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Real Contemplation

Half an hour later Gibbs argued with the nurse in the emergency room. He had told her when they first came in that they'd need more security guards at the doors as the press was sure to come. Of course, nobody had listened to him and now at least ten photographers were crowding the waiting area.

They had brought Tony in, but as far as Tony could tell, he didn't have a concussion, at least the younger man wasn't disorientated and seemed mostly fine except for his bloody nose. He had complained on the drive over that it would surely stay crooked and that nobody would think of him as handsome anymore but Gibbs could tell that he wasn't serious about it. In fact, the actor had asked more than once about the prostitute and Gibbs was sure that he really cared how she was. The older man had McGee and Kate handle her and he was sure that she was by now sitting in one of the interrogation rooms at the Navy Yard, waiting for him. But there was no need to hurry. First, he had to make sure that Tony was alright.

And sure enough, another nurse soon approached him, talking to him in a whisper so that the vultures couldn't hear her. She led him into Tony's room and to Gibbs' relief the younger man was sitting up. When Gibbs entered, Tony looked up and gave him a crooked smile.

"I'm fine, Gibbs," he said before he could even ask. "It's just a minor fracture. Nothing's deformed or anything. A couple of packs of ice and a few pain meds and I'm as good as new."

"Good," Gibbs just nodded. "So can I take you home?"

Tony wiggled his eyebrows in an obvious attempt of a sexual innuendo which just caused Gibbs to grin, but the younger man became serious again in almost an instant.

"I'd rather accompany you to NCIS. I'd like to know what Mandy has to say. If that's okay?"

"Sure," Gibbs nodded. "Just have to avoid the vultures."

"They're already here?" Tony sighed letting his head fall back.

"I know the hospital pretty well, I guess we can use the backdoor and nobody will know."

"You here often?"

"More than I'd like to admit," Gibbs replied wryly. "Come on, got a job to do."

"On your six, Gibbs."

#

"Miss Stonewell," Gibbs said as he sat down across from the woman who had knocked Tony out.

"I'm sorry," Mandy replied, sobbing quietly. "I didn't mean for that to happen. Is Mr. DiNozzo alright?"

"He is," Gibbs nodded. "And he's willing to drop any charges against you if you help us."

"I…," she stuttered and let out another sob. "I… c-can't."

"Why not?"

"If I tell you, he'll kill me. Just like he did with Maureen and the other girls."

"Did you know that they tried to run away on the nights they were killed? They wanted their suitors to take them to safety."

"I knew," Mandy nodded. "I tried to tell them that nobody would help them because of what we do. But they wouldn't listen."

"We're helping you," Gibbs replied, but fell silent when Mandy shook his head.

"I can't tell you. He'll find out about it somehow and then I'm dead, too. I'm not stupid, Agent Gibbs. The moment I open my mouth, he'll have me killed."

"No, he won't. We'll make sure of that. Whoever it is, we'll catch him and you're safe."

"Can you guarantee that you'll find him?"

"No," Gibbs relented. "But if we don't, we can still protect you."

Mandy remained silent and wiped away her tears. When she finally looked up, Gibbs could see the resolve in her eyes.

"When I tell you… can you tell Tony that I'm sorry?"

"You can tell him yourself, I promise. He's here."

"Okay," Mandy nodded and then started haltingly. "Jonah started harassing us about half a year ago. He'd take away our money, would decide where we go and who we'd go with. Before that he was really nice, would let us keep most of the money we made and he'd keep us safe. But then… I don't know what happened… he suddenly tried to control us, would only let us go to certain hotels and would call every hour. First we all thought, he wanted to keep us safer but then he'd hit us for no good reason when we didn't call him immediately after we were done. It only got worse. But whenever someone tried to get away from him, she'd be dead the next day. It was terrifying."

"Do you know Jonah's last name?" Gibbs prodded, his voice soothing.

"Parker. Jonah Parker."

"Jonah Parker?" Gibbs checked back incredulously, remembering the jogger who had called the police about finding the corpse of Maureen Holtz. "Black hair, athletic?"

"Yeah," Mandy nodded. "Tony saw him earlier before we got into the car."

"You think he's still in the club?"

"Doubt it. I'm sure someone already told him about what happened in that car."

"Okay," Gibbs stood up, knowing that they didn't have time to lose. "Thank you. I mean it. We'll keep you here until we've sorted everything out. You did the right thing."

"Thanks Agent Gibbs. Were you telling the truth when you told me I could apologize to Tony?"

"Yeah," Gibbs replied. "I'll send him right in."

#

"I'll have to warn you about something," Tony said as they drove to Gibbs' house almost four hours later.

Due to some miracle, they had managed to bring Parker in without too many difficulties. He had confessed after some probing from Kate and some threatening by Gibbs and the case was closed. Tony had hung around at the Navy Yard after he had managed to calm Mandy down. He had claimed that he didn't want to go home yet because of the press but Gibbs had been sure that he actually liked watching them work out the kinks of the case. It was good research for his future movies and he seemed to have real interest in their work, too.

