Gibbs sat behind his monitor, glaring at his screen. He hadn't ended up getting much sleep last night. Tony signing off without saying goodbye had put him in a bad mood, and had preoccupied his thoughts whilst trying to fall asleep. In the end, he'd gotten up and worked on the boat until he eventually fell asleep beneath it.
Thankfully, the team had noticed he was in a bad mood, and had stayed clear of him. well, all of the team that were here at the moment, anyway. Tony had yet to show up. He was an hour later, and Gibbs was going to kick his ass for it.
As if reading his thoughts, the elevator dinged and Tony strolled out. The younger man had his carefree attitude on, but Gibbs saw that it was just a façade. He didn't look much better than Gibbs felt.
"Boss," Tony greeted as he entered the bullpen, "The power went off in my house last night and I slept in, then I was stuck behind this guy doing like…I swear he almost stopped…then there was a crash, and traffic is just…"
Gibbs held up his hand to stop the flow of words as Tony began to get worked up, "Just don't do it again, DiNozzo,"
"Huh?" Tony asked, confused that Gibbs had let him off so easily
McGee and Kate were now openly paying attention to what was going on. Everybody had expected Gibbs to rip Tony a new one – including Gibbs, who was also confused by what he'd just said.
Gibbs made a shooing motion with one hand, "We don't have any active cases, things like these happen occasionally,"
Everybody in the bullpen gaped at Gibbs, wondering what the cause was of his change in behavior.
"Gibbs, are you feeling okay?" Tony asked
"I'm fine!" Gibbs snapped, "Everybody, back to work,"
Tony shrugged, heading towards his desk now that Gibbs had returned to normal.
After half an hour of pretending to do work, Gibbs decided to get a coffee; his other one finished a life-time ago.
When Gibbs returned, he had a tray full of coffees and a caf-Pow! He set a coffee on everybody's desk, then the rest of the tray on McGee's, "McGee, take the tea and caf-Pow! to Abby and Ducky,"
Tony grinned, "Huh, you got laid last night, didn't you, boss?"
Gibbs glared at him, which made Tony put his head down and started writing his report again.
As Gibbs got to his computer, he noticed somebody had sent ‘Jarhead426' an email. Glaring at the screen, he clicked on the email and read the message.
To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: Sorry
Hey, sorry about last nite, for some reason, my internet stopped working last nite. Although I found out this morning why. Turns out my landlord is revamping the building again and was playing around with some stuff last nite, and cut the phone cable.
Then he managed to cut the power to the house. Don't ask me how he did that without getting electrocuted. According to him he was just playing around, but to disconnect the power, he woulda had 2 b outside at the electrics box… so, welcome to my world.
And that's not even mentioning what he did to the water system. Just had a pissy kinda two days, but anyway, I don't wanna talk about all that…
As a side note, my boss is acting strangely, he was actually kinda nice today…not sure why…
Anyways, gotta go, talk to ya later
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. He knew there had been a rational reason for Tony to disconnect from him like that, and now he had his answer. Gibbs smiled and replied, keeping it short and sweet
To: ToyBoy38
From: Jarhead426
Subject: Re: Sorry
That sucks. You got anybody to stay with whilst they screw around with your apartment?
After pressing the send button, he picked up some paperwork, and tried to lose himself in that until he received a reply. Eventually, his screen began blinking at him again with a new message. Clicking on the message made him frown
To: Jarhead426
From: ToyBoy38
Subject: Re: Sorry
Nah, not yet. If this had happened a few days ago, I woulda stayed with my friend – I told you about the guy who's here for a few weeks from Italy? – but he's kinda being strange at the moment
Gibbs was about to reply when he saw ToyBoy38 appear online on the instant messaging service. Smiling again, he appeared online and replied straight away
Jarhead426: Nah, you didn't mention him. Strange how?
ToyBoy38: Ah, well, he's here for 4 weeks, he arrived a few days ago, think I was online to you at the time. He was gonna stay with me, but kind better accommodation.
Jarhead426: Are you two a couple?
Gibbs held his breath as he waited for the answer. Hoping for a negative one.
ToyBoy38: We have a history, but before he flew out of Italy, I made it clear that I didn't wanna go back there. He's a great guy, but there's usually a reason why things didn't work out the first time, so I wouldn't want to go back there
Jarhead426: So, I take it, his being strange, is that he didn't quite get the message
ToyBoy38: Affirmative, and it's just made things kinda weird, and I don't wanna ask him if I could stay over, he'd get the wrong idea
Jarhead426: So, what's ur back up plan?
ToyBoy38: I don't really have one. I could ask one of my mates, but my work tends to have strange hours, so I'd be reluctant to ask them
Jarhead426: What about someone from your work? Maybe your boss? You could try talking to him away from the work situation. You said he was being nice earlier
ToyBoy38: Yeah, I don't think so…it wouldn't work.
