"A Thanksgiving with Misgivings"
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| Category | Slash >> Gibbs/DiNozzo |
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| Characters | Anthony DiNozzo, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Original character |
| Rating | R |
| Genre | Angst, Character study, First Time, Holiday, Humor, Pre-slash |
| Added | 15/11/2009 |
| Summary | Tony invites Gibbs to the annual paintball war he and his friends hold every year, the day after Thanksgiving. |
| Author's notes | Thanks to Marianne for the beta! |
| Status | This story is completed |
“A Thanksgiving with Misgivings”
“So, what are you doing on Black Friday, Boss?” Tony asked Gibbs, as they rode the elevator down to the parking garage together. He wondered about Thanksgiving also, but was hesitant to ask. That was a family day, and family was a touchy subject with Gibbs. It was Wednesday, the day before the holiday, and Vance had given the whole team a long weekend off. They weren’t scheduled to go back onto rotation until Monday, and Tony had been literally dancing up and down with excitement ever since Gibbs had told everyone they could leave. As the elevator descended, he was tapping out the beat to imaginary music on the wall, while he unconsciously swayed from foot to foot, and Gibbs watched him, trying to keep his amusement from showing on his face.
“Black Friday?” Gibbs asked him with a blank face.
“Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year? Huge sales, long lines, start of the Christmas season? You’ve never heard of it?” Tony asked incredulously.
“Not big on shopping, DiNozzo. Suppose it’s one of your favorite days,” Gibbs smirked.
“Right you are, Boss, but not for the reason you think,” Tony answered. “I’m already done with my Christmas shopping. Contrary to popular opinion, I am not really a shopaholic. I do almost all my shopping online, in September. Then I don’t have to worry if we get busy, and I don’t have time to shop for people in December. Learned that the hard way my first year working for NCIS. We were so busy we ended up working every weekend all month, and I had to go out the night before Christmas to try and find something appropriate to give Abby. It was a nightmare. It’s not like you can just go to any old store and find something she’d like; her taste isn’t exactly pedestrian. I finally found a fanged Dracula stuffed teddy bear left over from Halloween on a clearance rack, took the cape off of it and went to the pet center and got a black studded dog collar for it. She was happy with it, but I just got lucky. If I’d had to resort to giving her black roses, she would have known I’d left her gift 'til the last minute, and I’d have never heard the end of it. I vowed I’d never do that again.”
Gibbs snorted in amusement over the story. It was classic DiNozzo; imaginative, resourceful and lucky, all at the same time, and that never failed to fascinate him. Not that Gibbs let on. It wouldn’t do for Tony to realize how much Gibbs enjoyed his banter, or stream of conscious musings, or how much he liked just standing on the fringe, looking at Tony when he was in performance mode. Actually, truth be told, Gibbs liked looking at Tony at almost any time, and that was definitely something he wasn’t willing to share. Rule Number Twelve " never date a coworker - existed for a reason, although there were times, like when he was watching Tony, that he couldn’t remember what that reason was. Gibbs was spared from having to re-examine that particular problem when Tony resumed talking. They were at the garage level now, and Tony trotted along behind Gibbs, following him as he headed for his car, talking all the while.
“Nope, the day after Thanksgiving’s become one of the best days in the year for me, and it has nothing to do with shopping. I’ve got an old frat brother who lives right outside Arlington, on a fair piece of land, most of which is heavily wooded. Every year a group of us get together, and we invite a whole bunch of people - family, friends, significant others, you name it - last year there were forty-six of us, and we play paintball all day long! We break up into teams, and each team has a flag. The object is to capture the other team’s flag, without getting shot. One shot and you’re dead, then you have to wait until the next game before you can play again. We keep changing the teams and home bases from game to game. Course, none of us has a lot of tactical military planning training, like you, but we have a blast. Hey, you should come play this year, Boss! You’d love it. You’d be like my ace in the hole, a secret weapon, my own sniper. We’d clean up!” Tony exclaimed, his face lighting up with delight.
Gibbs just grunted. He was trying to picture Tony tramping through the woods, armed with a paintball riffle, flushed and happy. The image he called to mind was incredibly enticing, and he immediately had to remind himself of Rule Number Twelve.
When Gibbs didn’t say anything, Tony began to backpedal. “Course, you’ve probably got somewhere better to be. I mean, of course you’ve got plans. I don’t know what I was thinking. It's Thanksgiving weekend, after all.” He was embarrassed that he’s assumed that Gibbs would be like him, staying home alone over most of the holiday, without family obligations or festivities. Silently he chided himself for being a fool. “Consider yourself invited for some other year, when you haven’t already made plans,” he finished lamely, giving a rather forced half smile.
Something about the way Tony deflated before his very eyes, and the vulnerability that had flashed across Tony’s face for just an instant, got to Gibbs. Before he even thought about it, his mouth opened and he heard himself say, “I’ll play.”
“I mean, it’s not really that much…..You’ll play?” Tony blinked at Gibbs in confusion.
“Yeah DiNozzo. You did ask me, remember?” Gibbs said wryly. “Having second thoughts?”
“Yes, I mean no. I mean, yes, I remember asking you, and no, I’m not having second thoughts. Wow, that’s great, Boss,” Tony was beaming again, his smile blazing brightly. “How about I pick you up around 0900? First game will start around ten, and it takes about forty-five minutes to get to Rick’s house. Don’t bother eating much for breakfast. There’s always a ton of food. People will bring stuff, most of it made from leftovers from Thanksgiving, and those who come just to hang out, instead of play, will spend the day cooking. There’ll be people coming and going all day long. At the end of the day there’ll be a huge bonfire, and Rick will grill brats and chicken for the adults, and the kids’ll roast weenies and marshmallows,” Tony explained enthusiastically. “Once its dark, they’ll set off fireworks.”
“Sounds good,” Gibbs said, surprised by the fact that it really did. He usually used his down time working on his boat, but four days was a long time to spend alone, shut in a basement, even for Gibbs, especially over Thanksgiving. It gave him too much time to remember what he’d lost, and what he’d chosen to forget. “See you on Friday,” he told Tony, as he opened his car door, and slid in.
Tony managed to say goodbye, as he stood stunned and frozen next to Gibbs’ car. Had that really just happened? Had he just asked Gibbs to go with him to Rick’s house on Friday? Had Gibbs really said yes? As he watched Gibbs back his car out of the parking space, Tony was tempted to pinch himself to make sure he was really awake, and this hadn’t just been some weird dream. ‘Wait a sec. Is this a date? No, of course it isn’t a date, you idiot,’ Tony reprimanded himself. ‘Get a grip! Gibbs doesn’t date co-workers, especially MALE co-workers. Gibbs marries redheads, FEMALE redheads. Better not forget that, DiNozzo,’ he lectured to himself.
Then he thought about Rick. What was Rick going to say when he met Gibbs? Rick was his best friend. They’d been tight since freshman year. Rick had nursed him through the occasional sloppy drunken episode, had lent him money when he was broke, and had taken his side after every breakup in college. Of all his friends, Rick was the one who knew the most about Tony. Rick even knew about Tony’s family life, or lack thereof, and tried to compensate for it by never failing to invite Tony to spend time at his home over every major holiday. Tony had been the best man at his wedding, and was godfather to Rick’s oldest boy, Michael Anthony Hodges. It was Rick who’d helped Tony pull himself back together after the disastrous undercover mission with Jeanne. He was one of the few people who knew just how wide Tony’s taste in lovers was, and Rick was more than aware of how Tony felt about Gibbs. ‘Oh God, this was a bad idea,’ Tony panicked. He had no idea how Rick would react to Gibbs. Rick had told him time and again to get over Gibbs, had pointed out that even if Gibbs was interested in men, and Tony in particular, his track record proved that he was bad news. Every time that happened, they ended up in an argument, with Tony defending Gibbs, and Rick telling him he was crazy. What would happen when he finally met Gibbs? It was almost like bringing your date home to meet the folks, your date that didn’t even realize they were a date! ‘Maybe I can cancel. Call Gibbs that morning and tell him I’m sick. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do,’ Tony planned.
Problem solved, Tony made his way over to his own car and headed home.
Gibbs got up early on Friday morning and made a huge pot of coffee, which he drank without ever really tasting it. He’d spent yesterday, Thanksgiving, puttering around the house, doing a few home repairs he’d been procrastinating on, and working on the boat. He’d even dug out his mother’s old pumpkin bread recipe and made a couple of loaves to bring to Tony’s friend’s house. By this morning, however, he’d started to regret having accepted Tony’s invitation. The reality of what he’d agreed to had finally set in. Much as he’d enjoyed making Tony smile with delight, and as much fun as tramping through the woods together, armed with paintball markers sounded, the notion of meeting all those strangers did not have the same appeal. What would Tony’s friends think of him, an old grouchy Marine? How could it help but be awkward? He didn’t have much in common with a group of thirty something ex-frat boys, and their families and friends. Maybe there was a way he could back out of it. ‘I could tell Tony I got called in to work,’ he thought briefly, then discarded that idea. Knowing Tony, he’d insist on going in too, and then what would he do, when he had to admit there wasn’t a case? ‘Maybe I could say I’m sick,’ but that excuse didn’t hold up either. Tony knew he never got sick. He was still thinking about it, as he dressed in an old pair of camouflage pants, a dark green sweatshirt, and lace up a pair of combat boots.
Tony couldn’t believe he was in his car, on his way over to pick Gibbs up. Not wanting to be alone, he’d gone to Rick’s house the day before, and between the food, friends, and football, had almost forgotten about the Gibbs predicament. Almost, but not quite. Late in the afternoon, as they were nursing a beer and watching the kids play tag football in the backyard, Rick had asked Tony if he was bringing anyone the next day, and Tony had been forced to admit that he’d invited Gibbs. Rick had not looked pleased. Before he could even start in, Tony had held his hand up and said, “I know, I know. He’s just coming as a friend. He doesn’t have a clue about how I feel about him.”
“That’s what bothers me,” Rick had told Tony. “Are you a masochist? Why do this to yourself? Why spend one of your rare free days with the guy who’s so oblivious to you that he can’t even tell you’re in love with him?” That comment had resulted in Tony denying he loved Gibbs, and once again defending Gibbs to Rick, which really weakened his argument. “Look, I’m not going to argue with you about this again,” Rick had said. “I’ll be civil to the guy, but don’t expect me to be all buddy buddy. And I doubt if Sue will be, either,” Rick had said, referring to his wife. “We just want you to be happy. Find someone who you can be yourself around, not someone you have to play act for.”
“I will,” Tony had assured him. “One of these days.”
“Not when all you can think about is Gibbs. You don’t give anyone else a fair chance,” Rick had muttered darkly.
