Albany Hotel and Conference Centre, New York: Day 1 of Conference
*****
"Hey, this isn't so bad!" Tony sprawled on the king sized bed, his green eyes alive with curiosity as he read the hotel guest manual. "As delegates on the Partner Virus panel, not only do we get a suite with a jacuzzi-tub and a wet room big enough for two, but the hotel also has an Olympic sized swimming pool, a gym, three restaurants, a sushi joint and get this... Its own karaoke bar!"
A snort of disgust was Gibbs' only response. Tony sighed. It was rare for him to wish for the old, pre-virus days, but being stuck with Gibbs in this mood brought on nostalgia pretty quickly. At least back then he wasn't sharing a room and a bed with the stubbornest man in America. Gibbs was absolutely determined to hate every minute of this conference.
Tony, on the other hand, could see a world of possibilities in the situation. Sex in a hot tub, for instance. Tony had somehow never had the opportunity before, though he could tick off beaches, aircraft at 10,000 feet and weirdly, hot springs, on his list of places to do it before you die. But Gibbs wouldn't even switch it on. He had muttered something about not wanting to suffer the noise for the hours it was sure to take, heating up, ignoring the fact that if they were out of the room at the conference, they wouldn't hear it anyway. And for that matter, did hot tubs even make a noise when they were warming up? With that attitude, he certainly wasn't going to venture into the karaoke bar, though maybe sushi was a possibility...
The older man frowned at Tony then abruptly rose to his feet. Tony stared at him hopefully.
"Got an errand to do," Gibbs said brusquely. "Try not to get into trouble."
He was gone before Tony could even stand up. From his tone, the young agent gathered that he wasn't invited on the "errand." He sighed; so much for Jethro being more communicative. It was going to be a long week.
Bouncing off the bed, with a sly grin at the sexual possibilities a well-sprung mattress offered, he decided to check out the facilities he had been reading about, starting with a place he could get a light lunch. Later he would check out the gym. He really needed to work on his fitness - he was getting too pudgy round the middle - so he would definitely check out the cardio workout machines later.
He would also call McGee later, to see how well the probie was coping with his first ever stint as lead investigator on a case. The Director was trusting McGee with solving their dismembered corpse case. And why not? McGee was experienced enough, by now. And at least a certain annoying law enforcement officer was out of the picture - what with the broken nose and the bruised ego...
There had been a few promising leads for McGee to work on. First of all, they had been waiting for news from the armed forces DNA database. Secondly, the murder victim's rental car had an inbuilt tracking system, so they could check his movements over the past week or so, and thirdly, that chemical masking equipment he had been carrying had a limited source of supply.
McGee knew all of this, of course, but Tony couldn't help checking up on him, just in case...
Hmmm. Sushi bar...
******
Gibbs stared at the small box that rested in his hand. A small gift for Tony, direct from the local jeweller he had tracked down. A plain, gold band, twin to the one he had bought for himself. The remark Tony had made about there being no sign to show he belonged to Gibbs had finally made up his mind. He would make his commitment to his partner official.
He chuckled softly. Another marriage? Was that what this was? He wasn't sure. Certainly different to his last one, but something he had needed to do. And not just because of the way the sheriff had hit on Tony. He just seemed to feel more protective towards Tony these days, for no good reason he could name. He smiled again, remembering his ridiculous idea about Tony having a baby. And all because the young agent was a little unfit at the moment. Not his fault - he had been through a lot with his injuries.
The idea of a pregnant man was just ridiculous. A harmless fantasy. Of course it was. It was just that... the pickles... the morning sickness... the change in his body shape...
Well alright. Face facts. Admit that the thought still obsessed him. Hot tubs were meant to be bad for pregnant women. Despite all of his denials and the knowledge that he was being illogical, something within him had just refused to let Tony try out the tub. Even though hot tub sex would have been really, really damned good.
