Thanks for all the notes, reviews, favorites and alerts. This has been so much fun to write and I am so glad someone is enjoying it.
All the mistakes are mine, I still don't own (sobbing silently).
Tony was having a bad week, actually a bad couple of months. Alex had been TDA'd to Italy for two months. He couldn't wait until she got back. He didn't realize how much he was going to miss her until she was gone. They skyped all he time, but it was hard with the time difference. She was sleeping when he was awake and she was awake he was sleeping. He thought about taking a week off to go to Italy to visit, he hadn't been there in over two years and he could see some family while he was there. Maybe he would talk to Gibbs about it.
Gibbs and Tony had begun to slowly, very slowly work on their relationship. After Tony had ended up in the hospital because of Gibbs mistakes in Maddie Tyler's case, Gibbs had realized that he needed to reach out to Tony. Tony looked at Gibbs desk and remember the first conversation they had after they were both back on duty.
Vance had suspended Gibbs for two weeks for going off without backup and putting a civilian in danger. Gibbs understood and didn't argue. When Gibbs had come downstairs after meeting with Vance, Tony, McGee and Ziva were waiting for him. Gibbs walked over to Tony and handed him his gun and badge. "I have been suspended for two weeks," he said in a very quiet bullpen. "Take good care of the team." Gibbs stepped closer to Tony, "DiNozzo," he paused, "Tony, will you come by the house tonight? I need to talk to you." Tony looked at Gibbs and was going to say absolutely no, but he looked over when he saw movement and saw Alex nod her head yes.
Tony looked at Gibbs again and could see sadness in his eyes. It was the first time in a long time he saw anything other than annoyance in Gibbs directed at him, maybe he should talk to him. "Ok, I can come by tonight. I'll bring the beer."
Gibbs eyes lightened just a bit. "I'll have the steaks on." Gibbs turned to walk out the door but not before stopping in front of Alex and looking at her for just a moment and gave her a quick nod.
Tony arrived at Gibbs home just after 7pm, the six pack in his hand. He knocked on the door and then opened it. He walked in and saw Gibbs kneeling before his fire place cooking the 'cowboy' steak. Tony had to chuckle to himself; it really was his favorite way to eat steak. "Hey Gibbs."
Gibbs looked up at Tony and felt enormous relief that his SFA had come. He took it as a good sign that Tony wanted to repair their relationship. "Tony, thanks for coming tonight. I really appreciate it. I know that we have a lot to talk about and I am hoping, I don't know, that we can try to figure all this out."
Tony sighed and looked at Gibbs. "Gibbs, I want us to be a team again. I want us to work together like we used to at the beginning, but you keep going off on your own and its going to get someone killed; and knowing my luck it will be me. I can't, won't take chances with my life, not anymore."
Gibbs looked at Tony and realized why, Alex. Somehow he had missed his SFA falling in love with the beautiful marine. "God Tony, how did I miss all of this. No one knows do they?"
"Ducky and Palmer know how we feel about each other. The only good thing that came out of that fiasco was that we admitted we loved each other. We've spent every night together since." Tony paused and looked at Gibbs.
"You're a lucky man Tony, she is a beautiful woman. Smart, strong and capable. Plus, she is a marine." Gibbs smiled at Tony and they both laughed. They sat there together enjoying the steak and drinking the beer. Maybe Alex was right, maybe they could repair their relationship. Tony stayed for about another hour before he got ready to leave.
"Thanks for dinner Gibbs, it was great to have your steak, I've missed it this past year."
"DiNozzo, you are welcome at any time and next time I hope you bring Alex. It looks like I will need to get to know her."
Tony smiled at Gibbs. "Yeah, I think you need to. She is a very important part of my life. The most important now. I love her Gibbs." Tony paused before speaking again. "You need to thank her. She is the one who encouraged me to come tonight. I almost changed my mind several times. I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to you tonight. I didn't know if I was ready, to talk or forgive you."
"Anthony, I know that I don't tell you enough, but you are the best investigator I have ever worked with. You are not afraid to tell me when I am wrong and there are very few people who will do that. I don't like being told I'm wrong and you do it without fear because you know that you are saving my life when you do. You told me that when I went after Ari and you told me again after Maddie. I won't forget it, I won't forget that you have my six."
Tony looked at Gibbs and gave him a small smile. "Always have Boss, always have." Both Tony and Gibbs realized that it was the first time since Gibbs had returned from Mexico that Tony had call him Boss. Both knew it was deliberate. Both knew what it meant. Gibbs put out his hand to Tony and Tony grasp it. It was a good beginning.
A few days later
Tony blew out a breath and looked up as people walked into the bull pen. The newly promoted SFA for Matthew's team walked up to Tony. "Tony, are we meeting this Sunday? I need to know, my wife wants to go to the Mall for some kind of event and I told her I may not be able to due to work."
