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Chapter Four.

Baltimore, 2001.

The detective pulled him up onto his feet and cuffed him not too gently, but Gibbs hadn't missed the brief second of hesitation right after the tackle. He was still staring at the younger man in disbelief, trying to come with a coherent thought and had just opened his mouth to say something – what, he had no idea - when another man rounded the corner towards them, panting like he'd just a marathon.

"Damn, thank god you're so fast, Tony," the ginger-haired man said and Gibbs realized that he was apparently Tony's partner.

He remained silent, letting his glance travel back to the younger detective, who was still staring at him as if he had just seen a ghost – and maybe, Gibbs thought, Tony might actually feel like that because they hadn't exactly parted ways in Gibbs' prime or on good terms.

*NCIS*NCIS*

Alexandria, 1991.

Jethro watched the younger man walk around the small hotel room. It wasn't too shabby, but definitely not luxurious, either, but Jethro had never paid attention to that kind of stuff anyway and hell, he had slept in dug out holes in Kuwait, so he wouldn't start judging now. Tony fumbled with the remote of the small TV for a moment before he switched it on, groaning as he realized that there was only one channel to choose from. Jethro absent-mindedly noted the muted news program without really seeing what it was about. He still wondered why they were there now. He was aware what they were probably about to do, but he couldn't wrap his head around why he had come. All the way over to the hotel, he had tried to imagine what it would feel like having another guy's cock in his hand, amongst other things, and it hadn't done anything for him. He wasn't particularly excited, but only one look at Tony now, who had just shed his light summer jacket, and Jethro felt a long forgotten flutter in his gut. However, it wasn't excitement. He was nervous.

"Beer?" Tony interrupted his train of thought, watching him closely as if Jethro would leave at any given moment.

"Sure," Jethro nodded and then sat down on the lumpy and small couch, absently picking at the label of his bottle.

"Can I ask you something?" Tony said, sitting down next to him, his left thigh touching Jethro's.

"Just did."

"Smartass," the kid grinned and playfully punched his shoulder. "Why did you tell me your name's Ben when it's not?"

"What?" Jethro turned ever so slightly to look at him. "It is my name."

"No, it's not," Tony said, still grinning. "It took you a few moments to say it last night. And really, who has to think about their own name?"

Jethro didn't answer, instead took a sip from his beer before he placed it on the small coffee table in front of them.

"It's alright," Tony continued. "I don't need your name anyway. It's not like I'm planning to stick around you for too long." Another face-splitting grin. "Though I certainly wouldn't mind spending my remaining week here with you."

With that, he discarded his beer, too, and then leaned closer ever so slightly, his eyes flicking to Jethro's lips for a second before he went to close that last remaining gap between them. At the last moment, Jethro turned his head, so that Tony's lips awkwardly touched his cheek instead. He heard the younger man breathe in sharply before he finally looked at him again.

"I thought you wanted to…" he said now, confusion written all over his face.

"I do," Jethro answered hesitantly, still wondering if he really did. "Just… don't kiss me."

"Why not?" Tony asked incredulously. "Who are you? Fucking Julia Roberts?"

"What?" Jethro replied confused.

"Come on, don't tell me you haven't seen Pretty Woman? Everybody has!" Tony all but cried out, laughing. "Jeez, did you live under a rock last year?"

Jethro just grunted in a way of answering, trying not to remember how he had lived these last months, and just continued to stare impassively.

"Anyway, Roberts is a prostitute and Richard Gere picks her up and pays her for like a week because he likes her and all that fuss. And she'd do like everything with him, but one little thing and that's kissing him on the lips because it's against her code or whatever. A whole lot of nonsense actually."

"Then why watch it in the first place?"

"It's a chick flick," Tony grinned. "The girls usually aren't satisfied with a couple of drinks and a hotel room, you know. You got to invest sometimes."

"You calling me easy?"

"Not at all," Tony laughed. "If you were, we wouldn't still be sitting here, would we?"

Despite himself, Jethro let out a laugh. It was more a bark of laugh, but somehow something settled in him. The kid was fun to be around and Jethro felt himself relax gradually. Maybe it hadn't been the stupidest thing he'd ever done after all.

"You should laugh more often, you know that?" Tony said now, whispering actually, and Jethro felt a shiver run down his spine as the ghost of the younger man's breath reached his ear. "Makes you look like you're actually human."

Jethro remained silent at that as he had no idea how to answer that without scaring the kid away. He didn't actually feel human these days. He was a shadow of his former self and Tony was right about one thing. He didn't laugh as much, if at all, like he used to, didn't smile anymore. Hell, he didn't do much of anything. Internally sighing, he turned towards Tony again and then awkwardly put a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"So, uh," he started and he only realized now that he didn't have any clue what he even wanted to say, maybe he had had too much to drink after all.

"So, uh?"

"What you want to do, then?"

Tony laughed again before he stood up and reached out his hand to Jethro. He took the proffered hand and let himself get pulled up to his feet and into the younger man's arms. Despite Tony's gangly appearance, Jethro realized that he pretty strong. He could just feel the defined abs underneath the kid's shirt and the arms that suddenly embraced him were unyielding against any struggle. Jethro forced himself to relax into the embrace and then just managed to not let out a sigh. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed any kind of physical contact. His arm came around the kid automatically. They stood like that for a few moments and Jethro had the fleeting sensation that he never wanted to let go. He felt the kid nestling up to his neck now and he tilted his head ever so slightly to give him better access.

