Woohoo! Quickest update in my short history! I had a productive weekend :) This one is for you Jo!
Thanks everyone for the awesome reviews and the adds. I am super eager to get through the next few chapters, so keep your eyes open!
And way to be Kesterpan! Got this betaed in record time too! :) You're amazing, as always!
Chapter 13
The phone ringing from Tony's pants pocket across the room woke both men up. Gibbs let out an almost pitiful noise as Tony jumped out of his arms to go retrieve it. Looking at the clock on the side of the bed, Gibbs decided they should be getting up anyway to go find out if the anthrax had been contained.
He sat up against the headboard, watching Tony's naked body bend over for his slacks and ran his hand down his face. The man was beautiful, and it took what little restraint Gibbs' sleep fuzzy brain could come up with to keep him from getting hard. He listened to Tony's side of the short conversation and watched his lover's expression turn serious, his eyes closing and his hand running through his hair. Something was wrong, and he knew that Tony was being called out.
"Are you sure she isn't just hiding somewhere?" Tony asked. "We'll be there as soon as possible. Call 9-1-1. Get police over to your house to start looking for her and let them know we're on the way, not to go into her room." Tony was already picking his clothes up and heading for the bathroom. Gibbs got up and headed into the small room after him, waiting for him to hang up before speaking.
"What's happening?" he asked, watching Tony jump under the water without waiting for it to warm up, washing evidence of their amazing morning together off of himself.
"The girl that…" Tony spluttered as water ran down his face, then continued. "That was sleeping with our midshipman has gone missing. She found out she's pregnant with his kid when she went for testing today. She freaked out, but she went home with her folks. They, of course, were freaking out, too. Now the girl is missing. Which, you'd think she just ran away, but…" Tony turned off the water and smiled a little as he took the towel Gibbs handed him, but it disappeared quickly. "Her bedroom window shows signs of being jimmied open from the outside, like with a crowbar, and her room looks like there was a pretty big struggle. Her room is the one above the garage, and her parents were in the basement office, trying to talk privately. They went upstairs to talk to her after their talk. They have one of those weird little bi-levels where the garage is like, build into a hill? Yanno?" Tony was yanking his pants on as he rambled and Gibbs watched him, following behind him as he rushed around the bedroom finding his socks, then sitting on the bed to put them on. Gibbs handed him a long sleeved navy blue tee to put on, still naked himself as he leaned against the dresser. "That was her mom. Gave her my card so, she called."
"I'll call Tim, you call Ziva." Gibbs said, reaching for his phone from the nightstand. Before he opened it to dial though, he reached down and gave Tony a deep, unexpected kiss. He had meant it to be just a quick peck, but as soon as his lips hit the younger man's, he had no choice but to deepen it, thrusting his tongue into his mouth and finding the bundle of nerves Tony was repressing released into it.
Tony stood up, still lip-locked with the older man, and brought his hands to his face, holding him close for a moment. When they finally broke apart with a gasp, Tony leaned his forehead against Gibbs'. "Thanks. I needed that."
Gibbs chuckled. "So did I."
Tony stood straight and looked at the eyes of his lover. He saw an uncertainty there that he had never seen before. He was confused for just a moment and then he understood; they weren't going to have time to talk about the big question that Gibbs had popped earlier.
"Hey." The blue eyes snapped up to look into Tony's green ones. "We'll talk about it when I get home tonight. Don't worry. The answer is still yes." Tony gave Gibbs his most genuine smile, finding it rewarded with a large grin and the return of Gibbs' usual spark.
"Good. Now get your ass in gear and go find that girl." Gibbs said, turning Tony around and pushing him towards the door. Tony grabbed his trench off of the coatrack on his way out the door, and then checked to make sure he had everything. Once satisfied with his pat-down, he yelled a hurried goodbye up the steps and then ran out the door, pulling out his phone to dial Ziva.
Gibbs was on the phone with McGee already when he heard Tony's farewell and then the door close.
"Boss?" McGee answered, sounding drowsy himself.
"Yeah, McGee. Tony needs you to meet him at the house of the girl from the case today. Grab the truck. She's missing and there's evidence of a struggle." Gibbs could hear the younger agent jumping out of bed and thumping stuff around as he threw himself together quickly.
"Be there as soon as I can, Boss. Leaving in two." McGee hung up on Gibbs for once, not even realizing it until he was on the way to the Navy Yard.
Gibbs shook his head and looked at his phone. The click wasn't something he was used to hearing. It left him feeling a little odd.
He shrugged and got in the shower, knowing that he was going to have to head into work shortly. He turned the water on and let it run down his shoulders and back, easing the tension that had formed as he watched Tony rush out of the house without him. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much to see Tony go off to a scene without him, but he had a feeling it had to do with the fact he wouldn't be there to protect him. He knew that Tony had Tim and Ziva, but they were his team, and he felt it was his job to protect them all, even his lover and SFA.
He stepped out of the shower a few minutes later and dried himself with a rough cotton towel. He looked down at the towel and realized that he probably should start looking into getting some new ones. He didn't mind them a little rough, but with Tony there, he figured a few new towels would be nice.
He smiled and thought about all of the things that Tony would want to bring with him when he moved in. He imagined that pretty soon, there would be a home where a house once stood, and it made everything in him settle. Things were changing, turning his life upside down and throwing him into a whirlwind that he knew was just starting to pick up, but he was finally ready for it.
He had been waiting twenty years to really let someone in, and now that he had let Tony, he was never letting him go.
Gibbs put his clothes on without quite thinking about it, instead thinking of Tony and their new life together. He imagined Tony coming home from work late one night, grabbing a shower, getting into his favorite flannel PJ pants and coming to sit on the basement steps with a beer while he worked on some project, only this time, they're joking and laughing. He imagined himself coming home late to find Tony waiting up for him on the couch, with a classic movie on, the screen portraying a black and white mobster love story. He pictured himself putting his head against the younger man's shoulder while they watched, letting the day slip away, and falling asleep together right there. Yes, this was right, and he wanted it to last forever.
