Title: Fire it up.
Rating:FR15
Pairing:McNozzo
Summary: Tony preforms the mother of all pranks but he has to deal with the consequences afterwards.
Spoilers: None
Authors Note: For Zak aka Caos Accidentale, I am really, really sorry that it took so long, it slipped of my radar. He requested Tony/Tim/Campfire, and I can't resisted some fluff, so there you go! Oh and the NCIS characters and the song are not mine.
Nobody could deny it, it would have been a great prank. It was in fact a great prank, until everything went wrong.
Last week had been really boring, nothing but cold cases and paper work. And if there is one thing that Tony wasn't good at then it was sitting at a desk and actually work.
He had been annoying people for the past three days and things only got worse. Making jokes, quoting movies and throwing paper balls, all day long. The back of his head started to feel sore from all the head slaps, but he had to keep himself occupied. And he was starting to get a little afraid of Ziva and her subtle hints of what she could do with office supplies.
And last night he had came up with the mother of all pranks, the greatest prank of all.
There was this door that was practically always open. He would make a layer of transparent foil on one side of the door. If done correctly it was invisible. Tony was so excited about his plan that he had trouble sleeping.
He was extra early at work that day, stapling the foil in the door frame with the utmost care. A few minutes before the first people usually arrived he was finished. He hide the stuff he used and sat in a cubicle where he could keep an eye out for the things that were going to happen.
That moment he saw McGee coming near and he decided that he wasn't about to let McGee ruin his surprise. He grabbed his phone and dialed Tim's number. Whispering he quickly explained the joke and asked McGee to walk the other side around.
Tim was pretty bored too and the idea of the joke was very attractive to him. He joined DiNozzo in the cubicle, giggling and waiting until someone would arrive. Tony poked his side and ordered him to stop giggling like a girl.
For 10 long minutes nothing happened, but than the most horrible thing happened. Before they realized what was happening he saw Vance walking down the hallway, But worse than that, he was with the SECNAV.
Before either of them could do something to stop them Vance walked right in too the foil. He bounced backwards and landed on his butt, taking the SECNAV down in his fall.
On the other side of the door stood McGee and Tony, both frozen in horror. The SecNav started to laugh, much to their relieve, but when they saw Vances face they became both very scared.
"Get rid of this, now." he said, very calm. "I will see both off you in my office in an hour."
Much to calm he walked away, guiding the SecNav trough an other path. Silently Tony tore down the foil while McGee rushed to his desk. "It's all Tony's fault" he muttered as he sat down, terrified for his future. He never even had to even see the principal in high school If this was going to get on his record he would hurt Tony, really badly.
So and hour later they walked up to Vances office. Gibbs shot they a look but he let them go. He had seen from their faces that they had done something and he was sure that Vance would make it worth their while.
---
An hour later they were on their way up the stairs, telling Gibbs that they had to visit Vance, but not explaining why. The stairs seemed longer than normal for McGee. He dragged his feet up the stairs and was afraid that he would faint if Vance even looked at him by the time he was upstairs. Bad enough Vance was still in his meeting so they had to wait.
After the fifteenth minute the door finally opened and Vance said his goodbye to the SecNav waving the agents in with a wink of hand. Tony was confident as he walked in and stood in front of the desk. McGee on the other hand seemed to shrink with every step he took.
"Just to be clear Sir" Tony started "It was all on me, Special Agent McGee had nothing to do with the plan."
"And yet he didn't stop you." Vance said while chewing on a toothpick that had appeared from nowhere.
He walked around his desk to stand in front of DiNozzo. "What exactly where you thinking Agent DiNozzo?" he asked while moving in his personal space. "We had to pay just because you were bored?" he continued without giving Tony a change to answer. "What if someone got hurt?" he almost yelled. "I made an ass of myself in front of the SecNav!" He took a step back and stepped in front of McGee. "You didn't even try to stop him!" he said before walking to his chair and grabbing a file.
"I can't make a note on your files" he said, "this is not serious enough." McGee breathed out visibly. "But there will of course some sort of sanction, I will think about it all day long. And tonight, before you go home I will tell you what you have to do. And trust me, It won't be pleasant" he added before turning his attention to a file in front of his desk. Silently sending the agents away.
