AN - So, I wasn't going to go back to this just yet. But realised that I need to weave "Christmas Present" around it - there will be one more chapter to finish off this story shortly, then I'll get back to "Christmas Present." (Honest).
Gibbs watched as Tony stacked the last of his belongings in the back of the borrowed trunk. It didn't amount to a whole lot. Barely began to reflect the vibrant, heroic, loyal and noble young man standing beside him. Gibbs knew better than most not to put a whole lot of store in belongings, but some of Shannon and Kelly's things remained among his most treasured possessions. It was hard to lose things in life, a bit like missing a piece of you.
"I kept the really important stuff," Tony seemed to read his mind. "Your table, Abby's diamond ear stud, the Wedgewood Peter Rabbit Plate my mother gave me for my third birthday, that kind of thing."
"You bring the coffee maker?"
"In the front seat."
Gibbs nodded, standing with his hand on the truck door, as he scrutinised his senior field agent, noting the lines of tension around Tony's eyes as he looked longingly back at his apartment. The former marine didn't blame him. As much as he had been offered a lifeline, it was also a big deal to give up his former independence.
"Hey," Gibbs was gratified at how quickly his soft voiced intervention brought his agent's head around. "We'll work it out."
Tony blinked at him, then gave a bashful smile that he had clearly been that obvious. Without bothering to reply he simply voted with his feet, taking one last look at his former home, before climbing into the truck and buckling in, before cradling the expensive coffee in his lap.
"You know, it's almost funny," Tony's tone suggested that he thought it was anything but. "I never thought any of those things my Dad sent me, you know, the power sander, the rice cooker, would ever be remotely useful. But they raised a whole pile of cash."
Gibbs knew that the younger man had raised to topic of his father to give him a window to ask the question his senior field agent just knew had to be eating his Boss up. Gibbs understood that DiNozzo and his father weren't close, but surely in a situation like this the man would want to give his only son a helping hand? Except, as he glanced across he noticed how pale and drawn his agent was looking, So, instead of speaking, he pulled up at the nearest store and brought two coffees and two large roast beef sandwiches.
"Boss, you just bought me breakfast." Tony was embarrassed.
"That was almost four hours ago, DiNozzo," Gibbs reminded him. Plus they had done a far amount of lifting and carrying loading the trunk. "You pass out and leave me to unload all this by myself and I'll kick you're ass."
Tony considered pointing out that DiNozzo's didn't pass out. But the truth of it was he hadn't been eating all that regularly or well lately and he was feeling a little light headed after all that exertion. So, he took a large bite and chewed gratefully.
"Thank you, Boss."
Gibbs waited until they had both eaten their fill, before pulling the truck back out onto the highway, glancing over at DiNozzo, he was pleased to see that his colour had improved and he looked a lot more cheerful.
"You going to tell your Dad that you've moved?" He asked mildly.
"It's not like he's going to pop round anytime soon." Tony's lips thinned.
"Plus if you were to go to him with stuff like this, you wouldn't have needed the damn loan in the first place?" Gibbs raised a brow.
"Yeah, I'd say that pretty much covers it. He's always been big on me standing on my own two feet, fighting my own battles, basically anything that means I get on with my life without being a bother to him," Tony looked bleak, then visibly pulled himself together. Gibbs had been nothing but helpful and here he was acting like a whiney kid. "Not your problem, Boss."
Gibbs wasn't so sure about that. For all he was never around DiNozzo's father was a pretty big presence in his life. The physical lack of not having a father around then or now was a part of who DiNozzo was. It shone through in his eagerness to please, his constant desire for attention and how damned hard he was on himself, always worrying that he didn't measure up. Not for the first time Gibbs was tempted to track the man down to give him a piece of his mind.
It didn't take long to stack the things DiNozzo wouldn't be using in the basement and carry the few things he needed at hand into the former guest room. When they were done, Gibbs made two cups of coffee and dumped several spoonfuls of sugar into one before bringing them to the couch and offering one to DiNozzo.
"Now about the house rules," Gibbs began. "While you are living under my roof .."
"We're really going to do that?" Tony looked surprised, pausing in the act of taking a drink, before he tipped his head on one side as he read Gibbs' serious expression. "Oh, I guess we are really going to do that."
"You ever know me not have a rule for something, DiNozzo?" Gibbs quirked a brow.
"No sir." Tony answered quickly.
A little too quickly. Gibbs narrowed his eyes. It had been sometime since DiNozzo had felt insecure or anxious enough around him to call him 'sir'. He wondered what had triggered it. It wasn't as if this was the first time the kid had stayed here. They had done this many times before. Did Tony really think his Boss was going to start laying down the law just because his partner was temporarily more dependant upon him? Apparently so. Gibbs did not at all like what that suggested about the values DiNozzo Snr had expected of his son.
"Alright, this is how things are going to be," He met Tony's eyes. "You will treat this place as your home. You come and go as you please, just let me know if you're not going to be in. You want to bring a girl back, just make sure you like her enough to sit through a polite dinner first, I don't want any introductions over breakfast."
Tony blinked. He didn't think it would be an issue. It wasn't like he was dating much these days anyway and, in his experience, most women preferred to make love in their own beds. But the fact that his Boss was willing to be so accommodating spoke volumes about his sincerity that this was to be his home too now.
