Building Heaven - Part 3 (NCIS, Tim/Tony, NC-17)
Link to master post | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Epilogue
By the middle of the week, Tony figured that he was getting used to this whole ‘secretly dating someone from work who happens to be another guy’ thing. He and McGee worked together in pretty much the same way as they always had - with a lot of mocking and teasing and general Tony-ness on his part, and a lot of eye-rolling and slights against intelligence and long-suffering sighs on Tim’s. But every look, every time they stood together, or came into any kind of contact, was completely different. Tony knew that it was only a matter of time before someone noticed; they worked with some of the greatest investigative minds in this country, and his money was on Gibbs knowing already and just biding his time to say something.
And yet as a week, and then two, passed, Gibbs still hadn’t said anything. Nor had Ziva, Abby, or even Ducky, who would have been Tony’s second favorite for figuring it out first. Tony put it down to the fact that he was still flirting with pretty much every hot girl who came anywhere near him, and he still gave McGee a hard time about, well, everything. But every evening, after work, he went over to Tim’s apartment and stayed until he knew he had to get home or arrive at the office with Tim again and face some awkward questions. Maybe they were being overly paranoid, but it was a risk that neither of them could afford to take. He looked forward to the weekends where they could just lounge around all day at Tim’s: wearing each other out on sweat-soaked sheets; sitting - Tony refused to call it snuggling - on the sofa while they watched movies (Tony called it ‘education’, Tim simply laughed and leaned in closer against Tony’s body); even just lying in bed eating pizza and arguing over who ate the most (it was usually Tony, although he’d deny it until he ran out of breath).
Tony also found himself getting more and more adventurous with the whole…gay sex thing. The first time he went down on Tim he was pretty nervous; if ‘pretty nervous’ meant ‘terrified’. They had been fooling around on the sofa, and Tony began to move down Tim’s body, kissing and nipping his way to the soft trail of hair leading under his boxers. He felt Tim’s had on the side of his face, angling his face up.
“Hey.” Tim’s expression was serious, but barely masking the lust underneath. “Tony, you don’t have to do that.”
“I know.” Tony leaned forward and mouthed Tim’s erection through his underwear, dampening the fabric with breath and spit. “But I want to.” He pulled Tim’s boxers down and off, and when his lips touched the head of Tim’s cock the needy sound that move elicited make his own cock jerk.
He sucked the head into his mouth, trying not to wince at the strange taste. Only that morning he had licked Tim’s come from his own hand after sex, so it wasn’t as though he hadn’t been expecting it, but it was still weird. Down here was a definite taste, and smell, and it was still different to what he was used to.
Of course, that didn’t mean that he didn’t like it. As strange as the taste of cock was, it made his mouth water, and he found himself trying to take more of Tim’s cock into his mouth. He could only get so far without gagging, though, and found himself with a new appreciation for those girls who could deep-throat him and make it look effortless. In fact, any girl who could make a blowjob look effortless was pretty good, because it was anything but. Tony found himself getting caught up as he tried to keep his teeth out the way as he sucked, while also attempting to use his tongue the same way Tim had done to him. He was pretty sure he was sucking - no pun intended - at it, but when he looked up he saw Tim biting his lip, moaning, and could feel the slight movement in Tim’s hips as he tried to stop himself from thrusting, so Tony knew he couldn’t be doing too badly.
He brought his right hand up to the base of Tim’s cock and began to jerk what he couldn’t get in his mouth. His left he used to play with Tim’s balls, feeling them draw up as he held them.
Feeling a hand in his hair, Tony looked up again, into eyes blown wide with lust. “Tony…doing great…gotta pull off…gonna come…” Tim panted, and Tony did as he was told, not quite ready to try swallowing yet. He sat back on his heels and jerked Tim harder, and then Tim was throwing his head back and yelling, come spurting over Tony’s fingers. Wiping his hand on one of the napkins from when they’d ordered pizza, Tony crawled up Tim’s body and straddled him, kissing him leisurely.
“Was that okay?” he asked, going for ‘cocky’ and managing more ‘extremely nervous and insecure’.
“Fucking hell, Tony,” Tim laughed. “If that was you learning, god knows what you’re going to do to me when you’ve practiced. Not that you need to practice, although I can’t say I’d mind,” he finished, grinning.
Then Tim rolled Tony onto his back and proceeded to suck his brains out through his cock, and Tony gave up on trying to think for a while.
Today, however, was Wednesday, and the weekend felt like a distant memory as Tony watched Gibbs break a suspect who had killed his wife because he’d thought she’d been cheating. She hadn’t been, of course, which made it all the more sad. He walked out the observation room, straight into Tim, who smiled broadly as soon as he saw Tony.
“Hey!” Something of what he was feeling must have shown on his face, because Tim’s smile immediately dropped and his expression turned concerned, bringing a hand up to rest lightly on his hip. Tony glanced around, but they were all alone in the corridor. “Wanna tell me what’s wrong?”
Tony, being who he was, tried to play it off. “You mean aside from the fact I haven’t seen you all day?” he teased, hooking a finger into one of Tim’s belt-loops.
“Tony.” Tim’s voice held a mild warning, and Tony deflated.
“It’s just… Why do people do that? Why do they wake up one morning and say to themselves, ‘Hey, my wife’s cheating, I think I’ll murder her’?” Tony sighed and leaned back against the wall, pulling Tim forward as well, although he kept an ear out for doors opening.
Both of Tim’s hands were on his hips now, just holding; a comforting warmth that seeped into his bones. “I…wish I knew.” Tim leaned in and pressed his forehead against Tony’s, expression understanding. “But some people are just….”
“Oh, my god!” Tony felt as though his heart had stopped at the sound of Abby’s voice. There was no way that she could look at them right now and not know that there was something between them that went beyond colleagues, beyond friends. Tim had jumped away from him at the sound of her voice, but Tony knew he hadn’t been quick enough. He wondered if there was enough time for damage control before….
“DiNozzo!”
“Yes, boss!” He hoped he didn’t look too guilty, but Gibbs was giving him that stare. It lasted long enough that Tony was convinced that Gibbs knew; that it had been written all over all of their faces when he came out of the interrogation room. But after what was possibly the longest moment of Tony’s life, Gibbs slapped him upside the head. “Ow! What was that for?” he asked before he could help himself.
“Whatever you did to make you look so guilty,” Gibbs said, before turning to Abby. “Abbs, you got something for me?”
Abby blinked and looked at Gibbs. “Um, yeah, the results were conclusive. We have evidence to back it up; the husband’s definitely our guy.”
Gibbs beamed at her. “Good work, Abbs,” he said, and walked out towards the squad room. The three of them stood there as agents came out of the observation room and took the suspect from the interrogation room, before leading him out through the same door as Gibbs had gone through.
The silence was almost unbearable by the time Abby finally spoke.
“So does one of you want to tell me what’s been going on?” she asked, her voice steel. Tony fought the urge to run screaming down the hall, but only because he could sense that underneath her anger, Abby was hurt. He had no doubt that it was because they had kept this from her, and he felt a surge of guilt; of all the people on the team, they maybe should have let her in on the secret.
He walked up to her, reaching out to touch her shoulder, but she jerked away from him. “Abby, we…” He sighed, glancing over at Tim. “We should have told you, but we decided not to tell anyone. We should have known that you were the exception.”
“So no-one knows?” she looked very slightly mollified, and Tony nodded.
“No-one but you.” Tony sighed. “Abby, I….”
“So are you two, like, together?” she asked, looking at them with what seemed to be part confusion, part amusement, and Tony groaned inwardly.
“Yeah,” he said quietly, sensing Tim come up behind him and automatically turning slightly towards him.
Abby’s eyes widened as she looked between them. “All right, we need to have a talk about this. Tony, we’re all going to go over to yours tonight.”
“Ziva’ll want to come along if she knows we’re having a gathering.”
Abby frowned for a moment, then smiled. “That’s all right; we can go to Tim’s instead and tell her that he’s ill. She’ll be happy to give that a miss.”
They nodded and followed her out.
***
Two hours later, they were standing in Tim’s apartment in a fairly uncomfortable silence. Abby sat on the sofa primly, before glaring at them both. “All right, talk,” she ordered, and Tony glanced over to Tim, silently pleading with him to explain. Tim nodded and took a deep breath.
“What do you want to know?”
Abby’s eyes widened. “Everything! Well, I mean, not everything, although if you have been using a video camera I wouldn’t mind seeing it, but, y’know…” She trailed off and looked hopefully up at Tony, who gave a look of surprise, before looking over at Tim, slightly panicked.
Tim smiled weakly. “Okay, um, anyway… You remember when I got shot?” Abby nodded, looking stricken. “Well, uh, Tony brought me home, and then we…uh….”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Jeez, Probie… I kissed him, Abby, and then we decided that it would be a great idea if we were together.”
“But I didn’t know you liked guys, Tony,” she said, eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, that makes two of us,” he laughed, dropping down next to her on the sofa. “You understand why we didn’t tell anyone, right?” he asked, suddenly all seriousness.
She nodded. “I know.” She frowned. “Wait, you didn’t know you liked guys either?”
“Not until Probie over there started giving me ideas.” Tony smirked at Abby, before shooting a look filled with promise at Tim and watching him squirm.
“Were they good ideas?” Abby asked, her tone pure mischief.
“Very good ideas,” he smiled, before standing and heading over to Tim, who looked at him questioningly. He grabbed Tim’s shirt and pulled him forward, wrapping his other arm around Tim’s waist. Tim’s eyes widened in realization right before Tony leaned in and began to kiss him.