Tony had denied that, but it had been a rather half-hearted effort, at best. Rick was right; no one else compared well to Gibbs. That had been true for a long time now. That was why he’d fallen for Jeanne. She was so different, and having an undercover persona had helped him forget about Gibbs and NCIS when he was with her. Once that was over, he’d found it impossible to get serious about anyone else. Now he knew what it felt like to be in a real relationship, and he wanted that with Gibbs " the one person on earth it was impossible to be in that type of relationship with. Now, now he was pulling in to Gibbs’ driveway, after having asked him to spend the day with he and his friends, completely unaware of how Tony felt about him. Sighing, Tony put the car into park and climbed out, headed for Gibbs’ front door.
“Hey,” Tony greeted Gibbs, after he answered the door, clearly dressed for a day of plowing through the woods. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, I just need to grab something from the kitchen. Come on in,” Gibbs told him. Tony looked good, Gibbs thought to himself, as he took in the faded jeans that the younger man wore. They hugged his hips just right, and the deep green turtleneck sweater brought out the green in his eyes.
Tony trailed along behind Gibbs as he walked through the house, suddenly tongue tied. When Gibbs got a brown paper bag out of a drawer in the kitchen, and put two loaves of something covered in plastic wrap into it, he managed to ask, “What’s that?”
“Pumpkin bread,” Gibbs explained. “Sounded like I should have some kind of food offering, too.”
“You didn’t need to do that, Boss. No one expects any of the bachelors to bring food. We’re just supposed to eat it, so no one gets stuck taking even more leftovers home,” Tony said, mortified that he’d somehow made Gibbs feel obligated to make something to bring, and at the same time amazed that Gibbs knew how to cook. Somehow, he’d always pictured Gibbs living off of frozen dinners, deli food, and bottomless pots of coffee. It was only the scent of recently made coffee lingering in the air that assured Tony that he hadn’t crossed over into to alternative universe.
“Not a big deal,” Gibbs grunted. Loaves safely stashed away, Gibbs turned to Tony. “Ready,” he announced.
“Alrighty then,” Tony said. “Let’s go. If we hurry, we should get there in time for some of Sue’s pancakes. Sue is my friend Rick’s wife. She always makes breakfast for the early arrivals, and her cooking is something not to be missed,” Tony explained to Gibbs as they headed out to his car.
The drive out was uneventful. Tony talked a blue streak, about anything and everything, barely pausing for air, and if Gibbs noticed anything forced or manic about Tony’s unending monologue, he never got the chance to comment. Actually, it was a beautiful fall morning. The trees all blazed in various shades of red and gold, and the air was crisp, but not too cold, with just enough chill in the air to be invigorating. Gibbs was content to gaze out the window, and occasionally snort in amusement over something Tony had said.
Finally they pulled into a long gravel drive, that took them deep into dense woods. After about half a mile, Gibbs saw a large modern ranch home appear. There was a large area in front of the house that had been cleared of trees to create a lawn which was encased by a circular drive that was already filled with vehicles, the license plates on the cars indicating that people had come from several states to be a part of the day’s activities. About a dozen children of various ages played in the grass, tossing a football, and climbing on the timber jungle gym that held pride of place in the center of the lawn. When Tony had parked, and he and Gibbs had gotten out, a rangy blonde haired boy of about twelve years, shrieked as he ran towards them, “Uncle Tony, you’re here! Come play football with us! You promised that you would!” he reminded Tony, as he grabbed his arm and tried to pull Tony over to where four boys were passing a ball back and forth.
“And I will, later. Right now, I want to go in and get some of your mom’s amazing pancakes, while there are still some left. If I’m going to take on all you younger guys in football later, I’ll need all the energy I can get. Remember, I’m an old fart,” Tony laughed.
“Whatever,” the boy said, rolling his eyes at Tony. When he let go of Tony’s arm, he turned his attention to Gibbs. “Who are you?” he asked bluntly.
“Mikey, this is Mr. Gibbs, my boss from work. I invited him to play paintball with us today. You better hope he ends up on your team. Mr. Gibbs was a sniper for the Marines, so he ought to be good at this,” Tony told the boy. “Boss, this bundle of energy is my godson, Michael Anthony Hodges, or Pipsqueak, as I like to call him,” Tony introduced.
The ‘Anthony’ in the boy’s name did not escape Gibbs’ notice. Neither did the fact the boy referred to Tony as ‘Uncle Tony’. Clearly Tony was much more than just an old frat friend to Mike’s father. This was more like family than friends, and Gibbs began to wonder why Tony had invited him.
“Very funny,” the boy huffed. Then, suddenly remembering his manners, the boy held out his hand to Gibbs. “Most people,” he said, looking pointedly at Tony, “normal people, call me Mike. It’s nice to meet you, Sir.”
“Good to meet you too, Mike,” Gibbs smiled at the boy, as he shook his hand. “You can just call me Gibbs. Don’t listen to Tony, I never do,” he added with a wink.
“Hey!” Tony objected. “Nice way to undermine me with my own godson,” he said in mock indignation.
Mike broke out into a grin, clearly having decided that he liked Gibbs, which opened up the flood gates. “Were you really a sniper? What was that like? Can you teach me to shoot better? Have you ever been shot? Did you know that Uncle Tony’s been shot? Are you really his boss? Do you play football? Is Uncle Tony your best agent?” Mike bombarded Gibbs with questions.
Before Gibbs could start to formulate a response to all that, Tony laughed and bent over and grabbed Mike, picking him up and swinging him head first over a shoulder, and holding him by the ankles as he dangled down Tony’s back. “Leave the man alone for a little while. You have all day to pump him for information. He can’t escape you, I drove.”
“Let me down,” the boy cried, wiggling while trying to escape Tony’s grasp.
“What do you say?” Tony asked. The boy just laughed and continued to struggle. “I can’t hear you,” Tony told him, giving his feet a little shake.
Between laughs, the boy finally said, “Uncle, uncle, uncle.”
“And who’s your favorite godfather?” Tony pushed.
“You are. Now put me down,” Mike demanded.
“If you insist,” Tony said, and eased the boy down his backside, until his hands touched the ground. Then Tony slowly let go of his legs, and the boy tucked into a forward roll on the ground, and sprang back up onto his feet.
Once he w
as standing, he looked at Tony, and with a laugh said, “Of course, you’re my only godfather, so that’s not saying much.” Then, still laughing, he sprinted out of Tony’s reach.
“I’ll remember that, Pipsqueak,” Tony warned him. “You better hope I’m on your team today, or you’re going to be my first target.”
“Like that scares me. I shoot almost as good as you,” Mike announced.
“We’re going to go eat. Scram for now,” Tony told him with a wide grin. “We’ll continue this later.”
“Nice kid,” Gibbs commented, as they watched Mike run back over to join the other boys who were playing with the football.
“Yeah, and real smart, too. He’s gotten straight A’s ever since he started school. The little blonde haired girl on the swing is his sister, Anna. She’s a great kid, too. Rick and Sue have done a good job with them,” Tony said, with pride in his voice. “Come on. Time for you to meet everyone else.”
Tony led the way to the house, and headed straight in the front door, not bothering to knock. Upon entering, Gibbs found himself standing in a large room with a tall cathedral ceiling and beautifully polished oak wood floors, centered by an enormous freestanding two-sided fireplace, in front of which had been placed a banquet sized table, covered with a cloth, and laden with food. People sat around the table in clumps, eating, and feeding the infants and toddlers who were strapped into highchairs that had been pulled up next to the table. They immediately called out greetings to Tony when they saw him, and Tony introduced Gibbs to one and all. Gibbs was bombarded by so many names he knew that he’d never be able to remember them all. After pleasantries had been exchanged, Tony turned to Gibbs. “Looks like most of the usual suspects are already here. Let’s go find our hosts, and then grab some plates. We’ll want to get something to eat before we start. Usually we play for about three hours before we stop to eat again.”
Tony led the way to the far end of the enormous open room, where the cooking area was. A large island had been placed in front of a wall of floor to ceiling cabinets, and a strikingly beautiful woman, her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, stood behind it, tending to pancakes that were grilling in an enormous skillet placed on the built in cooking surface. As she used a spatula to flip the golden cakes, she visited with yet more people who were standing around the island. “Sue,” Tony said, as they approached.
Looking up, she broke into a smile when she saw them. “Tony, I was afraid you were going to miss breakfast. Welcome.” Her greeting was followed by a series of “Hey Tony’s” and “Good to see you’s” from the others gathered in the kitchen area.
“Sue, everybody, this is Jethro Gibbs, my boss at NCIS. Most people just call him Gibbs. He’s come to kick all our butts in paintball today,” Tony announced to the group. He didn’t bother introducing everyone to Gibbs, knowing there were just too many names to learn all at once. There was all day for Gibbs to get to know who was who.
“Hello Gibbs,” Sue said. “I’ve certainly heard a lot about you, but never thought I’d meet the man behind the myth.”
Gibbs laughed. “Thanks for having me,” he said. “This is quite the crowd. You must be a brave woman.”
“Or a fool, don’t you mean?” she asked him with a quirky grin. “Actually, this isn’t a chore at all; it’s a pleasure. How better to spend the day after Thanksgiving, than with good friends, eating, drinking and playing?”
“Here,” Gibbs said, placing the paper bag he had brought with him on the countertop next to the stove. “My small offering to the hoards, a couple of loaves of pumpkin bread.”
Sue looked genuinely surprised. “That was very nice of you. Thank you, Gibbs. I’ll save it for the lunch spread. Now, go on you two, go fill up a couple of plates and get to eating.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Tony grinned at her. “Where’s you lesser half?”
Sue mimicked what Mike had done earlier, and rolled her eyes. “Out in the woods, checking all the perimeter markers for the games, again, for the third time since the two of you put them up yesterday. I think it’s his way of avoiding having to do anything to help with breakfast. He should be back in soon.”
‘Way more than old college friends,’ Gibbs thought to himself, when he learned that Tony had spent yesterday here, celebrating Thanksgiving. Suddenly it seemed very important to him that these people like him, and that was a notion that he really wasn’t prepared to examine too closely.
They had just finished eating what proved to be the best buttermilk pancakes Gibbs had ever tasted, when a tall redheaded man in his mid thirties stomped through the front door, pausing to wipe any mud off of the work boots he wore onto the mat at the door. “We’re ready,” he announced to the room in general, after he’d deemed his footwear clean enough. “Let the games begin!” Gibbs assumed that this must be Rick.
“You done?” Tony asked Gibbs, his face shining in anticipation.
“Yep,” Gibbs answered.
“Great. I’ll take our plates over to the sink, then we can go outside and pick our markers. Rick will get everyone together, and we’ll go over the plans for the morning rounds. Bathroom's the door over there, if you need to use it before we start,” Tony said, pointing to a partially open door on a side wall next to the kitchen, as he stood to collect their plates and utensils.
