CHAPTER 7

Paralyzed
~Elvis song

When you looked into my eyes
I stood there like I was hypnotized.
You sent a feeling to my spine,
A feeling warm and smooth and fine,
But all I could do were stand there paralyzed.
When we kissed, ooh what a thrill,
You took my hand and, ooh baby, what a chill.
I felt like grabbin' you real tight,
Squeeze and squeeze with all my might,
But all I could do were stand there paralyzed.

Tony woke up with a massive headache and a sore ass, with Jethro snoring into his chest, his fingers twitching where they curled on Tony's stomach. Tony grinned. Jethro, his lover, his husband. He should have been alarmed, embarrassed, and he certainly should have been going through a meltdown at having had gay sex with his boss, who had apparently never dipped his dick into the man pond, either. Well, one thing for certain: if he was going to head on over to the other side, he couldn't have chosen a better person to be with. Not that Gibbs…Jethro… was a perfect man. He was far from perfect. He was, however damned hot, and, once they'd gotten over the initial awkwardness, Jethro had proven to be pretty damned good with his fingers and tongue and his dick, exploring places Tony was pretty sure he'd never explored before.

To think that he had dreamed that having casual sex with Gibbs would be enough, was incredibly, stupidly wrong. Naiive, even. And to imagine that their intercourse would be limited to Gibbs fucking him – no kissing involved – well, thank God his imagination had been severely lacking. One thing for sure, Gibbs – Jethro's – kisses, the things he could do with that mouth more than made up for his lack of verbal communication.

When Tony took a moment to get past the strangeness of it all, to delve into what he was feeling about the whole thing, he discovered that his admiration and friendship for Jethro had been a smokescreen over what had lain beneath the surface for a long, long time. Now that he was lying in bed with Jethro draped all over him, Tony came to realize that his feelings for Gibbs were a lot deeper and more intense than he'd ever imagined. They were good feelings, too, and if he was correctly reading Jethro's reaction to their vigorous and hot sex, the brilliant smile and tender kisses he gave him, Tony was pretty sure that those feelings were reciprocated.

A glance at the bedside clock told Tony it was time to rise. He had to go back to his own place in order to get ready for work. Maybe he'd have a hot shower here before he left.

Just as Tony started to extricate himself from Jethro, there was a snort and Jethro cracked open one bleary blue eye.

"Morning, Mr. DiNozzo-Gibbs," Tony said, grinning despite his aches and pains.

Jethro grumbled under his breath, slid out of bed and stumbled for the bathroom.

"Okay, so much for the honeymoon," Tony muttered, hearing water running as Jethro started a shower. After debating joining Jethro, and deciding against it – not sure of his welcome – Tony slowly rolled out of bed, groaning at his sore muscles. There would be no talking to Jethro until he'd had a couple of cups of coffee. Tony found clean underwear and a clean but wrinkled tee in his travel bag, and pulled on the khakis he'd worn the day before. He'd run out of socks so he borrowed a pair of Jethro's, and then went down to rustle up some coffee and breakfast.

Once the coffee had brewed, Tony took a mug upstairs and tapped at the bathroom door. The shower was no longer running. "Coffee," he called. The door opened and a still-wet, naked Jethro stuck his hand out and grabbed the mug from Tony's hand. Tony stood there and enjoyed the view for a couple of minutes, while Jethro drank his coffee. This was the first time he'd seen the man – his husband of less than two days – naked during daylight hours. Not bad at all, his shoulders and biceps heavy with muscle, the waist and hips pretty slim for a guy his age. His gray chest hair was more salt-and-pepper on his stomach, and his pubic hair was dark brown, which Tony found fascinating. But it was Jethro's cock, currently at half mast and pointing at Tony, as if curious, that caught his attention. As far as penises went, it was nicely formed, and Tony was well aware that when it was erect, it was more than big enough to suit his needs. Tony started to reach out, but he glanced up to find Jethro glaring at him.

"This is empty," Jethro growled. He shoved the mug in Tony's hand and abruptly shut the door in his face.

"There's more in the kitchen, when you're ready," Tony called through the door. He turned to leave, then thought better of it. Raising his voice slightly, he called, "You look really good. Even better in daylight than you felt in the dark. Just saying." Tony heard a grunt, which made him smile, and headed down to the kitchen to get breakfast ready.

By the time Jethro came down to the kitchen, showered and dressed but looking a bit tired, Tony had a second pot of coffee brewing and English muffins in the toaster. Tony's headache had receded, courtesy of a couple Tylenol and some orange juice, so he had placed some pills and OJ on the table in Jethro's place, figuring he could benefit from them, too. He'd called a cab to pick him up, as his car was in the NCIS parking lot, but there was enough time to have breakfast.

