Before Maggie knew what was happening, she was straddling Gibbs' lap on the couch. Their mouths exploring, tongues tasting, and Gibbs' fingers moving along her sides. His hands moved to her hips and pulled her down against him. Maggie let out a gasp and Gibbs groan slightly as he pushed up to meet her.
"Tell me to stop." His voice was ragged as he whispered in her ear.
Maggie shook her head. "No."
"Tell me to leave now." He told her as his lips travelled down the side of her neck.
"No." Maggie whispered and brought her hands from his chest up to the sides of his face. She captured his lips in a kiss, not letting him take control this time. She was rewarded with his hands grabbing her hips again and pulling her against him. Maggie knew if he kept doing that, what she wanted to happen upstairs in her bedroom would happen right there on the couch.
Gibbs moved his head back and looked at Maggie. Her lips were swollen from the kisses, her cheeks flushed and her breathing was as heavy as his.
"Tell me what you want." He said, his fingers moving from her hips up under the material of her shirt tracing gently along her lower back.
"I want you." She leaned in and kissed him gently.
"Upstairs." She kissed him again.
"Now." She kissed him one more time and reluctantly moved off his lap as he smiled at her. She held out her hand to him and led him from the living room. Gibbs only delayed them long enough to make sure the front door was locked and followed Maggie up the stairs to her bedroom.
Gibbs let her take the lead until they stepped inside her room. Once the door was shut behind him, he grabbed her and pinned her against the door. His lips and tongue ravaged her mouth as his hands moved to remove as much of their clothing as he could. He only broke the kiss when he had to pull his tee shirt up over his head.
Maggie put her hands out to touch Gibbs' chest. She'd felt his chest through material before, but to see him like this, with nothing but his jeans and socks on, took her breath away. He had the body of a man much younger. There was no paunch, no love handles, just a firmly muscled torso with chest hair that ran nicely down past his belly button.
Gibbs looked down at Maggie standing in front of him dressed in a blue lace bra and her jeans. At some point down stairs on the couch he'd taken the clip from her hair and let her hair down. With a flip of his fingers, the hook on the front of her bra would be undone and on the floor. Instead he brought her hands up to his belt buckle and placed her fingers on the ring. While she moved her fingers to release the leather from the buckle, his hands moved up along her arms. He was traced his fingers up along her arms, across her shoulders and down her chest to where the blue lace began on the cups of her bra.
Maggie's fingers trembled as she unfastened Gibbs' belt and unhooked the button on the top of his jeans. She was careful as she slid the zipper down its length. When she reached inside his jeans and slid her hand against him, he leaned his head back and caught his breath. Maggie leaned forward and placed tiny kisses along the gray hairs on his chest. Gibbs moved them toward the bed while he unbuttoned her jeans and pulled the zipper down. His powerful arms pulled her to him and he kissed her hard while he tugged her jeans down over her hips. Maggie broke the kiss and stepped back to finish taking her jeans off leaving her standing in front of him in nothing but her underwear. Gibbs got his jeans and socks off quickly and Maggie smiled to herself. Yup, Gibbs was a plain cotton boxer man. He didn't give her time to stare at him in his almost full glory; he picked her up and placed her on the bed covering her body with his. In seconds, all other clothing was gone and Maggie could feel him hard against her hip.
Gibbs pulled his head back to look down at Maggie.
"What's wrong?" she asked seeing the concern in his eyes.
"I don't think I can go slow."
Maggie traced her fingers along his cheek. "Then don't. We can do slow later."
That was all that Gibbs needed to hear. He pulled one of her legs up to his waist and with a quick thrust of his hips; he was buried deep inside her.
Maggie arched her back up to him and dug her nails into his arms as he thrust his body into hers. She had been more than ready for him from the time they started up the stairs. A few thrusts later and she cried out his name as her body exploded around him. Gibbs moved a few more times and grunted as his body released into hers. For a while, they stayed like that on her bed, bodies entwined as they waited for their breathing to slow. Gibbs moved first, rolling to his back, pulling Maggie to his side, her head resting on his chest. One of his hands stroked down her back while the other brushed his sweat dampened hair off his forehead. Maggie's hand rested on Gibbs chest, she could feel his heart still racing.
"Maggie." Gibbs said after a few minutes. "We didn't use anything."
Maggie smiled. No, they hadn't talked about protections. She leaned up on her arm and looked at him.
"I can't get pregnant if that's what you mean." She told him.
"No?" he replied tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Why?"
"I had a tough pregnancy with Jamie and couldn't have any more kids after that." Maggie saw a look of sadness on Gibbs' face. "Don't worry." She smiled. "Wait; is there something I should know?" Maggie emphasized the I to tease him.
Gibbs smiled, shook his head and pulled her head back down to his shoulder. He liked the way she felt against him. He liked the way they fit against each other. After a few minutes he realized that Maggie's breath had slowed down and she had fallen asleep. He reached over and pulled the blanket up over them and closed his eyes too. It had been a long time since he'd felt this at ease with a woman and he liked how it felt.
