fic- "My Own Eyes" NCIS/Stargate SG-1 Crossover
Title: My Own Eyes
Author: CJ aka WritinginCT
Fandom: NCIS/Stargate Crossover
Pairing: Gibbs/Daniel Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slash
Categories: First Time, Romance
Feedback: Love it? Hate it?
Disclaimer: I don’t own the recognizable characters I’m just inspired by them. Hopefully they’ve had fun playing in my sandbox.
Summary: A dead Marine brings together two quiet, blue-eyed men.
Status: WIP
banner by the amazing
kaylashay81
---------------
The apartment building doorman helped him get upstairs with his suitcase, garment bag, laptop, and briefcase. He had pulled the seldom used key from his wallet and unlocked the door. The coppery smell of blood hit them first as the door swung open to reveal something out of a horror movie.
---------------
"Grab your gear," Gibbs announced zipping into the bullpen.
"What's the case, Boss?" Tony asked as he holstered his weapon.
"A Marine Captain found butchered in his apartment."
---------------
The team, with Gibbs in the lead, stepped into the apartment where the sight and smell assaulted them. There was blood everywhere, and the man propped on the couch had been tied into position and had his heart cut out. And although Ducky would need to confirm it, from the blood splatter he had been alive when it had been done.
Tony was photographing and found something, "Hey, Boss, I think you're gonna wanna see this."
Gibbs walked over to where Tony was near a bookshelf full of books and framed photographs. Following Tony's pointing finger he saw a photo of two men standing next to each other. One being the victim in his dress blues, and the other a handsome, broad shouldered man in a suit. They appeared to be at some sort of military function given the number of uniforms Gibbs could see milling around in the background. It was the civilian's eyes that captivated Gibbs though. Hidden in plain sight behind his eyeglasses, they were crystalline blue and he could see a twinkle of something in them, like he had a secret only he knew. Gibbs felt a spark of attraction as he looked at the picture, he wondered who the man was, where he was. He hadn't felt that urge in a very long time. What worried him though, and what had brought Tony's attention to the photo was the fact that written in blood across the chest of the man was the word "next". Apparently the Marine Captain's killer had an agenda.
---------------
Gibbs left his team with Ducky to finish processing the scene and he went to interview the doorman and the Captain's visitor that discovered him. He spoke with the doorman in the lobby and was told that the visitor was in the building manager's office. Gibbs made his way there and his mouth almost fell open when he saw that the visitor and the blue-eyed man from the photo were one in the same.
He recovered his wits and introduced himself, "Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS."
"Dr. Daniel Jackson."
"Medical doctor?"
Daniel shook his head, "Anthropology, linguistics, and archeology."
Gibbs noticed that the man seemed to be moving a little stiffly as he had stood up from the chair, and he could see a couple of fading bruises on his chin and forehead. And he could be willing to bet that the hand Dr. Jackson had wrapped around himself was protecting some tender ribs. The man had obviously been through the wringer. How and why Gibbs wanted to know, and did it relate to the dead man upstairs?
He also noticed that Dr. Jackson seemed to be pulling into himself. Not an uncommon reaction to something like the scene upstairs. He suspected that the other man might need softer handling, he seemed to be taking this very hard.
"Dr. Jackson, can you go through your version of finding the scene for me."
"Not much to tell really. The doorman helped me upstairs with my bags and I used my key to open the door and we found...him." he trailed off softly, his brow furrowed in grief.
"You have a key to Captain Ward's apartment?"
"Yeah, I stay with him whenever I get to D.C., he gave it to me over a year ago."
"Who knew that you were coming into D.C."
Daniel went to run a hand through his hair but winced as his ribs reminded him that it was a bad idea, "Not many people, I just decided last night. I called Martin, um, Captain Ward and he told me that he'd pick me up at the airport. When he didn't, I caught a cab to get here. Other than Martin the only other person I told was my boss to let him know where I would be. But other than those two, no one. It was spur of the moment thing. My team is on standby for a while and I decided to spend some time out here."
The door started to open behind Gibbs and he had his hand moving and his Sig out in a heartbeat. Daniel also noticed that he had also positioned himself between Daniel and the door. There was something Agent Gibbs wasn't telling him.
Tony stuck his head in the door, "Boss, we found something."
Gibbs re-holstered his weapon and stepped into the hall with Tony. Tony handed him an evidence bag with a small electrical device in it, "His phone was bugged. McGee disabled it."
"Good catch, make that Abby's first priority. My gut's not liking this case."
"Yeah. Boss, doesn't this feel like it's personal or something? I mean, why cut the guy's heart out? It seems like a revenge thing or something."
"Could be. Any sign of the heart in the apartment?"
"No."
"Killer took it as a souvenir." He sighed, this was going to be an ugly case.
"Let me know when you're done upstairs."
"On it, Boss." Tony said as he headed back upstairs.
