A/N: Thanks for the review, guys! :)

Fake Headlines

Gibbs stifled a yawn as he stared at his computer screen, trying to get the letters into focus. Maybe he really did need glasses. They had done nothing but cold cases all day and he was ready for a fresh one by now, even if that meant that somebody had to die first. He internally cringed at the thought. He took a look at his cell phone and realized that there were no missed calls but that it was only a little after two o'clock in the afternoon. Grabbing his badge and gun, he stood up and then made his way to the elevators. Maybe a cup of coffee would wake him up.

Half an hour later he reappeared, noting that Kate wasn't at her desk anymore.

"Probie," he said briskly, causing McGee to jump. "Where's Kate?"

"Uh," he started. "She went down to Abby's lab."

"Why?"

"Uhm… I don't know?"

Gibbs sighed and then fixed McGee with an icy stare. "If you're going to lie to me, McGee, don't phrase your statements as questions. So, again, why is Kate with Abby when she should be working?"

"They are talking about tonight. They want to go see the newest Tony DiNozzo flick. He's playing a football star who…"

Gibbs could only just suppress a grin as McGee trailed off, apparently having realized that none of it was any interest to his boss. Gibbs just nodded and then glanced at Kate's desk as something too colorful to be work-related caught his eye. He picked up the magazine and looked at DiNozzo's familiar face on the cover. He was wearing a tailored dark blue suit as he sat on the edge of a swimming pool, his bare feet dipped into it. Gibbs shook his head. Why would you do a photoshoot like that? DiNozzo was smiling broadly at the camera, one of these fake smiles that Gibbs had already seen before. What really caught his eye, though, was the headline.

DiNozzo – Womanizer Deluxe. Relationship with supermodel only lasts a few weeks!

Gibbs grabbed the magazine and then stashed it in his own desk as Kate took that exact moment to come back from the lab. She didn't bother explaining where she had been but Gibbs was sure that he'd get the chance to chide her for it soon. And indeed it was only a few minutes before he could see her rummage through the drawers of her desk. He let her search for a while before he cleared his throat loudly.

"Lose something, Todd?"

"Yeah. I had this magazine here. I bought it this morning to read tonight. But now I can't find it."

"Interested in Tony DiNozzo's love life, are you?"

Kate looked up at him and not without satisfaction Gibbs noted her slightly pink cheeks.

"How…," she started, clearly wrestling for words. "How do you know who Tony DiNozzo is?"

"Contrary to what Abby has made you believe, I do not live under a rock. And now go back to work or I'll make you work until you miss that movie tonight, too."

"On it, Gibbs," Kate just mumbled and then turned to open another cold case file but not before she threw a deadly glance at McGee who instantly turned red in the face.

Gibbs let out a sigh wondering what he had done wrong to get this kindergarten of a team.

#

It was a couple of hours later that McGee and Kate left for the day. No new case had turned up as of yet and Gibbs had the strong suspicion that none would show up that day. He looked around and realized that the bullpen was almost empty. Only Balboa was still sitting at his desk at the far end of the room. He should probably go home, too, but another take-out dinner and his boat didn't hold much appeal tonight. Gibbs idly wondered why that was.

He opened his drawer to get out his badge after all when his eyes landed on Kate's magazine again. He picked it up and then thumbed through it, wondering why Kate of all people would read such trash. She was a professional federal agent and not some fourteen year old girl. He stopped short, though, when his glance reached the DiNozzo article. He had apparently left his girl of the month, a Brazilian model who Gibbs had never even heard of. He didn't bother reading the whole article, knowing that probably not even half of it was true. He still felt a bit funny though when he took a look at the photos the magazine had posted. They all showed DiNozzo with different women, all of whom he had allegedly dated over the course of the last year.
He hadn't taken the guy for a playboy like that. But then again, why hadn't he? The man was undeniably good-looking, he had money and was a famous action star. Of course he could probably get every girl in the world.

