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Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs and Tony talk.
Not knowing where Tony was felt like an itch Gibbs couldn't scratch. It was made worse by the simple fact he had the means to find him. Of course, in order to do that, he'd have to admit he didn't know where Tony was. Gibbs wasn't prepared to do that just yet.

Tony had asked for a week of sick leave. He'd never voluntarily taken sick leave before, or done an end run around Gibbs to get time off. Whatever the hell was going on, it had to be important. And it was obviously something Tony didn't want to share.

So, Gibbs had decided that if Tony wasn't back on Monday, he'd have good reason to turn Abby and McGee loose to find him. He was determined to wait until then.

Gibbs had expected to hear from Tony by now. In the four years he'd worked for NCIS, Tony had never been out of touch for more than seventy two hours. He always called in, even when on vacation. If he didn't call Gibbs, he'd call Abby, or send an e-mail to McGee. It had been a given he'd communicate with someone?until now.

Gibbs never had trouble getting a hold of the younger man before...no matter what. Whether it was two in the morning on a Saturday or two in the afternoon on a Wednesday, Gibbs had always been able to contact him. Tony would routinely cancel whatever weekend plans he had, he stayed late at the office, showed up prepared to do the job. Gibbs belatedly realized he'd been taking Tony's dedication for granted. No one else on his team, or any other team for that matter, equaled Tony there.

Tony was due in on Monday, so he should be home Saturday or Sunday. Although, Tony had sometimes went straight to the office if he was running late.

Gibbs knew it was stupid, but he found himself sitting in front of Tony's apartment building most of Saturday. And it looked like he'd be spending most of Sunday there as well. He sipped his coffee, grimacing when he found it cold. He was tempted to turn the car on and warm it up, but refrained.

He felt a little silly staking out Tony's place. But it wasn't like he had anything better to do. His hands hurt from spending hours working on the boat, and there wasn't a damn thing at the office to keep him busy.

The sun was beginning to set when Gibbs glanced at his watch. He was hungry but didn't want to leave just yet. He'd give it another hour, Gibbs decided.

He caught sight of Tony's mustang just a second later. The car really was a beauty. Not that he'd ever say so out loud.

Tony pulled into his parking spot. Gibbs watched him through narrowed eyes. Tony looked fine, more than fine actually. Gibbs blinked, somewhat surprised by how relaxed and content he looked. It was like the Tony was breathing deeper, moving easier than he had in a long time.

He'd gotten so used to seeing Tony stressed that he'd forgotten he ever looked any other way. Stressed? Gibbs mentally took a step backward. It wasn't something he'd have normally associated with the carefree younger man.

You are such a dumb ass, Gibbs told himself. No one was so happy go lucky, so down right clueless, as to feel no stress after being in as many life and death situations as Tony had been in the last six months.

Gibbs cursed. In less than six months, Tony had lost his beloved classic car, nearly died from the plague, had seen Kate get killed, been shot at countless times, and gotten the crap beaten out of him. Just one of those, in such a short time, would have been enough to cause a person to snap. So maybe he really had needed the week off. Shit. How close had Tony been to the breaking point and Gibbs never noticed?

His thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone. "Gibbs." He snapped out in his usual sharp manner.

"You want to come in for a cup of coffee, or were you planning on spending the night in your car?"

Gibbs cut the connection and got stiffly out of the car. He'd been sitting way too long. He should have known Tony would spot him. Maybe he had wanted to be seen.

He headed up to Tony's apartment. Gibbs wasn't surprised to find the door unlocked. He stepped inside, welcoming the warmth, realizing just how cold he'd been in the car.

Tony offered him a steaming mug. Gibbs took a sip, nodding his head in thanks. The moment felt so familiar and natural. Gibbs realized he'd missed this easy rapport. He didn't have it with anyone else.

"You want to tell me why it is you're staking out my apartment, Boss?" The question was a blend of curiosity and caution. "I'm not a suspect in another murder or something am I?"

"What?" Gibbs blinked, started by the questions. "No, you're not a suspect for anything." Shit. He'd forgotten all about Chip framing Tony for murder when he made his mental list of stressful situations.

Gibbs felt a bit sheepish, but covered it by glaring at Tony. "I was not staking out your apartment."

"So what would you call sitting in your car for hours watching my apartment?" Under the amusement there was just a barely noticeable edge of sarcasm in his voice.

Gibbs stayed silent, chin rising unconsciously in a challenge. There was no way for Tony to know how long he'd been there. He wasn't going to admit to anything.

"There was frost on your windows. Takes a while for that, Boss." Tony's lips curled in a knowing smile. "And you had to make a view port."