Sipping the cup of coffee he had poured for himself, he thought about the things he should get to make Tony start feeling more at home until they could get his stuff over there. He wanted Tony to move in the next day, but he knew that wasn't feasible. There were responsibilities to take care of, like leases and a moving truck, and the ever important evil of talking it through, but he was willing to even do that if it meant having Tony with him when he went to bed every night a case didn't claim them.
Finally, realizing what time it was, Gibbs chugged his coffee mug down. He then filled a Styrofoam to-go cup, snapped a lid on it, and took a deep breath to put himself back into work mode as he headed out the front door.
xx-xx
Tony had called Ziva, giving her the short version. He was halfway to the Holdales' house when he took a deep breath and smelled the familiar scent of Jethro. It calmed him immediately until the question of where it came from entered his mind. It took him a minute to remember that he was wearing his lover's shirt, and then he smiled. They were going to have to be careful; sharing clothes like that could expose them. They did after all work with investigators all day, and it wouldn't take much for them to realize whose clothes he kept coming in wearing.
He chuckled at the idea that Tim just might notice the shirt right away, especially since Jethro had called him to meet Tony at the scene. He was once again relieved that he had someone he could share his joy with. He wanted to tell Tim about Jethro asking him to move in, but he wasn't sure Jethro would be okay with that bit of information getting out to anyone yet. They hadn't even had their own discussion about it, so he decided to put off talking to his confidant.
Fantasies ran through Tony's head about what it was going to be like to finally have a place where he could stay. He'd been at NCIS for ten years now, and it had been a home for the man who never really had one. Work didn't have to be home now; he had the real thing.
He shook his head and tried to get focused on the case at hand. There was a missing, pregnant teenage girl, and their prime suspect was looking like a woman who had just lost her husband while he was having sex with said teenage girl. Delaina Micic had said earlier that if her husband hadn't already been dead when she found him, he would have been. The way she reacted when she found out that Merry Holdale had been the one he was cheating on her with was violent, but she collapsed so quickly into a drained, bawling, heartbroken woman, that it seemed to be part of the natural cycling of a grieving mother and wife.
Tony pulled up to the scene to find the LEOs there and searching the neighborhood. Some were already at the Micics' house, flashing lights in each window, including the basement windows, coming to the same natural conclusion. Others were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Holdale. He got out of his car and headed straight for the parents. Mr. Holdale had his arms wrapped rightly around his wife who was crying and mumbling to herself. Tony caught the words "fault" and "not hear" in her ramblings and knew that she was blaming herself. Her husband stared at Tony who nodded back at him.
The officer with them nodded at Tony and then led him into the house. "They're pretty shaken up. Were downstairs when it happened up here. There's no way they would've heard. They made that office specifically in that spot of the house because it's so quiet. I've known these folks a while. Richard used to do stock trading when Merry was little, and they put up extra drywall just to keep it sound proof. Hard to concentrate on the market with a screaming baby upstairs. He wanted to work from home though so he could be closer to her as soon as the market closed. Wasn't enough. He left the business to spend more time with his family. That little girl is his life. Whatever I can do to help, let me know."
Tony liked the man immediately. He cared about this family and gave Tony the feeling that he was still in the job for all the right reasons. "Thanks. My team will be here soon to do the forensics in the bedroom. Was there any sign that the Micic's house had been entered tonight?"
"No. And the dogs are combing the woods. The girl's scent was picked up right outside the window, but after that, there's spots here and there leading through the yard where she probably escaped her attacker, or was released momentarily, and then picked back up. She's a small girl, she wouldn't be hard to carry."
They approached Merry's bedroom and the open door gave them a good view of the struggle pattern. Merry probably was asleep in bed when the attacker jimmied the window. Tony looked at the string of things knocked over between the bed and the window. He heard familiar voices over his shoulder and found McGee and Ziva coming towards them. "Hey, probies. Let's get in here."
The two agents went past him and into the room looking around and wondering where to start. Tim left the kit by the door and snapped on his gloves, then handed a pair to Tony, who stepped into the room to take them. Tony put them on as he turned to the officer at the door. "I'll let you know as soon as possible if we have anything turn up that can help with the search. Send someone over to Delaina Micic's sister's house to get a headcount. If anyone is missing, call me right away."
The officer nodded. "Will do. Good luck."
Tony nodded back. "Thanks."
The three agents looked around the room, placing markers where things needed to be photographed and collecting traces of materials by the window. Ziva had begun snapping pictures when Tim noticed a pair of headphones lying on the floor next to the bed. He looked around for an mp3 player or phone that they would have been plugged into, but couldn't find one. He climbed onto the bed and looked for it between the wall and the mattress, but found nothing.
"Whatcha thinkin' McGruff?" Tony asked when he noticed how Tim was searching for something specific, looking very much like one of the search dogs.
"Tony, there's headphones, but no player. There's no ipod, no cell phone, not even a laptop. If she was listening to music when she was taken, she may have the player with her. Depending on what type it is, it might have GPS built in. I need to go talk to her dad. Be right back." Tim headed past Tony, taking quick strides through the house and out to the front stoop where the Holdales were still holding one another and watching the neighborhood being searched.
"I'm sorry to bother you both, but I need to know if Merry had an mp3 player or a cell phone that she could have been listening to when she was taken." Tim looked to Richard Holdale, praying he would deliver good news.
"We got her an iPhone for her birthday last year. We wanted her to have a good phone to get in touch with us, figuring her senior year was coming up and she'd want to go out more with friends. She loved it, but more for the other things it did. She's always reading on it and listening to music, looking things up on it when she had a question that neither of us knew the answer to." Richard looked at Tim with questioning eyes.
"I can't find it. Do you know where it is?" Tim asked.
