Title: You Notice Everything Chapter 6
Slash/Mature: Don't like, don't read.
Summary: At the Reception for Delilah and Tim, a surprise guest shows up. Like always, Gibbs notices everything.
Includes some spoilers for Episode 23 "Something Blue."
All mistakes are mine, this has not been proofed.
####################
Tali sat in the booster seat next to Tony happily eating her French fries with ketchup.
"Eat some of your sandwich." Tony said looking at the untouched turkey sandwich on Tali's plate.
She looked at it then looked across the table at Gibbs.
"You need chips with that." Gibbs picked up a couple chips from his plate, reached across the table opened the half sandwich and laid several potato chips on top of the turkey then closed the sandwich back up. "Best way to eat a turkey sandwich." He picked up his almost finished turkey club shoved a chip into the sandwich and took a bite.
She looked at him inquisitively, then picked up her sandwich and took a bite. After she finished the bite, she smile and took another bite.
"That a Stillwater thing?" Tony smirked.
Gibbs shrugged. "My mom always did it when she made bologna sandwiches."
"Try it." Tali held up her sandwich to Tony.
"You eat it, I have my sandwich." Tony picked up his burger and took a bite.
Gibbs glanced at Tony's plate noticing the younger man had hardly touched his fries and the bite he'd just taken was only the third one. "Big difference from you woofing down your meal the other day."
Tony chuckled. "Guess I'm not really hungry."
"Does it have anything to do with what just happened?" Gibbs asked as he shoved a chip in his mouth.
"A little."
Gibbs' eyebrow went up.
"Okay a lot."
"Gibbs I just-" Tony blew out a long breath.
"Are you sorry it happened?"
"No, god no." Tony smiled. "I'm glad it happened…I just didn't think passed-" He glanced at Tali. She ate a fry and smiled up at him. He looked back at Gibbs and lowered his voice. "I didn't think much passed you k-i-s-s-i-n-g me."
Gibbs couldn't help but chuckle as Tony spelled out kissing. "Well you need to start thinking about it."
Tony's head went back.
"Because I want to do it again…and more." Gibbs wiped off his hands and threw the napkin on his plate.
"I know." Tony paused. "But-" He shook his head. "There's just a lot to think about."
"Then take whatever time you need to think about it." Gibbs shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere."
Tony nodded. He stared at his burger unable to meet Gibbs' gaze.
"I should get you two home." Gibbs picked up the bill that the waitress had laid at the edge of the table. Pulling some money out of his wallet, he tossed some bills on the table and stood up.
Gathering up Tali in his arms, they made their way out of the dinner and to the truck. Tony strapped Tali into the car seat and closed the door. When he turned Gibbs was holding the passenger door open for him. He put his hand on the door frame about to climb into the truck when he stopped and looked at Gibbs.
"I can't stop thinking about it." Tony sighed, his hand leaving the door and falling gently to the middle of Gibbs' chest. His green eyes locked on steely blue. "The way it all felt…how soft your lips were, how warm your body was, how safe and wanted I felt in your arms, and how I wanted to feel it all again."
Gibbs placed his hand over Tony's. "You should always feel that way." Not wanting to push, he let go of Tony's hand and took a step back.
Tony climbed up into the truck and Gibbs closed the door.
Walking around to the driver side Gibbs took a few slow deep breaths and climbed in.
##########
The ride was spent in mostly silence the only conversation was when Tali asked questions or started talking randomly about the day. When they pulled into the parking lot, Tony quickly got out and started unbuckling Tali. Gibbs debated with himself whether to walk in with them or not, but he climbed out of the truck just as Tony picked Tali out of the car seat.
"Is Papa home?" Tali asked as they made their way inside.
"I think so." Tony answered.
"I wanna tell him about the allegators and snake and frogs and-" She stopped as if trying to remember all the animals she'd seen.
"The stingrays." Gibbs added.
"Stingrays and starfish and sharks!" Tali said with excitement.
Reaching the door, Tony put her down and grabbed his keys out of his pocket. As soon as the door was open, Tali ran in and found Senior on the couch.
"Papa I saw allegators and snake and frogs and sharks." She ran over and jumped onto the couch and Senior pulled her into his lap.
"You did."
She nodded. "They put the frog on my hand and it stuck."
Senior chuckled.
"And I held peppermint."
Seniors brow furrowed. "Peppermint?"
"A white snake with red eyes."
Looking over at Tony, Senior gave him a concerned look.
"It was a little snake." Tony rolled his eyes.
Senior still didn't look convinced.
"And I walked underwater." She was talking quickly. "With sharks and fish."
Senior nodded. "Sounds like you had an exciting day."
She nodded.
"I should get going." Gibbs nodded at Senior. "Good to see you."
"Same here." Senior kept it short sensing something going on between the two men.
"I'll walk out with you." Tony said glancing at Senior then turning to follow Gibbs out.
"Gibbs." Tali jumped down from Seniors lap and ran over to Gibbs and reached her arms up to him.
Bending down Gibbs picked her up and she hugged him tightly around the neck.
When she finally pulled back she smiled at him, that beautiful million watt DiNozzo smile. "Toda."
