Days went by easily as Gibbs and Tony settled into a decent routine – Not that Tony thought that sitting at home and travelling to the PX every other day was decent – Gibbs was quickly building a rapport with the members of his unit, and even found out that some of them were also either bisexual or gay, but with the knowledge of the serial killer being somewhere on or near the base, they'd kept their relationships – if they were in one – away from the base and often frequented a club that wasn't too far from Pendleton to meet up with their boyfriends.
It was the weekend, they'd only been here for a week and Tony was quite literally ready to crawl out of his skin because of how bored he was "Gibbs, is there any possibility that I could get a job? Even if it's just at the PX – I cannot stay in this house any longer!" Tony complained as he watched Gibbs do something with the car's engine, luckily they were in the garage so they didn't have to fall back on their undercover names at this point.
Gibbs looked up with grease stains covering his cheeks "I'm… I'm not sure Tony, this isn't my case to begin with – You'd have to talk to Hetty and see if she couldn't get the okay from Vance about that…" Gibbs said, swiping his hands on a rag as he ducked back into the engine compartment "I was invited to go out to a bar tonight with some of the guys – They want to meet you, think you'd be okay with that?" Gibbs asked, his voice slightly muffled from him being bent inside the front of the car.
Tony nodded his head enthusiastically – even though he knew the older man couldn't see it – "Yes! Yes absolutely! I would definitely be okay with that!" Tony said with just as much enthusiasm as his rapidly nodding head, his mind now reeling with the thought of what he'd wear out. One thing he was exponentially grateful for was the array of clothing that was packed on his behalf – half of the clothes were tasteful and fit well with the bookworm-type that he was meant to be, and the other half was Abby's personal 'Tony Collection' as she dubbed it, and would fit well with his true personality of being the out-going party-person.
"Good. Make sure you wear something nice – I want you to look extra good when I introduce you to these guys." Gibbs said as he lifted up again and slammed the hood of the SUV shut, turning to grin at Tony.
Tony smiled shyly and nodded his head "I can do that, no problem boss." Tony said as he turned and headed for the door leading back into the house, only to be stopped when Gibbs called to him "Yeah?" he asked, a slight blush crossing his cheeks at the soft way that Gibbs had called his name.
"You can call me Jethro, you know… when we're here alone the house… I won't be mad about it." Gibbs said, almost shyly as he wiped his face and hands on the rag and then tossed it over his shoulder and headed into the house, leaving Tony to stand there with his mouth halfway opened, ready to say something.
When it was time to leave for the bar, Tony came down the steps wearing a pair of tight black jeans and a pale pink short sleeved button up shirt that was unbuttoned and showing a patch of curled brown chest hairs "How do I look?" Tony asked as he did a small twirl with a smile on his face.
Gibbs nodded approvingly as he held his hand outward to Tony, smiling a bit as the younger man readily accepted the proffered hand "You look incredible, pink actually suits you quite nicely." Gibbs complimented as he collected his wallet and walked with Tony out towards the SUV, their hands still connected as he opened the door for him.
Tony quickly released Gibbs' hand and hopped into the SUV, hoping the darkness of night would hide the blush that was now covering his entire face – He felt foolish, and a lot like a teenage girl with all the compliments he'd been receiving lately from Gibbs, it was so unusual and what's more was that he wasn't used to being showered with gifts either.
Over the past five days, Gibbs had brought home a bouquet of Tony's favorite flowers – Sunflowers – his favorite chocolates, ice creams, and somehow the man had even found and brought home an authentic New York styled pizza with all of Tony's favorite toppings – he hadn't even known that Gibbs knew all these things about him and he felt incredibly foolish for not having noticed before how much the man actually knew about him.
Tony of course knew all of Gibbs' favorite things as well, having studied and pined after the man for the past twelve years of his life, but he'd never made a conscious decision to use this knowledge to his advantage, and he could have kicked himself for not doing so sooner. Everything felt so surreal to Tony at this point, the lines between reality and roleplaying seemed to be crossing and although it has happened to him before in the past – Jeanne Benoit – this time things felt oddly different, like the changes that were occurring between the two of them could somehow mean something more, that something between them could actually become real once the case was wrapped up.