“Oh, my god.” This time, Abby’s voice was hushed, and possibly even a little admiring. Tony smirked and pulled back, giving Tim’s lips one last peck. Abby skipped up to them and patted them both on the arm. “Well, guys, congratulations, I hope you’re very happy, but right now I have to go home and think real hard about what you guys will be doing when I leave.” After giving them a chirpy smile, she was gone, leaving both men with their mouths slightly open as they thought about what she meant.
Tony brought a hand up to cup Tim’s cheek. “Hey, are you all right with Abby knowing about us?”
Tim shrugged, smiling slightly. “Yeah; she’s Abby, y’know? Plus she already knew that I liked guys, and although I didn’t tell her that I had a thing for you I think she suspected.”
Tony nodded, eyes slightly narrowed. “She does tend to know about these things.” He backed Tim against the wall, loving the way that Tim’s head fell back and his eyelids went to half mast as Tony pressed against him just…like…that. “So how about we continue this in your room and give Abby something to think about?” he muttered against Tim’s ear, laughing when Tim pushed him away and proceeded to drag him towards the bedroom.
***
The next day they arrived together; Tony had decided that with the kind of day they’d both had they deserved to bend the rules a little, and had stayed the night. The morning was quiet and, for once, Tony enjoyed it, content to write up some notes and sneak glances at Tim from time to time. The only damper on the day was when, coming up in the elevator, he overheard a conversation which he’d rather not have heard. Ever. There had been a rumor going around for a few days that Abby had been offered a job somewhere else, but Tony hadn’t paid any attention. Rumors like that went around all the time. But then:
“So did you hear?” Tony thought he might recognize one of the giggling blondes in front of him from H.R., but he wasn’t sure. The one talking was kind of cute, but he found himself almost totally unmoved. He wondered briefly what the hell Probie had done to him, when the blonde spoke again. “You know Abby down in forensics? I heard she got a job offer.”
“No way!” The other girl sounded as though she was enjoying the news far too much, and Tony bristled slightly.
“She did! I heard some corporate headhunter took her to the Ritz Carlton for drinks, so it must be a pretty big company. Big bucks, too.”
“Do you think she’ll take it?”
“God, I would! A private sector company who can afford to got the extra mile?” The elevator doors opened and Tony cussed inwardly when he realized that it was his floor. He considered asking if she knew what company it was with, but decided against it, since that would mean that he had been eavesdropping and was more likely to get glared at than given any more information.
Instead, he smiled at them, before heading out of the elevator towards his desk, wondering if Abby could really think about leaving them.
He had almost forgotten about this and was just thinking about getting Tim to take him to lunch - and maybe find somewhere quiet where he could push Tim up against a wall and kiss him breathless - when Gibbs hung up the phone and took his gun from his drawer.
“Grab your gear; we got a jumper,” Gibbs ordered as he walked past. “You three gas the truck, I’m taking the car.”
“On it, boss,” Tony said, and they all followed Gibbs to the elevator. So much for a quiet day.
***
“I don’t think Gibbs knows.” Tim said, turning back to the truck after watching Gibbs walk away with the cop.
“Not gonna hear it from me,” Tony said matter-of-factly as he put in his earpiece.
“Not going to hear what from you?” Ziva asked.
“Abby may have gotten a job offer,” Tim replied and, as Ziva ‘Ooh’-ed in interest, Tony supplied some details.
“Big bucks.”
“Allegedly,” Tim interjected, but Tony ignored him.
“Private sector.”
“Still just a rumor, Tony.” And of course, they hadn’t had a chance to talk since he’d overheard that conversation, so Tim didn’t know yet.
“Not any more, Probie-san. Someone from Human Resources told a friend-of-a-friend that Abby had cocktails last night at the Ritz Carlton…with a corporate head-hunter,” he said, trying to talk as much to Ziva as he was to Tim and well aware of the fact that he was only vaguely successful. Fortunately, Ziva didn’t seem to notice.
“And this friend told you.” She sounded dubious and Tony looked sheepish.
“Not exactly; I overheard it in the elevator.” He looked up at Tim saw the probie looking at him with heat in his gaze. Knowing that he needed to stay focused, and not let anything distract him - up to and including irresistible Probies - he gave Tim a sidelong glance and a quick smile before turning his attention back to Ziva as she spoke.
“Ha! Very reliable source. Abby was probably on a date.”
“Abby on a date at the Ritz Carlton?” Tim’s voice held pretty much all the incredulity that Tony was feeling at the idea.
“Strictly business time, Ziva,” Tony was suddenly aware that he and Tim were walking too closely together to allow Ziva to walk between them, but as Ziva didn’t seem to notice - or mind - he didn’t bother to move.
“Did they say which business?”
“Well, the elevator reached my floor; had to get off,” Tony said sheepishly, stopping with the others to stare up the building at the man standing on the roof.
“Ohh, that’s a long way up,” Tim’s voice had a slight tremor in it, and Tony couldn’t help but sympathize.
“Long way down,” he added as they walked towards the stairs. God, he really was not too happy about heights in general, but this was a pretty high height. He found himself moving a little closer to Tim almost automatically, but whether to give some kind of comfort or receive it, he wasn’t sure.
They followed Gibbs up to the roof, and Tony - in case anyone had seen him standing too close to Tim he was babbling nervously without thinking it through first, and wasn’t that really just the story of his life? - began to tell Gibbs how to handle the jumper. It wasn’t until Gibbs turned round and gave him a look that Tony realized what he’d been saying.
As Gibbs went round the corner, Tim shot him a look which he could only describe as ‘fond exasperation’, which come to think of it was pretty much the same look he’d been shooting Tony for years. Except now, Tony could see it for what it was, and it made him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. Then Gibbs came back and Tim had an idea of snapping a photo with his phone and emailing it to Abby to get an I.D., which Tony was annoyed he hadn’t thought of himself.
“Do it,” Gibbs said, and Tony could feel Tim’s whole body go rigid, and he didn’t look to happy.
“Me?” Tim said, voice filled with horror.
“It’s your idea, McGee.” Gibbs had that voice on, the one that defied argument, and Tim went pale. It was not only a brilliant excuse to mock Tim, but he was so cute right now it was unbelievable. Tony bit his lip unconsciously, wishing that Gibbs and Ziva were anywhere but here so that he could push Tim up against the nearest available surface and do unspeakable things to him. He didn’t even try to hide his smile, although he did attempt to show his support by shooting Gibbs a ‘Come on, boss’ look. Gibbs didn’t notice, though, and Tim went over to the ladder on the side of the stairwell.
Tony grabbed his own phone out of his pocket as they all stared incredulously at McGee trying to climb the ladder. He decided that taking a video wasn’t mean unless he showed other people, and he didn’t plan on doing that. He just planned on threatening to at an opportune moment.
Tim barely lasted twenty seconds before he had to ask Gibbs for help.
“I’m not very good with heights,” Tim told Gibbs, and Tony rolled his eyes, since they could all pretty much see that, thanks. Gibbs took the phone from Tim and leaned over to snap the photo. As soon as Tim had the phone back he climbed back down off the ladder and, as much as Tony wanted to see if he was all right, he knew that Ziva would never buy that something wasn’t up between them if he didn’t mock Tim.
Now, however, was not the time for that, since they still had to get this guy down. He watched McGee email the photo to Abby, before making sure that Ziva’s attention was elsewhere and mouthing “Are you okay?” to Tim. When Tim nodded, giving him a weak smile, Tony smiled back quickly before Ziva could rejoin him.
“McGee, he’s got a gun!” Abby said into the earpiece, and Tony immediately went into full agent mode, motioning for Ziva to go to one side of the jumper while he went to the other. It came as no surprise to Tony that Gibbs already knew about this, nor did it come as a surprise when Gibbs moved to stop them from shooting the jumper - Michael, Tim had said his name was - even though the kid had pulled a gun on him. It was all part of what made Gibbs such a great agent. He did breathe quite a bit easier when Arnett dropped the gun, before making his way slowly towards Gibbs.
When the shot came, Tony had a moment of panic where he thought that it had hit Gibbs as well. But then he saw the boss trying to grab on to Arnett’s hand, and he watched helplessly as the young man fell to the ground.
***
Their initial investigation of the rooftops and witness statements seemed pointless, and Tony was feeling more than a little jumpy. He decided the best way to get through it was to tease Tim.
“Color back now that you’re on terra firma there, Probalicious?” he goaded, knowing that Ziva would have no reason to know that just that weekend Tony had used that particular nickname teasingly while buried balls deep in McGee.
Tim’s gaze went hot for a split second before he pouted. “Hey, I would have done it!”
“Only, uh…you didn’t.” And now that Tim was safe on the ground, this really would be fuel for mocking for at least three weeks.
“I think he’s more afraid of heights than you are,” Ziva said, looking slightly smug. Damned Mossad agents with no fear.
“Please, I rock climbed,” Tony said defensively, frowning when Ziva laughed.
“Yeah, twenty feet with a harness to impress a girl.” She made a good point, but this was something that Tony would rather not have been reminded of right now. But still, in all fairness….
“Well, it worked,” Tony countered, wondering how much this conversation was getting to Tim. God only knew that Tony never enjoyed when people he was sleeping with talked about their exes. “All right, since Ziva and I have to go and check out Arnett’s apartment, Probie, you go back with Gibbs and see if you can find anything on Arnett.”
Tim nodded, and Tony and Ziva jumped into the truck.
***
When they got back to headquarters, Tony offered to take the evidence down to Abby, and Ziva thanked him, making her way back to the squad room. When he got down to the lab Abby leaped at him, squashing him in a hug.
“Oh, my god, Tony, I watched the whole thing on the news and it was so scary! What if one of you had been shot?”
Tony hugged her back. “Hey, Abs. You seen Gibbs and Probie already?”