He scowled, unconscious of the fact that his expression made people in his vicinity edge away from him uneasily, and headed for the conference hall. May as well sign in and see what fate had in store for the two of them. How many wasted hours listening to pointless arguments and circular reasoning, by people who didn't know what they were talking about. He hated conferences.
What was the collective noun for a group of law enforcement officers anyway? Pride? Troop? Pains in the ass?
This was a big conference. The auditorium held at least two thousand seats and there was a queue of at least a hundred delegates waiting to sign in at the door, even at this early hour - all law enforcement personnel, criminologists, pains in the ass (lawyers) etc. But of course this place was a special hell reserved for awkward NCIS agents who had faced more than their fair share of violent incidents. He and Tony were expected to take part in a discussion on how to deal with partner rage, as members on a panel.
"Jethro!" Tony waved from across the room. The young agent was predictably in the thick of the action. He threaded his way through the crowd, reached his partner and grinned excitedly. "Busy, isn't it. There must be cops here from every state of the USA." One hand automatically reached towards Gibbs, possibly headed towards his firm and manly chest. Gibbs growled warningly.
Tony took in the scowl Gibbs directed towards him and toned down the excitement a little, though he couldn't quite lose the grin. Eyes sparkling, he lowered his voice.
"Okay boss. Gotcha. No hugging the big, bad NCIS agent in public, in front of all these cops. Not good for the butch image you're trying to project."
Gibbs' glare would have made lesser men flee.
"Butch image..?" he snapped. "DiNozzo..."
The young agent grinned. Payback for smacking him on the ass. He was tempted to kiss Gibbs in public in front of the delegates, but he knew that if he laid one on Gibbs, the older man would make him pay for it. The question was would it be worth the risk? Oh yes, this week had definite possibilities.
*****
Day 2 of the Conference
"...Where government employees have unfortunately bonded with known felons, their status will be reviewed by the FBI, and amnesty for the partner may be offered in certain cases. It is recognised that such partnerships are permanent and a loss of key government personnel in our nation's heartland could prove disastrous in these troubled times..."
Tony scowled. Were these guys really serious. Proposing that felons go free simply because they were bonded to a law enforcement partner! That proposition was going to be controversial when they started to discuss it. There were other, equally eccentric ideas, such as the one about compulsory registration for partners and limits on their movements, individual freedom be damned. That one felt like Nazi Germany.
Meanwhile, an endless discussion about whether it was a good idea for two partners to work in the same department... That one seemed to be split down partner - non-partner lines.
Maybe Gibbs was right about how boring these conferences were. And it was only Tuesday - another two days of discussion before presenting their conclusions to the rest of the conference delegates on Friday. Tony sighed, a little too loudly, and several of the delegates nearby turned to look at him in annoyance.
Gibbs turned to look at him too, and Tony was relieved to see a twinkle in his eyes rather than irritation. Gibbs' fingers briefly squeezed his knee and Tony blushed slightly. He really, really wished he could go with Jethro right now and spend a couple of hours rolling around in bed.
This was so boring.
Trying to occupy his mind with something more interesting, he studied his fellow LEO's on the partnership study panel. They were all partners from various Washington agencies; the Secret Service, ATF, Homeland Security, DEA, even the FBI. Agent Fornell, no less, accompanied by a too-pretty, very green looking young agent who just had to be his partner! Tony smirked. He had thought the age difference between himself and Gibbs was awkward, but Fornell and his squeeze had them beat. The young agent was hanging on Fornell's every word too, which argued that they were fairly secure in their relationship.
Now that Secret Service chic sitting opposite from Gibbs, on the other hand, looked really tough. The sort of woman you really didn't want to piss off because she could crack nuts between her thighs. Her partner too, looked hard as nails - which made it all the more surprising that the two of them were holding hands. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was obviously pregnant and he was feeling protective. Of the other partners in the room, most were male pairings. Some seemed comfortable in their relationships but a few looked uncomfortable with the whole males having sex thing and/or relationships, sitting apart from each other as if being too close in public was embarrassing. Like they were different from all the other partners in the room.
