Written for the NCIS Reverse Bang Challenge with the prompt of Surfer!Gibbs.
Let's face it, we all need a palate cleanser right now, don't we? You'll like my take on these characters so much better than those in s13. AND you get a nice happy ending and some tasty smut. This fic is complete and has 5 chapters which I will be posting daily. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or any of its characters. If I did, I would have treated them much better.
Title: A Following Sea
Author: Katupnorth
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance-Slash
Pairings: Tony DiNozzo/ Jethro Gibbs
Word Count: 20K+
Summary: In the wake of Hiatus and Gibbs' return, both men deal with the re-emergence of memories and their implications for the future. An assignment sends Tony and Gibbs to NCIS Pearl Harbor ahead of an International Naval Exercise. In the midst of stopping a terrorist threat, new revelations are made and a future decided.
Spoilers: Post-Hiatus
If you want to see the artwork by Evian_Fork which prompted this fic, please go to the LJ Reverse Bang page or find the fic on Ao3.
Thank you to Cackymn for the quick Beta and for being a great source of feedback and fangirling.
A Following Sea
Tony glanced up from his pile of expense reports, eyes quickly taking in the non-activity around the bullpen. Bustle and commotion had become his refuge recently, boredom his nemesis, and today his fingers were itchy and his mind a defiant, bouncing ball which refused to stay still and focus.
Three weeks. Three weeks since Gibbs had reassumed his command of the MCRT and everything was already business as usual.
At least on the surface.
He'd be lying if he didn't admit, at least to himself, that he missed it just a little. That he missed being in the know, storming into Jenny's office rather than feeling like he was sneaking around behind Gibbs' back.
Jenny. He didn't know when the change from "Director" to "Shepard" to "Jenny" had happened, but he was going to have to watch it around Gibbs from now on. Then again, was that a hint of jealousy he'd seen?
In truth, he mostly missed being the one the team looked to for direction. The mantle of leadership had weighed heavily on his shoulders, more heavily than he would ever confess to Gibbs or even Shepherd. Still, he felt the absence of that weight acutely some days and the loss was more unpleasant than he'd anticipated.
Even after a few months of Gibbs' absence, a few months of fading hope, of taking on a job he'd never dreamed of wanting and hoping to hell no one figured out that he was merely a pretender to the throne, Tony had still felt like a damn place holder. Part of him-the part that knew Gibbs more deeply than he'd ever let on-was always anticipating that one day he'd step off of the elevator to find all of his things back at his old desk. Each day he didn't a part of him shrank and diminished even as something else bloomed and flourished. And then three weeks ago it had actually happened, his greatest hope and most fitful dream had coalesced into the reality of a tan, scruffy, and somehow both more and less haunted Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and he'd suddenly realized he hadn't been prepared at all despite his gut's insistence on inevitability.
Of course there were other complications, things which were definitely off the discussion menu since the man who was quietly becoming more recognizable as Gibbs each day had returned to prowl the orange NCIS halls.
Bits and pieces of sensation and memory slammed against Tony's well-reinforced walls and he fought hard not to show a reaction.
Warm hand in the small of his bare back beneath the afternoon sun-calloused palms caressing his shoulders-tickling breath against his ear, closer than it should be, quicker than it should be-touch of curious fingers sliding over his ribs, his belly, down his thighs, so fucking close-hardness of a man's body pressed to his, so foreign yet so completely irresistible-the look in Jethro's eyes after he touched him, hungry yet cautious and uncertain.
And then the delightful promise of something unthinkably forbidden, something warm and strangely right, had been blown to complete shit by some asshole named after a rice paddy dyke and Gibbs had bailed on him and the rest of the team just like everyone else in Tony's life ever had.
He didn't want to blame him but neither did he know how to stop blaming him. Not without some kind of explanation. Not without some sort of…apology. One that he was quite certain was not forthcoming. Sure, he knew the explosion had jumbled Gibbs' reality, had tilted his world sideways, and maybe it hadn't come fully upright again yet, but Tony's head was just as much of a mess and he didn't have a bomb to blame, at least not directly.
"Heads up."
Tony barely had time to react as Gibbs lobbed an object straight for him. It was only the combination of quick reflexes and instinct that allowed him to snatch it out of the air just prior to impact. He looked down to find a bottle of sunscreen clasped in his hands. His eyes lit up hopefully.
"Gonna need to pack a bag. We head out for Pearl at 1600." Gibbs had immediately busied himself behind his desk, shifting paperwork and appearing not to notice Tony's near whoop of joy.
"You serious, Boss? Because it's really not nice to joke about…" Tony started before he was abruptly cut off.