Tony was nothing if not observant. Gibbs knew he was busted. Rather than answer the earlier question, he redirected the conversation. "You didn't call."

"I was on sick leave." Tony arched an eyebrow, unfazed by the abrupt transition. "You knew that." His tone and look neatly implied Gibbs should not have expected him to call. With anyone else, he wouldn't have.

"You did an end run around me." Now that he was beginning to understand just how much Tony might have needed the time off Gibbs wasn't as pissed by that as he had been, but he was still angry that the younger man had asked the Sheppard. Tony should have asked him.

Tony tipped his head in acknowledgement of Gibbs accusation. No backing down, no apology, no explanation. Gibbs hadn't expected that. He thought Tony would stutter through some sort of excuse, make an effort to pacify him, give him that little boy smile. It was odd to find himself stymied by the truth.

"You didn't need a week off for a scratch."

"No, I didn't." Tony agreed calmly, expression giving away nothing.

Gibbs' jaw tightened. Again with the honesty that told him nothing. He wanted to hear the reason. He wanted to know what else he might have missed. "Then why?"

"Why I needed it isn't important." Tony interrupted smoothly, voice entirely neutral. "I had the time on the books, and authorization to use it."

Green eyes narrowed, gaze sharpening. "And I'm betting that's not really why you're here. So if you could get to the point, there are other things I'd like to do before work tomorrow."

Gibbs wasn't sure quite what to make of the overly polite tone. He'd never heard Tony use it before. Gibbs opted for, "I had no way to contact you." Rather than admit he'd been worried. "If we'd gotten a case there was no way to reach you. That is unacceptable, DiNozzo."

Jade green eyes met sky blue squarely. "First of all, we make a living tracking down people." Tony snorted. "You could have found me any time you wanted. Pulled my phone records, checked my finances, put out a BOLO on my car."

The observation nicely reinforced the fact Tony was intelligent, despite his jock, goofball frat-boy persona he often showed. He rarely missed a trick. The list of options Gibbs could have exercised made it clear Tony hadn't been hiding; he just hadn't volunteered his location.

"Second, the scratch you mentioned took twelve stitches and would have left me desk bound anyway. McGee and Scuito are definitely better at tracking down shit via the computer and paperwork than I ever will be."

Gibbs was surprised to hear Tony refer to Abby by her surname. To his knowledge he'd never done that before.

"Third, you've got Officer David. She seems to have been good enough to have gotten your stamp of approval to be on the team. So she should be more than capable of backing you up in the field."

Ziva was good. And getting better as an investigator but she wasn't Tony. And if her shooting on their last case was anything to go by, she definitely needed some time on the firing range. Tony had put three bullets into his target. Ziva hadn't hit a thing.

"And last, you said 'if' which means you didn't get a case." Tony smirked ever so slightly. "I believe it was you who told me 'might have doesn't mean shit'. You didn't catch a case so not being able to contact me is a moot point."

Tony sighed, and shrugged one shoulder. "You could have found me if you'd needed me. You didn't. So it doesn't matter."

He cocked his head to one side. "Which still doesn't explain why you were staking out my apartment."

Gibbs sipped his coffee, buying time. Tony wasn't known for his patience but Gibbs knew the younger man had it in him to wait him out of need be. Reluctantly he offered, "I was worried."

Tony seemed surprised by Gibbs statement; a small frown forming between his brows. "Why would you be worried? I didn't get into trouble of any kind that you'd have gotten a call. And even if I had, I wasn't on company time, so I wasn't your problem or your responsibility."

Gibbs blinked. Tony really believed that he'd only worry about him while on the job? Did he really believe that Gibbs wouldn't have cared about finding his body in a ditch somewhere as long as it wasn't related to the damn job? The younger man's inflection seemed to make it clear he did.

"You've never asked for sick leave before." That slipped out before Gibbs realized it. It wasn't exactly an explanation. And Tony's response made it clear it did nothing to change his conviction.

"Before I met you I'd never been pushed out a plane before either." Tony shook his head. "There is a first time for everything, Gibbs."

Tony sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Look...if you're not going to tell me why you're really staking out my place, could you at least go the hell home? It's cold outside. I don't want the others blaming me for you catching pneumonia."

"I told you the reason."

"You were worried. Right." Tony snorted delicately. "Fine. Have it your way."

Gibbs realized Tony's dedication wasn't the only thing he'd take for granted. The younger man had always believed him, had more faith in Gibbs than he sometimes had in himself. He couldn't remember Tony ever questioning him, ever not accepting what he said at face value.

Tony held both arms out and did a slow turn. "Take a good look. I'm fine. Nothing for you to worry about." Tony motioned toward the door. "You can leave now."