Tony laughed. Thomas was the new SFA since Sammie had moved to San Diego and was still getting his sea legs under him. He had known a lot about the job, but had no idea how much Sam had actually done. What Thomas was grateful for were the other SFAs and all their help.
"No, we will meet next weekend. Michael can't make it either, his parents are in town so it was postponed." Thomas smiled at Tony. "How are you doing though, everything ok? Do you need anything or help with whatever?"
"No, I'm good Tony, but thanks. You guys have been great. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. I don't know what I would have done without it for the last month. I had no idea how much paperwork you had to do just because your the SFA. I thought just being an agent was bad." Tony laughed as Thomas said this. He had been doing all the paperwork for years and had a great system which he taught to Thomas. They all had helped and saw that Thomas was doing really well. Sammie had left her team in good hands.
The elevator dinged as the two men were talking and Gibbs walked into the bullpen. He saw Tony and Thomas talking and saw both men laugh. Gibbs was glad Tony was talking to the new SFA and that he seemed to be happy. Gibbs understood how much he was missing Alex and anything that kept DiNozzo distracted was a good thing. Thomas saw Gibbs walk into the bull pen and got ready to leave to go back to his area. "Thanks again Tony for all the help."
Tony said goodbye to Thomas by shaking hands, watched him walk away and said, "Hey Boss, did you have a nice lunch?"
Gibbs just looked at Tony and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, waiting for my turn to testify in court is alway a fun way to spend lunch." Tony laughed at Gibbs answer.
"Could be worse Boss, could be there all day." Gibbs couldn't argue. Gibbs sat at his desk and looked around. "McGee and Ziva?"
"At lunch. They still have a half hour before they are due back." Gibbs nodded his head. He looked at Tony again and realized his SFA looked tired.
"You staying up late talking to Alex?"
"Can you tell?" Tony looked at Gibbs. "I really miss her." Gibbs got up from his desk and went to stand by Tony.
"Come by the house for dinner tonight. Get out of the house. You'll be surprised how much it helps." Tony looked up at Gibbs in surprise. He hadn't thought Gibbs had noticed. He should have though. Gibbs was getting back to his old self and noticing everything.
Tony walked into Gibbs home with the six pack ready for the 'cowboy steak'. He wondered if he could talk Alex into having an active fireplace. As they were eating Tony and Gibbs talked.
"I miss her like crazy right now." Tony smiled as he said this.
Gibbs laughed a little. "I understand missing your woman. I just had it backwards. She was here and I was there. How are you doing with all of this, her being gone and all?"
"It's different than I thought it would be. I know that she is not at war, she's not fighting so that helps. She's just in court in Naples while the navy holds that murder trial. I just wish she was home. It wasn't supposed to take this long."
Gibbs had to laugh and explained to Tony. "It never is supposed to take as long as it does Tony. They kept telling me I was coming home the first time I was deployed after Kelly was born, I was there an extra two months. Longest two months of my life being away from my girls."
As the two men ate and talked about their women they slowly started to repair the damage done to their relationship over the past year, since Gibbs had left and come back from Mexico. Tony was realizing it wasn't about him, but Gibbs coming back from remembering his girls and how much he had lost. As Gibbs got a hold of those feelings he was remembering why he had Tony on his team. All the good Tony and he had done together, before Kate, McGee and Ziva.
Gibbs told Tony to take he guest room upstairs. He wasn't driving home after three beers. Tony was all set to argue before he looked at Gibbs face. "Yes Boss," was all Tony said as he walked upstairs. Gibbs smiled as his SFA went to bed and he headed down to the basement.
Another week had gone by before Alex asked Tony about Gibbs.
"How are things going with Gibbs?" Alex asked Tony.
"Actually, surprising good. We have been talking about our 'women'."
"Your 'women' huh? What's that suppose to mean?" Alex laughed as she asked this question. She wasn't worried at all, merely curious at what the two were talking about.
"Well, you know Gibbs was a Marine, right? Ok, well I was talking about how much I missed you and he understood. He told me about missing his girls." Tony paused and looked at Alex in the computer screen. "It was really moving how he talked about how he missed them. They were the most important people in his life and I realized he lost them twice. Once when it really happened and then again when he lost his memory and thought they were still alive until he remember them dying. Alex, I don't know what I would have done if that had been me. I really don't."
Alex understood Tony as he was talking. One of the reasons she had wanted Tony and Gibbs to talk was that she understood loss. Alex understood that Tony did too, but sometimes you couldn't see another persons loss. She was glad Tony and Gibbs and begun to heal their relationship. Alex had learned a lot about Tony over the last eight months and she was determined that Tony heal his relationship with Gibbs. She knew that he considered Gibbs a father figure and that was where a lot of the hurt had stemmed from. She remembered the conversation they had after Tony was out of the hospital.
They had arrived home and had spent the weekend together. They now knew that everything was different. But Alex could tell even with the love the two of them had together, that Tony was still sad because his relationship with Gibbs was on the rocks. Alex decided that she was going to have to talk to Tony.