Richard's eyes lit up, knowing where Tim was going with this. "No. She would have had it with her. She always had that thing in her pocket, a wire strung between it and her ears."
Tim got the phone number of the cell and met the man's eyes. "Thanks. I'll let you know as soon as I have more information for you." He jogged back into the house and into the bedroom. "She's going to have her phone on her. I need to call Abby." Tim began dialing the number while Tony and Ziva packed up the gear.
"Hey Timmy, thought you were going to stay in tonight, catch up on some sleep?" Abby answered.
"Abs, I'm at a crime scene. Are you still in the lab?" He had run into Abby as she came in to run the standard tox screen for Ducky and then stayed to do her monthly requisition forms. He prayed she was at her computer.
"Yeah. I just shut everything down. Let me wake my babies back up. What's going on?" Tim smiled to himself. She made the transition from lover to co-worker with ease, simply flipping a switch in her mind somewhere, and Tim was grateful that they could do it so easily.
"I need you to track the GPS in a cell phone for me. The girl from the Micic case is missing and it's obvious she's been kidnapped. We think she has her phone on her." Tim could hear Abby's fingers already click-clacking on her keyboard and knew just when she was ready for the number by their rhythm, a pattern set in his mind long ago.
"Oh geez, Tim!" Abby started when the results came up. "Normally, I wouldn't be creeped out by this, but seeing as there's a young girl missing, this is totally creeping me out, and she's not me, so she's probably scared to death right now and t-"
"Abby! Where is it?" Tim cut in.
"Sorry, Timmy. Oakwood Cemetery. I'm bringing up satellite imagery now. I'll try to get you guys a better idea of where and what's happening. Call me back in five." Abby hung up the phone and Tim turned to Tony and Ziva who were waiting.
"She's in Oakwood Cemetery. Or at least her phone is. Abby's pulling satellite right now so we can get a better idea of where," he announced. He grabbed the kit from Tony and waited for instructions.
"Atta boy McGruff! Let's go, kids!" Tony said, reaching up and shaking Tim for a moment by his shoulder. They got out to the porch and Tony let Tim tell the parents where they were going while he tracked down the officer he talked with earlier.
"Peters! Oakwood Cemetery! Girl's cell phone is still on her." Peters looked at Tony and then whistled to his officers.
"I need Travalone, Burgess, Scott and Michaels with me. We got a lead on where the girl is." His voice carried and was followed by a few shouts of celebration from the men and women combing the woods behind the house. Four officers headed towards where they were standing from the woods, two with dogs, and Tim and Ziva came to stand with them after storing the gear in the truck.
Peters turned towards Tony. "There's not many places to hide in that cemetery. There's a lot of trees though, and in some parts the older, large headstones." Tony looked at him, wondering how he knew it so well. "My parents are buried there." Peters shrugged. Tony nodded.
"McGee, Abby got that satellite up yet?" Tony asked, looking next to him as Tim pulled out his phone to call. They all waited with baited breath, the only noise the panting of the dogs at their heels.
"Abby, I'm putting you on speaker. We're with locals and I've got Tony and Ziva here." Tim put his phone out into the middle of the group, holding it so everyone could hear.
"She's there with two other people. The heat signatures are hard to tell, but they look twice her size, so they must be pretty big." She said, describing the situation.
"No, she's just really small." Tony said. "Abs, where in the cemetery are they?"
"There's a strip mall that butts up against the back of it. They're closer to that end. I can't get an image of the parking lot from satellite because it's so dark now, but the moon is going to be full tonight so hopefully that will help. They're past the first access road. Call me when you get there and I can try to lead you better, but the satellite trajectory is supposed to change soon for the one I've been using to get the image, so you'll have to hurry." Abby was talking a mile a minute and Tony was glad. He knew that speed was of the essence at this point.
"Thanks, Abs. Will do." Tim hung up the phone and Tony looked at Peters. "Let's go." The officer nodded at him and they each went their separate ways, trying to hurry to their vehicles without running in case the Holdales were watching. They didn't need them worried any more than they already were. Tim had had a hard enough time telling them that they needed to stay home in case she tried to call.
They all drove separately, Ziva in her car, Tony in his, and Tim in the crime scene truck. They followed the red and blue lights of Peters' police car as they pulled into a strip mall about ten minutes away, and then behind the buildings, over the turf into the cemetery and onto an access road.
They all got out of their cars and drew their weapons and flashlights. Tim and Ziva came up behind Tony and he motioned for them to stay together. Tony headed for Peters and moved with him through the slew of plots and headstones, aiming his light at every tree, silently hoping to find movement behind each one that would reveal where their kidnappers and victim were. Tony ducked behind a headstone and pulled his phone out, hitting Abby's speed dial. She answered, talking immediately. "I see you guys. Two went to the left, two are in the middle and three with what looks like dogs? Maybe? They went up the road and are backtracking. The two on the left are heading for Merry and the bad guys."
Tony could see the flashlights of the other officers with the dogs as they backtracked, meaning that Ziva and Tim were the two heading towards their perps and vic. He gave a shrill whistle. "Thanks Abs, he whispered." The cops and their dogs all stopped and looked towards Tony who motioned silently for them all to head towards where Ziva and Tim were heading. He took a deep breath and felt a bit of anxiety at the thought that he had directed them to go off together, right towards the danger. He tried not to think about it and moved quickly and stealthily behind them.
When they all caught up, Ziva and Tim were circling an open ended mausoleum shaped like an L. They could all hear noises coming from inside, echoing. Two people were arguing, a man and a woman. Tony's eyebrows went up, confused by who they were, not recognizing their voices. The dogs were going crazy, jumping and giving off their tells, trying to get closer to the entry of the stone building and to the girl within.
Tony came up on Tim's side, and the younger man looked at him with a nod. Tony motioned for Peters and his other dogless man to go around the other side and cover Ziva. Tony signaled and he and Tim moved in on their side, shouting for the captors to freeze and raise their hands. Instead of following orders, they took off running down to the other end of the L. They heard the sounds of struggle as Tony bent down to check on Merry, who was lying on the cold granite floor. She was out cold, probably drugged, but her breathing was steady.