Half an hour after they left they were back at their desk. "Mind to share?" Gibbs asked, only to be ignored by Tony and Tim. He stood up and walked in front of Tony's desk. "Tell Me!" he demanded and Tony had no other choice than to take Gibbs' to the elevator and tell him.
They worked the entire day without mentionable things, both Tim and Tony surprisingly quiet. Gibbs just kept smirking and Ziva ignored them, actually enjoying the quiet time to work, not necessary to say that they got a lot of things done that day.
A little before five that day they exchanged looks and silently walked up to the directors office again. Cynthia motioned them to walk on and they knocked on the door and walked in. Vance continued to read the file he was reading and ignored them for a few minutes. Tim was starting to get nervous but a smile from Tony calmed him down a little bit. Tim felt strangely comforted by Tony's smile.
"Agents DiNozzo, McGee." Vance said before looking up from his file. "I've thought about an appropriate punishment. And I came up with the following." McGee swallowed and straightened her back. "As you both know Mr. Mabus has a statue in Anacostia park, at the other side of the river. He was here this morning to talk about the fact that his statue has been vandalized several times over the past week. We can't let that happen to the statue of our SecNav."
Tony had this awe full gut feeling that he knew what was going to happen, in fact, he was afraid to continue listening. but he had too.
"So the both of you are going on stake-out as a camping couple the coming nights until you find out who did this, no excuses, think of some cover. Good luck" He stared at both agents until the scrambled to the door. "You start tonight!" he reminded them with a cheery voice when they both left the office.
Standing on the balustrade Tony punched Tim softly in the chest. "Any plans McBoy scout?" he asked while wiggling his eyebrows. "No!" Tim shouted "I am stuck on some crappy night stake-out with you, because you were bored, and now I get to carry consequences. Well, you get your own tent and equipment, because I am really not sharing mine." he said angry before storming down the stairs to his desk.
Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that this wasn't Tim's fault, but somehow he got involved in his mess. He walked quietly down the stairs and briefed Gibbs in a few seconds. He wanted to punch the smirk of his bosses face but he knew that would be the end of his career if not his life.
He grabbed his jacket and his bag before walking over to McGee´s desk. "Guess I'll see you tonight, around 8 at the statue?" he stated and asked in the same sentence. If he hadn't been looking at McGee he would have missed the little nod the junior agent gave him.
He strode out of the office with big steps, he had a tent to buy, and probably some more. Funny he thought, he had never ever been camping before. Luckily for him Tim was some sort of boyscout so he would just be fine in the end.
He drove over the a camping store he had googled. He bought a tent and a sleeping bag. Asking a clerk for advice he also bought an inflatable matras and some thermo-socks. He stuffed everything in his car and drove over to his apartment. This prank was the worst idea he had in very long while he sighed, while parking his car in front of his apartment.
He quickly packed an overnight bag and decided that he would go into the office early to shower there. A little before eight that evening he had dragged every last thing out of his car to the park and was searching for a nice spot to set up his tent. After ten minutes he found a nice spot. It was slightly higher than the surrounding area, so he would stay dry if it rained.
He was halfway trough setting up his tent when McGee finally arrived, He was about to make a snarky comment when he noticed that McGee completely ignored him. He sighed and continued to struggle with his tent. It took him an other half hour to finish setting up his tent, feeling a slight sense of accomplishment when he looked over to McGee only to find out that he had not only set his tent, but also had blown up his matrass and made a campfire.
He dropped himself to the ground and started blown up his matrass. Within three minutes he was out of breath. He let himself fall back and that's when he heard that McGee was laughing, and he was clearly laughing at him. With a smile he trew a pump towards him. "Use this" he said. The only thing he said in the past hour.
This time his 'bed' was ready in a few minutes and he laid back. He searched his mind for some conversations subjects but things just seemed different when you were in a tent. Guessing that McGee still wasn't happy about the situation he searched his phone from his backpack and started a game of tetris.
Before he realized an hour had passed and he heard Tim move in his tent. A few minutes later he saw his shadow trough his tent, I appeared that he was heating something in a tin can. That was when Tony hit himself, food! He totally forgot about dinner. He opened his backpack to find a candybar that was more than likely older than a few years. Ashamed he crawled out of his tent.
