a/n - Other stories may have deadlines, but I think this is my favorite right now.
Paperwork days were slow, agonizingly slow, but never more than today as every person in the building seemed to find an excuse to come through the bullpen to take a peek at the outed couple. By mid-day Gibbs sent Tony and Ziva out on a lunch run and took McGee with him as he retreated to Vance's office.
"Good grief, Leon, it's like the Agency is filled with preteen girls. No wonder we don't have anyone that's out."
Ducky let himself in as Gibbs was ranting. "Not for much longer. I had a discussion with a young man this morning that was thrilled to know he's not the only one. You and Timothy are becoming quite the role models."
Since Ducky had only one assistant, the rest of them were pretty sure they knew who he was referring to and didn't need a name. Gibbs tried to give Ducky a hard stare, but he couldn't quite hide the amusement in his eyes. "Just don't suggest he come to me for dating advice."
"Of course not." Ducky kept a straight face. "A double date would be much more likely."
While Gibbs spluttered, McGee answered his phone and then announced that their teammates were back with lunch for the four of them.
Once they had returned downstairs, Ziva asked them if they wanted more privacy for lunch as she gave a hard stare to the group of workers from the evidence garage that were on their fifth walk through of the bullpen that day.
"We're done hiding, Ziva. If they want to look, let them look."
Gibbs could have burst with pride at Tim's words, but Ziva's next comment almost choked him.
"Does that mean that you're also coming out of the pantry?"
Tony assumed she had mixed up her words. "That would be closet, and I think it's a little late to worry about that."
"Actually, she has a point, DiNozzo." Gibbs poked at the burger they had brought back for him. "If we have to put up with the gawkers, we should get to eat better at lunch."
"And just how do we get our lunches past Vance?" Tim's question made Gibbs laugh, which stunned Tony. Ziva took pity on him.
"McGee is an excellent chef."
"Really?" Tony quieted as he watched the two men interact, realizing that he didn't know either of them as well as he'd thought.
---NCIS---
By 1800 Gibbs had had enough and declared the day done. Needing the comforting familiarity of pizza and a movie, Tony quickly shut down his computer and left. Ziva was only a few minutes behind him. When Gibbs and McGee entered the elevator under the watchful eye of several janitors and most of the evening shift, Gibbs pulled Tim close just as the doors closed, giving them all a good view.
Once the door was closed, Tim leaned back against the steel wall. "All we did today was paperwork but I feel like I've running all day."
"Do you want to stop and get something to eat on the way home? As much as I'm enjoying it, you really don't have to cook every single night."
Tim didn't open his eyes until the elevator reached the garage level, but he did smile. "Dinner is done and waiting for us."
"It is?" Gibbs followed him out, surprised when Tim didn't stop at the car they had driven in that morning. "Where are you going?"
"Every one of your exes has left behind a brand new crock pot, still in the box. Guess they were wedding presents, and I'm getting my car. It's been sitting out in the parking lot since before everything happened." Tim walked backwards as he explained, trying not to laugh at Gibbs questioning face at the mention of his discovery of abandoned kitchen appliances on the shelves in the basement.
It took a minute, but Gibbs finally remembered the row of boxes. None of his ex-wives had been particularly passionate about cooking. "Hey, I think there's a breadmaker down there, too."
"I know." Tim was out of the garage and came to a sudden stop. "Damn it, I guess I am riding back with you tonight."
"Tim, what's wrong?" Gibbs ran to catch up with him and saw for himself that the Porsche was sitting at the far end of the parking lot with all four tires flat. "Aww, hells, I'd better call Vance."
"No." McGee walked towards him, shoulders slumped. "There's a thing at school tonight, remember? Let's just deal with it tomorrow."
"You sure?" Gibbs hated the dejected look on Tim's face.
He forced a smile back on his face. "Yeah, besides, we're having company for dinner tonight. Let's go home."
"Company?"
---NCIS---
Ziva caught up with Tony outside his favorite pizza joint. "Did you call in your order?"
"Not yet, you joining me?" He gave his trademark grin, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"No, but you are joining us."
It took him a second to figure out what she meant. "Oh, no, they don't want me there. You go on. I"ll just get my pizza and go home like I planned. There's a James Bond marathon tonight I don't want to miss."
She linked her arm into his and steered him back towards the parking lot. "If they did not want you there, McGee would not have invited both of us. It is important to him that you and Gibbs become comfortable with each other again. Now, I will follow you there, so do not think you can slip away."
Tony parked on the street as Gibbs and McGee were still taking bags out of the back of the car. Ziva pulled in behind him and joined Tim. "I thought you said dinner was already taken care of, McGee."