Shaking his head, Gibbs dumped the magazine in the trash and then finally gathered his things and was just about to leave the office when his cell started ringing. He checked the number but it was blocked. So at least it wasn't dispatch.

"Gibbs," he answered.

"Hi, this is Tony… DiNozzo," a voice reached his ear and Gibbs looked around making sure that he was still alone.

He quickly made his way to elevators, glad that there was already one on his level. He stepped in and then waited for DiNozzo to go on talking.

"I was wondering," the younger man did him the favor. "If you're free this evening?"

"I am."

"Awesome. Do you want to go for that run?"

"Sure," Gibbs replied. "Where do you want to go?"

"How about Rock Creek Park? I could meet you at Blagden Avenue."

"Sounds good. 1900?"

"Very military," DiNozzo said and Gibbs could almost see the smirk on his face. "I'll be there."

#

When Gibbs walked over to their stomping ground he had expected DiNozzo a) being too late and b) wearing some kind of designer attire. He was disappointed though. DiNozzo was already waiting there for him, wearing the same basecap from the day before, a black hoodie that spelled Live Faster on the front and what looked to be very old grey sweatpants.

"You ready?" he said in lieu of a greeting.

"Always," the guy grinned. "I'll go easy on you."

Gibbs just snorted and then without stretching just started to run.

He could hear DiNozzo shout something after him that sounded suspiciously like "Cheater", but he didn't turn back. He'd make him work for it.

It didn't take long, though, for DiNozzo to catch up and set his own pace which had Gibbs breathe heavily after a couple of minutes. He kept up, though, and was mildly satisfied that the running really did the trick of shutting up the other man. They jogged in companionable silence and Gibbs realized after a while that this was probably why DiNozzo had wanted to meet up with him. He would have bet all of his belongings that the other man never got a chance to just have his quiet for a while.

An hour later Gibbs plopped down on a nearby park bench with DiNozzo following his lead. He knew he should stretch first, but he couldn't bother. He was sweating and his muscles were already starting to feel sore. He chanced a glance at the younger man next to him and then grinned as he realized that the guy didn't look much better than he felt.

"That was good," he said and meaning it, too.

"It was. Not bad, man."

"Right back at you."

"Yeah," DiNozzo laughed and then ran a hand over his face. "I never get to do this. I usually just run on the treadmill. This is so much better."

"Why don't you do it more often then?"

"Never have the time," he answered and he sounded almost sad about it which in return made Gibbs look at him a little more closely. "And when I do… there's always so many people around, you know."

"How come you're alone today?"

"I got this awesome back door in my condo here. No chance for anyone to see me leave the house. That's why I love being here in DC."

"You here often?"

"Whenever I can," DiNozzo said. "Which is like three weeks every year. I'm mostly shooting my movies in LA and while I love the sun and all, it's nice to be here from time to time. Everything seems a little less crazy here. Well, that is if I'm not actually arresting a real perp."

Gibbs let out a laugh despite himself and wondered if it was just an attempt to change the topic. He mentally shrugged and played along. It was easy to talk to the guy after all.

"So what kind of movie are you shooting right now?"

"Oh, this one's good," he answered, grinning broadly. "I'm an FBI-agent, as you already know, and I'm about to be fired because I'm running a drug ring behind the scenes because I need money for my sick daughter. Then, a real Columbian drug lord comes to town and tries to blow me up because I'm ruining his business."

"That sounds awful," Gibbs said, letting out a laugh. For a moment DiNozzo looked livid and Gibbs was just about to backpedal at least a bit when the younger man snorted.

"It kind of is," he replied, starting to laugh, too.

"When why do the movie?"

"It's what people like to see," DiNozzo shrugged, suddenly having become serious. "I like to please them, you know. All I'm trying to do is to distract them from their problems, even if it's only for an hour and a half."

Gibbs didn't reply but looked at him again, wondering why he had never looked at it like that. DiNozzo seemed sincere, though. His green eyes were staring right back at him and for a moment Gibbs found himself unable to avert his eyes from them.

