"Hey." Gibbs looked up from the sports page to see Tony standing before him wearing nothing but a towel and a grin -- if you discounted the brace and Rufus, which Gibbs easily did. "You busy?"
"Uh, no." Gibbs refolded the paper. "Something I can do for you?"
"I seem to remember something about ... someone being on top?"
"Ah, I seem to remember that too." Gibbs rose from the chair, fingers smoothing over bare skin. He leaned into Tony's neck, the clean scent of him enticing the older man even more. Pressing his lips to the pulse point he felt the soft beat of life beneath them.
Tony groaned slightly under the delicate pressure. "Gibbs?" Tony's hand palmed Gibbs' side. "Gibbs?" he repeated.
He smiled at the softly breathed "yeah" against his neck.
"Could we take this into the bedroom? 'Cause I'm a lot better horizontal."
Gibbs kissed Tony's jaw. "You're good any way,"
"But I'm better horizontal," Tony pointed out, laughing ruefully, his already compromised balance threatening to give out altogether.
Gibbs quickly moved to embrace him, strong arms wrapping around his waist. "Then what are we waiting for?"
Tony crossed off yet another attraction in the nation's capital. "Zoo?"
"Hills," reminded Gibbs softly, watching Tony close his eyes. "Tony..."he began. "We'll get some pizza, rent a kid's movie. Three-year-olds aren't that difficult. He'll be happy to play catch in the back yard."
"Said you didn't have kids."
"Had a younger brother. A kind of parental mid-life surprise."
Tony didn't quite recognize the mixed emotion on Gibbs' face. "Where is he?"
"Died. When he was twelve. Hit and run. He was riding his bike ..."
"I'm sorry." Tony took Gibb's hand. "I didn't mean to—"
"Great kid. I was overseas. Got a phone call. We were on a mission, couldn't get back to the funeral." Gibbs' lips thinned. "Hate funerals anyway. A lot of words said by people who didn't say enough when they were alive."
They sat silent for a minute before Tony said quietly, "Playing catch, huh? On a good day I can play catch."
Gibbs ruffled the light brown hair. "He's going to be happy, Tony. It'll be fine."
Gibbs studied the wall of merchandise with his usual intense scrutiny while Tony scuffed his feet self-consciously against the linoleum tiles. He had a finger's grip on the edge of Gibbs' jacket pocket so as not to lose him in the depths of his blurrier-than-usual vision. Not that he'd expected one of Sherri's miracle shots was suddenly going to cure him, but prior to this morning his symptoms had been on a kind of plateau since Gibbs returned from Sardinia.
"What do you think?"
"Uh..." Tony realized he hadn't heard whatever Gibbs had said before that. "Sorry, I—"
"That one."
Tony followed Gibbs' pointing finger with difficulty, squinting toward the fuzzy tan and black of the car seat. He moved closer to make out the black block letters on the side of the box. "Eddie Bauer makes car seats?" He moved even closer. "Tech Elite? What got you Gibbs: the Eddie Bauer or the 'tech elite'?"
A playfully gentle cuff ruffled his hair and Gibbs's touch lingered on the short, silky strands. But the hand was yanked away when a sharp gasp cut through the sound of Tony's soft laughter.
Gibbs spun instinctively, not sure what the gasp meant, but wary that something was wrong somewhere. At first he thought the woman behind them might be going into labor, but the look on her face was ... well, Gibbs was glad that Tony wouldn't see it clearly.
"Can we help you?" Gibbs inquired. Tony had turned, too, the look that graced his face solely one of concern.
Whatever the woman had started to say, her gaze fell on Tony and softened, if only minutely. When she looked Gibbs deeply in the eyes, though, he could feel the censure radiating from her. More out of instinct than thought, Gibbs stepped protectively in front of Tony and the woman backed off, taking her cart with her.
"She okay?" asked Tony.
With narrowed eyes, Gibbs watched her retreat down the aisle. "Just fine, Tony." He turned back to the display of car seats. "There's an Alpha Tech Elite." Then looking both ways across the warehouse-like store, Gibbs clasped Tony's hand in his.
"Beats a mere 'tech elite'," said Tony, gently squeezing Gibbs' fingers in return.
"The Alpha Tech Elite, it is," decided Gibbs. He took the box down from the shelf. "You ready?"
Tony tugged lightly on Rufus' harness, starting them both toward the register. Gibbs walked slightly ahead, as he'd learned to, to allow Tony to have a clear target to follow. The rollercoaster of Tony's sight could leave him with only slightly blurry vision or, on a bad day, could leave him trapped in a warped blur of indecipherable colors. On a bad day, Gibbs would gently grip Tony's elbow, guiding both him and Rufus on a safe path.
