A Dare, Or Something More Sinister?

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS... I'm just taking the characters for a spin!

Author's Notes: Thank-you all for the reviews, I'm glad you all like it, i wasn't quite sure how that last chapter would turn out... as always a few more reviews wouldn't go unnoticed! Please!

And of course, again a humungous thank-you to Kate for her terrific work and inspiration!

Gibbs gave Kate a questioning look and sighed. He put his face in his hands, and gently rubbed his face up and down. He looked back up at Kate who shrugged.

"I would never have guessed" Kate said

"Yeah, but I suppose they were a few comments…" Gibbs responded, "Why does he think he hasn't met my expectations?"

"He thinks of you like a father figure, I suppose" Kate replied, "And no father wants their son to be gay"

Gibbs nodded and started climbing down the tree slowly. When he got to the bottom, he noticed McGee on one of the swings, drinking a large milkshake.

"Which way did he go?" Gibbs asked

"To the toilets" McGee replied, standing up, "Is he okay, he looked upset"

"Really? And what gave it away, Agent McGee?" Gibbs asked sarcastically

"Ah, probably that he was crying" McGee replied

Gibbs silently swore, running a hand through his hair as he walked in the direction of the public toilets. When he tried the door to the toilets, he realised it was locked, he swore aloud. He was about to call Tony's name when he heard movement on the other side of the block. Walking around the block, he eventually found Tony leaning against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest. Gibbs was slightly taken aback, briefly wondering what to do; he watched Tony's body shake as he sobbed. Gibbs' heart constricted and he slowly moved to his side.

"Tony?" he called softly

Tony raised his head and looked at Gibbs. His face was red and had tear streams marking it. Tony's body continued to tremble and the tears kept coming as he silently sobbed. "What do you want, boss?" he asked, his voice shaking

Gibbs shook his head, "I'm not here as your boss, Tony. I'm here as your friend." Gibbs told him steadily, sitting down beside him "And I want you to know that you haven't disappointed or failed me in anyway. You're a fantastic agent, one whom I wish to keep, and you're a fantastic person. Do you understand?"

Tony nodded and continued hugging himself. Gibbs watched him and slowly pulled him into an embrace, hugging the younger man. Tony nuzzled his face into his shoulder and let the tears fall freely. Tony sniffled, "Gibbs, you know, you're like the father I wish I had" Tony said into his shoulder

"Yeah, Tony, I know. And you're like the son I'll never have" Gibbs replied

Gibbs leaned against the wall. He listened to the sound of Tony's breaths as they became more regular and evenly spaced as the younger man stopped crying. Eventually Gibbs felt his arm lose it's feeling. He slowly moved his arm and called Tony softly, but when the younger man didn't reply, he realised that Tony had fallen asleep. Gibbs grunted, and called Tony's name a bit louder until he heard him stir.

"Come on, Tony. Time to get up" Gibbs said

Tony opened his eyes, squinting when the sun hit them, "Where are we?" he mumbled

"The middle of nowhere. And now we are going back to the car" Gibbs replied, pulling himself out of the embrace and getting to his feet

He offered Tony a hand up and they went back to the car. As they approached the car, Kate gave them a questioning glance, but didn't say anything.

"More coffee, boss?" McGee asked

"Yeah. Make it quick though" Gibbs answered

Gibbs walked around to the driver's side and got into the car

Tony got in the passenger side and quickly fell asleep again. Kate sat in the back and looked into Gibbs' eyes through his review mirror, "Is he okay?"

"He will be" Gibbs replied, "How long we were over there?"

"About 10 minutes" Kate responded

Gibbs nodded, watching as McGee came back from star-bucks. As McGee got in the back, Gibbs gunned the engine and took off before McGee had closed the door. As they got back onto the highway, McGee passed the coffee over, "They said the next 'good quality coffee shop' was at least four hours away. Which, with your driving, should be around 3 hours 15, maybe 30"

Gibbs smiled, and to prove the point, put the accelerator down further.

Tony groaned and rolled over, quickly realizing he wasn't in his preferred sleeping position, horizontal. He half-opened one of his eyes to see he was still sitting in the car, which felt like it was no longer moving. Silently cursing his teammates for leaving him in the car whilst they went to catch Brown, he closed his eyes again and wished for the day to be over. As he was beginning to fall asleep again, he heard a grumble come from the driver's seat. He frowned and slowly rolled over again to see Gibbs squinting at a PDA, then looking back up to something out the front window. Tony looked out the window to see a large sign indicating that they had 15kms to drive until they reached the sticks, 93kms to drive until they reached the middle of nowhere, 168 to drive until they reached beyond the middle of nowhere and another 204kms to drive until they reached dingo whoop-whoop.

Gibbs grumbled again, "I think we missed a turning" he said quietly

Tony didn't reply, thinking the older man was talking to himself until Gibbs looked directly at him. Tony reached out and took the PDA, tapping the screen a few times, "How come we missed it?" he asked

Gibbs looked over his shoulder at McGee and Kate who were both snoring softly, "Nobody to give me directions, only noticed when I reached this sign and realised this isn't the way I want to be going"

Tony grunted, "You need to turn around, you missed the turning by around an hour"

Gibbs nodded and turned the car around sharply. Tony heard the tires squeal and then a bump from within the car.

He saw Kate sit up, "We hit something?" she asked rubbing her head

"No, but we found a new use for your head" Tony replied, smirking

"Why get a new one when old one isn't broken?" Gibbs asked as he slapped Tony over the back of his head

Tony rubbed his head and half-glared at Gibbs, "You realise whenever you do that I lose thousands of brain cells?"

"Certainly explains a lot" Gibbs replied

"What are you implying, boss?" Tony asked, narrowing his eyes at Gibbs as he thought of their earlier discussion

"Be nice, Jethro" Kate told Gibbs warningly

"Jethro?" Tony asked, surprised, "So, you guys finally declared your love for each other?"

Kate smiled, blushing slightly.

"No!" Gibbs said, denying it, "We're not in love, don't know what gave you that idea"

"Well, gee, I dunno, maybe that we kissed earlier!" Kate replied, furious with Gibbs

"You kissed?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrows, "Way to go!"

"No! We didn't!" Gibbs replied, glaring at Tony

Tony looked between Kate and Gibbs, frowning, "It's a very interesting relationship you two have, you know"

"We are not having a relationship!" Gibbs responded, raising his voice

"No, but you want to!" Tony said

"No, we don't!" Gibbs told him sternly

Kate rolled her eyes, then glared at Gibbs, "You know, you're like a bloody yoyo. I don't know where I stand with you!"

"Oooh, lover's tiff!" Tony said

"Shut up, DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped, "Or you can walk!". Gibbs looked at Kate through the review mirror, "You stand by my side as my sub-ordinate, as professionals" Gibbs paused, "We did not discuss having a relationship! This is exactly why relationships do not work!" he gestured between them

"Well, you can have my resignation then as well" Kate said simply

That's it for chapter 30... I hope you like it! Please review, please!