Work Text:
It was another hard case, one involving a little girl. Everybody knew these cases always hit Gibbs hard, but this time it hit a little too close to home.
It involved a dad who was overseas, a mom and a little girl. Apparently some guy who had a grudge against the father decided to kill the wife and daughter to get back at the dad. It was senseless, and now a man who was off serving his country has to come home and plan two funerals and try to figure out how life was supposed to go on.
Tony knew this was bringing up all sorts of memories for Gibbs. Even though Gibbs never really talked about what happened to Shannon and Kelly, Tony had done his own digging when Gibbs was blown up to know that this case was a mirror of what happened to Gibbs.
Once the case was solved and the murderer behind bars, Tony headed straight to Gibbs house. He knew that Gibbs was going to be in a bad headspace and that he would find his boss in the basement working on the boat with a bottle of bourbon nearby. Unless Gibbs decided to skip the boat building and head straight for the bourbon.
Tony hoped to get there before Gibbs drank too much, so he hurried and got some Chinese takeout and quickly made his way to Gibbs house.
As always, the door was opened and Tony walked right in. He smiled as he made his way to the kitchen. This house hasn't changed one bit since Tony started working for Gibbs years ago. He knew this was Gibbs safe haven and over time it had become Tony's own safe place.
He grabbed a couple plates and dished out the food before he made his way down to the basement. He gave a sigh of relief when he saw Gibbs sanding the boat and the bottle of bourbon still over half full.
"Hey Boss." Tony said softly as he walked over to the work table. "I figured you haven't eaten yet so I stopped and got you you're favorite."
He put the plates down and turned to Gibbs. He watched as the man kept sanding. He knew it wasn't going to be easy to help Gibbs when he was like this, but he was a patient man. He had to be or else he wouldn't have lasted as long as he had on Gibbs team.
"I know this case hits close to-"
"Don't." Gibbs interrupted.
"Don't what?"
"Don't go there DiNozzo."
Tony was determined not to let Gibbs get to him. He had been Gibbs second in command for years and, for Tony, Gibbs was his closest friend and he thought that the sentiment was returned. Or at least he hoped it was. So, he wasn't going to let Gibbs push him away like normal.
Food forgotten, Tony walked around the boat so he was standing right next to Gibbs. He reached out and put a hand on Gibbs' and stilled the sanding.
"You don't have to hide from me." Tony whispered. "You don't have to pretend to be okay. I get it Gibbs."
Gibbs turned and glared at Tony. He moved his hand away and pushed away from the boat.
"You don't get shit, DiNozzo." Gibbs growled. "I think you need to leave."
"No." Tony answered as he went and followed Gibbs. "I'm not leaving. I understand how hard this is for you, but you can't keep hiding in your basement with your boat and bourbon. You need to talk about them. You shouldn't keep Shannon and Kelly hidden. You need to stop living in the past and live in the present."
"You think it's that easy?" Gibbs turned and yelled at Tony.
Tony knew that he was pushing all of Gibbs buttons and he knew that this probably wasn't going to end well for him, but he didn’t care. He had to make Gibbs see that he had reasons to live and be present now. He had to show him that he cared for him. That he loved him.
"No I don't. But I do think you're wasting your life and that Shannon and Kelly wouldn't want that."
Tony wasn't as shocked as he should have been when Gibbs grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him against the boat.
"Fuck you." Gibbs hissed. "You don't get to stand there and tell me what my girls would have wanted. You don't get to tell me how to live my life."
"You're stuck in the past Gibbs. There's people here now who want to love you, but you have to move on. They would want you to be happy."
Gibbs gave a shove to Tony and backed off. Tony watched as the man paced back and forth. He knew that Gibbs was more upset then angry, but Tony knew that the only emotion Gibbs would let show was the anger.
"How do you know that?" Gibbs asked quietly.
Tony stared at the man. He was surprised that Gibbs was putting a backseat to his anger and Tony hoped that he was actually starting to get through to the man.
"Because they loved you Gibbs." Tony replied just as softly. "The people who love you just want you to be happy."