Abby whacked him on the arm and he yelped. “Tony! Stop calling Tim ‘Probie’, you know he doesn’t like it!” She lowered her voice to a hiss. “And if you two are… y’know…you should take his feelings into consideration!”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Abby, c’mon. We’re not girls; we’re always gonna rag on each other.” He frowned. “I was a bit worried about him today, though. Has he always been scared of heights?”
“Um, I don’t know,” Abby said, confused. “Why? What did he say?”
“Okay, I’m only telling you this because I know you care, but this is a very sensitive subject and I don’t want him knowing that I told you, okay?” Abby nodded. “When we were on the roof, Gibbs told him to take a photo of the jumper. Tim…he freaked out. Climbed a little bit up the ladder and then couldn’t move.” Tony shrugged. “It would have been funny if it wasn’t so worrying. I mean, what if something happened, and he ended up somewhere really high but couldn’t cope and got dizzy and fell?”
Abby beamed at him. “Oh, Tony, you really do care about him!”
“So not the point here, Abs.”
“Sorry.” At least she looked a little contrite, and Tony gave her a small smile. “Look, he’ll be okay. He’s Tim. He’s always okay.” She looked pointedly at the bags in his hand. “Is that evidence for me?”
“Oh, yeah.” He handed it over. “Could you please run a DNA test on the toothbrush against the National Database of Felons?”
“Okay, whose is it?”
“The wife’s,” Tony grinned.
Abby’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, do you think the wife did it?”
Tony shrugged. “Don’t know, but it usually is.” He kissed Abby on the cheek and smiled. “Thanks, Abs. For everything.” She smiled at him and he almost asked her about the job offer, but decided it would probably be a bad idea. Instead, he pulled one of her pony-tails and headed back to the squad room.
***
Tony had been hoping for at least five minutes alone with Tim so that he could apologize for telling Abby about his fear of heights, but there was no such luck. Gibbs took him up to MTAC, and then straight out from there. Tim barely even looked at him, leaving Tony wondering if he’d actually screwed up properly this time.
When they came back, Tony was bored. He had nothing to do but wait for the results of the tests Abby was doing and he was annoyed at both Abby and Tim for not talking to him about stuff. Of course, he could only talk about one of those things with Ziva, and he could tell that she was getting bored of his whining. But neither Gibbs nor Tim looked at him when they arrived, simply going to their desks and checking stuff on the computer. When Tim announced that he was going to check out some doctor, however, and Gibbs told him to go with, Tony replied, trying to keep the glee out of his voice, “With him, boss.”
They walked down to the car, Tony fully aware that Tim was still pissed at him. “You know I only said something to Abby because I was worried, right?” he said tentatively.
Tim snorted. “Of course, Tony. It couldn’t just have been another opportunity to make me look stupid.”
Tony felt like he’d been slapped and stopped walking. “I can’t believe that you’d say that to me,” he said quietly, staring at Tim as he turned around. “I can’t believe that after everything we’ve been through, everything we…Jeez, McGee, you really have a low opinion of how I treat people I care about, don’t you?” He didn’t even bother to try and hide how hurt he was before stalking towards the car, pulling open the door and sliding into his seat. He waited until Tim got in before starting the car, and he drove out of the lot. They drove in silence for about ten minutes before Tim spoke.
“Tony…”
“Look, whatever, Tim.” Tony was surprised at just how much Tim’s opinion of him stung him. “If you don’t want to…I’m sure you don’t want to be with someone you think could do that to you.” He tried to keep his voice neutral, but he heard the cracks.
“Tony, pull over.” He did so, driving on to a side road before killing the engine. He wouldn’t - couldn’t - look at Tim and see the rejection there. But then he felt Tim’s hand on his cheek, forcing him to turn his head. “God, Tony, I…I’m sorry, okay? It’s just that it’s a bit of a sore subject; I was out in the field and I choked.”
“You didn’t choke, Tim. You can’t help what you’re scared of.” He brought his own hand up to stroke Tim’s cheek. “I’m not gonna stop giving you a hard time about this stuff. Just like you shouldn’t stop giving me a hard time about stuff. Out there? That’s who we are.” He leaned in closer, nuzzling the side of Tim’s face. “But in here? And what I said to Abby? I was worried, Tim. About what might happen if you found yourself on some precarious ledge somewhere and got dizzy, or… I don’t want you to get hurt, okay?”
Tim looked at him for a second, and then their lips met. When they finally broke apart, Tim leaned his forehead against Tony’s. “This is never going to be easy, is it?” he laughed.
Tony pulled back and started the car again, grinning. “Of course not, Probie. Where would the fun be?”
***
By the time they got to the doctor’s office, Tony felt as though the air had cleared between them. So much so, that he started teasing Tim about it again. Although he could sense Tim’s exasperation, he knew that McGee was no longer taking it badly, especially when he started to banter back about it.
When Tony brought out his phone, though, he expected more of a reaction than he got. Tim seemed almost completely unconcerned; that is, until Tony threatened to post it on YouTube. Thinking that Tim would just make a grab for the phone and then give him one of those looks which was meant to make Tony feel guilty (but instead had recently just been making him ridiculously hot), and so was taken by surprise when Tim leaped on him instead and tried to wrestle it from him. Tony kept the phone at arm’s length, enjoying the feel of Tim writhing behind him - and yeah, okay, maybe that was because he was trying to grab the phone, but Tony’s libido was translating it another way, thank-you-very-much, and was pretty happy with the situation - when suddenly he heard the doctor behind them.
They both turned, Tim’s leg thrown over Tony’s body and his hand gripping Tony’s arm, and the doctor tutted at them.
“You two have much deeper issues than we discussed on the phone,” the doctor began, and Tony blinked.
“The phone…” he echoed, glancing at his own.
“Aren’t you the couple who called up about marriage counseling?” Tony shot a look at Tim, who was staring at the doctor in horror. Tony could practically hear Tim’s panicked thoughts that if the doctor had figured out they were together, who else would?
“Couple? Us? No, no…” Tim was practically squeaking, and Tony grinned, reaching round and grabbing Tim’s thigh as he tried to get away.
“It’s okay, Timmy; Timmy, we’re in a safe place. We can be ourselves here.” He tried not to chuckle as Tim struggled to move away. “We just got back from Vermont,” he said to the doctor just as Tim managed to escape. “Pretty this time of year….”
Tim shot him a glare before reaching for his badge. “Sorry. NCIS; Special Agents McGee, DiNozzo.”
Tony stood, trying desperately not to laugh. “Very special agents,” he added, and almost lost it at the look on the doc’s face.
***
“Oh, my god, Tony. One day? I am going to kill you for pulling one of your stupid stunts.”
Tony sighed. He thought he’d at least get back to the car before they had this discussion. “Hey, you were the one who decided to try and wrestle me. Which, by the way, I am so not complaining about.” He shot Tim a sly look. “When this case is over, how about you do it again in more comfortable - and private - surroundings, huh?”
Tim laughed. “Is sex all you think about?” he teased as they got into the car.
“Not all I think about.” Tony grinned. “But it certainly makes up a lot of it. In fact,” he dropped his voice to a husky whisper, “if it wasn’t extremely unprofessional, I’d drive us somewhere secluded right now and bend you over the hood of the car before we went back to headquarters.” Tim bit his lip and Tony squashed the urge to chase those teeth with his tongue. “But, since it is, I guess we’ll just have to wait until the case is over.”
There was a moment of silence, and then: “Tony. You do realize what time it is, don’t you?”
Tony glanced at the clock on the dash; it was almost eight. “It’s… kinda late.”
“It is. And Ziva just text messaged me to tell me that Gibbs sent her home, and that we weren’t expected in until tomorrow morning.”
“Really.” Tony grinned at Tim. “Your place or mine?”
***
They ended up back at Tim’s - Tony figured that it would look pretty suspicious if they turned up together two days running, so he figured it would be best if he went home later - after a quick stop at headquarters to drop of the car they’d taken and pick up Tony’s. The moment they were in the door they were on each other, tearing at clothes and biting at each other’s mouths. When they were both naked they only just made it to the bedroom before Tim pushed Tony down and practically swallowed his cock. Tony moaned as Tim sucked him, spreading his legs wider when he felt slick fingers pressing at his hole.
Tony bit his lip and tried to think about football, the names of presidents; anything to distract himself from needing to come, and come now. But he had been too worked up from the ride back, and Tim was doing something ingenious with his tongue… Then Tim’s fingers pressed on that spot and that was it. He came hard, nails digging into Tim’s shoulder and voice hoarse from yelling.
He panted, trying to get his breath back as Tim licked him clean and kissed his way up Tony’s chest, fingers still buried in Tony’s ass. “Do you know what I’m going to do?” Tim asked, nipping at Tony’s chin.
“Kill me with sex?” Tony asked breathlessly, flexing his muscles around Tim’s fingers.
Tim laughed, low and soft, in his ear. “Hmm, maybe. I’m going to fuck you with my fingers and suck you until you’re hard again, and then I’m going to fuck you until neither of us can see straight.”
“I think you might be overestimating your abilities, Probie.”
“Is that a challenge?” Tim’s expression was mischievous, and Tony wondered just what he’d started.
Then Tim’s fingers were moving again, rubbing against that sensitive nub inside him over and over, sending sparks of pleasure up his spine. He pulled Tim’s head down and kissed him roughly, tongues licking and teeth scraping, as Tim shifted his weight onto his knees and started using his other hand to stroke Tony’s cock.
“Tim,” Tony groaned in protest, but was amazed when he could feel his cock start to fill. “God, how can you do this to me?” he gasped; he hadn’t been able to get hard again that quickly since he was a teenager, and he wasn’t sure what magic Tim was working on his cock but fuck, he wasn’t sure if he could survive. Then Tim slid down his body and began sucking kisses up the shaft of his cock until Tony felt as though he would die from the stimulation on his already over-sensitive flesh. Before long Tony was more than half hard and begging.
