Chapter 10: Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god (Aristotle)
At first, Loki had thought that Fandral was visiting the building where they had set up the headquarters for the reconstruction of the Bifrost for some ulterior motives, wanting to get into the younger prince's good graces again for some other reason than simply restoring their more than strained friendship.
He also had thought of himself that he would brush off the older God, he did not need anyone on Asgard, especially not those traitors who were clinging to Thor's coat tails even after he had almost started a war over a prank. Volstagg, Hogun, and Sif kept as far away from him far as they could, throwing him scathing glances, yet not daring to say anything openly. It might not end as well for them as breaking Loki's orders of not going to rescue Thor when Odin once more conveniently succumbed to Odin-sleep and left his second son with an identity crisis and a court that despised him for no other reason than having a brain and using it.
The blonde swordsman seemed to take a different turn on redeeming himself – by actually doing things to redeem himself and not just hope everything would be swept under a rug and forgotten, eventually.
It was Frigga who had made it exceptionally clear during his trial that she had bestowed the throne upon Loki, that he was following his father's orders of exiling the Thundergod, and that it were the Warrior's Three who had broken the law, while the acting regent of Asgard had been well within his rights to send the Destroyer after them.
They did not even touch the topic Laufey with a ten foot pole, and Loki was rather grateful for not having to discuss the demise of the ruler of Jotunheim. Did anybody even know that the Frost Giant had been on Asgard personally, trying to end a feud so old that not even Odin could recall all the details anymore by killing the All-Father?
Thor actually had received another, public, slap on the wrist for trying to start a war, and it was heavily hinted that everybody who had been involved in the entire drama should keep silent. Nobody wanted to create any more chaos by fueling the ingrained fears the Æsir harbored against the Jotnar. So, once more, Thor and his friends were allowed to take the easy way out of a disaster they had created. And Loki, once more, was at the other end of scathing insinuations that all of this was just a plot to gain power.
The young God simply stopped hanging out with them, then. They would not change their minds. It was a bit hard evading them because Frigga (and Odin, by extension) was pretty keen on showing everyone that he was still a part of the family, praising his return and his ways to save Midgard from the rise of the Mad Titan.
Fandral had changed his ways, though. The swordsman was distancing himself from the others of Thor's merry band of idiots, actually using a sort of dashing sarcasm that they normally only encountered when interacting with Loki, when he had to interact with them during one of the banquets Frigga kept holding to re-integrate their youngest into their family.
Well. Sometimes also his mother did not really get the point. It would take more than a few dinners to change Loki's view on anyone on Asgard.
The stupid thing was that Fandral was as charming as always and actually apologized for his behavior. He was also exceptionally curious about the device Loki had brought along from Midgard, blue schematics floating in the air, having all of the architects and engineers swoon over the obviously rather progressive technical possibilities the insignificant mortals had come up with.
It took the mage a rather embarrassing long time to realize that Fandral always came by to visit when a certain young guard was on duty to protect the Lord Stark's holoprojector with the rudimentary AI that allowed interaction with the construction plans without needing to have any knowledge of the programming language.
Loki surprised himself by feeling slightly disappointed that he was not the object of desire – but then, he had never lived up to the ideal of what an Ås deemed a suitable mate. Not that young Aron Lambisson did, at least not for Fandral, a male warrior. He would make the perfect spouse for one of the maids at court. He would have to be very careful should he give in to Fandral's courting – being dismissed from the royal guard would be one of his smallest worries should come out that he was argr.
It took him two days of watching those two to get over this feeling, watching how Fandral inconspicuously invited the young guard for a tankard of mead after accompanying Loki to his chambers in the palace and making sure that Anthony's device was safely stored away. They were a nice couple, and the thought of what they might do after sharing some mead had the young God blushing furiously.