Tony expected Jethro to head directly to the coffee maker, but Jethro surprised him by coming over and wrapping his arms around him in a big hug.

Jethro kissed Tony, and without releasing him, leaned back with a light frown. "DiNozzo-Gibbs?"

"Oh yeah. Maybe not, huh? It might get confusing at work, with two Special Agent DiNozzo-Gibbses in the same office," Tony replied, getting a warm and fuzzy feeling, knowing they'd be sharing the same last name.

Gibbs played along, saying, "What happens in the DiNozzo-Gibbs household stays–"

"…in the DiNozzo-Gibbs household," Tony finished up.

"Are you okay?" Jethro asked, looking down at Tony as if he expected to find some kind of injury.

Tony dropped his eyes, his face heating up. "I'm okay. You?"

Jethro rubbed his chin, where it was pink from beard burn. "Gotta say, my ass is a bit sore."

Wishing his face wasn't red, Tony said innocently, "Must be all that horseback riding. Maybe you need some of that horse liniment. I hear it's good for arthritic joints."

Jethro looked at Tony with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Are you saying I've got arthritis?"

"Well, your left knee makes those odd creaking noises when you bend over. But I wasn't suggesting you need the liniment on your knee."

"Just where do you think I need it?"

"Ummm, maybe somewhere…further north?" Tony's hands slid down to capture Jethro's muscled rear end.

"Uhuh, and you're saying you want to rub it on my ass?"

Tony laughed. "Now, that sounds very tempting, but we don't have time. How about tonight? And maybe you can return the favor." The way Jethro was looking at him, and licking his lips as if he was hungry, gave Tony an odd fluttery feeling in his chest. Jethro leaned into him and kissed him, slowly and thoroughly. It probably would have continued for some time, but the beeping of the coffee maker interrupted them. Tony mumbled into Jethro's mouth, in between kisses, "Mmm. Coffee. It's ready."

"There's something I want right now, and it ain't coffee," Jethro admitted, sampling a taste of the skin under Tony's jaw.

Angling his head to allow Jethro better access to his neck, Tony said, "Oh God, that's very…um…romantic, and I hate to ruin a beautiful moment, but I have to head home and get ready for work." He opened his eyes and found Jethro smiling at him in a special way that Tony had never seen before. Flustered, Tony explained, "I don't have any clean clothes."

"Borrow mine," Jethro said, sucking gently on Tony's neck, down by the juncture of his shoulder.

"Oh, that's mighty tempting but I've already called a cab. Plus, I need a suit and…well…yours are Sears." Tony hadn't showered yet either, but that didn't seem to bother Jethro at all.

Jethro gave a disappointed sound and nipped at Tony's skin.

"Hey, keep the hickies below the water line," Tony warned. "We are going to keep this a secret, right?"

Jethro sighed and released Tony. "Nobody'll ever find out from me." He put milk and sugar on the table, and refilled his coffee mug. "You want some?" Tony nodded and Jethro poured him a cup, and placed it on the kitchen table, along with hazelnut creamer, which he kept on hand for Tony. He took a seat, gingerly, Tony noticed.

Tony brought over a plate of buttered English muffins, and a box of Jethro's favorite cereal, Wheat-Os, and sat beside him, taking care to sit down slowly. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Jethro grinning. They ate breakfast silently until Tony asked, "Jethro?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Did either of us seem unsure last night?" Jethro asked, an eyebrow lifting in query.

Smiling, Tony shrugged. "No, but we didn't exactly go into this with our eyes wide open. I still don't remember anything beyond being in a room with long benches, with Elvis singing in the background. I think…maybe we're rushing into this?"

"We may have jumped in, ass over heels, but think of all the wedding crap we've avoided, all those arrangements, and the venue, and the guests…"

"Yeah, those seating arrangements are enough to kill ya," Tony agreed with a quirk of a smile. "I remember my dad's third and fourth weddings, and all these choices he was asked to make, when it was obvious he didn't care. The sixth one was a circus, literally," he said with a chuckle.

"What happened to the fifth one?"

"What? Oh, the wedding. I was fourteen. Drank vodka martinis until I was sick, and got packed off to school right before the ceremony. Put me off weddings forever," Tony said, softening his words with a smile. "So how would we handle walking down the aisle?"

"Shoulder to shoulder," Jethro said, being sensible.

"Or, we could go against tradition. My dad could walk you, and Jackson would escort me," Tony suggested.