---------------
Gibbs took a deep breath before going back into the office. Because if he thought he had been affected by the picture of the man, it didn't even come close to what was coursing through his body standing next to the man in person. There was certainly a physical attraction, but what was even more surprising was that he wanted to hold him close and get rid of that haunted look that was deep in Daniel's eyes. He wanted to protect him, because it was obvious to him that no one had protected Daniel in a long time.
Tamping down on all that, he opened he office door, and was both pleased and curious as to why he did it when he saw that Daniel had placed himself in a position to be behind the opening door and out of the direct line of sight of the person entering. There was definitely more to Dr. Jackson than met the eye, and Gibbs wanted to know it all.
At Gibbs' questioning little smirk at his actions Daniel couldn't help but grin back and give a little shrug. He took a moment to really look at Gibbs. He had felt a strong bolt of attraction run through him when the agent had first introduced himself. He hadn't felt that since, well since he had met Martin at the SGC two years ago. Daniel was used to people commenting on his eyes and he never really thought much about them, but now seeing the crystal blue of Gibbs eyes that he could just fall into, he wondered if his own had that affect on people. He put a quick lid on all those thoughts and feelings, he had worked too long with military personnel and knew he was just asking for trouble if he let them out. But he did let himself take a mental picture of the cocky little grin Gibbs had thrown at him.
"Dr. Jackson..." Gibbs started to say but Daniel interrupted.
"Please, call me Daniel."
Gibbs gave him a little nod and another grin, "Daniel, do you know if Captain Ward had anyone that would want to do this to him? Anything in his personal life that would open him up to a crime like this?"
"Nothing I can think of, Martin was a quiet sort of guy, but well liked. He did just break up with his girl friend a couple months ago."
"Was it a bad breakup?" Gibbs asked.
Daniel chuckled ruefully, "Yeah, it was pretty explosive. She accused him of cheating on her..." he locked his eyes with Gibbs, wanting to see his reaction, "with me."
Gibbs didn't miss a beat though, carefully keeping his reaction to himself. But the question had to be asked, "Any truth to that?"
"I've worked with the military long enough to know you're not supposed to ask me that, Agent Gibbs." Daniel replied with his own grin.
"It's Jethro. And it's off the record."
"No, Jethro, Martin had no interest in men."
Gibbs noticed how carefully Daniel worded things, especially that last answer, so he prodded, "You're sure about that? How would you know?"
Daniel licked his bottom lip, a move Gibbs would swear he did on purpose, and replied very matter of factly, "Because I kissed him a while back and he told me."
Gibbs could hear the blood pounding in his ears, and he swallowed hard trying to stamp out the mental image of Daniel kissing Captain Ward out of his head but he couldn't. And when the image morphed into Daniel kissing him and he knew he was really in trouble.
Daniel saw the way Gibbs pupils contracted and how hard he swallowed after his little confession and suddenly Daniel realized that maybe he had misread the agent. It would take further observation.
Swallowing hard again, Gibbs said, "Okay. Tell me about this girlfriend."
Daniel filled him in on what he knew about her and their spectacular breakup. But something Gibbs wasn't telling him was bugging him, "What aren't you telling me, Jethro?"
"We have evidence to indicate you are the killer's next target."
Gibbs was surprised when Daniel took that in stride, not realizing that the number of people in the galaxy that wanted Daniel dead seemed to grow every time they stepped through the Stargate.
"You think it might be his ex-girlfriend?"
"It fits. But we need to process the evidence and see what that tells us before jumping to conclusions. But right now my concern is protecting you. So we're going to head back to my office for now. I know you'll be safe there."
"Okay. I do need to call General Hammond and let him know the situation."
Gibbs raised his eyebrow at that, "General?"
"Um, yeah, I work as a consultant for the Air Force in Colorado Springs helping decipher deep space telemetry."
Gibbs had been around long enough to know a bad cover story when he heard one but didn't press. He grabbed Daniel's bags, knowing that lifting them would cause pain to those ribs Daniel was babying, and headed for the door, "C'mon. You can call him from the car."
---------------
During the drive back to the office, Gibbs could see that Daniel was very quiet and deep in thought, the grief of losing his friend etched on his face. He was also a little pale around the edges, and Gibbs wondered when the last time was that Daniel had eaten. He pulled into a favorite little plaza that housed his favorite coffee shop and a deli that made great fresh sandwiches. At Daniel's questioning look when he pulled in he asked Daniel, "When was the last time you ate?"
Daniel just gave him a look and shrugged. Gibbs just chuckled and shook his head, "I didn't think so. C'mon let's get a sandwich and some coffee. It'll do you good, your body needs food to heal."
Daniel was going to question how Gibbs knew he was injured but just left it alone, but the thought that someone cared about his well being did sort of niggle at his brain a little, but he shoved the thought aside figuring that the agent was just taking care of someone in his charge, nothing more to it. "Coffee really sounds good. I'm not quite sure what it was they served on the plane but I'm pretty sure it wasn't coffee."