Gibbs answered her before Tim could say anything. "I agreed we needed more beer, but I'm not quite sure how we ended up with more salad supplies." He glared at the bag of Romaine lettuce before shoving it at Tony to retrieve the beer. Tony couldn't help but laugh and the head slap he received made him grin even wider. Gibbs unlocked the door and held it as the rest of them entered the house. He noted the license plate on a car that pulled up and parked at the other end of the block before he closed and locked the front door.
While Ziva helped Tim put the salad together, Tony followed Gibbs and Jethro out to the backyard, noticing the new sections of fence and the new addition in the back corner that Jethro made a mad dash for. "You've been busy back here."
"Keeps him safe." While Jethro was occupied, Gibbs picked up the ball from the deck and got ready to throw it.
Tony watched him carefully. The man he'd known for years seemed more relaxed, more settled than he'd ever seen, casually tossing the ball for the happy dog. "Okay, the fence I get, but what's that?" He pointed to the new short, L-shaped section of fence that blocked the view into the far corner of the yard.
Gibbs rubbed the back of his neck. "He has some performance anxiety issues."
"What?"
"Darn dog can't pee in public." It was a struggle, but Gibbs managed to keep a straight face. Tony didn't even try, within seconds he was laughing so hard he was bent over.
"You built him a privacy fence?" He waited until Jethro bounded out before moving closer to take a look. "With his own fire hydrant?"
"Yeah, well, he needed a bigger target."
---NCIS---
Ziva was shaving the Parmesan cheese over the salad and Tim was dishing up bowls of the hearty beef stew from the crockpot. They had obviously been discussion the benefits of the handy appliance because she announced her intention to purchase one as Tony and Gibbs walked through the door. Tim looked up at Gibbs with a smile and offered one of their spares.
"Sure, we really don't need three of them." Gibbs quickly turned to McGee before he could fill the last bowl. "You're not going to try and sneak some turnips into my bowl, are you?"
"Of course not, Jethro." Tim smiled at how Gibbs had managed to make that new little nugget of information sound like an old argument. The stew had potatoes, parsnips and turnips, but since he'd cut each root vegetable differently it was easy to pick out the offending vegetable. Once the stew was dished up, the loaf of bread he'd pulled out of the breadmaker was cool enough and he started slicing it as Gibbs set out the beers
Other than a brief mention of why the Porsche was still in the parking lot at the Yard, safe topics were the goal of dinner conversation, and despite the slight underlying thread of tension, the group worked hard to settle into their newly defined roles. Ziva was still fascinated by the assorted new toys Tim was using in the kitchen. "You are telling me that you poured all your ingredients into the machine and just set what time you wanted the bread to be done? That is all you did?"
"And set what type of bread it was." Tim watched as Gibbs and Tony eyed what was left of the stew. "Go ahead and kill it, you guys."
Tony remembered the conversation in the squad room about lunches. "Don't you want the rest for tomorrow's lunch?"
"I packed some up while you two were out back with Jethro." Tim paused and looked at Gibbs. "Just to be safe, I marked it 'haggis'."
Gibbs laughed as he was refilling his bowl. "That should protect it from Vance." Their guests were baffled and so Tim filled them in on Vance's new habit of dropping by at mealtime, using the original cover story of the project for the Director that had kept them away from Headquarters the previous week.
Just as the explanation was winding down, Gibbs nudged Tim with his elbow. "These little square pieces of potato are really good. How come I didn't get any in my first bowl?"
Tim plastered on what he hoped was a patient smile. "Because, Jethro, those would be turnips."
---NCIS---
Their watcher was still down the street when Gibbs and Tim walked Tony and Ziva out to their cars, so with a whispered warning, Gibbs kept Tim tucked up tight against him. Still enjoying the evening and the companionship, Ziva offered to stop for coffee for the group in the morning. McGee cursed under his breath at the reminder of the morning and the fact that he didn't have a car. With three pairs of eyes staring at him, plus the ones in the car, he had to confess. "I'm suppose to take Jethro in to have his nails trimmed in the morning before work, but without my car..."
"We'll manage, but why are we paying someone to trim his nails? It can't be that hard."
Tim turned to Gibbs. "Fine, you go with me this time and if you think we can handle it, I won't make the next appointment."
Tony was still shaking his head as he pulled away from the curb. This was a side of Gibbs that was going to take some getting used to.
---NCIS---
It was another few hours before, mellowed and relaxed, they tumbled into bed and a few hours after that when Gibbs woke up hard and aching, spooned up against Tim. He eased himself backwards and rolled over before flicking the head of his cock hard. The sharp pain helped to deflate his desires as he kept his breathing slow and steady as to not disturb his bedmate.
On the other side of the bed, bright green eyes stared into the darkness as Tim recited the first one hundred places of pi in his head, willing his own erection to go down and not wanting to make Gibbs uncomfortable.