Sweet Gestures

Chapter 6

The next morning Gibbs was still groggy from the meds that Ducky had prescribed, but he arose when the alarm went off and announced defiantly he was going in to work as usual. It was obvious that his leg was giving him so much pain he could barely stand on it. He insisted all he needed was coffee and a hot shower, and wasn't about to take no for an answer.

Knowing his lover would try to take a shower on his own, Tony stripped down and offered Gibbs a supportive arm around his waist. "Turn the water on as hot as you can stand," he said. Together they shuffled into the shower stall. With Gibbs pretty much standing on one leg, Tony hung onto him from behind and let the steaming hot water run over them.

Even knowing that Jethro was hurt, Tony found their proximity arousing. His cock was doing its damndest to nestle between Gibbs' ass cheeks.

Jethro glanced over his shoulder with an eyebrow raised. "Is that a soap on a rope back there, DiNozzo, or are you just horny?"

Tony couldn't help laughing. "I think the question is, are you making me hot, Boss, or is it just the water that's turning me on?" He could feel Jethro laughing in his arms, but then the older man shifted and put too much weight on his bad leg and he doubled over in pain, almost causing Tony to lose his grip. Tony somehow got them both out of the shower and with Jethro's arm slung over his shoulder they made it to the bed.

Tony went to turn the water off, and grabbed a couple of towels on his way back to the bedroom. Gibbs was rubbing his bruised muscles with his liniment. The bruise had colored up, ugly purple and maroon, and covered an area twice the size of Gibbs' hand, from his upper thigh to his hip. "There is no way you're going in to work today, Jethro," Tony said in his best 'don't fuck with me' voice.

"What, you think the investigation is going to run on its own power?" He snatched a towel and vigorously dried his hair and chest, avoiding Tony's eyes.

Tony halted in the midst of drying himself off. "Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought I was a trained investigator," he said sarcastically. "My mistake! I'll be sure not to assume anything again. After all, it's a rule not to assume, isn't it? And we know that Special Agent Gibbs knows what's best for everyone and has to remind us of our place in case we get uppity. Even though he's fucking crippled he still thinks he can drive himself into work and go out on cases. What was I thinking?"

"Hell, Tony, I didn't mean it like that." Gibbs sent a silent appeal to Tony but he was met with a glare that the younger man had apparently learned from his boss.

"You know what, Gibbs, I'm gonna let this one slide on by because you're obviously in pain and you haven't had any coffee yet, which is a lethal combination. However, if I were you, I'd carefully - very carefully - consider whatever's going to come out of your mouth next, because I'm right on the edge of losing my patience."

Jethro sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. He nodded and reached out to pull Tony towards him, grasping his wrist firmly. Still pissed, Tony resisted and it took him all of ten seconds to allow himself to be drawn into the seated man's arms. To Jethro it seemed like a lifetime. He wrapped his arms around Tony's waist and laid his cheek on his firm stomach. "I'm an ass," Jethro admitted.

Tony ran his fingers through Gibbs' damp hair and held his head against his belly. "You're an ass all right," he said in an exasperated tone. "But you're my ass."

Jethro's hands slid down and he fondled Tony's rear end. "Mmm. Nice ass you've got, too."

A glance at the bedside clock told Tony it was nearly seven. "Shoot, I'd better get dressed before Ducky walks in on us."

"Ducky? What the hell's he coming here for, DiNozzo?"

Tony moved out of Jethro's reach and started to dress for work. "Uh, I think he said something about giving you a shot…?"

An hour later Ducky had come and gone and Gibbs was dressed in sweats and propped up in bed, his breakfast sitting next to him on a tray. Tony plugged in a heating pad and gently placed it on Gibbs' thigh, ignoring the dark look the man gave him. Still cringing sympathetically from the sight of a very long needle being inserted into Gibbs' thigh muscle, Tony leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I'll call you with any developments. And keep your cell phone in your pocket when you get out of bed in case you fall or anything. Call me-."

Gibbs grabbed hold of Tony's neck and pulled him down for a deep kiss, partially to shut him up, but also because he was mad at himself for way he'd let his anger leak out and affect Tony. "Just go or else I'll do something to make you stay."

Tony was reluctant to leave but he knew he couldn't linger any longer. "I'll call."

