A/N: ...I'm a terrible person. I am SOOOOO sorry guys! I haven't posted in like half a year and I feel like absolute SHIT. Please forgive me, I offer this short chapter as an olive branch. I'm sorry. I hope you guys like it at least...

When Tony arrived at Gibbs' house, he had sobered slightly, but was still a little buzzed. Entering the perpetually unlocked front door, Tony was surprised that Gibbs in his over-protectiveness wasn't waiting by the door for him. Deciding it best to get the inevitable conversation about his scar over with, Tony slowly made his way down to the basement, keeping one of his hands on the railing at all times so that he didn't fall on the way down.

Tony seated himself on the last step, unsurprised to see Gibbs working on his boat silently; his only company a half-drunk jar of bourbon. He knew Gibbs knew that he was there, but the basement remained cloaked in silence for a few minutes. Tony was beginning to panic slightly, wondering why the hell he thought talking to Gibbs was going to be a good idea, when Gibbs finally broke the silence.

"Ya just gonna sit there all night, DiNozzo?" Tony effortlessly read the underlying subtext: Aren't you going to talk about it?

I shouldn't. I don't want to. Don't make me rehash this again. All of Tony's words got caught in his throat when he saw the concern, carefully hidden from the untrained eye but clearly visible to Tony, shining in his boss' eyes.

Instead of saying any of the things swirling around his mind, he just nodded once; eyes falling to examine the thin layer of sawdust scattered around the basement. A strange sensation, not unlike a tickle in one's throat, occurred in Tony's lungs as he saw the dust, and he was reminded of a time when such a harmless substance could have been close to deadly for him. His bout with pneumonic plague still haunted him – more than most people know – and he was sure that Gibbs was still careful about it at as well.

"Tony." Tony was brought back to the present by Gibbs' uncharacteristically soft tone.

"Sorry, boss, got distracted." He paused briefly, taking a deep breath before he continued. "I guess you wanna know about," Tony made an undeterminable gesture at his hip, knowing Gibbs will easily understand.

Gibbs just continued staring at him, which in Gibbs-speak is a clear: yes.

Tony's eyes traveled along the wall, not wanting the ex-Marine to see him explain his moment of weakness. Not wanting to Gibbs to hate him for being weak. In the Corp you have to be extremely courageous, and the virtue is valued greatly during and after your time in the Corp. So of course Gibbs will hate him, he was weak, pathetic. Tony swallowed; loosening his tie.

"Well, when I was seventeen, I had a classic case of teenage angst." Light, keep it light, make jokes. "And I, uh, well, my car crashed, er, I crashed my car. Or a tree crashed into my car. It's kinda a blur, but some metal from my car got lodged in my side. It was pretty serious at the time, but it doesn't really matter now. No need to go all Papa Bear on me about this." Yeah, he was definitely a little drunk for that to have slipped out.

XXX

Gibbs knew that Tony hadn't told him the entire story, but his gut told him that what he was told was the truth. At least the younger man hadn't felt the need to lie to him about the scar's origin.

Tony's head was still turned away from Gibbs, so Tony obviously still needed a few more moments to compose himself. Gibbs took the time to examine what he had been told.

From what Gibbs already knew about Tony's childhood, he knew "a classic case of teenage angst" didn't even scratch the surface of what he must have been going through. Gibbs wouldn't push there, though. He knew how important it was to have your own private thoughts in times of emotional turmoil.

"Papa Bear" though? He'd heard that before. Abby had called him Papa Bear when he was being a little overprotective of her. So Tony thought he could be overprotective. Gibbs did think of Tony as a kind of surrogate son.

Not that he'd ever say it out loud.

A/N: Please Review! Yay, nay, eh. Whatever. Any kind or constructive reviews are welcome. 3