Maggie was lying on her side, Gibbs spooned behind her. She felt the arm lift off her and the bed dip as he got up. She heard him go into the master bathroom and shut the door. So he was going to leave in the middle of the night. Not what she wished for, but if he wanted to leave…her thoughts were cut off when she heard the toilet flush and his feet padding across the bedroom floor.
Gibbs rinsed his hands in the sink and walked back into the bedroom. Normally this would be when he'd sneak out in the middle of the night, but looking at Maggie, lying on her side, her back to him, he felt his body react. His eyes lingered on the curve of her hip as he crossed the floor. Briefly, his eyes locked on to the scar across her lower back, he made a mental note to ask her about it later as he slid back under the covers.
At first Maggie thought Gibbs was looking for his clothes, but she felt the bed dip as he climbed back in and his hand moved along her hip and up her side as he moved his body in behind her.
"I know you're awake." He whispered and his lips moved along her neck.
Maggie shifted slightly, pressing her body back into his.
"Time for slow." He told her as his hand cupped her breast and kneaded it.
The smell of coffee entered Maggie's dream. And what a dream it was. She and Gibbs had made love once hard and fast and the second time; he'd gone slowly and did things with his mouth that made her blush.
"Wake up sleepy head." Gibbs' voice was in her dreams now and Maggie knew that it hadn't been a dream and today, her body was going to be pleasantly sore.
"I hope that coffee is for me." Maggie smiled, her eyes still closed.
"You have to wake up if you want it." Gibbs said as he sat down on the side of the bed.
"Careful, that's a loaded statement." Maggie opened her eyes to see Gibbs dressed and holding two mugs of coffee.
"If I didn't have to go home and shower and change for work, I'd give you what you want." He leaned down and kissed her softly.
"What time is it?" Maggie asked as she sat up pulling the sheet up in front of her.
"5 a.m. and you don't have to cover up on my account." He told her as he tugged at the sheet.
"What if I spill my coffee?"
"Then I'll clean it up." His crooked smirk told her exactly how he would do that.
"You figured out my coffee machine?"
"Have one at work, I like the drip machines, but this will do too." Gibbs took another sip and put the mug on the nightstand. "I have to head home. Dog's been fed and gone out." He kissed her again and stood up.
"You spoil me." Maggie smiled at him.
"I'll call you later." He told her as he walked to the bedroom door. "We're in the office all day going over cold cases."
"Sounds like fun."
"More like root canal." He told her. "But without the drugs."
"I think he's bouncing again."
McGee looked up at Ziva and gave her an odd look.
"Who's bouncing Ziva?" he asked.
"Gibbs. Gibbs is bouncing; he has a bounce in his step. Like he did with Dr. Ryan."
"Maybe she's back in town." McGee answered.
"Or he's building a new boat, or he had extra coffee, who knows with him." DiNozzo said from his stack of files on his desk. "All I know is he has no files and I do. What is up with that?!" he exclaimed and tossed his hands up in the air.
"Touch down DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he rounded the corner with a fresh coffee.
"No Boss. Just getting the oxygen flowing." DiNozzo moved his arms around like he was exercising. "Ah, feel better already."
Gibbs sat down at his desk and just smiled. He'd called Maggie when he went out for coffee. She wasn't able to talk long, it was a tough morning at the school, and they'd made plans to meet up later that night. He was looking forward to seeing her; so much so that he made sure he had clean sheets on his bed.
Maggie's morning had started out on a good foot, but had quickly gone downhill when she got to school. One of the aides was out with the flu and she had to pull double duty with the kids. Luckily when Gibbs had called she was alone in the classroom. She could only talk for a minute but knowing she was going to see him later that night gave her something to look forward to. As she was walking from the teachers room back to her classroom after lunch her cell phone rang. It was her brother.
"Hey little brother."
"Got a second to talk?" Tony asked.
"Just one. I'm on my way back to class."
"I'll make it quick then. Do you want to stop by after you finish for the day? I want everyone to meet you?"
Maggie stopped dead in her tracks.
"You can't say no. I'll leave a visitors pass for you at the front desk. I'll see you around 4. Love you." Tony hung up before she could answer.
"Oh shit." Maggie muttered.
She didn't have time to call Gibbs directly so she texted him.
Tony invited me to work to meet everyone. U okay w/that
She pressed the send button and went back into her room. If Gibbs said no or didn't respond, she'd find a reason to put it off for a few days. There was no way she was going to blindside Gibbs at work. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and read his response.
Ok with me
Maggie shook her head, she was surprised. She thought Gibbs would say don't or wait or something, but it would be fun to play strangers and see what he was like at work.
"Hi, I'm Maggie Sullivan." Maggie told the officer at the front desk of the NCIS building. "Agent DiNozzo said he'd leave a visitors pass for me."
"All civilians need to be escorted in the building." The officer told her. "If you wait a minu. te, I'll find someone to bring you up."
"No need Roger. I'll do that."
"Yes Director." The officer replied as Maggie turned around to see a man standing behind her.
