Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Tony walked down to Gibbs’ basement late on Friday evening after work. His latest case had been a rough one which got worse when their suspect decided to run and take a hostage with him. When they caught up with him, it took several hours and some tense negotiation before he was able to talk the man into releasing his hostage and giving up. While Tony still wished he had Gibbs as back-up, his team had performed well and he was proud of a job done well. They finished their reports and he sent his team home for the weekend since they weren’t on call. Although he was still pretty wired, he felt a headache coming on so he left the office fully intending to go home and take a hot shower and maybe have a drink before trying to get some sleep. But instead of making the turn that would take him home, he found himself heading over to Gibbs’ place. With a shrug, he decided to let yet another subconscious decision stand, especially since he saw that the basement light was on. He figured a couple of hours of sanding and a drink or two would ease the tension enough to let him sleep.
He sat down on his usual step and watched while Gibbs sanded one of the ribs they’d put in place the previous weekend. He briefly considered picking up a sanding block, but the thought evaporated before movement could begin and he pulled his knees up. Even though Gibbs wasn’t drinking since it was his team that was on call that weekend, he considered getting up to get himself some scotch but instead found himself wrapping his arms around his knees. He felt the tension that had been making a home in his neck and shoulders begin to ease as the familiar sound of sanding began to lull him into a relaxed state. Sometime later, he felt the light touch of a hand on his hair and he lifted his head.
“Heard you did good today,” Gibbs said quietly. “But sleep now, tell me about it in the morning.”
Tony nodded. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting there but when he went to stand up it seemed like every muscle in his body had seized. He grunted and accepted the hand that was held out. Moving slowly and pointedly ignoring the smirk on Gibbs’ face, he kept putting one foot in front of the other until he made it to the guest room. In less than a minute, he was under the covers and out cold.
Tony woke up late the next morning. The house, as usual, was quiet and peaceful. He remained in bed for a few moments more until the scent of coffee prompted him to move. He sat up and noted that his go-bag had mysteriously appeared on the chair in the room. A long, hot shower later, Tony made his way downstairs. It wasn’t until he had filled his cup with coffee that he found the note that simply said ‘shopping’. Making himself at home, Tony decided on a bagel for breakfast. Sitting at the kitchen table he saw a stack of mail and, being his typically curious self, he started sorting through the pile. One envelope in particular caught his attention. The return address said that it had been sent by a Mrs. Evelyn Gifford, a name that brought forth quite a few memories, several of which were very painful.
Since the envelope had already been opened it didn’t take long before Tony looked inside. There was a second envelope which Tony knew held an invitation of some type, most likely a wedding invitation. It’s the year of weddings, he said to himself because Jimmy’s wedding was in June and Ziva’s in August. He still thought it was pretty cool that Jimmy had asked Ducky to be his Best Man and that both he and McGee were groomsmen. It was also the subject of a continuing, very humorous discussion between him and Tim as to who was having a rougher time with the wedding details: Jimmy or Ziva. While Jimmy was pretty stressed out about everything, Tony was still pretty sure that Jimmy’s wedding, at least, wasn’t likely to result in a fatality.
He opened the inner envelope to see that, sure enough, Mrs. Evelyn Gifford was announcing the marriage of her niece, Miss Madelyn Ann Tyler, to someone named Robert Alan Petris. The wedding was about six weeks away in April.
Tony put the invitation back together and placed it back into the pile. Maddie Tyler had been Kelly’s best friend. She had contacted Gibbs out of the blue when a man began giving her a hard time. With both of her parents deceased and her one remaining family member, her aunt, growing frail, she opted to contact Gibbs for help. He’d gone in a heartbeat. As it turned out, the marine who’d been harassing her was looking to set up an address so that he could arrange for the shipment of stolen Iraqi treasury. Then the marine had ended up dead and the men responsible had kidnapped Maddie. Gibbs, of course, went after her. Both he and Maddie had almost drowned in their efforts to escape.
