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Tony knew a lot of people wondered why he stayed at NCIS. Particularly, why he stayed under Gibbs instead of taking a promotion. Part of it was loyalty to Gibbs, who was the only person that hadn’t given up on Tony.
More of it was that he wasn't going to give up on his relationship with Gibbs. It didn't matter that they hadn't been together since Gibbs got back from Mexico. Tony knew he loved Gibbs and always would and while Gibbs was confused right now, Tony knew that so long as he didn't surrender he would eventually get what he wanted.
It wasn't like he was obsessed with Gibbs. He just knew deep down in his soul that they belonged together. Not many people would expect it, but Tony had learned a long time ago that the really important things were worth waiting for. Nothing he had ever gotten easily had ever been worth it.
Admittedly, he hadn't expected it to take this long. He hated watching Gibbs spiral further and further into depression. He couldn't even be there to support him because Gibbs wouldn't let him.
It was driving Tony crazy. He hated watching someone he loved hurting and being unable to do a damn thing to make it better. Tony hoped that the situation would resolve itself soon.
The surprise came to Tony when Gibbs landed himself in the hospital. Not that Gibbs getting hurt was a surprise. No the surprise was the whispered, “I love you,” that came out of his mouth when Tony came to visit him.
Gibbs was still on drugs at the time, so Tony had no idea if he meant it or if it was the drugs talking. He didn’t say anything about it and Gibbs never brought it up after he was released. Or well at least it wasn’t mentioned for another month or two.
The next time it came up, the team had gone out to the bar for drinks. Tony didn’t remember if Abby had instigated it or if they’d been celebrating something or even mourning someone. His entire memories of the night were taking a very drunk Gibbs, who insisted on osculation with Tony, home.
Between the two instances, Tony decided they needed to talk no matter how much they both hated it. Gibbs had immediately fallen asleep on the couch as soon as Tony got him through the door, leaving Tony to figure out a bed for himself until morning. Tony’s mind was still whirling on what was going on with Gibbs when he fell asleep.
In his dream, he heard Gibbs singing White Flag by Dido.
I know you think that I shouldn’t still love you
Or tell you that
But if I didn’t say it, well I’d still have felt it
Where’s the sense in that?
When he woke up, Tony couldn’t shake the dream. He was pretty sure that Gibbs hadn’t actually been singing to him while he was sleeping as he would have been more likely to do that while drunk. Tony had never seen him sing while asleep.
Still he wasn’t sure what to think about that dream or what it meant. Gibbs was puttering around in the kitchen and needing something to do with his hands, Tony was poking at Gibbs’ radio. He’d never seen a radio like it except at Gibbs’ house and wondered how old it was.
It was made of wood and looked like an old fashioned radio. The kind that Tony was sure Gibbs grew up with. He fiddled with one of the dials and suddenly, Dido came on singing White Flag herself. Tony didn’t know what to think about that. While he was staring at the radio in surprise realizing that he’d managed to flip it to CD, so Gibbs must have specifically put this CD in at some point in time, Gibbs himself stepped out of the kitchen.
“It’s right, you know?”
“What?” Tony turned and looked at Gibbs.
“I know I left too much mess and destruction to come back again and I caused nothing but trouble. I understand if you can’t talk to me and if you live by the rules of it’s over then I’m sure that that makes sense.”
“Gibbs?”
“I love you, Tony, and I always will.”
”I love you too, Gibbs. I always have.”
“So it’s not too late?”
“Let’s go down with this ship together, Gibbs.”
“You got it, Tony.”
“But really since when do you listen to Dido?”
Gibbs shrugged. “Abby brought it over and it really fit how I felt about our relationship.”
“Huh. Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“I was a bastard.”
Tony tilted his head slightly. He couldn’t deny that.
“Plus, I was trying to hold my tongue and let it pass since you didn’t seem interested.”
“I guess we’ve both been doing a good job of that.”
Gibbs shrugged.
“Too good, probably,” Tony murmured.
“Hey, we figured it out. Now, we can figure out how to move forward from here. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go back to the way things were.”
“No?”
“No. I want an equal partnership with you with how we are now.”
“I want that too, Gibbs.”
This time when they kissed it was mutual and neither of them were drunk.