Tony's gaze followed Gibbs' outstretched arm as it pointed towards the living room.
"In. Sit."
His tone brooked no argument, and so Tony did in fact go in and sit, all the while cursing his failed escape attempt. He heard Gibbs rummaging around in the kitchen and closed his eyes wearily. Why did he always have to make things worse for himself.
He sat stock still as he heard the older man make his way back into the living room. It took a few deep breaths for him to look up and see what he had in his hands.
The hand that was outstretched to him.
Accepting the bottle of water in surprise, he looked on silently as Gibbs took the same foot rest he had when whilst talking to Tim.
Gibbs was silent for a moment, as he uncapped his bottle of water and took a long draught.
Tony, not being able to think of anything else to do, followed suit and was surprised that he felt instantly calmer.
He watched as his boss made eye contact with him and opened his mouth.
He just wasn't prepared for what came out of his mouth.
The team leaders tone was pretty gentle, and calm.
"You afraid of me, Tony?"
If DiNozzo men were to keel over in surprise, DiNozzo JR would be currently sprawled across the floor.
He settled for a blurted out and amazed "huh?"
Gibbs stared at him steadily, with that x ray vision that made it so damned impossible to hide anything from him.
"You tried to run. I need to know is that because you're afraid of me? I want the truth now, Tony."
There was silence as the young man digested this information, his head reeling slightly under the weight of it. There were varying feelings of varying degrees of strength floating around his consciousness, but he knew what the predominant one was without much hesitation.
Guilt.
As he looked into the eyes raking over his own, he felt guilt ridden. He wasn't afraid of Gibbs, he'd never been afraid of Gibbs, ever.
In an unusually serious tone, the senior agent answered the question, confidently.
"I've never been afraid of you, boss. Ever."
Gibbs remained silent for a moment, his eyes searching every part of his senior agent for hesitation. He found none.
"Then why try and run?"
Tony swallowed.
"I guess…I guess I just panicked."
Gibbs nodded slowly, hearing the meaning behind the few short words and for the millionth time, cursing his fiasco type handling of recent events.
He took a deep breath. He needed to ask, he knew the answer, but still, he needed to ask.
"Because it's the first time you've been in trouble since Sacks?"
And there it was. The elephant in the room had well and truly come out to play.
Tony blanched somewhat, clearly torn between self preservation and trying not to hurt his boss' feelings.
The truth won out, it always did in these situations.
"Yes boss" he murmured quietly, fidgeting with his hands.
Gibbs exhaled slowly. He'd been expecting that answer, but the tidal wave of regret and guilt that came with it always took his breath away.
Forcing himself into the present, he took in the wrung out appearance of his elder boy.
"Tony…I need you to listen to me, ok?"
The sandy brown head bobbed up and down in instant agreement.
Gibbs took a second, and a breath.
"I can deal with this officially Tony. It'll probably be a suspension, without pay and a long one. Plus a permanent note in your file. I don't have to deal with it personally. You have a choice."
The kid gawped.
He gawped some more, before finally finding his voice.
A bitter voice.
"You're going to rat me out to Vance?"
Gibbs closed his eyes. Why was everything so damned difficult.
He forced himself to keep his tone level.
"No Tony, like I said, it's your choice. Either I can handle it, or Director Vance can."
The younger agent heard the mild rebuke in his boss' tone and sighed.
"I told you already…I don't want official sanctions when I don't have to."
Gibbs nodded, but kept his gaze trained on his second in command.
"Tony, my punishing you, that only works if you understand and know why it's happening. It doesn't work if you're just agreeing to it to avoid official sanctions, and I will not do it if that's why I think you're choosing it."
The kid stared.
He stared some more.
And then he exploded.
"What do you want me to say? That oh yes, yes please by all means remove the option of sitting from me for a couple of days. That would just be super. Did you ask Tim if he'd like the choice? Then again, I guess his choice would be between chocolate and vanilla ice cream."
Gibbs' brow furrowed, as he opened his mouth to interject, but was beaten to the punch.
"You want to know why I ran?" he continued scathingly, "it's because I knew that you were gonna blame me for this. You always do, when your Timmy is concerned. Or your Abby for that matter, not to mention Ziva. I'm just an easy target, aren't I?"
Gibbs' eyebrows were in danger of disappearing irrevocably into his hairline as Tony ploughed on.
"McGee say's something wrong, he gets a look. I say something wrong, I get a slap. You…you coddle him, and you concuss me!"
The elder man opened his mouth, but again, was cut off.
"No matter what I do, it's never good enough for you. I break a lead on a case, nothing. He breaks a lead on a case, and you all but throw him a goddamned parade. I'm supposed to be your senior field agent, and yeah I get that I screw up, but it sure would be nice if you treated me like your second in command instead of a puppy that's good to kick when you're in a bad mood!"
The kid was unravelling, and Gibbs could see it whilst the last few sentences the younger man had spat at him hurt like hell, the sensible part of the elder man knew that it wasn't really him they were aimed at.
"Tony-"
Cut off, again.
The kid was on his feet, pacing, his breathing hitched and irregular.
"Tony!"
The pacing just increased, it was obvious the younger man didn't even hear him.
Couldn't even see him.
When he spoke again, it was like his voice was different, distant…like he was talking to himself.
"It's just like that time when I made that welcome home banner. Remember? When you went away on a business trip with Greg's dad, the next door neighbour? I spent days and days working on it. I remember cutting myself trying to cut out an airplane. You came back, I was at the front door with the banner, and you barely looked at it before pushing me against the wall and out of the way because you'd just learned that Greg had made the basketball team, and I didn't…"
It was Gibbs' turn to gape.
What the hell was going on?
Tony was still pacing, and muttering under his breath.
"I didn't make the team…I said I was sorry, but you just kept saying Greg made the team…why couldn't I be like Greg, why did you get stuck with a son like me…"
A sickening realisation hit Gibbs like a forty ton truck.
He stood instinctively and crossed the room.