Tony felt Tim’s fingers withdraw and whimpermoaned at the loss. Then Tim’s mouth was back on his and Tim’s cock was pushing in slowly and fuck, this got better every time. He lifted his legs to wrap around Tim’s back and pulled him closer, feeling his muscles adjust to the strain.
“You good?” Tim muttered between kisses.
“Yeah,” he groaned. He looked up at Tim, licking his lips. “Now fuck me, Probie.”
Tim growled. “Don’t call me that,” he bit out, and started fucking Tony hard, almost completely pulling out before slamming back in. They hadn’t done this many times with Tony on the bottom, and every other time Tim had taken it slow. This time, Tim was fucking him so hard that Tony was certain that he’d been feeling it for days, and it was amazing.
He dug his fingernails into Tim’s back, not so much urging him on as trying to ground himself. Tim’s hand was on his cock, although he wasn’t sure when that had happened, and he fought the urge to just let his eyes roll back in his head. He started lifting his hips up to meet Tim’s thrusts and holymotherofgod… All it took was another two strokes and he was coming for what felt like forever. He was vaguely aware of Tim going rigid and groaning as he came, but Tony was too blissed out to do anything but make small moaning noises as Tim pulled out and nuzzled his shoulder.
“You okay, Tony?” Tim sounded worried. “I didn’t mean to be that rough, I swear.”
Tony swallowed before attempting to speak. “Tim,” he said, his voice huskier than he had ever heard it. “If you ever try to apologize for that I will have to shoot you. Now would you please set your alarm for two hours from now, because if I don’t get some sleep I will keel over and crash the car because you wore me out.” He leaned over and captured Tim’s mouth in a kiss. “And I enjoyed every second of it.”
Tim smiled at him, and the emotions behind it made Tony’s breath catch in his throat. No-one had looked at him like that since Jeanne, and Tony…Tony was afraid of what it might mean. He squashed the urge to run screaming from the bed; instead, he pulled Tim closer, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck as Tony felt him drift off to sleep.
Tony lay awake until the alarm rang and he had to leave to go back to his own apartment.
***
The next morning, Tony woke up aching in all the right places. He hummed happily to himself until the end of the evening came back to him, and he felt like an utter tool. Tim cared for him - really cared for him, despite knowing Tony’s background far too well. Tim was willing to put up with most of his shit, which few people ever were. And then last night, when Tim had pretty much bared every feeling he had about Tony, he had ignored it and run off like some kind of coward. Tony wasn’t even sure if Tim had realized what he’d revealed in that one look, but he still felt like a total shit.
When he got to work he ended up in the elevator with Ziva, who informed him that she’d discovered more about the job offer Abby had been given. Hoping that such an obscene amount of money plus perks wouldn’t be enough to tempt Abby away from NCIS he made a flip remark about the company car she’d been offered, and got to the squad room to discover some pretty hot chick he didn’t recognize standing in front of Tim, who immediately introduced her. Refusing to get jealous over some newbie he made up his mind to be extra friendly so as not to arouse suspicion. Instead of going over to his own desk after the introductions, however, he walked over to lean on the partition next to Tim’s desk, surreptitiously stroking the back of Tim’s neck as he walked past. Tim glanced at him briefly, with a look that had him fighting an untimely erection, before getting back to working on whatever-it-was on his computer.
When Agent Jardine started obsessively cleaning the desk next to Tim’s, distracting Tony from informing Gibbs what he and Ziva had dug up the previous day while Gibbs and Tim had been at the Pentagon, he saw a golden opportunity to torment someone other than Tim for a while. As he wandered back to his desk, he thought that the spray of bottled water along with his sneeze had been a touch of genius.
***
Ziva was right, Tony mused as Jardine gave her summary of why she thought Arnett had been the mole. He was afraid of commitment; terrified, in fact, and with good reason. The last time he’d been remotely committed to someone, she had left him swearing that she would never come back. And although he and Tim had decided that they were a couple, Tony knew that he was still holding back a little from them fully being together. He still couldn’t help using a verbal slip Tim made as an excuse to stand close enough to touch, though, and wondered if this was what people talked about when they were together. It almost felt like what he’d had with Jeanne, only there had always been a sense that he wasn’t really with her, because she’d never known who he was until the end. Not to mention that he hadn’t had quite this much trouble staying out of her personal space as he did with Tim.
As Gibbs yelled at them to stop arguing and start bringing him results, Tony looked at Tim’s flushed face and wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into.
***
There was no time to talk to Tim after the scene in the lab until they were in the parking garage.
“What was that smirk about?” Tony asked somewhat breathlessly as they ran. He really needed to start going back to the gym more often.
“What smirk?”
“That smirk when Abby headslapped me!”
Tony could sense Tim’s huff of exasperation as much as hear it. “It was funny, Tony. You would have laughed if it had been me.”
“Yeah, well.” They ran in silence for a while, and then Tony brought up what had been bugging him for the past half hour. “Do you really think that we were that unappreciative of Abby?”
Tim shrugged. “Probably; we do take her for granted a lot. But Tony, can we talk about this some other time? Like, preferably not when we’re trying to catch a felon?”
“Sure,” Tony agreed. They split up at level nine to look for Dana Arnett, and although it was possible that she’d already left, Tony had a feeling in his gut that she was still here, and like Gibbs had learned to trust it.
He was watching a car pass Gibbs and Ziva when he was proved right in the worst possible way; hanging from the top floor of a parking garage was not Tony’s idea of a fun evening.
“Boss!” he yelled in panic, hoping that the echo would carry his voice, and a moment later heard some kind of siren. He tried not to move, concentrating only on clinging on to the side. He thanked anyone who was up there listening that he’d spent a fair amount of time in his life building up his upper body strength, because if he wasn’t rescued soon….
“Probie!” And god, he knew Tim would kill him for that, if he wasn’t already dead, and oh god oh god he really didn’t want to die right now. “This is not how I want it to end,” he yelled, and oh thank god, Tim’s voice came from somewhere above him.
“Hang on, Tony, I’m coming!” Tony held on as tightly as he could and prayed, no longer caring that an Al Qaeda operative was possibly escaping, the only thought in his mind that he did not want to die. He vaguely heard tires screeching somewhere below him, and then there were familiar hands on his, and Tim was there, pulling him up.
As they slumped down the wall together, Tony blurted out, “I love you, McGee.” He instantly cursed himself for his choice of words, deliberately not looking Tim in the eye. “I promise never to give you a hard time again,” he said quickly, trying to cover up his mistake.
“Yeah, right,” Tim said, but Tony couldn’t tell if he’d picked up on what had been said before. They just sat there, Tony trying to absorb warmth from Tim’s body and calm his own racing heartbeat, until Ziva came up and found them. She immediately launched herself at him as he stood and he hugged her back, giving her a reassuring smile as he backed off. Together, they made their way down to where Gibbs sat in the car with Dana Arnett in the back. Tony was amazed his legs took him that far, because he was pretty sure that in a moment he was just gonna drop to the floor and stay there. But then strong hands were helping him into the car and he shot a grateful smile at Tim before buckling himself in.
***
That evening, Ziva offered to drive him home, guessing - correctly - that Tony was in no fit state to drive home. Tim immediately stepped in and said that he would drive him instead, if Tony would trust him with his car.
“But how will you get home?” Ziva asked matter-of-factly, and Tony jumped in.
“I have a guest bedroom if you want, McGee.” He tried to make it sound casual, but he couldn’t help the slight hopeful look that he shot Tim.
“Sounds good; my neighbors have been total nightmares recently, it’ll be a good excuse to get out the house for an evening.” Since Tony had been round there pretty much every night this week he knew that this was a total lie, but props to the Probie for being able to lie to Ziva convincingly, because she merely nodded and wished them a good night before leaving.
The drive home was quiet, but Tony was reassured by the fact that Tim’s hand kept finding his thigh every few minutes and squeezing, as if to prove to himself that Tony was still there. As soon as they were up in the apartment, Tim was all over him, hands stroking everywhere.
“God, Tony, I thought I’d lose you for a minute there, thought you were going to fall and I wasn’t going to get there in time,” Tim babbled, and Tony kissed him to quiet him.
“Hey, I’m okay, I’m okay.” He could feel Tim shaking against him and held him close. “I’m not going anywhere.” They stood for a moment, and Tony suddenly realized that he’d been making things so complicated by being scared of really being with someone, when it was all so simple.
“I meant what I said, you know,” he said quietly.
“Meant what?” Tim’s tone was unconcerned, but Tony could see the wariness in his eyes.
“I…” Tony took a deep breath, steeling his resolve. “I think that I may have fallen in love with you,” he said in a rush, staring at his shoes. “And I’m not entirely sure what to do with that.”
Then Tim’s lips were on his, kissing him gently. “Thank god for that, Tony,” Tim said, smiling softly. “I was starting to wonder if you’d ever catch up.” His smile turned slightly mocking. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve kinda been in love with you for a while.”
Tony couldn’t express the feeling that bubbled up inside his chest at Tim’s admission; there were so many emotions that he couldn’t define.
“You know that I’m not good at this kind of thing, right?” he warned. “Honestly, even this is killing me.”
“I know,” Tim smiled. “I know you, Tony. I’ve known you for four and a half years. I’m honestly amazed we’ve even managed to get this far, especially after what happened with Jeanne.” He cupped Tony’s cheek in his hand. “But right now I just want you to take me to bed and fuck me until we both forget what happened in that parking garage.”
Tony nodded and led Tim through to his bedroom. He knew that by tomorrow morning he would probably regret ever using the ‘l’ word, but right now he was with someone he cared for, and who cared for him right back, and somehow that was all that mattered.
