A/N: Yay me, I've finally managed to post a chapter without any delays... and it's a long one, too! xD No, I hope you like this one and keep on reviewing 'cause your comments always make my day ;)
Chapter Twenty-One: Trusted
With every day that passed, Tony felt himself getting more and more comfortable. They had finally settled into a rather satisfying routine without getting bored at the same time. They were still working crazy hours, but had yet managed to go out to dinner a couple of times. Tony had soon realized that he was able to relax around Jethro more than he ever could before. He was more relaxed than he had been around any former girlfriend and that even included his ex-fiancée. Jethro had the ability to make him feel secure with just a quick glance into his direction, with just a seemingly accident brush of his hand against Tony's. But it was not only that. No, Tony was finally feeling comfortable with everything that had happened due to the little things that the other man seemed to constantly do for him. He was sure that Jethro didn't think much about it, but Tony hadn't quite been able to suppress the smile on his face when Jethro had handed him his beloved Cap'n Crunch without a word one morning when they had breakfast at his house. Tony couldn't quite place the feeling that had suddenly boiled up in him or the warmth that had rushed to his cheeks. He hadn't commented on it, knowing that Jethro probably didn't think it was a big deal. But it was a huge deal to Tony and it didn't stop at his favorite cereals, either, there was also the cream and the hazelnut flavor he liked in his coffee. Tony tried to return the favor as best as he could, stocking up on the other man's favorite brand of coffee at his own apartment. He knew that he didn't have to, but he realized that he actually like to do stuff like that, liked having him around in the mornings, even though he barely uttered more than a grumpy 'Good morning' before he had drank at least two cups of coffee.
They had also managed to keep Abby largely off their backs. She would ask them questions from time to time, but she never pushed and Tony felt eternally grateful for that. He had made sure that there was a constant flow of Caf!Pows and an extra cup of coffee for Blake whenever he would visit the lab. He knew that Ziva and McGee were wondering about Jones and his relationship a lot, but they hadn't asked. He still didn't really know anything about the guy, but it seemed like he was keeping his mouth shut about them and the least Tony could do to make amends was to bring him the needed caffeine. He was also glad that his co-workers had obviously believed him when he had told them that he wasn't seeing anyone, causing him in return to finally relax at work, too. He knew that Gibbs was still looking at him more often than before, was always trying to team up with him, touched him more frequently and Tony was really okay with that, even if it meant getting a few more undeserved head slaps.
Of course not everything was perfect, but Tony wasn't looking for anything perfect anyway. There had been a few awkward moments when Fornell had stopped by a couple of days previously and Jethro had just gone out to do some grocery shopping. Tony had been forced to make small talk with the guy and didn't think that he was ever happier seeing Jethro return half an hour later. He had, however, felt a weird sense of accomplishment when the FBI agent had actually called him Tony instead of the rather annoying insistence to pronounce his last name the Italian way.
All in all, though, Tony didn't think he ever felt happier than right now. He had someone to come home to, had someone to talk to when things got rough, had someone who always had his back and someone with whom he could let his guard down and just be himself. There was still the tiny annoyance that Jethro still refused to give him more than the good old hand job in bed. But he figured that the older man just needed more time and he couldn't really blame him, either. He knew that it had demanded quite a bit of courage when he had first gone farther than that and just because he had actually enjoyed it, didn't mean that Jethro was as fast in understanding that as he had been. He didn't worry about it much, though, he wouldn't push him, would let him take his time and it wasn't like he hadn't enjoyed the other stuff anyway.
-x-
Oddly enough, they had finally managed to close their most recent case early on Friday afternoon, giving them the actual chance to have the weekend off. Tony couldn't remember the last time they hadn't been on call or chasing a suspect and he only realized now that he actually needed the rest. He had let Gibbs known without a word that he expected him to come over to his apartment when he had packed up his stuff and left the office. He knew that the other man would probably need at least another hour before he could call it a night, too, but that only played into his hands. He had long planed his little surprise for the other guy, but hadn't been able to execute it due to work. But there was nothing to stop him this weekend and he was determined to follow through this time.
