Tony walked towards the F.B.I building and smiled as soon as he spotted Spencer.

'We need to talk.' Both men said as soon as they reached each other.

'I guess things went well with you and Hotch last night?' Tony chuckled; he really hoped that this is what it meant.

'Well, enough that I think something may come of it. I guess the same thing could be said about you and Gibbs?''

'It's not exactly the same, but we did kiss a few times.' He would never lie to his friend when it came to this.

Spencer had watched Tony for a little longer before he smiled. 'I am guessing it wasn't on the cheek.' He waited for Tony to nod. 'That's just not fair, that was all I got.'

'Well, I think Gibbs and I are further along the road than you two are.'

'So/ both single again then Tony?'

'That we are, but hopefully not for long. We have sexy bosses that we need to catch.' The two men laughed as they made their way into the building and the BAU.

XXXXX

Vance just stared at Gibbs, Abby and Palmer. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wanted to say that it was all lies, but it did sound like something that Ziva would do to get what she wanted. McGee seemed to think he was someone important and was willing, eager even to follow his teammate in her crazy schemes. They would both soon realise that they weren't irreplaceable. What they both forgot was that they worked in a team that investigated crimes. Tony was the only one that they would suffer from if he left. He was still one of the best, if not the best investigator they had. He had more experience in that area than anyone, which included Gibbs himself.

'What the hell are they thinking?' Vance growled, Shepperd bringing Ziva here had been a mistake. It was one that they had continued with willingly, which had been a mistake. Now it was going to bite them all in the ass if they didn't manage to stop this crazy plan. It would do a lot more harm to NCIS as a whole. Who would want to work somewhere in which you team-mates, those people who had your back made plans behind your back to get rid of you?

'At the moment it's only talk and thankfully DiNozzo's not working on the cases here.' Gibbs was suddenly glad that the BAU you have requested his SICs help.

'True,' Vance chewed a toothpick as he thought. 'Stay on cold cases for now. Pick ones that are DiNozzo's had no hand in. It's quiet, for us, at the moment. Hopefully, we can deal with this before any case comes up that you have to deal with.'

'I'll pick them out.' Gibbs agreed.

'Gibbs,' Vance suddenly called out. 'Thanks for coming straight here and not trying to deal with it yourself.'

'Thanks should go to Palmer. He obviously managed to make them still believe he would help. He's the one that gave us this little bit of space.'

Vance turned to look at the ME assistant. He knew how nervous Palmer was of him and Gibbs. It took a lot of courage for the young man to come forward. 'Good job Mr Palmer.'

Jimmy's face lit up as he smiled. 'Thank you director, Tony's my friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to him if I can help it.'

'We'll try and figure out what to do. At the moment, it's only talk, and we can't do anything to them. If we did bring them in now, they could you say it was a joke. Hopefully, we can sort it out soon.' Vance nodded and indicated that they could leave. Once his office door had closed, he opened a drawer; he then pulled out some painkillers. He had a headache brewing and a feeling that it was going to get worse, but it was also going to grow as this disaster loomed over them.

XXXXX

Tony sat at a desk on the second day still going through files of victims and information that was collected by the BAU. There are a few things that stood out, but he wasn't going to jump to any conclusions until he had gone through them all.

XXXXX

Hotch looked up and smiled as Spencer came in with a file to be signed off. There was never ending paperwork to do in this job.

'Thanks, Spencer. So how are things with you and Tony?' He tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice and failed.

'We're not seeing each other anymore.'

'It wasn't because of last night was it?' The last thing Hotch had wanted was to ruin anything for his friend. Tony was a good man.

Spencer took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge. 'Yes, but not in the way you think.'

Hotch try to stop the hope that has started to grow within him. 'If it's not the way I think, what way is it?'

'Tony and I were honest with each other from the very start. We wanted companionship, but we both had feelings for other people that we believed at the time to be unrequited. Since last night we both think that there could be a possibility of being with that person.' Spencer paused for a moment, 'is there a possibility that what I feel may not be unrequited?'

Hotch couldn't stop the smile that formed on his face. 'I think there's a very good possibility that your feelings are requited. How about we talk about it after work tonight? Jack's away at a play date, and he's spending the night. I'll cook?'

'Sounds great, I'll see you later.' Spencer turned away quickly and nearly walked into the door. The young genius suddenly whirled around and came back in the office to place a file on the desk.