At dinner that night Alex started the conversation. "Tony, I know that you are very upset with Gibbs and believe me I understand. I am also very upset with him and told him so in no uncertain terms. I hate the fact that he risked both Maddie and your life." Alex paused and moment and took a breath. "But I think you need to talk to him. You deserve to see if your relationship can be repaired, or what he plans to do. If you leave it like this it is only going to cause problems."
Tony had not taken his eyes off Alex for the entire statement. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he too realized that he could not leave it like this. He had walked away from Gibbs without saying a word earlier in the week and he knew for the teams future he and Gibbs would need to work together. "I don't know if I can talk to him right now."
"I know Tony, but, I know that he is the closest thing to a father figure you have. It will hurt you more in the long run if you don't make it right with him. Just talk to him. It can't hurt. If it doesn't work out, and you don't feel like you are being heard you can always take one of those offers you get on a regular basis." Alex paused a second and smiled her best smile at Tony. "You can always take Fornell's offer, that would drive everyone nuts. If you really want the team to know what is going on with you, put your letters on your desk. It would freak them out." Alex laughed as she said this and saw Tony finally smile.
"Yeah, I guess they would. I should talk to Gibbs I know, I am just not sure what to say. I am so mad and disappointed in him."
"I know, but look, if you don't talk to him you will never know."
Alex smiled at Tony on the screen. "I'm glad everything is working out with Gibbs. I really can't wait to come home. I really, really, really want a good steak. Do you think he would cook for me?"
Tony laughed as he answered. "He told me to bring you the next time I come over. So I guess so." Alex smiled as he said this.
"Excellent. So what else is going on?"
"Gibbs and McGee are leaving for LA this morning. We found a dead marine tortured yesterday and the BOLO was from our office in LA so they are headed out to find out what is going on." Tony paused, closed his eyes, opened them and looked at Alex. Alex realized she hadn't seen him look this serious in a while.
"What's wrong Tony? You don't look happy. I can tell something is wrong."
Tony just look at Alex. "I'm not sure. I just have a bad feeling something is not right. We are not getting all the pieces from LA, things are missing and I just have a really bad feeling."
Alex looked at Tony and touched the screen wishing she was there instead. She missed him so much. She was supposed to home three weeks ago, but the trial was running long as the defense kept asking for time. Alex was about ready to kill the defense attorney but Admiral Rabb kept talking her down. "I wish I was there Tony. It's going to be at least two more weeks. Admiral Rabb promised me that he would come take over it was longer. I laughed when he said that because I knew it couldn't happen, but it was nice of him to offer."
Tony smiled as she said that. Admiral Rabb knew about their relationship because Alex had told him before she had left for Italy. She had wanted the Admiral to know in case of an emergency that Tony was her contact now. The Admiral had agreed to keep it quite, but was now hearing how much she wanted to go home. It was the first time in her career that Alex had ever balked at an assignment. The Admiral had a feeling now that she and Tony where together that she would be turning down more assignments than accepting. Admiral Rabb knew that she would never disobey a direct order, but Alex would be having a conversation about orders and assignments.
Tony just laughed as he looked at Alex's face. She looked like such a little girl who had her favorite stuffed animal taken away. He was reminded of that day in the break room; she just looked so discombobulated. "Alex, it won't be much longer and we will be together." Tony paused and looked at Alex very seriously. "We have some things we need to talk about though. I don't like this either so we need to talk about some things. About where you think our relationship is going and what happens next."
Alex nodded at Tony's statement. "Yes, we do. Tony, I don't want to leave again, but sometimes I won't have a choice. I am not ready to leave the marines so we are going to have to talk." This time Tony nodded at her statement. It was time to end the conversation. Alex was yawning and Tony knew that she needed to sleep.
"I love you Alex, very much. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I promise I will keep you updated on what is going on with the current case."
"Be careful Tony and listen to your instincts. You are a good cop for a reason. Don't discount them."
"I won't. Talk to you tomorrow. I love you."
"I love you too Tony." Alex kissed her fingertips, touched the screen, and the screen went black. Tony leaned back against the chair, closed his eyes a moment and then got up to get ready to cook dinner. This six hour difference was going to kill them.
In Naples, Alex picked up Tony the Elephant. "I know, I want to go home too. I miss Tony too." Alex sighed, hugged the elephant, curled up and went to sleep.
Tony the Elephant sighed before going to sleep. He wanted to go home too. Being separated was giving him a headache, Alex squeezed so hard.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Just a few days later, Gibbs would find out there was a Mossad agent in LA that was involved with Ziva. Tony and Gibbs had no way of knowing what was coming or what was about to change.
I hope you liked this chapter. I wanted to establish a strong Tony/Gibbs relationship as it will be needed. Will try to have something up by the weekend. Thanks again for all of the reviews, kind words and from one, virtual roses. All is appreciated.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there.