The woman was browsing the rack of newborn clothing near the register. Gibbs could see her flat gaze fix again on both of them, but he knew, thankfully, that Tony was unaware of the scrutiny. Gibbs sighed as he hefted the seat on the counter and Tony frowned.
"Something wrong?"
"Nope." Gibbs' gaze flicked in the direction of the woman. "Everything's fine." He took the credit card from his wallet and offered it to the cashier. The woman bowed her head and went back to browsing the line of pastel sleepers. With a hurried scrawl, Gibbs signed the receipt. He wrestled the box in a one-armed grasp, his other hand settling on the back of Tony's arm. "Come on, we have a car seat to put in."
Gibbs peered up at the brick-faced rise of post-modern condos lining the edge of the Baltimore East Harbor. "Not your typical row house."
Tony, likewise, craned his neck to blink at the blurry façade. "Gretchen always liked to live large. Bet ole Lloyd is up to his neck."
Gibbs swung the sedan into the building's U-shaped drive. He reluctantly turned the keys over to the uniformed valet before collecting Tony and heading into the spacious lobby. Rufus' claws clicked on the trendy stone floor, earning them a concerned stare from the man manning the concierge desk.
Tony steadied himself against the waist-high counter. "We're here to see Gretchen Hale."
Finally, after a thorough confirmation of this, they were allowed on the elevator.
The windows of the condo looked out onto the gray expanse of the harbor which, at least gave Gibbs something to look at while the awkward conversation continued around him. Lloyd Stebbins looked the part of an ex-beat cop whose physiology was going to seed since he'd been promoted into a desk job. Gibbs didn't like the way he pressed into his space when they were introduced, didn't like the latent aggression the man displayed to Tony. Although he had to admit Tony gave as good as he got, despite the handicaps of the crutch and brace. Even the sniff Rufus gave the offered hand was short and huffing, a kind of canine disdain that Gibbs could appreciate.
"So, Lloyd, what's a commander make these days?" asked Tony casually.
Gibbs appreciated the open smile on Tony's face, his partner being anything but subtle. And it had the desired effect, Sam was quickly brought out and reintroduced to the two strangers he was going to spend the weekend with. At first, though, he only had eyes for Rufus, and Tony released the Great Dane from his vest and harness, letting the big dog know he was off-duty. Rufus stretched out, huge paws in front of him like a lesser Sphinx and let the little boy pat his rectangular head while Gibbs gathered the bags of clothes and toys that Gretchen handed over. She handed him, lastly, a folded piece of paper with phone numbers and an address on Long Island.
"Lloyd's family. It's the first time we've met. I just want them to get to know me." Her blue-eyed gaze had a kind of desperate quality. "For me," she continued.
Gibbs looked at Tony sitting on the edge of the couch, his hand resting on the boy's small shoulder. Both deep in conversation about who was bigger – Sam or Rufus.
"I understand," said Gibbs. The flat tone he said it in went unnoticed as the blonde sighed in relief, smiling and holding out her hand to the pot-bellied Baltimore cop.
Gibbs knelt down beside Sam. He took the discarded vest in his hand, explaining how, when Rufus put it on, he was on-duty, just like a cop. Sam put a small hand to the blue vest, the fingers moving over the circular embroidered patch that said "Please ask before you pet me." Large, solemn blue eyes watched Gibbs fit the vest around the fawn-colored body.
"On-duty," pronounced Sam seriously when the vest was velcroed shut. Gibbs gave a ruffle to the blond head.
"Your mom explain that you were going to stay with us?"
Still wide-eyed and solemn, Sam nodded at Tony.
"You okay with that?" Tony asked.
Sam looked back toward his mother, who nodded encouragement at him.
"Yeah," he finally whispered.
"We're going to have a good time," said Gibbs. "You like to play catch?"
Again the solemn nod. Gibbs looked up at Tony. He pushed himself up by putting a hand to Tony's braced knee, letting it linger a little while longer than was strictly necessary.
"Then I guess we best get going." Gibbs gave Tony a hand up, Sam's fascination with Rufus never wavering. "You want to say goodbye to your mom?"
Gretchen came over to stoop down and murmur her encouragements.
"If you want," said Tony, when she was done, "I think Rufus wouldn't mind having two people hold on." He moved his hand to the very front of the harness' handle, feeling the small fingers press coolly against his. "You got him?"
"Yeah," was agreed again, shyly.
"Good, then you and Rufus can show me where elevator is, okay?"
Gibbs watched as the pair started for the door, the diminutive version of Tony happily holding on to Rufus' vest and the well-trained dog acting like it was perfectly normal to be steadying two DiNozzos rather than one.
Gibbs gave a final nod to the couple and followed them.
(tbc)
Sorry it's been a bit. I've been playing in GEN of all things. Thanks for staying with this one!