CHAPTER 4

"Thanks for the coffee this morning." It was the first words either of them had spoken since they'd gotten into the cab together. They were now sitting outside a judge's chambers, waiting to get in for their appointment.

"Figured after the morning you had, you could use it." Tony's voice was friendly, pleasant, but he still didn't look at Gibbs.

"I've had worse."

Tony jerked his head to the side and looked at Gibbs, then just laughed. "Really?" He was still laughing. "I definitely wanna hear that story."

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Anthony DiNozzo?" A clerk came out and called their names.

They stood up and made their way toward the clerk.

"Go right in." The clerked nodded as he opened the door to the judge's chambers.

Stepping inside, the judge was sitting at his desk staring at a file. Looking up, he glanced at the two men. "Sit." He tipped his chin toward the chairs in front of his desk.

Once they were both seated, the judge closed the file and leaned back in his chair, pen in hand. "You're here for an annulment?"

"Yes." Tony said as Gibbs nodded.

"I read the request." The judge paused, tapping the end of the pen against his lips as he glance back and forth between the two men. "You were both drunk?"

They nodded in unison.

"Happens a lot in Vegas." The judge smirked. "People get drunk, see a wedding chapel and suddenly think happily ever after comes from an Elvis look alike. I see it all the time."

Tony grinned, then saw the smirk fade from the judges face.

"What I don't see all the time is federal agents behaving like every other idiotic tourist." Tossing down the pen, the judge put his elbows on the desk.

"Sir, I know-" The judge held up his hand, stopping Tony in mid sentence.

"You can have the annulment... on Monday morning after you've had the weekend to consider how your behavior in my city, reflects poorly on your positions." The judge paused. "And you'll come in here Monday morning remorseful for your actions."

"We're leaving on a plane back to D.C. in three hours!" Tony snapped.

"I'm not stopping you, just be back here Monday morning." He looked over at Gibbs. "Anything you want to say?"

Gibbs shrugged. "I've seen more powerful men than you throw their weight around."

"I'm sure you have Agent Gibbs." The judge smiled a cocky smile of contempt. "But right now the power of my pen on this annulment paper outweighs your badge." He leaned back in his chair. "And since I'm sure neither of you want this to be a public issue, you won't be challenging my decision."

Standing up, Gibbs looked at Tony. "Let's go."

This had to be some strategy, this wasn't like Gibbs. Normally he would have a sharp tongued come back that would convince the judge to sign the annulment papers. "You're just going to let this go?"

"Yes."

Tony cocked his head, staring at Gibbs with a look of utter confusion. "Well I'm not." He turned to the judge. "We made a mistake, a stupid mistake, and I apologize for that, but I'm sure if you know we're Federal Agents, you know this isn't our normal behavior and we understand that this is inappropriate conduct. It will never happen again."

"I'm sure it won't." The judge agreed. "And on Monday the mistake you both made will be nullified."

Shaking his head, Tony balked. "This is ridiculous."

"If you'd like instead of Monday we can handle this next Friday."

Tony's mouth dropped open.

"Tony." Gibbs leaned towards the younger man. "Let it go. It's two days."

"I can't believe you're okay with this!" Tony snapped. "He's obviously a narcissistic power monger, just fucking with us!"

Gibbs glanced at the judge then back at Tony, seeing the angry glare the judge was giving the younger man. "Maybe, but he's right. We have no authority here or over any of this."

"And you're not going to do a thing to fight it, call in a favor or anything?"

"No." Gibbs barked. "Not over something like this."

"Of course not, because what's two days right?" He shook his head. "No sense arguing because when Leroy Jethro Gibbs has his mind set on something, nothing and no one can change it!" Tony turned and stormed out of the room.

Gibbs dropped his head back and took a deep breath.

"I'll see you two on Monday, Special Agent Gibbs." The judge said grabbing the file for his next case. "Maybe by then your husband will have calmed down and see the error of his ways."

Picking up his head, Gibbs looked at the judge. "Somehow I'm starting to doubt that."