Gibbs turned and slowly walked to Tony. Tony's breath caught in his throat as Gibbs once again backed him up against the boat and invaded his personal space. Except this time there wasn't anger and resentment in those eyes, but curiosity.
"Who loves me, DiNozzo?"
"We…we all do, Gibbs." Tony said. "Abby, Ducky, McGee, and Ziva. We all do."
Gibbs shook his head and pushed even more into Tony's personal space. "Who loves me, Anthony?" Gibbs asked again.
Tony looked deep into Gibbs' eyes and knew he couldn't lie. Knew that he couldn't hide his feelings any longer and that Gibbs wouldn't let him.
"I do." Tony whispered.
Before Tony even knew what was happening, he felt Gibbs' lips on his and strong arms wrap around his waist. Tony sighed into the kiss and wrapped his own arms around Gibbs. This, this was all he ever wanted. He made sure that he put all his love into the kiss so Gibbs would know that he was loved, that Tony wanted all of him.
When it became too difficult to breath, they pulled apart and Tony couldn't help the beaming smile when he saw a true Gibbs smile on the man's face.
"Well, I didn't see that coming." Tony chuckled.
"What did you see happening?" Gibbs asked as he started to rub circles on Tony's back.
"For one, I thought you would punch me for bringing all that up."
Gibbs sighed and backed away from Tony. However, Tony didn't let him get too far before he reached out and grabbed Gibbs hand. He wasn't going to let Gibbs put distance, physical or emotional, between them anymore.
"Talk to me, please." Tony whispered.
"I don't know how to move on." Gibbs admitted. "I've let what happened to my girls ruin every relationship I've had. I don't know if I can leave the past behind me."
"When my mom died, I watched my Dad box her away. Got rid of all of her stuff, took down photos of her, and never talked about her. Just like you did with your girls."
When Gibbs didn't interrupt him there and it gave him the confidence that Gibbs was actually listening to him and wanted to hear him out.
"I would ask my Dad all sorts of questions regarding my mom. And every time I did, he would yell at me. He would throw me out of the room and sometimes he would slap me for talking about her. Now, decades later, I don't have a single picture of her or a memento. Hell, I don't even know what she looks like. All I have are a few faint memories of her."
"Why are you telling me this?" Gibbs asked softly.
"I know it hurt my dad when she died, just like it hurt you when your girls died, but keeping them locked away, hidden from the world, it's not fair to them. You can still love them and live your life Gibbs. You can be happy and still miss them. You don't have to choose between your girls and someone else. You can still love them and love someone else."
"Someone like you?"
"Well, I mean you already know I love you and I'm hoping that kiss means you might share that feeling and all."
Gibbs smiled softly and Tony couldn't help but think that this was a smile Gibbs only reserved for private moments. It was a true smile, not the normal Gibbs smirk, and Tony knew that he would do everything in his power to make sure Gibbs always had a reason to smile.
Tony let out a little yelp when Gibbs tugged on his hand and Tony all but fell into Gibbs embrace. Tony looked it Gibbs eyes and could see amusement dancing in them along with something that he could only hope was love.
"I guess it’s a good thing that I share that feeling and all." Gibbs whispered against Tony's lips before he took him in another toe curling kiss.
Tony moaned as Gibbs nibbled on his bottom lip and he could feel himself harden as he opened himself and let Gibbs kissed the ever living hell out of him.
He was just starting to roll his hips against the erection he could feel pressing against his own, when Gibbs backed off and put enough space between them that Tony could only let out a desperate little whimper that he would deny to his dying day.
Gibbs laughed and Tony couldn't help but try and close the space between them. He was finally getting all he ever wanted and he didn't want to waste any more time.
"Come on, Gibbs." Tony moaned. "I've wanted this, wanted you, for so long. Don't make me wait any longer."
Gibbs just shook his head before kissing Tony and once again putting space between them. "Don't get me wrong, Tony, I want nothing more than to take you upstairs and into my bed."
"There's definitely a but in there."
"But I don't want to do that this time." Gibbs explained as he cupped Tony's cheek. "You weren't wrong, Tony. I have been living in the past and keeping my girls hidden. It ruined all of my relationships and I don't want that to happen to us."
