Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or its characters. It belongs to CBS and the Bellisarius (spelling?) team. Now do I write for a profit; I only own and write this story for my and others entertainment.

Note: This is a tag to season 7's episode "The Inside Man" so it contains minor spoilers for that. Also contains M/M kissing so if that's not your thing don't read this. Enjoy!

~~~~~NCIS~~~~~

Tony growled to himself sourly. He couldn't believe this was happening. They had had a hard enough couple of days being accused of blowing an investigation, finding out that they had indeed missed a few details, and working to prove that NCIS had gotten most of it right. There was something going on between Gibbs and Ziva, something that made the tension between the two practically touchable. They had had to sneak into a car impound lot and had just narrowly avoided being attacked by vicious guard dogs. They didn't need this! To be sitting in a holding cell in jail! They were federal agents for Pete's sake! This was all that asshole Sportelli's fault for being an arrogant and selfish bastard. All he had to do was let them see the goddamn car, and they wouldn't have had to sneak into the car lot. Then they wouldn't have gotten caught and left to wait in jail before Gibbs and the Director got them out. In the morning.

Tony groaned inwardly. This was not how he'd planned on spending the night. Not that he had other plans, of course, what with the case going on and all. But he hated being in jail. He'd seen enough back when he'd been set up for murder by Abby's lab monkey. At least this time he wasn't alone. He had McGee with him. The thought made Tony feel a little better, so he told himself to keep looking at the positives. The first positive that came to mind was that, while he and McGee had been in the car lot, they'd managed to get the information they needed. Well, McGee had gotten the information they needed with his techie skills. Another positive was that McGee was smart enough to set the laptop so that the info would be automatically sent to Abby. If he hadn't their efforts would've been wasted, because the laptop had been confiscated when they'd been caught. It made Tony feel good to know that they had done their job, but the thought that made him smile was that he'd gotten a better-than-normal look at McGee's ass.

Tony had been crushing hard on the younger man for about three years now. He didn't know when it started or why; it was just one of those moments when you realize you're staring at them out of the corner of your eye and fantasizing about them. It leads you to suddenly know you have feelings for them. You become instantly hyperaware of how your heart flutters when they smile at you or how you're standing so close that you can almost touch them and it's so close yet too far. In Tony's case he also found that he taunted the young man so much because he REALLY liked McGee's attention. McGee was special and Tony knew his feelings were deeper than just attraction.

Suddenly a voice intruded in on his thoughts, "Why are you smiling?"

Tony looked up to see McGee looking at him with confusion. A master at covering up his feelings he put on his DiNozzo smirk and said, "I was just thinking about what Boss is gonna do to Sportelli after he breaks us out of here."

McGee rolled his eyes but smiled a bit, "I definitely would not wanna be him right now. If Boss won't kick his ass, Abby will."

Tony chuckled in agreement, but before either of them could say anything else, a cop came to their cell. "Sorry guys, but we're gonna have to put some of these fellas in here with you. Not enough space for them all, ya know?"

Tony and McGee shared a look before getting up in unison and walking to the cell bars. They looked past the cop to see a large gang of bikers. Tony eyed them warily as he asked, "What are they here for?"

"Two rival gangs started a bar fight. Tore the place up pretty good. Most of them were piss ass drunk so we had to take them in so they wouldn't drive drunk and cause even more destruction."

Tony looked at McGee again as the cop waited for their okay. He could tell McGee was just as wary about having these guys in the cell with them as he was. They were big and drunk and could easily take both of them. And surely, Gibbs wouldn't approve of them being put in this position. Just because the cop knew they were federal agents didn't mean they were going to get any special treatment apparently. But Tony knew McGee never backed out of something because he was scared. Not anymore. He'd learned to face his fears and try to overcome them. And a DiNozzo never showed fear if he could help it either, so he turned to the cop and said in a warning voice, "If they cause any trouble-"

"Then I'll personally come and get you two out and you can join me in the office."

When Tony was certain the cop was telling the truth, he nodded and stepped back, pulling McGee with him. The cop unlocked the door and guided five of the drunken bikers in before locking it again and walking away to help lock up more. Tony caught the biker guys sizing them up but ignored it. He pulled McGee over to the bench in the middle of the cell and sat down with their backs mostly to the bikers. They sat so that they could keep them in their peripheral vision and started again to talk about how Gibbs and Abby would kick Sportelli's ass. After a few minutes, though, they heard a voice behind them call, "Hey! You two!"

At the sound of the voice, McGee and Tony turned around. Standing on the other side of the cell, were the biker men that had been put in the cell; all of them smirking creepily. Tony's gut started churning uncomfortably; something was up. He stood up to face them, McGee following suit. "Can I help you gentlemen?" Tony put on his smoothest, most charming smile.

"We like the pretty boy," the one standing slightly in front of the others said simply.

As the men's eyes moved to look at McGee, Tony could tell by the hungry look in their eyes that they were mentally undressing him. Tony flared with a burning anger he'd never felt before. He snarled, his nostrils flared, his eyes glaring enough to set a weaker man than these on fire. He stepped to the side to shield McGee with his own body. The men's eyes narrowed at Tony, daring him to keep standing between them and their prey. Tony used his body to push McGee further into the corner they had been sitting by, making it so that McGee's six was covered while Tony got his front. He swelled with anger, indignation, and a huge sense of protection, daring the men to make him show just how hard he'd fight to protect what was his.

McGee had frozen with terror at the way the men looked at him, said they liked him. He knew what that meant. They were drunk and horny. They would be willing to do anything to satisfy their needs. Then Tony stepped in front of him, between him and the men, and McGee instantly felt a warmth spread through him. Tony was protecting him. HIM. Probie. McGeek. Was Tim dreaming? Then his momentary bliss came to an abrupt halt when the men's furious eyes turned to Tony. Tim could tell by Tony's body language that he wouldn't give up without a fight. Tim looked from the men to Tony and back again. He was outnumbered and outarmed. So how far would Tony go just to protect him?