"Hi, I heard through the scuttlebutt that you'd be visiting today." The man held his hand out to Maggie. "I'm Director Leon Vance."
Maggie shook the director's hand. "I'm Maggie Sullivan, Anthony DiNozzo's sister."
"I'll take you up." Vance waved his hand in the direction of the elevator. "You know there is quite a buzz about you."
"Really? Why?" Maggie asked as the elevator doors closed.
"Agent DiNozzo never mentioned you, so we were quite surprised to find out you existed."
"That's just how Tony is. I'm sure you've met Senior." Maggie knew from Tony that Senior had been there a few times.
"Mmm." Vance answered as the door opened. "He's quite a character."
"You have no idea." Maggie told him as they walked over to where Tony's desk was.
Maggie did her best to keep calm even though her stomach was filled with butterflies and her heart was pounding. Would she be able to pretend to act like she didn't know Gibbs.
Tony looked up from his desk when he heard the chime announcing its arrival on their floor and was surprised to see Director Vance walking his sister out of the elevator.
"Director?" he stood up and came around the desk to great them.
"Your sister was in the lobby when was coming back in. I thought I'd bring her up." Vance shook Maggie's hand again. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Sullivan."
"Maggie, please."
Vance nodded and left Maggie with Tony.
"Working the preppy look?" Tony asked as he kissed Maggie on the cheek.
"I work with kids Tony. I don't wear designer suits like you. It would be pointless."
Maggie had gone to school in a pair of khakis, pink button down shirt and sneakers. Maggie stopped at home before going to NCIS and switched out her shoes, grabbed a different coat and touched up her make up a little. After all, she would run into Gibbs there.
Tony put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the bullpen area.
"Here we go." Tony leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Gather around every one, this is my sister. Maggie, this is everyone."
Maggie playfully backhanded Tony in the stomach.
"I think you can do better than that."
Two other people were sitting at desks Maggie noticed. Gibbs was nowhere to be seen. A handsome young man and an exotic looking woman walked over to them.
"You must be Timothy." Maggie held her hand out to McGee. "Nice to put a name and face together."
"Nice to meet you."
"Please call me Maggie." She told McGee.
"Tim, you can call me Tim."
"And I'm Ziva David." The woman held out her hand to Maggie.
Maggie smiled broadly at Ziva.
"You are so much more beautiful than Tony said."
Ziva gave Tony a shocked smile. Tony leaned in and told Maggie to cut it out.
"I wish I could say we knew more about you." Ziva told Maggie. "But Tony's never mentioned you."
"Tony keeps family and work apart."
"We've met your father." McGee told her.
"Did Tony invite Senior or did Senior invite himself." Maggie asked.
Ziva and McGee looked at each other and thought for a minute.
"Well I think he invited himself." McGee finally concluded.
"That explains it all."
"You look very familiar to me." Ziva couldn't place it. But she had seen Maggie somewhere.
"Well I've been here a month." Maggie named some places she'd been but none of them rang a bell with Ziva. "Wait, now I know." Maggie pointed at Ziva. "You run every morning. You wear a bright orange cap."
Ziva snapped her fingers. "That is it. I've seen you running. Usually on the weekends."
"I run mornings on the weekends and after school during the week." Maggie confirmed.
"I did not see you this past Sunday." Ziva commented.
"I went out early. I had some things to take care of." Maggie didn't lie, but she didn't say where she had been.
Ziva looked at Maggie while Maggie, Tony and McGee talked. Maggie clearly must look like her mother, while Tony resembled their father. Maggie had red hair and green eyes, while Tony had brown hair and a different shade of green eyes. Tony had mentioned his sister was older, but standing next to him, Maggie could be the same age or even younger.
"Where's Boss?" Tony looked over at Gibbs' desk and Maggie wondered if Gibbs was intentionally making himself scarce. Gibbs wasn't much on families.
"Right here DiNozzo."
Maggie heard Gibbs voice behind her and her heart flipped. Ziva happened to be watching Gibbs to confirm her "bounce" theory in Gibbs step and caught Maggie's reaction to Gibbs. She wasn't surprised; Gibbs had that reaction with women Ziva knew. But when Ziva watched Tony introduce Maggie to Gibbs, she saw the look in Gibbs eyes. Was there something there she shouldn't be seeing? Because Maggie's eyes mirrored Gibbs.
"Nice to meet you Maggie." Gibbs shook Maggie's hand. Ziva noticed he held it just a little longer, just a second or two before he let it go.
"Nice to meet you too Agent Gibbs."
"You can call me Jethro."
Tony gave his boss a quizzical look. Gibbs must be getting some from someone because he was being downright cheerful.
"Boss if you can spare me for a few minutes, I'd like to take Maggie down to meet Abs, Ducky and the Autopsy Gremlin."
"Autopsy Gremlin?" Maggie questioned.
"He means Jimmy Palmer." McGee hated when Tony called Palmer that name.
Gibbs nodded and walked around to his desk to sit. "You gonna let your sister keep her coat on the entire time she's here?"