______________________
Link to master post | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Epilogue
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By the middle of the week, Tony figured that he was getting used to this whole ‘secretly dating someone from work who happens to be another guy’ thing. He and McGee worked together in pretty much the same way as they always had - with a lot of mocking and teasing and general Tony-ness on his part, and a lot of eye-rolling and slights against intelligence and long-suffering sighs on Tim’s. But every look, every time they stood together, or came into any kind of contact, was completely different. Tony knew that it was only a matter of time before someone noticed; they worked with some of the greatest investigative minds in this country, and his money was on Gibbs knowing already and just biding his time to say something.
And yet as a week, and then two, passed, Gibbs still hadn’t said anything. Nor had Ziva, Abby, or even Ducky, who would have been Tony’s second favorite for figuring it out first. Tony put it down to the fact that he was still flirting with pretty much every hot girl who came anywhere near him, and he still gave McGee a hard time about, well, everything. But every evening, after work, he went over to Tim’s apartment and stayed until he knew he had to get home or arrive at the office with Tim again and face some awkward questions. Maybe they were being overly paranoid, but it was a risk that neither of them could afford to take. He looked forward to the weekends where they could just lounge around all day at Tim’s: wearing each other out on sweat-soaked sheets; sitting - Tony refused to call it snuggling - on the sofa while they watched movies (Tony called it ‘education’, Tim simply laughed and leaned in closer against Tony’s body); even just lying in bed eating pizza and arguing over who ate the most (it was usually Tony, although he’d deny it until he ran out of breath).
Tony also found himself getting more and more adventurous with the whole…gay sex thing. The first time he went down on Tim he was pretty nervous; if ‘pretty nervous’ meant ‘terrified’. They had been fooling around on the sofa, and Tony began to move down Tim’s body, kissing and nipping his way to the soft trail of hair leading under his boxers. He felt Tim’s had on the side of his face, angling his face up.
“Hey.” Tim’s expression was serious, but barely masking the lust underneath. “Tony, you don’t have to do that.”
“I know.” Tony leaned forward and mouthed Tim’s erection through his underwear, dampening the fabric with breath and spit. “But I want to.” He pulled Tim’s boxers down and off, and when his lips touched the head of Tim’s cock the needy sound that move elicited make his own cock jerk.
He sucked the head into his mouth, trying not to wince at the strange taste. Only that morning he had licked Tim’s come from his own hand after sex, so it wasn’t as though he hadn’t been expecting it, but it was still weird. Down here was a definite taste, and smell, and it was still different to what he was used to.
Of course, that didn’t mean that he didn’t like it. As strange as the taste of cock was, it made his mouth water, and he found himself trying to take more of Tim’s cock into his mouth. He could only get so far without gagging, though, and found himself with a new appreciation for those girls who could deep-throat him and make it look effortless. In fact, any girl who could make a blowjob look effortless was pretty good, because it was anything but. Tony found himself getting caught up as he tried to keep his teeth out the way as he sucked, while also attempting to use his tongue the same way Tim had done to him. He was pretty sure he was sucking - no pun intended - at it, but when he looked up he saw Tim biting his lip, moaning, and could feel the slight movement in Tim’s hips as he tried to stop himself from thrusting, so Tony knew he couldn’t be doing too badly.
He brought his right hand up to the base of Tim’s cock and began to jerk what he couldn’t get in his mouth. His left he used to play with Tim’s balls, feeling them draw up as he held them.
Feeling a hand in his hair, Tony looked up again, into eyes blown wide with lust. “Tony…doing great…gotta pull off…gonna come…” Tim panted, and Tony did as he was told, not quite ready to try swallowing yet. He sat back on his heels and jerked Tim harder, and then Tim was throwing his head back and yelling, come spurting over Tony’s fingers. Wiping his hand on one of the napkins from when they’d ordered pizza, Tony crawled up Tim’s body and straddled him, kissing him leisurely.
“Was that okay?” he asked, going for ‘cocky’ and managing more ‘extremely nervous and insecure’.
“Fucking hell, Tony,” Tim laughed. “If that was you learning, god knows what you’re going to do to me when you’ve practiced. Not that you need to practice, although I can’t say I’d mind,” he finished, grinning.
Then Tim rolled Tony onto his back and proceeded to suck his brains out through his cock, and Tony gave up on trying to think for a while.
Today, however, was Wednesday, and the weekend felt like a distant memory as Tony watched Gibbs break a suspect who had killed his wife because he’d thought she’d been cheating. She hadn’t been, of course, which made it all the more sad. He walked out the observation room, straight into Tim, who smiled broadly as soon as he saw Tony.
“Hey!” Something of what he was feeling must have shown on his face, because Tim’s smile immediately dropped and his expression turned concerned, bringing a hand up to rest lightly on his hip. Tony glanced around, but they were all alone in the corridor. “Wanna tell me what’s wrong?”
Tony, being who he was, tried to play it off. “You mean aside from the fact I haven’t seen you all day?” he teased, hooking a finger into one of Tim’s belt-loops.
“Tony.” Tim’s voice held a mild warning, and Tony deflated.
“It’s just… Why do people do that? Why do they wake up one morning and say to themselves, ‘Hey, my wife’s cheating, I think I’ll murder her’?” Tony sighed and leaned back against the wall, pulling Tim forward as well, although he kept an ear out for doors opening.
Both of Tim’s hands were on his hips now, just holding; a comforting warmth that seeped into his bones. “I…wish I knew.” Tim leaned in and pressed his forehead against Tony’s, expression understanding. “But some people are just….”
“Oh, my god!” Tony felt as though his heart had stopped at the sound of Abby’s voice. There was no way that she could look at them right now and not know that there was something between them that went beyond colleagues, beyond friends. Tim had jumped away from him at the sound of her voice, but Tony knew he hadn’t been quick enough. He wondered if there was enough time for damage control before….
“DiNozzo!”
“Yes, boss!” He hoped he didn’t look too guilty, but Gibbs was giving him that stare. It lasted long enough that Tony was convinced that Gibbs knew; that it had been written all over all of their faces when he came out of the interrogation room. But after what was possibly the longest moment of Tony’s life, Gibbs slapped him upside the head. “Ow! What was that for?” he asked before he could help himself.
“Whatever you did to make you look so guilty,” Gibbs said, before turning to Abby. “Abbs, you got something for me?”
Abby blinked and looked at Gibbs. “Um, yeah, the results were conclusive. We have evidence to back it up; the husband’s definitely our guy.”
Gibbs beamed at her. “Good work, Abbs,” he said, and walked out towards the squad room. The three of them stood there as agents came out of the observation room and took the suspect from the interrogation room, before leading him out through the same door as Gibbs had gone through.
The silence was almost unbearable by the time Abby finally spoke.
“So does one of you want to tell me what’s been going on?” she asked, her voice steel. Tony fought the urge to run screaming down the hall, but only because he could sense that underneath her anger, Abby was hurt. He had no doubt that it was because they had kept this from her, and he felt a surge of guilt; of all the people on the team, they maybe should have let her in on the secret.
He walked up to her, reaching out to touch her shoulder, but she jerked away from him. “Abby, we…” He sighed, glancing over at Tim. “We should have told you, but we decided not to tell anyone. We should have known that you were the exception.”
“So no-one knows?” she looked very slightly mollified, and Tony nodded.
“No-one but you.” Tony sighed. “Abby, I….”
“So are you two, like, together?” she asked, looking at them with what seemed to be part confusion, part amusement, and Tony groaned inwardly.
“Yeah,” he said quietly, sensing Tim come up behind him and automatically turning slightly towards him.
Abby’s eyes widened as she looked between them. “All right, we need to have a talk about this. Tony, we’re all going to go over to yours tonight.”
“Ziva’ll want to come along if she knows we’re having a gathering.”
Abby frowned for a moment, then smiled. “That’s all right; we can go to Tim’s instead and tell her that he’s ill. She’ll be happy to give that a miss.”
They nodded and followed her out.
***
Two hours later, they were standing in Tim’s apartment in a fairly uncomfortable silence. Abby sat on the sofa primly, before glaring at them both. “All right, talk,” she ordered, and Tony glanced over to Tim, silently pleading with him to explain. Tim nodded and took a deep breath.
“What do you want to know?”
Abby’s eyes widened. “Everything! Well, I mean, not everything, although if you have been using a video camera I wouldn’t mind seeing it, but, y’know…” She trailed off and looked hopefully up at Tony, who gave a look of surprise, before looking over at Tim, slightly panicked.
Tim smiled weakly. “Okay, um, anyway… You remember when I got shot?” Abby nodded, looking stricken. “Well, uh, Tony brought me home, and then we…uh….”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Jeez, Probie… I kissed him, Abby, and then we decided that it would be a great idea if we were together.”
“But I didn’t know you liked guys, Tony,” she said, eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, that makes two of us,” he laughed, dropping down next to her on the sofa. “You understand why we didn’t tell anyone, right?” he asked, suddenly all seriousness.
She nodded. “I know.” She frowned. “Wait, you didn’t know you liked guys either?”
“Not until Probie over there started giving me ideas.” Tony smirked at Abby, before shooting a look filled with promise at Tim and watching him squirm.
“Were they good ideas?” Abby asked, her tone pure mischief.
“Very good ideas,” he smiled, before standing and heading over to Tim, who looked at him questioningly. He grabbed Tim’s shirt and pulled him forward, wrapping his other arm around Tim’s waist. Tim’s eyes widened in realization right before Tony leaned in and began to kiss him.
“Oh, my god.” This time, Abby’s voice was hushed, and possibly even a little admiring. Tony smirked and pulled back, giving Tim’s lips one last peck. Abby skipped up to them and patted them both on the arm. “Well, guys, congratulations, I hope you’re very happy, but right now I have to go home and think real hard about what you guys will be doing when I leave.” After giving them a chirpy smile, she was gone, leaving both men with their mouths slightly open as they thought about what she meant.