Hotch chuckled as Spencer left his office. He wouldn't tell Spencer at how cute he thought that was. It seemed as if finally something was going his way in his personal life for once. He was very determined that this would work out for them.

XXXXX

Tony looked at Spencer when came in, and nodded. On the way up he had persuaded the young man to take a chance with Hotch. It looked like it had worked out. The two of them could actually end up with the men of the dreams.

XXXXX

McGee and Ziva walked out of the lift together laughing. They never noticed the look on Abby's and Gibbs' faces. Palmer had headed straight down to work. He didn't want to be caught up here when they arrived; he was afraid he would give something away.

'Good morning Gibbs, Abby.' Ziva smiled at them as she spoke.

'Morning.' Abby replied quickly. 'I'll talk to you later Gibbs.' She walked off to the lift her shoes clomped as she hurried away. Just like Palmer she was afraid that she would say something to them, to demand why they would treat Tony like this. She didn't want the do that until they had a plan to make sure that Tony and his job would be safe. Abby wouldn't put it past Ziva to do Tony from physical harm to get what she wanted.

'We're on cold cases for now. I've put some on your desks.' Gibbs watched as the two of them glanced through the files and then over at each other.

'Well, McGee and I thought it would be good training if we went through some of Tony's old cases.'

Gibbs stared at them. They definitely weren't wasting any time. They wanted DiNozzo out, and they wanted it now. He would have to let the others know that they had already begun to push 'Does it look like I'm taking suggestions on what cases you're doing?' He snarled his tempter had already started to rise.

'No Gibbs,' they answered together.

'If I find out you've only glanced through those cases to gets to some of DiNozzo's old ones you're going to wish you never heard my name.' He promised to himself by the end of this they were going to wish that anyway.

McGee and Ziva both gulped. They knew that wouldn't be able to start their plan now; it would have to wait. They would have things the way they wanted in the end anyway.

Ziva took a sip of her tea. Well, things would work out her. McGee was easily played. If Palmer didn't help them, then the computer tech would be the one that would take the fall. He was the one with the ability to make the changes on the system, not her. She did have some skills of her own in that area. If not she would call someone in.

McGee hummed softly as he started his computer up. It wouldn't be long before he was SFA. He would then show Gibbs how an agent who was second in command should act.

'I'm going for coffee.' Gibbs told them sharply and not waiting for an answer he stood and stalked to the elevator. He had to get so he could get his anger under control.

XXXXX

Tony was still at the BAU going through paperwork when everyone had started to leave. He smiled at Spencer when the younger man left. He couldn't wait to see him in the morning. Spencer has told him that he was meeting up with Hotch, and tomorrow is when Tony would get all the gossip.

'Hey, my hunky very special NCIS agent, are you ready for your first computer lesson?' Penelope walked over to him with a smile on her face.

'I am as ready as I'll ever be.' Tony wasn't a huge fan of computers, but he was willing to learn. He was thrilled that Penelope offered, and he wasn't stuck with McGee trying to teach him. He could imagine all the smarmy comments he would have received every time he'd made a mistake. He knew that would never have worked out.

'Don't worry I have set something up for you. I also have also designed something for you to take-home practice on.'

Tony closed the folder, and as he stood he frowned at her. 'Should I be worried?'

'Of course not, come on Padawan you have lots to learn.'

'I will bow to your wisdom, and await your first lesson Master Penelope, or would that be mistress?' Tony grinned and winked at her.

'Oh, mistress definitely.' Penelope grabbed his arm and pulled him into her office, her little domain from where she ruled the world.

XXXXX

Gibbs's front door opened, and Tony walked in with a laptop bag slung over a shoulder.

'What on earth are you doing that DiNozzo?' That was the last thing Gibbs thought that Tony would be carrying.

Tony chuckled. 'When Vance found out about my course, he suggested that the next one I take should be computers. I'm barely better than you are. There's a computer whiz at the BAU, Penelope. She's given me computer lessons. She's even created a movie trivia typing tutor to get my speed up. We also went through some basics, and she even gave me hand-outs.'

Gibbs stood and pulled into his arms. He held him tightly against his own body. 'I needed this.'

Tony wrapped his arms around Gibbs his waist. He loved to feel those hard muscles against his own. This was something he had dreamt about often. 'I guess McGee and Ziva started something? How did Vance take the news? I guess you'll be happy to know that I am now single again.'

