Chapter One: A Not So Secret, Secret

"It's late, go home," Gibbs said straightening a pile of papers before shoving them into a folder.

Tim and Ziva immediately jumped up, both of them anxious to get out of there. They'd spent the afternoon doing paperwork on the long case they'd just closed. They hadn't been home in three days and were excited about getting the weekend off.

"Are you coming, Tony?" Ziva asked when she realized he wasn't packing up.

"Nah," Tony said. "Not yet. I should finish this. I'm almost done."

"Wanna meet us at the bar when you're done?" Tim offered. Usually Tony was the one searching for someone to go to the bar with but he'd been acting strange lately so Tim thought he'd offer.

"I don't think so," Tony said, "not tonight but you guys have fun."

Tim and Ziva exchanged confused glances.

"Do you have a date tonight, Tony?" Ziva asked, her tone light and teasing.

"No I do not," Tony answered, mimicking her teasing tone.

"Okay, well, have a good weekend," Tim said.

"You too," Tony said. "See you guys later."

Tim and Ziva left together, both of them more than a little confused about the change in Tony's behavior. He'd stopped leering at women and was no longer flirting with every female that crossed his path. They didn't hear all the intimate details of his dates and were beginning to wonder if he was seeing anybody at all.

Tony seemed to be in a funk similar to the one he'd experienced when Brenda Bittner had wrapped her car around a tree or when Jeanne had found out his true identity and reason for dating her. They'd asked him about it but he'd blown them off like he always did, insisting they were making a big deal out of nothing.

"You know, he was like this when he started dating Jeanne," Tim pointed out as he and Ziva headed for their cars.

"Do you think he's working on another undercover assignment?" Ziva asked.

"No, I don't think so," Tim said, "but maybe there is a special someone in his life that he's not telling us about."

"He does seem to keep the ones he is serious about a secret," Ziva admitted. "We will just have to find a way to pry information out of him."

"Well, we are investigators but currently this investigator's brain is fried," Tim said. "I need a nice long bubble bath and a decent night's sleep before I try to delve into Tony's head."

"I agree," Ziva said. "Have a good weekend, Tim."

"You too."


"So you're telling us that Tony passed up a private screening of that new Jack Nicholson movie to go play laser tag with you?" Tim asked.

"Yeaaah," Dorneget said drawing out the word. He didn't see what the big deal was. Laser tag was innocent fun—silly and a bit ridiculous, yes, but innocent and fun nonetheless.

"Are you two — you know?" Tim asked.

Dorneget had to think for a minute before he realized what Tim was asking him. "No," he said defensively, "Tony and I are just good friends."

"Friends is one thing but passing up a private movie screening?" Ziva questioned. It was Wednesday morning and despite the time off and rest, she and Tim hadn't made any progress figuring out what was going on with Tony. With Gibbs in a meeting and Tony at the shooting range doing his annual qualification, it was the perfect opportunity to try to pump some information out of Dorneget.

"He tried to get me an invite to the movie screening too but couldn't so we decided to do something else," Dorneget explained.

"If you two are such good friends, what's Tony's favorite food?" Tim asked.

"Pizza," Dorneget said, "sausage, pepperoni and extra cheese. Everybody knows that."

"What sport did he play in college?" Ziva asked.

"Basketball and football," Dorneget answered confidently.

"Where was he born?"

"New York."

"Where did he work before NCIS?"

"Baltimore, Philly before that and before that Peoria."

"What kind of car does he drive?"

Mustang," Dorneget said. "Come on, guys, give me a hard one!" He was really getting into the rapid fire questions and was excited that he knew all the answers.

"Okay, I'm gonna settle this once and for all," Tim said. "Who is Tony's secret crush?"

"That's an easy one too," Dorneget said, "Agent Gibbs."

Tim and Ziva's eyes widened as Gibbs appeared behind Dorneget.

"I was surprised at first too but once I thought about it and got over the initial shock of Tony liking men, it made perfect sense," Dorneget explained. He didn't understand why Tim and Ziva were being so standoffish all of a sudden until he felt a presence behind him and swallowed hard. He turned around and found Gibbs standing there and he didn't look happy. "Um, Sir, Gibbs, I can explain."

"Go," Gibbs said firmly.

"Going!" Dorneget said before scurrying off.

Tim and Ziva didn't dare look up from their desks as Gibbs sat down at his. Tony liked Gibbs? Dorneget was right though, if you could get over the mental obstacle that Anthony DiNozzo—self-proclaimed 'God's gift to women'—swung both ways it made perfect sense that he would like Gibbs. Too bad Gibbs had walked in on the conversation and put an end to pumping Dorney for information. Both decided they were glad they weren't DiNozzo though.

Ziva stole a quick peek over at their boss to see if she could tell how he was feeling about the surprising news but like always, his face was unreadable. When Gibbs looked over at her she quickly turned her eyes back to her desk.

Gibbs turned back to his computer and opened his email. He was trying to act normal while wrapping his head around the new information. Tony? Liked him? He knew Tony had been hanging out with Dorneget a lot lately. For some reason those two had really hit it off. He also knew Dorneget was gay. Who better to confide in than Dorneget when it came to Tony having feelings for a man? It really wasn't that far out of the realm of possibilities or maybe Gibbs was just hopeful. Maybe Dorneget really didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

He looked at his computer and realized his email was up. Two hundred and sixty nine messages. How did he get two hundred and sixty nine messages and why on earth was he checking his email if he was trying to act normal? He smiled despite himself. Sixty nine. He wouldn't mind being in that position with DiNozzo. Tony's lips wrapped around his cock, sucking and licking before deep-throating him; his tongue running up Tony's shaft, dipping into his slit to get a taste of his precum. Did Tony leak when he got excited? Gibbs decided he probably did.