There was suddenly a sound behind him and when he looked up, Tim had Delaina Micic's sister, Sandy, pressed up against the wall, face first, one arm twisted behind her back. Tony looked at Tim for a moment with raised eyebrows as he cuffed her. Once he realized Tim had it well under control, he turned back to the girl on the ground, dialing for an ambulance and holding his fingers to the side of her neck to double check her pulse, comforted by it heavy thumping.
He directed the dispatcher to where they were, and then swooped to pick the girl up and carry her out into the moonlight. The dogs whined, but stayed where they were lying on the ground. Tim had Sandy, and Ziva had a man no one had ever seen before. They marched the kidnappers towards where their cars were waiting on the access road. They put them both in the back of Peters' car so he could bring them to NCIS, seeing as they all had their personal cars with them. One of the officers opened the back of the crime scene truck and Tony sat down with Merry on the floor, his feet dangling over the edge while they waited for the ambulance. He had been drugged a few times himself and he knew that waking up from it wasn't a pleasant experience. He figured she would rather wake up with someone she recognized in a truck than on the floor of a cemetery vault.
Tim and Ziva joined him. Tim was on his cell, already calling Richard Holdale to tell him that they had his daughter and were waiting for an ambulance to take her to get checked out. Ziva looked at Tony with the young woman in his arms and sat down next to them. She was looking at them strangely for a long moment before Tony broke under her gaze.
"What?" Tony asked her.
"You are different lately. I am not sure how to explain it, but it is suits you." Ziva looked from the young woman in Tony's arms, to his serious green eyes again that stared back at her, a bit of pain in them.
Tony felt like he owed her an explanation as to what it was that was grounding him and giving him the courage to let himself bring down the clown barricade. She had told him about her fear of being pregnant after all. She had been a close friend for a long time now. He gave her a sad smile, knowing that it wasn't time yet.
"I guess that's what happens when you're happy." Tony said softly, trying to smile at her, but was made immediately aware of the woman in his arms as she began to stir. She suddenly jerked up, eyes wide and terrified. The light in the back of the van gave the look on her face an even more ominous feel. The sound of ambulance sirens could be heard nearing, and Tony felt relieved.
"Merry?" Tony said, looking down at the frightened girl in his arms. "It's okay. You're okay now. You're safe. Your folks will be here soon, but we're going to get you checked out, okay?"
"Agent DiNozzo? Where… where am I?" Tears were slipping over the girl's cheeks and she started to shake rather violently. Ziva reached into a drawer behind her and pulled out a blanket, wrapping it around the girl who pulled it close and clung to Tony as she cried.
"We're in the crime scene truck." Tony said, trying not to frighten her by telling her they were in a spooky graveyard. "You were taken by Nate's sister-in-law and a man. Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?" Tony's voice was calm and gentle. Merry said nothing, but continued to shake and cry in his lap, her arms around his neck. Tony noticed Tim motioning to someone and knew that the EMS had arrived. They came around the truck with a gurney and took in the sight.
"Merry? The EMTs are going to check you out and take you to the hospital until the drugs wear off. Your parents should be here any minute, and one of them can ride with you. Okay?" Tim tried to sound comforting and was rewarded with Merry letting go of Tony's neck to turn towards him and nod. Ziva stood up and pulled one of the EMTs aside. Tony knew she was going to fill her in on the extent of the situation and the pregnancy. He got up and moved to lay Merry on the stretcher. She let go and lay back, crying.
Tony saw two shadowy forms running towards them. He moved back out of the way as they came to the side of the stretcher and took their daughter's hands, her mother tenderly moving the hair from her face and whispering to her. Tony didn't miss the look that Richard gave Tim, full of gratitude. Tony gave Tim a proud smile. His little probie was growing up. He knew why Tim had passed on the cyber-crimes position, and that he was happy where he was at, but like himself, he knew that Tim could easily be doing so much more by now.
The ambulance soon pulled away with Merry and her mother, Richard following behind them in their car. Tony sent Tim and Ziva back to the yard with the truck and Peters, letting them know that they were to put the two kidnappers in separate rooms to boil while he went and got Merry's statement at the hospital. He waited for everyone else to leave and then pulled his phone out.
Got the girl back safe. T and Z are bringing her kidnappers back to the yard, I'm going to the hospital to get Merry's statement. Did "clean-up" go okay?
Tony turned the car on, knowing that he probably wouldn't get a text right back, and Merry wouldn't be ready for a statement for a bit. The heat cranked up, and the windows defrosting, he let himself get lost in thought.
We're not going to be able to keep this a secret much longer if we move in together. I wonder if Jethro really meant what he said about wanting to tell everyone. I should tell Ziva. I should tell Abby. I can't tell Ziva and not tell Abby, but if we tell Abby… uuuuuhhhhgggg…
Tony's thoughts were interrupted by the chime of his phone. He opened it to find a text back from Gibbs.
Good. All cleaned up. I'm already back home, wishing you were with me. Going to bed. See you when you get home. Love you.
Tony smiled and took a deep breath.
Love you 2 Jethro. I'll wake you up when I get there.
Tony pulled out of his spot, and headed to the hospital. It didn't take long for him to get the statement from Merry. They had given her something to counteract the drug in her system and she was wide awake and alert. Her parents looked exhausted, and Tony left hoping that they had a chance to sleep soon.
He was leaving the lot when his phone rang. He saw the caller ID and put it on the speaker cradle. "What's up McGeek?"
"Delaina Micic just called. She said she was worried because her sister was missing and she was being a little over-zealous before she lay down for a nap earlier. She wouldn't say about what, but when I told her that we had Sandy in custody, she said she was coming in." Tim sounded apprehensive on the other end of the line.
