but the man who was lying on his couch. Of course that wasn’t what he could really say.
He shot up from the couch and turned to Gibbs. “Wouldn’t wanna miss it for the world! I’d be a better host but if you could see this chick’s legs, you’d agree…” “Oh shut up, will ya, DiNozzo?” Tony winced at his words. Gibbs sighed. “You’re a bad liar, you know that?” but the silverhaired man didn’t wait for the answer as he stood up and walked towards the door.
“Wait!” Tony blurted out as he tried to get his thoughts together. Why wouldn’t Gibbs say anything if he knew he was lying?
His heart beat so fast he could hardly breathe now. “Trust me, you want the hot chick-version.” Suddenly Tony felt annoyed. With the fact that Gibbs had to be a tough Marine, with Gibbs standing there and unintentionally teasing him, with himself.
He immediately regretted being so bold when he saw Gibbs move in on him. His Boss moved slowly towards him until he was almost touching him. Somewhere far away, he could register Gibbs’ last words before the touch of their lips sent an electric pulse along Tony’s spine that made him moan against Gibbs’ mouth.
“What if I only want you, Tony?”
Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.