Title: Misconceptions 13/?
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes to WWOMB, anybody else, please ask first.
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) : Slash, M-PREG, Angst/hurt-comfort
Pairing/Characters: Gibbs/DiNozzo, McGee/Jimmy
Rating: T
Warnings: THIS IS AN M-PREG FIC. If you don't like M-Preg then don't read it. If you read it anyway, then don't go complaining to me that you don't like it *because* it's M-Preg
Later chapters *will* feature minor character death, just so you know.
Disclaimer. I don't own the NCIS characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.
Notes: Thanks to FatCat for her Beta'ing
I was going to go into this whole pseudo-scientific explanation as to how M-Preg works in this universe, but then I thought, Feck it. It works, and that's it.
Previously on NCIS. Jimmy and Tony are both pregnant. Mrs. Mallard died, and Ducky retired from NCIS.
-----------------------
[13]
"Yes Ma'am," said Tony into the phone. "I'll be sure and make a note of that. Goodbye." He replaced the handset and shuddered, "Weirdo," he muttered under his breath.
He hated this. Being stuck in the office, making calls and doing research. But at twenty eight weeks, and no longer able to fit into even the most generously cut of N.C.I.S. issue bulletproof vests, the most exciting activity he'd been allowed to do in the past week was to pick up coffee for the rest of the team...and even that wasn't much fun when he was stuck to decaf.
Tony knew it was for his own good. Few of the crime scenes they worked were in nice convenient locations and the last few weeks he'd been on active duty he'd been finding it more and more difficult to keep up with his teammates. They'd all tried to help...sharing his load, making sure he didn't have too much equipment to carry. But even so, by the end of even a normal day, Tony frequently found himself with swollen ankles and barely able to put one foot in front of the other.
At the next OB appointment after Tony had first come home with swollen ankles, Gibbs the conniving bastard had spilled the beans to Doctor Wu and gotten a recommendation from her that Tony go on desk duty sooner rather than later. The day that Tony could no longer buckle up his vest was the last day he'd worked a crime scene.
Tony supposed he should consider himself lucky that Doctor Wu hadn't put him on immediate leave. He knew that Gibbs had been trying to steer her towards that decision, but she'd simply advised Tony to stay off his feet as much as possible during the working day, and in general, to take things easy and avoid stress.
"Avoid stress...yeah, right," thought Tony. Doctor Wu had no idea how much more stress he was under, watching Gibbs head out into the field and not be with him to watch his six. Oh he knew that Ziva and McGee were there...and he trusted them...as much as he trusted anybody at N.C.I.S. But dammit, Gibbs was *his* responsibility and he was the one who should be watching Gibbs's back...not them.
It was okay for Jimmy, thought Tony as he leaned back in his chair. He was used to sending McGee off on his own...he had never seen the dangers for himself. "Ignorance is bliss," Tony told himself. Sometimes *he* wished he didn't know so much about the dangers that were out there.
Tony tried to lean back a little more and cursed as the chair wouldn't tilt any further. Gibbs had seen him at his usual chair tipping antics a few days earlier. He hadn't said anything, but that night the chair had come home with them to Gibbs's basement...and the next day Tony had found that the chair wouldn't tilt back more than forty five degrees.
"That's far enough if you need to take a nap, but not so far that you'll fall over," was all that Gibbs had said. "And don't even *think* of trying to swap chairs with anybody, DiNozzo."
Sitting back upright, Tony's eyes widened as he saw a familiar figure step out of the elevator.
Almost jumping out of his chair, Tony hid behind partitions and desks until he was able to sidle up behind Agent Paula Cassidy.
"Well *hello* there little lady," Tony drawled, "Long time no see!"
Paula turned around, but her greeting died on her lips as her gaze dropped to Tony's waistline. "Wow Tony," she said finally. "I would ask what you've been up to...but I think I can guess."