Gibbs smiled as he glanced over at Tony as he drove off the base, he had noticed the blush that had tinged Tony's tanned complexion to a near cherry red color and it made his heart swell with an immensely satisfying feeling that all of his efforts towards subtly wooing the younger man were actually having the effect that he was hoping for. Tony had been more open to compliments already and, although he still flushed with embarrassment from them, he was more vocal with thanking Gibbs and was no longer adverting his eyes when they would look at one another.
At the same time, both Tony and Gibbs reached towards the dial for the volume on the stereo system, "Sorry…" Tony murmured as he pulled his hand back, a small smile gracing his features as Gibbs turned up the stereo a little, letting the soothing sounds of one of Tony's Frank Sinatra CD's fill the space of their SUV. Tony stared out the window, wordlessly singing along to the words that Frank sung, his fingers tapping out the rhythm on the door handle.
Gibbs watched as Tony's fingers methodically moved along his thigh and the door – His next venture would to be somehow getting Tony a piano in the house, he knew the younger man enjoyed playing, and if he could find somewhere that had Baby Grand's for relatively cheap, he would definitely put down whatever money he could to satisfy the young savant's need for a musical outlet, and perhaps that would also quell Tony's boredom at least by a little bit if he couldn't get a job outside of the home.
Tony's eyes lit up when Gibbs pulled into the parking lot of the off base club, he'd heard about Pec's Bar and the reviews about it were all relatively the same, claiming that the bartenders were always attentive and the place was a great place to hang out "You know this is a gay bar, right?" Tony asked hesitantly, looking over at Gibbs as the older man parked the car.
Gibbs nodded slightly "Yeah, I know. We have to start somewhere Tony, may as well start here…" Gibbs said as he got out of the SUV and headed to the front of the car, waiting for Tony to gather himself and join him at his side.
Gibbs and Tony walked into the bar, their fingers lightly entwining together – Another thing that was oddly comforting to Tony was the fact that Gibbs didn't seem at all ashamed of holding his hand while they were out in public settings. Tony felt the heat rising in his cheeks once again as Gibbs held onto his fingers just a bit tighter, internally cursing himself for not being able to control this one aspect of himself "Hey! You guys made it!" one guy called from a table in almost the center of the room – He was definitely all marine, everything from his haircut to the way he dressed screamed military man.
Gibbs nodded as he helped Tony into his chair and then sat down next to him, setting his hand against Tony's knee "Yeah, it didn't take much convincing to get Stevie here out of the house." Gibbs said, grinning affectionately at Tony before turning back to the group of six men, three marines and their partners, "Steven, this is Corporal Lawrence Scott. Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Baker. And Second Lieutenant Ryan Scott." Gibbs said by way of introduction.
Tony shyly reached out, shaking the three marine's hands delicately – having to remember that he's supposed to be more timid than what he normally would be when meeting new people – Lawrence looked around the table briefly "And these are our partners, Randy Kelly, Bobby Taylor, and Howard Coleman" Lawrence said, pointing out each man with a smile on his face; Randy was Lawrence's partner, Bobby was with Kevin and Howard was with Ryan respectively.
Tony exchanged handshakes with the partners of the marines and sighed quietly as he looked around briefly, he noticed that a few patrons were eyeing him and he felt – yet again – the blush creeping up his neck and cheeks "You seem a little flustered honey, what's the problem?" Howard asked, looking directly at Tony with a raised eyebrow.
Tony smiled slightly "Nothing is wrong really, I'm just not quite used to meeting Daniel's friends, we've only been married for three months…" Tony said quietly, but loud enough to be heard over the music – Really Tony had absolutely no problems meeting new people, it was the fact that Gibbs' hand was on his thigh and kneading into it like a cat would and it was causing both odd and good sensations to pool in his stomach and was spreading throughout his body making his temperature rise.