As Gibbs stepped outside, he saw Tony sitting on a bench just down from the building. He walked over and sat down, knowing Tony would speak.

"This is a mess." Tony groaned then glared at Gibbs. "Why aren't you more upset about this?"

"Getting upset isn't going to change anything."

"I guess not." It wouldn't help, but Tony had expected more of a reaction from Gibbs.

"Want me to go back in and cause a scene?" Gibbs tried not to smirk.

"No." Tony rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna stay." Gibbs leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "We're not on call this weekend, I'll take a vacation day Monday, leave later on Monday after the annulment."

"Are you serious?" Gibbs never took vacation.

Gibbs nodded. "Why go back to D.C. and have to come back in a couple days?"

"I might as well stay too." Tony had almost as much vacation built up as Gibbs.

"If that's what you want."

"Are you willing to actually talk to me if I stay?" Tony stared at the ground below his feet. "Spend time with me, alone so we can discuss all this."

Gibbs took a deep breath through his nose then let it out through his mouth. "You do understand why it's difficult for me to be alone with you, right?"

Tony nodded.

"Are you sure you understand?"

The question finally made Tony look at Gibbs. "You're in love with me." His voice quivered as he spoke.

"That's part of it." Gibbs' eyes fixed on Tony's.

"And the other part?"

"I want you." Gibbs unconsciously licked his lips. "More than I've ever wanted anyone."

Tony felt his pulse race, felt his body shiver.

"And controlling that can be," Gibbs paused searching for the right word. "Problematic when we're alone."

"Should I be worried?" Tony chuckled taking Gibbs' statement as a joke.

"Yes." Gibbs' gaze was full of lust. "You should."

Tony drew his head back, surprised by the blatant sexuality behind Gibbs' statement and the openness of the older man about his feelings.

"I would never take advantage of you or force you." Gibbs ran his hand across his mouth. "But if I think for a minute there's a chance with you, I would take it, without hesitation."

Tony had no idea how to respond to that, although his first reaction was to make a joke, but he managed to stop himself.

"We should head back." Gibbs stood up, knowing Tony wouldn't respond.

"You go ahead." Tony muttered. "I need to make a few calls."

"Okay."

"I'll call you, when I get back to the hotel."

Gibbs nodded. He knew he'd surprised Tony with his candor and it would take time to sink in, all he could do now was wait.

"I only have one available room for the weekend." The woman at the front desk stared at the computer then up at Gibbs. "We have another conference starting next week, a lot of people are checking in over the weekend."

"Fine, whatever it is, I'll take it."

"It's a hundred dollars more than your current room."

Gibbs scowled. "Why?"

"It's a suite on the top floor." She tried to sell all the positives. "It has a hot tub, full bar, a-"

"Fine, just do it."

She tapped at the computer keyboard, then handed him a keycard. "Here you go."

Gibbs took the key, grabbed his bags and headed toward the elevator.

He slid the keycard into the door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him. As he looked around he rolled his eyes. All he ever wanted out of a room was a bed and a coffee maker, this was way more extravagant than he needed or wanted. Making his way into the bedroom, he saw the king bed and the double doors to the closet. Opening one of the doors he tossed his bags inside, slipped off his jacket, and hung it up, then headed back out into the living room. Pulling his phone from his pocket he tossed it on the end table and lay down on the couch. He'd already canceled his flight back to D.C., rescheduled it for Monday afternoon. He had the time, might as well take it. He also let Leon know Tony would be taking a vacation on Monday as well, the Director never even asked why. Normally, Leon had to beg the two of them to take vacation, he wasn't going to bother asking why they were taking it now.

When his phone started ringing, he reached over and picked it up. When he saw the caller id he pushed a button, sending the call to voice mail. He didn't want to deal with Abby right now. Hopefully, Tony talked to the team and made up some lame excuse as to why the two of them weren't going back to D.C. with everyone. If Tony hadn't, he'd explain later. He tossed the phone on the coffee table and lay back on the couch. Closing his eyes, he prayed he'd fall asleep for awhile and forget all this. Then when Tony called, they would go from there.

