A/N: Here's the next chapter...it was supposed to be the last one, but I decided to drag it out. But I think that means I've forced myself into writing some smut...oops. Well, enjoy! And please review!

Tony looked across his dark apartment at his cell phone. It was ringing. Actually, it had been ringing for the past five minutes. He hadn't bothered answering it for a couple of reasons. It was really far away, at least six steps. He didn't want to talk to anybody. Who would be calling at this time? And the one person he did want to talk to, most certainly didn't want to talk to him. The ringing stopped, and Tony went back to staring at the ceiling, contemplating how stupid one person could be before they started de-evolving. After so many idiotic things, you had to become less human, right? Would you turn into a monkey? Or maybe something lower, like a dung beetle. He felt like a dung beetle right about now.

The phone started ringing this time. Realizing he wasn't going to be allowed to figure out what he was going to eventually deteriorate into, Tony got up and made his way over to the table he had tossed the phone onto earlier.

Gibbs

Shit! Tony panicked at the sight of the name. Before he could stop himself, he had pushed a button and ignored the call. Ignoring the call sent it to voicemail. Gibbs would realize the ringing had stopped sooner than it was supposed to. He would know Tony had ignored him on purpose.

Shit! He had ignored Gibbs. Wait…Gibbs was as anti-technology as you could get. No way he would know you could ignore a phone call by pushing a button. Right? The phone started ringing again. Tony stared down at the screen for a few seconds. He flipped it open before he could chicken out again.

"Gibbs?"

`_`_`_`_`_`_`_`_

Tony sat in his car, staring at Gibbs' front door. He'd come because Gibbs had said they needed to talk. What if that was marine speak for "I want to kill you in the comfort of my own home,"? After all, why would he want to talk to Tony after what was said today?

Sighing, Tony got out of the car and made his way up to the door. He hesitated. He knew the door wasn't locked, it never was. And he had always just walked right in, even before they had gotten involved with each other. But this time was different. He wasn't here as an employee, a friend, or a lover. He was here to be killed. Were you allowed to walk into your soon to be murder's house? Were there etiquette rules for that type of thing? Where was Ms. Manners when you needed her?

As he was going over all the social rules he knew, none of which applied to this situation, the door opened. Tony's head dropped, his eyes finding a spot on the porch to stare at. Never stare a pissed off lion in the eye, he'll think you're challenging him. And right now, Tony was in no place to be challenging anything. He was the equivalent of blind and wounded gazelle.

"You gonna come in or what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, looking at the younger man. He almost smirked when Tony flinched at the sound of his voice. When he didn't get a response, Gibbs shook his head and walked into the kitchen, knowing Tony would follow. Eventually.

Following in Gibbs' wake, Tony walked into the house and shut the door. He took his time taking off his jacket and shoes, trying to put off the coming confrontation. Running out of things to do, he reluctantly made his way into the kitchen, keeping his head down, eyes trained on the floor. He hovered in the doorway of the room, bracing himself for whatever Gibbs threw at him. Figuratively or literally.

Gibbs busied himself with pulling two beers out of the fridge, dragging the uncomfortable moment out. He may be willing to forgive Tony, but that didn't mean he had to take it easy on him. Second b for bastard and all. He set the bottles on the counter with a sharp 'click' watching as Tony jumped a little at the noise. He never thought he'd see the day that Tony was unsure of what to say and how to act.

"Look, DiNozzo," Gibbs started.

"Gibbs, I really didn't," Tony said at the same time. They both stopped, Gibbs looking at Tony, and Tony still looking at the floor. When Gibbs didn't continue, Tony started again.

"I really didn't mean what I said earlier. It was out of line and disrespectful. Not only to the husband, but to you as well," Tony chanced a look at Gibbs before quickly looking down again. "I'd understand it if you wanted to call this thing we have off. Or if you wanted me off the team. I can clear out my desk later today."

Tony reached up to nervously rub the back of his neck. Gibbs hadn't so much as moved while he had been talking. Tony had hoped that he would've jumped in and said he didn't want Tony to leave. As the silence dragged on, Tony felt the little bit of hope that maybe Gibbs didn't completely hate him disappear.

"Uh, I guess I'll go now. Maybe clear out my desk now so you won't have to see me later," Tony turned to go, glancing at Gibbs out of the corner of his eye. The man still hadn't moved, he was just blankly staring at Tony.

Sighing, Tony walked back the way he had come. He was bending down to put his shoes back on when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to turn around. For a second blue eyes pierced his own before he was being pushed into a wall. His back and shoulders hit hard, making the pictures move. His head cracked against the wall, causing his vision to grey out for a second. As Tony regained his sight, he noticed Gibbs was a few inches from him with a look he couldn't read on his face. Obviously his first idea had been right. Gibbs was going to kill him.