Although Tony was a little disappointed that he wasn't going to get to finally be with Gibbs, he couldn't blame the man. Tony felt incredibly lucky and special that Gibbs was actually going to try with him and not treat this like his past marriages and relationships. It just made Tony see that Gibbs truly cared for him.
"Okay so what does that mean for us?" Tony asked.
"It means that I'm going to date you. I don't want this to be all about the sex and physical side of things. I've always tried to replace what I had with Shannon and it always failed because I kept myself from getting emotionally involved and just kept it physical. And I don’t want to do that with you. Wasn't it you who said if you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you always got."
Tony laughed and smiled at Gibbs. "Yeah, I guess I did say that. I always thought that if I ever told you that I was in love with you, you would either punch me or take me to your bed, but I'm not disappointed. I'm excited to see this side of you."
"Me too ,Tony." Gibbs chuckled and kissed Tony. "I haven't really dated since Shannon so it's been awhile since I did this. You're just going to have to patient as I work on living in the present and not the past."
"Good thing I can be a patient man then. I just have to warn you though, Gibbs, in case you haven't noticed, I am very high maintenance."
Tony grinned as Gibbs' genuinely laughed. Tony loved a lot of things. He loved movies and he loved pizza and he loved being a very special agent, but his new favorite thing to love was making Gibbs laugh. In all the time that Tony has known Gibbs, he could count on one hand how many times he heard a true Gibbs laugh. And now it seems that Gibbs in a relationship laughed more and Tony it was music to Tony's ears.
"Oh, I know how high maintenance you can be. And I think you can start calling me Jethro. We're not boss and subordinate here."
"I'm sorry but I don't think I can call you Jethro with a straight face." Tony laughed and kissed Gibbs cheek. "Sorry."
"So, what are you going to call me?"
"I don't know. Leroy isn't very fitting. LJ just doesn't have a good ring to it. Um-" Tony got distracted as Gibbs started laying soft kisses all over his face. "Umm.. I'm having a really hard time not jumping you here and now, Jet." Tony groaned as he buried his head in Gibbs neck and started to kiss along his pulse point.
Gibbs sighed and tilted his head back to give Tony more room. "That’s what you're going with?" he whispered.
Tony chuckled and kissed along Gibbs jaw before it was his turn to give Gibbs a toe curling kiss. "You have a problem with it?"
"No, no problem." Gibbs sighed once again, but this time he backed away and put a couple feet between him and Tony.
Tony sighed and gave Gibbs a small smile. "You're really serious about this whole dating me thing aren't you?"
Gibbs shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "I want to do this right. You're worth the effort."
Tony felt all warm inside hearing Gibbs say that. Not many people in Tony's life thought he was worth the effort and hearing Gibbs of all people be the one to say it made Tony feel all kinds of special.
"Okay. If that’s what you really want. I'll respect it, Jet."
Tony walked towards the stairs and turned back at the bottom. "Well, you coming to walk me out or not? I'm going to need a goodbye kiss before I leave."
Tony watched as Gibbs shook his head and mumbled about what he was getting himself into, but there was a soft smile so Tony knew that Gibbs didn't really mind.
Gibbs followed Tony to the front door and Tony turned around to say something, but before he could get a word out, Gibbs had pushed him against the door and was kissing him within an inch of his life.
When the need for oxygen became too much to ignore, they broke apart, Tony breathing heavily. "Wow, I've never had a goodbye kiss like that before."
"Well, I've never kissed you goodbye until now."
Tony chuckled and pecked Gibbs lips before he gave a little push to Gibbs so he could actually leave while he still had the willpower to
"Good thing there's going to be a lot more of those in my future." Tony smiled and reached up to cup Gibbs cheek. "I really need to go now or else I'm not going to be able to respect your wishes."
Gibbs nodded and stepped away so Tony could open the door. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7. Okay?"
"It's a date."
With that Tony left. And, if in the privacy of his own car he did a little happy dance, who could blame him. He was dating Leroy Jethro Gibbs.