"Good. Maybe she can convince an easy confession out of her sister, and we can end this. Did she indicate who the man was?" Tony asked. He could hear Tim's sigh of relief on the other end of the phone.
"She said that she had a good idea of who it was, but she didn't give me a name. Are you going to be here soon?" Tim obviously didn't want to have to deal with Micic without him.
"I'm heading back to the yard now. Hopefully I beat her there. You guys working on your reports?" Tony turned down the road towards the yard.
"Yeah. We're both done with as much as we can have done. Abby is processing evidence already. Gibbs came down, got his stuff and left." Tim's voice lowered and Tony knew that whatever was about to be said was to be said in secret. The echo in the phone changed when Tim started talking again and Tony knew that he had gone around the corner behind the stairs so Ziva couldn't hear. "He seemed pretty eager to get out of here. Everything okay?"
Tony couldn't help but smile broadly. "Definitely. He asked me to move in." Tony was so excited suddenly, needing to share his news with Tim.
"Wait, as in, move in? Into his house? Live with him?" Tim's hushed flabbergasted voice fed Tony's joy.
"Yup! He said that he wanted me to make it a home again, like it was with his girls." Tony felt his voice crack despite himself, and he cleared his throat.
"Wow. That's… that's huge Tony. I take it you said yes?" Tim asked.
Tony sighed happily. "Oh yeah. We haven't really talked much about it yet, but I want this more than I have ever wanted anything. Don't know how we're going to keep it a secret yet, but I'm loving the idea too much to let all of that bring me down."
"That's wonderful. I'm happy for you. Both of you." Tim hesitated a moment. "I don't think Abby and I will be ready for that for a long time."
"Probably not. Jethro and I have been dancing around this for years, so it makes sense. You guys tried it, backed off, and are coming back around now. Enjoy what you have. There's nothing wrong with it. What's right for us isn't going to be right for you two." Tony knew his friend's insecurities well by now.
"True." Tim said after thinking a moment.
"I'm pulling in now. I'll be up in a minute." They said their quick goodbyes and a few minutes later, Tony was standing in the bullpen, shedding his coat and pulling a button down out of the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet to put on over his t-shirt. He had just gotten it tucked in, chatting it up with Ziva and Tim when the elevator dinged and a guard came through with Delaina Micic and Keegan.
She headed straight for Tony. "What did she do?" she asked without even saying hello, looking at Tony with sad, imploring eyes.
"She kidnapped Merry Holdale." Tony said flat out. "She had a man with her, but they won't give up his name."
"That would be Justin. He's her ex-husband's little brother. He just got out of jail. She knows that man is in love with her and would move mountains for her. She could have easily gotten him to do this with her. I didn't want this, Agent DiNozzo. She was going crazy this afternoon. Wouldn't let me sleep, kept Keegan up with her tirades. I just wanted a few hours of sleep to clear my head. I finally locked Keegan and I in her bedroom. The next thing I know, it's going on eight o'clock, Keegan was crying, my head was pounding and I couldn't find Sandy."
"Would you be comfortable talking to her? Try to get her to confess? It could really help her if she co-operates and gives us the info we need, but as of yet, she hasn't been willing to say anything. It's pretty obvious. We found her with Justin and Merry in a mausoleum together."
Delaina switched the hip that she carried Keegan on as he slept in her arms through their discussion. It took a minute of thinking before she nodded at Tony, who mentally sighed. He wanted this case over with. He led her to observation and Ziva followed them in.
"I'm going to go talk to her first, and then you can go in and talk to her." Tony slipped out and into the interrogation room, leaving Ziva with Delaina and Keegan. He began with asking Sandy some basic questions and telling her that confessing would make it easier on her. She wouldn't tell her anything though and so he stood up and left the room. He moved into observation and nodded to Delaina. She moved and handed Keegan to a surprised Ziva, who took him with wide eyes. Tony smiled at the sight of her holding the sleeping child. Her petite frame looked swallowed up by the two years old in her arms, but as comical as her expression was, he thought it looked natural for her to be holding a child.
Delaina marched into interrogation and went off on Sandy. She was suddenly a force to be reckoned with, and it was only then that Tony realized that Delaina was the older of the two. The woman had been so fragile earlier, but now she was the stronger of the two, demanding and direct. When she opened the door to tell Tony to come back in, he came out of observation and they both stood in front of Sandy as she told the entire story. She had roped Justin into it, not telling him what they were doing until they were at the house and sneaking around back. He stayed outside the window as the lookout while she argued with Merry, and then subdued her with chloroform before dragging her to the window.
They had been hiding in the mausoleum with the girl so that they could have a place to think. Justin wanted to just go drop her off in yard down the road from her house, itching to wash his hands of everything. Sandy wanted to go leave her deep in the Virginia woods to have to fend for herself, make a "real adult" out of her.
Tony and Delaina eventually left her alone in the room and returned to Ziva and Keegan. Ziva was swaying gently with the child as they came in. She handed him back to his mother with a smile.
"Ziva, go talk to Justin. See if he corroborates the story. I'm going to go check in with McGeek and see if he and Abby have finished processing what they need to." He said it quietly as not to wake the child who had miraculously not awoken yet. He looked at Delaina Micic who appeared even more exhausted than he felt, and he understood why.
"You've been a big help. I'm sorry for everything you've been through today. Have you called the counselors yet?" He asked.
"I called them earlier. I'll be going in tomorrow to sit down with them. I don't feel like any of this is real." Tony nodded at her and she continued. "I mean, first, Nate, and now Sandy and Justin? I just want to go home and sleep for days."
Tony asked if she needed help getting home and she assured him she would be fine, and he believed her completely. She was nothing like the woman he encountered earlier in the day, and it was good to see. It wasn't going to be easy, but she would get through this.
