A/N - Hmm, ouch. Not a lot of love around here for this one apparently. It's already complete, so posting it takes about 30 seconds of my day so it's not taking any of my currently limited writing time, but if I do decide to take it down, it will continue to be posted at AO3 and NFA.

By the time they finished a more leisurely walk down one of the other trails, it was starting to get late. Jim turned them toward the parking lot. "You got someplace in mind for dinner, Chief?"

"Sure do." Other than directions, Blair was tight-lipped about their next destination until they were pulling into the parking lot a few minutes later.

A slow grin spread across Jim's face. "Really?"

"Yep, Brazilian barbeque. The waiters are dressed up as cowboys and walk around to the tables with the meat on big skewers. It's going to be great."

Button-down shirts added over their t-shirts allowed them to fit right in. The restaurant was busy, but the atmosphere was laid back as customers made as many trips to the counter for the salad bar and side dishes as they wanted, while a large colored disk on the table announced when the diners were ready for meat to be served. Lamb, sausage, bacon wrapped turkey and every cut of beef you could imagine, all seasoned and grilled to perfection were a treat to Sentinel senses.

Blair had to subtly adjust himself after a particular cut of rib eye steak had Jim moaning. "So, a cabin – or five – at the park from now on and dinner here?"

Letting his eye zoom in on a receipt as a waiter walked by, Jim was pleasantly surprised at the cost. "And maybe a few lunches, too."

-NCIS-

Back in DC, the dinner wasn't quite as elaborate, but it was a step up from the bland food they'd been getting. Gibbs sat up, intrigued, as his stomach rumbled at the smells. "What's all this?"

"Guide McGee requested a variety of foods for your dinner this evening." Setting his tray down on the bed table, she lifted the lid and snuck a quick glance at McGee as she smiled. "If there's something you want more of, just buzz the nurse's station."

"Thank you." Fork already in hand, Gibbs was checking out the offering. Multiple small plates filled the tray, each covered with glass and holding a small, sampler sized portion. He glanced over at McGee and saw that he was eating the unseasoned, baked chicken breast with white rice they'd had for dinner since they'd been admitted. "What about you?"

After the earlier anger, Tim smiled at the flicker of concern. "Smells and taste can get tangled up pretty easy. I didn't want my dinner to distract you. Besides, the antibiotics are kinda rough on my stomach." He shrugged and started picking at his roll. "I'll survive another day of bland."

Gibbs knew that he'd messed up earlier and offered an olive branch of sorts. "Okay, so how do you suggest I tackle this?"

A slight smile crossed Tim's lips as his Sentinel showed his willingness to listen. "Keep your sense of smell down at first and just have one lid off at a time. Your sense of taste is probably going to creep up, just pay attention and don't let it get away from you. Maybe drink some water in between to give your taste buds a break."

There was nothing spicy or overly seasoned, but Gibbs was happy to be eating a few slices of beef, even if the smell of the salmon had him rapidly slamming the lid back down on that plate.

-NCIS-

Sitting at a red light just blocks from the hotel, Jim looked down the side street and smiled. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Oh, yeah."

Detour agreed on, Jim turned and drove the ten blocks. There was no parking available, so he let Blair off and circled around. There were more than a half dozen cars making the trek around the block and as he made the third pass, Blair dashed out of the shop with their treat. Once they were moving again, Jim let his senses explore what was hidden in the Styrofoam cup.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jim had sulked for days when they'd been out of his favorite gelato during their last trip.

"Sure is. Their famous OPM. After that huge dinner I just got one large, figured we could split it." Grinning, Blair knew that splitting it meant that Jim would eat every drop of the passion fruit part of the blend and maybe leave him half of the mango. Light and fresh, they'd always leave the orange for last.

"You're spoiling me. Do we need to stop at the hospital and check on them tonight?"

Blair already had the cup open and was sneaking what would probably be one of the few spoonfuls of the mango he'd get. "Nah, I called while I was in line. McGee had him working on his dials this afternoon and Gibbs finally got some real food."

"Good, maybe he'll be in a better mood tomorrow."