Before Tony could react, object or argue, he had the kid pulled tightly into his chest, holding him there with a gentle but firm force.
"It's me son, it's me" he said quietly as the young man stiffened, clearly jolted out of his reverie of times past. He began to squirm in Gibbs' arms, but the elder man held onto him tightly, feeling staggering déjà vu.
Eventually, the squirming stopped and Tony relaxed slightly as he breathed in the familiar scent, bringing him back to where he actually was.
Only when Gibbs felt the torso melt back to its general posture, did he release the kid.
He frowned when he saw the intense burning quality of his cheeks, and the look of raw and mammoth embarrassment on his face.
"Boss…" he muttered quietly, "I'm so sorry…I don't know…uhh, I think I'm coming down with something or other, must be dehydrated…you know how it gets."
He looked up with those green eyes and Gibbs felt his stomach churn. The look of absolute trust, mingled with fear of ridicule tore at his heart.
He instinctively reached out and placed a hand on the kids' shoulder.
"Yeah son…I know how it gets."
The look of relief that floated over Tony's face was hard to see, and as he gently guided him back to the couch, Gibbs felt the familiar burning of anger for DiNozzo Senior, rivalled only by his harboured feelings of rage for Admiral McGee and Director David.
Tony twitched slightly uncomfortably on the couch, picking at the label on his water.
Gibbs watched him quietly for a moment, before speaking.
"We need to sort this out Tony…these issues, between you and Tim, hell, between me you and Tim."
Tony looked up miserably.
Gibbs sucked in some air and spoke the words he never wanted to have to say.
"We need to sort it out Tony, because even though I protect you two from official sanctions where I can, I cannot, and I will not have agents together, in the field, that don't have each other's back."
The look of alarm that instantly looked back at him stung, but he carried on.
"If we cannot sort out what is going on here, I will have no choice Tony. I will split the two of you up, both onto different teams. That is a case of absolute last resort, and it would kill me to do it, but I'd rather that than one of you being killed instead."
Tony started.
"Boss" he all but whispered "c'mon…you know I'd have his back, I'd never let anything happen to him."
Gibbs smiled slightly at the sincerity in the kids tone, but he shook his head sadly nonetheless.
"You think that Tony, but if Tim, with the way you two are now, tried to push or shove you out of the way of an oncoming target or danger, you'd shove him right back thinking he was playing the fool. Vice versa."
The senior agent chewed his lip. He couldn't argue with this theory. He suddenly felt a little sick.
Gibbs carried on.
"But…I'm confident we can sort this out."
Tony stopped chewing for just a moment. The determined tone in his boss' voice was both reassuring and unnerving at the same time."
"Now, Tim has told me what happened today at the crime scene. I know he said some cruel things to you Tony, and you to him, but nothing gives either of you the right to lay a hand on each other, am I right?"
The head bobbed up and down.
Gibbs took another healthy gulping of air.
"I own some of the responsibility here. I should have stepped in much earlier when I saw how you were treating Tim, and I didn't. I thought it would pass, and to be frank…I was nervous about bringing you in line after the last time. I let my own insecurities feed both of yours, and for that, I'm sorry."
The look of shock on Tony's face was the emotion in its rawest possible form.
"But, you've acted like a petulant brat here Tony. You've taken out the resentment you're still feeling from my handling of that goddamned Sacks fiasco, on Tim. Isn't that right?"
Gibbs' tone was beginning to lose its gentle edge, and take on the sharp and stern tone that the younger man was so familiar of.
He floundered.
He wasn't floundering long, before he was curtly interrupted.
"Answer me."
No gentleness now.
Tony swallowed.
"Yes boss."
Nodding, Gibbs leant forwards on his foot stool and fixed his senior agent with a firm glare.
"Who is responsible for not believing you about Sacks?"
The question hung in the air like smog, and Tony knew he had to answer it, but as he licked his lips nervously he'd have rather answered the many questions of his disgruntled ex's.
"Answer me" Gibbs repeated quietly, not softening his gaze.
Licking his lips once more, Tony sucked in some oxygen.
"Uhh…you are, I guess."
His answer was quiet, and almost apologetic.
Gibbs nodded encouragingly.
"Exactly. I, and I alone am responsible. So, why are you taking it out on Tim?"
The younger man swallowed.
"I…I don't know boss."
Gibbs shook his head.
"Not good enough, try again."
The younger agent groaned to himself. He hated talks like this, and he hated the fact that he was beginning to feel the stirrings of guilt inside him for how he'd treated McGee.
He deliberated and debated for a moment, before deciding to go with the hones truth.
Gibbs would get it out of him anyway, one way or the other.
"I guess…that uhh I was still angry about it, but I didn't uhm want things to stay weird between us…and I was jealous of Tim because it seemed like you trusted him and not me…so I took it out on him."
If ever there was a time that he would stop feeling guilty about he'd handled that one goddamned incident, Gibbs didn't think it was anywhere in his near future.
He remained silent for a moment, his brain whirring through the obviously difficult words his elder boy had just spoken.
"Tony, you'll never know how sorry I am about what happened. I mean that, and... that's why I've been letting you away with murder recently, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere, do you understand?"
The slow nod let him know it was understood.
"Do you see how unfair you've been to Tim? Don't you remember how he tried to stick up for you when I asked both of you if you were involved?"
Tony blanched.
"Yes boss" he murmured quietly, and to Gibbs' intense relief it looked like he just might be making some kind of headway with the kid.
The elder man nodded slowly, and deliberated for a moment.
"Go and get Tim, and then I want both of you to get back down here."
Tony gaped at the instruction as if he had just been told to go and explore the North Pole.
"Boss?"
The now very wearied Jethro closed his eyes briefly and pinched his nose.
"Go and get Tim, and then I want to both of you get back down here."
Tony managed to stand up obediently, turn obediently, before turning back disobediently.
"Aren't you…uhh…I mean aren't I…"
Gibbs looked up tiredly.