He sat behind his desk, hands running through his hair as his PC booted up. He called down to Tim and Abby for an update on the evidence. It was almost finished. Fingerprints on the window sill had matched the two kidnappers, and that pretty much made everything solid. He hung up and started in on the report. Half an hour later, Ziva came in and sat down at her desk.
"Well? How'd it go?" he asked, looking across the aisle at her.
"He is… not the brightest. He told me everything, and then some. That woman is crazy. Not healthy at all. She has been playing with his brain for a long time."
"You mean playing with his head, messing with his mind?" Tony clarified.
"Yes, those things. He has been trying to get her to go out with him for a long time. She says she will, uses him for something, and then finds excuses not to go. He said he did not fall for it the last time, but this time, she was crying and he gave in. Everything else happened just like she said." Ziva shook her head and began typing up the rest of her report. Tim joined them shortly and soon, the only sounds in the bullpen were three keyboards working.
Tony had his report printed up and on the stack with the other two about an hour after Tim and Ziva left. It was midnight and he yawned before putting on his coat and heading out. The temperature had dropped significantly since their earlier adventure. He pulled his coat around him as he got out of his car and headed up the steps into Gibbs' house. He closed the door behind him gently, so that he wouldn't wake his lover. Tony hung his coat up and kicked off his shoes before heading upstairs. He watched his lover sleeping in the moonlight as he took off his clothes and crawled into bed with him. He kissed him gently and Jethro's lashes fluttered to reveal sleepy blue eyes.
"Hey." A dreamy smile formed slowly across Jethro's face and he wrapped his arms around Tony, kissing him gently before snuggling up against him. A few minutes later, they were both sleeping soundly against one another.
xx-xx
Tony slipped out of Jethro's arms in the middle of the night to hit the head. He headed to the kitchen afterwards to grab a bottle of water to soothe his dry throat, and found himself drawn to the moonlight shining in the back door. It felt like he was standing in the middle of a dream as he looked out on the moonlit back yard that was covered with a perfectly thin layer of snow, making everything shimmer in white.
When did that fall? He thought.
He watched as the colors danced off the snow, shining and sparkling, revealing the magical beauty that white light on white snow hid. It was iridescent, and it made him dazed in a good way. He sighed deeply and let a small, genuinely content smile cross his lips.
This was going to be his home soon. It felt right. He had never been as sure of anything as he was that Gibbs' house was home, something he had looked for his entire life, though he knew it had nothing to do with the building. Gibbs' house is where Gibbs was, therefore, it was and would always be, home.
In those strong arms, protected, safe, wanted and loved, Tony found shelter from all of the insecurities, all of the denial, the self-defamation, the pain… Gibbs loved him, and if Gibbs said he was worthy of being loved, he was. It was like Gibbs telling the part of Tony that had been barely hanging onto hope, that it wasn't allowed to die, saving him yet again. This time, the disease wasn't physical, and the scars had long since made themselves known, but Gibbs had begun to heal even the oldest of them in just a week.
Tony remembered where they were a week before, sitting in a bar, laughing and talking. It was so natural, so comfortable, so exciting and fun. It was great. He smiled to himself thinking about how it all had begun years before, taking him by surprise when he realized he wasn't just physically attracted to the man he had just tackled to the ground, but also intellectually attracted. Gibbs was smart and calculating, able to read people in ways that Tony respected and admired.
He shook his head at himself. He had always marveled over the man, and now Jethro was upstairs in bed asleep without him. Tony turned on his heels and smiled broadly as he bounded up the stairs and back to bed. He slipped his arms around his lover, and felt Gibbs' arms come around him easily, pulling him close against him. His mind tried to race with questions about their relationship, and Tony shut them down immediately. He knew that time would tell, so for now, he was going to enjoy the man in his arms, and have a perfect night's sleep.
xx-xx
Gibbs woke up with his face pressed against Tony's chest, hearing his heartbeat. He inhaled Tony's scent and nuzzled against the younger man. He knew Tony hadn't gotten in until late last night and decided to let him sleep. He gently untangled himself from Tony's arms and stared into his sleeping face for a long moment. Definitely wanna wake up to that every day, he thought, smiling. He spent some time in the bathroom shaving and taking care of his morning business, then got dressed and headed for the kitchen.
The familiar smell of coffee began its therapeutic effect before he had even poured a cup. He drank it down and poured another before sitting at the kitchen table with a notebook and pencil. He started making a list of all of the things that he wanted to do to make Tony feel at home until they could get him moved in.
TOWELS
HAZELNUT STUFF/CREAM/SUGAR
FOOD
He chuckled to himself at that one, thinking about how rarely he actually went to the grocery store. There was almost never anything to eat in the house. "Any food" would be an upgrade from the current "no food" status he was in. He knew some of Tony's staples, so he could make sure they were there for him.
MAKE ROOM IN CLOSET. A LOT OF ROOM.
MICROWAVE POPCORN
He tried to think about what else he could do, but he knew that soon enough, the entire house would be overrun with Tony's belongings. That's when it hit him. They were going to need more room to store things until they could all be unpacked, and Jack was planning on coming up next month, so they couldn't put it all in the guest room. His mind began racing with the overwhelming concept that he was going to have his dad with him and Tony in the house, which meant telling him that they were together.
The other idea swimming around in his head was even more confusing though. He thought about Kelly's bedroom upstairs, vacant for so long, but barely touched. He hadn't been in it for years now. He took a deep breath. It was time; time to clear out the room, and time to let them go and move on with his life. His thoughts and feelings wrestled with one another. He thought he should feel guilt, pain, and sorrow, but he didn't. Instead, he felt relief, joy and comfort.
He stared across the room at the wall for a long time, letting the thoughts turn in his head. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He picked up his mug, refilled it and headed for the basement. He had been working on a bench for back porch, and the idea of getting lost in some sanding sounded like a good idea. Before he made it through the door though, he turned back to the notepad. Taking a deep breath to find his resolve, he added one more thing to the list.