Tony brought a hand up to cup Tim’s cheek. “Hey, are you all right with Abby knowing about us?”
Tim shrugged, smiling slightly. “Yeah; she’s Abby, y’know? Plus she already knew that I liked guys, and although I didn’t tell her that I had a thing for you I think she suspected.”
Tony nodded, eyes slightly narrowed. “She does tend to know about these things.” He backed Tim against the wall, loving the way that Tim’s head fell back and his eyelids went to half mast as Tony pressed against him just…like…that. “So how about we continue this in your room and give Abby something to think about?” he muttered against Tim’s ear, laughing when Tim pushed him away and proceeded to drag him towards the bedroom.
***
The next day they arrived together; Tony had decided that with the kind of day they’d both had they deserved to bend the rules a little, and had stayed the night. The morning was quiet and, for once, Tony enjoyed it, content to write up some notes and sneak glances at Tim from time to time. The only damper on the day was when, coming up in the elevator, he overheard a conversation which he’d rather not have heard. Ever. There had been a rumor going around for a few days that Abby had been offered a job somewhere else, but Tony hadn’t paid any attention. Rumors like that went around all the time. But then:
“So did you hear?” Tony thought he might recognize one of the giggling blondes in front of him from H.R., but he wasn’t sure. The one talking was kind of cute, but he found himself almost totally unmoved. He wondered briefly what the hell Probie had done to him, when the blonde spoke again. “You know Abby down in forensics? I heard she got a job offer.”
“No way!” The other girl sounded as though she was enjoying the news far too much, and Tony bristled slightly.
“She did! I heard some corporate headhunter took her to the Ritz Carlton for drinks, so it must be a pretty big company. Big bucks, too.”
“Do you think she’ll take it?”
“God, I would! A private sector company who can afford to got the extra mile?” The elevator doors opened and Tony cussed inwardly when he realized that it was his floor. He considered asking if she knew what company it was with, but decided against it, since that would mean that he had been eavesdropping and was more likely to get glared at than given any more information.
Instead, he smiled at them, before heading out of the elevator towards his desk, wondering if Abby could really think about leaving them.
He had almost forgotten about this and was just thinking about getting Tim to take him to lunch - and maybe find somewhere quiet where he could push Tim up against a wall and kiss him breathless - when Gibbs hung up the phone and took his gun from his drawer.
“Grab your gear; we got a jumper,” Gibbs ordered as he walked past. “You three gas the truck, I’m taking the car.”
“On it, boss,” Tony said, and they all followed Gibbs to the elevator. So much for a quiet day.
***
“I don’t think Gibbs knows.” Tim said, turning back to the truck after watching Gibbs walk away with the cop.
“Not gonna hear it from me,” Tony said matter-of-factly as he put in his earpiece.
“Not going to hear what from you?” Ziva asked.
“Abby may have gotten a job offer,” Tim replied and, as Ziva ‘Ooh’-ed in interest, Tony supplied some details.
“Big bucks.”
“Allegedly,” Tim interjected, but Tony ignored him.
“Private sector.”
“Still just a rumor, Tony.” And of course, they hadn’t had a chance to talk since he’d overheard that conversation, so Tim didn’t know yet.
“Not any more, Probie-san. Someone from Human Resources told a friend-of-a-friend that Abby had cocktails last night at the Ritz Carlton…with a corporate head-hunter,” he said, trying to talk as much to Ziva as he was to Tim and well aware of the fact that he was only vaguely successful. Fortunately, Ziva didn’t seem to notice.
“And this friend told you.” She sounded dubious and Tony looked sheepish.
“Not exactly; I overheard it in the elevator.” He looked up at Tim saw the probie looking at him with heat in his gaze. Knowing that he needed to stay focused, and not let anything distract him - up to and including irresistible Probies - he gave Tim a sidelong glance and a quick smile before turning his attention back to Ziva as she spoke.
“Ha! Very reliable source. Abby was probably on a date.”
“Abby on a date at the Ritz Carlton?” Tim’s voice held pretty much all the incredulity that Tony was feeling at the idea.
“Strictly business time, Ziva,” Tony was suddenly aware that he and Tim were walking too closely together to allow Ziva to walk between them, but as Ziva didn’t seem to notice - or mind - he didn’t bother to move.
“Did they say which business?”
“Well, the elevator reached my floor; had to get off,” Tony said sheepishly, stopping with the others to stare up the building at the man standing on the roof.
“Ohh, that’s a long way up,” Tim’s voice had a slight tremor in it, and Tony couldn’t help but sympathize.
“Long way down,” he added as they walked towards the stairs. God, he really was not too happy about heights in general, but this was a pretty high height. He found himself moving a little closer to Tim almost automatically, but whether to give some kind of comfort or receive it, he wasn’t sure.
They followed Gibbs up to the roof, and Tony - in case anyone had seen him standing too close to Tim he was babbling nervously without thinking it through first, and wasn’t that really just the story of his life? - began to tell Gibbs how to handle the jumper. It wasn’t until Gibbs turned round and gave him a look that Tony realized what he’d been saying.
As Gibbs went round the corner, Tim shot him a look which he could only describe as ‘fond exasperation’, which come to think of it was pretty much the same look he’d been shooting Tony for years. Except now, Tony could see it for what it was, and it made him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. Then Gibbs came back and Tim had an idea of snapping a photo with his phone and emailing it to Abby to get an I.D., which Tony was annoyed he hadn’t thought of himself.
“Do it,” Gibbs said, and Tony could feel Tim’s whole body go rigid, and he didn’t look to happy.
“Me?” Tim said, voice filled with horror.
“It’s your idea, McGee.” Gibbs had that voice on, the one that defied argument, and Tim went pale. It was not only a brilliant excuse to mock Tim, but he was so cute right now it was unbelievable. Tony bit his lip unconsciously, wishing that Gibbs and Ziva were anywhere but here so that he could push Tim up against the nearest available surface and do unspeakable things to him. He didn’t even try to hide his smile, although he did attempt to show his support by shooting Gibbs a ‘Come on, boss’ look. Gibbs didn’t notice, though, and Tim went over to the ladder on the side of the stairwell.
Tony grabbed his own phone out of his pocket as they all stared incredulously at McGee trying to climb the ladder. He decided that taking a video wasn’t mean unless he showed other people, and he didn’t plan on doing that. He just planned on threatening to at an opportune moment.
Tim barely lasted twenty seconds before he had to ask Gibbs for help.
“I’m not very good with heights,” Tim told Gibbs, and Tony rolled his eyes, since they could all pretty much see that, thanks. Gibbs took the phone from Tim and leaned over to snap the photo. As soon as Tim had the phone back he climbed back down off the ladder and, as much as Tony wanted to see if he was all right, he knew that Ziva would never buy that something wasn’t up between them if he didn’t mock Tim.
Now, however, was not the time for that, since they still had to get this guy down. He watched McGee email the photo to Abby, before making sure that Ziva’s attention was elsewhere and mouthing “Are you okay?” to Tim. When Tim nodded, giving him a weak smile, Tony smiled back quickly before Ziva could rejoin him.
“McGee, he’s got a gun!” Abby said into the earpiece, and Tony immediately went into full agent mode, motioning for Ziva to go to one side of the jumper while he went to the other. It came as no surprise to Tony that Gibbs already knew about this, nor did it come as a surprise when Gibbs moved to stop them from shooting the jumper - Michael, Tim had said his name was - even though the kid had pulled a gun on him. It was all part of what made Gibbs such a great agent. He did breathe quite a bit easier when Arnett dropped the gun, before making his way slowly towards Gibbs.
When the shot came, Tony had a moment of panic where he thought that it had hit Gibbs as well. But then he saw the boss trying to grab on to Arnett’s hand, and he watched helplessly as the young man fell to the ground.
***
Their initial investigation of the rooftops and witness statements seemed pointless, and Tony was feeling more than a little jumpy. He decided the best way to get through it was to tease Tim.
“Color back now that you’re on terra firma there, Probalicious?” he goaded, knowing that Ziva would have no reason to know that just that weekend Tony had used that particular nickname teasingly while buried balls deep in McGee.
Tim’s gaze went hot for a split second before he pouted. “Hey, I would have done it!”
“Only, uh…you didn’t.” And now that Tim was safe on the ground, this really would be fuel for mocking for at least three weeks.
“I think he’s more afraid of heights than you are,” Ziva said, looking slightly smug. Damned Mossad agents with no fear.
“Please, I rock climbed,” Tony said defensively, frowning when Ziva laughed.
“Yeah, twenty feet with a harness to impress a girl.” She made a good point, but this was something that Tony would rather not have been reminded of right now. But still, in all fairness….
“Well, it worked,” Tony countered, wondering how much this conversation was getting to Tim. God only knew that Tony never enjoyed when people he was sleeping with talked about their exes. “All right, since Ziva and I have to go and check out Arnett’s apartment, Probie, you go back with Gibbs and see if you can find anything on Arnett.”
Tim nodded, and Tony and Ziva jumped into the truck.
***
When they got back to headquarters, Tony offered to take the evidence down to Abby, and Ziva thanked him, making her way back to the squad room. When he got down to the lab Abby leaped at him, squashing him in a hug.
“Oh, my god, Tony, I watched the whole thing on the news and it was so scary! What if one of you had been shot?”
Tony hugged her back. “Hey, Abs. You seen Gibbs and Probie already?”
