A/N: Thanks again for your reviews! :) You guys made my day!
This next chapter is probably a bit disjointed, but I needed it to keep things moving, so I hope you still like it. If you don't, let me know anyways, I'm always open for suggestions. Thanks ;)

Chapter Twelve.

Over the next couple of days Gibbs checked the internal police records for any sign that Tony had called Price's corruption in, but couldn't find anything. Would Tony really be able to work with him even though he knew that he had lied to him for almost two years? Gibbs knew that he, himself, wouldn't be even able to look him in the eye, let alone have him watch his six, but maybe Tony could deal with it after all. Gibbs wasn't quite sure why the thought had him feeling sick to his gut, though. Maybe he simply didn't like the fact that Tony couldn't trust the guy, who was supposed his partner, anymore. He didn't know, but it was enough to justify his own need to check up on the young detective from time to time.

He had dialed his number more than once these last couple of days, but hadn't managed to press the call button. He really wanted to, but Tony had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want any contact with him. Gibbs knew that he had done nothing wrong and that Tony had just been confused, but that didn't mean that he hadn't meant what he had said. If Tony really wanted to make things right with Wendy, Gibbs had no business destroying their relationship. As much as he wanted the younger man, he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize Tony's happiness. So he had refrained from calling, from contacting him in any way, knowing that the uneasiness in his gut about it all would ease up a little bit with time.

.

Gibbs' hand hovered over the beer in his fridge for a moment before he subtly shook his head and grabbed a bottle of water instead. The more his thoughts were centered on Tony, the need to drink became more pronounced, but he wouldn't give in. Drinking had never solved any problem and Tony had made him see all those years ago that it was in fact the cause of many, many problems. It wasn't like Gibbs planned to stay sober for all times to come because he needed the booze sometimes when the memories of Shannon and Kelly became too overwhelming to deal with. Gibbs knew, though, that the resolve not to call Tony would disappear as soon as he had the slightest of buzzes going and he wasn't keen on breaking his own promise.

He took a sip from his water as his eyes landed on the faded photograph of him and Tony that he had pinned to the fridge. He felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips and he shook his head. If anybody would see him - the hard-ass, bastard of a former Marine – like that, they would have to rethink their perception of him. He liked his reputation, it made many things easier and only Abby got to see his softer side from time to time. Nobody knew about his past, except for Mike, and he liked to keep it that way. Nobody had seen him on the edge to killing himself ten years previously, nobody even guessed that the loss of his girls had made him the man he was nowadays. His other wives had known about them of course, but they had never bothered to really get to the depth of his feelings for them. Diane had certainly tried and at times Gibbs had even felt like he could actually talk to her, but just when he was about to confide in her, she had wandered off, fed up with his apparent inability to talk. Gibbs had let her go, knowing that it was smarter this way.

With Mike gone and nobody else knowing about Kelly and Shannon, Gibbs had at times felt more alone than he ever could remember. And just when he had been about losing himself to the bourbon or to work, Tony had shown up again with that big grin and those expressive green eyes that made Gibbs still weak in the knees. He didn't get it. He had no clue what it was that made him feel so at home with the other man. It wasn't only his attraction to him, it wasn't only his humor and it wasn't only the fact that Gibbs knew he couldn't have him like he wanted.
But maybe that was it. He wanted to see him again, wanted to talk to him again and even if he couldn't have him like he wished, he still wanted to be in contact with him. Would Tony be up for being just his friend? Would they be able to get past all the insecurities, all the feelings, all the lies?

Gibbs walked over into the living room and then pulled out a drawer of the closet. He had used to keep it locked when his wives had lived here with him, but that wasn't necessary anymore. He traced his fingers over a photograph of Shannon and him before he pulled out a piece of paper. Kelly had drawn them in front of their house and it had been one of the last ones she had sent to him before they died. Usually, it pained Gibbs just to look at it, but tonight he smiled and then took it with him into the kitchen. He stared at it for a moment longer, feeling something settle inside him. He pulled one of the magnets from the fridge now before he pinned it back to it, this time holding Kelly's drawing securely to the door. It looked good there, Gibbs realized and he traced his fingers over it again, wishing that he could still have them with him. He knew that it would never happen, had accepted it long ago, but maybe it was time to actually move on. He would never become happy again if he didn't let them go to a certain degree.