"No Boss." Tony helped Maggie off with her coat and started to bring it and her purse to his desk when Gibbs stopped him.
"Put it here DiNozzo. I'm not going anywhere, it'll be safe here." Gibbs took Maggie's coat and purse from him and draped it over his own. "Go on now. I'm sure Abby's dying to meet your sister."
Ziva watched Tony lead Maggie to the back elevator. McGee went back to work as did Gibbs. But something was different with Gibbs she thought, but she wasn't completely sure.
"You can go with them if you have nothing to do Ziva." Gibbs' voice brought Ziva back to the moment.
"No, I'm almost done here." Ziva got up to bring a folder to the filing cabinet. On her way back she caught Gibbs slipping a note into Maggie's coat pocket. It was a subtle gesture, but Ziva still noticed it.
She sat back down and began to wonder if Gibbs and Maggie had already met. Was Maggie the reason behind the "bounce"? She thought about it for a few moments while she pretended to work on her case. Maggie was clearly Gibbs' type, she was a red head, she was quite pretty and from what Tony had already told her, she was also stubborn. Tony; Ziva realized with some horror- would not like having his sister involved with their boss.
Gibbs fought the urge to go down and check up on Tony and Maggie. He'd checked his watch for the fifth time when he heard the back elevator chime. Tony and Maggie were joined by Abby; whose arm was hooked through Maggie's, and Ducky. Abby and Ducky had their jackets with them. Gibbs knew something was up. Something that may delay him seeing Maggie later on.
"Jethro, we're taking Maggie out for a drink." Ducky began. "Would you please let the team go early tonight? We want to get to know Maggie better."
Gibbs knew he could say no, but Abby had that "Please Gibbs" look on her face and the team was assigned to cold cases this week, what harm could it do?
"Fine, go." He waved them on. "Be on time in the morning."
"You want to come Boss?" Tony asked as he handed Maggie her jacket and purse.
"No, I have to be in MTAC in 30." Gibbs looked at his watch. "I'll take a rain check though." He looked at Maggie and Abby who had put her arm back through Maggie's. Even with heels on, Abby still towered over Maggie. Abby clearly liked Maggie. So it seemed did the rest of his team. He was surprised that knowing his team liked Maggie was important to him.
"Okay then, night Boss." Tony said. "Come McGee, Ziva. To the pub we go."
Gibbs waited fifteen minutes before texting Maggie.
Want to cancel tonight?
He waited for Maggie's answer before heading up to MTAC.
Not on your life.
Gibbs smiled when he read her reply and closed his phone.
"Who you texting? Some new guy?" Tony teased his sister as she put her phone back in her jacket pocket.
"And if it were?" Maggie looked at Tony. "What would you say?"
"I'd say.." Tony thought for a moment. Was she seeing someone? If so who?
"Anthony leave your sister be." Ducky intervened. "Now Maggie, tell us more about young Tony. Where did he get his love for movies?"
"I'll tell you more stories if you let me buy the first round."
Maggie pulled up in front of Gibbs' house. It was exactly what she would expect Gibbs to live in. From their conversations, she knew he'd bought it when he was married to his first wife. She knew at least one other wife had lived there too. When that wife divorced him, she cleaned out his bank account but let him keep the house. She walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell. She loved the style of the front door, the big glass window in it, even the stained glass window next to the door. She made a mental note of them for ideas for her house.
"Have a good time?" Gibbs asked when he opened the front door. He'd changed out of his work clothes and had on a pair of jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and had socks on his feet.
"Actually I did." She stepped inside the house, stood on her tip toes and kissed Gibbs on the cheek. Gibbs put an arm around her waist and pulled her close.
"Not good enough." He whispered and kissed her fully on the mouth. When he pulled back and moved the shut the door, he paused for a second. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but let it go when Maggie tugged at his hand.
"Got a beer?" she asked stepping into the living room.
Gibbs walked past her and playfully swatted her on the backside on his way into the kitchen. Maggie took her jacket off and put it on the chair. This was the home of a man still holding on to his past, even if it wasn't that obvious.
"Here ya go." Gibbs handed her a beer and took her hand leading her to the couch. He pulled her down next to him. "So, what do you think of them?"
Maggie took a sip of her beer.
"They are really a great group of people."
Gibbs nodded his head in agreement as he drank his beer.
"They think very highly of you."
"Do I want to know what they said?"
Maggie laughed. "It wasn't an all about Gibbs session. You're name came up, but it was mostly in connection with Tony."
Maggie filled him in on some of the things they had asked her about Tony and growing up, what he was like, where did the movie thing come in.
"He does like his movies." Gibbs agreed. "Is that something you share?"
"Gibbs, did you see a TV in my house?"
"No." He thought for a minute. "Hell even I have one of those."
"Let me say that different. Tony loves movies, I love books. Tony tries to get me to see a movie if it was a book and I always argue that the book is better than the movie. The only movie I will cop to getting him hooked on is James Bond."