Gibbs pulled back instead deeply into a pair of emerald eyes. Then he placed his mouth over the younger man's. He could now do this without guilt, well he hope he could. He didn't want to be the reason that Tony was no longer friends with the man that had given him so much support and encouragement.

Tony wanted to melt into the kiss, but something felt off. There was something still holding Gibbs back.

The silver-haired man could see that Tony had sensed something. The younger man always could read him. 'Are you in Spencer okay? I mean, this hasn't caused you any problems has it?'

'No Spencer and I are good. It seems as if he would be getting the man of his dreams as well.' Tony's cheeks glowed red with embarrassment as soon as he realised what he had said.

'I'm the man of your dreams huh?' Gibbs asked smugly.

'Shut up.' Tony walked away them from the door and then collapsed on the couch. 'So are you going to tell me now how today went?'

'Vance was not a happy man; he did believe us. We have to do something they're not wasting any time.'

'What do you mean?'

'They wanted some of your old cases, for so-called training purposes.' Gibbs explained.

'I never thought they would try anything so soon, unless,' his voice faded off.

'Unless what Tony?'

'Unless they wanted this as proof that I've done it before. They might not think the one case would be enough to condemn me. They would need evidence of my other so-called screw ups. This could be what they were planning. If anyone could do the computer parts its McGee. He could alter things on the system to make it look like I had made mistakes. I'm also sure our little Miss Mossad could deal with the paper copies. If McGee and Ziva hadn't gone to Palmer, they could have possibly pulled this off. Who would have believed me?'

'I would've, you're my senior field agent for a reason. I wanted you in NCIS and on my team for a reason. You have never, ever let me down.'

'You sure that the reason wasn't my cute ass?' Tony joked as he couldn't think anymore about the people who he had once considered family and now they were trying to ruin his career.

'Well, that might have been one of the reasons.' Gibbs smiled as he sat down next to Tony and then pulled the other man into his arms. They both needed this. They needed this comfort that only they could give each other. It hurt like hell being betrayed by people they trusted. In the future, he definitely wasn't going to pair Tony up with either of them. He didn't want to see the man he loved hurt or killed by a so-called accident.

'I guess you'd better tell Ducky. He'll also be able to tell if anything is tampered with, medically speaking.'

'I'll talk to him tomorrow.' Gibbs breathed in Tony's aftershave. 'I missed you today, saying that I'm also glad you away from them at the moment.'

The two of them leaned back, arms still around each other. Tony now rested his head against Gibbs's shoulder.

'I may not be away for a long as you think.' Tony's breath tickled the older man's neck as he quickly fell asleep.

It was clear that Tony hadn't slept the night before, and Gibbs hoped the being wrapped his arms made him feel safe enough to let go. He wanted to ask what Tony meant that he wasn't going to be away for long, but that could wait for now.

XXXXX

Spencer sat on the sofa as Hotch cleared away the remnants of their meal. It had been wonderful. They had talked a little about the case that Tony had been brought in on. They bounced ideas around and then moved onto other topics. It was also a lot easier to be with someone when you knew that they wouldn't be intimidated by your intellect. Spencer was also glad that Hotch was no slouch in the brain's department either, not that that would have made a difference in how he felt about him.

Hotch came through and handed him a cup of coffee.

'So, what exactly do you want from this?' Hotch wanted to know, he knew Spencer was an all in type of guy, but he had to ask. This is something he needed to confirm before they went any further.

'I want a relationship with you. I know it won't be easy as we're both men. On top of that, not only do we work with each other, but you're also my boss. I still think that you're, we're worth the risk.'

'I'm glad to hear you say that. I feel exactly the same way. Life's too short not to take a chance on being happy. I learned that after Hayley was murdered. We'll still take things slowly though. It won't be long before the others know. I expect we'll get lots of jokes and innuendos from them, but I still know that they'll support us.'

'I agree they are a group of good people. Derek is never going to leave this alone.' Spencer laughed at the thought of the man who he considered an older brother.

'We do have an amazing team, a family.'

'Yes we do.' Spencer was so glad that he had listened to Tony. If it hadn't been for his encouragement, he would never have gone and spoken to Hotch. He owed Tony so very much.

XXXXX

Hazel eyes watched her she said goodbye to her friends who were also on shore leave. She was absolutely perfect for what was needed.

TBC