I am loving the TIVA podcast and am rewatching some old favourites! This is keeping me occupied until we get some BTS of the filming :)

Chapter 2 - Cast Off

Tony cracked an eye open as his alarm went off. 0600 on a Saturday. He sighed and sat up, rubbing at his eyes. He had tossed and turned the night before, but no nightmares had darkened his dreams and he felt slightly relieved. Maybe Gibbs would lay off trying to get him to talk if there wasn't anything to pique his interest.

He had a shower and headed downstairs; Gibbs was already up and drinking a cup of coffee at the little table in the kitchen. "Coffee's on the counter", he grunted, "Help yourself".

"The car's packed too. I took the liberty of packing a bag for you." Tony raised an eyebrow, but didn't take the bait of asking where they were going. At least not yet, he'd see how long the car ride was before he committed to total silence. He might need road snacks.

Tony poured what was left of the coffee into a travel mug and added a healthy dose of the hazelnut creamer that had recently appeared in the fridge door. "Okay then, boss. Let's hit the road, we're losing daylight hours!" Tony's fake southern accent was accompanied with a sleepy grin as he headed toward the door.

Over an hour and a half of driving later, and Tony was wishing he had in fact asked how long the road trip would be. And that he had packed snacks. And a pillow.

"Look alive, DiNozzo" Gibbs announced as he turned off the highway, "We're almost there."

Tony had been slumped in the front seat, trying his best to nap through classic Gibbs driving. It turned out he drove this way all the time, not just when they were on a case. He perked up at Gibb's announcement and peeked out the window. He could see waves crashing against the coastline and small buildings dotting the area to the left of the road. "And where exactly is there?"

"Small town near Gloucester" Gibbs cocked his head to the side and smiled "A fishing town, basically just boats and beer here."

"Sounds pretty good to me" Tony raised his eyebrows, "But I thought we had chores to do or something?"

"We do" Gibbs nodded, but didn't elaborate. And since Tony had done so well holding in his questioning all morning, he decided to keep the streak going and bit his tongue. He had noticed Gibbs sliding his classic stare over to him a few times during the drive, but he refused to crack. Gibbs complained about him talking too much at work, he should be grateful for a little silence.

They drove down a narrow lane to a grouping of brightly coloured buildings on the water and parked by a marina. Tony groaned as he opened the door, "Boats, huh boss?"

"Yep" Gibbs nodded as he started to unload their bags into a wheelbarrow beside the car. "Wanna stop gawking and give me a hand?"

Tony swallowed hard, a whole weekend, on a boat, alone with Gibbs. Great.

They finished loading the wheelbarrow and trundled down to the dock. Gibbs signed them in, and they made their way down the narrow fingers past the big, but sleek fishing boats towards the sailboat slips at the edge of the dock by the breakwater.

They stopped beside a beautiful sailboat, navy blue with white and wood trim. "This is it" Gibbs said dryly. "A buddy of mine from the Corps, I helped him build her, and he lets me take her out sometimes in exchange for helping out with the maintenance. This weekend we'll be refinishing the wood trim, sanding and staining to protect it from the elements."

Tony let his mouth fall open, this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind when Gibbs had said chores. "Boss, you know I'm no good with woodworking. I don't want to do any damage to your friend's boat. Especially a boat that's this nice."

"C'mon DiNozzo, I've taught you the basics, you'll be fine." Gibbs waved a hand as he hauled the boats over the railing onto the deck. "Climb aboard and I'll give you the tour before we push off."

Tony reluctantly clambered onto the boat, slowly processing the situation he was in and questioning his own cavalier nature about going along with whatever Gibbs' had planned. Next time he would not hold back on the questions that was for sure. Although even he had to admit it was beautiful here, and there were worse ways to spend a weekend than on the open water. It had been years since he had been sailing, but it had always been something he had enjoyed.

After poking around the deck and checking that everything was ready to set off Gibbs headed down into the cabin. Tony followed down the tiny stairs, ducking under the doorframe. Looking around he took in the head at the back of the cabin, the sink and kitchenette area, and a bunk on each side, convertible into a seated areas with a latched fold down table. He took a deep breath.

"Close quarters, huh boss." He chuckled as he dropped his duffle bag on the far bench.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "I thought you'd been on boats before DiNozzo, I saw the sailing team at RIMA in your background check."

DiNozzo frowned as he ignored the probing dig and ducked back up the stairs onto the deck, a background check all the way back to high school seemed a bit intense. Then again, he didn't expect any less from Gibbs. He just hoped Gibbs hadn't dug too deep.

Gibbs pointed past the breakwater, towards the south coast. "We'll head out now, there's an island just up the coast, we can anchor off the side, it's sheltered from the wind. We can start getting the sanding done and sleep there for the night."

"Yes, sir, Captain, sir." Tony grinned as he cast off the lines that were keeping them attached to the dock finger. "