For a few silent, tense moments, the biker men and Tony glared with fury at each other. Tony's hands clenched into fists so tight, his knuckles were turning white; his body stood tall and proud, though even at his six foot two inches height he was clearly no match for the equally as tall or taller and much stronger-looking men. Tony didn't care. He'd die protecting McGee if it came to that.

The lead man ordered in a low, threatening voice, "Move out of the way."

Tony's eyes hardened even farther; his body stiffened. In a strong, even more threatening voice, Tony growled, "No. You can't have him. He's mine."

With a roar of fury, the biker threw himself at Tony. Tony aimed a kick at the man's stomach and kicked him back the way he came, only to be jumped on the other bikers. He punched and kicked and bit, lashing out at every angle in a rage to protect McGee. Then suddenly the bikers were gone and someone was grabbing Tony and pulling him away. He fought against the grip, thinking it was another biker, pulling him away from McGee. Then a voice cut through the rage, "Tony! Hey! It's McGee. Calm down." And just like that, he stopped. He suddenly realized that the cops had entered the cell and were fighting against the riled-up bikers. He stopped fighting but was still ready to if he needed.

"You two! Stay in here and don't move," the cop from before ordered them as McGee pulled Tony with him into the office. He closed the door and locked it before running to go help break up the fight. Tony was now steady on his own feet but the blood was still pumping in his ears; his heart beating out of control. The adrenaline was slow to loosen its control. Then a hand touched his shoulder and he flinched and faced the owner.

"Hey! It's okay now," McGee said, holding his hands up.

Tony instantly relaxed seeing that McGee was there and okay. The fight and adrenaline left him, and he took a few deep breaths. When he was calm, he stepped closer to McGee and started to inspect him. He started patting his body as he asked quickly, "Are you okay Tim? Did they get you? Are you hurt anywhere? Should I get that cop to get a first aid kit?"

"Hey!" McGee said as he grabbed Tony's hands. Tony froze and looked up into McGee's gently smiling, perfect, and unharmed face. McGee said, "I'm okay Tony. They couldn't even touch me. Thanks to you."

Tony melted at the gentle conviction in McGee voice and eyes, knowing that he was okay. Tony smiled, "I'm glad."

There was a moment of comfortable silence as they smiled at each other. Then McGee's eyes looked downward, and he frowned. "Wait here," he said as he turned away.

Tony waited and watched as McGee went across the room to get a wad a paper towels. He then wet them slightly at the sink before turning back to Tony. Gently, he cupped Tony's face in one hand and held it in place as he ran the wet paper towel over Tony's skin under his nose and lips. Without wanting to look away from Tim's face as he cleaned him up, Tony saw out of the corner of his eye that there was blood on the towels. Before he could ask, Tim quietly said, "Must've gotten a good hit at your nose. It's not broken though. Your lip is starting the swell." Tim chuckled and looked up with a slight smirk. "It really does always happen to your gorgeous face, doesn't it?"

Tim continued to clean Tony up, seemingly unaware that he'd just called Tony's face gorgeous. Tony swallowed and, after a moment, choked out, "Gorgeous?"

Tim looked up, "What?"

"You just said my face was gorgeous."

"Oh," McGee blushed. He looked away and for a second Tony thought he was just going to leave it at that. Then he looked back up into Tony's eyes, his own twinkling softly in a way Tony had never seen. "You are gorgeous Tony," He shrugged slightly as if it was no big deal, but Tony and Tim both knew otherwise.

Tony couldn't stop the huge smile that overcame his face. Tim chuckled, pleased that he caused that reaction in the older man. He looked backed down to Tony's lips and was satisfied that all the blood was cleaned away. He balled up the paper towels into a wad and tossed it into a waste basket on the other side of the room. Still not looking away from McGee's face, Tony heard the quiet thump and knew it got in so he smirked and said, "Nice shot McMagic Johnson."

Tim chuckled and rolled his eyes. Then he sobered and his brow furrowed as he blurted, "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Tony was genuinely confused.

"You stood between five huge biker guys and me!"

Now it was Tony's turn to blush. He shrugged and looked away as he tried to hide it, but he knew Tim deserved a real answer- the truth. He took a deep breath and said quietly, "I wasn't going to let them hurt you. I needed to protect you."

"You could've been killed. So why?"

Tony looked up at McGee, his eyes flashing with fire, "I'd have died willingly if it meant protecting you! I love you!"

Tim's eyes went wide with shock. Tony went stiff as he realized what he'd just said. He waited to see what McGee would do or say for a few long moments. Just when he was about to take it back, Tim surged forward and pressed his lips to Tony's. For a few seconds, Tony was frozen, but then he slowly relaxed, closed his eyes, and sighed with contentment as he responded to the kiss. He could feel Tim smile into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Tim's waist. Tim cupped Tony's neck and gently held him in place. When they finally needed to breathe, they gently pulled apart and rested their foreheads together. Emerald green eyes met ivy green ones and each could see all the love the other felt for him. Tim though whispered, "I love you too Tony. Always have. Always will."

Tony smiled before pressing his lips back to McGee's. The fighting that was still going on outside, the shouts and chaos, faded away completely. Nothing else mattered to Tony at the moment then McGee and to McGee than Tony. They didn't know what would come next, if the cops would calm the bikers, when they'd be rescued by Gibbs and Vance, how the case would end, what would happen between them from now on, but it didn't matter; they'd figure it out. Together. No more kidding around. They were both in this for the long run now. And, for once, that was just fine with them.