His mind had just started to slip into the darkness when a soft knocking at the door drew him back. He was about to ignore it, when the knocking grew louder. Climbing off the couch, he went to the door and looked out the peephole.

"Damn it." He grumbled. So much for giving specific orders for the front desk not to tell anyone he was here or give out his room number. "Thought you were going to call?"

"You can close the door and I'll call you." Tony gave a small smile.

Stepping aside, Gibbs let Tony in.

"Nice room." Tony said as he glanced around the living room, sitting area and kitchenette. He looked at Gibbs. "Seems a little extravagant for you."

"It is." Gibbs closed the door and walked into the kitchen. "Beer?"

"God no." Tony groaned. He didn't even want to smell alcohol at this point.

"Bottled water?"

"Yeah." Heading towards the kitchenette, Tony stood at the counter separating the kitchenette and living room. "Thanks." He said taking the bottle of water offered to him.

"I talked to Vance, took care of Monday."

"Figured you would." Tony opened the water and took a swig. "I let the team know I was staying."

"What excuse did you give?" Gibbs asked.

"Said I ran into a frat brother." Tony paused. "I didn't say anything about you, didn't know what you'd wanna say."

"I'll deal with it later." Gibbs leaned back against the counter and looked at Tony. "If you wanna talk, talk. You seem like you have something to say."

"Yeah." Tony chuckled nervously picking at the label on the water bottle. "I was really drunk last night."

"I know."

"But you weren't." As he said it Tony's gaze slowly came up and locked on Gibbs. "I know you better than that. You were never drunk enough to not remember."

Gibbs' hands clutched at the counter behind him.

"This wasn't a drunken mistake, you knew what you were doing."

There was no anger in Tony's voice, no animosity, instead the voice was calm with a hint of confusion.

"That's why you weren't upset that the judge was making us wait till Monday." Tony had figured it out on the cab ride back to the hotel. "You would never let someone abuse their power like that, especially some low life judge, unless it gave you something you needed."

"And what do I need?" Gibbs asked folding his arms across his chest.

"Time."

"Time." Gibbs nodded. "So what, I think given a few days I can seduce you into men, make you love me or just fuck you and get it out of my system?"

Tony felt his mouth go dry and he cleared his throat. "I'm not sure what you think you'll accomplish."

Pushing himself away from the counter, Gibbs stepped up to the bar across from Tony. "What do you hope I'm planning to accomplish?"

"I don't know." Tony's voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes you do." Gibbs paused. "You just can't admit it." He walked around the bar and before he took another step into the living room he felt the hand on his arm and stopped. His gaze traveled from the hand touching him up Tony's arm and to the young man's face.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about that kiss." Again, Tony's voice was soft and low. "How it felt, how I felt, and what I could feel it meant to you."

"I've thought about how that kiss would feel for a long time." Gibbs sighed. "A very long time."

"When you kissed me, I was shocked, surprised, flabbergasted and completely confused." Tony shook his head. "I didn't know how to deal with it, or what to say or do. I made it all a joke, because that's how I deal with something I can't handle. You know me, joke and laugh it off."

Gibbs knew all too well how Tony hid behind the humor to avoid facing something that had a deep emotional aspect, but then he had his own screwed up ways of dealing with emotional things. "And now that you've had time to think about it, how do you feel?"

"Scared to death." Tony let out a breathless sigh as his hand drifted from Gibbs' arm.

"Scared of me?"

Tony nodded. "But not just you, but how I feel about you."

"How do you feel about me?" Gibbs took a step towards Tony, but didn't touch him, even though he wanted to with every fiber of his being.

Staring up at the ceiling, Tony couldn't believe he was about to admit this when he could barely admit it to himself. "I have always been attracted to you, but um, I never considered acting on it." He chuckled nervously as he glanced at Gibbs. "For countless reasons."