Damn Anthony and his innuendoes. Damn J.A.R.V.I.S. and his explanations of how same-sex relationships had come to be tolerated and accepted by an increasing number of people, governments, and countries on Midgard. Damn the internet the mortals appeared to only have invented to share videos of copulating people (of course he had only stumbled over these homepages by chance… and had switched them off immediately… more or less... uhm…). There were Realms that were a lot more liberal than Asgard – on Vanaheim or Alfheim this sort of relationship would not have been a problem at all. As a member of the royal family, though, Loki had resigned himself a long time ago to be wed off to some princess from another realm for political reasons, suppressing his real desires.
His Jotun decent now opened some rather interesting possibilities for him – should he ever announce his real ancestry. Being a hermaphrodite he would not break any law should he act on his real preferences. After all, he was also in the possession of the sort of genitalia that allowed him to be with another man.
He had no intention of sharing this information with anybody, though.
Well, anybody except his mother. During the time of his trial they had spent a lot of time together, with Frigga apologizing profoundly for misleading him for most of his life concerning his origin. It had been embarrassing at first, having to talk to her about some rather disturbing observations he had made concerning his own body since the grip of the Jotun warrior had broken the glamor Odin had cast upon him, since he himself had forced the transformation twice, once touching the casket of ancient winters, once using it against Heimdall.
She had been incredibly understanding and supportive, but then, she was of Vanir decent, by far not as stuck up as any Asgardian who for some reason still pretended to believe that sex was only a means to procreate.
It was still disturbing, having to tell her how his hips had gotten wider, requiring his clothes to be altered. Having to ask for ways to deal with monthly belly cramps without actually decapitating someone during a mood swing was also slightly mortifying. It got him a relieved laughter in return, a hug, a kiss to his forehead, and some really good tips, so he could live with it. Apparently, Frigga had thought that his encounter with Thanos had left some rather permanent damages and was glad that he had only these easy to solve problems.
As if he would share what he'd had to endure when in the Other's clutches with anyone.
With this conversation in mind, he came to the conclusion that he'd rather come to terms with himself before opening another chapter in his life. If there ever was to be another chapter, after all, Thanos was coming, and fighting him would be a suicide mission at best. Being focused on this task, saving the few friends he made, should be his goal for now.
If he survived the entire ordeal, he could start working on the mess that was his personal life. In the meantime, he would at least try to not be suspicious of everyone in his vicinity. It was working well with Anthony and Bruce. Why not at least consider the swordsman being honest about wanting to restore their friendship?
Fandral and Aron made a nice couple, so he started teasing the blonde warrior about finally being tamed by a handsome guard when no-one was around to witness.
The older God was rather shocked by Loki's acceptance, and his thoughtfulness to keep this quiet. Normally, Fandral did not care if he was caught with anyone, man or woman – he was the enticer in Thor's merry group of roughnecks, people expected him to charm anyone into his bed.
This still did not mean that a relationship with a man would be accepted. Or that they simply could move somewhere where it would be. A general of Odin's army, and a royal guard. The court would not let them leave, if only to make an example. Vanaheim would not welcome them because they would have Odin after them.
Thus, Fandral tried not to look too enthused when Loki started telling tales of Midgard and how things were handled there, but discretely started asking questions, mostly about the plans how it was intended to fortify Earth against the treat that was Thanos.
It would only be a matter of time and Fandral would offer his services.
The guard, Aron, most probably would also volunteer.
Loki smiled as he gathered Anthony's device, cradling it in his arms as he stepped out of the building accompanied by the swordsman and the royal guard. It was nice, actually, having someone who was talking to him because they liked him well enough rather than working with him because they had to and he was the only one who knew how to use the computer.
They would have to cross the market that had formed eons ago at the base of the rainbow bridge to reach the carriage that would take them back to the palace. Trading with the other realms had not been possible after Thor had destroyed the bridge (Yes, Thor. Thor had destroyed it. Not Loki. Even though he might have been the reason Thor had had to destroy it. Maybe. A little bit…).
Fandral was joking how he missed some special treats from Alfheim, having Loki laugh about how much of a whining child the swordsman could be.