All humor left Jethro's eyes. "Not your father. I don't want him around." He didn't apologize, but Tony nodded, understanding Jethro's dislike of his father, knowing he was being protective.

After a moment, Jethro said, "Weddings can be a lot of work."

"And expense," Tony pointed out.

"Maybe getting roofied by BuzzBrew is the way to go, after all," Jethro said, raising his coffee mug in a mock salute.

Tony shook his head and sighed. "I'd rather be present at my own wedding. Maybe it'll come back to me in a few days. I hear that happens when you've been roofied," he said hopefully. "I'd like to know how it went."

Jethro laid a hand on Tony's arm. "Hey, if you don't remember, we can always do it again, here in DC. Do it the way you want."

Surprised, Tony asked, "You'd do that? For me? Seating arrangements and all?"

"It'd be for both of us. But yeah, I'll do whatever you want, Tony."

Tony swallowed. "You really mean that," he said, amazed.

Jethro nodded. "Of course I would." He cleared his throat and looked Tony in the eye. "Hell, I've been in love with you ever since I saw you in that jumpsuit that was two sizes too small."

Tony stared at Jethro, who was grinning, and he barked out a laugh. "Oh my God. That was years ago, when McGee first came on board. You kept this a secret all this time! You never said…"

"I wasn't ready, I guess. What about you?" Jethro asked, with a sideways look at Tony.

"Of course I liked you. I mean, we connected right away, and you did hire me – and we made a really good two-man team – but that's as far as it went," Tony admitted. Jethro looked so crestfallen that Tony leaned into him and said, "Okay, it was a bit more than that. A couple of weeks after I started working with you, it hit me just how much I lusted after you. You gotta understand you were this scary alpha boss, and you were barking at me all the time, and I was scared shitless of doing something wrong."

Jethro seemed pleased. "You lusted after me?"

Tony nodded slowly. "I don't think I understood how much I loved you until this morning, Jethro. You were as grumpy as hell but I still cared for you. It was there all the time, but it's as if I just woke up or something." He slung an arm around Jethro and hugged him. "I love you and I can't imagine being without you. We're going to be able to make this work, aren't we?"

"Damn right we are." Jethro leaned into the hug, his hand settling at the back of Tony's neck.

"That's good." Tony stood, and Jethro rose with him. "I know this is crazy, but I love you, Jethro Gibbs, and if you're okay with it, I'd like to stay married to you." Tony gave him a kiss full of promise, expressing the deep love he hadn't even realized he'd had for the man until that morning.

Their lips parted and Jethro sighed. "Wow, if I'd known this was possible, I'd have taken you to Vegas a lot earlier."

"I don't think this would have worked a few years ago, Jethro. I think this is good timing, the best timing for us," Tony said.

Jethro kissed him tenderly, and when he pulled back, he said softly, "I love you, Tony."

Unable to stop smiling, Tony laid his palms on Jethro's chest and reminded him, "I have to go home. The taxi'll be here soon."

"Cancel it."

"I can't. Clothes, remember?"

"Maybe you should think about moving your stuff over here," Jethro suggested.

Tony stopped and stared. "You mean…?"

"Yeah, I want you to move in with me. Make this your home," Jethro said with a firm nod.

"Wow, I didn't… didn't expect that."

"Too fast?"

"Yeah, it's fast but…" Tony smiled, all of a sudden knowing that he wanted, quite badly, for this to work out. "I want to live with you. I want us to be married, for this to be real," Tony said, wrapping his arms around his husband.

"Believe me, it's real." Jethro held onto Tony, kissing his cheek, his neck, the corner of his mouth, until Tony took a breath and gently extricated himself from the hug. With a sigh, Jethro asked, "You're sure you're going to be okay to work?"

"I'm fine. The weird fuzzy feeling has gone, fingies back to normal, so I'm good to go." Tony wiggled his fingers in the air and gave Jethro a smile that assured him that everything was fine. A glance at the wall clock told him that it was nearly eight. Right on time, a horn sounded out front of the house. "I gotta run." Tony reluctantly parted from Jethro, and went into the living room to pick up his bag.

Jethro followed him, hovering. "You go see Ducky anyway. He has to clear you."

Knowing he didn't have any choice, Tony agreed. "I'll see if he has the results of our blood tests when I'm down there."

"Don't spend too much time chatting with him. We have reports to write up," Gibbs said.

Outside, a horn sounded, and Tony said, "Okay, Boss. See you at work."

"Don't be late, DiNozzo."

And just like that, things were back to normal.

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