Christmas couldn't have come soon enough for Tony… Eggnog, presents, the brand new Christmas tree that he and his partner had picked out for their third Christmas together.
Tony sighed as he stared blankly at the Christmas decorations adorning the burnt orange walls of the bullpen at NCIS. They were generic decorations, they didn't hold any stories, they've been used and reused for the past fifteen years, there was nothing special about them, and yet, they made him feel right, and comfortable seeing them year after year. Except the past three years, where white twinkling lights and swirled balls of glass meant so much more because now he had a reason to enjoy Christmas.
"DiNozzo!" a soft voice called, but his brain didn't register, he continued staring blackly at the decorations and the soft flicker of the tree in the corner of the room, "DINOZZO!" the voice grew louder and Tony quickly jerked his head up to see a seething Leroy Jethro Gibbs – His partner and boss for all intents and purposes.
"Yeah boss, did you need something?" Tony asked with a quirky smile playing on his lips.
Gibbs shook his head and flicked Tony's forehead sharply "Yeah, I need you to get out of your head and pay attention, we're still on the clock for another hour!" Gibbs stated, staring blankly at his partner.
Tony nodded and sighed softly "On it, boss." Tony said in a melancholy tone as he returned to his report that was only thirty minutes away from completion. This year was supposed to be special; Hot sun, warm sand, cocktails by the pool that backed up to the beach, women in bikinis and men in speedos or swim trunks that hugged just right everywhere – Not that he'd be paying attention to either of them, just knowing they were there in the background was enough to give Tony the warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach that he needed.
As if on cue, a sharp head-slap was delivered to the back of Tony's head, sending the young man lunging forward slightly "DiNozzo, I swear to god, if you don't stop spacing out, I'm going to put you down in the basement for your vacation!" Gibbs growled close to Tony's ear. Lowering his voice even more, "And believe me, I do not want you in the basement." Gibbs whispered huskily into Tony's ear. Tony nodded mutely and refocused all of his 'vacation energy' on finishing his report in record time.
Tony smirked as he dropped his report onto Gibbs' desk with a flourish. "I figured you had thirty minutes left on this." Gibbs said as he lifted the report off his desk and slid his reading glasses on, then glanced at his watch "You finished in fifteen… Color me impressed." Gibbs added as he opened the folder. Tony bounced impatiently in front of Gibbs' desk, biting on his bottom lip. Gibbs shook his head as he set the report down and looked up at Tony over the rim of his glasses "Go DiNozzo. Before you have a coronary." Gibbs stated as he shifted a few pages on his desk and uncovered his computer mouse.
Tony grinned brilliantly as he practically bounced back towards his desk and began pulling his backpack and dirty clothes out from the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet "Got a hot vacation planned, Tony?" McGee asked while printing out his report.
Tony nodded rapidly and enthusiastically "Hottest Christmas plans of the Century, Tiny Tim!" Tony retorted happily as he began shoving his things into his backpack.
McGee raised his eyebrow at Tony's enthusiasm "Care to elaborate?" McGee asked as he collected his report from the print tray and stacked them together neatly.
Tony shook his head as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth – Three years being in a relationship with Gibbs, and only two people at NCIS knew, Ducky and Abby. "Nah! Maybe after the holidays. Won't be back for two weeks, McGee, two whole weeks!" Tony exclaimed as he continued dancing around his desk and shoving stuff into it.
McGee raised an eyebrow, shaking his head slowly "You've been gone for two weeks every Christmas holiday for the past three years, Tony… Nothing new there." Bishop stated from across the room.
Tony chuckled as he slung his backpack over his shoulder "True, but… the company is well worth it." Tony stated as he sat on the corner of his desk, a satisfied grin on his face.
"So when do we get to meet her, Tony?" McGee asked curiously as he stapled his report together and then set it on Gibbs' desk.
Tony shrugged, patting down his pockets to make sure he had everything "When we feel the time is right, all will know." Tony stated, his voice taking on a dreamy tone as he stared blankly up at the ceiling, his features softening as he thought about the man only sitting a few feet away from him, not that anyone else but Gibbs knew what Tony was thinking about.
"Must really love her, especially if she's able to put that kind of look on your face." Bishop cooed as she also printed out her report and stapled the pages together neatly before handing them over to Gibbs.
Tony chuckled and shrugged again "Love is definite, been in love for a long time now." Tony stated as he stood up and inhaled deeply, "To my destiny, awaiting me on the other side. Brighten ye' old smiling faces with graces of a million paces and bring forth no unfortunate souls among the blessed." Tony sung as he waltzed towards the elevator, an air of confidence surrounding him.
"What the hell did he just say?" McGee asked as he and Bishop both began packing up their own personal belongings for their own Christmas holidays.
"In Tony terms: I'm ready to leave now, because my date is waiting. I'm going to be as happy as one can get being so far away from this cold ass place, and nothing will bring me down." Gibbs deadpanned as he collected the two other reports and skimmed through them briefly. McGee and Bishop both rose an eyebrow, staring openly at their boss with mouths wide opened "Go home, don't want to see your faces for the next two weeks!" Gibbs barked as he shut his own computer off, although he knew he would be seeing his team tomorrow, he then signed the three reports and dropped them in his outbox as he stood up and headed for the elevators without a backwards glance at his two gawking agents.
