Bruises
Pairing; Tony/Gibbs established
Rating; K+
Spoilers; Twilight. Very slight for other episodes.
Summary; Ari shot Kate. Tony woke up shaking. GibbsDiNozzo slash
-o-o-o-
Ari shot Kate.
Kate fell with her eyes open.
Ari shot Kate.
Kate fell with her dark, smooth hair untied and swirling around her.
Ari shot Kate.
Kate fell with her eyes screwed shut and her sharp teeth biting into her lip so hard that it bled.
Ari turned the grey muzzle of the gun on Gibbs, but he smiled directly at Tony. Ari's finger tightened on the trigger, and he laughed.
-o-o-
Tony woke up shaking. He bit hard into the skin of his lower lip to hold back a cry, and he shivered. Gibbs was lying on the other side of the bed, asleep and oblivious – the lines of anxiety were smoothed from his forehead as he rested, and Tony barely recognized him.
Tony traced trembling fingers over the bruises on his own arm, calling cards of yet another criminal. He had always been rather fond of his bruises – they were tangible, solid and certain for a little while. Then, like everything else, they would fade away.
Gibbs stirred in his sleep. Tony frowned at the man, rubbing a rough hand over his smooth shoulder until he stilled – he thought about Voss, and the nightmare, and the way that some part of him had tried everything to get away from this man and he was still here. He thought about the bruises that only Gibbs seemed to be able to see, the ones that didn't manifest in colours on his skin but in places he could not go and things he could not do and people he could not meet without remembering.
Almost absently, Tony wondered if it would be time to move on soon – he had never before let himself stayed settled for this length of time. He was already beginning to wonder if he was getting too close. Sometimes, the man felt that he could not have brought himself to leave here if he had needed to. He had a fully packed bag hidden in his cupboard, just in case. He sighed.
"DiNozzo." A voice grunted, and Tony jumped so violently that his teeth tore the skin of his lower lip. It bled. Gibbs had not opened his eyes, but lay with his head expectantly turned in Tony's direction. "Sleep?" The younger man rolled his eyes but resisted the urge to comment on the other's propensity for words of less than two syllables.
Tony lay down beside Gibbs, and the older man wrapped an arm around his midriff. "Night, Boss." He whispered, and Gibbs sighed and planted the tiniest of kisses on the top of his head, rubbing the thumb of one hand in soothing circles on Tony's stomach.
"Night, Tony." He whispered, and Tony decided that he might stay a while longer.
-o-o-o-
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