"Tim" he started hesitantly "I forgot to buy some food so I am quickly going to the store, be back in a bit." he said while walking away.
He heard Tim sigh loudly "I have enough Tony" he said, trying to sound annoyed. "I kinda guessed that you wouldn't be very familiar with camping idea, so I brought stuff for you too." He handed Tony a bowl and a spoon. "Tomato soup?" he said with a whiny voice, but he stopped when he saw the look Tim gave him. He never really noticed before, but with the fire and all, Tim had beautiful green eyes.
He watched a moment to long before looking away, focusing on the fire. He at his soup without any comments and thanked Tim when he finished. Much to his surprise there were also marshmallows, brought by McGee.
He watched Tim eat the last of his soup when he noticed that there was a drop of soupnext to the left corner of his mouth. Before he knew it he reached out and stroke the drop away with his thumb. He watched the drop for a second before slowly sucking his thumb. He smiled as Tim swallowed visibly.
"You had something on your face" he explained with a little smile.
"Oh, thanks" McGee answered, his voice slightely higher than usual.
Suddenly the air around them was filled with tension and Tony had trouble breathing. He stood up and walked over to a few bushes, he pretended that he had to take a wizz, while really he needed to think. He wondered why he was flirting with Tim, he was a man, not a woman. And besides all that, he was a co-worker. Gibbs would kick his ass.
He moved some branches so he could see Tim. He had lost some weight recently – 15 pounds – and he was looking really hot. The light of the fire danced on his face, hands in his hair. It wasn't that he hadn't been with a man before, because in the end, both man and woman could satisfy his needs, but this was different. This was McGee, he wasn't one night stand material.
Tony sighed and walked back to the fire. Somehow McGee had a guitar and he wondered how much he could actually fit in that tent of his. His fingers absentmindedly plucked the strings, producing noise. Tony picked a marshmallow from the bag and poked it on a stick, turning it until it was nicely brown tinted. He removed it from the stick and fed it to Tim like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Surprised by his own action and how natural it felt he moved a little bit further away from Tim. "So, uhm, you want to take the first shift?" he asked. Tim looked over to him, confusing in his eyes. "Watching the statue" Tony quickly reminded him.
"Oh yeah, I knew that." Tim answered quickly. "I'll take the first 4 hours, then I'll wake you" he said, not even asking Tony's opinion. "Sleep well," he said to Tony before focusing again on his guitar. Tony watched his skilled fingers pluck the strings and felt a shiver go down his spine. If only those fingers could play his body like that....
He mentally head-slaped himself and almost ran to his tent. The wrong part of his body was obviously in overdrive, and he didn't know what to do about it. He crawled in his tent and laid down, not even bothering to change in to a sweatpants and shirt. He zipped his sleeping bag open and laid down beneath. His jacket was a make-shift pillow and it was everything but comfortable.
The sounds of the guitar became a recognizable tune and suddenly Tim's voice joined the music.
More everything in every way,
Every second of the day
And every thought that's played out in my mind
You're everything that I've been trying to find
You're everything that I've been trying.....to find
He shivered slightly and tried to occupy his mind with something other than Tim and his gorgeous voice, or his nice behind. It didn't work. You like Tim! his brain nagged him. "uh shut up!" he murmured before turning for the umpteenth time.
He didn't sleep during his 4 hours of 'sleep'. There were just too much bugs, and noises and not enough, heat and comfort. Tim got him out of his tent, and immediately went in his own. Before Tony was even settled he heard Tim snoring and wondered how he could even sleep, but since he was in the boy scouts, it shouldn't be a surprise.
Tony spend the next four hours shivering and complaining to no one in particular. He knew that he was never going to warm up again, and thus he felt that there was no need to wake Tim up. He just sat there and waited until he saw the sun rise. He liked watching the sun rise over the tree tops, he had done it with Tim before. He watched the sky change from dark blue to different shades of pink, purple and orange.