Tony met the very lovely – and very teary – Mrs. Gifford, Maddie’s aunt, while everyone was getting checked out in the hospital after their unscheduled swim. Once Tony was wearing some dry scrubs, he’d stayed by her side, fetching tea and keeping her company while they waited for Maddie and Gibbs to be released. It was during his time with Mrs. Gifford that he’d learned a little bit about the mysterious young woman for whom Gibbs had broken all kinds of rules to help, both NCIS rules as well as his own that he’d drilled into Tony from the get-go.
Tony had been angry with Gibbs for a long time after that because Gibbs had gone off without a word and without back-up, contrary to everything Gibbs had ever taught him. If then-Director, Jenny Shepard, hadn’t sent him off with an address to check out, he’d have never gotten to that dock in time to jump into the water to save both Maddie and Gibbs. That memory was still the subject of the occasional nightmare. Tony ran a hand over his face and wondered if there was anything he wouldn’t do for Gibbs. No, he figured, there wasn’t. Although taking a bullet or diving into freezing water seemed surprisingly easier than marrying someone you really didn’t love.
At least Gibbs had apologized – in his own way. He’d promised never to forgo back-up again but his eyes… Yeah, the look in his eyes told Tony that he truly was sorry. The squeeze to his shoulder relayed gratitude. But then the hard slap to the back of his head for endangering himself by jumping into freezing cold water the second time… Well, that had been the icing on the cake. It told Tony that Gibbs valued his life more than his own. Tony grinned. Those head slaps had relayed so much over the years and he had become an expert at interpreting them. Still, Tony resolved to one day teach Gibbs to use words. It’d be so much easier.
Tony wondered if he, too, had received an invitation but, since he hadn’t checked his mail in several days due to his most recent case, he had no way of knowing without going home. However, since he wasn’t ready to leave, yet, he ended up in the basement sanding the rib he’d been working on before this latest case. He sanded a bit and then ran his hand over the spot exactly as he’d seen Gibbs do a hundred or maybe even a thousand times by now. He remembered the patient way Gibbs had shown him what to do that first time he’d helped and that experience had been the subject of many a fantasy. He huffed out a laugh thinking that Gibbs would probably prefer to be someone’s nightmare rather than a fantasy but goddamn, those hands were made to be fantasized about. With a physical shake, he got back to work.
~*~*~
Gibbs walked into the house after running his errands and paused, listening. He smiled when he heard the familiar sound of sanding coming from the basement. Setting his bags on the counter, he quickly put everything away except for the white paper bag. Then he made his way downstairs only to pause to watch Tony work.
With his keen eyesight, Gibbs could see that Tony was doing a good job on the rib he was sanding. It came as no surprise, really. Tony not only met the standard he set, he always exceeded it, proving again and again why Gibbs had wanted him on his team.
His eyes kept moving over the shape that was coming to life so very quickly through the work of four strong, determined hands. It would be soon, he decided, that they would need to move this out of his basement. The plan for this boat required much more space than what he had here. It would be then that he’d show Tony the answer to the question he’d been asking for so very long. His gaze journeyed across the wooden frame but his attention was on the man next to it. The plan for this boat had been decided upon because of Tony. It would be large enough for them both to sail to the Bahamas one day. Now that the screw-up with Leyla was over, that dream had again become a possibility.
“Brought lunch,” Gibbs said as he made his way down the stairs to inspect Tony’s work. He ran his hand softly over the spot Tony had been sanding and then gave a simple nod when it met his high standard. He turned to look at Tony who seemed to be mesmerized by his hand running over the wood. Something in Tony’s eyes made a lightning-fast burst of electricity shoot through his groin and he had to put a stop to where his body was headed.
“Hey!” Gibbs said as he landed a very light slap on Tony’s head. “You with me?”
Tony blinked once and automatically answered “Yes, Boss!”
Gibbs watched as Tony gave a visible shake to get his mind away from wherever it had gone and he had the sudden wish that he could have gone there, too. Cursing himself for having ridiculous ideas, he turned to go upstairs with the knowledge that Tony would follow.