"You will eat three square meals a day," Gibbs continued. "At least one of which we will eat together. Food is not an expense, it's a necessity. You feel hungry you don't need to ask, help yourself to anything in the cupboards, or refrigerator, if you use the last of something just write it down on the list."
"During the week or if we're working a hot case, we'll carry on pretty much as we always have. At weekends, or when we're off rotation, you get two out of the three days on furlough. The third day your ass is mine. You don't make any plans for that day."
"Yes, Boss." Tony agreed.
Gibbs hid his smile. He knew DiNozzo was probably envisaging long hours of hard labour to work off his passage at casa Gibbs. There would be some of that, Gibbs knew DiNozzo needed to feel that he was making a contribution, paying his dues, but the former marine also planned to spend some time with the younger man just hanging out together. Gibbs hated that instead of helping him, his own family had put his through this. The kid needed to know that someone was in his corner.
Gibbs wasn't at all surprised when Tony quickly fell asleep on the couch. Their job was demanding enough without all this going on. Deciding he might as well go down and work on his latest project in the basement, for a bit, Gibbs first headed to the bathroom, pausing on his way back, to notice that the bed in the former guest room was still unmade and the few belongings that DiNozzo had actually unpacked were stored neatly away, as if he was trying to back as little impact as possible on the environment around him.
"Aw hell, DiNozzo."
Sometime later, Tony woke up to the delicious smell of roasting meat. Lifting up his head, he saw the small kitchen table neatly set and Gibbs standing at the stove stirring a pan of gravy. Swinging his stocking feet down Tony scrubbed at his face before making his way across the room, stretching the kinks out of his body as he walked.
"I feel like all you've done today is feed me," He joked, before he realised how ungrateful that might sound. "I mean, obviously not just feed me, because you've been really great taking me into your home, helping me with .."
"DiNozzo."
"Right, shutting up, Boss."
"You've got time to have a shower before dinner." Gibbs suggested.
"Smelling a bit ripe, huh?" Tony made a face, as he sniffed. "Think that's an offer I'll take you up on."
Taking himself off, he ducked his head into the spare room, intending just to pick up his towel and toiletries, only to stop dead. Someone had made the bed up with his one remaining set of high thread count cotton sheets, which he knew he had carefully packed into a box, but that were now freshly laundered and topped with warm blankets. The existing nightstand and lamp had disappeared, to be replaced with the table Gibbs had made him as a birthday present, filled with his books and CDs and topped with his art deco lamp.
Looking around the room, Tony saw other similar touches. His rug on the floor, his pictures on the walls, it looked like well, home. The only things actually missing were the items he had come in to fetch. Crossing over to the bathroom, Tony saw that his toiletries had been spaced out neatly on the shelf, his towel hung up and the designer bathroom (legacy of an ex wife) that he always borrowed when he stayed here, hanging behind the door.
"Knew there was a reason I loved you, Boss." He couldn't help but grin.
Downstairs in the kitchen Gibbs tipped his head on one side smiling to himself as he heard Tony singing loudly in the shower. When his senior field agent reappeared in the kitchen with his usually impeccably styled hair only towel dried, in clothes chosen for comfort rather than image, and wearing a huge grin, he knew he had made the right call to make the younger man feel more like he was living here now.
"Hey, you put out my coffee maker. And you're using, my flatware," Tony exclaimed happily. "Did you leave any of my stuff in the basement?"
"House is going to be yours one day anyhow," Gibbs shrugged. "You might as well start feeling at home."
"Always felt at home here, Boss," Tony answered automatically, before he registered what else Gibbs had said. "This house is going to be mine?"
"You think I was planning on leaving it to one of my ex-wives, DiNozzo?"
"Well, no," Tony acknowledged. "I guess they've already their pound of flesh, in case of the one wielding the golf club maybe even a few ounces extra but there must be some one else?"
Gibbs knew that in the natural order of things, Jack would die before he did. Both his parents had been only children, so there were no cousins to come climbing out of the woodwork. He had left Abby a few sentimental pieces, but much as he loved her, she had a large, extended family, watching out for her, as did McGee and his god daughter. Ziva was a slightly different matter, but in the fullness of time Gibbs figured that problem would solve itself.
Tony had always struck Gibbs as someone in need of a home. By his own admission he had moved a lot growing up. College had provided a brief period of stability, before he took up law enforcement and began moving from job to job and one rented apartment to another. Even after nine years in DC the only time he had come close to buying real estate was with Jeanne Benoit and had damned nearly got far more than his fingers burned. Tony was the only one who really needed it.
But that wasn't an answer the younger man would be comfortable hearing. So Gibbs told the other truth.
"You're the only one I want to leave it to."
"I am?" Tony blinked, as he absorbed that, as a slow, pleased, smile, spread across his face. "Boss, that's huge."
"So, you'd better start keeping your promise to help me keep things up around the place," Gibbs pointed out, before the younger man could get too sappy. "Tomorrow, we're going to make a start on repairing that decking."
"Did you buy the paint already? Because I've always thought it would look good in a nice understated ecru?" Tony arched a brow, before catching Gibbs sardonic expression. "Or not."