Abby whacked him on the arm and he yelped. “Tony! Stop calling Tim ‘Probie’, you know he doesn’t like it!” She lowered her voice to a hiss. “And if you two are… y’know…you should take his feelings into consideration!”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Abby, c’mon. We’re not girls; we’re always gonna rag on each other.” He frowned. “I was a bit worried about him today, though. Has he always been scared of heights?”
“Um, I don’t know,” Abby said, confused. “Why? What did he say?”
“Okay, I’m only telling you this because I know you care, but this is a very sensitive subject and I don’t want him knowing that I told you, okay?” Abby nodded. “When we were on the roof, Gibbs told him to take a photo of the jumper. Tim…he freaked out. Climbed a little bit up the ladder and then couldn’t move.” Tony shrugged. “It would have been funny if it wasn’t so worrying. I mean, what if something happened, and he ended up somewhere really high but couldn’t cope and got dizzy and fell?”
Abby beamed at him. “Oh, Tony, you really do care about him!”
“So not the point here, Abs.”
“Sorry.” At least she looked a little contrite, and Tony gave her a small smile. “Look, he’ll be okay. He’s Tim. He’s always okay.” She looked pointedly at the bags in his hand. “Is that evidence for me?”
“Oh, yeah.” He handed it over. “Could you please run a DNA test on the toothbrush against the National Database of Felons?”
“Okay, whose is it?”
“The wife’s,” Tony grinned.
Abby’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, do you think the wife did it?”
Tony shrugged. “Don’t know, but it usually is.” He kissed Abby on the cheek and smiled. “Thanks, Abs. For everything.” She smiled at him and he almost asked her about the job offer, but decided it would probably be a bad idea. Instead, he pulled one of her pony-tails and headed back to the squad room.
***
Tony had been hoping for at least five minutes alone with Tim so that he could apologize for telling Abby about his fear of heights, but there was no such luck. Gibbs took him up to MTAC, and then straight out from there. Tim barely even looked at him, leaving Tony wondering if he’d actually screwed up properly this time.
When they came back, Tony was bored. He had nothing to do but wait for the results of the tests Abby was doing and he was annoyed at both Abby and Tim for not talking to him about stuff. Of course, he could only talk about one of those things with Ziva, and he could tell that she was getting bored of his whining. But neither Gibbs nor Tim looked at him when they arrived, simply going to their desks and checking stuff on the computer. When Tim announced that he was going to check out some doctor, however, and Gibbs told him to go with, Tony replied, trying to keep the glee out of his voice, “With him, boss.”
They walked down to the car, Tony fully aware that Tim was still pissed at him. “You know I only said something to Abby because I was worried, right?” he said tentatively.
Tim snorted. “Of course, Tony. It couldn’t just have been another opportunity to make me look stupid.”
Tony felt like he’d been slapped and stopped walking. “I can’t believe that you’d say that to me,” he said quietly, staring at Tim as he turned around. “I can’t believe that after everything we’ve been through, everything we…Jeez, McGee, you really have a low opinion of how I treat people I care about, don’t you?” He didn’t even bother to try and hide how hurt he was before stalking towards the car, pulling open the door and sliding into his seat. He waited until Tim got in before starting the car, and he drove out of the lot. They drove in silence for about ten minutes before Tim spoke.
“Tony…”
“Look, whatever, Tim.” Tony was surprised at just how much Tim’s opinion of him stung him. “If you don’t want to…I’m sure you don’t want to be with someone you think could do that to you.” He tried to keep his voice neutral, but he heard the cracks.
“Tony, pull over.” He did so, driving on to a side road before killing the engine. He wouldn’t - couldn’t - look at Tim and see the rejection there. But then he felt Tim’s hand on his cheek, forcing him to turn his head. “God, Tony, I…I’m sorry, okay? It’s just that it’s a bit of a sore subject; I was out in the field and I choked.”
“You didn’t choke, Tim. You can’t help what you’re scared of.” He brought his own hand up to stroke Tim’s cheek. “I’m not gonna stop giving you a hard time about this stuff. Just like you shouldn’t stop giving me a hard time about stuff. Out there? That’s who we are.” He leaned in closer, nuzzling the side of Tim’s face. “But in here? And what I said to Abby? I was worried, Tim. About what might happen if you found yourself on some precarious ledge somewhere and got dizzy, or… I don’t want you to get hurt, okay?”
Tim looked at him for a second, and then their lips met. When they finally broke apart, Tim leaned his forehead against Tony’s. “This is never going to be easy, is it?” he laughed.
Tony pulled back and started the car again, grinning. “Of course not, Probie. Where would the fun be?”
***
By the time they got to the doctor’s office, Tony felt as though the air had cleared between them. So much so, that he started teasing Tim about it again. Although he could sense Tim’s exasperation, he knew that McGee was no longer taking it badly, especially when he started to banter back about it.
When Tony brought out his phone, though, he expected more of a reaction than he got. Tim seemed almost completely unconcerned; that is, until Tony threatened to post it on YouTube. Thinking that Tim would just make a grab for the phone and then give him one of those looks which was meant to make Tony feel guilty (but instead had recently just been making him ridiculously hot), and so was taken by surprise when Tim leaped on him instead and tried to wrestle it from him. Tony kept the phone at arm’s length, enjoying the feel of Tim writhing behind him - and yeah, okay, maybe that was because he was trying to grab the phone, but Tony’s libido was translating it another way, thank-you-very-much, and was pretty happy with the situation - when suddenly he heard the doctor behind them.
They both turned, Tim’s leg thrown over Tony’s body and his hand gripping Tony’s arm, and the doctor tutted at them.
“You two have much deeper issues than we discussed on the phone,” the doctor began, and Tony blinked.
“The phone…” he echoed, glancing at his own.
“Aren’t you the couple who called up about marriage counseling?” Tony shot a look at Tim, who was staring at the doctor in horror. Tony could practically hear Tim’s panicked thoughts that if the doctor had figured out they were together, who else would?
“Couple? Us? No, no…” Tim was practically squeaking, and Tony grinned, reaching round and grabbing Tim’s thigh as he tried to get away.
“It’s okay, Timmy; Timmy, we’re in a safe place. We can be ourselves here.” He tried not to chuckle as Tim struggled to move away. “We just got back from Vermont,” he said to the doctor just as Tim managed to escape. “Pretty this time of year….”
Tim shot him a glare before reaching for his badge. “Sorry. NCIS; Special Agents McGee, DiNozzo.”
Tony stood, trying desperately not to laugh. “Very special agents,” he added, and almost lost it at the look on the doc’s face.
***
“Oh, my god, Tony. One day? I am going to kill you for pulling one of your stupid stunts.”
Tony sighed. He thought he’d at least get back to the car before they had this discussion. “Hey, you were the one who decided to try and wrestle me. Which, by the way, I am so not complaining about.” He shot Tim a sly look. “When this case is over, how about you do it again in more comfortable - and private - surroundings, huh?”
Tim laughed. “Is sex all you think about?” he teased as they got into the car.
“Not all I think about.” Tony grinned. “But it certainly makes up a lot of it. In fact,” he dropped his voice to a husky whisper, “if it wasn’t extremely unprofessional, I’d drive us somewhere secluded right now and bend you over the hood of the car before we went back to headquarters.” Tim bit his lip and Tony squashed the urge to chase those teeth with his tongue. “But, since it is, I guess we’ll just have to wait until the case is over.”
There was a moment of silence, and then: “Tony. You do realize what time it is, don’t you?”
Tony glanced at the clock on the dash; it was almost eight. “It’s… kinda late.”
“It is. And Ziva just text messaged me to tell me that Gibbs sent her home, and that we weren’t expected in until tomorrow morning.”
“Really.” Tony grinned at Tim. “Your place or mine?”
***
They ended up back at Tim’s - Tony figured that it would look pretty suspicious if they turned up together two days running, so he figured it would be best if he went home later - after a quick stop at headquarters to drop of the car they’d taken and pick up Tony’s. The moment they were in the door they were on each other, tearing at clothes and biting at each other’s mouths. When they were both naked they only just made it to the bedroom before Tim pushed Tony down and practically swallowed his cock. Tony moaned as Tim sucked him, spreading his legs wider when he felt slick fingers pressing at his hole.
Tony bit his lip and tried to think about football, the names of presidents; anything to distract himself from needing to come, and come now. But he had been too worked up from the ride back, and Tim was doing something ingenious with his tongue… Then Tim’s fingers pressed on that spot and that was it. He came hard, nails digging into Tim’s shoulder and voice hoarse from yelling.
He panted, trying to get his breath back as Tim licked him clean and kissed his way up Tony’s chest, fingers still buried in Tony’s ass. “Do you know what I’m going to do?” Tim asked, nipping at Tony’s chin.
“Kill me with sex?” Tony asked breathlessly, flexing his muscles around Tim’s fingers.
Tim laughed, low and soft, in his ear. “Hmm, maybe. I’m going to fuck you with my fingers and suck you until you’re hard again, and then I’m going to fuck you until neither of us can see straight.”
“I think you might be overestimating your abilities, Probie.”
“Is that a challenge?” Tim’s expression was mischievous, and Tony wondered just what he’d started.
Then Tim’s fingers were moving again, rubbing against that sensitive nub inside him over and over, sending sparks of pleasure up his spine. He pulled Tim’s head down and kissed him roughly, tongues licking and teeth scraping, as Tim shifted his weight onto his knees and started using his other hand to stroke Tony’s cock.
“Tim,” Tony groaned in protest, but was amazed when he could feel his cock start to fill. “God, how can you do this to me?” he gasped; he hadn’t been able to get hard again that quickly since he was a teenager, and he wasn’t sure what magic Tim was working on his cock but fuck, he wasn’t sure if he could survive. Then Tim slid down his body and began sucking kisses up the shaft of his cock until Tony felt as though he would die from the stimulation on his already over-sensitive flesh. Before long Tony was more than half hard and begging.