"Boss?" Tim said. "Boss?" he repeated when there was no response.

"What?"

"Uh, your phone's ringing," Tim said.

"I know," Gibbs lied. Acting normal had gone right out the window the moment Dorneget had outed Tony. He snatched the phone up and frowned when Leon requested his presence in his office—again. He'd just come from there. At least his suit jacket was long enough to cover the bulge in his pants. Now if he could only refocus on his job.

"I'll be in the director's office," he said as he carefully stood and buttoned his jacket. "I want that stack of paperwork gone from your desks before you leave for the night."

"On it, Boss," both Tim and Ziva said. They watched Gibbs go then turned to each other, wide-eyed and mouths open in shock.

"Dorneget was just pulling our leg, right?" Tim asked. "There's no way Tony would admit his feelings about Gibbs to Dorneget."

"If he even has feelings for Gibbs," Ziva said. "I am not completely convinced. Dorneget is eager to please. Perhaps he was just talking out of another end."

"Talking out of his ass, Ziva," Tim corrected. "I don't know what's going on but things are gonna get interesting when Tony gets back."

"Yes they are," Ziva agreed.


Tony was humming to himself as he stepped off the elevator. So far it had been a really good day. He'd slept in a little since he was going to the gun range before work and didn't have to be there until 9:00. After a satisfying and tasty breakfast, he'd blown through his qualifying with no problem at all. He kind of wish Gibbs would've been there to see it. He was pretty sure the Marine sniper would be proud but he'd settle for giving him his report and hoping Gibbs took the time to look at his scores.

When he stepped into the bullpen he noticed the strange looks Tim and Ziva were giving him but didn't have a clue what it was about. He hadn't been there to get in trouble yet and with his top scores Tony was still feeling confident. He tossed his backpack behind his desk on his way over to Gibbs' desk.

"Mornin' Boss."

"Morning has come and gone, DiNozzo," Gibbs said holding his hand out for the report.

"It's still before noon," Tony pointed out as he handed Gibbs his paper.

"How'd you do?"

"I kicked ass and took names, just like you taught me!" Tony said proudly.

"Good," Gibbs said, scribbling his name across the bottom of the paper after looking it over. His scores were actually quite impressive. "I want that stack of paperwork on your desk gone before you leave today."

"Yes Boss," Tony said.

Gibbs got up and headed for the stairs up to Vance's office and Tony took his seat. He realized Tim and Ziva were still staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothin'," Tim answered.

Tony looked back and forth between Tim and Ziva and knew something was going on. "Alright, what's up? What'd I miss? I know it wasn't anything I did because I wasn't even here."

"Who says you have to be here to stir up trouble, Tony?" Ziva asked.

Tony thought back, trying to remember if he'd pulled some prank or laid some trap he'd forgotten about but couldn't come up with anything. What on earth had happened during the couple hours he was at the shooting range? "Somebody tell me what the hell is going on," he demanded.

"No," Tim said.

"Some friends you guys are," Tony grumbled. "I'm going for coffee. Don't expect me to bring either of you any."

Tony heard his coworkers snickering as he headed for the break room. Gibbs hadn't said anything to him so whatever had happened couldn't be too terrible, right? Gibbs was never shy about telling him when he'd screwed it. He shrugged it off and made his way into the break room.

"Dorneget!" he said cheerfully.

"Tony, what're doing here?" Dorneget asked in shock.

"Uh, I work here," Tony said. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing!" Dorneget answered much too quickly.

"What the hell is going on with everybody today?!" Tony yelled.

"Nice talking to you," Dorneget said. "I gotta go."

"Oh no you don't," Tony said, grabbing the back of his shirt as he tried to make his escape.

Dorneget turned and looked at Tony with a look of pure terror on his face.

"Spill," Tony said.

"Okay, but you have to promise not to hurt me," Dorneget said.

"I'm not liking how this is starting off," Tony said. "This isn't gonna make me happy, is it?"

"Probably not… at least not at first but if you think about it, I think you'll realize it's actually a good thing."

"I'm the special agent here, Probie, you're the probie. Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

"Tim and Ziva may have tricked me into revealing who you have a crush on," Dorneget said.

"What?" Tony asked. "No. You didn't tell 'em, did you? Please tell me you didn't tell them."

"I wish I could," Dorneget said.

"Damn it, Dorneget! You're supposed to be my friend, my wing man, we're supposed to have each other's backs!"

"I know!" Dorneget whined. "They tricked me. I don't even know how they did it."

Tony tried to gather his thoughts enough he could do a little damage control. He could always deny it, tell Tim and Ziva that Dorneget had misunderstood him of something. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. He was DiNozzo. He could fix this.

"Um, there's one more thing," Dorneget said.

"Well whatever it is can't be worse than what you just told me," Tony muttered.

Dorneget laughed uncomfortably.

"I don't like it when you laugh like that, Dorney," Tony said.

"Agent Gibbs walked up behind me and I'm pretty sure he heard everything."

Tony felt his stomach drop. Maybe he hadn't heard Dorneget correctly. "Say that again."

"Agent Gibbs knows."

"Oh shit."