Tony's smile faded briefly, "Well...you know me and junk food. Ducky always said I eat too much of it, and I guess it caught up with me all at once. Gibbs won't let me in the field again until I fit back into my vest...but hey, I can still outrun Probie, and I've promised Gibbs I'll give up junk food...tomorrow..."
"Oh you're not...I mean I thought..." Paula was blushing furiously.
Tony kept the hurt expression on his face for a few seconds longer, just to twist the knife a bit, and then he broke into a smile. "Relax Paula, I'm just kidding. It's actually hormonal, nothing to with junk food...okay, well maybe a couple of pounds is...but I'm sure I'll lose it fast enough once I have the kid..."
"So you are...DiNozzo!" Paula punched him on the arm.
"Agent Cassidy! Do I need to remind you that nobody lays a hand on one of my team members but me?"
Paula jumped.
Tony, who had seen Gibbs coming out of the corner of his eye, didn't jump...well, not much anyway.
"What are you doing here, Agent Cassidy?" asked Gibbs.
"I was told I was being assigned here, but not why," replied Paula. She glanced over at Tony, "Now I'm guessing it's to cover for Tony while he's on leave."
Tony's jaw dropped and he looked at Gibbs, "Boss?"
"You'd be guessing wrong, Agent Cassidy," growled Gibbs. "Unless the Doc says differently, DiNozzo isn't taking leave for another month or two."
Paula shrugged, "All I know is that I got orders to report here...signed by Director Shepherd."
-------------------
"I thought you'd learned your lesson about assigning people to teams without consultation," growled Gibbs as he stormed into the Director's office.
"And good morning to you too, Jethro," said Jenny as she looked up from her paperwork.
"What the hell are you doing assigning Paula Cassidy to my team? Tony's not due to take leave for weeks yet. Dammit, you should have consulted me first."
Jenny looked at him, "I seem to remember being told that personnel deployment was *my* problem."
Gibbs glared at her until she looked away,
"In any event," continued Jenny, "You're mistaken. I didn't have Agent Cassidy assigned here to join *your* team. I'm setting up a new task force, and she'll be heading her own team as part of it."
It wasn't often that Gibbs was rendered speechless, and it took him a few seconds to snap back, "She's not ready...she doesn't have the experience."
"She has as many years as you had when *you* reached that level. In any event, it'll only be on a trial basis."
Gibbs finally left the Directors office, still not happy, and with Jen's final words ringing in his ears.
"You're going to need a replacement for Agent DiNozzo soon enough. If you don't want somebody arbitrarily assigned to your team, then I'd advise you to make a choice yourself...and sooner, rather than later."
----------------------
That night, Gibbs's hand rested protectively on Tony's belly as they spooned together.
"Tell me, Jethro," said Tony, sleepily. "Why were you so down on having Paula on the team? I mean, I know she's made a few mistakes in the past...but she's a good agent." He felt Gibbs's breath hot against the back of his neck as he continued, "And I thought you'd be happy to get me off my feet and stopping working completely."
Gibbs's grip on Tony tightened, "I know that you're not happy driving a desk all the time, Tony." He nuzzled at the back of Tony's neck. "And no matter how much you make people believe you're an idle beggar..." He kissed Tony gently, "...I know it'd kill you to be sitting at home with no work to do...so as long as you feel up to it...and as long as Doctor Wu agrees, then you can stay on desk duty."
There was silence for a few minutes until Tony prompted Gibbs, "And Paula? I mean, you could probably do with an extra pair of hands in the field right now...so why not her?"
"Maybe I just don't like the idea of having somebody else on the team who knows what you look like naked," he growled in mock annoyance.
"Hmm," said Tony, thoughtfully. "So does that mean you'll be giving McGee the boot, cause I'm pretty sure he snuck a peek when we were all in that decon shower together!"
"DiNozzo!" growled Gibbs. He pulled Tony gently onto his back and started kissing him forcefully, making the younger man gasp for breath.
Tony didn't know whether it had been his comment about the decon shower and the memories it had brought back, but two weeks later, Gibbs announced that Cassidy Yates would be working with them until Tony was ready to be back in the field.
