"Boss? What're you doing at my desk?" Tony asked.
"Looking for a file," Gibbs said. Tony narrowed his eyes slightly at him before going over and dropping his backpack next to his desk.
"Find what you're looking for?" Tony asked, and Gibbs knew that Tony knew he had been at his computer.
"No," Gibbs said and got up. "What're you doing here so late?" Gibbs asked.
"Not that late, besides, couldn't sleep," Tony said. "Boss, what did you see?" Tony asked.
"You're thinking about switching sides?" Gibbs asked. All air seemed to leave Tony and he bowed his head to his chest. Then he raised his head again and looked at Gibbs, anger written in the green eyes that used to sparkle with mischief.
"You had no right going through my personal journal!" Tony growled.
"If you'd kept it off your workmachine maybe I wouldn't have stumbled over it!" Gibbs replied.
"Stumbled over...STUMBLED over it? You're the ONLY one who knows my password Boss! Many have tried, and failed, to get into my computer. And NO ONE has ever tried to read that file. The fact that YOU didn't trust me says it all. What now? You going to fire me? Or what? Make me do more shitty jobs? Leave me out of the loop? Sending me into busts wihtout backup? Let me tell you Gibbs, you wouldn't be the first one to do that!" Tony growled angrily.
"Tony, I only wanted to help," Gibbs said honestly.
"Then you stay out of my damn buisness! I do my work, don't I?" Tony asked as Gibbs got up and Tony took his seat.
"Tony-"
"No. Boss. Don't 'Tony' me. I don't want anything to do with you besides proffesionally. You know why I stay? Why I didn't take Fornell's offer? Because I still believe I have something to learn from you. I still have things that needs perfecting, and this is my best shot. You're the best teacher I've ever had, and I've learned the hardest lesson of them all. I trusted you!" Tony growled.
"And you don't trust me anymore?" Gibbs asked.
"No, I don't," Tony said, "Not personally anyway. You always said I could come to you with anything. I never thought you'd do this."
"To...DiNozzo, you need to-"
"You stopped getting to tell me what to do when you broke into my computer!" Tony growled angrily. Gibbs sighed, letting it drop. For now. It was no use trying to talk to Tony when he was like this. Not that Gibbs had ever seen Tony quite like this. Sure, he'd seen him pissed before, but not like this. There was a look of defeat surrounding him now, his hair tousled, his clothes slightly rumpled, his eyes sunked and hollow, shoulders slumped. He looked exhausted, to say the least. Tony ignored Gibbs, and Gibbs sat down at his desk. He wasn't going home until Tony went home.
Which proved to be not tonight. Gibbs was just staring at Tony the entire night, never taking his eyes off the other man. Tony impressed him though, not taking his eyes off the cold cases he was reviewing, not ONCE looking up at Gibbs. People usually lasted for mostly thirty minutes while Gibbs stared at them but Tony wasn't intimidated by him. It only proved to how far Tony had come sinse he'd taken him onto his team. It also proved how pissed Tony was at him. Gibbs winced internally at his last thought. Boy, had he messed up this time. This could be the one thing Tony didn't bounce back from. The elevator dinged and the daylights came on over his head. He yawned and stretched, rubbing his neck. He wasn't used to these allnighters anymore. Sure, he'd stay a few hours overtime sometimes, or stay awake when he was out on a stakeout, or on a case, but tonight had really taken it out of him. Tony, however, was still working, not sparing him a glance. He got up and left without a word.
"Morning Tony," McGee said, he wasn't even surprised Tony was there this early, it had been like this for over a month and he had come to accept it more easily than Kate had.
"Probie," Tony said, barely aknowledging his presence. McGee sat down with a glance at Tony and a frown. That was new? Tony always cracked a joke at his expense in the mornings. He turned on his computer and raised both eyebrows at the notes Tony had made on the latest cold case's.
"Good morning boys," Kate said as she came in and slung her backpack down next to her desk before sitting down, yawning widely.
"Long night?" McGee asked.
"You bet," Kate smiled. Then she frowned, looking at Tony. Usually, Tony would crack a joke at that, he would've fallen over himself trying to annoy her and extracting information about her night. But now? Nothing. It worried her. This was new. "So, what've you been doing tonight then Tony?" she asked.