"Tony, go and do as you're told. Now."
Instantly recognising the warning tone, the younger agent turned and made short work of the stairs.
Hovering outside his and Tim's door for a moment, he chewed upon his now well worn lip.
Sighing, he pushed it open and found the junior agent still sprawled on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Erm…boss wants both of us downstairs now."
Tim looked up expressionlessly, and swung his legs over the side of the bed and was on his feet in a few seconds.
He passed by Tony without a sideward's glance, and edged out of the room and started down the stairs quietly.
The senior agent trotted quickly behind him and the two were shuffling into the living room for the second time that day.
Gibbs merely pointed to the couch, and waited for them to comply.
When the two were seated side by side not looking at each other, he leant forwards once again.
"What happened today, and what's been going on between you two is inexcusable. We all have a part to play in it, so I don't want to hear who said what, or who did what. You two are going to sort this out amongst yourselves. Follow me."
With that, he abruptly stood up and led the way out of the living room and down the hall.
This time Tim and Tony did exchange looks, out of habit more than anything. Both wore were relieved to find identical looks of apprehension staring back them.
Gibbs offered no explanation, continuing to lead the way until he stopped short outside the back door.
Throwing it open, he strode out into his rather large garden that was bathed in the afternoon sunshine.
The two exchanged another habitual look before following.
They stopped short in the middle of the well manicured lawn, and followed Gibbs' head jerk.
They both stared in surprise, wondering how they hadn't seen the monstrous beast that lay in the corner.
A wooden pallet was laden down with enough complex looking timber and fixings to build another boat loomed down at them. It was held together with industrial wrap, and had clearly not long since been delivered. A large book was securely attached to its side, clearly an instruction manual of some sort.
The two young agents stood in complete confusion as they took in the sight. Gibbs used this opportunity to place himself in front of them.
"This, boys, is the main part of your punishment."
The looks of confusion were rapidly turning into identical looks of horror.
"This is a complicated, eco friendly stand alone conservatory, or sun room if you prefer. The guys from the company were going to come and construct it, but I'll call and cancel them. The reason they were coming, is because this project requires very specialised measurements, complicated calculations, not to mention chemical components. Not my speciality, but right up the street of oh I don't know…a MIT grad?"
He shot Tim a pointed look.
"Now, as for the carpentry side, this project is no joke. This needs honed skills, a good eye, and plenty of strong experience. Not to mention natural skill. That would right up your street, right Tony?
He shot Tony an identical pointed look.
"The only way this baby goes up, is if you two work together. It needs both of your strengths, or its going nowhere. Considering the girls have managed to close our side of the case on their own and that we're off rotation as of today, I'd hazard a guess that this will take about a week to put together if you work hard, and as a team, or a lot longer if you don't. Here's the rub, you two are confined to his house until this is built. Without privileges. No phones, laptops, nothing. When it's finished, you're both still confined until I say otherwise, but you can have your phones etc back."
He shot both of them a stern glare.
"At the end of this project, you two are going to have reached a decision in your own minds. You can talk about it between yourselves if you want to, or you can think about it individually. Either way, when this is built I want an answer from each of you to a question. That question is, which one of you is going to take the butt roasting for this. Because, I'm only spanking one of you."
The two mouths that hung agape in his direction were in serious danger of catching flies.
"I want reasons from each of you as to why you think, or why you don't think, that that person should be you. Now, have I made myself clear?"
The two agents didn't answer, they just continued to stare in incredulous horror, their gaze shifting between the mountain of timber and their completely serious boss.
Gibbs bristled.
"I asked you two if I had made myself clear. Because, if I haven't, then this can go down the official route and you can both enjoy a nice, lengthy, unpaid suspension, if you prefer?"
The two tousled heads shook their heads in unison, as they digested their fate.
"Good, everything you need is in the shed. There's nothing needed to build that, that I don't have. If you're unsure how to use a tool, come in and ask. Do not try and use it without knowing how."
Gibbs took a breath and checked his watch.
"No time like the present, go upstairs and get changed into working clothes and I'll call you both for dinner when its ready."
With that, the elder of the three turned on his heel and strode back into the house, leaving the back door open for the two boys and made his way down to the basement for a bit of peace.
He snorted as he pushed open the door.
Who was he kidding?
Upstairs, the two agents quickly and quietly changed into sweats and t-shirts. An awkward energy hung between them, replacing the outright hostility that had been the norm for the last couple of weeks. Neither knew how to react to it, so each just remained silent.
Traipsing back downstairs and out to the garden, they stared once more up at the mammoth looking task before them.
Tony broke the silence first.
"So…I guess you could start flicking through the instructions, while I go and fill a wheelbarrow up with tools from the garage?"
Tim stared at him for a moment, before nodding curtly and moving forwards to begin the task of wrenching the manual from its binds.
Tony sighed as he set off towards the garage.
His anger, bottle up resentment and jealousy was beginning to dissipate, and in its place a consistent bubble of guilt was forming.
He worked methodically, remembering all that Gibbs had taught him about various tools and their uses, and carefully selected each one.
After loading up as much as he could carry in one go, he deftly steered it out of the garage and instantly saw Tim struggling to detach the manual.
Making his way over and setting the barrow down, Tony reached for his always carried pocket knife and moved to stand beside Tim.
"Here, let me get it I have-"
"Get out of it" Tim spat angrily, "I can get the damn thing down."
Leaving his knife where it was, Tony worked to keep his face neutral and offered a quiet "ok then."
He turned, and set about unloading the barrow whilst Tim continued to struggle.
Discreetly watching out of the kitchen window as he'd gone to grab some water, Gibbs sighed.
This was probably going to take a while.
After a couple of minutes, the manual had been successfully cut down and the tools had been arranged in some semblance of order.
The two straightened up and looked at each other awkwardly.
Tim vocalised what they were both thinking.
"Now what?"
Shrugging helplessly, Tony pointed to the book.
"You've got the smarts McGee, I've got the hands. You need to tell me what to do."