In a moment of pure clarity, Gibbs suddenly averted his glance from the drawing and fixed it on the photo Tony had left in his basement. Maybe letting go had to do with the younger man. Maybe he was exactly what Gibbs needed now. And if that only meant being friends with the kid, it would be alright with him. He would just need to find a way to talk to him again, would need to find a way to explain to him that he really needed him in his life right now…

.

A couple of weeks passed and Gibbs still had no idea what to say or do. He needed a reason to call him, he knew that, otherwise Tony wouldn't hear him out, but he couldn't think of anything plausible. So he had let the days and weeks pass without a solution to his dilemma. Both Abby and Ducky had called him out on his off-behavior, but he had just shrugged and mumbled something about stress at work. It had satisfied them for the moment, but he knew that they wouldn't tolerate him like that for too long.

.

Two weeks later, Gibbs felt his heart speed up as he read the usual police internal affairs reports. He had made a habit of checking them out at least once a day and finally the name DiNozzo had caught his eye. What he hadn't expected, though, was that the young detective would resign and not accuse his partner of being a dirty cop. Gibbs' respect for the man rose and at the same time he despised Price even more for allowing Tony to do that to himself.

Before Gibbs could think about what he was doing, he had grabbed his cell phone and dialed the number he knew by heart by now, so often had he dialed it these last couple of weeks. This time, though, he actually pushed the call button and listened to the couple of rings before the call went to voicemail. Gibbs internally shrugged as he listened to Tony's message, unable to hold back a slight smile. Damn, it was good to hear his voice again.

"Hey Tony," he finally said after the beep. "This is… Jethro. I know you probably don't want to talk to me, but I, uh," Gibbs paused for a moment, looking around the bullpen to make sure nobody heard him talk like that. "I've heard about your resignation and I, uh… I mean," he stopped again, wondering why in the world he was almost stuttering now. "I'm about to become lead of the MCRT and I'm a couple of agents short. I mean… I don't know. If you're interested at all, just drop by sometime at the Navy Yard… or give me a call."

He ended the call and shook his head. What the hell was wrong with him? Had he really just somehow offered Tony a job? He replayed his message in his head and realized that he had probably nothing to worry about anyway. There was no way Tony would take him up on his offer, not like that. He surely wouldn't do it, would he?

.

A couple of days had passed since the infamous phone call, but Tony hadn't called back. Gibbs didn't hold up any hope that he would either. His message had been such a mess and he hadn't explained himself at all, so he couldn't even blame the younger man for not showing up.
Only an hour earlier, Director Morrow had once again asked who he wanted to bring on board for the newly formed MCRT that Gibbs would be leading. He still had no idea, had only read a few applications so far. Tom had urged him get going with it as it was only a couple of more weeks away now. So here he was now, sitting at his desk, perusing a couple of files. No one had stuck out as extraordinary so far, but Gibbs would have to deal with that, he had once been a probie, too, after all. He had just started to read the file of one Vivian Blackadder when the ding of the elevator interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and then felt his heart miss a beat as he saw none other than Tony DiNozzo himself stepping out of the elevator. He was wearing tight jeans and a leather jacket. The grin on his face as he looked around the bullpen was broad and yet Gibbs knew it to be fake at once. Trying to keep the happiness that threatened to bubble up inside of him in check, Gibbs stood up and approached him just as he pulled off his sunglasses.

"I got it," Jethro said to the agent who had accompanied Tony up here.

Tony looked at him, his expression unreadable, so Gibbs decided to play it cool and simply walked right by him.

"You made it," he said.

"Yeah," Tony replied, still grinning at him. "Wow, I'm not a big fan of the orange and the glare of that skylight is ridiculous."

Gibbs didn't say anything, just crooked his finger to indicate Tony to follow him. He did him the favor and Gibbs took a deep breath, trying to keep his heartbeat in check. He was suddenly nervous and even though he had played out the scenario in his head a hundred times, he didn't quite know what to say now.

"You're not going to ask?" Tony asked after a while as they had rounded the last corner to their destination.

"No," Gibbs just replied, not knowing what exactly Tony was zeroing in on. The job or Danny?

"I'll leave it alone," the younger man continued nonetheless. "It was wrong, way wrong."

"He's your partner," Gibbs conceded, catching up on what Tony was thinking about.

"Ex-partner," Tony interrupted him. "I'm not going back to Baltimore. Can't. But you already knew that."