Everyone seemed to accept Tony's answer as the truth and continued on with talking about whatever seemed to cross their minds. Tony kept his eyes on his surroundings at all times, and his attentions on the group of friends, "We should go dance!" Randy said excitedly as he stood up, looking to Bobby, Howard and Tony with a wide grin.
The three men nodded, and Tony was grateful for the reprieve from Gibbs' wandering fingers, he stood up and walked with the men out onto the dance floor "You guys are really brave for being so open about your relationship." Bobby commented, looking at Tony with a mixture of trepidation and concern.
Tony looked at Bobby curiously "Oh? How come?" Tony asked quietly as he moved to the beat of the music, he didn't know what he was listening to honestly but the song had a good beat and he was easily able to pick it up and move his hips to the sounds reverberating off the wood paneled walls of the bar.
In turn, the three men explained about the men and women who had been found dead outside of the base, and also explained why they were hesitant about showing public displays of affection with their partners "We almost never kiss or hold hands when we're out in public, because we're truly afraid that we'll end up being next on whoever is going around killing our friends." Howard commented, and that was the thing that stuck in Tony's head, that sentence and the fear he saw in all three men's eyes as they told Tony about the case.
Tony felt that these guys didn't know any more than just what they'd heard or seen in the papers, sighing internally as he thought about the case; they really didn't have anything more to go on except for vague descriptions from various sources, and none of them matched up when cross referenced, so at this point they really had nothing to go on and Tony didn't think they would get much until he was on their suspects radar – Whoever he or she was.
Tony glanced over his shoulder at Gibbs who was actually laughing and talking to the marines that feeling of guilt and sadness struck Tony again as he saw how truly relaxed and at ease Gibbs felt just being with like-minded people. Even when they were at NCIS Gibbs never seemed this relaxed, even if he were talking to other Marine's… Tony shook his head, thinking that this was an entirely different man that Tony was being opened up too, and it only served to make Tony fall deeper in love with the silver haired fox.
Howard, Bobby and Randy all looked at Tony with an odd look on their faces "So, you've only been married for three months?" Bobby asked curiously as the four men stopped dancing and headed over towards the bar to gather drinks.
Tony nodded absently as he ordered himself a scotch and a bourbon for Gibbs "Yeah, why is it that obvious?" Tony asked somewhat timidly, inserting a shy smile as he looked over at Gibbs, who was actually looking at him with a small smile of his own.
The three other men nodded their heads in unison and grinned "Definitely. The way you keep looking at him, and the way he keeps looking at you, it's like you're falling in love all over again for the first time." Randy said softly, a dreamy look in his eyes and in his voice.
Tony froze slightly, blinking slowly as the words registered and processed in his brain; he looked directly at Gibbs and saw the softening of the older man's smile and eyes, how could he have missed it? He was a trained investigator for god sakes, trained under the man of his affections for twelve years, yes he knew that Gibbs was possibly attracted to him, but always thought that it was probably just surface attraction and nothing more, but now… Now he could see the adoration as plain as day on Gibbs' face as the older man beckoned him over with a simple gesture from his head "That's because I do fall in love with him all over again, every time I look at him." Tony said softly as he collected both of his ordered drinks and walked back over to their table and sat down next to Gibbs, passing him the glass of bourbon.
For the rest of the evening, Tony kept an eye on Gibbs as he thought about all the possibilities of what could come of them if he confessed how he felt about the older man – He'd never had a problem with being bold and upfront about how he felt towards people, but somehow this felt different, everything about it felt different. This was Leroy Jethro Gibbs, you didn't fall in love with the man unless you were a busty red headed woman. This was his boss, someone who would head slap you into next week for even thinking about something that wasn't revolving entirely around the current case. This was his friend, best friend… Someone who would sit up all night with you as you worried through whatever would plague your mind, chowing down on cowboy steaks and sipping bourbon or a beer.
