Chapter Five

February 5, 2011 – 12:21am

Tony rolled his eyes. "Here," he said, tossing the DVD case and the remote to Jimmy. "I hope that's not Gibbs," he muttered as he left the room to answer the phone.

Jimmy sat frozen on the couch. He'd caught the movie and the remote, but he'd been operating on automatic reflexes – the aversion to having his glasses broken by thrown objects was by now instinctive. He'd been starting to calm down, but the ringing of the phone had set his anxiety off again, and he couldn't stop it.

From the bedroom, he heard Tony's voice. "DiNozzo… What'd we get, Boss?"

Jimmy shook his head. No. No, he'd heard that opening line from Tony a thousand times. It didn't mean anything…

"Homeland? Seriously?"

That wasn't something he'd heard a thousand times. Just once, in fact. Last night – or tonight, in his dream – or – or what?

"These are the weapons that disappeared from our Marine bases?"

Now Jimmy was shaking again. No. This was impossible…

"Tonight?"

He was hyperventilating. A tiny part of his mind was insisting that no, this was a coincidence, or maybe he only thought he remembered this happening last ni- in his dream. But that logical part of him was drowned out by the panicked, screaming part of his mind that refused to listen to reason.

"Right. I'm on my way."

Jimmy launched himself from the couch, reaching the bedroom door just as Tony was coming out. They collided, Jimmy being unable to check his momentum in time, and the two of them stumbled until Tony fell backward onto the bed, pulling Jimmy down on top of him.

"Jimmy, what –?"

"You can't go." The words burst out of Jimmy, his voice higher than normal. He grabbed Tony's shoulders, his hazel eyes wide with fear. "Tony, you can't go. Call Gibbs back. You've got to stop them!"

"Whoa!" Tony sat up abruptly, breaking Jimmy's hold on him. The younger man almost tumbled off the bed, but Tony caught his arms and pulled him back. "Jimmy –"

"Tony, please! I know it sounds crazy –"

"Ya think?" Tony couldn't help the Gibbs impersonation, even in his concern for his lover.

"But this is exactly what happened! Gibbs called you because Homeland Security was getting involved in the case –"

"Jimmy –"

"And you left, and then the next time I saw you, you were dead! All of you!"

"Jimmy, stop!"

Shocked by Tony's yelling at him, Jimmy shut up. Tony noted the other man's too-rapid breathing, wide panicked eyes, and trembling hands, and lowered his voice so that he wouldn't agitate him any further.

"Jimmy." Tony held his arms out, moving slowly. "Jimmy, come here."

He waited until he had Jimmy securely in his arms before continuing, making sure to use a calm, quiet tone.

"Jimmy, listen to me." The younger man turned his face to Tony's. "It was a dream. No –" He put his fingers to Jimmy's lips to silence the protest. "Just listen. You've had nightmares before about me getting hurt. Yeah, this one sounds a little different, but it's still just a dream. You've heard us talking about this case all week, right?"

Jimmy nodded, pressing his lips together to hold back his words until Tony was finished.

"So it's not really that surprising that your mind took what you know about the case and turned it into a nightmare." Tony leaned closer and gently touched his lips to Jimmy's. "The problem is that your imagination is too damn good at coming up with realistic details. I mean, I have bad dreams sometimes, but when I wake up I can see how ridiculous it is to be scared of Gibbs head-slapping me with Wolverine claws while wearing a bunny suit."

As he hoped, Tony's words brought out a tiny smile from Jimmy. The younger man was still tense, but his breathing had slowed somewhat and his eyes were no longer so crazed. The shaking hadn't abated, though, and Tony had to admit that he was a little worried about his lover.

"It's just –" Jimmy looked away, clearly trying to control his emotions. He ran his fingers through his hair, making the unruly curls even worse, and tried again. "It's just – Tony, I know you're right, it's the only thing that makes sense, but – but when I think of you going out there tonight – all I can see is –" He gestured helplessly, turning tear-filled eyes to look at Tony. "I just can't convince myself that you're not walking right into danger."

Tony touched Jimmy's face gently, brushing away the tears that escaped the corners of his eyes. "Jimmy, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I can't not go, even if – especially if – it's dangerous. That's part of the job sometimes."