Gibbs made his way through the people who were moving around the room, collecting discarded jackets and sweaters, in preparation for going outside, and headed for the bathroom. He didn’t really need to use the facilities, but he’d learned in the Marines to never let the opportunity to take advantage of indoor plumbing slip by. Besides, he wasn’t sure how today would work, and he didn’t know when he’d be back inside again.
Tony carried their dirty dishes over to the sink in the kitchen area, and rinsed them off, before opening the dishwasher and stacking them inside. Sue was the only person still left there, and she was hurriedly cleaning up so that she could also go out and join in on the fun. “Well?” Tony asked her.
Sue swung the dish towel she was holding over her shoulder, put her hands on her hips, and looked at Tony. “What do you want me to say, Tony? You know how I feel about this. He seems nice enough, I guess, but that isn’t the point, is it? I don’t see why you’re putting yourself through this,” she answered him.
“I’m not putting myself through anything, Sue. I told you that yesterday. This is just me, inviting a friend to play, nothing more. Gibbs doesn’t have family around here, and I thought he might enjoy this. I don’t think it means anything,” Tony assured her again. They continued on in that fashion for a little longer.
Gibbs got to the corner by the kitchen just in time to hear Sue say, “I hope you’re right. I remember what you were like when the thing with Jeanne blew up in your face. Do you really need to have your heart trampled on again?”
“That’s not going to happen. You have to be in a relationship for that to happen,” he said adamantly.
“There are lots of ways to get your heart broken, Tony. Wanting what you can’t have is one of them. That’s what you’re doing " wanting to belong where it’s impossible to belong. You be careful,” Sue cautioned.
“I’m always careful,” Tony said, wiggling his eyebrows at her, trying to break the mood.
Sue decided to let him off the hook, and gave a little laugh. There wasn’t really anything she could do to change the way Tony felt, anyway, no matter how much she wished she could. She and Rick would just have to be there for Tony when he needed them, even if he wouldn’t admit to it himself.
Gibbs stood on the other side of the wall, wondering what they had been talking about. Sue was clearly worried about Tony, and Tony was clearly completely disregarding her concern. It sounded as if Tony was enamored with someone who didn’t return his feelings, and sharp pangs of jealousy spiked through Gibbs. Gibbs didn’t quite understand Sue’s concern though. As far as he could tell, Tony had never had any problem in the female department. Tony was the consummate ladies man, yet another reason Gibbs would never approach Tony, even if there wasn’t Rule Number Twelve to consider. Gibbs knew women tended to swarm all over the younger agent. He’d watched it happen from the sidelines, over and over again. And god knows Tony had never been shy about sharing the more salacious details of his weekends with his teammates. Again, Gibbs was well aware of that, since he had sat at his desk, pretending he couldn’t hear what Tony was saying, not trusting what would come out of his mouth if he allowed himself to respond.
Although, now that he thought about, Tony hadn’t been forthcoming lately. Sue was right, ever since the whole undercover mission with Jeanne Benoit had blown up as spectacularly as Tony’s car, there had been very little mention of any of Tony’s women. As a matter of fact, when they’d been called in to work weekends or holidays, Tony hadn’t griped about the plans he’d had to change, or the dates he’d had to cancel. Gibbs had known that Tony had fallen for Benoit badly, but he hadn’t thought it serious enough to have put Tony off dating for this long. How had he missed something this important? Again Gibbs was jealous " this time, of Sue and Rick Hodges, who had the kind of relationship with Tony that allowed them to discuss intimate aspects of his life. He wanted to be the one who Tony confided in, who he drew comfort from when the situation required it. Of course, he was aware that he’d never given Tony any indication of that, so he knew his jealousy was completely misplaced, but that knowledge didn’t lessen what he was feeling. It merely added to his frustration.
So, who was this mystery woman? Was she here today? Is that why Sue and Tony were talking about this right now? Had he already met her? Gibbs racked his brain, trying to recall all the people he’d been introduced to, but couldn’t come up with anyone. It seemed as if all of the women had been attached to some man. He couldn’t think of a single female who had seemed to be on her own. Did that mean Tony was lusting after a married woman? Is that why Sue had warned him about pining for what he couldn’t have? Gibbs knew that despite Tony’s façade as an uncaring womanizer, Tony had too much honor to indulge in an affair with someone who was already taken. Instead, Tony would merely flirt and joke, and suffer in silence. Suddenly Gibbs had another thought. What if it wasn’t a woman? That notion disturbed Gibbs even more. He wasn’t happy about the idea that he would have to watch Tony with some woman, but another man was out of the question. He was going to have to pay close attention to Tony today. Steeling himself, Gibbs took a deep breath, and headed around the corner, into the kitchen area where Tony and Sue now stood laughing over some joke he’d missed while he was thinking.
The morning seemed to fly by. Since Sue wasn’t playing the first few games, she was chosen to divide up the group into the teams, with Tony captaining one and Rick the other. Face masks, markers, and paintball holders were passed out, and green and yellow t-shirts were distributed to be worn over everyone’s outerwear, designating which team you were on. Orange wooden stakes had been spread out in the woods, marking out a perimeter for about a three mile area that was to be used for game play. The enclosed area offered a lot of diversity in landscape. There were ravines, dense areas of foliage and trees, a dry streambed, old hunting blinds, and semi cleared areas. Each team had a flag, and the goal was to capture the other team’s flag. Two to four players were assigned to guarding their own team’s flag, which were different colored plastic strips attached to a wooden stake, while the rest of the team divided into smaller units, whose jobs were to scout the area, trying to locate where the other team had hidden their flag, without being shot by the other team. Once shot, the player was to put the safety on their gun, remove their t-shirt, and walk back to the house, gun held in the air to signify that they were out for the rest of that round. Children under twelve were paired with an adult, and those under nine were not allowed to play.
Gibbs had been disappointed when he’d been put on Rick’s team, although Mike had been elated when he landed on the same team, and demanded that Gibbs be his partner. After they had all donned their t-shirts, yellow for Rick’s team and green for Tony’s, they were given ten minutes to confer, hide their flag, and come up with a game plan. At the end of the ten minutes, a huge horn was sounded, signifying the beginning of game play. It had been years since Gibbs had messed around with paintball markers, but they weren’t that different from a real gun. You just had to learn how precise the sights were, and what you had to do to compensate for any structural inaccuracies. There was also a learning curve for how the paintballs themselves moved through the air, and what kind of range each gun had, but by the second game, Gibbs had it all under control.
He and Mike were one of the scouting units, and Gibbs discovered how much he enjoyed the adrenaline rush of stalking through the woods, looking for enemy team members to shoot. As they moved from one spot to the next, seeking cover as they went, they could hear shots ringing throughout the woods, and occasionally would spot someone walking towards the house, gun held high, t-shirt in hand, spattered in pink or fluorescent green paint.
Mike had a hard time being quiet, and his persistent chatter gave their positions away several times, although Gibbs was quick to spot enemy players, and often managed to pull Mike out of the line of fire before either of them were hit by a paintball. Mike was filled with questions, most of them centered around learning more about Tony, and his job. Apparently Tony was not very forthcoming with details about what he did, and Mike wanted to know all about dangerous situations Tony had found himself in, and any heroic actions on his part. Gibbs didn’t want to scare the boy by telling him about the most dangerous situations Tony had encountered on the job, so instead he filled Mike in on some of the funnier things that had happened over the years, much of the humor coming at Tony’s expense. ‘Let DiNozzo deal with that later,’ Gibbs thought with amusement, right after he’d told the boy about the time a woman had hit Tony over the head with a lamp, an incident which hadn’t been funny at the time, but was humorous in hindsight.
By noon the teams were tied, one game apiece. A tiebreaker was played, which Tony’s team won, and everyone broke for lunch. While they had been playing, more people had arrived, and folding tables and chairs had been placed outside. The table inside was now laden with all manner of food offerings, from carved turkey and roast beef for sandwiches, to crock pots filled with chili and a variety of soups. At the far end there were pumpkin pies, cookies, brownies and other sweets. Tony immediately sought Gibbs out once game play was halted, and together they loaded up plates and went back outside to find somewhere to eat. Gibbs let Tony choose the table, curious as to whether his choice would lend any clues as to who his mystery crush was. They ended up sitting with a couple about Tony’s age. The husband, Pete, had gone to university with Tony, and the meal was spent with Pete entertaining both his wife and Gibbs with stories of their various exploits while in school. Tony seemed to be enjoying himself, but Gibbs didn’t think Tony was unusually interested in either of their lunch companions, nor did he spend any time surreptitiously looking elsewhere. Most of his attention was focused on Gibbs.
When they were done eating, Mike and a couple of his friends came by and cajoled Tony into joining them in tossing a football around, and Gibbs excused himself so he could go along and watch, too full to participate. The game started with them simply passing the ball back and forth, but soon they were tackling, trying to get the ball away from each other, and it eventually devolved into wrestling, tickling, and general silliness. By the time Rick called out for everyone to regroup for the afternoon paintball wars, Tony was standing, laughing with abandon as he spun in a circle with three boys hanging off of him, legs flying, as they tried to take him to the ground, the football long since forgotten. Gibbs watched the proceedings with amusement. It was good to see Tony so carefree, and Gibbs didn’t think he’d ever looked better. Desire spiked through Gibbs as he looked at Tony, flushed and glistening from the exertion of playing with the kids. Again Gibbs questioned the wisdom of coming today. The more he saw of the off-duty DiNozzo, the more he wanted him, and Gibbs hated not being able to go after what he wanted.
Because of the late arrivals, new teams were drawn up after lunch, and Gibbs found himself on Tony’s green team this time. Tony paired off everyone on his team, leaving Gibbs to partner with him. “It’ll be just like a normal day,” he told Gibbs with a wicked grin. “Except this time, I’m in charge.”
“Just make sure you don’t get us shot. It’d be embarrassing if the only two people in law enforcements got picked off,” Gibbs warned him with a smirk " the smirk that always got to Tony.
“Don’t worry, I’ll always have your back, Boss, no matter where,” Tony told him, suddenly very serious and intense. Gibbs felt a shiver chase down his spine in response to Tony’s words. ‘God, I can’t believe I said that,’ Tony chastised himself as he watched Gibbs to see how he’d react. The older man was looking at Tony with an expression that Tony couldn’t read, and that made him very nervous. He thought he had a handle on all of Gibbs’ facial expressions, and what they meant. To cover his nervousness, Tony pasted a smart alecky grin on his face, that almost hid his discomfort, and cracked, “After all, your reflexes are probably slowing down these days, so someone’s got to look out for you.”
Gibbs didn’t answer; he just reached over and whapped Tony on the back of his head. Neither man mentioned that fact that Gibbs then gently smoothed Tony’s hair back down before he took his hand away.