-x-
The next day, Tony woke up in the morning, freezing. It took him a few moments before his mind caught up with the fact that Jethro was once again hogging the blanket. Grinning to himself, he inched closer towards the other man, who had his back to him, careful not to wake him up. He spooned up against him and tried to snatch back the cover, but was unsuccessful due to the fact that the other man had a death grip on it. Internally shrugging, Tony took up a stance and then drove his fingers into the spot in between two of Jethro's ribs where he had found out not that long ago that the guy was exceptionally ticklish. Gibbs flinched violently under his touch and cursed sullenly as he tried to get away from him. But Tony wouldn't let him, in fact he had resumed his actions of tickle the other man, not the least bothered about the death glare that he was shooting at him in return. Jethro finally got a hold of Tony's hands and pinned them down above his head as he flipped them over so that he was on top of Tony, his expression changing from angry to being amused. Tony laughed softly, smiling up at him, realizing that he loved the fact that the older man let his guard down with him like that. They looked at each other for a moment, both of them a broad smile on their faces before Jethro subtly shook his head, let go of his hands and rolled off of him.
"Don't do that again," he finally said, apparently trying to sound gruff, but failing miserably.
"I'll stop as soon as you stop hogging the blanket. I'm not keen on freezing in my own bed, Jethro."
That earned him another smile, a rather gentle head slap and then a kiss.
"What do you want to do today?" Jethro finally asked after a few moments, yawning widely.
"Oh, I've got a plan," Tony replied, wiggling his eyebrows. "But I won't tell you what it is. It's a surprise."
"Don't like surprises," the other man replied grumpily as he got out of bed, but Tony wasn't discouraged.
"You'll love this one, trust me. All you need is something warm to wear."
"Fine," Jethro sighed. "'s not like I can say no when you're looking like that anyway."
Tony's lips that had pouted only a second before formed another broad smile as he stored that information away for later use as he followed him out of bed.
"Good to know. And now, hurry up, we don't have all day."
"There's time for coffee, right?" Jethro asked and Tony let out a laugh at the slightly frantic tone of his voice.
"Of course, there is. Do you think my urge to get myself killed by my caffeine-deprived boss is that big?"
-x-
"Still won't tell me what's in your bag?" Gibbs asked an hour later as they were walking towards the outskirts of a forest on a small path that people before them had stomped into the snow.
"Nope, you'll see when we get there," Tony said patiently as he reached out his free hand to grab Jethro's.
"And where's that exactly?"
"You'll see," Tony just replied, ignoring the slight scowl on the other man's face.
He knew after all that Gibbs didn't really mind. Granted, he probably didn't like being out of the loop for once, but he couldn't quite hide the smiles that he kept on throwing at him whenever he thought Tony wasn't paying attention.
After another fifteen minutes, which were filled with comfortable small talk and shared looks, they finally arrived at their destination. Tony heard Jethro groan next to him as they were able to see the small pond in front of them. It was frozen due to the persistent cold temperatures and offered them the perfect surface to –
"You wanna go ice-skating?" Jethro cut through his thoughts and Tony turned to look at him with a sly grin on his lips.
"Yup."
He set the bag he had been carrying with him on the ground and then retrieved two pairs of ice-skates, which he had borrowed from a local sports store. He handed one to Jethro who reluctantly took them, but made no move to pull them on.
"There's no way in hell I'm going to skate, Tony."
"Oh, you will," Tony chuckled. "I know you told me you were no good at it, but I can teach you. Come on, it'll be fun."
He looked at Jethro, not the least intimidated by the pained expression on the man's face.
"I don't see how me falling on my ass can be fun."
"I'll catch you if you fall, I promise," Tony just replied, the pout back on his face. "Just try. Pretty please?"
Jethro shook his head and Tony was almost able to see the determination not to give in to him crumble away. He let out a triumphant 'yes' when Jethro finally bent over and pulled on the skates.
