Title: Something To Be Thankful For
Author:
dietpunkficsCharacters / Pairings: Gibbs/DiNozzo, Anthony DiNozzo, Sr.
Rating: K+
Spoilers: For 9.11 Sins Of The Father
Word Count: 1400...ish?
Warnings (if any): just fluffy stuff, maybe a smidgeon of angst in there.
Disclaimer: Don't own them.
Summary: Maybe Senior isn't as clueless as he acts.
Author's Notes (if any): Yep, look at this. It's January, and I'm posting a fic I wrote in November. *giggles* This is actually another Meg!Hiatus fic.... Wrote it in golf pencil, mailed it out to
slashscribe, and the day I got out is when she got it in the mail. I've just been lazy and haven't gotten around to posting it.
"Do something with this, Junior."
Horrified, Tony stared at the giblets in his father's hand before looking over at Gibbs - between the two of them, he was definitely in trouble.
"Want an apron?" Gibbs asked with a smirk.
"I'm good. Thanks." Tony replied snidely. Leaving the other two men behind in the kitchen, Tony walked back towards the front door, pulling his jacket off before hanging it up. Rolling up his sleeves, he undid his tie and stuffed it into a jacket pocket before heading back towards the kitchen to snatch the giblets from his father and toss them in the trash before washing his hands.
"Want some wine, Dad? I need Je…Gibbs to go grab some bourbon for dinner. I'm sure he wouldn't mind getting us a bottle while he's at it. Found a nice Cabernet the other day you'd like."
"That'd be fine, Junior. Gibbs, while you're at the store, would you mind picking up some Pellegrino? Oh, and some lemon if Junior wants bourbon with dinner. I'll be sticking to the Pellegrino and wine."
Rolling his eyes, Gibbs headed down into the basement as a confused Senior turned back to Tony, noticing for the first time how comfortable his son was in his supervisor's kitchen.
"Junior?"
"Yeah, Dad?" Tony replied as he rummaged through the refrigerator, pulling out a package of chicken as well as several other items.
"Is there something you'd like to tell me, other than that Gibbs isn't going to the store?"
Puzzled, Tony looked up, then quickly turned to pull two wine glasses out of an overhead cabinet. "No idea what you're talking about," he replied quickly. Before Senior was able to answer, however, they were interrupted.
"You want me to crack a new case of the Cab or grab something else?" Gibbs shouted from the basement.
Tony sighed. "Dammit, Jethro, just grab something."
Shaking his head, Senior chuckled. "Well, that explains why you never made a move on Ziva!" Upon hearing Gibbs come back up the basement stairs, Senior turned and looked pointedly at him. "And you, I suppose this was part of your Thanksgiving master plan? I must admit, Gibbs, you don't strike me as the type of man to have Egyptian cotton sheets. I imagine that was Junior's doing?"
Snatching the wine bottle from a confused Gibbs as Senior headed for the living room. "Dad! Give us a second, would you?" Tony ground out, Quickly opening the bottle, he poured himself a glass before turning to confront the other man. "What the hell did you say to him, Jethro?!" he hissed. "So much for keeping things low key!"
"What? I didn't say anything!" Gibbs exclaimed. "Didn't leave anything out the other night, either!"
"Bullshit!" Tony snapped. "How the hell did he figure it out?"
Taking note of the distraught look on the other man's face, Gibbs pulled him into a loose hug and delivered a gentle head slap, causing Tony to first blink, then smile as he relaxed into the hug. "I don't know, maybe from you knowing where everything is, or you almost calling me Jethro, then trying to cover it up. He's not stupid, Tony."
"You're a pain in the ass, you know that? Could have warned me that you invited him to stay."
"Second B," "'Sides, figured you'd be over here anyway." Gibbs replied, making Tony laugh before tilting his head and leaning in to kiss the other man, laughing as Tony reached down and grabbed his ass.
"Ahem."
The two men jumped apart at the sound of Senior clearing his throat from where he stood by the door.
"Right. Wine?" Tony asked as he poured a second glass and passed it over to Senior.
"Actually, I need to talk to Gibbs for a bit, Junior. It'll give you a chance to start dinner. He and I need to discuss a few things."
Embarrassed, Tony scratched at the back of his neck, then shrugged before moving the turkey over and getting to work on the chicken. With a nod towards the living room, Gibbs grabbed a beer and headed for the couch, plopping down as Senior took a seat in an armchair.
"You could have told me, Gibbs," Senior chastised.
"Not easy to bring up. We don't talk about it much." Looking faintly annoyed, Gibbs twisted the cap off his beer and took a long pull from it.
"You’ve been married before?"
"Didn't work out."
"Why?"
Gibbs grimaced at Senior's question, knowing what was coming next. Sighing, he decided to bite the bullet. "Kept trying to replace someone. Didn't work out."
"I know how that goes," Senior said with a nod. "I do hope that isn't the case now?"
His expression stony, Gibbs glared at Senior. "It's not."
Senior nodded again. "Good. You hurt him, Gibbs and you'll have me to answer to."
"Good."
Gibbs' reply caused Senior to raise his eyebrows. "Good?"
"Yep. Told you. Tony never wanted your money - he wanted a father."
Laughing Senior shook his head. "You're a strange man, Gibbs."
"You're staying here; you can call me Jethro," Gibbs replied.
"I would if I were you, Dad," added Tony. Both men looked up towards the entryway in surprise as Tony entered the living room. ”He gets.... touchy about stuff like that."
"Do not," Gibbs grumbled, causing Tony to raise an eyebrow.
"Bullshit." Turning towards his father, Tony shook his head before joining Gibbs on the couch. "Seriously, Dad, just call him Jethro. He'll be less of a bastard then." Grinning at Gibbs, he took a sip of his wine before placing the glass on the table and leaning against Gibbs.
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Still a bastard."
"Quit sleeping on the couch when I'm not here and you won't be."
"Why, so I can be nice? You don't like me when I'm nice."
"I know that!" Tony exclaimed as Senior chuckled. "No, don't encourage him, Dad. What excuse did he use this time? No guestroom?"
"Actually, Junior, I believe the exact phrase was, 'I always rack down here,'" Senior replied. "You two figure this out. I'm going to finish getting the turkey ready." With that, he headed for the kitchen.
"Tony, you're a pain in my ass," Gibbs said, exasperated.
"Maybe later," Tony replied. "Seriously, though, why don't you sleep in your bed when I'm not here?"
Gibbs shrugged, then turned away. "Bed's cold."
"Try again."
Turning back to Tony, Gibbs glared at him half-heartedly. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"Learned from the best."
Sighing, Gibbs scrubbed a hand down his face before leaning back into the couch. "It's stupid."
"You're acting stupid.” Ignoring the gentle head slap that Gibbs delivered as a rebuke, Tony waited patiently for Gibbs to answer.
"Can't sleep alone," Gibbs muttered under his breath.
Tony grinned. "Can't hear you!"
"I said I can't sleep alone!" Gibbs snapped, then pulled away and glared at Tony as the other man began to laugh. "What the hell's so damn funny?"
"You're an idiot, Jethro. We're getting a new TV Friday. I'm not gonna watch the Ohio State/Michigan game on yours."
"We?"
"Yep. And we're having Christmas here, too. Make sure you call Jack and let him know - I'll take care of the rest." With that, Tony stood up and headed for the kitchen, leaving Gibbs stunned on the couch.
"Shit." Smiling, he leaned back and listed to the good-natured bickering coming from the kitchen. He figured that inviting Senior over for Thanksgiving would change things between Tony and himself, but he hadn't realized how much - and that alone was something to be thankful for.