Tony and Gibbs guarded their team’s flag the first game, successfully tagging all enemy troops that approached, while the rest of their team searched, and eventually found and captured, Rick’s team's flag. They said very little throughout that game, both lost in their own thoughts. For the second game, two other players were left behind to guard the home base, and Gibbs and Tony joined the others in creeping through the dense foliage, shooting at enemy team members, while they sought out the other team’s flag. This time they were spared from talking, since any noise ran the risk of giving their positions away. As they moved from one cover spot to another, crouching together so closely that their sides touched, their only communication was to point at would be shooters, and signal towards their next intended destination. Tony and Gibbs had just spotted their target, the other team’s flag, when a series of rapid shots sounded, indicating that Rick’s team had captured their flag.
After the second game, the players all took a short break, and everyone tramped back up to the house to use the facilities and grab something to eat and drink. Tony headed straight for one of the coolers filled with beverages and ice. “Need a beer,” he grunted at Gibbs, who was following him. The last game had almost been too much for him. Being that close to Gibbs, feeling his body pressed against his own, and knowing that Gibbs didn’t have a clue about how he felt, ‘which was a good thing’ he reminded himself, had him jumpy and on edge. “Want one?” he asked, as he pulled out an icy cold bottle of Coors.
“Nah, one of us better stay sober,” Gibbs said. “I’d kill for a cup of coffee, though.”
“Sue’ll have coffee made in the kitchen. Go on in and get some. I’ll be there is a sec,” Tony told Gibbs. As he stood there, watching Gibbs head for the house, Tony tilted the bottle back, and drank half of the contents down in one fell swoop, wondering why in the hell he’d put himself in this position.
Sue was standing in the kitchen, bent over the counter on the island, fussing with a tray of cheeses and cold cuts when Gibbs got into the house. “Tony said there might be some coffee in here?” Gibbs asked, when he got near enough to her to be heard.
“Over on the counter. Mugs are in the cabinet right above the pot. Help yourself,” Sue told him, as she straightened up. Watching him in an appraising manner, she asked, “Where is Tony?”
“Out having a beer,” Gibbs answered, as he poured himself a mug of coffee, inhaling the aroma with relish.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked him.
“Yeah, hadn’t expected it to be this much fun,” Gibbs told her.
“That’s good. You know, we’ve been doing this for the last six years, and this is the first time Tony’s ever brought anyone,” she told him.
The way she was standing there, looking at him, bothered Gibbs. It was as if she wanted to say something, but either couldn’t decide how to put it, or whether she should. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, and wanting to change the subject, Gibbs commented, “Your boy Mike is a great kid.”
“Yes, he is,” Sue acknowledged. “He thinks the world of Tony. We all do.”
There is was again - that feeling that she was leaving something unsaid.
“Tony’s a really good guy. Mike could do a whole hell of a lot worse in picking who he looks up to,” Gibbs offered.
“You’re right. We’ve sort of adopted Tony. He doesn’t have much family, and what he does have isn’t worth mentioning. Tony needs a place to belong. You know how much Tony looks up to you, don’t you? He talks about you all the time. Gibbs this, Gibbs that. He was excited yesterday that you were coming to play today. I wonder if it’s living up to his expectations?” she mused, pinning him with her eyes.
Gibbs was still trying to figure out what she meant, and attempting to formulate an answer, when Tony swept into the kitchen, a fresh bottle of beer in hand. Tony looked at Sue and Gibbs, immediately feeling the tension in the room. He fixed his gaze on Sue, who shrugged her shoulders and gave a minute shake of her head, letting him know she hadn’t spilled the beans, no matter how much she wanted to. Tony relaxed a fraction, and turned to Gibbs. “They’re just about ready to start again. All fueled up?” he asked.
“Yep. Caffeinated and ready,” Gibbs told him, glad for the excuse to get the hell out of that kitchen. He got the feeling that Sue was angry with him, although he didn’t have a clue about what he could possibly have done to upset her.
“So, what were you and Sue talking about?” Tony asked casually, as they walked back outdoors.
“I’m not really sure,” Gibbs said, puzzlement written all over his face.
“Yeah, well, that happens to me all the time,” Tony smiled, reassured that Sue really hadn’t said anything to Gibbs about the way he felt about him.
By the time they were all reorganized and ready to go again, it was close to four o’clock, and the November sun was just beginning to sink, chilling the air again. “This will probably be the last game of the afternoon,” Tony commented to Gibbs, as he pulled on a light weight jacket he’d brought with him. “It’ll be dark in another hour, and we always quit then. Can’t take the chance that one of the kids will get lost in the woods. Let’s make sure we win this game. Last year Rick’s team won more than mine, and I had to hear about it all year long. I think you and I should be one of the scouting parties. We found their flag before anyone else last game, even if they did beat us in the end.”
“Works for me. You might think about putting a couple more people onto watching our home base, since two didn’t do it last time,” Gibbs grunted.
“Yeah, had already planned to. Great minds think alike,” Tony told him, his eyes twinkling in a way that Gibbs found disturbingly sexy. Gibbs watched as Tony called the rest of their team together to pass out assignments, then they dispersed, each group waiting for the signal to begin. When the horn was sounded, Gibbs and Tony headed into the woods.
They searched through the woods for almost an hour. At one point they got trapped between a paintball gun fight between one of their own teams and one of Rick's. As they sat, almost on top of each other, behind the trunk of a huge fallen tree, silently waiting for the fight to end, Gibbs found himself thinking about the day. He still had no clue who Tony and Sue had been discussing earlier that morning, and Tony hadn’t shown any interest in anyone that was there today. Sue’s comments had bothered him too. It was as if she were trying to tell him something, without directly saying it, something that she seemed to feel he should already know. All that stuff about Tony needing to belong, and how much he respected Gibbs - what in the hell was that supposed to mean? As Gibbs sat trying to puzzle out her meaning, he’d been unconsciously studying Tony, who was sitting close enough to him that he could literally feel the younger man breathing.
Tony had a dark smudge of dirt running down his nose, and without thinking, Gibbs reached over and rubbed the dirt off with his hand. Tony turned his head in surprise to look at Gibbs. When their eyes locked, Tony’s eyes darkened, as his pupils grew huge. Gibbs realized with horror that his cock was responding to the way Tony looked. Clamping down hard on his body’s reaction, telling himself it was probably just a trick of the fading light, he managed to whisper, “Dirt on your face,” in explanation of why he’d touched Tony.
“Oh,” Tony said aloud. ‘Stupid idiot,’ he said silently to himself. ‘What did you think he was doing? You need to get a grip before you embarrass yourself further!’ Aloud once again, he said, “Think they’ve moved on. It’s safe for us to go,” and he started to stand up, wanting to put some distance between himself and the place he’d almost leaned over and kissed Gibbs.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw a flash of yellow moving through the trees about sixty yards away. It was someone from Rick’s team! Reaching up, he yanked on Tony to pull him down before the other player could see him. Tony lost his balance and ended up sprawled on top of Gibbs, face to face. With a start, Gibbs realized his erection was now pressing directly into Tony’s corresponding hardness. Gibbs looked up into Tony’s unblinking green eyes. Suddenly all the puzzle pieces magically fell into place, and Gibbs understood everything he’d heard today. It was him Tony and Sue had been arguing about this morning! He’d been totally clueless. That was why Sue was so irritated with him. He was the one Tony didn’t think he could have! Gibbs reached up and put his hands on Tony’s shoulders, then with a quick twist, he rolled them so that he was lying on top of Tony, covering his body with his own. Sliding his hands up until they grasped either side of Tony’s face, he leaned further in and captured Tony’s mouth with his own. Tony didn’t hesitate in responding, as he parted his lips to allow Gibbs’ tongue access. The heat was palpable, and just like that, Rule Number Twelve erupted into flames, and crumbled into a pile of ashes.
By the time they came up for air, Tony was panting and pressing his erection into Gibbs, trying to intensify the contact. Gibbs wanted nothing more than to rip Tony’s clothes off and drill him into the ground. He’d wanted this for too long, and now that he knew Tony felt the same way, he couldn’t resist. But common sense finally prevailed. They were out in the middle of the woods, woods that were crawling with at least forty other people. “Not here,” Gibbs whispered to him. “We’ll end up with paint splashed all over our naked asses.”
“I knew you’d talk dirty,” Tony managed to smirk. Then his eyes clouded over again, and he groaned, “Don’t want to wait. Have been waiting too long.”
“I know. We both have. But we’re going to have to wait a little while longer. Let’s find that damned flag, win the game, and get the hell out of here,” Gibbs suggested.
“And then what?” Tony asked.
“And then it's Thanksgiving vacation, and we have all weekend long before we have to go back to work. That should be just enough time to get started,” Gibbs growled.
“Started?” Tony asked.
“Started,” Gibbs answered. “You didn’t think this would be a one-shot did you, Tony? You should know me better by now. Once you’re mine, your mine. That’s what you want isn’t it? To be mine, and for me to be yours?”
Tony gazed at Gibbs. ‘How did they get here so quickly?’
As if reading his mind, Gibbs said, “It’s not as if we need to get to know each other Tony. We’ve had a lot of years together already. Wasted years, and I don’t intend to waste anymore. Tell me now if this isn’t what you want.”
Tony didn’t respond verbally, he just grabbed Gibbs, and kissed him fiercely. When he let go, he said, “Let’s go find that fucking flag.”
Within ten minutes, Gibbs and Tony had found the enemy base, shot all the defenders, and captured the flag. After firing his gun repeatedly in the air, to alert all the others to the fact that the game was over, Tony turned to Gibbs and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Rick was standing in the yard by the time Tony and Gibbs emerged from the woods, the flag dangling from Tony’s hand. “You got lucky this year,” he said to Tony as Tony handed over the stake that the yellow plastic flag was attached to.
“You have no idea,” Tony smirked at him.
“Let’s go get a beer,” Rick said, “and you can gloat at me for a while.”
“Can’t,” Tony said. “Gibbs and I are leaving. Thank Sue for me, and tell her that sometimes what we think is impossible, isn’t so impossible.”
Rick looked over at Gibbs in surprise, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the older man. Gibbs stood tall, and met Rick’s eye, enduring the silent scrutiny without comment. “Tony deserves the best,” he said, breaking the silence finally.
“Yeah, he does, but he’s willing to settle for me,” Gibbs answered.
Rick studied him for a few more moments. “Happy Thanksgiving, Gibbs,” he finally said. “I’m glad you came.”
“Thanks, so am I. And I intend to be here next year, too,” Gibbs told him, somehow knowing it was important to let Rick know that this was not going to be a one-time thing.
“I’ll look forward to that,” Rick nodded. Then to Tony he said, “If you’re leaving, you better make yourself scarce before Mike gets back up here, or you’ll spend the next half hour explaining to him why you need to leave, and I’d rather you didn’t have to tell a lie. Go on, scram,” he shooed Tony away.
Later that night, many hours later, as Tony lay tucked in tight next to Gibbs, he reached over and ran his hand across Gibbs’ bare chest. “Are you ready to give thanks again?” he asked huskily.