Gibbs set his hand on Tony's shoulder lightly, shaking the younger man from his thoughts "Hey, you ready to go home now?" Gibbs asked softly, holding onto Tony's shoulder and massaging into it lightly as he kept their eyes locked in an unspoken conversation that easily passed between the two – Having worked with each other for twelve years, they had their own silent communication that far surpassed any words that could ever be spoken.
Tony nodded as he reached up, interlocking his fingers with Gibbs' fingers as he got up, both men sharing goodbyes with their newly acquired friends as they headed for the door together. Gibbs helped Tony into the car and then glanced around the parking lot slowly, speculatively eyeing the patrons who were mingling in the parking lot and in the outdoor seating area, "Get any odd vibes from the people here tonight?" Gibbs asked as he got into the SUV and started out of the parking spot and the lot all together.
Tony shrugged slightly, he didn't exactly want to think about the case right now, but Gibbs was always business first, pleasure later so he'd indulge the older man at least for a while "Not so much odd… I did notice a few people staring at us more than others… Could be because we're clearly the new guys in town, or it could be our suspect or even someone our suspect is working with… It has to be someone who is on base though, that makes more sense than someone who has no connection with Pendleton or the Marine Corps…" Tony surmised as he shifted in the seat and looked over at Gibbs curiously.
Gibbs nodded his head and smiled slightly as he drove back towards the base "Okay so we'll work on being a more dominant precsence in the base than outside of it. Pendleton has a lot of activities that we can get involved with." Gibbs said as he pulled onto the street that would lead them to their housing quarters.
Tony smiled, nodding as Gibbs pulled into the garage and shut the engine down "Sounds like a good idea, I'll talk to Stephanie tomorrow and see what she has to say about it." Tony said as he got out of the SUV and stretched his body out, yawning into his fist, "I'm going to go up and take a shower – You interested in watching a John Wayne movie tonight?" Tony asked, a hopeful note to his tone as he looked at Gibbs over the hood of the SUV.
Gibbs nodded as he walked past Tony "Sounds good. I'll pop some popcorn and pick out the movie." Gibbs said as he headed into the house, tossing his keys and wallet on the kitchen counter and heading into the living room whilst Tony darted upstairs to do as he mentioned.
When Tony came back downstairs, he smiled at the dimmed lights of the living room, the smell of buttery popcorn wafting heavenly through the room; he'd decided on wearing one of the pairs of obscenely short shorts that Abby had packed for him, since she'd purposefully forgot to pack even one pair of boxers for him – Something he knew he'd have to remedy in coming days, since these shorts were all too revealing.
Gibbs raised his eyebrow well past the curl of his bangs as he eyed the shorts that Tony was wearing "Those… are… interesting." Gibbs managed to get out, feeling the tightening of his sweats constrict as his cock hardened to a painful limit in the mere seconds that Tony had come downstairs and joined him on the couch.
Tony nodded, a blush slowly covering his cheeks as he pulled a pillow into his lap, having to hide away his own erection from the noticeable heated gaze that Gibbs was now giving him "Uh yeah… Abby packed them… Gonna have to go purchase a few pairs of boxers." Tony said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced over at the TV that had the DVD symbol bouncing around in multiple colors on the screen.
Gibbs shrugged as he collected the remote for both the DVD player and the TV, tossing them in Tony's direction "Don't have too… I like them." Gibbs said just as quietly, leaning forward to grab the bowl of popcorn and setting it in his lap, thankful for the large size of the bowl as it covered his painfully hard erection.
Tony sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, slowly biting against it as he fiddled with the DVD remote and started the movie 'Stagecoach' "One of my favorites!" Tony exclaimed as he settled comfortably on the couch, his hand blindly reaching into the popcorn bowl in Gibbs' lap and then popping a few kernels into his mouth.
