WARNING: Contains references to spanking.
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. I just borrow them.
Sequel to Persuasion
A/N - Let's play a little game of "Spot the West Wing Homage". : )
Tony leaned back in his chair and wiped his mouth on his napkin before placing it beside his plate. He looked around at the group assembled at the table. There was Ziva, so strong, so unpredictable, so beautiful and such a mystery to him. He looked at Tim, talking and laughing with Jimmy. They were a couple of goofballs and Tony derived great joy from picking on them. But he couldn't imagine their team without either one of them. Director Shepard and Abby sat with rapt attention listening to another Ducky tale from his never-empty pool of stories.
Down at the head of the table sat Gibbs. Tony looked at him and immediately a smile spread across Gibbs' face. Tony returned the smile, deciding that in that moment, he was perfectly content.
He stood up and started to clear the table. Gibbs immediately got up to help. "I got it Boss." Gibbs grinned, but continued to take glasses off the table. Soon they were side by side in the kitchen washing dishes. The rest of the group had gone out to the back yard to enjoy an unseasonably warm evening. Tony had argued that he could clean up the kitchen on his own and that Gibbs had had a rough couple of days, but Gibbs wouldn't hear of it. So there they stood.
While they worked, Tony chatted away, but Gibbs was quiet, thoughtful. When his repeated attempts at engaging his boss in conversation failed, Tony got nervous. Gibbs hadn't spoken to him for two days straight that week, and the frigid silence had been almost more than he could bear. "Why isn't he talking to me now?" he wondered. As was his habit at times like this, he started running through recent events in an attempt to find some reason for his boss' displeasure. But since he'd been asleep for most of the last twelve hours, he failed to come up with anything. When he could stand it no longer, he put down the damp towel in his hands and turned to Gibbs.
"Boss, what's wrong?"
It was such a direct question that Gibbs almost dropped the glass he was washing. "Huh? What?"
"Something's bothering you. What is it?"
Gibbs went back to his glass. "Nothing."
"Come on, Boss. You haven't said a word to me this whole time. What did I do?"
"What did you do?" Gibbs asked, almost dropping the glass again. "Nothing! Why would you think you did something?" Tony gave him a look. "Oh," Gibbs said with a sad grin. "You didn't do anything. I'm just…thinking about some stuff."
Tony regarded him warily then went back to drying dishes. "Ok."
They worked in silence for a while, but when they were almost finished, Gibbs finally spoke. "Tony, do you think I…"
Tony glanced at the man standing next to him. "Boss, you stopped in the middle of a…" He looked at him expectantly.
"Yeah…"
Tony waited, allowing Gibbs to regather his thoughts.
Gibbs drained and rinsed the sink slowly while Tony finished drying the last dish. He gestured toward the table, inviting Tony to sit and talk. When they were settled, he began again. "Do you think I'm too hard on you?"
It was not at all what Tony was expecting. "Um, I don't know. I guess I've never really thought about it."
"Really?" Tony shrugged, as casually as he could. "Do you think I'm too easy on Abby?"
"Boss, I really have never thought about it." He looked at Gibbs thoughtfully. "What do you think?" Gibbs chewed on his lip for a moment, but didn't answer. "Did you give me more than you think I deserved yesterday?" Gibbs shook his head slowly. "Did you give Abby less than you think she deserved?" Gibbs shook his head again. "Then I really wouldn't worry about it."
Finally, Gibbs spoke. "Has there ever been a time that you felt I was punishing you unfairly?"
Tony laughed. "Only just about every time." Gibbs looked up in alarm. "But," Tony added quickly, "once it's over, and I think about what I did, I always end up concluding that I deserved what I got." Gibbs relaxed. "And as for me versus Abby," Tony shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you. She's Abby. She's special, and we all know it. I mean, you've never taken me out for my birthday."
"Do you want me to?" Gibbs asked with a sly grin.
"Not my point, Boss," Tony countered.
"Yeah, I get it," Gibbs said, sobering. "I just want to make sure I'm being fair."
Tony shook his head in awe. "Boss, Abby's…Abby. Your first instinct is to protect her. But you broke your own rule with her today. If anything, I think maybe you were a little too hard on her, not me."
Gibbs sat quietly considering this, then, "Well, I guess that's between me and her." He started to get up, but Tony stopped him.
"Hey Boss, I've been thinking," Gibbs sat down again. "I kinda like when we have these dinners."
Gibbs smiled, "Yeah, me too."
"But we only ever seem to have them after someone gets sick, or something else bad happens. Well, except for Christmas, of course."
Gibbs smiled more broadly, "Christmas was good." They sat quietly with their memories for a moment. "So," he said after a while, "what have you been thinking about?"
"I don't know. I guess I've just been thinking…well…"
"Spit it out, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with feigned impatience.
"We're pretty much the only family we've got. Sort of. I think."
Gibbs laughed. "You want to try that again?"
"I guess it just seems like most of our families are either dysfunctional or…well, gone." He looked at Gibbs to make sure he hadn't said something to offend him or worse, hurt him. Gibbs nodded. "So, we're the only family most of us has…at least in the area."
"True," Gibbs said. He did agree, but he said it more to stop Tony's wandering monologue. "So what's your point?"
Tony shrugged, suddenly rather unsure of himself. "Never mind." He pushed back from the table, but this time, Gibbs stopped him.
"Are you proposing that we do these dinners a little more often, and not just when there's some sort of crisis?" he asked with a grin.
"Uh huh."
Gibbs sat back in his chair and smiled. "I suppose that might not be a bad idea. If anything, it would ensure that, at least every once in a while, you eat something that isn't delivered to your apartment by a high school drop out."
"Hey, that's not fair, Boss. Some of the delivery guys are working their way though college," Tony said defensively.
Gibbs laughed. "So do you think anyone else will go for it?"
"Don't know. We'd have to ask them."
"Don't you usually have a date on Friday night?" Gibbs teased.
"It wouldn't have to be Fri…Hey!" Gibbs laughed again.
"So what night do you think would work?"
Tony thought about that for a moment. "Well, during the week, we never seem to get home before eleven, so that wouldn't work. And yeah, Friday and Saturday nights…Sunday? Maybe?"
"Well since you seem to have run out of days of the week, that does seem the most logical choice," Gibbs said, still teasing.
"Yeah, Sunday. But we can't make it a 'have to' thing. And it wouldn't even have to be every week…" Tony trailed off, once again seeming very unsure of himself.
Gibbs looked at Tony proudly. "It really is a good idea, Tony. And I'm honored that you think of me – and the rest of the team – as family. Really."
"So…do you think they'll go for it?" Tony asked, nodding toward the back yard where everyone else was gathered.
"Let's go ask them," Gibbs shrugged. "And we can bribe them with S'mores," he added, getting up and going to a cabinet. He produced a package of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows and a bunch of chocolate bars and handed them to Tony. "I mean, we wouldn't want all that wood in the shed to go to waste," he said. Tony caught the smile and laughed.
As they walked across the kitchen to the back door, Tony stopped Gibbs again. "There's something else I've been wanting to ask you."
"Hm?"
"Well, you told me once that the strap is a family heirloom."
"Uh huh." Tony hesitated, until Gibbs turned and looked at him expectantly. "What's the question, Tony?"
Tony looked away for a second, then back at Gibbs. "Which family?"
Gibbs smiled fondly at Tony then turned and walked out onto the back porch, leaving Tony standing alone in the kitchen holding the makings of a yummy treat. And an unanswered question.