“I could be talked into it. Why don’t you show me what you want for Christmas,” Gibbs said, as he reached up and threaded his hands through Tony’s hair, pulling him in for a passionate kiss.
Finis and Happy Thanksgiving to All!
“So, what are you doing on Black Friday, Boss?” Tony asked Gibbs, as they rode the elevator down to the parking garage together. He wondered about Thanksgiving also, but was hesitant to ask. That was a family day, and family was a touchy subject with Gibbs. It was Wednesday, the day before the holiday, and Vance had given the whole team a long weekend off. They weren’t scheduled to go back onto rotation until Monday, and Tony had been literally dancing up and down with excitement ever since Gibbs had told everyone they could leave. As the elevator descended, he was tapping out the beat to imaginary music on the wall, while he unconsciously swayed from foot to foot, and Gibbs watched him, trying to keep his amusement from showing on his face.
“Black Friday?” Gibbs asked him with a blank face.
“Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year? Huge sales, long lines, start of the Christmas season? You’ve never heard of it?” Tony asked incredulously.
“Not big on shopping, DiNozzo. Suppose it’s one of your favorite days,” Gibbs smirked.
“Right you are, Boss, but not for the reason you think,” Tony answered. “I’m already done with my Christmas shopping. Contrary to popular opinion, I am not really a shopaholic. I do almost all my shopping online, in September. Then I don’t have to worry if we get busy, and I don’t have time to shop for people in December. Learned that the hard way my first year working for NCIS. We were so busy we ended up working every weekend all month, and I had to go out the night before Christmas to try and find something appropriate to give Abby. It was a nightmare. It’s not like you can just go to any old store and find something she’d like; her taste isn’t exactly pedestrian. I finally found a fanged Dracula stuffed teddy bear left over from Halloween on a clearance rack, took the cape off of it and went to the pet center and got a black studded dog collar for it. She was happy with it, but I just got lucky. If I’d had to resort to giving her black roses, she would have known I’d left her gift 'til the last minute, and I’d have never heard the end of it. I vowed I’d never do that again.”
Gibbs snorted in amusement over the story. It was classic DiNozzo; imaginative, resourceful and lucky, all at the same time, and that never failed to fascinate him. Not that Gibbs let on. It wouldn’t do for Tony to realize how much Gibbs enjoyed his banter, or stream of conscious musings, or how much he liked just standing on the fringe, looking at Tony when he was in performance mode. Actually, truth be told, Gibbs liked looking at Tony at almost any time, and that was definitely something he wasn’t willing to share. Rule Number Twelve " never date a coworker - existed for a reason, although there were times, like when he was watching Tony, that he couldn’t remember what that reason was. Gibbs was spared from having to re-examine that particular problem when Tony resumed talking. They were at the garage level now, and Tony trotted along behind Gibbs, following him as he headed for his car, talking all the while.
“Nope, the day after Thanksgiving’s become one of the best days in the year for me, and it has nothing to do with shopping. I’ve got an old frat brother who lives right outside Arlington, on a fair piece of land, most of which is heavily wooded. Every year a group of us get together, and we invite a whole bunch of people - family, friends, significant others, you name it - last year there were forty-six of us, and we play paintball all day long! We break up into teams, and each team has a flag. The object is to capture the other team’s flag, without getting shot. One shot and you’re dead, then you have to wait until the next game before you can play again. We keep changing the teams and home bases from game to game. Course, none of us has a lot of tactical military planning training, like you, but we have a blast. Hey, you should come play this year, Boss! You’d love it. You’d be like my ace in the hole, a secret weapon, my own sniper. We’d clean up!” Tony exclaimed, his face lighting up with delight.
Gibbs just grunted. He was trying to picture Tony tramping through the woods, armed with a paintball riffle, flushed and happy. The image he called to mind was incredibly enticing, and he immediately had to remind himself of Rule Number Twelve.
When Gibbs didn’t say anything, Tony began to backpedal. “Course, you’ve probably got somewhere better to be. I mean, of course you’ve got plans. I don’t know what I was thinking. It's Thanksgiving weekend, after all.” He was embarrassed that he’s assumed that Gibbs would be like him, staying home alone over most of the holiday, without family obligations or festivities. Silently he chided himself for being a fool. “Consider yourself invited for some other year, when you haven’t already made plans,” he finished lamely, giving a rather forced half smile.
Something about the way Tony deflated before his very eyes, and the vulnerability that had flashed across Tony’s face for just an instant, got to Gibbs. Before he even thought about it, his mouth opened and he heard himself say, “I’ll play.”
“I mean, it’s not really that much…..You’ll play?” Tony blinked at Gibbs in confusion.
“Yeah DiNozzo. You did ask me, remember?” Gibbs said wryly. “Having second thoughts?”
“Yes, I mean no. I mean, yes, I remember asking you, and no, I’m not having second thoughts. Wow, that’s great, Boss,” Tony was beaming again, his smile blazing brightly. “How about I pick you up around 0900? First game will start around ten, and it takes about forty-five minutes to get to Rick’s house. Don’t bother eating much for breakfast. There’s always a ton of food. People will bring stuff, most of it made from leftovers from Thanksgiving, and those who come just to hang out, instead of play, will spend the day cooking. There’ll be people coming and going all day long. At the end of the day there’ll be a huge bonfire, and Rick will grill brats and chicken for the adults, and the kids’ll roast weenies and marshmallows,” Tony explained enthusiastically. “Once its dark, they’ll set off fireworks.”
“Sounds good,” Gibbs said, surprised by the fact that it really did. He usually used his down time working on his boat, but four days was a long time to spend alone, shut in a basement, even for Gibbs, especially over Thanksgiving. It gave him too much time to remember what he’d lost, and what he’d chosen to forget. “See you on Friday,” he told Tony, as he opened his car door, and slid in.
Tony managed to say goodbye, as he stood stunned and frozen next to Gibbs’ car. Had that really just happened? Had he just asked Gibbs to go with him to Rick’s house on Friday? Had Gibbs really said yes? As he watched Gibbs back his car out of the parking space, Tony was tempted to pinch himself to make sure he was really awake, and this hadn’t just been some weird dream. ‘Wait a sec. Is this a date? No, of course it isn’t a date, you idiot,’ Tony reprimanded himself. ‘Get a grip! Gibbs doesn’t date co-workers, especially MALE co-workers. Gibbs marries redheads, FEMALE redheads. Better not forget that, DiNozzo,’ he lectured to himself.
Then he thought about Rick. What was Rick going to say when he met Gibbs? Rick was his best friend. They’d been tight since freshman year. Rick had nursed him through the occasional sloppy drunken episode, had lent him money when he was broke, and had taken his side after every breakup in college. Of all his friends, Rick was the one who knew the most about Tony. Rick even knew about Tony’s family life, or lack thereof, and tried to compensate for it by never failing to invite Tony to spend time at his home over every major holiday. Tony had been the best man at his wedding, and was godfather to Rick’s oldest boy, Michael Anthony Hodges. It was Rick who’d helped Tony pull himself back together after the disastrous undercover mission with Jeanne. He was one of the few people who knew just how wide Tony’s taste in lovers was, and Rick was more than aware of how Tony felt about Gibbs. ‘Oh God, this was a bad idea,’ Tony panicked. He had no idea how Rick would react to Gibbs. Rick had told him time and again to get over Gibbs, had pointed out that even if Gibbs was interested in men, and Tony in particular, his track record proved that he was bad news. Every time that happened, they ended up in an argument, with Tony defending Gibbs, and Rick telling him he was crazy. What would happen when he finally met Gibbs? It was almost like bringing your date home to meet the folks, your date that didn’t even realize they were a date! ‘Maybe I can cancel. Call Gibbs that morning and tell him I’m sick. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do,’ Tony planned.
Problem solved, Tony made his way over to his own car and headed home.
Gibbs got up early on Friday morning and made a huge pot of coffee, which he drank without ever really tasting it. He’d spent yesterday, Thanksgiving, puttering around the house, doing a few home repairs he’d been procrastinating on, and working on the boat. He’d even dug out his mother’s old pumpkin bread recipe and made a couple of loaves to bring to Tony’s friend’s house. By this morning, however, he’d started to regret having accepted Tony’s invitation. The reality of what he’d agreed to had finally set in. Much as he’d enjoyed making Tony smile with delight, and as much fun as tramping through the woods together, armed with paintball markers sounded, the notion of meeting all those strangers did not have the same appeal. What would Tony’s friends think of him, an old grouchy Marine? How could it help but be awkward? He didn’t have much in common with a group of thirty something ex-frat boys, and their families and friends. Maybe there was a way he could back out of it. ‘I could tell Tony I got called in to work,’ he thought briefly, then discarded that idea. Knowing Tony, he’d insist on going in too, and then what would he do, when he had to admit there wasn’t a case? ‘Maybe I could say I’m sick,’ but that excuse didn’t hold up either. Tony knew he never got sick. He was still thinking about it, as he dressed in an old pair of camouflage pants, a dark green sweatshirt, and lace up a pair of combat boots.
Tony couldn’t believe he was in his car, on his way over to pick Gibbs up. Not wanting to be alone, he’d gone to Rick’s house the day before, and between the food, friends, and football, had almost forgotten about the Gibbs predicament. Almost, but not quite. Late in the afternoon, as they were nursing a beer and watching the kids play tag football in the backyard, Rick had asked Tony if he was bringing anyone the next day, and Tony had been forced to admit that he’d invited Gibbs. Rick had not looked pleased. Before he could even start in, Tony had held his hand up and said, “I know, I know. He’s just coming as a friend. He doesn’t have a clue about how I feel about him.”
“That’s what bothers me,” Rick had told Tony. “Are you a masochist? Why do this to yourself? Why spend one of your rare free days with the guy who’s so oblivious to you that he can’t even tell you’re in love with him?” That comment had resulted in Tony denying he loved Gibbs, and once again defending Gibbs to Rick, which really weakened his argument. “Look, I’m not going to argue with you about this again,” Rick had said. “I’ll be civil to the guy, but don’t expect me to be all buddy buddy. And I doubt if Sue will be, either,” Rick had said, referring to his wife. “We just want you to be happy. Find someone who you can be yourself around, not someone you have to play act for.”
“I will,” Tony had assured him. “One of these days.”
“Not when all you can think about is Gibbs. You don’t give anyone else a fair chance,” Rick had muttered darkly.
Tony had denied that, but it had been a rather half-hearted effort, at best. Rick was right; no one else compared well to Gibbs. That had been true for a long time now. That was why he’d fallen for Jeanne. She was so different, and having an undercover persona had helped him forget about Gibbs and NCIS when he was with her. Once that was over, he’d found it impossible to get serious about anyone else. Now he knew what it felt like to be in a real relationship, and he wanted that with Gibbs " the one person on earth it was impossible to be in that type of relationship with. Now, now he was pulling in to Gibbs’ driveway, after having asked him to spend the day with he and his friends, completely unaware of how Tony felt about him. Sighing, Tony put the car into park and climbed out, headed for Gibbs’ front door.