Tony was frantically dashing around upstairs when he heard the front door open – He'd only been home for ten minutes before Gibbs got home, to their home, which was still something new for Tony, even though they'd officially been living together for a year now, they were even officially living together on paper as roommates, had a rental agreement and everything. "Tony!" Gibbs shouted from downstairs as he pulled off his boots, heavy winter coat and scarf/glove set that Tony had gifted him last year.
"Upstairs, Jeth!" Tony responded in a shout as he continued moving around the room, tripping over one of his suitcases and landing sideways on the bed with an 'oomph'.
Gibbs chuckled as he ran up the stairs, taking two at a time and stopping in the opened doorway "What are you doing Tony? I thought you were already packed!" Gibbs said as he leaned against the doorframe.
"I was! I am! But then… I realized I forgot things… like, a lot of things! Like… we'll need clothes for restaurants, and clothes for shopping, and clothes for just lounging… all of those damned things that somehow slipped my mind!" Tony rambled as he began shoving suitcases towards the bedroom door.
"Tony, sweetheart, we agreed on traveling light, and buying the things we needed as we went!" Gibbs admonished lightheartedly as he slid out of Tony's way and then quickly grabbed his lover around the waist and pulled him away from the suitcases.
"But… But… You don't like spending money unnecessarily! I was saving us time, and money!" Tony whined as he sagged against Gibbs' warm chest.
Gibbs chuckled as he began kissing the back of Tony's neck lightly, up the column of his throat to his ear "I don't care about needing clothes. As long as I have a pair of swim trunks and you; that will make our vacation perfect." Gibbs whispered into Tony's ear, the warmth of Gibbs' breath ensconcing Tony's ear enticingly.
"Smooth talker." Tony whimpered as he rocked back against Gibbs' body. Gibbs grinned, nodding as he enveloped Tony's pulse point with his lips and sucked greedily against the pliable flesh there.
"Christmas dinner is tomorrow night… I need to get prepared for it. Like, there is so much to do! Ham, Turkey, Lasagna, Green Bean casserole… Jeth, there just isn't enough hours in the day!" Tony stressed as he reluctantly pulled out of Gibbs' embrace and pointed at the suitcases "You can put those away, if you think all we need is one suitcase each! I need to go downstairs and prepare! This is just the beginning of Christmas Chaos!" Tony exclaimed as he rushed out of the bedroom and down the stairs.
Gibbs shook his head as he leaned over and collected the suitcases that were hastily packed "If only I could bottle his energy…" Gibbs muttered as he began unpacking and rehanging the clothes.
Tony frantically ran through the ingredients of every dish he had to prepare for tomorrow, his mind jumping from dish to dish as he set out pans, post and utensils accordingly, "Need more spices… Damn it. Really didn't want to go to the grocery store… Hate grocery shopping… need more sauce for the Cranberries… I'll kill him if he was eating the sauce after I went to bed… Where the hell is the bacon…? I swear to god…" Tony mumbled mostly to himself as he slammed the fridge door shut.
"JETHRO WHERE IS THE BACON?!" Tony screamed as he opened the freezer and began rifling through the frozen meats, and when no answer accompanied Tony's question, he growled low in his throat as he slapped the freezer door and then slammed it shut as well.
Tony shook his head as he stalked over to the front door and thrusted his feet into his snow boots "Where are you going?" Gibbs asked innocently as he trudged down the stairs.
Tony turned and gave a note-worthy 'Gibbs Glare' towards the man himself and pointed at Gibbs' snow boots "WE are going shopping!" Tony stated fiercely.
Gibbs nodded and gulped audibly – Nobody would believe Tony if he told them Gibbs' was actually afraid of him sometimes, especially when Tony was on a holiday bender – Gibbs slid off the bottom step gracefully and then slid his feet into his snow boots "You're mad at me." Gibbs said quietly.
Tony nodded slowly "I had sauce for the Cranberries, and bacon ready and waiting for the casseroles… Both of which are gone now!" Tony stated angrily.
Gibbs sighed and lowered his head "And I'm to blame… I was hungry!" Gibbs said in his own defense.
"There were other things you could have eaten!" Tony growled as he grabbed Gibbs by the collar of his shirt and jerked slightly so the older man was forced to look up at him.
"I know! I'm sorry, jeez… What do you want me to do?! Grovel for forgiveness?! All I did was eat some bacon and sauce!" Gibbs said, sighing noisily as he stood up.
Tony released Gibbs' collar and straightened it back out "Yes well, now we have to go pick up more bacon and the stuff for my sauce – And you better hope to god that it tastes good. It takes a whole week for that sauce to marry properly, and your over indulgences destroyed the process." Tony grumbled as he pulled on his jacket and opened the front door, walking determinedly to Gibbs' truck.
Gibbs sighed again as he followed behind Tony to catch up with him, noticing the determined look of Tony's expression to finish this last-minute Christmas shopping in a timely fashion. He knew Tony hated going grocery shopping, especially around Christmas time, and his guilt continued building up because in the end, it was his fault that caused this impromptu shopping excursion.