Vance stood against the rail, overlooking the bullpen.
It had been a long, hard week.
He watched the agents packing up for the weekend, hearing the chatter about the plans they were looking forward to, wanting to make good of it since next weekend they were on rotation.
Ziva was packing her things up, as was McGee. Dorneget strolled out towards the elevators.
"So…ahhh…the dinner Sunday night…what should I bring? I-I mean, what would you guys like?" McGee asked with a certain degree of uncertainty, as he looked across at the team leader, Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.
"Well," Tony said, with a mischievous grin, "Gibbs really likes drinking those fruity, sort of martini drinks lately…"
"Really?" McGee said, while Ziva looked on and smiled.
"Yeah, Probie. And he changed his wood shop up for a giant Holly-Hobby Oven in the basement. And we don't watch football anymore. Just figure skating." Tony looked at McGee with a raised brow and smile.
McGee rolled his eyes. "Beer then, Tony?"
"Ah, yah, McGenius."
"I will bring a hummus plate," Ziva said, smiling at them both. "And maybe some bourbon."
Tony grinned at that and looked back at McGee, "Careful Probie. ZIva might be gunnin' for your job."
Vance smiled at it all. Still amazed at the turn of events since Tony had resigned last month.
He remembered the conversation with Gibbs, several days after he'd gone off to find DiNozzo.
(Flashback)
The door swung open without warning, and there was Gibbs, with that look of balls-to-the-walls determination Vance had seen many times before.
"Honey," he said to his wife, "lemme' call you back. Ok. Love you." Vance hung up the phone, and turned to look at Gibbs who was just standing in front of his desk.
"Special Agent Gibbs, I do apologize for any inconvenience that door may have caused you. I'll be sure to have maintenance come and remove it since apparently, it just gets in your way." Vance sat back and sighed.
Usually, Gibbs would give a bare smile, and then tell Vance what he wanted. But Gibbs stood there for a moment, just looking at him.
Something big was up.
"What is it Jethro?" Vance asked, concerned, but figuring it had something to do with DiNozzo's resignation.
Gibbs rubbed a hand over his face and looked around for a moment, and then back at Vance. "Leon…DiNozzo's resignation-"
"Never put it through." He saw Gibbs' shoulders slump ever so slightly with relief. "Agent Gibbs, I know better. I was gonna' sit on it for two weeks. And if you didn't get him to come back, then it was going through. But I know you."
Gibbs sighed shakily. "Do you, Leon? Because…there's something else…"
"Sit," Vance said, taking in the slight shift in pallor, the pinched look on Gibbs' face.
Gibbs sat down. He took a moment, and then looked Vance in the eye. "I'm retiring."
Vance curbed his knee-jerk reaction, the one where he didn't want to lose his top Agent, in favor of the one that listened as a long-time friend.
"You sure…about this Gibbs?" he asked quietly.
Gibbs nodded. "And, when Tony comes to talk to you, I'm hoping you might consider him for team leader."
"Well, yes, DiNozzo has to talk to me…" Vance noticed Gibbs' use of 'Tony' instead of 'DiNozzo'. "I think that's possible. McGee might be ready for SFA as well. And then Dorneget can sit on the team full time."
Gibbs smiled a little at that. "That would be good Leon."
Vance sighed again, pulling a toothpick from his desk, and then looked at Gibbs. "What happened to bring this on?"
Gibbs shifted uncomfortably. After so many years knowing Vance, honesty was due. But how to talk about it…
"Rule twelve."
Vance raised his brows. "Agent David? Really?"
Gibbs shook his head, "No."
Vance was amazed. Gibbs was turning a bit of a pinkish shade. He had never seen Gibbs blush. He'd have to tell Jackie about it when he got home.
"Abby?" He said, in surprise. After all, Abby was like a surrogate daughter to Gibbs.
"Oh, no. No," Gibbs said, waiting for Vance to put it together.
And he did.
DiNozzo resigning without a good explanation, and Gibbs going after him…
Vance's mouth dropped open. Holy Mother. Gibbs. And. DiNozzo.
He cocked his head, eyes wide as he looked at Gibbs, "DiNozzo?"
Gibbs looked away for a moment, and then stared at Vance, almost defiantly. He nodded.
"You…and…DiNozzo…" Vance repeated. This was...stunning. It made him feel a small flash of anger, which he immediately knew was because of this very unexpected change in perception. He'd had friends come out before, so he knew his own initial reaction was just a small buck against the change. Which ultimately you had to accept, or get left behind. And he and Gibbs had too much history for him to screw up on him now. But still…Gibbs. And. DiNozzo.
He took a breath. "Wow."
Gibbs said softly, "Yeah. Wow. Didn't expect it. Never…thought about...men."