"You're welcome." Gibbs smirked knowing the common word for thank you in Hebrew. He put her down and she ran back over to Senior.
Stepping out into the hallway, Tony closed the door behind them. "Well although my daughter beat me to it…Thanks for today."
Gibbs just nodded.
They stood there for a moment and Tony chuckled. "Now this feels like an awkward end to a first date."
Taking a deep breath, Gibbs considered his words carefully. "I know you need time to think, so take it, but we also need to talk."
"You wanting to talk." Tony snickered. "Seems so weird."
"When it's something this important, I wanna talk."
"Yeah."
"When you're ready."
Tony swallowed the lump in his throat then nodded.
"Just don't over think it." Gibbs took a step towards Tony. "I can already hear the wheels turning, the endless scenario playing in your head."
"Am I that easy to read?"
Gibbs shrugged. "Sometimes."
Tony leaned back against the wall next to the door. "Do you know what else I'm thinking?"
Taking another step closer Gibbs' fingers brushed against Tony's hip and he felt the younger man's hips press forward slightly. "This isn't really the time or the place for me to kiss you again…"Gibbs hand clutched at Tony's hip. "No matter how much I want to."
Staring into the steely blue eyes, Tony's body shivered from the intense emotion emanating from deep within the blue pools. "What if I asked you to kiss me anyway?" Tony watched as the internal struggle played out across Gibbs' face. The slight furrowing of the brow, the eyes narrowing, mouth opening slightly as he licked at his dry lips and then the deep swallow as Gibbs Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Suddenly Gibbs leaned forward and Tony's eyes closed preparing for the kiss, instead he felt the lips next to his ear.
"I already won't be able to sleep…if I kiss you again I'll have to take matters into my own hands to relieve this aching need."
Tony's hand knotted into the front of Gibbs' shirt knowing exactly what Gibbs was alluding to with those words.
Drawing back Gibbs' let his lips brush against Tony's cheek.
Opening his eyes, Tony met Gibbs' eyes, now a sea of black with a halo of blue. Realizing he'd been holding his breath, Tony gasped in air filling his deprived lungs. Slowly his hand released Gibbs' shirt and fell to his side.
"Goodnight Tony." The words were spoken softly as Gibbs took a step back. Turning around he went to walk away.
"Gibbs."
Gibbs paused as he heard his name and turned around.
"I know what you want…from this, from us." Tony paused. "What you want it to be."
"I hope you do." Gibbs turned back around and started down the hall. "Although I doubt you even know the half of it."
Tony stared down the hallway until Gibbs disappeared. His head fell back against the wall and he rubbed his hands down his face. Taking a few moments to calm himself he took a deep breath, turned and opened the door. Stepping back into the apartment, Tali was now sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table putting a puzzle together, Senior sitting on the couch helping her.
Glancing up, Senior's brow furrowed. "Everything okay with you two?"
"Fine." Tony kept it short as he sat down next to Tali on the floor and started helping with the puzzle.
"Seems like Gibbs missed you." Senior continued to look at the puzzle. "Maybe more than you expected."
"Gibbs loves Abba." Tali said as she found another piece of the puzzle.
Tony and Senior's eyes went wide as they looked at each other then at Tali.
"Does he now?" Senior's eyebrow went up.
Tali nodded picking up another puzzle piece and trying to make it fit.
"Of course he does, he loves all of us, the team, you." Tony cleared his throat. Countless thoughts ran this his mind. Had Gibbs said something to her, had she picked up on something between them, or had she walked in to the kitchen earlier than they realized and seen them kiss. He rubbed his forehead as a dull ache settled in.
Tali looked over at him head cocked as if contemplating something. "I love him too." She smiled and went back to the puzzle.
##########
"Here's EG." Tony tucked the alligator under the blanket next to Tali and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Can we go to the zoo again?" She asked wrapping her arm around the stuffed alligator.
"Sure we can, plus there's a zoo and aquarium in Paris."
"Do they have allegators?"
"I'm not sure, I'll have to check."
"Can Gibbs come too?"
Tony's mouth opened as if to answer then closed a moment. "Um, I'm not sure."
"Why?"
"Well that's a long trip and Gibbs works a lot."
"He loves us. He'll come."
Tony chuckled. "I'm sure if you asked him he would."
That made her smile.
His brow furrowed. "Did Gibbs talk to you about me?"
She shook her head.
"Remember when you came into the kitchen at Gibbs' house after your nap?"
She nodded.
He thought for a moment trying to figure out how to ask the question without really asking the question. "Did you see anything that you have questions about or that you don't understand?"
She looked at him a moment as if perplexed by the question. "No."
"Are you sure?" He paused. "There's nothing you want to ask me about?"
Again she gave him the slightly perplexed look. "Do you love Gibbs?"
Tony's mouth fell open. That was not the question he expected her to ask. Taking a deep breath he finally answered. "I do, and I love Abby and Tim and Delilah and all our other friends."
"Okay."
Chuckling, Tony shook his head. "Okay then." And it was as simple as that to a child. If only every conversation about love could be so easy. He bent over and kissed her forehead. "Love you to the moon and back."
"Love you." She answered her eyes already fluttering closed.
