Author's notes: First of all I'm really sorry for the long wait. You have my sincerest apologies and I'd love to promise it won't happen again, but I can't. This chapter was especially hard to write because it is so different from my other story. To write "Stay casual" I have to be in a completely different mindset than to write "Cup of Coffee" and in the last weeks it was hard to get there. Anyways I hope you like this chapter and I hope that nobody has lost interest in my story :-)

Super em:glad you liked it. Sorry for letting you wait for the conclusion of the case so long but well… it wasn't intentional at least ::smile::

SparklingCatseye:Lol, I'm happy you liked the case development too. Writing and coming up with interesting cases is not my forte and likely never will be but I'm glad you liked it :-) I also wanted Tony to find the final puzzle piece because Gibbs was quite hard on him during the case… well maybe not harder than Kate and McGee but it would feel harder for him since they are involved now (does that make any sense at all?lol). Also I'm really sorry for the long wait :-( I hope you haven't lost interest in the mean time and have fun reading :-)

TonisimoneI'm sorry that I couldn't update sooner, really. I'm glad I finally got this out (it's longer than my usual ScBp-chapters if that's any consolation) and I hope you like it :-)

Coming Home

Looking back, Tony was surprised at how quickly the case was solved in the end. Well considering Gibbs's interrogation skills he really shouldn't be.

Interrogation this time had been quite unusual. Gibbs just sat there, staring PFC Dean Wilson down. Wilson in turn had been forced to watch an endless slide show with pictures taken of Sanderson's beaten and abused body. Unmoving at first, Wilson soon had become twitchy and ever so slightly pale. As the pictures continued and were shown repeatedly he had finally broken down after more than 20minutes and confessed.

"I didn't want to kill him," he started slowly at first. "We were playing like always. I knew he was into BDSM and we shared that kink. I was the sadist to his masochism. That night though…"

"Something happened," Gibbs supplied.

"Yeah. We… What Rob and I had was the occasional roll in the hay together. Didn't mean I didn't want it to be more though. I never talked to him about it. It was obvious that he didn't want to give up his lifestyle, that he didn't want to be tied down to one person and stay exclusive."

"So you killed him."

"No! Yeah… I mean I didn't want to. It wasn't intentional. We were in the middle of a scene and it was more intense than usual. He safeworded."

"You didn't respect it," Gibbs's came to the only obvious conclusion.

"No, I didn't. I… became so angry. I wanted him to at least accept me completely as his master when I couldn't have him in any other way. He said the word again and again. I could read the fear in his eyes." The first tears made their way down PFC Wilson's face. "But I didn't stop. I wanted him to stay silent. I pressed my hand on his mouth… his movements became weaker and weaker… until they stopped completely."

Their suspect was now crying openly but silently. "I killed him. I didn't mean to, but dear God I killed him."

The silence that followed was deafening. Gibbs continued to watch the crying and obviously distraught marine quietly. Only after a few minutes of silent observation Gibbs got up and turned to the mirrored glass.

"Tony, book him," came the quiet command and the younger man didn't hesitate to follow the order.

"PFC Dean Wilson, you have the right to remain silent, you have the right…" was all Gibbs heard as Tony dragged the murderer away to his cell. Their case was officially closed now but he knew he wouldn't be able to let it go just then.

They found out later that it was Lance Corporal Fred Kellerman's saliva they had found during the testing. He admitted to having found Sanderson and having tried to reanimate him but it had been too late. He didn't want to be linked to the case so he had just left afterwards. It was all Tony could do to not shake his head in disgust at the marine's unbecoming behaviour.

Back in the bullpen, Kate, Tony and McGee were working on the finishing touches of their reports. It was eerily silent, no jokes, no flippant comment traded between Kate and Tony. The three Special Agents were aware of their boss's mood and didn't want to provoke him any further.

Watching the clock and seeing that it was well past six Gibbs told his agents to go home. They followed without having been told twice and ten minutes later Gibbs was alone in the bullpen. At least for five minutes.

Looking up when he heard the elevator coming up again he wasn't really surprised when he saw Tony coming out. "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to go home?"

Tony just shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, you did but I forgot to sign off on something." As if, were Gibbs's only thoughts when he observed Tony powering up his computer again, sitting down and getting to work again. Still he didn't have to wait long until a window popped up on his screen. It was from the internal IM service.

"U ok?" was all it said but it showed that Tony had realized a change in his boss's behaviour. It made Gibbs feel a little warmer.

"Yeah. I think so." He didn't really want to go into detail over IM. He still preferred face to face conversations as it was.

"Doesn't sound awfully sure, if you ask me, Boss."