This wasn't strictly true.
From roving his eyes over the stacked timber, Tony could instantly piece together certain joints in his mind's eye, thus giving him a starting point. But the guilt that was beginning to intensify with every breath dictated that he give Tim as much leeway as possible.
Nodding almost absentmindedly, the younger of the two plopped himself down on the grass and flicked the thick book open to page one.
Tony watched silently as the kid pondered the volumes in front of him, and the guilt in his stomach began to burn.
How did he not realise what an ass he'd been?
His face flushed when he remembered how Tim had come to him, all sad puppy dog eyes to boot. Asking him had he done something to upset him, and why was he so cold towards him? He closed his eyes in shame when he recalled the scathing and heated rebuff he'd launched at the younger man.
God, he was such an ass.
His self deprecating reverie was broken as Tim got to his feet, and pointed to a diagram in the book.
"I think we need to build this part first, it serves as the foundations."
Tony examined the diagram over Tim's shoulder, and quickly raked his eyes over the amassed timber.
His face fell.
Pointing, he drew Tim's gaze to the bottom of the heap.
Both boys exchanged exasperated looks, and spoke at the exact same moment.
"…is he for real?"
Gibbs who had returned to refill his glass, caught their speech in unison through the open window and chuckling slightly, made his way back down to the basement.
Which one of his wives was it that told him he had no creativity?
Out in the garden, and under the progressively scorching sun, the two agents worked diligently and quietly. Removing the timber frame by frame was painstaking and laborious, but…both felt themselves loosening up a bit. As if the physical exertion of dismantling the stack of wood was slowly eroding the built up tensions in each of them.
Still though, Tony caught the odd hurt filled, and the odd furious look that came his way from his probie, and winced internally at each one.
Lifting, pulling and dragging had given him plenty of time for thought. Leading him to the conclusion that the reason Tim was in this mess, was because of him.
For his part, Tim was experiencing mixed emotions.
They ranged from furious anger at the man beside him, to an odd…muted happiness that they were now at least able to work alongside each other without hurling the most vicious insults they could think of at the other. He felt his own stabbing of guilt for what he'd said at the crime scene.
Tony had told him some things about DiNozzo Senior one beer filled night in confidence, and he'd basically used that to his fullest advantage to wound him.
He grit his teeth as the anger came back again in its now cyclical manner, and shot the sweaty senior agent another glare.
If he hadn't been such a childish ass for the last two months, neither of them would be in this situation.
Eventually, the two unearthed the required timber for the starting point, having strategically separated the remaining frames into their allotted stages.
Dragging the frames into the required middle position of Gibbs' lawn as instructed, Tony waited patiently for Tim to read up, whilst he admired the wood. Working on his boss' boat had given him a growing love for carpentry. The sun room would look great when, if, it was done, taking up only a small portion of the spacious garden.
Tim was soon speaking, but…what he was saying, Tony wasn't sure.
Holding a large frame, he peeked around it.
"Hey McGee…could you say that again…slower?"
Tim ground his teeth.
"What part didn't you understand?"
Tony sighed.
"The middle part mostly, would you mind just repeating it again…a bit slower?"
He worked hard to keep his voice neutral, unlike the scathing tone Tim had shot at him.
The kid had every right to be mad at him, and if snarling at him made him feel better, well then…so be it.
For his part, Tim suddenly regretted his tone.
He'd sensed the change in the senior agent's attitude.
He crossed over, and bent down to show Tony the diagram. The two conversed in detail, as Tim calculated the exact measurements needed, and Tony cut to order.
McGee watched in surprise at the deftness and skill with which Tony worked the wood. It was clearly a natural talent.
An hour or so later, saw five beams firmly planted in Gibbs' back yard, with markings indicating where the next beams should attach, courtesy of Tim.
They were just about to drag those beams over, when they were stopped short by a call from the door.
"Dinners ready. You're done for today, throw the tarp from the garage over your work and go wash up."
Gibbs withdrew his head, and pottered back into the kitchen with a small smile on his face. The two brawlers had made far more progress then he'd expected them to, the beams looked securely fastened and meticulously planned out.
He dished out two bowls of steaming curry to the sounds of two bathrooms being thoroughly used, and within a few minutes all three were seated at the familiar table.
Over the sounds of clinking cutlery, Gibbs cleared his throat.
"How're you finding it then?"
The two looked up, and then at each other, before offering non committal phrases of "ok" and "fine, I guess."
The eldest agent nodded thoughtfully, and returned to his dinner.
They weren't ready to be pressed yet, so he wouldn't press.
Dinner was a relatively quiet affair, and the table was soon cleared and the kitchen righted.
Tim and Tony rose, and instinctively made their way into the living room to commandeer the television, but were stopped in their tracks.
"Oh no, not a chance."
The two turned with crestfallen expressions, and followed Gibbs' head jerk to a large file box that was perched on the counter.
"Until that sun room is up, it's building by day, and cold cases by night for you two. By hand."
With that, he strode into the living room, shutting the door behind him leaving the two morose looking agents behind.
Tony was the first to recover, letting out a sigh that could be heard all the way into the living room causing Gibbs to roll his eyes, and hoisting the box onto the table.
He quickly pulled out the bulky files, and separating them into larger and smaller stacks he placed the smaller pile on Tim's side of the table, and threw himself down in front of the larger one.
Grabbing a pen from the collection in the large bowl in the middle of the table, he got to work without another word.
Gaping for a moment at the variation in size of his pile, Tim opened his mouth uncertainly.
Eventually deciding against comment, he followed suit and was soon working steadily, his feelings of animosity taking another defrosting session.
They worked without a word for about two hours, before they were halted by Gibbs' entrance.
Spying the larger stack of files on Tony's side, he hid a small smile.
"Ok. That's enough, hit the rack."
Nodding, the two quickly threw their files back into the box, for tomorrow night's entertainment.
As they passed him, Gibbs couldn't help but reach out and ruffle their hair.