CLEAN OUT KELLY'S ROOM
xx-xx
Tony woke up chilly and alone. He rolled over, confused that Jethro wasn't in bed with him. He saw the clock read a little after 1000 though and he smiled. Of course he's up. He was asleep long before I got home.
Tony sat up and stretched, working the kinks out of his back and then, as he stood, his knee. He still popped and cracked a bit as he headed for the bathroom to shower and finally shave. Twenty minutes later, he was dressed in his jeans, a t-shirt he pilfered from Jethro's drawers, and his own sweatshirt. He felt comfortable and warm with the man's shirt against his skin, and his favorite hoodie over it. He decided he liked it better than any of his suits, surprising himself. It had been a while since he didn't feel the need to hide behind a suit.
He headed to the kitchen to find the coffee waiting, but no Jethro. He noticed the list on the table and scanned it. As he came to the last item on the list, he sat heavily in a chair. At first, he didn't know what to think. That was unexpected, and he knew it was going to take a huge toll on his lover. Then another thought occurred to him. Maybe he's finally ready for that, now that he doesn't have to do it alone. He smiled to himself and felt a warmth go through him that had nothing to do with hoodies or coffee. His eyes closed for a moment as he let himself bask in the feeling. In the silence though, he began to hear the faint sounds of sanding coming from the basement, and it pulled himself out of the trance.
He made his way slowly down the basement steps, trying to remain casual but not feeling it. This was the first time they had been in the basement since they had gotten together. It was a safe place for both of them, and he knew exactly what had driven Jethro back into it. He leaned against the work bench for a long while, and stared at his lover's hands as they sanded the wood of a beautiful bench.
"Will you tell me about her someday?" Tony asked quietly, trying to make eye contact with Jethro's dropped eyes. It took such a long time for Jethro to respond that Tony didn't think he was going to.
"Maybe. It just feels weird, talking about Shannon… and Kelly… especially with you," he admitted softly.
"That's because you see me as trying to replace her, fill her shoes. Isn't it?" Tony asked, still quiet but with an assertive voice that made Jethro look up at him.
"Jethro, I'm never going to replace them. I wouldn't want to. I am just me, and what we have is something so different from what the two of you had. It's not fair to your girls, or to me, or even to yourself to keep comparing us." Tony made sure to keep his voice gentle but firm. He knew that was the reason why none of his marriages had worked. Lucky for me, he thought.
After a long minute of silence, Jethro's shoulders dropped and the older man sighed deeply. "What you and I have going on… it's incredible. I never thought I would be this happy again. That's where it stops- the comparing. I was happy then, and I'm happy now, and it reminds me of Shannon and Kelly, and who I was then. I feel like I should feel guilty, like I did with the exes, but I don't. That has me confused. This is uncharted territory for me. I'm just trying to find my ground, and that's just so damn hard, when every time I look at you, every time I hear your voice, I…" Jethro shook his head, at a loss for words. How did Tony always do this to him? How did Tony get him to open up like this?
"When every time I look at you, every defense I've managed to build over the years comes crashing down around me, and you are there, inside the perimeter I've spent so long keeping everyone out of. And I like it, I need it, having you there, so close, and it makes me feel like I'm starting a new life, becoming someone I haven't ever let myself be… and that scares me, and I… I mourn all of the could- have-beens if I just would have let someone in sooner, at the same time knowing that I couldn't let anyone in sooner. It had to be you. I have spent twenty years waiting for you… for you to break through so that I wouldn't be alone anymore. I don't want to be alone anymore."
Tony had been standing against the work bench, watching Jethro come to terms with what he was feeling, actually talking about it. Tony was astonished, and the intensity of the words being spoken had his heart fluttering and his eyes glazing over. He moved to his lover and wrapped his arms around his waist. "You won't ever be alone again, Jethro. I promise."
Jethro's arms came around Tony tightly, holding onto him for support as he felt himself unraveling. He needed the comfort of the man in his arms. He needed to be close to him, to feel his breath on his skin and hear his voice in his ear whispering those words. He wanted to do this, to take on this new world, but he couldn't do it without Tony.
Tony held onto Jethro, his chin on top of his lover's head as Jethro buried himself in the neck of his sweatshirt. "You do the same thing to me, you know?" Tony started saying softly, his hands rubbing comforting circles on Jethro's back. "You make me bring down the walls. Anytime I brought them down in the past, I felt vulnerable, but now, I bring them down and I feel powerful, confident. I know I've got you in my corner, and I feel like, for the first time in my life, I can be myself and someone loves me for that."
Jethro brought his head up so that he could look Tony in the eyes. "I've always loved you for who you are, Tony. A part of me didn't want all of your better traits to come to the surface. They were just for me, a secret we shared. Not to mention, I was afraid if you really let everyone see the real you, you'd move up and off the team, and I'd lose you. I'm afraid of that now, but knowing that you're going to come home to me every night makes it a lot easier to take."
"You think I'm going to leave the team?" Tony asked, the conversation with Vance running through his head. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Jethro about it, yet.
Jethro shrugged. "I wouldn't blame you if you took a team lead position if Vance were to offer one to you."
"Did he tell you he was going to? Because he tried to have a heart to heart with me about that earlier, and I told him that I'm happy where I'm at."
Before Tony could blink, Jethro's lips were pressed against his with a needy kiss full of relief and desperation that took his breath away. He kissed his lover back, arms tightening around him with the promise that he wasn't going anywhere. Tony had never expected Jethro's fear of being left. It made sense, losing his first love and then being left by three women he had tried to replace her with, but this was Tony, the loyal Saint Bernard through and through. He wouldn't ever choose to leave Jethro's team, and he was never going to choose to leave his life. He poured as much reassurance into the kiss as possible.
Jethro's hands reached for the edge of Tony's sweatshirt and slipped under it and the soft tee below. He needed more contact, skin on skin, to make sure Tony was real and in his arms. Tony groaned at the way his lover's fingers brushed over his sides and then clutched his back. His hands made their way up to Jethro's shoulders before one slipped back into his hair, pulling slightly and making Jethro growl into the kiss.