"What is it?"

"Whenever I take pain meds I get kind of… loopy."

"You seem fine," Gibbs said, eyeing him warily.

"That's because I haven't taken any yet. Wanted to wait until going to bed. Less embarrassing."

"You must be really loopy if you decide to hurt instead of just going home and take the damn pills."

"It's not that bad, really," Tony shrugged. "Plus, this way I could talk to Mandy and watch you guys do all the magic. It's been great."

#

"Thanks for letting me stay here," Tony said as he sat down on the couch and looked out the window where the sun was just rising. It had been a long night.

"Least I can do. My fault you're hurt."

"It's not your fault. I wanted to do this, remember? I'm just glad you got the killer."

"Yeah, still. If she had actually shot you…" Gibbs trailed off, staring at the far wall of his living room.

"But she didn't," Tony said bringing a hand to Gibbs' thigh. "I'm fine. Nothing happened."

"Yeah," the older man replied, wiping a hand over his mouth, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut as he thought about the gunshot. "I just didn't know what happened. The camera wasn't transmitting anymore and we didn't know if you were still alive."

"Hey," Tony cut in sharply. "It's okay."

"It's not," Gibbs replied quietly, finally turning to look at the man next to him. "For a second I thought I'd lost you. For a second I thought that it was all my fault… I… I…"

"Shh," Tony interrupted as he took Gibbs' hand. "You didn't lose me. I'm still here, okay?"

Gibbs nodded, biting his lower lip as he looked right back at Tony's eyes. For a moment his thoughts strayed to Shannon and Kelly and how it had been his fault, too. He hadn't protected them just like he hadn't protected Tony tonight.

"Don't even think about blaming yourself," Tony whispered, apparently having read his mind once more. "You saved me."

Gibbs didn't reply, just looked into Tony's eyes before his own eyes traveled down to the younger man's lips and back up. And before he could dwell on his thoughts for too long, Tony had brought his hand to his cheek, cupping it gently. His thumb brushed across Gibbs' lips as he searched his eyes questioningly as if looking for some sort of apprehension. Apparently he found none because he leaned forward and then captured Gibbs' lips with his own. Gibbs' eyes closed at the touch, at the kiss that was soft and tender. Time suddenly stood still and there were just Tony's lips and after a few moments his tongue as it explored his mouth. When Tony backed away ever so slightly, ending their kiss, Gibbs opened his eyes again. He was breathing heavily and he suddenly felt like something had just locked into place. Before he could say anything, Tony let out an involuntary yawn and then a laugh.

"Sorry, I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"'s okay," Gibbs replied distractedly before he got up, clearing his throat loudly. "Come on, I'll show you the bedroom. I'll crash on the couch."

"You sure? I don't want to chase you away from your own bed."

"Nonsense. Come on. And take those damn pills."

"Yes, sir," Tony saluted with the wrong hand and then followed him up the stairs.

#

Gibbs had tried to sleep but he had to realize soon that it was to no avail. After he had brought Tony to bed, he had lain down on the couch but his thoughts were swirling around his head without abandon. The kiss had replayed in his head again and again and the more he thought about it the better it had gotten. Without a doubt, Tony was a good kisser and the kiss itself seemed to hold much more of something that Gibbs couldn't name. He knew that he shouldn't have let Tony kiss him, but it was only half the truth. He could have stopped him, should have stopped him, but at the same time he had needed to make sure that the other man was indeed alright, was still here with him and not dead. But it was more than just reassuring himself and Gibbs was beyond lying to himself by now.

It had felt good – and he had wanted it, too. Did that mean that he actually wanted the other man? And did that mean that he was in fact gay – or bi – or whatever? And - did it really matter? He knew that it mattered to him, but he also knew that it didn't matter to Tony. The guy just let himself be who he was and hadn't Gibbs liked him from the very moment he had first shown him his true colors without even knowing that the guy would be interested in him like that?

Gibbs didn't know what to think anymore and still his thoughts were circling around the kiss and the fact that he couldn't seem to get over it.

#

At ten o'clock in the morning, Gibbs finally gave it up. He got up, switched on the coffee machine and then opened his front door to get the paper.

When he bent down to pick it up, though, he realized that he wasn't alone. Half a dozen photographers were there, busily taking pictures of him, hurling questions at him which he couldn't quite understand. Gibbs quickly closed the door behind him to keep the flashes outside and then leaned against the door from the inside.

What the hell?

Gibbs tried to remember whom he had told that he'd take Tony home with him, but he couldn't remember mention it at all. What was even weirder was the fact that the vultures were there now. What the hell did they think they would find?

Gibbs let out a sigh. He walked into his kitchen, filled a cup with coffee and then sat down at the kitchen table. Only now did he look at the headline and the photo underneath it and his heart missed a beat.

Well, shit.