As merited, and as necessary as it was, he hated being this hard on them for such a drawn out period of time.
"Night boys" he murmured quietly, and to his relief, they each shot him a small but sincere smile, and a mumbled "night boss" before disappearing up the stairs.
The night passed without further incident, and all three were up early the next morning as per the usual Gibbs household custom.
With being off rotation, they weren't required to go into the office, as long as they were reachable.
So it was breakfast, a shower, and back outside to the makeshift construction site.
Then it was dinner, another shower, and back inside to the makeshift cold case headquarters.
This was the routine the two men followed for the next four or five days, and the sun room was beginning to blossom before their eyes.
Their relationship, whilst maybe not blossoming, had certainly improved.
Tony continued to be patient and pleasant, whilst battling his feelings of guilt, whilst Tim thawed more and more with every day, even though he was dealing with guilt of his own.
On the fifth day of the build, Gibbs looked out the window to see the two boy's laughing and joking as Tony tried to teach Tim how to sand the ornate pieces for the sun rooms frame. Tim kept bursting out into laughter at Tony's gravelly impersonation of Gibbs' mantra to "sand with the grain."
Laughing and muttering "cheeky pup" under his breath, he returned to his basement to sand with the grain, and enjoy the feeling of lessening tension in his own body.
It had pained him to see his two boys so at war.
He could tell they still had a way to go, but he could also tell they'd come a hell of a long way since the first day he'd issued their builders permit.
It also pained him to make them work on boring, tedious cold cases when usually they'd watch a film or whatever.
The sensible part of him knew he had no other option, what they'd done wasn't small. Any other boss would have at the very least suspended them, many would have fired them.
He compensated for his feelings of guilt somewhat by making their varying favourite dinners each night, that never lasted long, they having built up quite the appetite from their days work.
On the sixth day, there came somewhat of a breakthrough.
The sun room was nearly complete. Both agents had to admit, it had been no easy feat. Tim had had to work quite hard to get the calculations down right, such was their complexity. Tony had to work even harder to force to materials to bend to the will of a perhaps over exuberant designer.
All that left to be completed were the ornate engravings on the door, and for the door to be hung.
The sun room itself was a thing of beauty, and both boys were secretly quite proud of their work.
The door lay on the grass between them, as Tony worked on the right side and Tim the left.
He had shown the younger man how to hold a chisel just right to allow for the greatest control, just as Gibbs had shown him.
The kid had taken it up pretty well too.
They worked in comfortable silence for a while, until Tony needed a different sized chisel.
Reaching over the door, he accidentally knocked Tim's hand with quite a force, causing it to rebound off the door with a thud.
Yelping, the younger man instantly sucked him thumb to lessen the pain, shooting Tony a death glare.
Squawking, Tony threw down his chisel and grabbed a wet cloth from the cold bucket of water they kept beside them to cool down, and wrapped it around Tim's finger.
"I'm sorry, it was an accident Tim I swear…is is sore?"
Twitching the offending digit, the junior agent shook his head.
"No, it's fine now. Just a scratch."
Over the other side of the door, Tony felt the dam of guilt that had been threatening over the last week, burst its banks.
"I'm sorry Tim…hell, I'm so sorry…"
McGee looked up in alarm at the now tortured expression contorting Tony's features.
"Jeez, it was only a tap. It's ok."
Tony didn't seem to be listening, he dropped his head down onto his knee and shook it miserably.
"So sorry…"
Tim was becoming rapidly more and more alarmed.
Standing, he crossed over the door, and knelt down beside the elder of the two.
"Tony…it's ok, its fine…look" he urged, showing him his now normal looking finger.
The head shook again, but this time the senior agent did raise his head.
"No…Tim, I mean…I'm sorry."
McGee merely stared nonplussed. He wasn't really big on double meanings, and the look of raw hurt on Tony's face was still alarming to him. He was about to open his mouth to tell him he'd no idea what he was talking about, when realisation struck him.
"Oh…" he said softly, "oh."
Tony gave a morose nod, and took a deep breath.
It was now or never.
"I was jealous. You were right, I was jealous as hell. You're so brainy and everything, and when Gibbs believed you…I blamed you. It made no sense, and it was selfish as hell. You tried to help me, to stand up for me, and I was just an…ass."
He took another shuddering breath.
"I took my anger at Gibbs out on you. I'm so sorry, I've been a complete jerk. The reason you're here, the reason you're in this mess, is all on me. I provoked you at the crime scene, I treated you like dirt…for weeks and weeks."
Tim tried to interject, but to no avail.
"What I said…about your dad, I didn't mean that. I shouldn't have said that…I was trying to hurt you as much as possible, and that was about the most vicious thing I could come up with…you…you must hate me."
With that, he was finished.
Dropping his head back onto his knee, he exhaled deeply and slowly.
He expected Tim to get up and walk away, hell, maybe take a swing at him.
What good was a lame ass apology going to do after all he'd done to the kid?
It was a complete surprise to feel a warm hand on his knee.
"I don't hate you."
Tony jerked his head up in amazement.
"You don't?" he all but choked.
Tim smiled, the first true and pain free smile he had given Tony in what felt like an eternity.
"No, I don't. I mean, don't get me wrong, I could still kill you at times…but no, I don't hate you."
Tony stared, before tentatively returning the smile.
"I have that effect on people."
McGee snorted, and nodded his head.
"I've noticed."
Tony nodded slowly, and hesitantly opened his mouth again.
He was beaten to the punch.
"Look…Tony, these past few weeks have been rough. Yeah, you've been a jerk and yeah there were times when I was so mad I couldn't even look at you. But now…I'd just like to get back to how things were. You know, when you were annoying, but in your usual way."
The senior of the two stared again.
"Really?"
He didn't want to admit it, but his heart lifted considerably at the sentiment.
Tim rolled his eyes affectionately.