“Hey,” Tony greeted Gibbs, after he answered the door, clearly dressed for a day of plowing through the woods. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, I just need to grab something from the kitchen. Come on in,” Gibbs told him. Tony looked good, Gibbs thought to himself, as he took in the faded jeans that the younger man wore. They hugged his hips just right, and the deep green turtleneck sweater brought out the green in his eyes.
Tony trailed along behind Gibbs as he walked through the house, suddenly tongue tied. When Gibbs got a brown paper bag out of a drawer in the kitchen, and put two loaves of something covered in plastic wrap into it, he managed to ask, “What’s that?”
“Pumpkin bread,” Gibbs explained. “Sounded like I should have some kind of food offering, too.”
“You didn’t need to do that, Boss. No one expects any of the bachelors to bring food. We’re just supposed to eat it, so no one gets stuck taking even more leftovers home,” Tony said, mortified that he’d somehow made Gibbs feel obligated to make something to bring, and at the same time amazed that Gibbs knew how to cook. Somehow, he’d always pictured Gibbs living off of frozen dinners, deli food, and bottomless pots of coffee. It was only the scent of recently made coffee lingering in the air that assured Tony that he hadn’t crossed over into to alternative universe.
“Not a big deal,” Gibbs grunted. Loaves safely stashed away, Gibbs turned to Tony. “Ready,” he announced.
“Alrighty then,” Tony said. “Let’s go. If we hurry, we should get there in time for some of Sue’s pancakes. Sue is my friend Rick’s wife. She always makes breakfast for the early arrivals, and her cooking is something not to be missed,” Tony explained to Gibbs as they headed out to his car.
The drive out was uneventful. Tony talked a blue streak, about anything and everything, barely pausing for air, and if Gibbs noticed anything forced or manic about Tony’s unending monologue, he never got the chance to comment. Actually, it was a beautiful fall morning. The trees all blazed in various shades of red and gold, and the air was crisp, but not too cold, with just enough chill in the air to be invigorating. Gibbs was content to gaze out the window, and occasionally snort in amusement over something Tony had said.
Finally they pulled into a long gravel drive, that took them deep into dense woods. After about half a mile, Gibbs saw a large modern ranch home appear. There was a large area in front of the house that had been cleared of trees to create a lawn which was encased by a circular drive that was already filled with vehicles, the license plates on the cars indicating that people had come from several states to be a part of the day’s activities. About a dozen children of various ages played in the grass, tossing a football, and climbing on the timber jungle gym that held pride of place in the center of the lawn. When Tony had parked, and he and Gibbs had gotten out, a rangy blonde haired boy of about twelve years, shrieked as he ran towards them, “Uncle Tony, you’re here! Come play football with us! You promised that you would!” he reminded Tony, as he grabbed his arm and tried to pull Tony over to where four boys were passing a ball back and forth.
“And I will, later. Right now, I want to go in and get some of your mom’s amazing pancakes, while there are still some left. If I’m going to take on all you younger guys in football later, I’ll need all the energy I can get. Remember, I’m an old fart,” Tony laughed.
“Whatever,” the boy said, rolling his eyes at Tony. When he let go of Tony’s arm, he turned his attention to Gibbs. “Who are you?” he asked bluntly.
“Mikey, this is Mr. Gibbs, my boss from work. I invited him to play paintball with us today. You better hope he ends up on your team. Mr. Gibbs was a sniper for the Marines, so he ought to be good at this,” Tony told the boy. “Boss, this bundle of energy is my godson, Michael Anthony Hodges, or Pipsqueak, as I like to call him,” Tony introduced.
The ‘Anthony’ in the boy’s name did not escape Gibbs’ notice. Neither did the fact the boy referred to Tony as ‘Uncle Tony’. Clearly Tony was much more than just an old frat friend to Mike’s father. This was more like family than friends, and Gibbs began to wonder why Tony had invited him.
“Very funny,” the boy huffed. Then, suddenly remembering his manners, the boy held out his hand to Gibbs. “Most people,” he said, looking pointedly at Tony, “normal people, call me Mike. It’s nice to meet you, Sir.”
“Good to meet you too, Mike,” Gibbs smiled at the boy, as he shook his hand. “You can just call me Gibbs. Don’t listen to Tony, I never do,” he added with a wink.
“Hey!” Tony objected. “Nice way to undermine me with my own godson,” he said in mock indignation.
Mike broke out into a grin, clearly having decided that he liked Gibbs, which opened up the flood gates. “Were you really a sniper? What was that like? Can you teach me to shoot better? Have you ever been shot? Did you know that Uncle Tony’s been shot? Are you really his boss? Do you play football? Is Uncle Tony your best agent?” Mike bombarded Gibbs with questions.
Before Gibbs could start to formulate a response to all that, Tony laughed and bent over and grabbed Mike, picking him up and swinging him head first over a shoulder, and holding him by the ankles as he dangled down Tony’s back. “Leave the man alone for a little while. You have all day to pump him for information. He can’t escape you, I drove.”
“Let me down,” the boy cried, wiggling while trying to escape Tony’s grasp.
“What do you say?” Tony asked. The boy just laughed and continued to struggle. “I can’t hear you,” Tony told him, giving his feet a little shake.
Between laughs, the boy finally said, “Uncle, uncle, uncle.”
“And who’s your favorite godfather?” Tony pushed.
“You are. Now put me down,” Mike demanded.
“If you insist,” Tony said, and eased the boy down his backside, until his hands touched the ground. Then Tony slowly let go of his legs, and the boy tucked into a forward roll on the ground, and sprang back up onto his feet.
Once he w
as standing, he looked at Tony, and with a laugh said, “Of course, you’re my only godfather, so that’s not saying much.” Then, still laughing, he sprinted out of Tony’s reach.
“I’ll remember that, Pipsqueak,” Tony warned him. “You better hope I’m on your team today, or you’re going to be my first target.”
“Like that scares me. I shoot almost as good as you,” Mike announced.
“We’re going to go eat. Scram for now,” Tony told him with a wide grin. “We’ll continue this later.”
“Nice kid,” Gibbs commented, as they watched Mike run back over to join the other boys who were playing with the football.
“Yeah, and real smart, too. He’s gotten straight A’s ever since he started school. The little blonde haired girl on the swing is his sister, Anna. She’s a great kid, too. Rick and Sue have done a good job with them,” Tony said, with pride in his voice. “Come on. Time for you to meet everyone else.”
Tony led the way to the house, and headed straight in the front door, not bothering to knock. Upon entering, Gibbs found himself standing in a large room with a tall cathedral ceiling and beautifully polished oak wood floors, centered by an enormous freestanding two-sided fireplace, in front of which had been placed a banquet sized table, covered with a cloth, and laden with food. People sat around the table in clumps, eating, and feeding the infants and toddlers who were strapped into highchairs that had been pulled up next to the table. They immediately called out greetings to Tony when they saw him, and Tony introduced Gibbs to one and all. Gibbs was bombarded by so many names he knew that he’d never be able to remember them all. After pleasantries had been exchanged, Tony turned to Gibbs. “Looks like most of the usual suspects are already here. Let’s go find our hosts, and then grab some plates. We’ll want to get something to eat before we start. Usually we play for about three hours before we stop to eat again.”
Tony led the way to the far end of the enormous open room, where the cooking area was. A large island had been placed in front of a wall of floor to ceiling cabinets, and a strikingly beautiful woman, her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, stood behind it, tending to pancakes that were grilling in an enormous skillet placed on the built in cooking surface. As she used a spatula to flip the golden cakes, she visited with yet more people who were standing around the island. “Sue,” Tony said, as they approached.
Looking up, she broke into a smile when she saw them. “Tony, I was afraid you were going to miss breakfast. Welcome.” Her greeting was followed by a series of “Hey Tony’s” and “Good to see you’s” from the others gathered in the kitchen area.
“Sue, everybody, this is Jethro Gibbs, my boss at NCIS. Most people just call him Gibbs. He’s come to kick all our butts in paintball today,” Tony announced to the group. He didn’t bother introducing everyone to Gibbs, knowing there were just too many names to learn all at once. There was all day for Gibbs to get to know who was who.
“Hello Gibbs,” Sue said. “I’ve certainly heard a lot about you, but never thought I’d meet the man behind the myth.”
Gibbs laughed. “Thanks for having me,” he said. “This is quite the crowd. You must be a brave woman.”
“Or a fool, don’t you mean?” she asked him with a quirky grin. “Actually, this isn’t a chore at all; it’s a pleasure. How better to spend the day after Thanksgiving, than with good friends, eating, drinking and playing?”
“Here,” Gibbs said, placing the paper bag he had brought with him on the countertop next to the stove. “My small offering to the hoards, a couple of loaves of pumpkin bread.”
Sue looked genuinely surprised. “That was very nice of you. Thank you, Gibbs. I’ll save it for the lunch spread. Now, go on you two, go fill up a couple of plates and get to eating.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Tony grinned at her. “Where’s you lesser half?”
Sue mimicked what Mike had done earlier, and rolled her eyes. “Out in the woods, checking all the perimeter markers for the games, again, for the third time since the two of you put them up yesterday. I think it’s his way of avoiding having to do anything to help with breakfast. He should be back in soon.”
‘Way more than old college friends,’ Gibbs thought to himself, when he learned that Tony had spent yesterday here, celebrating Thanksgiving. Suddenly it seemed very important to him that these people like him, and that was a notion that he really wasn’t prepared to examine too closely.
They had just finished eating what proved to be the best buttermilk pancakes Gibbs had ever tasted, when a tall redheaded man in his mid thirties stomped through the front door, pausing to wipe any mud off of the work boots he wore onto the mat at the door. “We’re ready,” he announced to the room in general, after he’d deemed his footwear clean enough. “Let the games begin!” Gibbs assumed that this must be Rick.
“You done?” Tony asked Gibbs, his face shining in anticipation.
“Yep,” Gibbs answered.
“Great. I’ll take our plates over to the sink, then we can go outside and pick our markers. Rick will get everyone together, and we’ll go over the plans for the morning rounds. Bathroom's the door over there, if you need to use it before we start,” Tony said, pointing to a partially open door on a side wall next to the kitchen, as he stood to collect their plates and utensils.
Gibbs made his way through the people who were moving around the room, collecting discarded jackets and sweaters, in preparation for going outside, and headed for the bathroom. He didn’t really need to use the facilities, but he’d learned in the Marines to never let the opportunity to take advantage of indoor plumbing slip by. Besides, he wasn’t sure how today would work, and he didn’t know when he’d be back inside again.