"And which one is your favorite?" Gibbs pulled her closer so that her legs were resting on his lap.
"Totally Daniel Craig. I have a thing for blue eyes." She told him as she leaned and kissed him.
"What else do they know about you now that I don't?" Gibbs asked a few minutes later.
Maggie toyed with his fingers as she recalled the conversations from earlier.
"Let's see. They know that after James died, I had to learn all about football because Jamie played and I was never the football person."
"No? Was that James' area?" Gibbs asked. It was comfortable for Maggie to talk about her late husband, something he wasn't very good at.
"James did all the Pop Warner games and coached when he could. Me, I was the Red Sox fan and took Jamie to home games all the time. If the Yankees were in town, we had third base seats."
"What else?"
"Well they know that I teach, that I love working with the special needs kids. That I love sushi."
"I knew that too." Gibbs admitted.
"And how did you know that? NCIS special agent skills?" Maggie teased.
"You have a sushi set in your cabinet. I saw it this morning."
"Okay, I'll give you that. They know that I am a runner, well Ziva has seen me, and they know that I like to kick box."
"I'll remember that if we get into an argument."
"I'd never use it on you. Self-defense only."
"Yeah well I've had ex-wives that know how to use baseball bats and nine irons." He told her
"That's just wrong." Maggie told him. "They know how James died and how Tony helped me out a lot with Jamie when things were awkward."
Gibbs gave Maggie a questioning look.
"Jamie was always a good kid, but he was 15 when his father died and during his senior year he acted out here and there. Drinking, driving too fast. Things like that. Because James was a cop, the other cops looked out for him, never charging him, bringing him home to me. Jamie resented it, said that his friends said he was a Mama's boy and it made him angrier. So I told James' old buddies that the next time they caught him drinking or speeding, arrest him. Toss him behind bars for the night; let him see how it felt."
"Did it work?"
"The phone call he made wasn't to me, but to Tony. And let me tell you Tony read him the riot act. Tony made Jamie check in with him every other day about his grades and what he was doing and who he was with."
"Really?"
"I know, it doesn't sound like Tony, but Tony knew how it felt to not have a full time dad around. He wanted Jamie to know that he'd always be there for him no matter what."
Gibbs nodded, that made sense.
"Why did he become a Marine?" Gibbs asked.
"He loved the uniform." Maggie untangled herself from Gibbs and went to pick up her purse. She took out her wallet and withdrew the picture of Jamie in his dress uniform and brought it back to Gibbs. He picked up his glasses from the table and looked at the formal headshot of Maggie's son.
"He looks a lot like Tony." Gibbs noticed the same face shape and familiar nose and mouth.
"Yeah, he got the DiNozzo gene there, but his hair is lighter and he has his father's eyes."
Gibbs handed her back the picture. "What he get from you?"
"My intelligence and amazing cooking ability." She smiled as she saw a familiar look in his eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "But he didn't get my amazing flexibility."
"I like that flexibility." Gibbs kissed her as he began to move her back down on the couch.
A half hour later, somewhere between Maggie's blouse ending up on the floor and Gibb's red USMC tee shirt on the coffee table, Maggie felt a buzzing on her hip.
"You're buzzing Gibbs." She told him as his mouth moved down between her breasts.
"Ignore it." He told her, even though he knew he couldn't.
"Well then move over a little to your left and put that vibrating to good use."
Gibbs lifted his head and gave Maggie a 'are you serious' look that made her laugh. He reached into his pocket and flipped the phone open.
"Yeah..Gibbs."
Maggie started to move herself out from under Gibbs, but he wouldn't budge. Maybe this wasn't an urgent phone call.
"I'll be there in 20 minutes. Call the rest of them in." Gibbs flipped his phone shut. He lowered his head back down to where it had been a few seconds ago. He inhaled the scent of Maggie's perfume and filed it in his memory for later.
"You have to go?" Maggie asked as she stroked the back of his head.
Gibbs nodded his head and kissed Maggie at the hollow of her throat before he moved off of her to retrieve his shirt and hand Maggie hers.
Maggie stood up and put her shirt back on.
"It's okay Gibbs. It's part of your job." She told him.
He knew that. He knew that she would understand that too. Her husband had been a cop and she knew that sometimes the job would have to come first. They walked out together, Gibbs walking Maggie to her car parked in front of his house. He opened the door for her and stopped to kiss her before she got into the car.
"Call or text me when you can." She told him when she sat down in the car.
Gibbs nodded and watched her drive off down the street.
The next afternoon, Gibbs and Ziva were sitting in the car watching the apartment of a suspect in the murder they'd been called in on the previous night. One of their cold cases was no longer so cold. It was quiet in the car, neither person speaking, just watching for their suspect. Gibbs knew that Ziva had something on her mind but was struggling with how to approach it, so he did it for her. He took a sip of his coffee before asking her.
"Why were you outside my house last night?" he asked.
When Maggie rang the doorbell he had seen Ziva's red Mini-Cooper pull up in front of the house two doors down. She tried to park in the shadows, but he knew it was her.