"Well I'm not asking you, am I?" growing irritated didn't really help the situation but Gibbs couldn't help it. Today had been a long day as it was. Watching Tony however he knew that he had stepped over some line since the other man's face closed up and no further reply was forthcoming.

He definitely started to worry when he saw Tony powering down his computer and pulling on his jacket. The movements were jerky and lacked their usual grace, the one Gibbs always had secretly admired. He really was a bastard.

"Taken care of what you forgot?" he wasn't good with apologies, never had been. He just hoped to God that Tony took the opening for what it was.

"Yeah. I think so." The reply almost made Gibbs smile. Tony had indeed caught up.

"Doesn't sound sure, if you ask me." He repeated what he transpired only a couple of minutes earlier via IM

"I'm not asking, am I?" facing his boss finally, Tony let him see his smirk. It was then that Gibbs knew that he was forgiven. At least temporarily since he was sure that Tony wouldn't let go of this particular topic any time soon.

Tony left again but it didn't take long and Gibbs cell started buzzing and ringing. Irritated he moved to pick it up but stopped when he saw Tony's name as caller ID.

"Yeah?"

"Hey boss, it's me."

"I guessed as much," Gibbs chuckled "I may not be all that savvy when it comes to technology but I have successfully worked out the term of "caller ID"!" Tony's laugh made him feel ten feet tall.

"Good to know, boss. I just wanted to… you know… do you have plans for tonight?" the young man stumbled a bit to get the words out and it was clear to Jethro that he was nervous. He already had been when they were alone in his apartment the other day.

"No I don't. Is that about to change?" Gibbs challenged. He knew Tony would loose part of his nervousness if he was faced with a familiar concept and flirting, the younger man was definitely familiar with.

"Maybe. That depends on whether you want to see me tonight or not." Surprised at the quite forward question Gibbs took a moment to answer.

"Um sorry, boss. That…I guess that came out different than it was supposed to…If you don't want to that's-"

Quickly interrupting the young man Gibbs tried to salvage the situation. "No it came out right. I was just a bit surprised because you were so up front all of a sudden. Nothing to worry about though. We're cool." Congratulating himself internally on his small but apparently effective speech, Gibbs quickly added, "And I'd like to see you tonight. Do you want to come over to my place?

"Yeah," Tony answered and Gibbs could literally hear the pleased smile in the other man's voice. "I'd like that. Very much so."

"Ok. In an hour?" Gibbs suggested

"Works for me," Tony agreed.

"See you then."

"Yeah,bye."

Gibbs flipped his cell shut with a small smile. He was looking forward to tonight and spending time with Tony but at the same time he also dreaded it. He knew he had to explain his particular behaviour from today to his new lover and he knew he had to do it soon. He just wasn't really looking forward to that conversation. He had no clue as to how Tony would react and Gibbs sure as hell didn't like not knowing.

Driving back home at his usual breakneck speed, Gibbs arrived just in time. Not a minute later Tony's car pulled up the driveway and got out of the car to join Gibbs. He didn't come with empty hands though.

"I brought dinner, just in case. I didn't think you'd want to cook or go out so I took the liberty of bringing Chinese take-away. That alright?" Tony asked, seeming completely hyper for one reason or another.

"Sure, dinner and lovely company. What's more to ask for?" Gibbs winked at his younger lover and again, faced with banter and flirting, the younger man's shoulders relaxed and he smiled openly.

Congratulating himself to a job well done, Gibbs opened the front door and held it open for Tony. That action got him another, much warmer smile and Jethro again wondered how this evening would pass and if his younger lover would still smile so easily at him if he knew.

Tony and Gibbs immediately moved to the living room where they sat down on the comfortable couch. Placing the bag on the table right in front of the couch, Tony took out two carton boxes with their respective meals.

"I wasn't exactly sure what your favourite was so I ordered Sezchuan pork for you. I hope that's ok? If you want you can still always have mine. I don't m-" Gibbs interrupted him quickly.

"Really, that's fine with me. Is there a reason why you're so nervous tonight?" the older man inquired, barely managing to disguise his rising curiosity.

"No." Short answer and far too quick. Gibbs knew immediately that it was a lie but let it go for now.

They ate in companionable silence and when they talked, it was about random topics. Not about the case, they just closed today though. Finishing dinner almost at the same time as Tony, Gibbs took the remains with him into the kitchen and threw everything away. He then quickly started a new pot of coffee and was joined by Tony as he waited for it to finish.

"Are you ok?" the younger man asked tentatively

"Yeah, sure. Why are you asking?" Gibbs looked up surprised.

Tony just shrugged his shoulders in response. "Today was a long day and you seemed… tense… a lot more than usually. I thought that maybe there was something wrong or…" shrugging his shoulders again, this time helplessly, Tony looked at his boss and lover.

