a/n - sorry it's been so long. I had a deadline with the story on my other profile.
After the cinnamon rolls were demolished and Vance left for his son's soccer practice, Gibbs pulled Ducky to the side. "I need to go to the hardware store, do you have time to stay with Tim while I'm gone?"
"Of course, Jethro, it will give us time to catch up." Ducky observed as Gibbs went over to speak to Tim, their foreheads almost touching as they leaned close to one another. Once the private, whispered conversation was finished, Gibbs left in the truck as Tim put a kettle of water on the stove. "Let me do that, you're dead on your feet young man." Ducky chased Tim back to his chair at the kitchen table and took over the tea making.
Once he joined Tim at the table with two cups of tea, Ducky took another look at the facial bruises and Tim's overall appearance. "If you were in so much pain last night that you couldn't sleep, you should have called me then."
Tim gingerly shook his head. "I slept, Ducky, I just... had a nightmare." He shook his head again. "No, I don't think it was a nightmare, I think it was a flashback, first one I've had in years. Jethro blames himself, but it wasn't him, not really."
"What do you remember of the flashback? Do you know what triggered it?" Ducky set his cup down as he studied his patient. Tim was staring into his tea cup as if the answers to the universe were floating next to the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup.
"When that man held me captive, I don't remember a lot of details, just hurting, and being tied down. It was dark, I remember that, and really hot and stuffy. I remember having to fight to breathe sometimes. After reading the file, now I know that he kept me gagged."
"So last night you were hurting after Tony left..."
He thought back. "And cold, I was really cold."
"More than likely, you were in mild shock."
"I guess. Anyway, Jethro had me wrapped up in all the blankets and resting against him so he could hold the icepack in place, and then when I woke up...
"You were still in some pain, you were overheated from being buried in blankets and you couldn't move freely because Jethro fell asleep holding you still." Ducky guessed on the last part, but the slight blush told him he was right, so he continued. "Your physical condition mirrored what you remembered about your assault as a child coupled with a recent assault and having the memories refreshed by reading the file."
"In other words, it was inevitable."
"Perhaps just not much of a surprise." Ducky gave him an understanding smile. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, lad. Now, just how are the two of you settling in?"
Tim gave a pained laugh. "It's funny, I've spent years trying to find the right woman. Someone I would feel comfortable with, someone I could imagine growing old with, and I never dreamed..."
"That she would be a he?" Ducky watched as Tim shifted under his gaze. "There's nothing wrong with that, you know."
"But it's not real, Ducky. When this is over, how do I go back to being the geek Gibbs puts up with? I have to lock that knowledge away to do the job, but it's getting harder and harder to remember that eventually I have to go back." Spent, he slumped, resting his head in his hands. "He's not my lover, but in some ways we're more intimate than any other relationship I've ever had. God, that sounds pathetic."
"Not at all." Ducky shifted closer, resting one hand on Tim's arm and draping his other arm over Tim's shoulders. "In life, we can't go backwards, only forwards. Don't shortchange Jethro, this experience will change him too. When it is over, you'll need to have a very frank and open discussion to sort out what the both of you are feeling and want, but I can tell you one thing. In all the years, and all the cases and ops I've seen Jethro undertake, I've never seen him settle in so quickly and so comfortably as he has this time with you."
"Really?"
Ducky looked at the young, eager face in front of him and hoped the encouragement he was giving wasn't going to come back to haunt him. "Really. Now, finish up your tea; I want you to get some rest today."
---NCIS---
After nearly filling the bed of his truck at the hardware and lumber stores, Gibbs made one final stop. His old friend, Jeffery couldn't stop laughing as he helped Gibbs load the heavy metal item into the truck and wedge it into place next to the bags of quick set concrete. Gibbs carefully covered it with a tarp.
"If you're willing to do this, it must be true love."
Gibbs chuckled all the way back to the house. The rented post hole digger made quick work of prepping the ground, it took less than an hour to measure and dig the holes. However, setting the fence posts in cement was a two man job. A week ago, he might have called DiNozzo for the help. Today he offered to pay the teenage boy across the street after sternly banishing Tim to the bedroom to rest and threatening to call Ducky if he objected.
By mid-afternoon the posts for the fence and the gate were set in the rapidly curing cement, as were the three tall and one short posts for the surprise in the backyard. Next, he brought his hole saw and chisels upstairs to start working on the doors.
The swelling was down and his vision was clear and Tim couldn't stay in bed any longer. He figured the sweats and heavy socks were fine, so he headed downstairs to make a fresh pot of coffee. By now the other man must be desperate for a cup.
Gibbs heard the footsteps as Tim came down the stairs and into the kitchen followed by the familiar sounds of coffee being prepared. By the time he had the holes for the lock cylinder and the latchbolt drilled, the scent of brewing coffee was drifting down the hallway.