--------------------------
Jimmy made his way up to the Bullpen via the stairs. He took each step carefully, flattening himself against the wall as best as he could whenever anybody else passed him. Not that he could do much flattening, what with a thirty-two week bump in front of him, but he did his best.
He paused at the top of the next flight of steps, to catch his breath again, knowing that he probably *should* have taken the elevator. But ever since being trapped in it a few months earlier, he had avoided using it as much as possible...especially when he was on his own. Anyway, gentle exercise was good for him, and the baby, Jimmy told himself as he neared the top of yet another flight.
"Hey Tony," said Jimmy, when he finally reached the bullpen.
"Jimmy, my man!" said Tony. "Hey, you look whacked! Pull up a chair."
Tony watched as Jimmy sank gratefully into the seat. "You know," he said, carefully. "You could have called me...I'd have come down to Autopsy."
Jimmy shook his head; "Doctor Holliday is running a lot of x-rays today. She wouldn't have let you in."
"Yeah, I know...but I could have ridden back up in the elevator with you, so you wouldn't have had to take the stairs." Tony leaned over his desk and punched Jimmy gently on the shoulder. "I know you don't like using it any more...can't say I blame you, although being stuck in there alone with Gibbs for a few hours," an evil grin appeared on Tony's face, "Can't say I'd have minded *that* too much! And I'm sure if you'd been trapped with McGee instead...hey, maybe I should suggest it to him, you know, a little distraction therapy to cure your phobia!"
"Tony!" said Jimmy, laughing in spite of himself.
"Course you'd have to disable the security cameras," added Tony as he leaned back in his chair, "But Abby could help you there...mind you, she's more likely to just divert the feed to her lab and use it as a screensaver!"
"Tony!" was all that Jimmy could say, by now laughing helplessly. "I...oh..." he clutched his stomach.
"You okay there Jimmy?" asked Tony, his face all serious as he leaned forward.
"Yes, yes I'm fine," Jimmy had a smile on his face, "Just Junior joining in the fun. He's been getting pretty active lately."
"He? Hey, I thought you and McGee weren't gonna find out!"
"Oh we haven't...I just...I just have a sort of feeling," said Jimmy, stroking his belly automatically.
"Yeah...yeah, I know those sort of feelings," said Tony. He shivered involuntarily.
Now it was Jimmy's turn to ask, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah...it was nothing. Hey, you hungry? Gibbs isn't here and I have a stash of potato chips he hasn't found yet!"
"Pass them over," said Jimmy, greedily. He popped open the bag and started eating.
Tony crammed a handful into his mouth and chewed on them. Halfway through the bag, he let out a loud belch, attracting the attention of a few passers by who eyed him in annoyance.
"Hey, pregnant dude over here," called Tony. "I can't help my body's reactions."
He turned back to Jimmy who said sympathetically, "Has that been much of a problem for you?"
Tony shrugged, "No more so than before I got knocked up." He crammed another handful of chips into his mouth and added, "But now I just don't bother hiding it!"
----------------------
The chips were finished and the evidence thoroughly disposed of, when Jimmy thought to ask, "So where is everybody? Did a case come up or something?"
Tony hesitated before replying, "Something to do with this task force Paula's on. Gibbs and her took their teams off a few hours ago. Think the F.B.I. was involved as well."
"Something big? Tim didn't tell me there was anything planned..."
"I think it sort of came up in a rush. They've gone to..." Tony's voice trailed off as he glanced at the LCD display on the wall. The usual innocuous reports had been replaced by an emergency notice. Tony mouthed the words as he read them, "Explosion reported...agents down...backup required in..." The color drained from his face.
"Tony! What's wrong?"
"We have to get to MTAC...now!"
-------------------------
To be continued
Author's Chapter Notes:
Ducky has retired, but life still goes on at NCIS.
Chapter End Notes:
I wrote a fic called Reality Check, which featured an M-Preg dream. Feedback was so positive that I decided to do the real thing.