Tony held out a hand when Jethro was finally done and then carefully pulled him onto the ice with him. He needed a second to steady himself and could easily see why Jethro hadn't exactly been keen on going onto the ice before. He was clutching Tony's shoulder tightly as he tried to get some kind of grip under his feet. Tony smiled at him and secretly marveled at the fact there was actually something that the older man wasn't particularly good at. His own arm came around Jethro's waist now as he steadied him.
"You good to go?" he asked barely above a whisper.
"I'll get you back for that, you know that, right?" came back Jethro's grumpy reply, but once again his eyes, that were sparkling rather contently at him, gave the fact away that he didn't mind all that much.
"Yeah, whatever," Tony dismissed it with a laugh and wave of his hand. "Come on now. We have to take advantage of the fact that nobody's here, yet."
He pulled his arm away and instead took Jethro's hand again, carefully guiding him a few steps forwards. Gibbs came willingly with him, causing Tony to suddenly feel all tingly inside as he realized that the other man actually trusted him to take the lead in this. He had known before that that he had the other man's trust, but it was nice to see that he was actually acting on it, too.
The first few steps were rather shaky, but after a little while, Jethro seemed to get the grip on how it was done. Tony carefully pulled his hand away and then skated away from him ever so slightly, making sure that he could show the other man just how much better he was at this than him. Jethro made a rather disgruntled sound, but skated towards him nonetheless, losing a bit of the tension in his shoulders as he apparently realized that this wasn't all that bad considering. They moved around the pond a couple of times and by the time they had made their fifth round, Tony was sure that Jethro actually enjoyed himself. He was still swaying from time to time, but he had gotten better at catching up on Tony, whenever he had made a show of getting away from as quickly as possible.
"Admit it," Tony said, laughing at him. "This is fun."
"Yeah," Jethro replied and moved closer ever so slowly. "This isn't half bad."
"I'll take that as a yes, this is fun," Tony laughed.
Jethro stopped dead in his tracks for a moment and looked at Tony with such intensity that he momentarily forgot how to breathe. He returned the gaze just as intently and then let out a yelp, when the older man suddenly moved again, quicker this time. Tony just wanted to turn around and let himself be chased as Jethro suddenly stumbled over an invisible obstacle on the ice. Tony turned just in time to catch him, but couldn't prevent both of them from losing their balance. He landed on his back with a thud, having knocked the breath out of him. Jethro followed close behind, landing on top of him with a wince. Tony stared at the other man for a moment, wanting to apologize before he felt him tremble above him. He looked closer now and realized that his shoulders were shaking with laughter and as he looked up into Jethro's face, he was able to see him smiling brilliantly. He couldn't help but join in now as a fit of laughter seemed to overwhelm him all of a sudden.
They stayed like that for a long time until Tony's green eyes finally found the icy blue ones, causing the other man to sober so quickly and out of the blue that he briefly wondered what he had done wrong now. But then, Jethro's hands reached up to cup both sides of his head and he then leaned down to kiss him. It was a slow kiss, gentle and sweet, nothing like any of the kisses that they had shared before and Tony was momentarily unable to focus on anything but those warm lips upon his own. It was only when Tony felt himself shiver that they broke apart and picked themselves up from the icy surface.
"Better get home, huh?" Gibbs finally offered, still slightly out of breath, his voice rough.
"Yeah, we better."
-x-
By the time they finally reached Tony's apartment building he was feeling like he had been petrified in an ice block for at least a century. Of course, the fact that he had been shivering all the way back hadn't slipped Jethro's attention and Tony saw himself faced with concerned looks, very similar to those back at the motel when he had suffered from the flu. He let out a relieved sigh when the other man closed the door behind them and he immediately started to strip his wet coat and pullover.
"I better get a hot shower before I'll get all Yeti on you," Tony joked as he shucked his jeans.
"I know a better way to warm you up," Gibbs' lips were suddenly right next to his ear and Tony turned around to look at the guy, whose eyes were darker than usual as his arms came around his waist.
"Oh yeah?" Tony whispered back and shivered again, but this time it wasn't due to the cold.
"Uh-huh," Jethro just replied and then leaned in to meet his lips in a searing hot kiss.