"Really. And…uhh, well I need to apologise as well. What I said at the crime scene…I feel awful. I was trying to hurt you too, and I knew just how to do it. I should never have said that… and I didn't mean it either. I guess we're just as bad as each other huh?"
Tony grinned, before punching McGee playfully on the shoulder.
"Not quite…but thanks."
Tim returned the grin, and stood up, dusting the grass of his clothes.
"You think he knew this would work out like this?"
Tony also stood and dusted himself off with a laugh.
"He's all knowing McGee, so yeah, I'd say so."
The two laughed some more, before eying each other slightly awkwardly.
As if by synchronisation, they both pulled each other into a quick hug, that turned into a slightly longer hug.
With a final, and whispered "sorry kid" into McGee's ear, the two broke apart, no longer embroiled in a senseless feud.
"Let's get this door up, and get some kind of freedom back then" Tony grinned, stooping down to continue working, as Tim followed suit.
Inside the house, leaning against the counter, and watching the whole scene unfold, Gibbs grinned his trademark grin.
"That's my boys."
Within another two hours, the sun room was finally erect and complete in all its glory, with a very sweaty, but happy, Tim and Tony basking in its wake.
Gibbs had answered the excited callings from the two with a chuckle, and striding out into the garden, he was damn impressed.
Clapping each agent on the shoulder, he smiled down at them.
"That's a mighty fine job boys, she's perfect, well done. I'm proud of the pair of you."
The two bathed in the well earned praise, grinning up at the wooden structure.
"Now's all that's left to do is take her down again" Gibbs finished seriously.
There was a brief, shell shocked silence.
Tim choked on his breath, and Tony squealed at this pronouncement. They each bore identical looks of betrayal and horror as they stared at the elder man.
When he could contain it no more, Gibbs burst into laughter and ruffled their hair.
"Only joking…only joking" he choked, "come on…go get washed up and let's eat lunch."
The outraged "not cool boss" that followed him only made him chuckle more.
After another half an hour elapsed, the three were sitting down to a pretty decent lunch, and the chat around the table was animated and happy.
Gibbs smiled privately to himself.
Mike Franks had taught him well.
When the last morsels had been eaten, and the last dish washed, he instructed both of them back to the table.
Clearly expecting another bout of cold cases, they exchanged glum looks but otherwise did as they were told.
Sitting himself down at the head of the table, Gibbs was clutching two legal pads and two pens.
"Ok, remember what I told you would happen, when your project was finished?"
The two younger man had conveniently pushed this memory from their minds, but now had no choice but to nod with increased glumness.
"Good. I want each of you to give me four reasons as to why you think, or why you don't think, you should be the one to be spanked. This is not a test, no right or wrong answers. I just want honesty from you guys. Got it?"
The silent nodding assured him that they did.
Distributing the pads and pens, Gibbs looked at his watch.
"You got five minutes then. Off you go."
With that, he leant back in the chair and buried his head in a newspaper.
Tony and Tim exchanged miserable looks, before dropping their heads to their pads and picking up their pads.
Five minutes seemed to snail by in excruciating fashion, but when Gibbs put down his paper announcing time was up, they had completed their task.
They each handed their pads back to the their boss and waited uncomfortably for him to read through each of their reasons. They squirmed uncomfortably in their seats, and avoided eye contact with each other.
Gibbs had to work hard not to smile fondly as he read them.
They were exactly what he expected to see.
He might have screwed up with them, but he still knew his boys well.
Schooling his features in firmness, he cleared his throat.
Without further adieu, he swapped the pads over in his hands. Sliding Tony's to Tim, and Tim's to Tony's, he fixed them with a stern glare.
"Read them, to yourselves."
Their squirming instantly increased, as they each picked up the others list and scanned through them.
Tony choked first.
"Boss…no" he blurted out, "this was my fault, no matter what Tim thinks. I'm the one who deserves it, not him…please boss, don't."
It was then Tim's turn to splutter.
"Tony…shut up, I'm not exactly whiter than white in this…boss, pick me. I wound him up, I rubbed his face in things, I provoked him…boss c'mon, you know what I said, you can't pick him."
Gibbs held up a silencing hand.
"I've read your lists, you've read your lists, and I've made up my mind. It's non-negotiable."
He took a deep breath.
"Tim, go to your room. Tony, you're with me."
Tony nodded determinedly, grateful yet nervous that Gibbs had made the right choice.
He had started this whole thing off, he had caused this. Sure Tim had retaliated, but who wouldn't. This was on him.
Tim however, shook his head doggedly.
"Boss…c'mon. That's not fair, he apologised to me. We're good again, you don't need to…to do anything."
Gibbs held up a hand yet again.
"Tim…like I said, its non-negotiable. Now, go to your room. That's not a request."
McGee spluttered and stared helplessly at Tony, who jerked his head upstairs in a clear endorsement of Gibbs' orders.
Casting wildly around his head for some kind bargaining chip, he seized on the most logical one.
"Can't we take half? Boss, that's fair…please, let me take half?"
Gibbs shook his head slowly, and rose from his seat.
He gently guided Tim up from his chair and pointed at the stairs.
"No son, now go to your room. Right now please, this is your final warning."
Tim gulped and looked miserably at Tony who smiled reassuringly at him.
"Go McGee, I'll be fine. Scoot."
Groaning, but realising there was simply no way to help Tony, McGee reluctantly shuffled towards the stairs. Climbing three, he couldn't help but turn around and try once more.
"But-"
"Go!" Tony and Gibbs chorused in unison.
Tim finally took heed and the sounds of the bedroom door shutting drifted lazily down the stairs.
The first and second in command stared at each other for a moment, before Tony being unusually omniscient, smiled a true smile.
Gibbs was nervous as hell. It would have been cute, really, if his butt wasn't on the line.
"Relax boss. It's just like riding a bike, you'll be fine."
Gaping at the younger man for a moment, Gibbs eventually snorted.
"That obvious huh?"
Tilting his head back, Tony shot him a roguish grin.
"Losing your poker face old man."
