Tony awoke some time in the night. He was beyond thirsty, and decided to head down to get himself a drink.

Once down the steps, he did a double-take at the living room at the unfamiliar glow emanating from the corner. Unfamiliar for Gibbs' house, that is. It was surreal; the mostly darkened home lit up with the soft glow of Christmas lights shining brightly on his artificial tree he'd been certain he'd destroyed.

As he stepped closer, he realized that with his own decorations, there were new ornaments he'd never seen before added on. Tony was so amazed by the sight before him, that he hadn't heard Gibbs come up the steps from the basement.

"Was wonderin' if you'd get up at all tonight," he said softly as he entered the room.

"I was wondering if I was awake," Tony replied just as softly. "I can't believe you did all this, boss..."

"Wasn't just me," he said, leaning on the door frame to the kitchen. "McGee and Abby helped." Tony glanced over at him in question. "They wanted to do somethin' for you. Usually, we find the least resistance when you're sleepin'." He gave a small smirk.

"You didn't have to do this," Tony said in barely a whisper as he turned his face back to the tree.

Gibbs was suddenly beside him, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. "We wanted to," he assured him.

For a long moment, Tony just stood there in a bit of awe. "Thanks, boss," he said, finally.

Gibbs gave him a small nod and turned to head to the kitchen. "Want some coffee?"

"It's like...two in the morning." Tony cocked his head, following him to the kitchen as the light was flipped on. "Have you even been to bed?"

"No reason to get to bed just yet," he replied as he poured coffee into two mugs. "Technically it's Christmas Eve today. We're officially not on call this year, for the next two days; made sure of it. That goes double for you, DiNozzo. No takin' over anyone's shifts this year. You've got family to spend the holiday with."

Tony looked back toward the tree for a moment, trying to swallow against the lump in his throat. ''I did...'' he thought. He turned back toward the kitchen a took the mug handed to him. He set it down on the counter, preparing to add cream and sugar, but realized that it'd already been done for him.

Gibbs had headed out into the living room again, and Tony glanced at the man's retreating back before looking skeptically at his coffee. Carefully, he took a small sip. Astonishingly enough, the coffee was perfectly prepared the way he liked it. That feat was rarely even managed very well by the barista, let alone his boss.

Tony joined Gibbs in the living room on the couch, then. They both let their gazes fall lazily to the tree again. Tony let his eyes fall to the gifts wrapped beneath it. "I dunno what I'm gonna do with the stuff I got my dad," he said. "Wouldn't make much sense to keep them." Gibbs wasn't exactly sure what to suggest. "I should probably take them back..."

"I could do that for you," he offered. "Haven't done any shopping yet, and I need to."

Tony shook his head. "You've already done so much, boss..."

"It's not a problem. If I didn't wanna do it, would I even offer?"

Tony looked down at his coffee. "Guess not." He looked back over at the tree. Setting his coffee down on the coffee table, he moved off of the couch and crouched down by the tree, rifling through the packages. "Some of this stuff, I can give to other people," he decided. "The shirts I'll have to bring back. Not sure I know anyone who wears the same fit." He set aside the two boxes. "This," he picked up a smaller box, "I can give to McGoo. Gloves and a scarf; he'd use those. And they're real nice, too. He should have something nice... Did you know he lost most of his book money?" He glanced briefly at Gibbs before diving back under the tree. Gibbs didn't reply. Tony hadn't really been expecting an answer, and he knew that. He just wanted to talk, and Gibbs was okay with that. "I was gonna wait until after the holidays to shop for the team...I know everyone had plans, and I was so caught up in my dad coming..." he paused for a moment to collect himself. "Well, I flat-out didn't even think about it until I got home from shopping. So I came to that conclusion."

"I didn't have plans," Gibbs told him.

"But if you had, you wouldn't have said anything." He gave him a slight smirk. "I assumed you could possibly have planned a trip up to Stillwater. McGee is going to see Sarah and his parents. I think even Ziva has plans...or so she said. Something about the beach..."

"Somethin' about California, if I remember correctly," Gibbs verified.

"Well, that's good. I don't even know what to get her. I was thinkin' I might get her a new chain for that Star of David necklace she always wears. It's so thin, I keep thinkin' it's gonna break and she'll lose it."

"That's a good idea," Gibbs assured him.

"There's a bottle of wine at the house I can give to Ducky," he continued. "I'm sure he'd like it; it's the good stuff. Got it for my dad, really. It's best not to let it go to waste."

"It's here, if you wanna do that," he told him. Tony looked over at him in question. "Brought all the stuff over from your fridge, too. Figured we could make it, instead of it going to waste at your place."

Tony quirked a brow. "You're gonna cook, boss?"

"You're gonna help," he said with a raised brow in response, a grin lifting one corner of his mouth.

Tbc...