"Where did you go?" Gibbs asked, not moving.

"Think if you were really worried, you'd know where I went by now." Tony smiled coldly. "Good to know I need to be out of touch at least five days before you get too excited about tracking me down."

Gibbs winced internally. "I didn't want to invade your privacy."

"Right...You've got so much respect for my privacy that you were in my apartment while I was gone."

Gibbs blinked. Other than deleting the message he'd left, Gibbs hadn't touched anything in Tony's apartment. Nothing would have given away that he was in Tony's place. There was no way he could know--

"Educated guess." Tony's statement neatly cut off Gibbs' thoughts.

The younger man's smile took on a hard edge. Gibbs belatedly recognized Tony had been bluffing. Tony hadn't known for certain Gibbs was in his place until his own reaction confirmed it. Gibbs forgotten Tony wasn't a novice at interrogation. Hadn't expected to be interrogated, Gibbs thought ironically. But then nothing about this conversation had been quite what he expected.

"Word of advice, Boss." The smile softened slightly. "Don't play poker with people who know you, or be prepared to lose your shirt."

Before this moment, poker wasn't a game Gibbs thought Tony would be any good at playing. He had always thought the younger man revealed too much, too easily. Now he wasn't so sure. Putting all his cards on the table seemed to be the only real option.

"I was worried, Tony." Gibbs made eye contact and held it. "In four years, you've never voluntarily taken a single day of sick leave. I stopped by to make sure you were okay."

Tony studied him for a moment. Gibbs had no idea what he was looking for.

"When you realized I wasn't home, you opted to stake out my place?" Tony arched an eyebrow, clearly amused. "It would have been easier to ask one of the others to help track me down. More comfortable too."

Gibbs looked away. "I didn't want them?"

"To know you didn't have a clue where I was." Tony cut him off, eyes hardening like ice. The former cop nodded to himself. Gibbs could almost feel a wall going up between them. "Good to know your pride takes precedence over my well being."

"It's not like that." Gibbs ground out. At least not completely like that, he amended silently.

"Oh?" Tony folded his arms across his chest. "Then what is it like?"

Gibbs hand clenched around the mug, knuckles whitening. He'd fucked this up, and he really didn't know what to say to fix it. He wasn't even sure how it had gotten this bad.

"I'm sorry." It came out as little more than a whisper.

"You're sorry?" Tony stared at him. He didn't think Tony could have look more surprised if he'd grown a second head.

"You were right." Gibbs squared his shoulders. "I didn't want the team to know I didn't have a clue where you were."

He held up his free hand, stopping anything Tony might say. "But I also didn't want to invade your privacy. It was the first time you asked for sick leave. I didn't know why you'd asked for it, but I knew it wasn't because of your arm."

Gibbs hesitated for a moment. "Taking the week must have been pretty important."

"It was." Another honest answer from Tony that told Gibbs almost nothing.

Gibbs nodded, accepting what Tony was willing to give him. It was unlikely Tony would offer him any more.

He cleared his throat. "I didn't think you'd appreciate me putting Abby or McGee to work tracking you down."

"I wouldn't have." Tony admitted quietly.

Gibbs was reassured he'd gotten that much right. "So, that left waiting."

"You hate waiting." Tony observed quietly.

"You're worth it." Gibbs stated succinctly. He wasn't sure why that simple statement of the truth should seem to mean so much to Tony but it obviously did. Icy green eyes thawed and Tony smiled at him.

"Thank you."

Tony held out a hand to take the empty mug from Gibbs. Gibbs handed it over without thinking. "Go home, Boss. Get some sleep. You look like you could use it."

No one else on his team would have even noticed. It was another thing Gibbs added to the list of things he'd taken for granted; Tony knew him well enough recognize when he hadn't been sleeping well and wasn't afraid to call him on it.

"You'll be in the office?"

"At the usual time, yes." Tony assured him.

Gibbs nodded. A week ago, Gibbs' gut told him something was wrong, but he had no idea what. His gut was telling him now that something had been fixed, but he still wasn't quite sure what. It was also telling him not everything was back to normal, but he didn't know why.

"You're okay, right?" Gibbs wanted to make certain of that.

"Better."

Gibbs was beginning to hate these short, honest answers. He got more from Tony when he tried to lie. And maybe that's why he's telling me the truth, Gibbs thought with a sudden flash of insight. Needing to think about that, Gibbs decided to settle for what he had achieved at the moment, and give them both time and space.

"I'll see you tomorrow." It wasn't quite an order, but it wasn't far from it either.

"I'll be there."
Chapter End Notes:
I'm not entirely sure where this story is going. It may ultimately end up as a slash story, but for the moment, it's gen.
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