Work Text:
Gibbs watched Tony’s face drop as Senior cancelled on him for Christmas, yet again. He couldn’t stand seeing Tony hurting like that. Tony had always had a special place in his heart ever since they first met in Baltimore.
He wanted to do something special for Tony. Something that Tony could really hold onto to know that he wasn’t alone. Unfortunately, they were in the middle of a huge mess of a case involving children and they couldn’t really afford to take time off.
Still, he had to do something. He just didn’t know what. He hoped that something would come to him as they worked the case.
He’d wanted more with Tony for a long time and couldn’t help wondering if now was the time to pursue Tony and see if Tony would actually be interested in him. Gibbs considered this as they found the key piece to their case and hurried off to capture their suspect. Of course, things didn’t go well.
This was actually an understatement. The suspect had been tipped off and instead of finding the suspect they found a trap. Tony had taken the brunt of it and Gibbs worried about him.
It was pretty obvious that Tony wasn’t doing his normal awesome self. Gibbs couldn’t help encouraging Tony to hold onto him as they made their way out of the trapped filled warehouse. It was easier said than done.
This had been planned well for maximum damage. The first trap that they’d walked into had hit Tony full on in the face. He could barely see now.
Gibbs just hoped that it wasn’t permanent. Needless to say, Tony was having difficulties walking since he couldn’t see well. Gibbs had considered just leaving immediately to get Tony help.
Unfortunately, Gibbs had already stepped inside before he realized what was happening and the door had shut behind them. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem and he’d have just picked the lock. When he’d turned around to do just that and get them out of there before something worse happened he discovered that there was no knob on this side.
There was nothing for him to pick. With no choice, but to go forward, Gibbs turned back around and wrapped an arm around Tony to keep him with him as they travelled this trap filled room. It was a completely unfamiliar road that they found themselves on now as they finally made it out of the trap filled room.
Gibbs had thought that they would be home free now and would just be able to call McGee to come pick them up, but no such luck. Neither in the warehouse nor now that they were outside of it and on an empty road did they have cell signal. He didn’t understand it as they’d had signal when they went in the room, but now their phones just showed no signal.
Well neither Gibbs nor Tony were geeks, so they couldn’t fix it right now. They’d just have to keep trekking down this road and dealing with wave after wave of this bad fortune that seemed to be befalling them. He did his best to keep talking to Tony.
He wasn’t much of a talker, but he wanted Tony to know that he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t sure how much it was helping. Tony was a lot quieter than he was used to.
Gibbs wondered if Tony was feeling vulnerable or if there was something else going on in his head. He tried to get Tony to talk to him. He wanted Tony to see him as home and to feel comfortable with him.
He couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief when they found civilization again and he was able to contact NCIS and catch a taxi to take Tony to the hospital and find out what was up with him. Both Tony and him were happy to hear that the difficulty seeing would not be permanent. Unfortunately, it would be longer lasting than Tony wanted.
The doctors recommended that someone stay with him for a few days until it wore off. They gave Tony some eye drops to help hopefully speed up the process. Gibbs offered for Tony to stay with him over Christmas.
With Tony out due to his vision, their team was off the case for now. Gibbs just hoped that no one else experienced injuries due to this guy. Balboa’s team was on the case now and Gibbs hoped they would be able to bring the killer to justice.
Gibbs went about getting Tony settled in his home. Gibbs really wanted to make Tony feel at home. He wanted Tony to not feel alone this Christmas despite the trouble with his eyes.
Every day his vision was getting a little better. Gibbs was doing his best to take care of every need Tony had. Whether it was help eating or help going to the bathroom or dressing, it didn’t matter Gibbs pitched in as needed and didn’t make a big deal about it.
Tony couldn’t help wondering if this is what it would feel like to live with Gibbs as a partner. He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. There was no way Gibbs was interested in him.
Gibbs would do this for any agent injured on his watch. Except he couldn’t see Gibbs actually helping McGee go to the bathroom. Gibbs didn’t go out of his way to do things he didn’t want to do.
Tony didn’t know what to think. As his vision started clearing up, he kept it a secret. Instead, he watched trying to see what Gibbs was really thinking as he took care of him.
Trying to catch the hidden emotion that he hoped Gibbs would be more likely to reveal if he thought Tony couldn’t really see it. Tony couldn’t help feeling cared for. Gibbs was going out of his way to make sure Tony felt comfortable in his home.
It wasn’t until Tony’s vision was mostly cleared that he realized that Gibbs had been putting Tony in his bed. That’s what really evinced Tony that Gibbs was trying to make this Tony’s home and was perhaps more into him than he’d though. He still wasn’t positive, but the evidence itself was pretty damning.
Gibbs hadn’t made one mention of having to give up the case. He’d been completely focused on Tony. Still Tony couldn’t really believe that this was real.
However, pinching himself didn’t change anything, so he decided to take a chance and one day when Gibbs was feeding him Tony pulled Gibbs in and kissed him instead. They both lost themselves in the kiss before Gibbs pulled back and asked, “How long have you been faking?”
Tony shrugged. “You made me feel so cared for that I had to know if it was real. I was afraid you would hide your emotions if I told you my vision was mostly better.”
”You can see it anytime you want, Tony.”
“Even at work?”
“Well maybe not there, but I’ll still care for you even then.”
Tony pulled Gibbs into another kiss and they finished their dinner. Tony didn’t want to jump into anything too fast, but at the same time they had both wanted each other for a long time. They spent the time cuddling and getting more familiar with each other.
Intimate, but not sexual. It wasn’t something Tony was used to, but it felt right. This felt like home.
Gibbs was happy with the way things turned out. It was obvious that Tony was starting to feel that this was his home and maybe just maybe he would soon settle down. Everything had already been made clear and he looked forward to spending the rest of his life with this man at work and outside of it.