In retrospect, he should have known that letting his guard down only slightly, letting himself be distracted like this was fatal. Of course interacting normally with anybody would end disastrously…
He did not even realize that something was amiss until Aron crashed into him, causing him to stumble and fall, and the computer shattered into thousand pieces on the cobblestones.
The next thing he saw was a knife that was pulled out of the guard's shoulder, being brought down again to be buried in Aron's thigh, right between the armor plating.
Before the attacker could pull out the dagger and strike for a third time, Loki zapped him, sending the man flying and hoping for Fandral to subdue him as he climbed out from under his guard's body that had shielded him, and prevented Aron from pulling the dagger out of his leg.
"Don't… Your femoral artery may have been severed", he explained, removing one of the leather belts that were keeping his armor in place to tie off the leg above the injury. It sent his mind back to all those weeks ago when he had aided rescuing the Lady Pepper, reminding him of how he had had Anthony's life in his hands, using his rudimentary knowledge of anatomy to make sure the engineer was still breathing and not bleeding to death until they had reached a hospital.
It had been rather disturbing few hours in the waiting room afterwards, where he, Dr. Banner, Director Coulson and the Lady Pepper could not do anything but wait for any news from the operation room that J.A.R.V.I.S. had raided while having a legion of Iron Men secure the entire building… Oh Norns, had he ever worried for anyone like this? Mortals were so fragile, and losing Anthony would have been devastating… to their quest to save Midgard, of course – they needed his genius mind, his ability to improvise to have a chance against Thanos. Nothing personal, of course.
"Are you well, your Highness?" The young guard's voice sounded pained, not having expected the strength with which the second Prince was tying the belt around his upper leg, but then, rumors said that there was far more to the God of Mischief and Chaos than his lithe frame would let you guess.
Green eyes were directed at him, the Prince sending him a reassuring smile. "I am not harmed, dear Aron, you did well." Looking up, Loki saw that Fandral indeed had caught their attacker who was spouting obscenities at the Prince of Asgard before the Swordsman silenced him by grabbing a random object from one of the booths and shoving it in his mouth.
It was only a matter of minutes until more guards arrived, efficiently clearing the market place and arresting the assailant.
Loki made sure to have his injured guard transported to the healers immediately, insisting on Fandral staying at his side as he would make sure that the man would be treated appropriately.
Anthony's computer was broken into more pieces than he thought possible, most probably beyond repair.
He would have to travel to Midgard and ask the inventor for a replacement.
First, he would have a little talk with the man who had thought attacking the second Prince of Asgard was a wise decision, though. Obviously, Fandral coming by every other day and accompanying him to the palace had started some very inconvenient rumors, at least if you gave the obscenities the man had yelled any thought.
He would have to see how he could use this to his advantage.
"Honey, I'm ho… uff!"
When he didn't hear anything more than some rustling, subdued curses, and grunts from the hallway, Tony Stark left the kitchen, throwing the kitchen towel on his shoulder and breaking out into heartfelt laughter as he saw what kept his boyfriend from appropriately greeting him.
The large conifer obviously had won the fight against Dino, burying him on the floor. They had only had the should we get a Christmas tree? discussion the day before, since, miraculously, the MCRT was off rotation for the first time in years over the holidays. Tony DiNozzo had thought it would rather be like all the years before since he started working at NCIS – they would catch a case, and Gibbs would pounce on it immediately.
This year, their lead agent had marched into the bullpen, declared that he would be on vacation until mid-January starting tomorrow, and whoever wanted time off should notify HR. Dino had come home that day talking about a Christmas miracle, slightly worrying about his Boss and what could be important enough to make him leave the Naval Yard for that long. Actually, he had been worrying out loud whether the three spirits of Christmas finally had paid Ebenezer Gibbs a visit.
"You know, you could simply ask him", T had said, knowing that the older agent had only recently made it back into the vicinity of Dino's good graces by finally taking over responsibility in training their Probies and enforcing the chain of command.
His agent had cuddled up to him on their couch after moving T's blanket out of the way to cover only the engineer and evade a heat stroke on his side, and placed a kiss against T's neck, right under his jaw, the trademark goatee™ back in place since the second day of his return home.