"Got increased chatter out of Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and a few dozen other places about the Russian presence at RIMPAC, and North Korea's waving nuclear warheads around like Fourth of July fireworks. Got a few people more nervous than usual. Sec Nav and DOD are increasing the number of agents doing threat assessment ahead of the exercises and our Director volunteered our services." Despite the slightly derisive tone, Gibbs didn't sound nearly as put-out as Tony might have expected under the circumstances.
"Hawaii?" Tony asked again incredulously. "Did you hear that, McGee? We're really going to Hawaii?" he turned to Tim whose face had also lit up like a Christmas tree. "Ziva, please tell me you own a string bikini."
"Not McGee. And not you either, Ziva." Gibbs reached into a bottom drawer in his desk and slipped something into a pocket in his go-bag. "Just you and me, DiNozzo."
Tony felt his stomach give a momentary lurch. He wasn't unsympathetic to what his teammates must be feeling at the thought of being left behind, especially in light of recent events. The instinct to shield these people he still felt inexplicably possessive of was strong, though he dared not exercise it. Stronger still was his trepidation over the awkwardness of a trip alone with Gibbs, uncertainty brought on by the knowledge that the rock he'd always been sure was whole and solid was instead pitted and fractured in places he couldn't have anticipated.
"Sorry Probie, better luck next time. I'll bring you back a pineapple. Ziva, I'll bring you a coconut bra." Tony tucked his passport and credentials away, checking through the stack of papers on his desk to make sure he hadn't missed anything while he watched Gibbs from beneath long lashes.
"Need you here to work with the B team, McGee. Need someone I can trust to keep me informed so they don't have a chance to screw anything up while we're gone. You're my eyes and ears back here. You think you can handle that?" Gibbs looked at Tim pointedly and accepted his solemn-if still slightly disappointed- nod. "Ziva, Sec Nav doesn't think it's the best idea to drag Mossad into the middle of the biggest international Naval exercise in the world, and I can't say I disagree this time. What I do need is for you to use every contact and backchannel you have to keep us ahead of anything we need to know."
"I understand, Gibbs." She was unable to completely conceal the tightness from her voice but did not mount an argument. Tony knew her well enough to see the deeper disappointment in her eyes.
Tony watched the scene play out between the three of them and couldn't help the tiny bit of admiration he felt for the other man. Gibbs might be a bastard, but Abby was right, he knew how to give people what they needed. Or at least he tried.
"You got any problems with this assignment, DiNozzo?" Gibbs stopped what he was doing to study him for a moment.
"Hey, I'll take any excuse you give me for a few days in the sand and sun. Never been to Hawaii." Tony shouldered his pack and plastered on his most convincing smile, ignoring the feeling in the pit of his stomach that said there was more going on here than Gibbs was making plain on the surface. "Wonder if there's a Magnum tour," he mused to himself.
"Not a vacation, Dinozzo. We're there to work," Gibbs warned, though the chastisement contained less bark than usual.
"Yeah, but we can't work 24/7, Boss. Gotta be able to sneak in a few hours on Waikiki beach," Tony grinned hopefully.
Gibbs didn't respond, seeming intent on closing down his computer and packing up a few files.
Tony wandered the few feet to Tim's desk. "We'll be back before you know it, Probie. Probably won't even have a chance to miss us. Besides, it's Gibbs. I'll be lucky if I see anything more of the beach than the view from the plane," he said softly. He squeezed Tim's shoulder, earning him an odd look. "Make sure you keep Abby in fresh Caf-Pow, stay away from internet porn at work, don't feed Palmer after midnight, and don't answer my phone." This was louder, more in keeping with what he knew was expected of him.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked from the elevator.
"On my way." He locked eyes with Ziva on his way out and didn't miss the look of near-sympathy. As the elevator doors slid closed with an ominous hiss and sealed them in silence, Tony seriously wished someone in the building had thought to pipe in bad music. He glanced at the little switch that would suspend them in mid-descent, waiting to see if Gibbs had something more to hit him with. He had his own questions burning a hole in his gut.
"You gonna tell me why we're really leaving them behind, Gibbs?" Tony ventured. They reached their destination and the doors slid open. At first he thought Gibbs simply wasn't going to respond.
"My reasons not good enough for you any more, Tony?" It wasn't confrontational, but curiosity and something else tinged his voice.
"They are." Tony said flatly. "As long as they're the right ones. Been left behind for the wrong ones enough lately." It wasn't the first time he'd been bold enough to take on Gibbs in the last few weeks when they were on their own but he'd yet to receive any satisfaction from it.
