Chapter Text
Gibbs stamped his feet on the mat near the door, trying to forcibly remove the snow that remained stuck to his boots and pant legs. The benign and uncharacteristically warm weather of December and early January had given way to the full force of winter, blanketing the D.C. area with several inches of snow and freezing temps. Gibbs sipped his hot coffee, grateful for the warm beverage. He tried not to think about how the cold bothered him more than it used to.
Gibbs made his way to metal detectors and security station. He nodded to Tom Ackley, acknowledging the man’s presence without actually greeting him directly. Ackley nodded in return.
“What time did DiNozzo leave?” Gibbs asked as he put is badge, gun and knife in the small tray for scanning.
“He didn’t.”
Gibbs’ gaze narrowed. Ackley didn’t quite fidget under the force of icy blue eyes but he came close.
“He took a call a little around three as he was leaving.” Ackley cleared his throat. “He said something about calling you from upstairs when he headed back up.”
Gibbs’ jaw tightened. Outside regular business hours, most of their case calls went to senior field agents. Gibbs hadn’t realized Tony called from the office to tell him they had a case. His caller ID had shown Tony’s cell phone, making it easy to assume the younger man was calling him on his way to the office from home. Gibbs cursed silently, pissed at himself for making such a stupid assumption. He should know better than that.
Gibbs holstered his gun and sheathed his knife in neat, efficient movements, annoyance as obvious in his body language as if he’d been shouting. Spending a few nights a week apart made sense when he’d agreed to it months ago. It was an easy way to maintain the illusion of separate lives, and keep up their usual routines around the office. But now he wasn’t so sure. It didn’t sit well with Gibbs that he’d gotten a good six hours of sleep while Tony likely hadn’t even had so much as a cat nap.
Gibbs shook his head. He should have made Tony promise not to work too late when he’d said he wanted to make up time used yesterday for a doctor’s appointment. They had sick leave for a reason, but Tony’s bout with Y. Pestis and trips to the emergency room over the years had made the younger man leery of using leave if he could find another way. He usually saved his sick leave for emergencies.
So while Gibbs knew Tony was staying late, he hadn’t expected him to be quite so late. Eleven, maybe even to midnight , but certainly no later than that. There wasn’t any reason for him to stay longer than that. They had most of the paperwork taken care of on their current case so there wasn’t much that could have kept him busy. For him to still be at the office in the wee hours of the morning, Tony had likely gotten involved in helping one of the other teams.
It wasn’t an every day occurrence, but it had happened often enough for Gibbs to make note of it. Tony always downplayed it as his just being readily approachable. But Gibbs knew better. It wasn’t just because Tony was so easy to talk to that had other teams coming to him for input. As a senior agent with experience outside NCIS, Tony had a lot of practical knowledge to draw on and insights to offer.
“It’s really just a bunch of guys, sitting around throwing out facts and debating theories,” Tony had told Gibbs, dismissing the late night, early morning sessions as having little consequence. He jokingly referred to the sessions as ‘campfires, without the s’mores’.
“Know he got dinner,” Ackley offered, abruptly truncating Gibbs’ thoughts and forcing the former Marine to refocus on the security guard.
Gibbs raised an eyebrow, unsure of why Ackley would offer up that bit of information. He had occasionally asked if Tony had eaten, but it wasn’t a standard question like his wanting to know when Tony left. Or it least it hadn’t been until after Tony had gotten the plague and Gibbs realized just how much food it took to keep him running in peak form.
“And you know he ate something because---” Gibbs made a ‘go on’ motion with his hand.
“Marcus Vizoric went out for Chinese around eleven thirty.” Ackley smiled. “Pretty sure he came back with Tony’s favorite, if the smell was anything to go by. And I know he got forks.”
Gibbs nodded. While Tony had finally figured out how to use chopsticks, it was still faster and easier for him to eat with a fork. And Tony had told Gibbs he usually got repaid for his time and effort at one of these ‘campfire’ sessions with food. His favorites were sufficiently well known to be clearly recognizable to security guys like Ackley who undoubtedly knew every place that stayed open past midnight or delivered as well as Tony did. Knowing Tony, he probably asked if whoever was on duty if they wanted anything when he went.
“Anything else I should know?”
“Well, Justin Andrews finally popped the question to his girlfriend. Don’t know if she said yes or not, but Cynthia says the size of the rock he got should have been enough to get her to at least consider the idea. And.…” Ackley trailed off, shrugging one shoulder as he caught the look Gibbs gave him. “No, Special Agent Gibbs, there isn’t anything else you really need to know.”
Gibbs waited until his back was turned and he was headed for the elevator before grinning. He already knew all that and more. He knew what Special Agent Andrews girlfriend’s answer had been when he’d proposed. Tony usually filled him in on anything he thought Gibbs might find worth hearing about. But he really didn’t want other people thinking he actually gave a damn about office gossip. It wouldn’t be good for his image as a gruff, no nonsense, hard ass.