"I could. I doubt he'd tell me, though. So, do we want a tree or not?" Dino casually asked, fishing for the remote and changing the channel from the news to a cooking show to have some nice background noise instead of crazed out people killing each other in *insert random place of the Earth here*.
Both of them were not religious in any shape, way, or form. T's relationship with Christmas was a rather strained one, to be honest. His parents were never there, attending whatever parties Howard's business partners cooked up and not caring about the boy who sat at home with the butler and his wife, asking why his Mommy and his Daddy did not want to be with him. He had celebrated with Jarvis and Ana the next year – and boy, had Howard been pissed when he found out. Thank God Jarvis knew about all the skeletons in the older man's closet, otherwise he would have been fired. For Tony, though, Christmas was done after that year.
This was one of the few things that differed in their upbringing. Despite her many flaws, Isabella DiNozzo had had a very tight leash on Senior over the holidays, so at least for the first eight years of his life Dino had lived the Winter Wonderland Christmas his mother had dreamed up. Senior couldn't be bothered to keep up this tradition when his wife had died, and the replacement Mommies/chicks with wealthy families that would still lend Senior money never cared about the brat that lived forgotten in some boarding school.
The way Dino was talking about the tree he, Delores, Dorney, Jimmy, and a few other co-workers had decorated at the office made the decision rather easy for the engineer, though. They would get a tree, and Dino would get to decorate it to his heart's content.
"Stop laughing and help me get up. I swear this tree's trying to murder me since I bought it!" Dino laughed along despite his words, pulling himself back to his feet on his own because T was still forbidden any heavy lifting – or anything else too much fun. Punctured lungs and prosthetics replacing a sternum were very obvious party poopers. And since a whole bunch of doctors had told T that he was benched not only for Avengers business until everything had healed, they were good boys and following those orders.
Stupid thing was that the honeymoon period just as obviously was NOT over yet. It was rather hard (pun intended) to not escalate every tiny peck into a make-out session and more. They had become masters in restraining themselves in the past three weeks.
So, after appropriately greeting T with a kiss (or five) they maneuvered the tree into their living room before the engineer quickly disappeared back in the kitchen, looking after the lasagna in the oven, coming back with the news that Dinner would be ready in 10 minutes to an exhausted Dino on the couch, winter clothes strewn around the entirety of his living room, and a tree that would have to undergo some serious trimming should it ever fit into the room in any other way than diagonally.
Pepper and J.A.R.V.I.S. had restricted his access to anything Stark Industries related, only letting him work on projects they knew he would do for fun, and not because there was a deadline he had to keep. They knew him well enough to not cut him off entirely. That would just end in another invention of Iron Man proportions. Nobody wanted that, so they let him fool around with the next generation of the StarkPhone and an ARC-reactor based motor for the next generation of cars.
Phil Coulson kept Mr. Rogers' attempts to saw on Tony's chair as leader of the Avengers at bay. Obviously, the super soldier thought that it was his time to head the team, now that Tony was on sick leave. Boy, had he been pissed when Phil himself had taken over and was coordinating the Avengers for now. The guy was so thankful that Dino and T had bullied Pepper into talking with him that they'd received a THANK YOU! food basket and an invitation to dinner in a really nice restaurant once both Phil and Pepper were back in DC.
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had revealed reluctantly that he also was not entirely human anymore after being stabbed by Loki and T.A.H.I.T.I.. It still had been a rather herculean task to convince the lovely MissPotts that she would not immediately cremate the people close to her. Arguing with her, curiously enough,helped to quell this fear. If Tony Stark did not manage to make her explode involuntarily, nobody would. That man knew how to push all of her buttons, simultaneously, if needed, he knew how to effectively drive her up the wall in a matter of seconds, so what could a little argument with Phil here and there hurt?
"Think about it, Peps, the make-up sex will be fantastic!"