Gibbs turned at this, stepped in close to Tony's space. "Think I should leave you behind too, DiNozzo?" Blue eyes were flat and searching.
Tony didn't flinch. "Guess that's up to you. I'm starting to get used to it."
They stood there together in silence, Gibbs' foot holding the door of the elevator while neither one of them gave an inch. To Tony's surprise it was Gibbs who backed off. The older man simply turned for the parking garage looking no smaller for the slight victory he had just given away.
"Andrews. 1600. If you're a minute late we're wheels up without you and you can swim to Hawaii," Jethro barked, disappearing around the corner.
Tony let out the breath he'd been holding in a prolonged sigh and dropped his bag from his shoulder, leaning against the wall of the elevator. "This is gonna be a long fucking trip."
Gibbs knew he was being watched. He'd allowed the hum and shake of the transport they'd hopped from Andrews to lull him into a sort of trance-like state which wasn't sleep but wasn't full consciousness either. It was the closest he'd come to true relaxation since being back in DC.
The problem with relaxing lately was that the moment he let his mind slip for half a second he was forcibly assaulted by memories that had no right or permission to intrude on his awareness.
The first time they'd come to him he'd been sanding away at the deck of Frank's hacienda, getting it ready to paint. The wood had been rough and worn and in a moment of inattention, he'd lodged a splinter deep in his palm. A heartbeat later he'd been back in his basement walking with ghosts.
"It's just a splinter, DiNozzo. Let me see."
"Feels like there's half a tree in my palm. I don't think your boat likes me very much." Tony held out his hand reluctantly, eyes squeezed shut.
He took the younger man's hand, cradling it in his own. The splinter was large but it wasn't deep. With a smile, he grabbed a clean rag from the workbench, gripped the protruding fragment of offending wood, and pulled against the angle of entry while holding Tony's wrist.
"OWW!"
In one smooth movement he let the splinter fall to the ground while he pressed the cloth to the drop of blood which formed in the spot where it had resided.
"Is it out?" Tony opened his eyes and stepped in closer.
He could feel the heat of the other man across the space between them. Jethro nodded. "All better." It came out more softly than he'd intended, the words sticky and heavy in his throat. He removed the cloth but the small wound seemed to have stopped bleeding already. Without a thought he bent and pressed his lips quickly to the spot of soft skin before releasing Tony's hand.
"Did you just kiss my boo-boo and make it better, Gibbs?" A grin lit Tony's face from ear to ear.
He spun around quickly and slapped the rag onto the bench behind him, grabbing the first tool within reach and cleaning it furiously. "Yeah, well, whine like a little girl and I'll treat you like one, DiNozzo." He could feel the heat in his cheeks. Tony didn't respond but he could sense the other man still standing right behind him.
When Tony did speak, his voice was pitched low and the sound of it danced up his spine. "Are you sure you got it all out? Maybe you should check again."
When he didn't immediately turn around he found Tony's hand held out in front of his chest.
"Please, Gibbs."
Clenching his hands around the drill bit in his grasp and then slowly releasing, he brought his fingers up to lightly circle the younger man's wrist and finally risked turning around. Tony's eyes were heavy and dark as he gently slid his fingers across his palm, pressing lightly at the slightly reddened spot where the splinter had lodged itself. "This hurt?"
"Little," Tony murmured. His breathing was quick and shallow now.
It was clear there was nothing left in the fast- closing wound. Tony shuddered at a last sweep of his fingertips and Jethro bent his head slowly and pressed his mouth to the little spot of flesh once more. His lips lingered there this time, and he parted them slightly, letting his tongue flick out to gather the soft, metallic taste of Tony's skin. "Better?" he whispered, breath kissing the younger man's palm.
"Jethro."
Long, tentative fingers were suddenly wrapping around the back of his neck, slipping in his hair…
Gibbs had come out of the memory with his hands pressed flat to the deck, his dick hard, and his breathing shallow, splinter completely forgotten, head spinning at the implications of it. From that moment forward he'd spent a hell of a lot of time thinking about just what he'd really left behind in DC without realizing it.
He felt Tony's eyes on him some days, distant and pensive. He saw the younger man flinch when he got too close, as if stung by his mere presence. The worst part of it was knowing the scenes playing behind Tony's eyes, the one's which mirrored his own choppy memories. One thing he knew for certain was that no explanation or apology was going to be enough to make things right with Tony and he had no idea where to even start. More than a month since he'd been back in DC, three weeks since he'd been back at NCIS full time, and he'd been no closer to an opening, not until yesterday.