At least Gibbs wasn't that repressed!
"Wake me up if I start to snore," Tony hissed in Gibbs' ear. The older man didn't react to Tony's lament, but abruptly his hand was back on Tony's leg. Hidden under the table, his fingers began to creep higher up Tony's thigh, his thumb gently making small circles across the young agent's inner thigh.
Tony's mouth went dry. At the same time, his cock sat up and took notice. Gibbs knew. His fingers found the young agent's erection and he squeezed gently. Tony bit his lip to stop the groan slipping out, his own fingers gripping the edge of the conference table so tightly that his knuckles went white.
"Awake yet?" Gibbs purred in his ear. His hand withdrew.
"That is so unfair!" Tony shifted uncomfortably, thankful that his arousal was hidden by the table.
"If you want to stay awake, just keep thinking about what I'm going to do to you when we get back to our room!"
"I really hate you right now" Tony said. They weren't due to break for lunch for at least two hours. It was going to be a really long day!
******
McGee frowned at his computer screen and shook his head. That couldn't be right. Or it was a hell of a coincidence. He had been examining the records of their murder victim's car, one Paul Reston, studying where the guy had been to in the past two weeks. As far as he could tell, the guy had made a couple of visits to small motels in New England, plus one big trip to the New York area. In fact, to the very place where Tony and Gibbs were attending their conference.
Really weird.
Mind you, why should he be surprised? Gibbs and his partner seemed to attract trouble wherever they went. Tony had found trouble in a diner and a bar, whilst Gibbs had met with his own problems in the interrogation room.. Plus there was the whole partnership thing. McGee counted himself lucky in his "choice" of partners. He and Abby had already slept together when the virus hit. It must be so much more awkward for Tony - a vigorously heterosexual man - to suddenly find himself sleeping with Gibbs. McGee couldn't imagine what it must be like. They were such an odd couple. It could have been him, if the circumstances were different! He had done surveillance with the boss on more than one occasion.
What must it be like to wake up next to his fearsome boss every morning? To find your sexual instincts and desires focussed entirely on Leroy Jethro Gibbs? McGee couldn't imagine finding Gibbs sexy. He couldn't have brought himself to kiss Gibbs, let alone wanting to sleep with him! The greatest surprise was that Tony actually seemed fairly happy, most of the time, though obviously, there were some very public quarrels sometimes. That would argue that there was a lot of passion in their relationship. Not so different from his own relationship then. Deeply rewarding, but with occasional flying sparks.
He headed to Abby's lab, taking the stairs two at a time. Despite his anxiety, his spirits raised automatically at the thought of being with her. His beautiful, challenging partner. The day that the virus was released, they had reconnected their on-again off-again relationship in a big way. The physical side of their relationship had always been good, but on that unforgettable day it had attained new levels of passion.
McGee blushed. Maybe it was because he had been so uninhibited - that had never been Abby's particular difficulty. The reason they had not gotten further with their relationship previously was that she was a free spirit and he was just a little bit too traditional in his attitudes.
Well now they were living together and having sex virtually every night and he was happier than he had ever been in his entire life.
It felt weird sometimes. Abby's unconventional attitudes versus his traditionalism. Goth chic coffin, loud "music" and tattoos, contrasting with his pipe and vintage record collection and his obsession with books. They were good together though. And Abby was definitely the dominant personality in their relationship.
They had agreed, as far as possible, to keep their relationship out of the NCIS building and to maintain strictly professional conduct at work. Not that Gibbs and Tony managed their work-life balance too well, as far as he had seen, but Abby had insisted. No sex at work. No long, slow kisses... The occasional lunch might be allowed, on a slow day.
"Tim!" Abby squealed and flung her arms around him when he walked into the lab.
Well, she never did have much use for rules. Even her own.