"I know how you felt about Shannon," Vance said, seeing the glimmer of memory and pain in Gibbs' eyes. "Is this…"
"Yeah," Gibbs said, sadness shifting to something like warmth. "It is."
They sat in silence for several moments. Vance then said, "I could make you lead on another team…"
"I'd only be checking on them and trying to lead the new team at the same time... No. I'm solid on this Leon. I'm ready." Gibbs' eyes were unwavering.
"Okay, Gibbs. But when I come over for barbeque this summer, you better not be the one wearing the apron," he smiled, while Gibbs snorted at him.
(End flashback)
"Okay Tony, see you Sunday," McGee said, as he left the bullpen with Ziva.
Tony was still at his desk, finishing up paperwork.
Vance almost turned to go back into his office, but saw Abby skip into the bullpen.
"Tooooneeeeee!" she called gleefully. "We all still on for Sunday night?"
"Yep. And even the director's coming," Tony said, and looking up at Vance with a wink.
He'd known Vance was there the whole time. Vance smiled and nodded at him, and then turned and walked away.
"I'm gonna' make a 'Blackout' cake." She beamed at him, almost expectantly.
"Uh…that sounds great, Abbs. Er…what exactly is a 'Blackout' cake?"He smiled at her and then looked down at his paperwork, organizing some notes that he needed to input Monday morning.
"Ohhh well, it's chocolate on the outside, and, then there's a layer of purple cake, and then dark chocolate ganache in the center. It's awesome. Of course, it's not my mom's exact recipie with the purple part…but…it's like, my version. And you know, I like to be creative."
"Yes, I do know," Tony laughed at her.
"I guess mainly, I like it because…you think it looks one way on the outside. Just a plain old, chocolate cake. But inside…there's stuff you didn't expect. Good stuff." She grinned and winked at him.
He looked up at her, his green eyes growing a little more serious for a moment, and said, "Thanks Abbs. For…always ...digging for the good stuff."
She nodded and smiled, and then said softly, "See you Sunday!" And ran back towards her lab in her big boots.
Tony sat in the silent bullpen for a while.
He looked at his computer screen, and scrolled for the email he'd ignored since receiving it last week, right before he testified against Orlon Pink.
Dear Tony,
I just wanted tell you that I am so, so sorry for what happened to you, because of my book and Orlon Pink. I hope you believe me when I say that I really had no idea what he was going to do. I had no idea he had a history of mental illness and…well, frankly that he had become obsessed with you. I guess I made that mistake twice, didn't I?
I am so sorry.
As you might have heard, NCIS confiscated all of Pink's holdings, including my books, waiting to be shipped from one of his distribution centers.
Somehow, from what I've heard, they have gotten 'lost' in the evidence lockers. No one seems to be able to find them. I wonder if it was you, or Gibbs responsible for that?
The book still means a lot to me, Tony. And I will publish again, but under a pen name. I hope you will be okay with that. Our time together, though we made mistakes, and were young, helped make us who we are today.
If you want to, please call me, so we can talk.
Love,
Wendy
He looked at the words thoughtfully, before he wrote his answer:
Wendy,
Your book was one of the worst, and best things that ever happened to me. To say it caused me pain and distress, well that would be an understatement.
But, you never really saw that, did you? It took Pink basically attacking me for you to feel concerned about how that book affected me.
You really are a narcissist.
I don't really know what happened to the copies of your book.
And as long as you publish under a pen name, I won't sue you.
But you were right about one thing, it was better for it all to come out. I can see that now.
I hope you do really well with your next version of the book. So you make lots of money, and move to France. Or Mars. Or anywhere else.
I hope never to hear from you again.
The past is the past.
I'm moving forward.
Tony
He hit send, with a sigh.
He stared at the computer for a moment, and then shut it down.
He packed his things, and then smiled.
He was going to leave the office, and get on the elevator like he'd done thousands of times.
But he wasn't going to his apartment anymore. He was going home. To Gibbs.
The End
A/N : Hi readers ! This was SO much fun! For my first slash, not too shabby I think! I enjoyed reading it AND also your fabulous reviews! I still need to answer some, which I will do in the next day or so. Just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration and taking the ride with me!
If you have the desire, and can afford to, Pandora's Box, The Net, Close Calls and Smile of the Moon are both up for awards at the Author's Note Convention for fanfiction. I am actually going to be there, at Roanoke VA, for the event. For $5 donation (for charity) you can vote for either of these stories at authorsnote dot org after June 1st. Look for a line on the right that says DONATE A VOTE, on the convention page.
Five bucks is lunch- so – truly – I already appreciate the reviews greatly and this is only if you want to and can do.
Thank you so much!
MG