A/N: Thanks again! I hope you like this one, too :)

Chapter Eight: 11

They had closed up the house and store early in the morning the next day, had said goodbye to the few townspeople Gibbs was actually talking to and had then hit the road. Tony was fighting a terrible headache, despite his tabasco-remedy and an ibuprofen. Gibbs – of course – was showing no outward signs that he had a hangover, but Tony wasn't surprised by that. The man could hold his liquor much better than he did.
They hadn't talked about the previous night except for Gibbs inquiring why Tony hadn't woken him up in order to go to bed. Tony had just shrugged it off, muttering something about letting sleeping dogs lie, which earned him a head slap and a slight smile.

So they were now on the road home towards D.C. Tony had insisted on driving as it was his car after all. They hadn't talked much during the trip, but Tony was long used to Gibbs' silence and it wasn't uncomfortable anyway. Tony knew by now that he didn't need to fill it with nervous chatter anymore, just as he also knew that Gibbs would have listened regardless, but it wasn't important anymore. They knew when they had to let the other be. Tony didn't fool himself into believing that he knew the older man inside out, not like it was the other way around anyway, but he had seen glimpses of the real Gibbs from time to time over the last decade, even more so in these last couple of months. He liked where he stood with Gibbs, liked that he had let him taking care of him in the aftermath of Jack's death. He hadn't felt close to him like this before and he was glad that Gibbs seemed to be accepting of that, too. Not only accepting – he had actually said thanks for it, too.

"I can hear the wheels in your head right now," Gibbs interrupted his train of thought and Tony turned ever so slightly to look at him, seeing an amused smile on the older man's face.

"Sorry, was in Shrek land right now."

"Huh?"

"Far Far away," Tony clarified with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "You got to watch it with Amira some time. She'll love it."

"Disney?" Gibbs checked back, catching Tony by surprise as he hadn't expected him to follow up on his movie reference.

"DreamWorks, I think," he replied, "but close enough, I guess."

The car was plunged in silence after that again for a while and Tony concentrated on driving, dismissing his earlier thoughts for the time being. He didn't even understand why he was thinking about it so much lately anyway.

"So what were you thinking about?" Gibbs uncharacteristically started the conversation up again.

Tony let out a soft chuckle, trying to come up with something that didn't seem as suspicious as the topic he had actually been thinking about.

"Nothing, really. Was just thinking about Jack, the clocks, his clock… that kind of stuff."

"That's nothing, huh?" Gibbs replied, but apparently he hadn't caught Tony's lie, which made him let out a soft sigh.

"No, you know what I mean. Just had a thought about your dad's clock starting again, that's all."

"Like what?"

"It's probably nothing…," Tony hesitantly started, not sure if he really should open up that can of worms. "But did your dad tell you how many days he had had left until he'd meet the one?"

"No, I don't think so," Gibbs said, turning towards Tony with a speculative expression. "Why?"

"I just thought," Tony started, passing an old Volvo, while driving a little over the speed limit, "Maybe it had actually started counting down until he'd be reunited with your mom again."

Silence followed that statement and Tony was just about to apologize for voicing that particular string of thought as he turned around and held himself back. Gibbs wasn't silent because he was angry at Tony for talking about his dead mother. It looked like he seemed actually thoughtful.

"Don't think so," he finally said barely audible.

"Why not?" Tony inquired, sensing that there was more to it than just a bare assumption. It was Gibbs after all and he never assumed anything.

There was silence again and Tony could almost feel Gibbs' reluctance to share his thoughts. He wouldn't make him say it, but the older man had started to speak them out loud, so he must have wanted to share them in the first place. So Tony waited patiently. After a while Gibbs did him the favor and slowly started to speak again.

"I don't think it counted down to his death or whatever follows after that."

"Why?"

"Because then, I'd have been dead for about thirteen years, DiNozzo."

Tony had to try hard not to swerve off the street at that reply. His heart suddenly beat erratically and he slowed down just enough to be able to stare at the older man next to him without causing a horrific accident.