Jarhead426: Why not?
ToyBoy38: Because I've stayed at his place before, and nothing happened. It was a disaster, and that's putting it nicely
Gibbs closed his eyes, trying to remember why it had been such a bad experience for Tony
Jarhead426: Maybe this time it'll be different. Just, give it a go, it might work out. In any case, I gotta go, I've gotta get ready for an important meeting
ToyBoy38: Ok, mite talk 2 u 2nite, I'll let u know how it goes
Jarhead426: Ok, cya
Gibbs signed off and stared at the screen a bit longer. Then he sighed, hoping that Tony would ask him if he could stay with him whilst his apartment got fixed.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Gibbs looked at the clock again, wondering why time seemed to go going slower today than any other day. It was almost two o'clock and Tony had still not asked anybody in the bullpen if he could stay with them. The younger agent hadn't left the bullpen, so he couldn't have asked Ducky or Abby yet either.
After stretching, Gibbs stood up and looked at his three agents, "Right, everybody up, let's go,"
McGee began getting his gear ready, whilst Kate and Tony looked at him with confused expressions.
"Boss, I didn't hear the phone ring, we got a case?" Tony asked, with raised eyebrows
"No, Tony, I'm buying lunch today, and we are all eating out. McGee, call Abby and Ducky," Gibbs replied, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world
Fifteen minutes later, the team was outside a nice looking pub, looking at the menu.
"So, what is the cause of this occasion, Jethro?" Ducky asked the question on everybody's minds
"I thought it was time we all did something together again, besides investigating a case. A few months ago, we did this sorta thing on a regular basis, but recently we've been too busy," Gibbs replied, hoping his answer would suffice
"I see," Ducky replied, wondering if there was more
Gibbs sighed, "And we need to stick together. Things like what happened to Agent Jones, kinda reminds us of how dangerous the work is we do. We see each other more often than family members, why not work with that?"
The rest of the team nodded in agreement. The mention of Agent Jones served as a reminder to the whole group of what they dealt with on a regular basis. Agent Jones had been with NCIS for four years, and had been killed in the line of duty as they tracked down a serial killer. His death had hit the agency pretty hard, as everybody got along with him.
The team ordered their lunch and talked about everything under the sun, enjoying the early afternoon. Gibbs leaned back in his chair, reveling in the small stroke of luck that had him sitting next to Tony.
Ducky nudged his arm, saying quietly enough that only Gibbs would hear him, "Jethro, I believe you and I need to have a chat later,"
Gibbs frowned slightly, "Of course, Ducky,"
Ducky smiled and gave him a small frown, "What are you up to, Jethro Gibbs?"
Gibbs smiled openly, "Ah, that's need to know,"
Ducky chuckled, then turned his attention back to the main discussion.
"…but when she went back to kill him, to deliver the killing blow – because one is never enough – he was gone. And then the camera zooms so you can see behind her, and there he is. She realizes like, a second afterwards and slowly turns around…" Abby was saying
"What's this?" Gibbs asked
"Wolf creek. The most disturbing movie I've seen in a long time," Abby responded, before carrying on with her description
Gibbs nodded and half-listened to her. After a few minutes, Tony turned around to face him, saying quietly, so as not to disturb Abby's story, "Boss?"
"Yeah, Tony," Gibbs responded just as quietly
"Could I stay at your place for the next few days?" Tony asked, hope shining in his eyes
Gibbs grinned, "Your apartment being renovated again?"
"You could say that. I told you the power went off last night. The landlord did that. And he screwed up the water system," Tony sighed in frustration
"Of course you can stay with me," Gibbs told him
"Really?" Tony asked
"Tony, my place is always open for you to use. And as far as I'm concerned, you'd be better off living with me, than staying in the stingy apartment block that you currently live in," Gibbs replied honestly
"You asking me to move in with you….Jethro?" Tony asked with a grin
Gibbs returned the grin, "Tony, the offer is always there,"
Tony frowned slightly, "Ok, what's the catch?"
"There is none," Gibbs replied, "You need a better place to live, that apartment block needs more than a few dozen renovations. And your landlord needs more than a good talking to – which I'd be more than happy to do,"
"O…kay. Think I'd need some time to think before moving in with you. But for now, I'll take up the offer to stay with you until the renovations are finished," Tony responded
Gibbs shrugged, "The offer's always there. You need any help bringing some stuff over?"
"Nah, should be fine. Thanks, Gibbs," Tony said
"Not a problem, Tony," Gibbs replied, mentally doing a little dance of triumph
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs gets an unexpected, but pleasant surprise
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry about the delay, I got a bit side-tracked with work and stuff...anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you all like it. Please give me feedback, I thrive on it :)