T was nursing a knuckle-shaped hematoma on his upper arm after that, but at least she had reconsidered her stupid idea of breaking up with Phil, and now he dedicated all the free time he did not spend with rehab or re-inventing multimedia devices and car engines (or napping on various occasions throughout the day – recovering was hard work, after all) to working himself through one of Dino's cookbooks, and figuring out that his significant other could be quite the slob sometimes.
Dino also knew that his boyfriend was a little OCD neat freak and would clean up his stuff as soon as he'd caught his breath, so T just leaned against the doorframe, watched the other man, and smiled.
"We'll need a saw for that one. And a tree stand. And decorations."
Dino smiled back.
"I got a saw and the tree stand in the car. I thought we could go decoration shopping tomorrow." He knew how much T liked strolling through shops, he would never take that experience away from him. And he was really looking forward to decorating their tree together, maybe not erasing T's childhood trauma concerning Christmas, but starting their own traditions, eventually.
T nodded. "That would be great, yeah. Food's almost ready, how about we eat and then find the perfect place for this monstrosity?" They would have to saw off quite a bit of the beautiful fir Dino had brought home for it to fit into the living room in an upright position.
They were about halfway through Dinner when J.A.R.V.I.S. announced the return of Loki to Stark Tower, accompanied by Thor who, as usual, was manning the Tesseract-driven transport device, as well as two unknown men.
The AI was not even done yet with his report when the dark-haired God asked to talk to Anthony. J.A.R.V.I.S. relayed the request with the exact wording the young God had used, having Dino smirk at the Anthony, the same smirk T could hear in his AI's voice, teasing him about letting Loki use the one name he refused to be called by anyone else.
"That's what made him stop calling me Lord Stark, so I'll live with it", the engineer pouted before taking the call. Loki was supposed to be on Asgard to help with the re-construction of the Bifrost. Something must've happened for him to return with Thor and two other guys in tow.
One minute later he learned that his computer had been destroyed.
It took the inventor five more minutes to weasel out that the God had been attacked when he had dropped the device. By that time, Dino was proud of his boyfriend's interrogation skills.
Two more minutes and Loki spilled the beans on who he had brought along. Both Tonys agreed that Aron the guard deserved a little vacation. And a medal or two for doing his job and guarding the second Prince of Asgard. Dino still had to thank the man for saving T's life, after all.
It did not really explain why he had brought the guard and the other blonde guy with him to Earth, but T did not really want to ask. There were too many people in the room, and Loki was so vague with answering his questions that he would not reveal anything more than he had already said.
So Stark just told J.A.R.V.I.S. to also contact Bruce who was still living in the tower and working with the science department of Stark Industries on… he actually had no clue what they were working on in the moment, but anyway, he had J.A.R.V.I.S. notify Banner that he would have some company in the tower for the next few days before ending the call and turning to his boyfriend.
What he'd heard had him worried enough to spoil the festive and relaxed mood he'd been in only a few moments ago. The look on Dino's face told him that the other man had similar thoughts. Actually, it really annoyed him. They had some holidays to celebrate, and he'd definitely planned on disobeying his doctors' orders at least once or twice. It would take some work to convince Dino, but he was rather determined to change his boyfriend's mind. Of course now the next problem had to come up. But then, maybe they could kill two bird with one stone?
"Soooo… what would you think about spending Christmas in New York, hmmm?" he asked, directing his gaze at his boyfriend who had stopped eating during the phone call and now was picking up his fork and knife again to annihilate the rest of the delicious lasagna on his plate. It might have needed a bit more salt, but other than that, it was really perfect.
T was sticking as close to recipes as possible (most probably also doing research on how much a pinch of salt was), not really able to work with the off the reel cooking Dino was doing. This was something that astonished Dino every now and then, because he also knew just how chaotic and improvising his best friend's mind was all the time. T had tried to describe it once, coming up with something that resembled doing all of their homework at once while trying to figure out how to ask that cute girl from the parallel class for her number, having to face Howard over some project that might have blown up part of the chemistry class room, and arm wrestling with an octopus at the same time.