Their bodies pressed against each other as hard as they could, letting each other know just how much of a reaction they were having on one another. Their breaths were becoming shorter and shorter, panting in a desperate need to touch one another and find release. Tony caught Jethro's bottom lip between his teeth and Jethro's hands slid into the back of Tony's jeans, finding he had bypassed boxers this morning and groaned as he made contact with Tony's ass. He had a palm on each cheek and pulled Tony sharply against him, slamming their groins together.
Tony kept one hand in Jethro's hair, while the other ran down his clothed chest and stomach until it found the button on Jethro's jeans. It was hard to unbutton them considering the strain the older man's erection was having on the fabric, and somewhere in the back of Tony's head, he suddenly realized just why Jethro wore his jeans so loose. The button finally opened and Tony unzipped the pants, letting them droop down Jethro's legs.
Jethro pulled Tony against him again in another thrust and Tony groaned. This was too much, he needed more, needed everything Jethro could give him. He let the older man go and unbuttoned his own jeans, then reached forward and pulled Jethro's boxers down, freeing his erection. Both men were on fire, burning fast and bright. Tony pulled Jethro against him so that they were pressed against one another, the friction making it almost impossible to breathe. He whispered in his lover's ear, unable to breathe deeply enough to find his full voice. "I'm not going anywhere. I need you, in my life, in me. Please."
Tony was suddenly turned face down on the table in the middle of the room and he groaned deeply, trying not to come already at the way Jethro had his body pressed along the length of his backside.
Jethro pressed heavily on Tony, possessively. He brought his mouth next to his lover's ear. "You're mine, Tony. You're not going anywhere."
"I don't want to. I need you, please Jethro."
Tony cried out as Jethro plunged into him unceremoniously, his leaking pre-cum just enough lubrication to make it possible.
"FUCK YES!" Tony cried out, feeling Jethro bottom out deep inside of him. He quivered and reached across the table, grasping the edges as Jethro plunged into him over and over again, his hands on Tony's lower back. They both moaned and gasped with each thrust, feeling every slight movement of Jethro's cock as it buried itself time and time again into his lover, taking what he needed from him.
Tony reveled in the loss of control, knowing that Jethro was holding nothing back. He wanted nothing less from him and gave himself over to his lover's reckless abandon. It was intense, powerful, fiery and had him waiting on the edge. Jethro's angle was perfect, hitting his prostate over and over again, making him see stars against the pain that accompanied the raw fucking, and heightening the sensation in a way he had never experienced.
When he felt his lover's nails digging into his back suddenly and scraping down his ass, he knew he was about to be filled with Jethro's release. One final thrust from Jethro, and one final groan from Tony, then Jethro howled and came.
Jethro pulled out of Tony and leaned against the table, his hands grasping the edge as he tried to stay on his feet, his head swimming in a beautiful fog. Tony stood up, aching and throbbing for release. He came to stand behind Jethro, his fingers running down Jethro's back, making him shiver. He wrapped his hands around his waist, his cock pressing against his lover's ass, letting him know exactly what he wanted.
Jethro nodded through the fog and leaned heavily on the table. Tony was leaking copious amounts of pre-cum by this point. He separated Jethro's butt cheeks and rubbed his head against his tight hole, smearing the thick liquid and then, very slowly, pushed himself in. He knew Jethro was still lost in his post-orgasm bliss when the only reaction to his non-prepped entry was the tightening of the ring of muscle around his cock. Tony slid in gently, his arms coming back around Jethro's waist as he began moving slowly in and out of him. Jethro was so tight around him that Tony could barely breathe. It felt so good and soon there was no controlling his thrusts. Jethro ended up in the same position Tony had been, face down on the table, hanging on for dear life as his partner fucked him mercilessly.
Tony knew that his lover was coming back around when he started hearing his moans and shouts of, "God yes, Tony, please, harder, please!" Tony pulled out as far as he could without completely leaving his lover's body and then plunged back into him, over and over again as hard as he could. Jethro's head came up off the table and he growled loudly. "Fuck me! Oh, God, yes! Fuck me! Feels so damn good!"
Tony started growling, letting go completely to a beast he didn't know was pacing within him, and began pulling Jethro back against him with each thrust, crushing his balls against Jethro's ass and his own thigh. Another minute of panting and thrusting and he yelled at the top of his lungs, his release breaking like a tidal wave. He collapsed down onto his lover, pressing him against the table.
Jethro reached back and took Tony's hand from his hip, placing it on his cock, hard again from the brutal way Tony had just taken him. Tony licked his lips through the haze and began stroking his lover while still pinning him to the table by his upper back. He moved with slow, lazy motions as he drifted through the fog of his orgasm. Jethro began thrusting into his grasp, begging for more. Tony's fog slowly lifted and he stroked harder, enjoying the vision of Jethro pinned beneath him on the table, unable to move.
The strokes became harder and faster, and after only a few minutes, Jethro was screaming out a second release. Tony began kissing his way down Jethro's back as he tried to stand up. His head swam, lightheaded with pleasure. He found his feet and finally pulled out of his lover. He helped a groaning Jethro to his feet and wrapped him in his arms, feeling strong arms come around his waist as Jethro's head made its way back to his shoulder. They held on to each other for a long time before Jethro finally stepped back and took Tony's hand, leading him to the steps and then to the bathroom to clean up.
They stepped into the shower and held each other, swapping long, slow, wet kisses. The water was hot and comforting against their raw bodies. The kissing went on for a long time, simply conveying love, trust and a need to be close. When they finally broke apart, their foreheads falling together, Jethro's voice, rough and cracked, choked out an honest, "I love you."
Tony clung to his partner, pulling him close against his body. "I love you, too, Jethro. I've loved you for so long, and I'll love you for the rest of my life."