"Working, which is what you should be doing," Tony replied. Kate raised both eyebrows and looked over at McGee who shrugged.
"Are you sure you're getting enough sugar Tony? You know, you get really Gibbsy when your bloodsugar is on the low," Kate said, trying to loosen Tony up a little.
"Drop it, Agent Todd," Gibbs growled as he walked past her with a big styrophoam cup, no doubt filled to the brim with coffee. He sat down at his desk before turning on his computer. Kate and McGee looked at eachother again and McGee glanced at Tony before turning to his computer. Kate remained focused on Tony for a few moments before turning to her computer and this mornings tasks. She frowned as she too had recieved several emails with notes about their cold cases.
"Don't you ever sleep?" she asked, focusing on Tony.
"No," Tony replied and went back to overlooking his notes. Gibbs got up and left, feeling Tony's angry eyes covertly glaring at him. Tony knew exactly where he was going and he didn't seem too pleased about the idea. Gibbs got into the elevator and pushed for Ducky's floor. When the doors opened and he walked into Autopsy, Ducky turned around and looked at him.
"Jethro, what can I do for you?" Ducky asked, remaining seated in his chair. Gibbs walked over and leaned on the wall, glaring at Ducky. "Right, so I'll just read your mind then. Stressfull case?" Ducky asked. Gibbs looked up into the ceiling, jaw set in place. "Anthony is bothering you," Ducky stated. Gibbs looked at Ducky. Or glared. Hard to tell what he was doing sinse he was so pissed he could barely see straight.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Gibbs asked. Ducky sighed.
"Well, old friend, it wasn't any of your buisness," Ducky said.
"What the...not my buisness?" Gibbs growled, he pointed at the door. "My Agent, my...FRIEND, is starving himself and thinking about taking a job offer from Fornell no less, and it's NOT my BUISNESS?" Gibbs growled.
"Which are you more concerned about?" Ducky asked.
"What?" Gibbs stared at Ducky, breath coming in short bursts.
"Are you more concerned about him not eating, or that he's considering to leave?" Ducky asked.
"BOTH damnit!" Gibbs said angrily. Ducky looked at him. Then he narrowed his eyes.
"There is more?" Ducky asked.
"He caught me reading his journal," Gibbs sighed, looking down into his cup of coffee.
"Well then, that solves it all, doesn't it? The allmighty Leroy Jethro Gibbs breaks all sorts of confidenciality to find the answers and to fix the world's problems," Ducky snorted. Gibbs glared at him. "Honestly man! You might have placed the last straw on the camel's back. Anthony is depressed you idiot!" Ducky said angrily. Gibbs frowned. "I realise it comes as a shock to you, but Anthony cannot be the one to take responsibility for your actions," Ducky continued.
"He doe-"
"No? Hum, I really would have thought you'd have noticed by now. He deflects your anger onto himself. He let's you yell at him, slap him in the back of his head, he lets you throw the most cruel jokes at him without making a face or standing up for himself. It simply came to a stop, and he couldn't do it anymore. He's had enough, Jethro. He's tired, strained, and he can't eat without throwing up. He needs to heal, to feel loved," Ducky's eyes darkened, "Snooping around on his computer is NOT the way to regain his trust!"
"He said he doesn't trust me personally," Gibbs said.
"And he has every right not to trust you! You broke into his computer for heaven's sake!" Ducky said, getting up. "Now excuse me Jethro, I'll have to try to salvage the piece's of his already fragile mind. Shoo, go along now!" Ducky said, shooing Gibbs out of Autposy with Gibbs muttering things under his breath the entire time.
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AN: Yes, I did promise, didn't I? So, I'm caught up in RL at the moment and might not be able to post another chapter before LATE tomorrow. I'm already yawning because I'm exhausted. Carrying a washing machine into the basement and then cleaning the entire apartement can do that to a person, lol. Anyway, right now I'm trying to work on more chapters for my other stories, I'm not as good as Molkite on the update thing so just...don't kill me? Lol. Review's please :D