They stumbled more towards the bedroom than they actually walked, losing Jethro's clothes on the way until they both were only clad in boxers. Gibbs then all but threw him onto the bed and then was on top of him, kissing him fiercely. For once, the other man was in complete control, his tongue exploring Tony's mouth with skill and confidence and Tony realized that he liked it a lot. Gibbs' hands were everywhere, seemingly touching every inch of his body, the touches deft, certain and yet soft. Tony moaned into the kiss, slightly surprised by the other man taking control like that. Taking the opportunity, Gibbs broke their kiss and nibbled his way to Tony's ear. He sucked on the lobe and bit down on it gently, eliciting a gasp from him. Tony shuddered under his every touch and let out a shaky laugh when Gibbs continued to bite down on his neck, trailing his way towards the collarbone.
"God," Tony let out as Gibbs suddenly stopped his actions for a moment and slid down against Tony's body.
He shivered once again at the brush of Jethro's chest hair against his own, tickling and teasing everything it touched. Briefly Tony wondered how he could be so aroused by those simple actions, but lost his train of thought when Gibbs began to play with his nipples, pinching them, rolling them between his fingers and sucking at them. He was so distracted by that, that he was surprised when Jethro slid down even further, tugging at the waistband of Tony's boxers. His head barely visibly underneath the covers, Gibbs looked up at him, a brilliant smile on his face when he finally succeeded in getting rid of Tony's boxer shorts.
"You don't have to…," Tony wanted to offer him the chance to back away from this, even though every fiber of his being protested loudly against it, but he wasn't even able to finish his sentence as he felt the other man's mouth wrap around his hard cock.
Wet heat surrounded him and all his thoughts and words left him instantly. He groaned somewhere deep in his chest when Gibbs flicked his tongue and it felt so amazing that he had to work hard to keep himself in check to not thrust up into his mouth. Apparently realizing the dilemma he was in, Gibbs grabbed his hips, holding him firmly in place as he sucked his way up and down his cock. Jethro had been holding out on him, Tony realized as he teased the slit, the tip of Gibbs' tongue darting in and then across it, driving him out of his mind. He resumed doing that over and over, only alternating it with sucking hard and then backing off and then start it all over again.
"Jethro," the younger man pressed out, not even sure what he wanted to say in the first place, but it didn't matter anyway because right at that moment, Gibbs sucked hard once again and then swallowed him whole.
Taken by surprise, Tony shuddered violently, desperately trying to hold on because it was feeling so damn good that he had trouble believing that the other guy had never done it before, but then again, when had Jethro ever been doing something badly? As if on cue, Gibbs' hand moved towards Tony's balls and started to play with them.
"God," Tony repeated himself and then cried out when Gibbs' fingers touched exactly the right spot behind his balls.
Tony felt the world around him shatter as he fought for control, but he had no chance. With on last flick of his tongue, Gibbs sent him over the edge, leaving Tony without a coherent thought for more than a few moments. When he finally recovered, Gibbs was already lying next to him, one arm draped over his stomach.
"Wow," Tony breathed out and leaned closer to kiss him tenderly.
He knew that he should probably return the favor, but he felt so boneless at the moment that he wasn't entirely sure whether he could actually move. As if having read Tony's thoughts, Gibbs turned to look at him, a brilliant smile on his lips.
"Don't worry about it now. Weekend's still ahead of us."
-x-
Sometime in the late afternoon, they finally managed to get up again. They had lain in bed for what felt like forever, snuggling up in each other, savoring in each other's warmth. They hadn't talked all that much, but for once Tony didn't need the words to feel comfortable, to feel safe. All that mattered was that he had Gibbs right there next to him and he knew that he didn't want to let go of him ever again. But his stomach had reminded him loudly that he hadn't eaten anything all day, so he had reluctantly called his favorite Italian restaurant that delivered and had then taken a quick shower. He felt slightly drowsy nonetheless as he tried to organize the chaos in the kitchen while he was waiting for the delivery guy to show up with their pizzas. Jethro had opted to shower, too, leaving Tony to do the dishes. He didn't particularly mind, it was his mess after all, but he couldn't suppress the relieved sigh, when he heard the door bell ring. He hurried to get to the door before he realized that he was just wearing his boxers. Quickly grabbing the jeans he had carelessly discarded earlier, he jumped into them and then opened the door to his apartment, the wallet already in his hands.