"There was nothing wrong per se…," Gibb started after having turned around to face Tony. "but the case today was quite personal in a way." He finished looking his lover square in the eyes looking for whatsoever reaction.

"Personal in what way?" Tony asked, clearly confused. He didn't really know what his boss meant but he was willing to bear with him. He hadn't liked today, the anger and frustration that was apparent whenever he looked at the older man. But what he liked even less was the fact that he didn't know the reason and therefore couldn't do anything for his lover to ease the tension.

In the meantime the coffee pot finished and Jethro poured himself a cup. He knew that his younger lover didn't care for coffee in the evening so he didn't offer.

"Can we maybe continue this in the living room? This is likely going to be a longer conversation since I got to tell you a few things. We might as well make ourselves comfortable." Gibbs offered.

"Okay," Tony agreed warily.

He really had no idea what the other man was hinting at but it seemed to be pretty damn important so he just nodded and went to sit down on the couch again. He tucked his feet underneath his body and got comfortable. Gibbs took a seat at the other end of the sofa and turned so the he could face Tony easily. They weren't sitting as close as possible but still not too far away from each other either.

"Do you remember when we were in Abby's lab today? When she asked whether it was a bad scene?" Gibbs started. There was no real way to introduce this discussion so he took the first opening the presented itself.

"Yeah. She was pretty put off by the picture. They were bad but we had worse. I guess it was not her day today." Tony explained thoughtfully.

"That sounds pretty good as explanation but it's not entirely true. You have to know that "scene" as she meant it was not meant to stand for crime scene but for a BDSM set up." Gibbs elaborated.

"Huh… ok… and you know that how?" the younger man inquired hesitantly

"Because… because I've been active in the scene too. That's why." Gibbs forced out before he could talk himself into breaking up this conversation. He needed to be honest with Tony but it was god damn hard. They hadn't even started properly and it could be over in a matter of minutes.

"So what you are saying as that you have participated or still do participate in BDSM play?" Gibbs's younger lover asked somewhat incredulously.

"Yeah." The older man admitted.

"Wow," Tony stated, clearly amazed by the piece of information he had just gotten. "I came up with a number of explanations for your behaviour today but this was nowhere near what I had imagined. You sure know how to surprise a guy."

"You seem to be pretty cool with that." Gibbs said cautiously. "Not that I'm complaining," he added, almost like an afterthought.

"Well, yeah. I mean I really hadn't thought about you being into BDSM but now in hindsight, it seems obvious. You're a Dom, aren't you?" Tony asked, curiosity clearly evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I am."

"Go figure," Tony smiled. "You're a leader, forceful by nature and also sometimes dominant but in a different context. I'm surprised, yes but I really shouldn't be. So much for my observation skills." The younger man joked.

Gibbs still couldn't wrap his head around Tony being so easy-going about this. The usual reaction he got was minor to major freak out. But not this easy acceptance.

"Are you ok with this?" the older man asked, incredulous.

"Uhm…yeah? Why shouldn't I be?" Tony was clearly confused now.

"It's just… I'm not used to this sort of reaction. You amaze me, really." Gibbs stated, in awe of the younger man.

Tony blushed prettily at the unforeseen compliment. "I've seen a lot of things because of work, especially when I was with the PD. I always knew about the scene, heard a fair bit what it supposedly would be like. I never really got into it though. Some of my girlfriends wanted to play with scarves and blindfolds but nothing heavy. Something tells me that you didn't play lightly." Tony supplied his lover with information

"You're right there. It's been years since I was active in the scene but when I was, it was hardcore. Even though I didn't play in a long time, it's not something you loose. You don't just become a Dom for a certain period of time, it always stays with you."

"I see. So what was it about that scene today that got you so angry?" Tony asked, clearly interested in the topic at hand instead of being put off.

"When I saw the body my first thought was that it had been a crime of passion, of anger. And that was the point that got me so riled up. When you play, when you are in a scene, the Dom has the obligation to respect the other's safeword. There is no excuse for not doing so. The sub lays all his trust into the Dom's hand and Wilson not only threw that trust away he stepped on it with both feet too." Gibbs explained to his younger lover. "He was angry and he should have stopped the moment he realized that he had lost control over his emotions. Playing should follow the rules of 'Safe, Sane and Consensual'. Wilson broke all of them and that's unforgivable." He finished elaborating his point of view.

"Yeah, I guess I see what you mean. I don't know enough about all that but I think I followed until there." Tony smiled apologetically.

"No worries, you don't need to. I just wanted to explain. And also to apologize for today. I knew I wasn't easy to work with. Thanks for putting up with me, especially after yesterday since things between us are still new. I didn't want to belittle you in any way and if I did, I'm really sorry." Gibbs apologized and looked deep into Tony's eyes.