Walking out of the room, he closed the door behind him and walked back into the living room. Senior was sitting in the chair across from the couch and he was looking directly at Tony.
"Dinner's out of the way and Tali's asleep." Senior paused a moment. "Now are you going to tell me what's going on?"
Tony shook his head and dropped down on the couch. "Nothing is going on."
Taking a deep breath, Senior blew it out and leaned forward. "There has always been something deeper between you and Gibbs, this synergy that made you two unstoppable…but I always thought it was more of a father son connection." He saw Tony involuntarily make a slight face. "I get it, that's not the case." He leaned back in the chair. "So that leaves lust or love, or a combination of the two."
"Lust I know, I understand and I mastered it years ago. Love-" Tony shook his head. "Even when I thought I was in love…it turned out to be some twisted version of it." He ran his hands down his face. "Wendy was some school boy fantasy; Jeanne was an undercover assignment gone awry and Ziva…" His voice was full of sadness. "I'm not even sure what that was."
"DiNozzo men have never been the luckiest when it comes to love." Senior chuckled. "I'm a prime example of that."
"Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"But-" Senior smiled a truly happy smile. "I loved your mother, with all my heart and every fiber of being." He sighed wistfully. "Maybe the DiNozzo luck is that we get one great love in our lives." Senior stared at his son. "I've already had mine maybe you're just about to have yours."
Tony looked at his father with a slightly bewildered look. "I didn't expect you to be so profound and understanding about all this is."
"Men have never been my thing." Senior shrugged. "Closest I've ever gotten to a gay encounter is that four-way I had with your second stepmother in Madrid."
Tony's mouth fell open and his eyes went wide.
"Still Sergio and I pretty much kept the women between us, but you know hands are everywhere and things-"
"Oh my god, please stop." Tony balked trying to keep his voice low.
Senior put his hands up and stopped talking.
"I get it. Thanks." Tony stood up and walked over to the bar pouring himself a drink. "You want one."
"No." Senior's eyebrow went up as he watched his son empty the glass then pour another smaller drink. "You're not sure."
"What?" Tony turned around.
"You're not sure or you're scared. Which is it?"
"Maybe a little of both." Tony walked back over and sat down on the edge of the couch. He stared into his glass. "For a long time, he was my best friend, the one person I always believed would be there for me…which is why I ignored the attraction the desire I felt for him. I didn't want to lose that friendship." His jaw tightened. "But things were different that last year, he pushed me away both at work and personally." He took a moment. "I was never sure why he did it…was it the shooting, because he sensed I wanted to leave, did he know about what happened with Ziva, or was he just tired of having me around." Shaking his head, he blew out a long breath. "Gibbs being in love with me never crossed my mind."
"And that scares you?"
Tony looked up at his father. "It scares the hell out of me." He downed his drink swallowing the fear with the warm liquid. He chuckled nervously. "I always thought if something happened between us it would be us in the living room arguing about something and that angry energy would just morph into sexual desire and we'd just end up having sex on the kitchen table." He ran his hand through his hair. "And the next day we just get up, have coffee, and never talk about it again."
Senior raised an eyebrow and smirked. "It was just about sex."
"I never thought Gibbs would ever want anything more." Tony sighed. "And I never let myself believe there could be anything more."
"And now?"
"Now…now it's even more complicated." Tony swallowed hard. "It's not just about me anymore. I have to think about what's best for Tali."
"True." Senior nodded. "And what's best for Tali is to see her father happy, with someone that loves him, and loves her as much as you do."
Tony bit at his bottom lip and nodded.
"Good, glad we got that straightened out."
Shaking his head, Tony cleared his throat. "You realize I haven't dated in over a year." He groaned.
"Are you serious?" Senior's eyebrows went up. "You just mean date, you've-you know?"
Tony got up and walked into the kitchen.
Opening the fridge, he grabbed bottled water and closed the door, jumping when he saw his father standing there.
"A year?" Senior's eyebrows were still up.
"I was taking care of my daughter, your granddaughter. She was my focus."
"I understand that but that doesn't mean you become celibate." Senior shivered. "A year?"
Tony rolled his eyes.
"Have you at least thought about it?"
"Of course I have!" Tony said louder than he intended. He took a deep breath. "Can we please change the subject?"
"We can but it doesn't change the fact."
Tony groaned. "I never should have said anything about it." He started back towards the living room.
"I just-" Senior bit back what he was about to say as he followed Tony. "I know how important it was for you to make sure Tali was happy after everything that happened, but still-"
"Still what?"
"You've give her a year of your undivided attention, it's time to take some time for yourself." Senior patted Tony's shoulder. "Taking time for yourself, having a sitter or someone else look after her awhile, doesn't make you me. You're not dropping her at some boarding school."
"Dad, I-"
Senior shook his head. "It's in the back of your head, that's part of the reason you've been so devoted to her." Senior glanced over at a picture on his book shelve, one of Tony as a young child. "You've gone in the opposite direction of me, but neither extreme is right. You have to find the happy medium."
"I know and I'm trying."
"You'll get there." Senior patted Tony's shoulder again. "I'm heading to bed."
"Night dad."