Halfway through the short film, Tony was already well on his way to sleep, laying halfway in Gibbs' lap and halfway off the couch. Gibbs' fingers were twitching ceaselessly as the brown strands of his senior agent's hair fluttered upward with each breath he drew out, he wanted to do nothing more than to just run long fingers through the strands, and when Gibbs heard the snuffling snore that emitted from the man, he smiled as he set his hand on Tony's bare shoulder, slowly working his fingers up to the back of Tony's head where many a head slaps had been administered "'S nice." Tony murmured sleepily, his head nuzzling into the fingers that were now tentatively rubbing into his scalp.
Gibbs let a slow smile spread across his face as he applied just a bit more pressure to the fingers caressing the back of Tony's head, thinking that perhaps Tony making the first move was the wrong way to do things, but when Tony abruptly reached up and grabbed his wrist, Gibbs entire world nearly came to a stop "We should head upstairs." Tony said quietly, turning sleepy eyes towards Gibbs, a lazy smile on the younger man's face.
Gibbs merely nodded as he turned off the TV, set aside the popcorn bowl and grabbed his pillow from the other end of the couch while Tony shuffled tiredly towards the stairs. Gibbs cut all the downstairs lights off and was behind Tony before the younger man had even made it halfway up the steps, to say he was eager to just be in the same bed with Tony was the understatement of the millennium, at least in his mind; he'd thought that for all his efforts it would have taken him a bit longer to get to this stage, but Tony was handing him a golden olive branch and he would take it in any form that he could manage.
Tony shuffled into the bedroom and pulled back the thick comforter, letting it drape haphazardly off the end of the bed, then collapsed unceremoniously onto his side of the mattress, snuggling into the cloud-like pillow he had purchased at the PX – the ones that had been sent with them were much to firm for his liking – Gibbs climbed into the bed on the other side, lying stiffly on the mattress that seemed to suck his entire body into, it had been so long since he slept on a mattress of any kind and this one seemed to hug every curve of his body just right.
"Don't want to sleep alone anymore." Tony said quietly as he shifted closer to Gibbs' body, turning his head up to look at the older man, the same lazy smile still gracing his features easily as he reached a hand over towards Gibbs' hand, linking their pinkies together.
Gibbs nodded, and for the first time in many years, he felt a vaguely familiar heat tinge his cheeks and neck as a blush crept up unexpectedly from the way Tony was looking at him and the words coming from the younger man's mouth "Don't have to Tony. We'll figure something out…" Gibbs whispered as he shifted ever so slightly on the soft pillow-top mattress, and when Tony shifted again, bearing his weight against Gibbs' chest, Gibbs felt his heart swell immensely with love for the younger man as his body was snuggled into.
Tony nodded and curled around Gibbs like a sloth would when getting ready to sleep, and that's exactly what happened, Tony was out within a matter of seconds, his mouth halfway opened as if he were going to say something and Gibbs let out a slight chuckle as he set the flat of his palm against Tony's bare back, gently caressing the warm flesh beneath his fingertips until Tony's body fully relaxed against his. This was the start of something, Gibbs knew that, but Tony had still yet to say anything about his feelings, and their case seemed to be going nowhere slowly so Gibbs smiled as he thought that this would be the best of both worlds; he'd get Tony to fall even deeper in love with him, and he'd get to live out the one dream that he'd wanted to live since the time he had enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was just a small town boy at the age of eighteen.
Gibbs laid there for a long while yet after Tony had already fallen into a deep state of sleep, his hand mindlessly running along Tony's back and feeling each vertebrae that protruded from the younger man's spine; occasionally Tony's breath would hitch, not just from the touches but from his still marred lungs that had been damaged from the plague all those years ago, and Gibbs hated listening to the slightly wheezed breaths that Tony made, because it was a constant reminder that he hadn't been able to stop Tony, to protect the younger man from the envelope that could have taken Tony away from him permanently, and that made hot tears well up in his eyes as he clutched his fingers around Tony's shoulder blade, grateful that he hadn't lost another person that he loved deeply to mindless murder.
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