"What?"

"I'd be dead."

"Did yours start ticking again?" Tony checked back incredulously and finally stopped the car at a small parking space next to the road.

"Yeah," Gibbs slowly answered, clearly uncomfortable now and he was probably regretting having told him. "From one day to the next, it had started to count down again. First I had the same thought as you and I had no idea whether to be sad or excited about it. But then… only about five days afterwards, it suddenly stopped again. That's why I think it has nothing to do with death or else."

Tony stared at him for what felt like an eternity, desperately trying to keep the sinking feeling in his stomach from getting worse. He had no idea what he was supposed to say to that, didn't know what to tell someone who had not lost one soul mate but very probably his second one, too.

"God, I'm so sorry," he finally pressed out, unable to come up with a more profound answer.

"Don't be," Gibbs replied, relief suddenly settling on his features. "I actually didn't mind too much. I wasn't ready to let them go. I probably never will be and that's perfectly okay."

"Wouldn't you want another shot at it?" checked back Tony, feeling like there was more to it than that statement, despite its unusual openness.

"Didn't back then," Gibbs replied thoughtfully, running a hand over his face. "Not that I could've done anything about it anyway. Was kind of relieved actually when it turned to zero."

"Okay," Tony said slowly, starting up the car again and continued driving. "What do you reckon happened?"

Gibbs stayed silent for a long while and it gave Tony the time to settle his thoughts again. He had never heard about anyone's clock starting again and now he suddenly knew of two people. It didn't help that Gibbs hadn't even wanted to find another one, while millions of others would kill someone to get another shot. But it wasn't really that that was still keeping him on edge, but he didn't know what it was exactly. Maybe it wasn't about him at all, he suddenly realized. Maybe his soul mate was just having another episode of their messed up feelings lately. He subtly shook his head. This wasn't exactly how he should think about them. It wasn't their fault that he could feel them.

"I don't know," Gibbs finally answered almost reluctantly. "Maybe they found someone else… or they died… who knows. I didn't really think about it too much. Didn't even notice it had turned to zero until a few days afterwards."

"Were you too busy divorcing your ex-wife?" Tony quipped, desperately trying to lighten up the situation and conversation.

It worked, too. Gibbs let out a laugh and delivered an almost soft head slap.

"No, I think I was on a case actually," he replied, still unusually open about it all. "Come to think about it, I think it's been the case we've met," he added as an afterthought.

"Yeah, right," Tony laughed, knowing that his leg had been pulled, but as he glanced sideways at his boss, he suddenly realized that he hadn't been joking. "Seriously?"

"I think so."

"Damn," Tony cursed under his breath, his insides suddenly clenching.

He furrowed a brow. What was so wrong about it? Why did it have him all screwed up inside? The stray thought of his drunken mind from the night before suddenly sped back into his brain and he had to swerve ever so slightly in order to keep his car on the street. He knew that it was nonsense. He couldn't be Gibbs' other half, that much was clear. His clock was still counting, despite having met him a long time ago. But why did that fact not settle his mind?
He chanced a glance at Gibbs who didn't seem too fazed about it and apparently didn't even notice the turmoil Tony was currently in. His calm, though, managed to settle Tony's mind somewhat. If Gibbs didn't think any of it, it surely wasn't Tony's business to explore that crazy thought any further. He let out a breath and then fumbled with the radio, setting it to a 2000s pop station, knowing that Gibbs would hate the living hell out of it.

He heard him groan only a few seconds later, but didn't do anything to switch the station, so Tony didn't need to argue with him. It was good. Everything was fine. Their relationship was good. Nothing worth losing his mind over it.

It really didn't matter anyway because his clock was clearly still counting down from eleven days and a couple of minutes. As if on autopilot, his eyes turned towards his arm and he drew in a surprised breath.
It weren't eleven days anymore. The clock had changed again. Tony stared at it for another moment, making sure he wasn't hallucinating. But there they were. The numbers that now read 5 days and a couple of hours.

What the hell?