Ziva should have been surprised that Gibbs had seen her, but it was Gibbs after all and not too much got past him.
"Why haven't you told Tony you're involved with his sister?"
Gibbs took another sip of his coffee and stared straight ahead. He turned his answer over in his mind. He didn't like secrets; but if there was an answer to this question it had to be given to Tony first. Gibbs was saved from answering by the arrival of Tony and McGee pulling up behind them. Ziva hadn't expected him to answer but hoped that he would see that keeping this kind of secret wasn't good for them as a team.
"What's up Boss?" Tony asked as he leaned into the driver's side window. Tony looked from Gibbs to Ziva and back. "Anything going on I should know about?"
"Nope. Just keep an eye out for him. Check in later." Gibbs started the car and Tony walked back to his car.
"Huh." Tony said out loud as he watched as Gibbs' car took the corner.
"Something up?" McGee asked as he checked the battery on the digital camera.
"Something seemed…I dunno, off between Gibbs and Ziva."
"You spend 4 hours in a car with Gibbs, you'd be off too."
"It's not that Probie, it's something else." Tony mused.
"Your sister is pretty cool." McGee said changing the subject. Four hours in the in the car with Tony would be long enough without having a 'what's up with Ziva and Gibbs' debate.
"Yeah, she is isn't she?" Tony agreed.
"How come you never mentioned joining the force because of your brother in law? I thought it was because of the kid you saved in Baltimore from the fire."
"That was the big part of it. When I went up to Boston after that I talked to James about it and he thought it was a good idea. He supported me through the whole thing. He was a great guy." Tony told McGee.
"Maggie never remarried?"
"No. Had a couple of relationships, but the last one didn't end on a happy note."
"Really? What happened?" McGee asked.
"I'm not sure, all I know is she filed a restraining order." Tony stopped talking for a few seconds.
"Something wrong Tony?"
"Do you think Gibbs didn't like Maggie?"
"Why do you think that?" McGee wondered.
"He barely looked at her. She's totally his type."
McGee was cut off from answering Tony off when their suspect came out of his apartment.
Ziva stood in front of Gibbs' desk, her arms folded across her chest while she waited for him to look up and acknowledge her. Gibbs took his glasses off and looked up at her.
"What."
"You know 'what' Gibbs. You and Maggie. Why are you keeping this a secret from Tony?"
"Who's keeping a secret from Tony?" Abby asked as she walked over from the elevator.
Gibbs didn't need to have this conversation now. He got up from his desk, grabbed his jacket and walked between Abby and Ziva.
"Going out for coffee."
Ziva shook her head and made a comment in Israeli as she walked back to her desk.
"Um, Ziva;" Abby began. "Is everything okay with Gibbs? You seem sort of mad at him."
"No I am not mad Abby, he just.." Ziva couldn't think of how to say what she was feeling. "Sometimes he just infuriates me. That is all."
Gibbs stopped outside of the building, checked the time on his watch to figure out where Maggie would be now. They had spoken earlier and she told him her furniture was coming from Boston today, so she'd be home all night taking care of it.
"You look troubled Jethro. Is there something I can help you with?"
Gibbs looked up from his phone as Ducky walked towards him. If Gibbs was to confide in anyone it would be Ducky. Problem was, Gibbs didn't like to air his problems, not that seeing Maggie was a problem.
"Yeah Duck, maybe you could."
The two men walked over to a bench and sat down. Gibbs leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and thought of where to begin. Ducky could see Gibbs was struggling.
"Let me make it easy for you." Ducky reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out the folded note Gibbs had slipped in Maggie's jacket and handed it to Gibbs.
"Where'd you get this Duck?"
"It fell out of Maggie's pocket and fortuitously I was the one who found it." Ducky smirked at Gibbs. "How long have you and Maggie been involved?"
Gibbs grinned. If anyone else had seen the note he wrote to Maggie, it would have been embarrassing. Ducky finding it wasn't. Ducky had introduced Gibbs to one of his wives and stitched him up twice when two different wives had gotten aggravated with him.
"We met about a few weeks ago." Gibbs told his friend.
"Did you know who she was?"
Gibbs smiled at the memory of that moment on their first real date. "Nope, not until the end of our first date."
"And there was obviously a second." Ducky commented.
Gibbs nodded.
"And I am guessing that there has been 'more' between you two judging from your note."
Gibbs nodded again.
"Then why the charade? Why did you pretend to not know her when Tony brought her in?"
"Keeping work and life apart."
"Jethro, you know in our line of work that the line is often blurred. How can you two expect to keep Anthony in the dark? He has to be told."
"I know Duck, I know." Gibbs agreed. "I was about to call Maggie and tell her that Ziva found out."
"Ziva knows? Now you have to tell Tony. Ziva won't like keeping a secret from Tony. Not after all they've been through."
"You're right Duck."
Ducky left Gibbs at the bench as Gibbs proceeded to call Maggie. Tonight. They'd tell Tony tonight. Gibbs only hoped that things would be fine in the morning.