"Let's see. Because I'm your boss?" Gibbs watched as Tony nodded. "Your friend?" Another nod. He took a step and brought the two of them toe to toe. "A man?" This time the nod was slower and Tony's eyes were focused on the floor. Putting a finger under Tony's chin, Gibbs forced Tony to look at him. "And it bothers you that you're attracted to a man?"

Tony shook his head his body involuntarily leaning towards Gibbs. "It's not about you being a man... it's about you being you."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Tony."

"You are..." Tony's fingers caressed over Gibbs' cheek. "The one person that knows me and all the baggage that I come with, why would you possible want to love me?"

Gibbs sighed as Tony's touch left him. "Knowing you is why I love you."

Trying to hold back the wave of emotion washing over him, Tony took a deep breath. "No one's ever loved me for me, the real me."

"Well I do." Gibbs' hand found Tony's and he entwined their fingers. "And I need to know what you want from me?"

"Patience and understanding." Tony squeezed their joined hands.

Gibbs' brow furrowed, slightly confused by the answer

"This is all completely new to me... I've never been with a man in any way." Tony felt inexperienced and awkward, like a virgin again. "I need time with you to figure everything out, and I don't know how long that will take. Are you okay with that?" He bit at his lip as his gaze danced between the steel blue eyes and the lips he wanted to kiss.

Gibbs' fingers traced a path down Tony's jaw line and across his bottom lip. "Absolutely." He was rewarded with that heart stopping DiNozzo smile.

"Do you think you can stop yourself from just throwing me down and taking me?" Tony asked still smiling.

Leaning closer, Gibbs' lips gently brushed across Tony's cheek, then whispered in his ear. "Believe me, if I couldn't control myself, I'd have thrown you down and taken you years ago." Pulling back, he saw Tony's eyes slowly open. "And I had a perfect opportunity to take you last night, and I did just fine avoiding temptation."

"Yes you did." Tony sighed. "But now the temptation is completely different. It's no longer about not being able to have me..." He leaned in, his lips almost touching Gibbs'. "But when you can have me." He went to seize Gibbs' lips, and was stopped by the strong hand clutching at the back of his neck.

Gibbs normally blue eyes were now only a halo of color, the desire having taken hold. "I will have you and when I do... I'll never let you go." This time, he held nothing back when he kissed Tony. All the desire, the want, the need, and the unquenchable hunger he'd carried around all these years manifested in this kiss. It was spurred on by Tony's hands circling his body and clawing up his back, with a greedy eagerness that made Gibbs growl into the kiss. His hand on Tony's neck tightened forcing the kiss to deepen, his other hand wrapped around Tony's waist and jerking their upper bodies together. He wanted to feel as much of Tony as possible.

A kiss had never felt like this. Tony's entire body hummed, his mind forgot how to process anything but the sensation of the lips on his. Their bodies were crushed so tightly together that he could feel Gibbs' heart beating against his own chest in an erratic heavy rhythm. He didn't want it to end, urged his body to ignore the cry for air from his aching lungs, he gave in only when he started to feel lightheaded. He struggled against Gibbs' vice like grip, finally severing their lips and gasping for air.

"Did you check out?"

"Yeah."

Gibbs shook his head. "Then you have a problem."

"What?"

"I took the last available room in the hotel." Gibbs sighed. "Too bad."

Tony shrugged. "There are other hotels."

"True." Gibbs nodded. "Or you could stay with me."

Tony's eyebrow went up. "Really?"

"Yeah." Gibbs glanced over at the couch. "Couch folds out."

"You're going to make your husband sleep on the fold out couch?" Tony chuckled.

"Yes." Gibbs smirked.

"Okay, let me get this straight." Tony sighed. "We slept in the same bed last night, both of us naked, you're still my husband, and I have to sleep on the foldout sofa bed?"

Gibbs nodded.

"This is how you spent your honeymoons, isn't it?"

Laughing, Gibbs nodded. "One or two of them."

"The fold out's fine." Because even though he might have argued to sleep in the bed, Tony didn't think he was ready to share a bed with Gibbs again, not yet.