Rolling his eyes, Gibbs leant over and issued the obligatory head slap.
Tony made a show of yelping in indignation, as the elder man turned away and began to rummage in a drawer.
The younger mans stomach dropped slightly.
He knew what was in that drawer.
He despised what was in that drawer.
They all did.
Grasping the heavy wooden spoon in his hand, Gibbs shut the drawer quietly, before taking Tony by the arm and guiding him to his feet.
"C'mon then, let's get this over and done with."
With that, he led the way into the living room, with only a mildly stalling Tony in his wake.
Sitting down on the couch, he beckoned the boy closer to him.
"Tell me why I chose you?"
Tony groaned, but being right in front of his boss who was still clutching that hateful spoon, decided just to comply off the bat.
"Because I treated Tim terribly for no reason, because I endangered our working and personal relationship and thereby placed both of us in harm's way, because I didn't come to you and tell you I was still struggling with the whole Sacks thing, and instead I took it out on him and…"
He paused to take a breath, and continued on under Gibbs' encouraging nod.
"Because my behaviour is not how you treat family."
Nodding slowly, Gibbs smiled slightly up at his second in command as he finished reciting his list.
"Exactly Tony, exactly."
Gulping, the younger man nodded and looked around at the familiar arm rest.
He began to walk towards it, wanting to get the whole thing over and done with as soon as possible.
He was however, stopped in his tracks.
"No. Not over there."
Tony looked around in confusion, seeing Gibbs scooting back on the couch.
"Huh?"
The team leader took a deep breath, this probably wasn't going to be easy.
"Come here" he ordered firmly.
Bewildered, Tony did as he was told out of instinct, and found himself standing at the right hand side of Gibbs.
Using this confusion, Gibbs quickly reached out and within the blink of an eye, he had pulled the kid over his knee, and wrapped a firm arm around his waist.
For a split second, it seemed like Tony wasn't going to put up a fuss.
That split second sailed passed however, and any hope of non fussing went out the window.
He instantly began to struggle in his boss' grasp, mortified by the position he was in.
Gibbs kept a calm and steady arm around the kid's waist, and used his free arm to dish out one searing swat across his sweat clad backside.
The shock of it was enough to render Tony still.
"Yes, I know I don't usually spank you like this. Yes, I know you hate it. Yes, I know you know that you should hate it. Yes, I know this is usually for the girls. Yes, I know you think that Tim's never been spanked like this, but you're wrong. Yes, I will treat you like a brat when you've acted like one and no its not unfair."
He took a deep breath.
"Did I cover everything you were about to say?"
Tony growled into his arms, where he'd deposited his head.
What the hell was he supposed to say to that?
"Answer me."
Growling some more, Tony eventually had the good sense to offer a "yes boss", albeit from between clenched teeth.
"Good."
Without further adieu, Gibbs reached out and deftly tugged the kid's sweats and boxers down to his knees, graciously pretending not to hear the rumblings that started up again in response.
He felt staggering déjà vu hit him as he wrapped his arm around Tony's waist. It wasn't that long ago since he'd spanked Tim like this for the first time either.
Drawing a deep breath, he was surprised to find his nerves had disappeared.
He hated what he was about to do as much as he'd always hated it, but he wasn't…nervous.
He was the same him, and Tony was the same Tony.
Sighing, he pulled himself together and tugging the kid tighter to him, he didn't know for his sake or the boys, he laid down the first swat.
It cracked around the living room, and its recipient yelped in surprise.
After he'd gotten over his outrage, Tony had had a brief window of relief.
Sure it was embarrassing as hell to be put over his boss' knee like a ten year old, but still…it would hurt less…right?
Wrong.
Gibbs quickly settled into a regular tempo, and Tony's butt began to instantly pink up.
He methodically spanked every inch of the kids backside, and the brisk swats were beginning to intermingle with the predictable hisses and "oww's" from his oldest boy.
He didn't scold, as he brought down his leathery hand in rapid succession.
They had all said what they needed to say.
After one or two minutes, he reluctantly reached out to the sound of Tony's embryonic sniffles, and picked up the wooden spoon.
Closing his eyes briefly, he forced himself to tighten his grip on the boy and the thick wood.
The first swat drew a gasp, and the second a strangled yelp.
Gibbs' heart pinched as he brought it down a third time. The sounds of distress always hit him hard, and he had to fight the usual impulse of throwing in the towel and gathering the kid up into a hug.
He continued the spanking in earnest, increasing his hold as Tony began to squirm across his knee.
"Try and stay still son" he muttered quietly, as he brought the spoon down again.
After only a couple more swats, he felt the young man begin to go limp across his knee. He knew a large part of that was the guilt the boy was letting go of, and it was this alone that gave him the strength to bring the spoon down again and again.
When the sounds of unrestrained sobbing began to fill the room, Gibbs heart pinched more and more forcefully.
Looking down at the scarlet backside across his lap, and hearing the now quiet weeping from the tangle of arms, he knew he'd made his point.
With one or two last, and perfunctory swats, he drew the punishment to a close.
In that moment, it was hard to tell who was more relieved.
He instantly carded a hand through the tousled mop of hair, and murmured the traditional words of reassurance and forgiveness.
"You're ok…you're ok bud, I got you" he muttered gently, as the crying began to peter out.
He didn't move, or try to move the kid, he wasn't ready yet.
Instead he continued to tousle his hair, and speak gently to him.
After a few minutes, Tony gave one more large sniff and made to lift himself off his boss' knee.
As per his custom, Gibbs stood with him and turned his back to give him the privacy to right his clothing.
When he turned around, he winced at the watery green eyes, the flushed face and bleary expression.
He'd seen it many times before, but he always experienced the same jolt of guilt regardless.
He reached out and gently lifted Tony's chin up.
"How're you doing?"
Tony stared at him for a moment, and Gibbs' heart missed a beat.
"I'm a bit hot, but other than that…I'm good" he croaked, his voice hitched, before breaking out into his usual rueful pout.