"Hey."
"Hey, yourself. How do you feel?" Gibbs took the cup that Tim held offered before the younger man sat down.
Tim perched on the porch rail and wrapped both hands around his cup. It was crisp outside and the warmth felt good on his fingers. It gave him a moment to think about the question. He wasn't really hurting, but he was jumpy. "Restless, I guess. I shouldn't have slept so long."
"If you slept, then you must have needed it."
"While I was upstairs asleep you had to hire someone to help you with the fence posts."
Gibbs shook his head and lowered his voice. "Ten bucks a post, it wasn't that much, besides, Darryl's a good kid, and the family's struggling since the old man split. I'd have hired him even if you'd been one hundred percent."
Tim frowned slightly as he thought back. He'd head the tail end of the discussion and Gibbs had given the kid eighty dollars. "Two posts for the gate and two posts for over on the other side. What were the other posts for?"
"You'll see tomorrow after it's finished." Gibbs set his cup on the rail next to Tim and started chiseling out the mortise on the door edge. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Tim stare at the deadbolt kit spread out on the porch. "Sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," he shrugged, not looking Gibbs in the eye. "I'm just sorry that you've had to do this. I mean all these years you've never needed a lock and now..."
"Hey... hey." Gibbs set the chisel down and stepped up to McGee, standing in between his open thighs as the younger man sat on the railing. He brushed one hand down Tim's face, tracing the bruises with the gentlest of touch. "Maybe before, I didn't have anything in my life worth protecting."
His earlier conversation with Ducky still ringing in his ears, Tim didn't let himself turn away or look down. "Jethro..."
"Timothy, my dear, should you be up and around?"
Tim let his head drop and rested his forehead on Gibbs' as they both bit back a chuckle. "Mrs. B, how are you?"
"Me? Dear, I wasn't the one dragged out of my own bed and beaten last night." She carefully climbed the few steps up onto the porch, balancing a large pan. Gibbs saw her struggles and met her, taking the pan.
"Here, let me take that." Covered in a handmade cozy, it was warm to the touch, but not too hot to hold.
She watched carefully until she was sure he wasn't going to drop it. "Thank you, Jethro. We decided that Tim shouldn't be cooking tonight, he should be resting still."
"We?"
"Tim, how are you feeling? Mrs. B told us what happened." Kyle and Martin called out as they came across the street, Martin carrying a large, foil covered platter.
Gibbs managed to casually glance down at his watch as he and Tim greeted them. It appeared that Mrs. B's planned invasion was set for 1800. He quickly glanced around to see if the invasion was over. Apparently not, because the neighbor from the other side was cutting across the yard with a large bowl.
"Larry, what a surprise." Gibbs quickly stepped inside and set the pan down on the entry table to free up a hand. Balancing the bowl in one hand, Larry gave Gibbs' hand a hearty shake.
"Good to see you, Gibbs. With the crazy hours you work, we don't see a lot of each other. Mrs. B told us what happened. Let me say as president of the Neighborhood Watch, it upsets me that you and your partner weren't safe in your own house." Larry looked at the lock Gibbs was installing, nodding in approval. "Glad to see you putting some better security measures. We worry about that. Susan would be here but Bobby's Scout meeting is tonight. Anyway, she made this salad for you before she left."
"Thank you, Larry, and thanks for this." Gibbs took the bowl that was being handed to him.
"No problem. If you need help tomorrow finishing the fence, just come bang on my door, alright?" He didn't wait for an answer before dashing back home, but it was probably the sudden crash and wail of 'Daddy' that got him moving.
Kyle and Martin said their goodbyes just as Mildred's ride to her weekly canasta game pulled into her driveway and before they knew it, Jethro and Tim were alone again.
"Wow, I don't think I've ever witnessed a drive-by feeding before." Tim peeled back the foil from the platter Martin had handed over, it was piled high with brownies.
Gibbs was checking out the pan from Mrs. B. "Yeah, that was different." He started to balance the salad bowl on top of the pan, but Tim switched it with the platter.
"We don't need the salad to get hot." Gibbs grinned at that and followed Tim into the kitchen. As the younger man handled the food, he returned to finish installing the new deadbolt on the front door.
---NCIS---
After five hours of practicing, Tony still didn't know what to say to his boss and his friend, but he felt he needed to say something. Once he'd sobered up, he'd spent the morning waiting for somebody to show up at his apartment with an arrest warrant. It was now 1900 and he was sitting in his car, once again in front of Gibbs' house.
He felt like he was walking to his own execution, but Tony squared his shoulders and walked up the path to the front door. He froze, his hand half way to the door as he saw the newly installed deadbolt. Instead of knocking, his hand dropped down the the new metal cylinder. His fingers traced once over the lock before he turned around and quietly left, neither occupant ever aware of his presence.