Having the world around him in some sort of order obviously helped keeping in charge of his chaotic mind, so Dino simply added some salt and smiled.
He also knew that T would continue worrying until he had talked to the Asgardian God in person and had equipped him with a new computer that might be so heavily fortified that when somebody dropped it the next time the cobblestone would break.
"Well, I guess for the Penthouse the size of our tree is just right, huh?"
He'd been sitting in his car for a while now, engine turned off, watching how the windows fogged due to his body heat and the humidity created by his own breath.
By now the interior of the car had cooled down that much that he could see the clouds when he exhaled, his hands were cold, his back had started protesting against the position he had spent the last hour in.
He could not see the house at the other side of the road anymore due to the fogged windows, yet, he still thought he would find his way there blind, the way back up to his childhood bedroom that, at some point when he still had been talking to his father, when Shannon and Kelly dragged him here every now and then to see Gramps, had been remodeled to a guest room.
Not much had changed in that house since his mother had died, and while back then the angry, unforgiving child he had been after his mother's death had kept his old man from making any changes, he now felt remorse for estranging the only family he had left over and over again.
It seemed to be his MO; to lash out at everyone close, to push them away until they gave up and didn't want to stay anymore. And if they didn't want to stay, screw them, right? Couldn't be good friends then, right?
Sometimes he asked himself what would have happened to his marriage with Shannon had she not been killed. He'd estranged his own father already at a very young age, the few friends he had made throughout his life he had found when he was a Marine or working for the NCIS later on, and even they found it hard to deal with him on a regular basis.
He had three failed marriages under his belt, how could he even dare thinking that his first would have ended in anything else than a disaster? He had not married Diane, Rebecca, or Stephanie because he expected to end the relationships like that. And still he had managed to push all of them out of his life.
He had managed to push the one person away who had always been loyal to him, for longer than anyone else, even his father had given up trying to reconcile. Gibbs did not even remember anymore why he exploded upon seeing his old man with a new spouse at the funeral. He knew about the woman, Jackson had told him…
And once more he was damning rule #6 and his inability to just apologize when he knew he was wrong. How did one apologize for all the crap he had put that young man through? I'm sorry, but I don't really remember all about you, and, seriously, you also could've come by and took some effort to keep our friendship alive? Even he knew that this was not an apology.
It had cost him a dear friend, and the measures he took to make it up to him felt like they were not enough. Yeah, Tony called him Boss again, every once in a while, ignoring David and McGee who jealously observed how Gibbs actually put work into getting DiNozzo back.
It seemed the other man had given up on restoring what they had had. The older agent had read through a bunch of old cases, his stomach coiling into a knot of worry over some of them. It seemed the kid was always in the line of fire, getting abducted, hurt, or infected with the plague, for heaven's sake.
He had also figured out that Tony had moved, choosing not to tell anyone in the team his new address. Delores from HR knew, of course, she had filed it. Keeping his ears open around the people he learned that also Dorneget and Palmer had been invited for Dinner every once in a while. Ducky also seemed to know, sending him a glare when he asked in his usual, gruff manner why nobody told him.
"Young Anthony must have his reasons to keep it from you", the old ME cryptically answered before turning back to the body on his table, and starting to narrate a story to the dead Petty Officer they had fished out of a dumpster. Balboa was handling that case, so he had no reason to stay and went back to his cold cases, the empty desk right next to his own because Ziva was in yet another course, the shivers of the Probie on the desk right across, and the delighted laughter from the corner of the office where the Christmas tree was decorated.
McGee darted out of his chair the moment it was 5 pm, having announced an important appointment already earlier that day. Gibbs knew that Ziva would be back in DC, so most probably it was her. He only grunted his goodbye, trying to ignore the childish banter at the other end of the room.
God, he really hated Christmas.
"C'mon Jimmy, show it to us, how will you know if Breena will like it?" Dorneget exclaimed, nudging the young ME just as Tony and Delores Bromstead started to chant in the same tune.