Tony did everything he could to get out of work early but he had to drive out into the middle of nowhere with McGee to conduct an interview for the case. They had identified the deceased they'd brought up from the bottom of the snowy slope, but not before he'd been dubbed Mr. Freeze. Turned out he was Navy Lieutenant James Conrad, and Ducky's report confirmed the man's neck had been broken before his body had been dumped. Although Tony had talked to Gibbs several times that day by phone, almost freaking out once when he hadn't picked up, imagining all sorts of scenarios - none of them good - Tony asked Palmer to drop by the house to see if he could do anything for Gibbs.

Jimmy was not eager but he was willing to do anything for Tony.

"Don't let him scare you, Palmer. Just be firm," Tony instructed, pissed that it would be several hours before he was able to go home. "Last time I talked to Gibbs he was downstairs on the couch, which is fine." Tony's shoulders tensed up when he thought of Jethro negotiating the stairs to the ground floor, but apparently he'd managed okay. Of course Jethro had only admitted that he was no longer in bed after Tony heard the rattle of a coffee mug being removed from the kitchen cupboard. "Oh, and Jimmy, he cannot, under any circumstances, go down in the basement. Get him some food, some coffee and get the hell out."

Home, finally. Lights were on downstairs. Tony entered by the side door and caught a glimpse of colored lights when he looked through to the living room, which was in near-darkness. The Christmas tree in the corner was adorned with tiny lights and was partially trimmed with shiny glass ornaments. Tony stood in the doorway for a minute, taking in the scene. There was a fire alight in the hearth and at the base of the tree were a couple of cardboard boxes with ornaments nestled in tissue paper.

Jethro sat on the nearby couch, offering a tentative smile of greeting. "Before you light into me, Palmer got the boxes out of the attic and brought them down here."

Tony removed his overcoat and joined Jethro on the couch. He took note of several empty coffee mugs, the remnants of a meal, a bottle of pain meds, cell phone, newspaper and crossword book on the coffee table, as well as the heating pad resting on the arm of the couch. Tony slipped an arm around Jethro's shoulder and pulled him in for a kiss. When their lips met it was a quest for assurance that everything was all right between them and a response of confirmation. "Looks like you're happy enough camped out here. You started trimming the tree."

"Yeah, well, I figured I might as well make myself useful since I was stuck at home today," Jethro said sourly.

Although Gibbs never complained about his health, he wasn't above a bit of coddling. At least he'd never refused outright when he wasn't feeling up to snuff and Tony took special care of him. And Tony might like a little tender loving care but he'd discovered it gave him even more pleasure to be able to do something nice for Gibbs.

Tony asked Jethro how his leg was feeling, knowing the man would never volunteer if it was painful. "That shot that Ducky gave you this morning must have worked."

Jethro shrugged and rubbed his thigh. "It stiffens up if I sit too long, but it's better," he said begrudgingly. "The liniment did the trick."

Tony laughed outright and wrinkled his nose. "Uh huh…it must be the liniment. It smells like turpentine." He nudged Jethro's shoulder with his own and could see him trying to hide a smile. "Do you want help decorating the tree?"

"Yeah. I thought you'd want a hand in making it look nice." After a pause Jethro added, "Some of the ornaments were broken but most are as good as they were twenty years ago. I uh…I think they've been hidden away long enough. Time we enjoyed them."

That was a big step for Jethro, accepting the past and embracing the future but Tony didn't make a big deal of it even if he suddenly felt his eyes prick with tears. Instead he pulled one of the boxes over and started to unwrap the fragile decorations, taking time to look at each one carefully. These were not the Jackson and Martha Gibbs family decorations - these were Jethro and Shannon's and they'd been packed away since '91. Tony smiled at a little metallic B-52 airplane and a spherical ornament that was painted to resemble Saturn. Then he pulled out a yellow paper star, obviously cut out by a child. There was a circular photo, glued in its center, of Kelly. Tony asked in a hushed voice, "How old was she here?"

Jethro took the star from Tony's hand and ran a thumb across the smiling face of his little girl. "Six, I think. She made it at school. Shannon painted some of these ornaments," he said, indicating brightly painted wooden animals and birds. "She liked to do that kind of crafty stuff. I cut the shapes for her. Don't know where I found the time but I did." He knew it was time to put the sadness away, but even so it was difficult.

"Would it be all right if we hang them on the tree?" Tony asked cautiously. He watched Jethro's expression, trying to gauge if he'd overstepped his bounds, but there was the beginning of a smile and a nod.

"I'd like that."

Tony rose and hung the paper star on one of the fir tree's boughs then sat down again. He rubbed Jethro's back and then wrapped his arms around him. They leaned back on the comfortable cushions, entwined, and together they watched the flames of the fire and the twinkling lights of their first Christmas tree.

***end chapter 6***