~*~*~
Tony did, but only after giving himself a mental kick. Gibbs had come back with lunch but his gut had tightened more at the sight of that sensitive hand searching out imperfections on the wooden frame than at the thought of lunch. Of its own volition, his mind took a slight detour as he watched that strong, calloused hand. He imagined that hand running over his face in the same manner, fingers gentle as they skimmed over his features. He could almost feel that large hand moving lower to spread across his throat, palm resting lightly over his Adam’s apple and fingers softly seeking out his pulse. He swallowed convulsively in response to the mental thought of the warmth of those hard hands on his skin, moving slowly south until they were on his dick…
Thank goodness for head slaps. It gave Tony the opportunity to wrestle those thoughts back into the tiny box he reserved for them but he hoped it hadn’t been too late. He could still feel the flush that had worked its way up his neck when he saw Gibbs staring at him. He’d looked away but knew that those laser-like blue eyes were trying to dissect him and he prayed that Gibbs wouldn’t look down...please, God…don’t let Gibbs look down…
Apparently God answered because Gibbs turned away to walk upstairs. Tony gave himself a shake and ran a hand over his face but leapt to follow. By the time they’d reached the kitchen, Tony had himself back under control.
Gibbs sat at the table and pulled out a couple of bags of chips and then some sub sandwiches from a white paper bag. Tony grabbed two cups and poured some more coffee for them both, doctoring his before he, too, sat down to join Gibbs. He snagged both bags of chips knowing Gibbs never ate his. Neither man said anything as they dug into the roast beef subs.
They were about half-done and with their initial hunger appeased when Tony reached over to the pile of mail and pulled out the invitation. Leaving it on top, he tapped it with one long finger.
“You going?”
Gibbs just shrugged which Tony understood meant that he probably would. Just then the phone rang and Gibbs got up to answer. Tony watched from his seat as Gibbs eyes first narrowed and then opened a bit with surprise.
“Yeah, I’ll be here,” he said and then actually said good-bye. That made Tony’s eyebrows go up. He didn’t ask but Gibbs volunteered that Maddie Tyler would be dropping by that afternoon.
Tony just nodded and both men finished their lunch. Since he had things to do, he figured he’d leave to give Gibbs his privacy. He was still a bit touchy over that whole Maddie situation and Tony knew it was because of all the memories it brought up so this visit might be a bit tough. Maybe he’d swing back on Sunday to check on Gibbs, maybe finish working on that rib. As they cleaned up Tony told Gibbs he’d be back later. Gibbs just nodded and Tony left.
When Tony got to his place he checked his mail and was not surprised to see an identical envelope waiting for him. There was no doubt in his mind that he’d go if for no other reason than to support Gibbs, assuming, of course, Gibbs didn’t decide on taking a date.
When Tony dropped by the next day Gibbs was busy working in the basement so Tony picked up the sanding block and continued from where he’d left off the day before. Gibbs wasn’t saying anything but Tony could tell he had something on his mind.
“Got my invitation in the mail, too,” he said bringing up the subject he was sure was on Gibbs’ mind. “I’ll probably go.”
Gibbs remained mute but walked over to the workbench and poured himself a drink. Watching him go, Tony suddenly understood what it was Maddie had wanted to speak with Gibbs about. He followed Gibbs over and poured himself a drink, too. Taking a sip, he watched Gibbs but he was looking off to the side, obviously lost in thought.
“Are you going to do it?” he asked softly.
Gibbs turned back to Tony and then looked away. “Not sure. Don’t think it’d be fair.”
Tony frowned slightly. Yes, it was Maddie’s special day but he doubted that she would feel as though she were competing with the memory of a girl long gone. Kelly had been her best friend.
“If anyone would understand, it’d be her. Besides, it’s not just you. You’re a stand-in, too. Maybe you both need this.”
Gibbs looked down at the drink in his hand. He nodded. “I’ll call her tonight.”
“Call her now, Gibbs. Don’t let her think you don’t want to do this for her.”
Gibbs rolled his eyes but pulled out his phone. He was staring it at it but hadn’t dialed. “Who are you taking?”
Tony tilted his head to one side. “No one I can think of...you?”
Gibbs shrugged.
“So maybe we’ll just go together,” he offered with a laugh. “You know, sort of like a date, Boss…only not.”
Gibbs huffed out a laugh and made the phone call.