He still wasn't sure what he wanted, wasn't sure this was really the right thing to do, but, God, the way Tony was now softly biting down on the flesh were Jethro's shoulder met his neck, felt pretty damn good. So, Jethro just let him, let himself go and give in into Tony's caress.

Jethro wasn't quite sure how they had managed to walk the short distance towards the bed with their arms still around each other and with Tony still sucking on his neck. It was only when the back of his knees hit the bed that he even realized that they had moved. He let himself fall back and Tony followed close behind, propping himself up on his arms on either side of Jethro's face. He descended on Jethro's neck and then jaw line, his tongue exploring every inch of skin there with skill and confidence and Jethro realized that he liked it a lot. Tony's hands were everywhere, seemingly touching every inch of his body, the touches deft and certain. Jethro only just held back a groan as Tony's hand found its way under his worn t-shirt. His touch was like fire against Jethro's already heated skin and as Tony sucked on his earlobe and bit down on it gently, Jethro had to bite his lip not to moan out loud. The younger man ceased his actions for a moment to look at his face, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Just let go," he urged. "I won't tell anyone you did."

The older man snorted, but couldn't help but relax as Tony got rid first of his own and then Jethro's shirt. For a brief moment, Jethro found himself thinking that this was a guy who did all of this to him and that this wasn't what he wanted, but then Tony bit down on his neck and all coherent thought suddenly left his mind. It was just so damn good.

A shiver ran down his spine when he felt the brush of Tony's chest hair against his own, tickling and teasing everything it touched. Jethro didn't care indulging into why he was so aroused by such simple actions because he once again lost his train of thought when Tony began to play with his nipples, pinching them, rolling them between his fingers and then sucking at them. Jethro was so distracted by that, that he was surprised when Tony slid down even further, tugging at the waistband of his jeans and boxers and then getting rid of them with a brilliant smile on his face.

"Just let me do the work for now," Tony whispered, his breath ghosting against Jethro's cock.

He took his time just staring at Jethro's cock which had become rock hard by now and Jethro didn't even know when that had happened. The older man wanted to say something, wanted to tell him that he didn't need to, even though every fiber of his being protested loudly against it, but he wasn't even able to finish the thought in his mind before he felt the other man's mouth wrap around his cock.

Wet heat surrounded him and his thoughts left his mind entirely and instantly. He groaned somewhere deep from his chest when Tony flicked his tongue and it felt so goddamn amazing that he had to work hard to keep himself in check to not thrust up into that skilled mouth. Apparently realizing the dilemma he was in, Tony grabbed his hips, holding him firmly in place as he sucked his way up and down his cock. Tony had started teasing the slit, the tip of his tongue darting in and then across it, driving Jethro out of his mind. He resumed doing that, only alternating it with sucking hard and then backing off just to start it all over again.

"Tony," the older man pressed out, but couldn't finish because Tony sucked hard once again and then swallowed him whole.

Taken by surprise, Jethro shuddered violently, desperately trying to hold on because it felt so goddamn good that he had trouble believing that he wasn't only just dreaming. As if on cue, Tony's hand moved towards Jethro's balls and started to play with them.

"God," Jethro groaned.

He felt the vibrations on his cock when Tony hummed and then took a hold of it with his hand as his mouth left it for a moment only to joke, "You can call me Tony."

Despite his fogged up mind, Jethro managed to chuckle but then cried out when Tony's fingers touched exactly the right spot behind his balls. He felt the world around him shatter as he fought for control, but he had no chance. With one last flick of his tongue and one last pump of his hand, Tony sent him right over the edge. He felt his cum shoot all over his own stomach, but couldn't bring himself to care. His head fell back and onto the cushions as he closed his eyes.

*NCIS*

Jethro turned around and then pulled the person lying next to him closer. God, he loved waking up like that. It was how things were supposed to be and there was no place on earth he'd rather be. He sighed and pulled himself even closer to the warm body next to him, pressing his lips to the nape of the other's neck and placed a soft kiss there. Moving, if possible, even closer now, Jethro's arm came around the waist. He took a deep breath and was then able to smell an odd mixture of beer, bourbon and hazelnut. He stilled for a moment, feeling his stomach sink horribly as realization slowly set in. This wasn't Shannon who was lying next to him, this was a very male barkeeper he had picked up in a bar.

He quickly let go and rolled onto his back, draping a hand over his eyes as he felt the first treacherous tears trickle down onto his cheeks. He couldn't stop them even if he wanted them to. This was so wrong, this was the reason why he hadn't wanted to have meaningless one-night-stands because it would just remind him what he had lost. Just as he was about to get out of bed and the hell out of that hotel room, Tony turned around, looking blearily at him for a moment before his arm came around Jethro's waist as he scrutinized him. He tilted his head ever so slightly and then placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Jethro was just about to turn away from him when Tony brought his hand to his cheek and wiped away the tears with his fingertips. Jethro wanted to say something, but as soon as he had opened his mouth, Tony just shook his head, giving him a rather sad-looking smile and then laid his head onto his chest, effectively trapping Jethro in the bed. He wanted to complain, really, he wanted to go, but something about Tony's skin on his own and his tender gesture out of nowhere let him rethink it as he sunk back into the mattress.

Silent tears were still leaking from his eyes when Tony's soft caress lulled him back into sleep, a feeling of dread and oddly enough security washing over him.

A/N: Yes? No? ;)