Tony carried their dirty dishes over to the sink in the kitchen area, and rinsed them off, before opening the dishwasher and stacking them inside. Sue was the only person still left there, and she was hurriedly cleaning up so that she could also go out and join in on the fun. “Well?” Tony asked her.
Sue swung the dish towel she was holding over her shoulder, put her hands on her hips, and looked at Tony. “What do you want me to say, Tony? You know how I feel about this. He seems nice enough, I guess, but that isn’t the point, is it? I don’t see why you’re putting yourself through this,” she answered him.
“I’m not putting myself through anything, Sue. I told you that yesterday. This is just me, inviting a friend to play, nothing more. Gibbs doesn’t have family around here, and I thought he might enjoy this. I don’t think it means anything,” Tony assured her again. They continued on in that fashion for a little longer.
Gibbs got to the corner by the kitchen just in time to hear Sue say, “I hope you’re right. I remember what you were like when the thing with Jeanne blew up in your face. Do you really need to have your heart trampled on again?”
“That’s not going to happen. You have to be in a relationship for that to happen,” he said adamantly.
“There are lots of ways to get your heart broken, Tony. Wanting what you can’t have is one of them. That’s what you’re doing " wanting to belong where it’s impossible to belong. You be careful,” Sue cautioned.
“I’m always careful,” Tony said, wiggling his eyebrows at her, trying to break the mood.
Sue decided to let him off the hook, and gave a little laugh. There wasn’t really anything she could do to change the way Tony felt, anyway, no matter how much she wished she could. She and Rick would just have to be there for Tony when he needed them, even if he wouldn’t admit to it himself.
Gibbs stood on the other side of the wall, wondering what they had been talking about. Sue was clearly worried about Tony, and Tony was clearly completely disregarding her concern. It sounded as if Tony was enamored with someone who didn’t return his feelings, and sharp pangs of jealousy spiked through Gibbs. Gibbs didn’t quite understand Sue’s concern though. As far as he could tell, Tony had never had any problem in the female department. Tony was the consummate ladies man, yet another reason Gibbs would never approach Tony, even if there wasn’t Rule Number Twelve to consider. Gibbs knew women tended to swarm all over the younger agent. He’d watched it happen from the sidelines, over and over again. And god knows Tony had never been shy about sharing the more salacious details of his weekends with his teammates. Again, Gibbs was well aware of that, since he had sat at his desk, pretending he couldn’t hear what Tony was saying, not trusting what would come out of his mouth if he allowed himself to respond.
Although, now that he thought about, Tony hadn’t been forthcoming lately. Sue was right, ever since the whole undercover mission with Jeanne Benoit had blown up as spectacularly as Tony’s car, there had been very little mention of any of Tony’s women. As a matter of fact, when they’d been called in to work weekends or holidays, Tony hadn’t griped about the plans he’d had to change, or the dates he’d had to cancel. Gibbs had known that Tony had fallen for Benoit badly, but he hadn’t thought it serious enough to have put Tony off dating for this long. How had he missed something this important? Again Gibbs was jealous " this time, of Sue and Rick Hodges, who had the kind of relationship with Tony that allowed them to discuss intimate aspects of his life. He wanted to be the one who Tony confided in, who he drew comfort from when the situation required it. Of course, he was aware that he’d never given Tony any indication of that, so he knew his jealousy was completely misplaced, but that knowledge didn’t lessen what he was feeling. It merely added to his frustration.
So, who was this mystery woman? Was she here today? Is that why Sue and Tony were talking about this right now? Had he already met her? Gibbs racked his brain, trying to recall all the people he’d been introduced to, but couldn’t come up with anyone. It seemed as if all of the women had been attached to some man. He couldn’t think of a single female who had seemed to be on her own. Did that mean Tony was lusting after a married woman? Is that why Sue had warned him about pining for what he couldn’t have? Gibbs knew that despite Tony’s façade as an uncaring womanizer, Tony had too much honor to indulge in an affair with someone who was already taken. Instead, Tony would merely flirt and joke, and suffer in silence. Suddenly Gibbs had another thought. What if it wasn’t a woman? That notion disturbed Gibbs even more. He wasn’t happy about the idea that he would have to watch Tony with some woman, but another man was out of the question. He was going to have to pay close attention to Tony today. Steeling himself, Gibbs took a deep breath, and headed around the corner, into the kitchen area where Tony and Sue now stood laughing over some joke he’d missed while he was thinking.
The morning seemed to fly by. Since Sue wasn’t playing the first few games, she was chosen to divide up the group into the teams, with Tony captaining one and Rick the other. Face masks, markers, and paintball holders were passed out, and green and yellow t-shirts were distributed to be worn over everyone’s outerwear, designating which team you were on. Orange wooden stakes had been spread out in the woods, marking out a perimeter for about a three mile area that was to be used for game play. The enclosed area offered a lot of diversity in landscape. There were ravines, dense areas of foliage and trees, a dry streambed, old hunting blinds, and semi cleared areas. Each team had a flag, and the goal was to capture the other team’s flag. Two to four players were assigned to guarding their own team’s flag, which were different colored plastic strips attached to a wooden stake, while the rest of the team divided into smaller units, whose jobs were to scout the area, trying to locate where the other team had hidden their flag, without being shot by the other team. Once shot, the player was to put the safety on their gun, remove their t-shirt, and walk back to the house, gun held in the air to signify that they were out for the rest of that round. Children under twelve were paired with an adult, and those under nine were not allowed to play.
Gibbs had been disappointed when he’d been put on Rick’s team, although Mike had been elated when he landed on the same team, and demanded that Gibbs be his partner. After they had all donned their t-shirts, yellow for Rick’s team and green for Tony’s, they were given ten minutes to confer, hide their flag, and come up with a game plan. At the end of the ten minutes, a huge horn was sounded, signifying the beginning of game play. It had been years since Gibbs had messed around with paintball markers, but they weren’t that different from a real gun. You just had to learn how precise the sights were, and what you had to do to compensate for any structural inaccuracies. There was also a learning curve for how the paintballs themselves moved through the air, and what kind of range each gun had, but by the second game, Gibbs had it all under control.
He and Mike were one of the scouting units, and Gibbs discovered how much he enjoyed the adrenaline rush of stalking through the woods, looking for enemy team members to shoot. As they moved from one spot to the next, seeking cover as they went, they could hear shots ringing throughout the woods, and occasionally would spot someone walking towards the house, gun held high, t-shirt in hand, spattered in pink or fluorescent green paint.
Mike had a hard time being quiet, and his persistent chatter gave their positions away several times, although Gibbs was quick to spot enemy players, and often managed to pull Mike out of the line of fire before either of them were hit by a paintball. Mike was filled with questions, most of them centered around learning more about Tony, and his job. Apparently Tony was not very forthcoming with details about what he did, and Mike wanted to know all about dangerous situations Tony had found himself in, and any heroic actions on his part. Gibbs didn’t want to scare the boy by telling him about the most dangerous situations Tony had encountered on the job, so instead he filled Mike in on some of the funnier things that had happened over the years, much of the humor coming at Tony’s expense. ‘Let DiNozzo deal with that later,’ Gibbs thought with amusement, right after he’d told the boy about the time a woman had hit Tony over the head with a lamp, an incident which hadn’t been funny at the time, but was humorous in hindsight.
By noon the teams were tied, one game apiece. A tiebreaker was played, which Tony’s team won, and everyone broke for lunch. While they had been playing, more people had arrived, and folding tables and chairs had been placed outside. The table inside was now laden with all manner of food offerings, from carved turkey and roast beef for sandwiches, to crock pots filled with chili and a variety of soups. At the far end there were pumpkin pies, cookies, brownies and other sweets. Tony immediately sought Gibbs out once game play was halted, and together they loaded up plates and went back outside to find somewhere to eat. Gibbs let Tony choose the table, curious as to whether his choice would lend any clues as to who his mystery crush was. They ended up sitting with a couple about Tony’s age. The husband, Pete, had gone to university with Tony, and the meal was spent with Pete entertaining both his wife and Gibbs with stories of their various exploits while in school. Tony seemed to be enjoying himself, but Gibbs didn’t think Tony was unusually interested in either of their lunch companions, nor did he spend any time surreptitiously looking elsewhere. Most of his attention was focused on Gibbs.
When they were done eating, Mike and a couple of his friends came by and cajoled Tony into joining them in tossing a football around, and Gibbs excused himself so he could go along and watch, too full to participate. The game started with them simply passing the ball back and forth, but soon they were tackling, trying to get the ball away from each other, and it eventually devolved into wrestling, tickling, and general silliness. By the time Rick called out for everyone to regroup for the afternoon paintball wars, Tony was standing, laughing with abandon as he spun in a circle with three boys hanging off of him, legs flying, as they tried to take him to the ground, the football long since forgotten. Gibbs watched the proceedings with amusement. It was good to see Tony so carefree, and Gibbs didn’t think he’d ever looked better. Desire spiked through Gibbs as he looked at Tony, flushed and glistening from the exertion of playing with the kids. Again Gibbs questioned the wisdom of coming today. The more he saw of the off-duty DiNozzo, the more he wanted him, and Gibbs hated not being able to go after what he wanted.
Because of the late arrivals, new teams were drawn up after lunch, and Gibbs found himself on Tony’s green team this time. Tony paired off everyone on his team, leaving Gibbs to partner with him. “It’ll be just like a normal day,” he told Gibbs with a wicked grin. “Except this time, I’m in charge.”
“Just make sure you don’t get us shot. It’d be embarrassing if the only two people in law enforcements got picked off,” Gibbs warned him with a smirk " the smirk that always got to Tony.
“Don’t worry, I’ll always have your back, Boss, no matter where,” Tony told him, suddenly very serious and intense. Gibbs felt a shiver chase down his spine in response to Tony’s words. ‘God, I can’t believe I said that,’ Tony chastised himself as he watched Gibbs to see how he’d react. The older man was looking at Tony with an expression that Tony couldn’t read, and that made him very nervous. He thought he had a handle on all of Gibbs’ facial expressions, and what they meant. To cover his nervousness, Tony pasted a smart alecky grin on his face, that almost hid his discomfort, and cracked, “After all, your reflexes are probably slowing down these days, so someone’s got to look out for you.”
Gibbs didn’t answer; he just reached over and whapped Tony on the back of his head. Neither man mentioned that fact that Gibbs then gently smoothed Tony’s hair back down before he took his hand away.
Tony and Gibbs guarded their team’s flag the first game, successfully tagging all enemy troops that approached, while the rest of their team searched, and eventually found and captured, Rick’s team's flag. They said very little throughout that game, both lost in their own thoughts. For the second game, two other players were left behind to guard the home base, and Gibbs and Tony joined the others in creeping through the dense foliage, shooting at enemy team members, while they sought out the other team’s flag. This time they were spared from talking, since any noise ran the risk of giving their positions away. As they moved from one cover spot to another, crouching together so closely that their sides touched, their only communication was to point at would be shooters, and signal towards their next intended destination. Tony and Gibbs had just spotted their target, the other team’s flag, when a series of rapid shots sounded, indicating that Rick’s team had captured their flag.