Tony was just finishing up the paperwork on the interrogation when his cell phone rang. It was Maggie.
"Mags, how's it going?"
"I made some pasta today." Maggie started the conversation.
"Ooh, the one I like? With the little pasta and spinach and real parmesan?"
Maggie laughed. "Yeah Tony, the orzo pasta one you like. Can you come over for dinner tonight?"
"I have about an hour left here, will that be good. I'll stop and get some wine."
Gibbs listened from his desk to Tony's conversation. Maggie had agreed that they had better tell Tony. She knew that Gibbs team was important to him and if he had to make a choice, she'd accept whatever happened.
Ziva was still at her desk when Tony left. She and Gibbs were the only two in the bullpen. She was still angry with Gibbs and somewhat with Maggie too. Gibbs grabbed his jacket and turned off his desk light, he stopped for a moment in front of Ziva's desk. Gibbs looked at Ziva and nodded his head before walking to the elevator. Ziva knew that Gibbs and Maggie were going to tell Tony tonight. Ziva wondered if she had any sick time she could use tomorrow.
Maggie set three plates on the table. The pasta and spinach were on the stove; all she needed to do was add the parmesan when Tony…and Gibbs got there. She was nervous. She kept tucking her hair behind her ear, an easy tell about her nervousness. Instead of give her nervousness away; she pulled her hair back into a pony tail and took a deep breath.
"Woof."
Freckles launched from her bed in the living room to the front door signaling Tony's arrival. Gibbs was going to wait about a half hour before showing up.
"Freck, leave Uncle Tony alone. He's going to have a tough enough time without you jumping on him." Maggie said as she opened the front door.
"And that is why Uncle Tony brought this." Tony moved his hand from behind his back and held out a three foot long raw hide bone. Freckles tail wagged excitedly back and forth at the site of her favorite treat. "Do I just give it to her?"
"Tell her to sit." Maggie instructed her brother.
"Sit."
Freckles sat down in front of Tony.
"Tell her to stay."
"Stay."
Freckles tail stilled and her eyes focused up on Tony's face.
"Tell her she's a good girl and then give her the rawhide."
Tony did exactly as Maggie told him and Freckles took the rawhide from Tony and trotted off to her bed in the living room.
"Not bad Tony." Maggie gave Tony a kiss on the cheek. "Let's go in the kitchen I have to put the parmesan on."
"Can I do anything to help?"
"Think you can manage finishing the salad for me?"
"Salad, I can do." Tony pushed up the sleeve of his sweater and washed his hands in the sink. He was drying off his hands when he noticed that there were three plates on the table.
"Jamie coming to dinner?"
"Um, no." Maggie said as she added the pasta to the boiling pot of water.
"Okay then." Tony gave his sister an odd look. "Dad?"
Maggie almost dropped the fork she was using to stir the pasta.
"No. Senior is not coming to dinner. Why would you even suggest that?"
"No need to get snippy." Tony told her. "I was just making a guess. But maybe you could just think about talking to him, calling him, something like that."
"Not going to happen Tony. Let it go."
They were silent in the kitchen for a few moments while Tony moved from the tomatoes to the cucumbers.
"So then," he broke the silence. "Who is the third plate for? Wait." Tony looked up at Maggie who was stirring the pasta sauce. "The dog eats at the table."
Maggie couldn't help but laugh at her brother. Tony wasn't much on confrontations; he had to always find a way to defuse them with humor.
"No, Freckles doesn't eat at the table." Maggie took a deep breath; it was now or never. "I invited someone else."
Tony nodded and smiled. "I knew it. You ARE seeing someone." Tony was pleased with himself. "You want me to meet this guy and give him the big brother stamp of approval."
"No, it's not…"
"It's okay sis. I got this. I can go all stern big brother like….hmm what movie did …"
Maggie cut Tony off.
"Tony, you don't have to DO anything, just let me finish."
"I could be like Gibbs and say nothing, just do the stare. That'll un-nerve him, and I'll see what he's really like."
Maggie pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt the beginnings of a migraine starting. Maggie's head snapped up when she heard the front door open and close, Tony kept on rambling.
"Oh, you should have asked Gibbs to come over, he's good at reading people."
"She already did ask me."
Tony spun around to see Gibbs walking into the kitchen. Gibbs put a six pack of beer on the table and went over to kiss Maggie on the cheek. Tony's mouth hung open as it slowly dawned on him. He looked from Maggie to Gibbs and back to Maggie.
"You two." He pointed from one to the other anger rising in his voice over the astonishment on his face.
"Yes." Maggie nodded. She watched her brother's reaction.
"How? When?" Tony was confused, they'd just met. Gibbs had rules, which one was it Tony wondered as he tried to sort this all out.
"A few weeks ago."
Tony thought he'd heard Maggie wrong and repeated what she said.
Gibbs still hadn't said anything, he watched Tony's reaction. He stood next to Maggie, his hands at his side waiting to see what was going to happen next. He was Tony's boss and Maggie was Tony's sister. It was a very fine line he and Maggie were walking. He knew that things could go horribly wrong.