"Do you like doing these movies?" he finally asked, clearing his throat to disperse the odd mood that was suddenly hanging over them.

"I like shooting them," he shrugged again. "Sometimes I wish that I could do something more meaningful, you know. But I don't think it's what people would like."

"Why do you care?" Gibbs asked, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sure you don't do it for the money."

"I actually don't know," DiNozzo said, looking pensive.

They remained silent for a while with the younger man clearly hanging in thoughts and Gibbs unable to steer the conversation into a different direction. He wasn't good at talking after all.

"I actually didn't want to talk about me all the time," DiNozzo finally started again just when Gibbs was getting a bit antsy.

"I don't think I can tell you much."

"Are you kidding me?" the younger man turned to look at him, his eyes holding a strange kind of fascination. "You're a federal agent. If that's not interesting, I don't know what is. Certainly more exciting than memorizing script after script."

Gibbs subtly shook his head hating to be turned on the spotlight. He did, however, kind of enjoy the attention he was getting from the man next to him. He patiently answered the guy's questions about the agency and his team. What surprised Gibbs more than him actually liking to talk about it was the fact that DiNozzo seemed to be really interested in it. No, interested didn't seem strong enough, he was fascinated by it.
Just when he was halfway into the story about a case when they had found an underground bunker where a perp had kept five women for almost ten years, DiNozzo suddenly averted his eyes from him and then cursed silently as he all but jumped up from the bench.

"Come on," he urged the older man. "We gotta go. The mob has found us."

Gibbs looked over his shoulder and saw about ten photographers run towards them, shouting questions at the other man. Gibbs couldn't make out what exactly they were saying but little did he care. He broke into a run with DiNozzo doing the same next to him. They took a few turns until they got to their meeting point. Gibbs was sure that they had outrun the photographers but the younger man still seemed to be highly uncomfortable.

"You got your car here?" the actor asked, breathing heavily. "I took a cab here."

"Yeah, right around the corner."

He started to jog again and soon enough they were at his truck. DiNozzo quickly jumped into it and Gibbs backed it out of the parking space and into traffic.

"Thank you," the younger man said and he sounded downright sorry about it, too. "Didn't think they'd find me there."

"That happen often?"

"Yeah."

"How do they find out?"

"I don't really know," Tony answered shaking his head. "I guess sometimes somebody just walks by and tells someone else, you know the drill. It's disgusting really."

"Not your fault," Gibbs just shrugged. "So, what are they going to write about this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just thinking," he shrugged again. "I know what those magazines write."

"Nothing they ever write is even remotely true. Just today a read a story about my holiday on Barbados."

"Where you broke up with that Brazilian model?"

DiNozzo drew back his head and then let out a laugh. "You've done your reading I see."

"Nah," Gibbs just said. "A co-worker was reading it today. Just caught the headline."

"Let me guess. Abby."

"Nope," Gibbs grinned, slightly irritated that the guy had actually remembered the names of his team. "Kate."

"Nice," DiNozzo replied, grinning that fake grin again. "It's absolute nonsense. I never even dated Gisele. She's a good friend. Just needed someone to go to that gala with me."

It seemed like DiNozzo wanted to continue but then he just shook his head and remained silent. Gibbs furrowed his brow wondering what that was all about, but let the topic drop. It was none of his business anyway.

"Where am I dropping you off?" he asked instead.

"You can kick me out right here. I'll have my manager pick me up."

"I can drive you home."

"Yeah," DiNozzo looked at him for a moment and out of the corners of his eyes Gibbs saw the other man's questioning gaze. "No, it's fine right here."

"You sure?"

"Yup. And… I had fun today."

"Me, too," Gibbs replied and was slightly startled that he really meant it, too.

"Care to do it again?"

"Sure. You free tomorrow?"

"I am," DiNozzo grinned again. "I'll text you as soon as I know when I get out of the studio."

"Alright. Can't promise anything though. You never know when a case comes up."

"No problem. It's a date then."