Several kisses later, sitting in front of the computer, with Abby balanced on his lap, he told her about his problem.
"You're kidding! The biggest gathering of law enforcement officers in America this year and our victim was sniffing round the conference centre? With a state of the art gas mask in the boot of his car that can protect him against the most sophisticated bioweapons around today!" She shook her head. "I don't like where this is going, Tim."
McGee cursed loudly. He should have been quicker on the uptake. Luckily Abby was as intelligent as she was beautiful. Someone was planning a bioterrorist attack on a big, fat tempting law enforcement target. He wondered if he dug deeper, he would find links to the earlier attack. A DNA match to the samples they had from the truck that had exploded in Georgetown. The one responsible for the first partner virus outbreak.
The theory among NCIS personnel was that someone high up in the government had wiped the terrorists' DNA records from the government database - but now they had an actual body to match to the samples they had collected in the first attack. In 24 hours, they would know if their dead Mr. X was involved in the biggest terrorist conspiracy of modern times.
Meanwhile, it was time to let the Boss and Tony know that they were at ground zero for another possible attack.
******
They had missed lunch entirely. Gibbs smiled in memory. His time had been well spent, and no doubt the food-obsessed Tony would drag them to one of the many eating places around here, later. Not that his mouth had been unoccupied over the last hour. He had made Tony beg, before sucking him dry and having him over the bed. The young man presently wore a delightfully sated expression which Gibbs knew he echoed. There were few things to compare with the feel of DiNozzo beneath him, begging to be taken.
The sound of his cellphone pulled Gibbs out of a daydream. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the screen. McGee's number. He frowned. The young agent knew he was likely to be involved in conference business for most of the day, mainly thanks to his gossip-mongering partner. It must be something important. He nodded towards Tony and rose from his seat to take the call. He saw Tony's look of envy and with a sigh, indicated that his partner could follow him outside, into the main lobby.
"What is it, McGee?"
"Boss! We think there's going to be a terrorist attack targeting your conference! We've tracked our dead marine's movements and he was in your area a couple of days before he died. We think he might be one of Mackenzie’s mob - we've just found out that his DNA information has been wiped from the Armed Forces database. That argues he's been part of Mackenzie’s conspiracy... And why did he have the gas mask if he wasn't planning to use it..."
"Slow down McGee! You may be right, but I'm going to need more. Proof. If our guy was planning an attack, he had to have accomplices. I need you to check out his associates. I want their pictures sent here within the hour. You hear me!"
"Yes, boss. Right away."
Gibbs turned to Tony, who had been listening curiously to Gibbs' part of the conversation.
"Trouble?" he asked softly.
"We may have a situation." Gibbs said. "McGee thinks this place is a target..."
"The bioterrorist link!" Tony was quick on the uptake. Hardly surprising since he had been in close contact with the probie all week.
"Yeah. We may have to evacuate this place."
"That could tip off our terrorists." Tony said.
"I know. We have to hope they aren’t in position yet" Gibbs acknowledged. "Come on. We have a room full of law enforcement partners over there. If anyone knows how dangerous terrorist attacks can be, they do. Let's go." He paused. "Tony, stick by me. I mean it. If an attack goes down, I need to know you're close..." His instinct to protect his partner was making itself felt. And his love.
Tony understood. Gibbs saw it in his green eyes. Then the young agent was leaning forward and kissing him, his lips a brief, warm contact. Gibbs flushed. Displaying his sexual preferences in front of dozens of cops was a little too exhibitionist for him. Tony knew it, too - a glint of amusement sparkled in his eyes at Gibbs' discomfiture.
"Just so you remember what we're doing this for, Jethro." Gibbs heard the affection in his voice. Audience be damned. He caught hold of Tony and hugged him briefly. He could almost sense the disapproval of those cops watching them. The ones he was about to risk his life for.
Come to think of it, it was pretty funny!
******
End of part 2
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