"We can only hope. Now he's watching TV and Tim is sleeping." As Jim stopped for another red light, Blair waggled his eyebrows and suggestively licked the spoon. "A whole evening without the kids underfoot. Whatever will we do?"

Jim smiled as the light turned green and he accelerated. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

-NCIS-

"Captain Taggert?"

"Yeah, Henry?" Joel looked around at the carnage and the dead bodies of the guards. It had been hours since the escape, the official chain of command delaying their response time tremendously.

"Sentinel Ellison captured Kincaid the last two times, shouldn't he be here for this?"

The Captain flipped the sheet back over the body of the youngest guard as he stood. "Yes, he should, but he's in Washington DC for the annual dog and pony show and with the storms in the Midwest, they'll never get a flight tonight. I'll call him in the morning, somebody might as well get a decent night's sleep, cause it sure as hell won't be us."

"I hear you, Captain."

-NCIS-

With nothing to do but paperwork as the hunt for Shuhab dragged on, Tony was the last one left in the bullpen when the foreman in charge of building the bonding suite left the card keys in an envelope on the pair's new desk. "Everything's set for when they return to work."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks." When the elevator door closed behind the man, Tony walked over to the new desk and picked up the envelope. The flap was folded inside instead of sealed and without thinking about it, Tony pulled one of the cards out and studied it. The familiar black strip was on the back side, but the logo on the front was for the Department of Sentinel Affairs. Tony stared at it a long time, hating what it stood for and what it was taking away from him.

-NCIS-

Arriving back at the hotel room, Jim was torn between wanting to wash off the day's activities and eating the gelato before Blair managed to kill it off. In honesty, he wanted both, right now so it was time to break in the suite's Jacuzzi tub. "Come on."

Blair squawked when Jim took his arm and led him into the bathroom, but caught on quick when the faucet was opened for the tub to fill. "Quick rinse in the shower to get the sweat off first?"

With a sigh, the cup was set on the counter while they stripped and quickly rinsed off in the shower. By then the tub was filled enough that Jim was able to climb in. Blair ordered him all the way back in the tub, so his legs could be stretched out. Once the tub had finished filling and the jets were started, Blair climbed in and sat on Jim's lap, facing him, cup in hand. He spoon fed the passion fruit gelato to Jim, swooping in to lick his lips clean between bites. Blair had already eaten most of the mango, but he split what as left with Jim, before starting on the orange.

By now the orange was half thawed, but still very cold when Blair dripped some on Jim's chest. Smiling, he enjoyed Jim's reaction to both the cold and the feel of Blair's tongue on his chest. With just a little bit left in the cup, Blair took a spoonful and let it fall on one of Jim's nipples. That got even more of a reaction, especially when he took his sweet time licking and sucking it clean. The last of the melted gelato made it to Jim's other nipple where the cleaning process was repeated, slowly and carefully, until Jim was squirming and ready for more.

"Ride me, baby."

Blair didn't need to be asked twice and after a short amount of prep he raised up on his knees and guided Jim inside him. Settling into position, he started to move, his cock bouncing against Jim's abs in the water.

Deciding a little payback was in order, Jim reached up and tugged on Blair's nipple ring, grinning as the ring of muscles tightened around his cock. "Yeah, you like that, don't you?" Leaning forward, he sucked it into his mouth and started working the nub with his lips as he shifted them enough that one of the jets was pounding against where their bodies joined.

"Oh, yeah." Feeling how good that was, Blair raised up just enough that there was still a small gap between their bodies even as Jim thrust upwards, letting the stream from the powerful jet tease not only his ass, but the base of Jim's cock. Jim gave an appreciative moan and sped up, coming dangerously close to sloshing the water out of the tub before Blair threw his head back with a yell.

Blair's climax pushed Jim over the edge with a matching yell before they both slumped against the side of the tub. Curling his body around Jim's, Blair kissed the side of his neck. "Can we just sleep here?"

It was tempting, but Jim started moving them. "Only if we want to look like prunes in the morning. Besides, the water will be getting cold soon."

Hating to be cold and wet, Blair let Jim tug him to his feet and out of the tub. They tenderly dried each other before walking out hand in hand and crawling under the covers.