They stopped now and Gibbs took a moment to look at the younger man more closely. The wall he had drawn up around him when he had first entered the bullpen mere minutes ago was gone - as was his bravado. He looked defeated somehow and Gibbs couldn't blame him. It must have been a really tough decision to make.

"You probably think I'm stupid," Tony finally said barely above a whisper.

"No, I don't," Gibbs replied. "You're loyal and he was your partner. I get that."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he answered thoughtfully. "A partner of mine screwed up once. Not as big as Price did, but she certainly managed to get us into a jam. I helped, we parted ways."

"You never reported her?" Tony asked, his eyes finally meeting Gibbs'.

"No," Jethro replied, once again wondering why it was so easy to confide things like that in Tony. "There are rumors that she might make director in a couple of years."

"Wow," Tony just said and Gibbs nodded, trying not to think of the day when Director Shepard would become reality.

"You meant what you said on the phone?" Tony interrupted his train of thought. "I mean about offering me a job?"

"Just trying to make sure you don't break rule five," Gibbs replied nonchalantly, unable to actually say the word that he really needed Tony in his life again.

"Rule five?" Tony checked back. "I only know one and two."

Gibbs snorted and shook his head, glad that Tony was at least joking about it.

"Yeah, those, uh, got changed over the years."

"To what?" Tony asked, a real smile finally appearing on his face.

"Number one's 'Never screw over your partner' and the other one's 'Always wear gloves at a crime scene'."

"Kinda boring that last one, Jethro," Tony grinned.

"You won't say that if you forget it one time and almost compromise the entire investigation."

"Duly noted," Tony said, his expression turning serious again as he fixed the older man with a mild glare. "So what was that about rule five?"

"You don't waste good," Gibbs said, stepping a bit closer. "And you're good."

"Thanks," Tony replied seriously and then let his glance follow Gibbs' outstretched finger.

He turned around and read the 'Agent Applicant Division' sign on the door for a second before he turned towards Gibbs again.

"You really want to hire me? No strings attached?"

"Yeah," Gibbs replied sighing. "You really are good and I would be glad if you joined my team. I don't mean to barge into your life in any other way, Tony. I promised I wouldn't, so I don't. It's up to you. I certainly could use someone like you here."

"Someone like me?"

"Yeah, a good cop, someone who follows a hunch when it's needed. You've got great people skills, which I'm lacking. Could come in handy with suspects."

"You want me for my skills as an investigator?" Tony checked back incredulously, even though Gibbs could see his shoulders relax at the same time.

"Listen Tony," Gibbs answered barely above a whisper and looked around for a moment, making sure that they were still alone in that hallway. "I'm not going to lie. I wanted to see you again, but not because I want to get between you and Wendy or anything. I like you and I think you're the best man for the job. That's all. No string attached."

Thoughtfully, Tony looked at him for a moment, biting his bottom lip before he visibly straightened up and nodded. "Okay."

"Okay," Gibbs replied and couldn't help the smile on his lips.

He pointed towards the door to Human Resources behind Tony again and then slowly walked away from him, feeling a rock falling from his heart. Maybe this would work after all…

Just when he was about to round the corner, Tony all but shouted at him, causing him to stop for a moment.

"Did I mention you're a devious man, Jethro?"

Gibbs snorted and then started to walk again, quickly glancing back at Tony who was openly smiling at him now.

"Boy, I got vision," Gibbs said. "And the rest of the world is wearing bifocals."

He heard Tony laugh out loud and chanced one more look at the kid, feeling better than he could remember in years.

"And here I thought you didn't like movies," Tony said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Butch Cassidy. That's nice."

Gibbs just nodded at him and then finally stepped out of eyeshot, wondering if he had actually managed to do the right thing for once. Maybe this was the beginning of a good partnership, all feelings aside. He would have to learn to deal with them, but if this brief encounter with the younger man was anything to go by, he certainly could do it. He already felt better about himself than he had in weeks. He wasn't quite as lonely all of a sudden and he really did look forward to work with Tony. Maybe becoming partners would also lead to becoming friends. Granted, he had no idea how Tony actually felt, but the fact that he had kept that picture of him and Gibbs for so long had to mean something. If it didn't mean that Tony had occasionally thought of their time together, Gibbs simply would have to find out what it was all about. And if Tony really wanted the job, Gibbs would have all the time in the world to find out after all.

For the first time in years, Gibbs was sure that things would work out eventually.