He stopped dead in his tracks, however, when he caught sight of the guy standing in front of him. It wasn't the pizza delivery boy, but none other than McGee, who had a slight smirk on his face as he looked at Tony's attire – or lack thereof.
"Oh hey, McGee," Tony finally said, practically yelling out the name at the end, hoping that Gibbs would hear him in the bathroom. "What are you doing here?"
"I won't be long," McGee shrugged apologetically. "I just need your signature as the Senior Field Agent. I know I'm not supposed to bother you on the weekends, but it's kind of urgent and I really need to hand that report in by tonight or Vance will kill me."
"No problem, Probie," Tony replied, still talking louder than strictly necessary.
At least, the shower had stopped running. He was pretty sure that Gibbs must have heard him and would stay where he was until Tim had left again. He quickly scanned McGee's report, but wasn't able to understand all that much as it was composed in the computer geek's usual vernacular. He signed it anyway, knowing that McGee's reports were usually twice as thorough as his own and wanted to hand it back to the younger man, but he seemed to be preoccupied with something else entirely. His gaze was fixed on the light blue polo-shirt that was lying in a bundle on the floor, where Tony had pulled it from Jethro's body earlier. McGee's glance shifted now to stare at Tony for a short moment before it quickly flickered away from him, coming to a rest on Gibbs' overnight bag that had been carelessly discarded into the far left corner the night before.
"Uh, I can explain that," Tony finally spluttered when McGee had turned towards him again, his eyes wide. "The power's out at Gibbs' place. You know the pipes have to pretty old and stuff… and I don't know… he couldn't fix it right away, so I offered him a place to stay."
Tim stared at him, furrowing a brow, his glance resting on Tony's bare chest for a moment before he visibly shook himself and nodded.
"Okay."
Tony let out a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding. He knew, of course, that the probie wasn't entirely convinced, but it didn't seem as if he was suspecting that there could be something going on between Gibbs and Tony. It was after all still a bit far-fetched to even give the possibility a thought, at least from McGee's point of view.
He was just about to hand the report back to him in order to get rid of him as quickly as possible when he heard the door to his bathroom open, causing his heart to skip a beat. Mesmerized, he gaped at Gibbs who had stepped into the living-room, a towel around his waist and currently rubbing his hair dry with another one. He didn't look up as he progressed further into the living-room.
"Hey Tony," he said and Tony, out of the corners of his eyes, saw McGee take a step backwards. "Can we eat the pizza on the bed? I'm not exactly keen on getting dressed before we…"
He trailed off now as he had finally looked up. He had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at McGee, whose cheeks were flushed to crimson and whose breathing had become rather shallow.
"B-Boss?"
Tony felt the blood drain from his own face as he averted his glance from Jethro's wide and frightened eyes to look at Tim instead. He took a step towards him, but the younger man shied away from him, so Tony remained standing riveted to the spot, not daring to scare the poor guy even more. The seconds went by and still no one had said anything, so Tony finally braced himself and cleared his throat, apparently startling Tim out of his trance-like state.
"Would you still believe me if I told you his power's out?" he tried to joke, but regretted it as soon as the words were out of his mouth because McGee's expression had suddenly changed from confused to pissed.
Tony tried to take another step towards him, but Tim just held up a hand to tell him to stop, so Tony refrained, trying to figure out what to do. He quickly glanced at Gibbs, but the guy was still standing there, his cheeks slightly flushed, his eyes still wide.
"McGee?" Tony tried again.
"No," the junior agent finally said something. "No, don't you even dare to talk to me."
And with that, he turned around and let the door fall shut behind him with a loud bang.
Tony hurried to run after him, but as soon as he had opened the door again, he realized that he wasn't even wearing the appropriate clothes to go outside.
"Don't," he heard Gibbs' rather soft voice right behind him. "He wouldn't talk to us right now anyway. Let him blow off some steam, okay?"
A/N: Thoughts? ;)