Gibbs silently groaned and felt like slapping himself. Whilst pretending not to know about the ‘stalker' and subsequently appointing himself Tony's bodyguard, he'd dug himself into an even larger whole, and he wasn't sure how to get out.
Gibbs smirked to himself, he was now protecting Tony from his stalker, one ex-marine Gunny Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Shaking his head, Gibbs thought about the inevitable fall-out if anyone found out. He'd just have to make sure nobody did find out. Whilst he may be able to explain his actions to himself, convincing somebody else may not be as easy.
But even thinking about the whole thing, he wasn't sure that he could explain it to himself. Why had he made up an alias on the internet and befriended Tony? Why had he kept his identity a secret? Why was he pushing ‘ToyBoy38' to see the better side of his boss? And to confess to loving him?
Gibbs frowned to himself, there was one reason he could think of, but it didn't fit the facts. After all, he'd been married four times and generally loved women – not men. He'd never given men a second glance. So, why had he concluded that his feelings ran at a deeper level than boss-subordinate?
"Shit," Gibbs muttered, frowning even deeper
"Boss, I'm just gonna head down to Abby," Tony announced, getting up from his desk
Gibbs looked up, "Okay, just hang on a sec, and – "
"Ah, boss really, I'll be fine, it's only the level below ours, and I doubt my stalker will have the guts to kidnap me in the middle of a federal building," Tony interrupted, walking out of the bullpen
Gibbs sighed and nodded, almost glad that he didn't have to push the bodyguard idea any further. He felt as though every time he accompanied Tony anywhere, he kept digging the whole deeper. And he was already in way over his head.
Gibbs wished he could talk to somebody about it. But the only people he would tell, already knew one side of the story and probably wouldn't be willing to hear his side, he doubted he would get past confessing that he was Tony's stalker.
His other mates were either, too far away to care, or they'd tell him to suck it up, or they wouldn't want to have anything to do with him – especially when he got to the part about his feelings for Tony. He had other friends, but he wasn't sure he wanted to tell them about something so personal.
And then there was his sister, Jade. He didn't know how Jade would react. In the past, she had always been supportive of him and his decisions, but in recent years they'd barely kept in contact. Hell, he even had no idea what country she was currently in. He felt ashamed that they hadn't kept in close contact; they'd been the best of friends when they were kids.
Gibbs sighed and ran a hand through his hair, this was not helping. As Gibbs decided that he should probably do some work, his phone rang. He answered it in his usual gruff manner and listened for several seconds before hanging up.
"Okay everybody, get your gear, we have a case," Gibbs announced, getting out of his chair, "McGee, gas up the truck, Kate, get Ducky, I'll get Tony,"
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"Okay, Petty Officer Peter Franklin joined the marines in 1992, coming straight out of college. After training, he was deployed overseas for eighteen months. Three months after coming back, he got married …" Tony informed the team, giving them the history of the marine they found dead just off the navy base
After Tony finished with the history, McGee jumped in with his findings on the marine's financial records and phone records. Once McGee had finished, Kate explained her findings on the conversations she'd held with the marine's friends and collegues.
After the team had finished the briefing, Gibbs turned back to the team, "Okay, Kate, DiNozzo, go talk to the wife, see how family life really was. McGee, check out the car dealership where he got that car,"
"Aw, can't I go to the car dealership? I speak the language of car – " Tony whined
"You'd be in there all day, Tony," Kate interrupted
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Tony replied, "Boss, really, I think I should go…talk to the wife,"
Gibbs hid a smile at Tony's correction. He loved it when he could get Tony back on track with just a look.
"So, what are you still doing here?" Gibbs asked, without his usual bite. He'd made progress with Tony over the last few days, even if the methods he'd used were questionable, and he didn't want to lose that.
Gibbs watched the team depart the bullpen and get onto the elevator. Rubbing his chin, he decided to write a quick email to ‘ToyBoy38' before seeing Ducky and Abby for their findings.
He quickly logged onto the site and opened a new email.
To: ToyBoy38
From: Jarhead426
Subject: Sorry
I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier that I knew who you were. I know it probably freaked you out, but really, I'm not stalking you. I can't really explain why or how I found out, it just seemed right at the time, and now I'm regretting it.
I hope this won't come between us, I'm enjoying the friendship we're sharing. I also hope that in the future, I'll be able to explain my actions to you and hopefully you will understand and be able to forgive me.
But for now I guess you don't want me to contact you, so I will respect your wishes. If you want to contact me in the future, then that is up to you, whenever you wish.
I hope you have the courage to tell your boss how you feel, I believe you may be surprised, life isn't as much of a bitch as some people think.
All the best with the future, and stay safe
Jarhead426
Gibbs nodded to himself, rereading the email before deciding that it was right. After sending it off, he signed off and got up. The email had been harder to write than he expected. Words had never come easily to him, and he'd needed the email to be perfect, or as close to perfect as possible.
Sighing, he entered the elevator and traveled down to Abby's lab. As he exited the elevator, he walked straight into Abby, or at least, she walked into him.
Abby looked up with a shocked expression, before her expression turned serious, "Gibbs, just who I wanted to see,"
Gibbs frowned at Abby's attitude, "Likewise,"
"Okay, follow me," Abby commanded, going into her lab
Gibbs followed Abby, asking, "Something wrong, Abs?"
Abby turned around, looking angrily at him, "You tell me, Jarhead426,"
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs thinks about his actions
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry about the big delay, holiday festivities and stuff...
Here's the next chapter, hope you like it! Please give me feedback! I really appreciate it :)
Here's the next chapter, hope you like it! Please give me feedback! I really appreciate it :)