"Because you all are experts on engagement rings now, or what?" the slim man sarcastically answered, getting a round of Sure we are! as answers, and all Gibbs wanted to do now was be somewhere else and dive into a bottle of bourbon.
While Palmer finally gave in and showed the ring to the oohing and aahing crowd, the MCRT lead agent started to clean up his desk. He wanted to get out of here, as soon as possible, people were just too happy around here.
He just wanted to get up and go fetch his coat when he heard DiNozzo's voice, sincere this time, a little more quiet than before.
"Have you already figured out how to ask?" was what he said and the laughter in the crowd died down a bit, attention turning from Palmer to Tony.
"Not really. I guess I'll improvise. Why, got any suggestions? Or… do you need any?"
He could almost hear the wink that came with that question directed at his SFA, and he expected Tony to brush it off immediately.
What he got was more sincere DiNozzo, and another coil that knotted in his stomach.
"We've only been together for a little less than 6 months… don't you think that's too early?"
He received some exasperated gasps in return.
"Seriously? You should put a ring on him as soon as possible. C'mon, it would only be a formality, anyway. Next to you guys, even Breena and I can only lose as a couple!" Palmer exclaimed, supported by the merry round.
DiNozzo laughed.
"Oh, but what would happen to Dorney and his secret crush on me, then?"
Another round of laughter.
"Yeah, what happens to my secret crush? Seriously, Tony, you should propose to me!"
More shuffling, more laughter, an exasperated "Hey!" by Palmer, and now even Gibbs couldn't keep from turning his attention towards the stupid, half-decorated tree and the spectacle right in front of it.
DiNozzo had snatched the box containing the ring out of Palmer's hand and gone down to his fucking knee in front of Dorneget, presenting the jewelry with a cheeky grin to an obviously play-acting probationary agent who was clutching his hands over his heart.
"Ned, Edmund, dearest Dorney, best Probie of all Probies I have ever had the pleasure to torture, apple of my eye, Higgins to my Magnum, would you give me the honor to stay my faithful Probie till promotion does us apart? Will you continue to fuel the truck, order the supplies, and fill in all the necessary forms in time so director Vance has no reason to send Frieda from budgeting after us again? And I mean ever again! Sorry, Del, but she is even scarier than you are."
Bromstead was just laughing along with them as Jimmy snatched his ring back out of the SFA's hand while DiNozzo got up again, drawing the older woman in a one-armed hug that she readily returned. Gibbs just grabbed his stuff and hurried to the elevator.
You should put a ring on him as soon as possible.
So DiNozzo had someone.
A him someone.
A him someone who was important, significant, loved enough to consider proposing after only six months.
Why the heck could everybody move on with their life and he was stuck in some sort of vicious circle where he always ended up alone in his basement with the stupid boat?
He had brooded over that for a while, taking out his bad mood on David and McGee when they were there and obnoxious enough to annoy him (which was not really hard).
When he caught himself observing DiNozzo and contemplated following him home to figure out if the him someone was good enough for his SFA, he drew a line though, marched up into Vance's office and demanded time off. On the drive home, he started contemplating what to do now.
Burning down house and boat and starting anew somewhere where nobody knew him came to his mind, but then, that would be the coward's way out, and Leroy Jethro Gibbs was many things, but not a coward.
Really? And what kind of person was sitting in his basement, trying to avoid everyone around him? Because he might not like what they had to say? Because they had chosen to no longer take his crap and take their lives into their own hands? Because they dared being happy when he was miserable in this world of doom he mostly had created himself?
He did not really know what made him pack a few things, throw them in the car, and tell Mr. Courter from the house across the road that he would be gone for a few days and if he could take care of the mail, as always? He definitely had now clue why he had ended up in Stillwater of all places, in front of his childhood home, freezing in his fucking car because he was too much of a coward to get out and knock on his father's door.
The knock on the window on the driver's side startled him out of his thoughts, and before he could even react, somebody opened the door.
"Do you plan on freezing to death out here, Leroy, or will you finally come up to the house?!"