After the second game, the players all took a short break, and everyone tramped back up to the house to use the facilities and grab something to eat and drink. Tony headed straight for one of the coolers filled with beverages and ice. “Need a beer,” he grunted at Gibbs, who was following him. The last game had almost been too much for him. Being that close to Gibbs, feeling his body pressed against his own, and knowing that Gibbs didn’t have a clue about how he felt, ‘which was a good thing’ he reminded himself, had him jumpy and on edge. “Want one?” he asked, as he pulled out an icy cold bottle of Coors.
“Nah, one of us better stay sober,” Gibbs said. “I’d kill for a cup of coffee, though.”
“Sue’ll have coffee made in the kitchen. Go on in and get some. I’ll be there is a sec,” Tony told Gibbs. As he stood there, watching Gibbs head for the house, Tony tilted the bottle back, and drank half of the contents down in one fell swoop, wondering why in the hell he’d put himself in this position.
Sue was standing in the kitchen, bent over the counter on the island, fussing with a tray of cheeses and cold cuts when Gibbs got into the house. “Tony said there might be some coffee in here?” Gibbs asked, when he got near enough to her to be heard.
“Over on the counter. Mugs are in the cabinet right above the pot. Help yourself,” Sue told him, as she straightened up. Watching him in an appraising manner, she asked, “Where is Tony?”
“Out having a beer,” Gibbs answered, as he poured himself a mug of coffee, inhaling the aroma with relish.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked him.
“Yeah, hadn’t expected it to be this much fun,” Gibbs told her.
“That’s good. You know, we’ve been doing this for the last six years, and this is the first time Tony’s ever brought anyone,” she told him.
The way she was standing there, looking at him, bothered Gibbs. It was as if she wanted to say something, but either couldn’t decide how to put it, or whether she should. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, and wanting to change the subject, Gibbs commented, “Your boy Mike is a great kid.”
“Yes, he is,” Sue acknowledged. “He thinks the world of Tony. We all do.”
There is was again - that feeling that she was leaving something unsaid.
“Tony’s a really good guy. Mike could do a whole hell of a lot worse in picking who he looks up to,” Gibbs offered.
“You’re right. We’ve sort of adopted Tony. He doesn’t have much family, and what he does have isn’t worth mentioning. Tony needs a place to belong. You know how much Tony looks up to you, don’t you? He talks about you all the time. Gibbs this, Gibbs that. He was excited yesterday that you were coming to play today. I wonder if it’s living up to his expectations?” she mused, pinning him with her eyes.
Gibbs was still trying to figure out what she meant, and attempting to formulate an answer, when Tony swept into the kitchen, a fresh bottle of beer in hand. Tony looked at Sue and Gibbs, immediately feeling the tension in the room. He fixed his gaze on Sue, who shrugged her shoulders and gave a minute shake of her head, letting him know she hadn’t spilled the beans, no matter how much she wanted to. Tony relaxed a fraction, and turned to Gibbs. “They’re just about ready to start again. All fueled up?” he asked.
“Yep. Caffeinated and ready,” Gibbs told him, glad for the excuse to get the hell out of that kitchen. He got the feeling that Sue was angry with him, although he didn’t have a clue about what he could possibly have done to upset her.
“So, what were you and Sue talking about?” Tony asked casually, as they walked back outdoors.
“I’m not really sure,” Gibbs said, puzzlement written all over his face.
“Yeah, well, that happens to me all the time,” Tony smiled, reassured that Sue really hadn’t said anything to Gibbs about the way he felt about him.
By the time they were all reorganized and ready to go again, it was close to four o’clock, and the November sun was just beginning to sink, chilling the air again. “This will probably be the last game of the afternoon,” Tony commented to Gibbs, as he pulled on a light weight jacket he’d brought with him. “It’ll be dark in another hour, and we always quit then. Can’t take the chance that one of the kids will get lost in the woods. Let’s make sure we win this game. Last year Rick’s team won more than mine, and I had to hear about it all year long. I think you and I should be one of the scouting parties. We found their flag before anyone else last game, even if they did beat us in the end.”
“Works for me. You might think about putting a couple more people onto watching our home base, since two didn’t do it last time,” Gibbs grunted.
“Yeah, had already planned to. Great minds think alike,” Tony told him, his eyes twinkling in a way that Gibbs found disturbingly sexy. Gibbs watched as Tony called the rest of their team together to pass out assignments, then they dispersed, each group waiting for the signal to begin. When the horn was sounded, Gibbs and Tony headed into the woods.
They searched through the woods for almost an hour. At one point they got trapped between a paintball gun fight between one of their own teams and one of Rick's. As they sat, almost on top of each other, behind the trunk of a huge fallen tree, silently waiting for the fight to end, Gibbs found himself thinking about the day. He still had no clue who Tony and Sue had been discussing earlier that morning, and Tony hadn’t shown any interest in anyone that was there today. Sue’s comments had bothered him too. It was as if she were trying to tell him something, without directly saying it, something that she seemed to feel he should already know. All that stuff about Tony needing to belong, and how much he respected Gibbs - what in the hell was that supposed to mean? As Gibbs sat trying to puzzle out her meaning, he’d been unconsciously studying Tony, who was sitting close enough to him that he could literally feel the younger man breathing.
Tony had a dark smudge of dirt running down his nose, and without thinking, Gibbs reached over and rubbed the dirt off with his hand. Tony turned his head in surprise to look at Gibbs. When their eyes locked, Tony’s eyes darkened, as his pupils grew huge. Gibbs realized with horror that his cock was responding to the way Tony looked. Clamping down hard on his body’s reaction, telling himself it was probably just a trick of the fading light, he managed to whisper, “Dirt on your face,” in explanation of why he’d touched Tony.
“Oh,” Tony said aloud. ‘Stupid idiot,’ he said silently to himself. ‘What did you think he was doing? You need to get a grip before you embarrass yourself further!’ Aloud once again, he said, “Think they’ve moved on. It’s safe for us to go,” and he started to stand up, wanting to put some distance between himself and the place he’d almost leaned over and kissed Gibbs.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw a flash of yellow moving through the trees about sixty yards away. It was someone from Rick’s team! Reaching up, he yanked on Tony to pull him down before the other player could see him. Tony lost his balance and ended up sprawled on top of Gibbs, face to face. With a start, Gibbs realized his erection was now pressing directly into Tony’s corresponding hardness. Gibbs looked up into Tony’s unblinking green eyes. Suddenly all the puzzle pieces magically fell into place, and Gibbs understood everything he’d heard today. It was him Tony and Sue had been arguing about this morning! He’d been totally clueless. That was why Sue was so irritated with him. He was the one Tony didn’t think he could have! Gibbs reached up and put his hands on Tony’s shoulders, then with a quick twist, he rolled them so that he was lying on top of Tony, covering his body with his own. Sliding his hands up until they grasped either side of Tony’s face, he leaned further in and captured Tony’s mouth with his own. Tony didn’t hesitate in responding, as he parted his lips to allow Gibbs’ tongue access. The heat was palpable, and just like that, Rule Number Twelve erupted into flames, and crumbled into a pile of ashes.
By the time they came up for air, Tony was panting and pressing his erection into Gibbs, trying to intensify the contact. Gibbs wanted nothing more than to rip Tony’s clothes off and drill him into the ground. He’d wanted this for too long, and now that he knew Tony felt the same way, he couldn’t resist. But common sense finally prevailed. They were out in the middle of the woods, woods that were crawling with at least forty other people. “Not here,” Gibbs whispered to him. “We’ll end up with paint splashed all over our naked asses.”
“I knew you’d talk dirty,” Tony managed to smirk. Then his eyes clouded over again, and he groaned, “Don’t want to wait. Have been waiting too long.”
“I know. We both have. But we’re going to have to wait a little while longer. Let’s find that damned flag, win the game, and get the hell out of here,” Gibbs suggested.
“And then what?” Tony asked.
“And then it's Thanksgiving vacation, and we have all weekend long before we have to go back to work. That should be just enough time to get started,” Gibbs growled.
“Started?” Tony asked.
“Started,” Gibbs answered. “You didn’t think this would be a one-shot did you, Tony? You should know me better by now. Once you’re mine, your mine. That’s what you want isn’t it? To be mine, and for me to be yours?”
Tony gazed at Gibbs. ‘How did they get here so quickly?’
As if reading his mind, Gibbs said, “It’s not as if we need to get to know each other Tony. We’ve had a lot of years together already. Wasted years, and I don’t intend to waste anymore. Tell me now if this isn’t what you want.”
Tony didn’t respond verbally, he just grabbed Gibbs, and kissed him fiercely. When he let go, he said, “Let’s go find that fucking flag.”
Within ten minutes, Gibbs and Tony had found the enemy base, shot all the defenders, and captured the flag. After firing his gun repeatedly in the air, to alert all the others to the fact that the game was over, Tony turned to Gibbs and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Rick was standing in the yard by the time Tony and Gibbs emerged from the woods, the flag dangling from Tony’s hand. “You got lucky this year,” he said to Tony as Tony handed over the stake that the yellow plastic flag was attached to.
“You have no idea,” Tony smirked at him.
“Let’s go get a beer,” Rick said, “and you can gloat at me for a while.”
“Can’t,” Tony said. “Gibbs and I are leaving. Thank Sue for me, and tell her that sometimes what we think is impossible, isn’t so impossible.”
Rick looked over at Gibbs in surprise, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the older man. Gibbs stood tall, and met Rick’s eye, enduring the silent scrutiny without comment. “Tony deserves the best,” he said, breaking the silence finally.
“Yeah, he does, but he’s willing to settle for me,” Gibbs answered.
Rick studied him for a few more moments. “Happy Thanksgiving, Gibbs,” he finally said. “I’m glad you came.”
“Thanks, so am I. And I intend to be here next year, too,” Gibbs told him, somehow knowing it was important to let Rick know that this was not going to be a one-time thing.
“I’ll look forward to that,” Rick nodded. Then to Tony he said, “If you’re leaving, you better make yourself scarce before Mike gets back up here, or you’ll spend the next half hour explaining to him why you need to leave, and I’d rather you didn’t have to tell a lie. Go on, scram,” he shooed Tony away.
Later that night, many hours later, as Tony lay tucked in tight next to Gibbs, he reached over and ran his hand across Gibbs’ bare chest. “Are you ready to give thanks again?” he asked huskily.
“I could be talked into it. Why don’t you show me what you want for Christmas,” Gibbs said, as he reached up and threaded his hands through Tony’s hair, pulling him in for a passionate kiss.
Finis and Happy Thanksgiving to All!
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