The acceptance he saw there made him question if he really deserved the young man sitting a couple of inches away from him.

"You're forgiven." Tony replied after only a moment of brief hesitation and smiled at the obvious relief that flooded his lover's body. The older man relaxed visibly and Gibbs couldn't help but think that this could have gone a lot worse than it had.

That the topic of conversation was not over was when Gibbs saw Tony tense up and start biting his lower lip. An enticing sight under normal circumstances, now it just proved that Tony was worried and nervous about something. Before Gibbs could question his younger lover about what was bothering him, Tony had taken the initiative, for the lack of a better word.

"Does that change anything for us? Can we still be… together?"

The insecurity Gibbs could make out in Tony's eyes hurt almost physically. He carefully grabbed the hand that was closest to him and softly tugged Tony closer to him, until the younger man could lean against him.

"No, Tony this doesn't change a thing between us. I just told you to explain my mood today. I didn't tell you to make you feel obligated to play too. That wasn't what I wanted, not at all. You have to know that being a Dom is only a part of me, like being a Marine and NCIS Special Agent is." Gibbs explained gently. This wasn't easy to get across and he hoped his lover understood what he was trying to say.

"So rather than being a 24/7 thing, it's more like… depending on the mood?" Tony asked

"You could see it that way. You already said that I am forceful by nature and that's true. But I don't feel the need to dominate everybody that crosses my path." Gibbs tried to lighten the mood and the soft and warm chuckle he got felt wonderful.

"And if I were to say that I maybe want to try this with you? Sometime?" the younger man leaning against his side asked tentatively and Gibbs couldn't help but stare in silent amazement.

"Tony, I don't think we should decide this now." he wanted to continue explaining but Tony started to withdraw immediately and he had to tighten his arm around his lover's shoulder to keep him from bolting.

"Just let me finish, ok? I didn't mean it like that. Please?" Gibbs asked and felt Tony relax slightly against him, though not all of the tension left the younger man's body.

"The thing is, that this relationship between us is so new. When it comes to D/s play the most important thing is trust. And I know you trust me to have your six, but this is different, you can't compare the two. There are many things to talk through before really starting to play and I think that it's better to first get comfortable like this before taking it somewhere else."

Tony stayed silent but Gibbs had the feeling that the younger man would understand. He surely had heard some things a bout the scene and knew how bad things could end up when safety and rules weren't considered. Jethro could never forgive himself, would he let Tony jump ahead of himself and get hurt in the process. Playing was intense on a whole new level. Tony wasn't even close to ready for that.

"Ok," the younger man sighed. "I understand what you mean." And Gibbs was sure that Tony did but he didn't like the defeated undertone in his lover's voice.

"But?" he inquired

"It's just… I have the feeling I should be able to handle this, to be able to please you." The helpless shrug of his shoulders told Jethro that he had to tread carefully. Their relationship was so new and he berated himself for bringing all this up. It was far too soon but he couldn't take it back anymore.

"You don't have to, Tony. I don't need you to submit to me to be happy with you. I… I fell in love with you not because I thought you would make a good sub, but because you are a wonderful person. You make me smile when I need it and somehow you always know what to say or do to lighten my mood. You're a vibrant, attractive young man and that's the reason I fell in love with you." Jethro explained and pressed a soft kiss to Tony's temple.

The younger man snuggled closer and it was then that the mood changed. Gibbs noticed it and he was sure that Tony had too. The look on his younger lover's face when he tilted his head up to face the older man told him he had been right. Slowly they moved closer together and meeting midway, they shared their first kiss.

It was chaste and infinitely soft, a brush of lips against lips but it left both men trembling from the intensity of the moment. It was like a dam had burst and their kisses grew more passionate by the minute. It was crazy what they did to each other.

Jethro pulled back for a split second when the need for oxygen won out and the sight that greeted him as he opened his eyes shot a spike of arousal through his body. Tony's eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted, swollen and red from the intense kissing. The soft flush suffusing his cheeks made sight all the more endearing and gave Tony an air of vulnerability.

They met again and this time Gibbs let Tony explore. He surrendered willingly and without hesitation to the soft but determined onslaught of the younger man's tongue. Trying to get closer, he shifted his body until he covered Tony's and they were lying on the couch.

The sensation of having Tony's body underneath his felt wonderful and he could tell that his lover shared his quiet amazement if the gaze full of love and awe set upon him was anything to go by. This was so completely different from anything he had shared with his other partners. It was everything he had missed for a long time and lying here like this, with his lover felt like coming home after a long long journey.

TBC

Reviews are appreciated ::smile::