Jimmy nodded. "I know," he whispered. "I've always known that. And I'm not trying to stop you from doing your job. I'm not saying that I want you to always stay home and not get in harm's way – well, I mean, I don't want you in harm's way, but I know it's going to happen and there's nothing I can do about it and I'm okay with that. I mean, I'm not okay with you being in danger, but I'm not – I – I'm not explaining this very well, am I?"

Tony smiled and shook his head. This was more like his Jimmy – stumbling over words, painfully trying to explain his feelings without sticking his foot in his mouth. "I think I know what you're saying," he reassured the younger man.

"I mean, I wouldn't normally try to stop you from going, even though we both know your job can be dangerous, but I know you'll always do your best to come back safe. It's just – I know you're going to be in danger tonight. I can let you go when it's just a maybe, but –"

"Jimmy." Tony pulled his lover into a tight hug. Jimmy returned the embrace desperately, his whole body shivering. "Jimmy, I promise I'll be careful. But I have to go. Even if what you dreamed were to happen, I couldn't let the others go into something like that without being there to watch their six."

Jimmy closed his eyes tightly, trying to avoid seeing Tony's lifeless body laid out next to Tim's. "Just do me a favor, okay?" he asked.

"What?"

Jimmy felt slightly ridiculous for reacting the way he had, but he still couldn't shake off the conviction that he knew what was going to happen that night. "Just – stay away from the –" Crap, what was it called? "– the Art Jones Building," he said. "And if you do end up there – be careful." It wasn't much, he knew, but it was all he could do – especially since he couldn't prove that anything was going to happen, not even to himself.

To his credit, Tony didn't point that out. He simply nodded and pulled back so he could meet Jimmy's eyes with his own. "I promise, Jimmy. If it'll make you feel better, I won't go anywhere near Rothstown tonight if I can help it." He tipped Jimmy's chin up with his hand and kissed him slowly, sealing the deal.

After that, Tony stepped into the bathroom for a quick two-minute shower – he was capable of showering that quickly, though usually he preferred to take his time along with all the hot water – and Jimmy made his way into the kitchen. He looked again at the mound of dirty dishes, then shook his head and started Tony's coffee.

When Tony stepped out of the bedroom, fully dressed, Jimmy had the coffee and a slice of pizza ready for him. He watched with a worried expression he couldn't quite conceal as Tony pulled his coat on. "Be safe out there," he told the older man.

"I will." Tony took the coffee and pizza out of Jimmy's hands, but instead of heading for the door, he set them down on the coffee table instead. Then he took Jimmy into his arms. The younger man seemed to have regained control of himself, but Tony could still feel him trembling in his arms. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Jimmy nodded, though truthfully he wasn't really sure. He knew that Tony could tell, but there was nothing either of them could do about it now. Tony was already late enough that Gibbs was sure to tear him a new one when he got there, and Jimmy, feeling guilty that he was the cause, didn't want to make it worse. "I'll be alright," he told his lover. He tried to make himself sound a little more confident. "See you tonight?"

Tony kissed him, hard. "I'll be home as soon as I can," he promised. Then he let Jimmy go and turned to pick up his coffee and pizza. "Thanks," he said, holding up the food. "I love you."

Jimmy opened the door. "I love you, too." His eyes followed Tony down the hall, until he was out of sight.

Jimmy closed the door and leaned against it; then, his legs gave out and he slid down the door until he found himself sitting on the floor. He wrapped his arms around himself to try to still their shaking, staring unseeing at the room before him.

"This is stupid," he told himself. "It was a dream. Just a dream. Just a really, really vivid dream. That's all it was. Seriously, Palmer – do you think you're psychic?"

No, he answered himself in his head. I think I was really there. But that's impossible – so now I think I might be going crazy instead…

His eyes were drawn to the clock on the DVD player. 12:40. Tony had gotten a much later start tonight than he had before – in the dream. Well, in the dream, Tony didn't have to deal with his bedmate waking up from the dream, because it was the dream.

Jimmy closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door. "I thought I was done having nightmares," he whispered miserably.