"Sorry boss" he added, and the two words were so loaded with sincerity that Gibbs didn't doubt them for a second.
The kids' eyes were red rimmed, but they had their normal glimmer back.
Snorting at the joke, he rolled his eyes and crooked his finger.
"Come here."
Tony wasted no time in obeying, and was soon pulled into Gibbs' arms for the traditional hug. As he breathed in the familiar scent, he felt his body unwind.
Finally, the whole mess was behind them. He instinctively knew it, and he knew that Gibbs instinctively knew it.
Holding the kid in his arms, the older of the two felt his body melt and heard the contented sigh waft upwards, causing him to smile his rare smile.
He eventually released his agent, and ruffling his hair he pointed to the door.
"Ok, go and get Tim and then come back down."
Tony looked up in alarm.
"What?" he spluttered indignantly, "but boss you said that it was just one of us. You can't punish Tim…you can't!"
Gibbs rolled his eyes, but was secretly thrilled Tony's protective streak for McGee was well and truly back.
"I'm not, I just want to talk to both of you. Now, go."
Breathing a relieved sigh, Tony smiled an apology and exited the room. He winced as he took the first step, his sweats rubbing offensively against his scorched backside.
He took the rest of the stairs slowly, gingerly.
Pushing open their shared bedroom door, he stuck his head around it and saw an anxious looking junior agent perched on his bed.
Seeing Tony, the younger man instantly leapt up.
"Are you ok? Was it bad? Why did you do that, I would have taken it!"
The senior agent rolled his eyes, but was secretly thrilled that he and McGee's brotherly streak seemed to have been restored.
"Calm down, calm down. It was ok…I'm fine. Boss wants us downstairs."
Tim nodded slowly, taking in every inch of Tony's appearance in attempt to assess just how fine or otherwise he really was.
He opened his mouth uncertainly, he needed to say something, but what it was, he didn't know.
He didn't have to think about it.
"Look, Tim…are we ok? I know we said we were, but…I just need to make sure."
The uncertain and insecure look on Tony's face tore at the younger mans' heartstrings.
It was an uncommon serious moment between the two, as he looked DiNozzo square in the eye.
"We're good Tony, we're good."
There was no hesitation, or lingering resentment in his voice.
He was telling the truth.
The elder of the two hesitated for just a moment, before reached forward and pulling McGee into a brief hug and mussing his hair.
"C'mon, before he sends out a search party."
Tim grinned and nodded, and the two were soon edging their way back into the living room.
But to a completely different atmosphere.
There was no ticking time bomb between them anymore.
Gibbs watched them enter, with a smile on his face. It didn't take a psychology degree to know that the two had exchanged words upstairs.
As they sat, and looked over at him expectantly, he straightened himself up.
"I take it you two have sorted everything you need to sort out?"
Tony and Tim shot him identical looks of rueful acknowledgment.
The "yes boss" was murmured in unison.
Nodding happily, Gibbs smiled at them.
"Now, was that so hard?" he teased, his eyes twinkling.
The identical looks of deathly warning that were now coming his way just made him chuckle.
"Ok. I only have a few more words to say on this, and then it never needs to be mentioned again, ok?"
The dubious nodding let him know it was ok, but barely just.
Gibbs took a deep breath, before turning his gaze on Tony.
He got straight to the point, in typical LJ fashion.
"I'm sorry I didn't intervene sooner and call you on your behaviour Tony, this could have all been avoided if I had. It won't happen again, ok?"
The shocked expression eventually gave way to a wondrous nodding, as the elder boy digested his apology.
Satisfied, Gibbs took another breath, before turning to Tim.
"I'm sorry I let you deal with everything on your own Tim, I'm a bit too old fashioned at times, and thought you'd sort it out amongst yourselves. I was wrong, and it should never have gotten this far, and I promise it won't happen again, ok?"
Tim gaped and stuttered for a moment, before nodding his head quietly.
Gibbs turned his gaze on both of them.
"I need both of you to promise me something, ok?"
They nodded hesitantly.
"If you feel, like I'm treating one of you unfavourably compared to the other, will you tell me, right then and there? I promise, I won't go off, I won't be mad. I need to know. Sometimes I guess I expect each of to just know why I'm acting a certain way towards you, and not the other, and its' not fair. I'm not always aware of it, but I'm going to work on it, if you'll help me?"
This time the two gaped so heavily that Gibbs briefly feared for their orthodontic health.
For their part, the two boys were just staggered.
Gibbs had admitted fault after fault in the space of a few sentences, and had promised to work on them.
The two were so used to the idea of a flawless, all knowing, Gibbs, that it took them a while to get their heads around the fact that it was a human sitting in front of them.
Eventually, and with Gibbs' patience, they managed to answer.
Their quiet, and sincere "yes boss'" were music to the elder mans ears, and he nodded happily.
"Good, then I think we're all taking something away from this, but as of now, its behind us all, ok?"
The answering grins were broad and instant.
"Excellent. Now, look behind your cushions."
They stared.
"Huh?"
Tony, of course.
Gibbs smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Look behind your cushions."
Tim recovered first, with Tony hot on his heels, as they rummaged behind the soft pillows supporting their backs.
There was a silence as each digested their find.
Tim squawked first, as he stared at the convention tickets for next month in his hand.
Tony yelped shortly after, as he stared at the game tickets for next month in his hand.
Gibbs grinned at the looks of sheer happiness and amazement.
He'd missed those looks.
"You're both confined for another week or so, and then Tim and I, and Tony and I, can go to each event, any questions?"
There was another silence.
The two pointed at the other.
"Can he come too?"
Gibbs snorted, and reached behind his own cushion, drawing out two extra tickets.
"Thought you'd say that."
…
A/N: So this is the longest update I think I've ever posted to any of my stories, but I wanted to heal the relationship between the boys!
Please let me know what you think!
I'm not sure where this story is going, or if I'm continuing it, so thanks for reading so far guys and I hope you've enjoyed!