Chapter 2
Before he could stop himself, Tony leaned forward and gently brushed his lips across Gibbs'. Then he realized what he was doing and hastily pulled away.
"I... I have to go," Tony muttered, standing straight up. The stool fell over beside him, and his glass of bourbon crashed to the floor, where it shattered. Amber liquid splashed over both of their shoes as Tony turned and dashed out of the room. He took a wrong turn at the top of the stairs and had to backtrack.
"Tony, wait!" Gibbs called from the basement. Tony didn't listen, just kept running.
He was picturing the look of disgust that must have crossed his boss's face. The way those gorgeous blue eyes would sneer at him the next time they saw each other. He couldn't stand the thought. When he heard Gibbs giving chase, he put on an extra burst of speed.
Gibbs caught up just as Tony reached to turn the doorknob. He grabbed the younger man's arm and spun him around so that they were facing each other.
Tony began babbling. "I'm sorry, boss. I'll control it. I shouldn't have told you that, I..."
Gibbs cut him off. "Tony, I -"
"No! I don't want to hear it!" cried Tony, wrenching his arm out of the other man's grip. "I'll have Vance move me to another team. I'll have him move me to another branch! Heck, I'll even go back to the Baltimore PD. Just, please. I'm sorry. I never said that. I know you hate it, I know you're disgusted…"
"Disgusted?"
"Ok, so worse than that... I know you probably hate me now. Well from now on you won't have to see me if you don't want me to. I'll resign tomorrow, I'll..."
"STOP!" roared Gibbs.
"Boss..." Tony continued.
Gibbs did the one thing he knew would work. He put one hand on the back of Tony's neck and pulled him closer. Then he planted his lips firmly on his senior field agent's lips. At first, Tony tried to pull away. But after a moment, he let the kiss deepen, moving his mouth in time with Gibbs. Gibbs pushed Tony up against the wall and began running his fingers through his hair.
When they broke apart, Tony was shocked to see tears in the older man's eyes. Feeling rather bold, he gently brushed one away with his thumb. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"What's wrong? You're asking me what's wrong? Tony, don't you ever talk about resigning again," Gibbs murmured.
"But boss..."
Gibbs rested his forehead on Tony's. "No, Tony. I don't want you to resign."
"But... Why?"
"Because," said Gibbs, taking a deep breath. He was about to reveal his best-kept secret. It was one he had been keeping since that day, eleven years ago. That day when he ran into a rather smart-ass, brown-haired Baltimore PD officer. "Because, Anthony DiNozzo Junior, I love you too."