Tony felt Tim’s fingers withdraw and whimpermoaned at the loss. Then Tim’s mouth was back on his and Tim’s cock was pushing in slowly and fuck, this got better every time. He lifted his legs to wrap around Tim’s back and pulled him closer, feeling his muscles adjust to the strain.
“You good?” Tim muttered between kisses.
“Yeah,” he groaned. He looked up at Tim, licking his lips. “Now fuck me, Probie.”
Tim growled. “Don’t call me that,” he bit out, and started fucking Tony hard, almost completely pulling out before slamming back in. They hadn’t done this many times with Tony on the bottom, and every other time Tim had taken it slow. This time, Tim was fucking him so hard that Tony was certain that he’d been feeling it for days, and it was amazing.
He dug his fingernails into Tim’s back, not so much urging him on as trying to ground himself. Tim’s hand was on his cock, although he wasn’t sure when that had happened, and he fought the urge to just let his eyes roll back in his head. He started lifting his hips up to meet Tim’s thrusts and holymotherofgod… All it took was another two strokes and he was coming for what felt like forever. He was vaguely aware of Tim going rigid and groaning as he came, but Tony was too blissed out to do anything but make small moaning noises as Tim pulled out and nuzzled his shoulder.
“You okay, Tony?” Tim sounded worried. “I didn’t mean to be that rough, I swear.”
Tony swallowed before attempting to speak. “Tim,” he said, his voice huskier than he had ever heard it. “If you ever try to apologize for that I will have to shoot you. Now would you please set your alarm for two hours from now, because if I don’t get some sleep I will keel over and crash the car because you wore me out.” He leaned over and captured Tim’s mouth in a kiss. “And I enjoyed every second of it.”
Tim smiled at him, and the emotions behind it made Tony’s breath catch in his throat. No-one had looked at him like that since Jeanne, and Tony…Tony was afraid of what it might mean. He squashed the urge to run screaming from the bed; instead, he pulled Tim closer, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck as Tony felt him drift off to sleep.
Tony lay awake until the alarm rang and he had to leave to go back to his own apartment.
***
The next morning, Tony woke up aching in all the right places. He hummed happily to himself until the end of the evening came back to him, and he felt like an utter tool. Tim cared for him - really cared for him, despite knowing Tony’s background far too well. Tim was willing to put up with most of his shit, which few people ever were. And then last night, when Tim had pretty much bared every feeling he had about Tony, he had ignored it and run off like some kind of coward. Tony wasn’t even sure if Tim had realized what he’d revealed in that one look, but he still felt like a total shit.
When he got to work he ended up in the elevator with Ziva, who informed him that she’d discovered more about the job offer Abby had been given. Hoping that such an obscene amount of money plus perks wouldn’t be enough to tempt Abby away from NCIS he made a flip remark about the company car she’d been offered, and got to the squad room to discover some pretty hot chick he didn’t recognize standing in front of Tim, who immediately introduced her. Refusing to get jealous over some newbie he made up his mind to be extra friendly so as not to arouse suspicion. Instead of going over to his own desk after the introductions, however, he walked over to lean on the partition next to Tim’s desk, surreptitiously stroking the back of Tim’s neck as he walked past. Tim glanced at him briefly, with a look that had him fighting an untimely erection, before getting back to working on whatever-it-was on his computer.
When Agent Jardine started obsessively cleaning the desk next to Tim’s, distracting Tony from informing Gibbs what he and Ziva had dug up the previous day while Gibbs and Tim had been at the Pentagon, he saw a golden opportunity to torment someone other than Tim for a while. As he wandered back to his desk, he thought that the spray of bottled water along with his sneeze had been a touch of genius.
***
Ziva was right, Tony mused as Jardine gave her summary of why she thought Arnett had been the mole. He was afraid of commitment; terrified, in fact, and with good reason. The last time he’d been remotely committed to someone, she had left him swearing that she would never come back. And although he and Tim had decided that they were a couple, Tony knew that he was still holding back a little from them fully being together. He still couldn’t help using a verbal slip Tim made as an excuse to stand close enough to touch, though, and wondered if this was what people talked about when they were together. It almost felt like what he’d had with Jeanne, only there had always been a sense that he wasn’t really with her, because she’d never known who he was until the end. Not to mention that he hadn’t had quite this much trouble staying out of her personal space as he did with Tim.
As Gibbs yelled at them to stop arguing and start bringing him results, Tony looked at Tim’s flushed face and wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into.
***
There was no time to talk to Tim after the scene in the lab until they were in the parking garage.
“What was that smirk about?” Tony asked somewhat breathlessly as they ran. He really needed to start going back to the gym more often.
“What smirk?”
“That smirk when Abby headslapped me!”
Tony could sense Tim’s huff of exasperation as much as hear it. “It was funny, Tony. You would have laughed if it had been me.”
“Yeah, well.” They ran in silence for a while, and then Tony brought up what had been bugging him for the past half hour. “Do you really think that we were that unappreciative of Abby?”
Tim shrugged. “Probably; we do take her for granted a lot. But Tony, can we talk about this some other time? Like, preferably not when we’re trying to catch a felon?”
“Sure,” Tony agreed. They split up at level nine to look for Dana Arnett, and although it was possible that she’d already left, Tony had a feeling in his gut that she was still here, and like Gibbs had learned to trust it.
He was watching a car pass Gibbs and Ziva when he was proved right in the worst possible way; hanging from the top floor of a parking garage was not Tony’s idea of a fun evening.
“Boss!” he yelled in panic, hoping that the echo would carry his voice, and a moment later heard some kind of siren. He tried not to move, concentrating only on clinging on to the side. He thanked anyone who was up there listening that he’d spent a fair amount of time in his life building up his upper body strength, because if he wasn’t rescued soon….
“Probie!” And god, he knew Tim would kill him for that, if he wasn’t already dead, and oh god oh god he really didn’t want to die right now. “This is not how I want it to end,” he yelled, and oh thank god, Tim’s voice came from somewhere above him.
“Hang on, Tony, I’m coming!” Tony held on as tightly as he could and prayed, no longer caring that an Al Qaeda operative was possibly escaping, the only thought in his mind that he did not want to die. He vaguely heard tires screeching somewhere below him, and then there were familiar hands on his, and Tim was there, pulling him up.
As they slumped down the wall together, Tony blurted out, “I love you, McGee.” He instantly cursed himself for his choice of words, deliberately not looking Tim in the eye. “I promise never to give you a hard time again,” he said quickly, trying to cover up his mistake.
“Yeah, right,” Tim said, but Tony couldn’t tell if he’d picked up on what had been said before. They just sat there, Tony trying to absorb warmth from Tim’s body and calm his own racing heartbeat, until Ziva came up and found them. She immediately launched herself at him as he stood and he hugged her back, giving her a reassuring smile as he backed off. Together, they made their way down to where Gibbs sat in the car with Dana Arnett in the back. Tony was amazed his legs took him that far, because he was pretty sure that in a moment he was just gonna drop to the floor and stay there. But then strong hands were helping him into the car and he shot a grateful smile at Tim before buckling himself in.
***
That evening, Ziva offered to drive him home, guessing - correctly - that Tony was in no fit state to drive home. Tim immediately stepped in and said that he would drive him instead, if Tony would trust him with his car.
“But how will you get home?” Ziva asked matter-of-factly, and Tony jumped in.
“I have a guest bedroom if you want, McGee.” He tried to make it sound casual, but he couldn’t help the slight hopeful look that he shot Tim.
“Sounds good; my neighbors have been total nightmares recently, it’ll be a good excuse to get out the house for an evening.” Since Tony had been round there pretty much every night this week he knew that this was a total lie, but props to the Probie for being able to lie to Ziva convincingly, because she merely nodded and wished them a good night before leaving.
The drive home was quiet, but Tony was reassured by the fact that Tim’s hand kept finding his thigh every few minutes and squeezing, as if to prove to himself that Tony was still there. As soon as they were up in the apartment, Tim was all over him, hands stroking everywhere.
“God, Tony, I thought I’d lose you for a minute there, thought you were going to fall and I wasn’t going to get there in time,” Tim babbled, and Tony kissed him to quiet him.
“Hey, I’m okay, I’m okay.” He could feel Tim shaking against him and held him close. “I’m not going anywhere.” They stood for a moment, and Tony suddenly realized that he’d been making things so complicated by being scared of really being with someone, when it was all so simple.
“I meant what I said, you know,” he said quietly.
“Meant what?” Tim’s tone was unconcerned, but Tony could see the wariness in his eyes.
“I…” Tony took a deep breath, steeling his resolve. “I think that I may have fallen in love with you,” he said in a rush, staring at his shoes. “And I’m not entirely sure what to do with that.”
Then Tim’s lips were on his, kissing him gently. “Thank god for that, Tony,” Tim said, smiling softly. “I was starting to wonder if you’d ever catch up.” His smile turned slightly mocking. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve kinda been in love with you for a while.”
Tony couldn’t express the feeling that bubbled up inside his chest at Tim’s admission; there were so many emotions that he couldn’t define.
“You know that I’m not good at this kind of thing, right?” he warned. “Honestly, even this is killing me.”
“I know,” Tim smiled. “I know you, Tony. I’ve known you for four and a half years. I’m honestly amazed we’ve even managed to get this far, especially after what happened with Jeanne.” He cupped Tony’s cheek in his hand. “But right now I just want you to take me to bed and fuck me until we both forget what happened in that parking garage.”
Tony nodded and led Tim through to his bedroom. He knew that by tomorrow morning he would probably regret ever using the ‘l’ word, but right now he was with someone he cared for, and who cared for him right back, and somehow that was all that mattered.
______________________
Link to master post | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Epilogue
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