Gibbs sipped his coffee. It was already starting to cool. Damn. He really hated winter.
Although the recent cold snap did give him a chance to finally wear the deep blue silk and cashmere scarf Zeke had gotten him for Christmas. He never would have guessed something so soft and lightweight could add so much warmth. And the sheepskin lined leather gloves Sammy had gotten him were definitely higher end than he’d have ever considered buying for himself. Definitely nice to have when the temperatures never even made past freezing.
Christmas with Mike’s family had been every bit as enjoyable as Thanksgiving. Maybe even more so since now they all knew one another and there was no tension like there had been at their first meeting. Gibbs sighed. Seemed like the holidays were ages ago now instead of just a few weeks. He was already looking forward to going to the Outer Banks in March.
Gibbs stepped off the elevator. Tony was the only one there, attention on his computer screen, phone trapped between his right shoulder and his ear. Green eyes moved back and forth, obviously checking whatever was on his screen against what whoever he was talking to was saying.
“Yeah…Blue four door Ford Focus. License number Delta, Mike, Lima . Eight. Seven. Zero. Three. You got that? Thanks.” Tony hung up. He smiled at Gibbs. “Morning, Boss.”
“DiNozzo.” Gibbs kept his greeting short, his attention focused on assessing his lover than on what he was saying. The younger man didn’t look like he’d been up all night, but then he rarely did. It wouldn’t be until mid-afternoon when the effect of not sleeping would catch up to him. Then it would be a cup of coffee and a candy bar to power him through the rest of the day. Gibbs had seen it before.
“What’ve you got?”
“Dead sailor.” Tony stood up, holding a small notepad in one hand. “Petty Officer Eli Warren. Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Gibbs frowned.
“ID hasn’t been confirmed.” Tony shrugged, looking apologetic. “LEOs found a body around two this morning. The cop I talked to said the victim’s face was too damaged for them to make a positive match.”
Tony winced, clearly thinking about how extensive the injuries had to be to make a visual identification impossible. Gibbs could understand his reaction. There was always something disturbing about facial features being mangled beyond recognition.
“We got the call based on the military ID found on the body.” Tony glanced down at his notepad. “I pulled Warren’s file. Called home phone and cell number that was listed in his file. No answer at either one. Just put out a BOLO on his car.”
“It wasn’t at the scene?”
“No.” Tony shook his head. “No bars, nightclubs or restaurants in the immediate vicinity that he could have walked from. No metro or bus stops nearby either.”
Gibbs considered that. “Basic body dump?”
“Could be.” Tony shrugged.
There was no way to know for sure until they saw the scene for themselves. “LEO’s securing the area?”
Tony nodded. He stuffed his notebook into his backpack before reaching for a long, black wool coat that hung from the back of his chair. “Cop said they didn’t touch anything after they’d found Warren’s ID. They’re waiting for us to get there.”
Gibbs nodded. “Ziva and McGee?”
Tony grinned when the soft ping of the elevator announced the arrival of the rest of the team. “Looks like the gangs all here, Boss.”
Ziva tolerance for the cold was practically non-existent. Gibbs thought she looked like she was planning an expedition to the artic; wool hat, parka with a hood, snow boots, gloves, the works. He wondered how exactly she’d get to her gun under all those layers, but was confident she’d find a way.
McGee was the only one who looked like had just rolled out of bed. Four in the morning was obviously not the computer geek’s normal wake up time. With his bleary eyes you’d think it was McGee who didn’t get any sleep, Gibbs thought with a wry, internal smile that he was careful not to let show. He gave the younger man points for carrying a tray with several cups of coffee. He was definitely learning to anticipate.
Gibbs finished the coffee he had in hand, tossing the empty away even as he reached to take one from McGee’s tray. “Let’s go people.”
Tony was a step behind him, on his left as usual. Gibbs didn’t consciously acknowledge how complete that made him feel, how much more confident he felt simply to have Tony on is six. He really wished there was some way they could be alone in the elevator so he could get a good morning kiss. It was one more thing he hated about nights spent apart.
Tony gave him a sidelong glance, green eyes sparkling with good humor. It was obvious he knew was Gibbs was thinking. It made Gibbs’ fingers itch to cuff the back of Tony’s head, but without some obvious reason he couldn’t.
With Ziva and McGee in front of them, Gibbs could at least reach out and rub his hand down Tony’s back. He patted the younger man’s ass, giving Tony a wink and small smile. Tony smiled back and pursed his lips, blowing a silent kiss. It was as physical as they dared to get at the office.
Gibbs sighed silently in regret. Hopefully this case wouldn’t be too complicated. Not only was spending hours outside in frigid conditions unappealing, Gibbs wanted to make damn sure Tony went home at a decent time.
Gibbs nodded to himself as the elevator doors opened at the garage level. His bed was way too damn big, and too damn cold without Tony in it. It was time they rethink spending nights apart.