Before he realized it is was 7am, he crawled in front of Tims tent, carefully waking him up. He smiled at the sight of his ruffled the hair and his cheeks still rosy. He told him to get his butt out of his tent, mean while he made sure the fire was out. They decided to let the tents stay, they just took all the valuable things with them. Which was nothing according to Tony, he thought that camping should become illegal anyway.
They greeted the guards and went to the bathroom, after that they went to take a shower in the gym. They talked about what to get for breakfast while they both stripped their clothes off. Tony couldn't help but notice that Tim had been working out. He could have sworn that he saw the beginning's of a sixpack, and his ass, really, not bad at all. Definitely a 4 out of a 5. He closed his eyes with a smile and stepped in to his own shower cabin.
The rest of the day went by without any mentionable things, Tony was snarky because of his lack of sleep, but other wise everything was just fine. Still no new case, but according to Gibbs, the cold case storage was far from empty. So they spend another day working old leads from new angles and trying to find new lead, speak to witness'.
"You know what I just realized?" Ziva said half an hour before their work day would end. "Neither of you has said a word to the other, the entire day!" she noticed. "There are only shy looks and smiles. What did I miss? What is going on?" she asked, shifting her gaze between Tony and Tim. They both denied something was going on, but they had Ziva's interest. For the rest of the day she kept asking them, but despite her best efforts she still didn't have a clue what was going on at the time they all went home.
Tony and Tony decided that they would go home and change before meeting each other that night, same place, same time. And while Tony was home, sitting at his couch he was actually looking forward to spending an other night with Tim. He quickly warmed some lasagna from his fridge and ate it.
He grabbed some beers from his fridge and decided to also take a bar of chocolate. With a smile and a whistle he drove to the park. He parked his car and walked to their tents, a quick inspection told him that everything was just fine. He noticed that McGee wasn't there yet. He quickly gathered some dry wood and got the campfire started again. He searched for a long branch and cleaned it from the bast with his knife, He was roasting his third marshmallow by the time McGee finally arrived.
"Sorry" he quickly said "I had to find someone to take care of Jethro and then there was traffic jam and, and and" McGee was trying so hard to apologize, but Tony silenced him with a smile while handing a marshmallow.
Anthony DiNozzo had decided one thing while waiting at his partner, he was going to seduce the hell out of Timothy McGee. Because there was something between them. There was tension and it was a good kind of tension. He couldn't put his finger on it and he didn't mind. He was going to try this and see where it ends. But somehow he didn't need to. McGee was, well different, today. He smiled constantly and laughed about everything Tony said. And somehow he kept finding ways to touch Tony. Tim's strong hand on his thigh while he leaned over to grab some bear, A hand on his shoulder while he stood up or just a brief touching of their fingers and Tony handed him a beer.
By the time Tim had his hand on his lower back he shivered as if he was freezing. His touch was light but somehow it burned trough his shirt. The fire was magical and before he realized it he was leaning towards Tim with his lips slightly parted. He hesitated just before touching Tim's lips, his mind screaming that is was so very wrong, but Tim closed the deal for him and leaned in.
Before he even realized that he was kissing McGee there was a beam of light in his face, backed out and freaked him out. It turned out to be the flashlight of a cop. Apparently it was illegal to camp in the park, and the thing they were about to do, according to the police officer, wasn't legal either. Slightly embarrassed Tony showed his badge and explained that they were sort of undercover/on a stake out. Officer Kansas snorted before wishing the luck.
Alone again Tim and Tony stood near the campfire, awkwardness filled the air. Somehow Tony felt it was time to clear the air with a bad joke, and McGee had to prevent that at all costs. He leaned in and grumbled: "Shut up and kiss me," Tony was more than happy to obey that order and his lips met Tim's.
Much to Tony's surprise they fitted very well together, there was no bumping noses or awkward angels, his left hand slipped around Tim's neck and his other hand grabbed on to Tim's shirt. They parted and Tony opened his eyes again. Tim was flushed and his lips swollen, and his heart racing. It was wasn't awkward, they just stood there together, heartbeat's slowing down.
"So" Tim said hesitantly.
"Yeah" Tony responded while rubbing the back of his head. "so, we did that" he said grinning like an idiot.
He hesitated, not sure what to do or how to proceed, but when he saw Tim smile he knew that no matter what was going to happen, everything would be just fine.