He'd almost laughed out loud when Jenny had mentioned the assignment at Pearl. She'd been looking for his recommendation on who to send alongside DiNozzo and Jethro hadn't missed the shocked and curious expression on her face when he'd put his own name forward. He wasn't a big believer in fate but sometimes it almost seemed fate believed in him.
Jethro wasn't a fool. He'd been all too aware of Tony's well-concealed tension the moment he'd announced this assignment and had only felt it deepen when it became clear it was just going to be the two of them. Gibbs wasn't crazy enough to believe they were going to get through this without a blow up and, while he was skilled in denial, he wouldn't lie to himself about the fact that he was almost relieved that their present circumstances were pushing them into the right arena for the confrontation.
Something about the tension in the hold of the plane suddenly changed and Jethro heard Tony let out a long and seemingly resigned sigh, the only sound he'd heard from the opposite bench since the first hour of their flight. Nine hours of silence might be a record for him.
"Something on your mind, DiNozzo?" He kept his eyes closed, his hands crossed lightly low on his belly.
"Just wondering how much longer before we land. Can't feel my ass anymore. We couldn't go commercial? Even for Hawaii?" The moment of hesitation before the answer spoke volumes though, and it was clear Tony was covering for his real thoughts.
"Get there when we get there." Gibbs opened his eyes slowly, focused on the man directly across from him. Tony was watching him almost warily, fingers twisting and worrying a section of cargo net. "We've been over the Pacific awhile now. Maybe another hour," he added almost gently. He knew what he needed to do and he was going to have to open the door eventually or it might kill them both. 40,000 ft above sea level seemed as safe a place as any.
Tony's hand stilled at Gibbs' tone and dropped into his lap, but his shoulders stayed high, on guard. They sat quietly for a few moments, each one watching the other. "So you brought me all the way out here, Gibbs. We ever gonna talk about you leaving? Talk about why? We ever gonna talk about why you bothered to come back?" The words came out in a rush and Tony blinked at him, seemingly surprised that they had passed his lips.
And there is was. He'd left the damn door open and Tony had busted it in anyway. Gibbs had an answer for all of it but he wasn't sure he was ready to give it yet, at least not completely. And yet Tony deserved something. "Left because I thought I had to. Because I couldn't remember why I'd started in the first place. Couldn't remember anything good about it anymore." The last part was quieter, as quiet as it could be over the roar of the jet's engines.
Tony was silent for one of the first times Jethro could remember, studying him with thoughtful eyes. Perhaps he was just so stunned at getting any kind of an answer at all that he didn't know how to respond.
Jethro continued. "Came back because I had things to finish, Tony. Things I'd forgotten about. Important things. Things I need to make right." He held Tony's eyes and hoped he felt the weight behind the words. "What about you? We gonna talk about Spain? Talk about why you stayed?" There were more than his own issues hanging between them.
Tony's eyes widened slightly for a split second, the only tell he gave that he'd been caught off guard on this. "Should have known she'd tell you about that."
"She didn't have to. And that wasn't an answer."
Green eyes fixed to his. "I stayed because this is my team. And my team needed me. I stayed because I wasn't sure exactly how much of you came back from that explosion, Jethro." The accusation was searing. He was quiet for a moment and finally dropped his gaze. "Maybe some things are better left forgotten." This last part almost seemed to be for himself, spoken to the cold steel of the hold floor.
Gibbs unfolded himself slowly, stood, and crossed the two steps to the opposite bench. Grabbing a fistful of cargo netting to steady himself against the turbulence of the plane, he reached down and circled his fingers around Tony's wrist, drawing it toward him. The look on the younger man's face as his head come up said he was too stunned to protest. Gibbs gently swept his thumb back and forth over the spot in the center of Tony's palm that had become the catalyst to so many sleepless nights. No mark remained to remind him of the incident but something deep inside softened and ached at the memory. "Maybe they are, maybe they aren't," he said slowly, managing to keep his voice level.
Tony yanked his hand away as if the touch burned and rubbed his own thumb deep into his palm, eyes wide. He didn't seem to be able to find his breath.
Someone cleared their voice behind him and Gibbs turned to find one of the crew watching them from the entrance to the cockpit. "Excuse me, sirs, but we're beginning our descent into Hickham in just a minute. You might want to strap in. The air over the island gets pretty choppy." He nodded to both of them without waiting for an acknowledgement and returned to his seat.
The rest of the answers would have to wait, but Jethro knew from the pounding of Tony's pulse he'd felt beneath his fingers a moment before and his own body's not-so-subtle reaction to their brief physical contact that they weren't going to wait for long.