"So you were pretending to not know each other when you came to the office e the other day." Tony was beginning to get angry.
"Let me explain." Maggie walked over to Tony who backed away from her towards the kitchen door.
"Explain that the two of you were lying to me and made me look foolish in front of my friends!"
"DiNozzo." Gibbs finally spoke up.
"No, no Boss. You have your rules and I have mine. No lying. And I don't even know what to say to you Maggie." Tony went out the kitchen door and slammed it behind him. He walked across the porch and stopped at the stairs. He was angry. The two of the pretending to not know each other when all this time they'd been seeing each other and God knows doing what else. No, he knew what else; Gibbs had that bounce in his step. They were sharing more than just coffee.
Tony turned around and stormed back into the kitchen.
"You can't just …." Tony began yelling and stopped when he saw Gibbs and Maggie standing there. Maggie was facing Gibbs, her face tipped up to his. Gibbs had her face cradled in his hands. And then Tony saw it. He saw the look on Maggie's face. It was a look that he hadn't seen on her face since James was alive. Maggie was happy, truly happy. The kind of happy look you get when you were in love. And Gibbs. Gibbs was smiling. Not the usual lopsided smirk- I know something smirk- that he usually had. This was a full on reach the eyes smile. Gibbs really liked his sister.
Maggie looked over at Tony. "Tony…"
"No Maggie, it's not that easy." He was still angry. "I never lied to you about anything. You ask me a question I was always honest with you. You more than anyone else."
Maggie stepped away from Gibbs and over to Tony who took a step back and looked over at Gibbs. "Is this some kind of payback from me taking assignments without your knowledge?"
Gibbs expression changed as he looked at Tony and hoped he chose his next words carefully.
"I need some air." Tony walked back out onto the porch and when Maggie started to follow; Gibbs reached out and stopped her.
"He needs a minute."
"I'll follow your lead." Maggie told Gibbs. "If you have to put work first, I understand."
"Are you saying you want to stop?" Gibbs tipped Maggie's face up to his. He could see the answer in her eyes.
Maggie shook her head no.
"Good, I would have put up a fight if you said yes." He smiled at her.
Tony stepped back through the door after a few minutes and stood with his hands buried deep into his pockets.
"Dinner's getting cold Mags. Gibbs, you going to share those beers?"
Maggie and Gibbs watched as Tony grabbed the salad dressing from the refrigerator and brought the salad bowls to the table.
"Tony?" Maggie questioned her brother.
"Mags."
"Are you saying you're okay with us?" Maggie pointed from herself to Gibbs.
Tony sat down and put some salad on his plate while Gibbs poured the pasta into the strainer and put some onto the three plates.
"I'm saying that there can be no more lying." Tony put the bottle of salad dressing down and looked at his sister and Gibbs who were now sitting across from him. "Look, its weird okay. He's my boss and you're my sister. But I'd be an idiot to not see that there is something between you two."
Gibbs dipped his spoon into the pasta and listened. He knew there was a 'but' coming.
"But, there has to be a line."
"Okay." Maggie nodded her head.
"I'm saying I need time. This is new for all of us."
"Tony you know that I keep my personal life personal. I know Gibbs feels the same way. And even though you like to tell everyone everything."
"I do not." Tony gave his sister an offended look.
"Edith and the costume." Gibbs said as he chewed his pasta.
"I'm sorry, what?" Maggie almost choked on her salad.
"Never mind." Tony got busy adding more cheese to his pasta.
*Boston, Four Seasons Hotel Bar*
Joe Antonelli sat at the end of the polished oak bar. The room was dimly lit as the movers and shakers tried to move and shake big money deals. There were women scattered here and there in the bar all beautifully done up in furs, diamonds and lots of plastic surgery. None of these women interested Joe, not that he was willing to pay for their company. He was interested in one of the men sitting at the table in the middle of the room. He knew the man well even though they've never met. Joe had spent months trying to find out everything he could about this man, in particular where his daughter had gone to. Joe waited for the right time and after watching the man drink several Belvedere Martinis, the distinguished looking man excused himself from the table and went to the rest room. Joe followed discreetly.
"Excuse me sir." Joe said to the man as they stood next to each other at the sinks drying their hands. "Are you Anthony DiNozzo, Sr?"
Senior looked at the man next to him and couldn't place him.
"Yes, I am, have we met before?" Senior asked.
"No, we haven't met, but I've heard all about you."
"All good I hope." Senior smiled his fake smile.
"All good sir." Joe lied.
"Well who told you about me?"
Joe smiled and hoped his months of work would pay off.
"Your daughter, Maggie Sullivan."
Senior was completely surprised at the man's answer.
"Let me explain. I'm an old friend of Maggie's. My name is Joe Antonelli. I've been trying to find her, I heard she moved. Do you happen to know where she moved to?"
Senior smiled again.
"Well yes Joe, I do know. I talked to my son today; they were having dinner tonight at her new home outside of DC."