"Never is."
The two men got food and coffee and settled at one of the little tables in the deli to eat. They didn't talk much, but the quiet wasn't uncomfortable. It just was. They lingered over their first coffees and got a fresh one for the road. As they walked back to the car Daniel stopped and turned to Gibbs, "Thanks, I needed that. It's been a rough week."
Gibbs hand was moving before he realized it to rest on Daniel's shoulder, "I know. And Daniel? We're gonna get whoever killed Captain Ward. Trust me."
The hand on his shoulder was strong, but at the same time warm and reassuring. Deciding to test the boundary a little, Daniel reached up and squeezed the hand resting there. "I believe you."
Gibbs didn't pull away to Daniel's delight, and he returned the squeeze gently, "Good. Now let's get going so I can see what my team has put together."
The men separated and got into the car, both wondering if the other had felt the almost electric tingling where their hands had touched.
---------------
Gibbs got Daniel comfortably ensconced in a conference room with his coffee and his laptop, figuring that he might as well get some work done.
Gibbs pointed to the phone in the corner, "Don't forget to call your boss. Do you need a secure line?"
Their eyes met for a moment, and Daniel realized that Gibbs had seen right through the cover story. "No, this will be fine. Thanks."
Gibbs nodded and headed out to the bullpen. Daniel took a deep breath and picked up the phone. After explaining this situation in detail to General Hammond and assuring him that he was safe and that he didn't need him to recall SG-1 and send them to Washington Daniel hung up the phone and collapsed into the chair.
He was grateful that Jack was in Minnesota for their down time, if he had been at the mountain he would have either insisted that Daniel return to the Springs or he would have been on the next plane out here to fuss over Daniel and make a nuisance of himself. Daniel smiled at that thought, because for all his bravado, he knew deep down that Jack cared about him and that was why he worried. It was why Daniel always knew to look for Jack when he woke up in the infirmary. Jack was just Jack.
Daniel had lost track of the number of times he had wished that he would meet someone that not only cared about him as much as Jack but that would also be someone that he could fall in love with and that would love him in return. He had had one blissful year with Sha're, and knew what that felt like. And in the years since her abduction and death he had tried to cling to the memory of that feeling. But there were nights alone in his bed that the loneliness cut his soul wide open and he ached for someone to fill the void.
His thoughts turned to Martin. He had been instantly attracted to him. Martin was an Marine translator and a self-proclaimed code and puzzle junkie. He had been assigned to the SGC in the hopes that he could learn some of the off world languages and help Daniel with the massive backlog of translations. The two men got along well and spend time on and off base together, having similar interests and personalities. Daniel recalled the night he kissed him. They were at Daniel's loft celebrating the completion of a particularly puzzling translation that had them stymied for weeks. The two of them were in the kitchen making a salad and broiling a couple steaks as they shared a bottle of wine. Their mood had been so light hearted and comfortable that Daniel just took a chance and kissed Martin. The compassionate look in Martin's eyes when they parted had screamed volumes, and gently he confirmed to Daniel that although he was beyond flattered that he wasn't interested in men. Daniel almost panicked, seeing their friendship and working relationship crashing and burning. And it had taken Martin throwing a companionable arm around his shoulder and repeating several times that they were okay for Daniel to breath again. And they were okay. Their friendship as strong as ever. And when Martin was reassigned to Washington, he was welcomed in Martin's apartment as his home away from home.
But now Martin was dead. His heart carved out by some lunatic. And this lunatic now wanted Daniel. He really didn't know how to feel about that. But the grief of Martin's death was fresh, and his chest hurt with the pain of it. He found himself staring out window of the conference room at the setting sun with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, trying not to let the tears start that were threatening to fall. There would be time for that later. When he was alone, in the dark, where he kept all his ghosts.
---------------
Gibbs had stepped quietly into the conference room and saw Daniel at the window, he read Daniel's body language like a book, the slumped shoulders and chin on his chest telling him that the other man was hurting, grieving. He fought back the urge to envelope Daniel in a bear hug.
He cleared his throat gently to alert Daniel to his presence, "Hey."
Daniel swallowed hard before turning halfway around, to be sure his emotions were in check. "Hi."
Gibbs crossed the room to stand side by side with Daniel as they looked out. "Abby's running all the evidence, it's gonna take till morning to process all the test results. We've got a few leads too but we can't do anything about them until morning either. What do you say we pack up and get out of here, we'll grab some Chinese on the way and I'll take you someplace safe to spend the night?"
Daniel nodded and closed up his laptop and and slung the bag over his shoulder, Gibbs saw the wince as the weight of the bag pulled on Daniel's ribs and before Daniel could pick them up he grabbed the rest of Daniel's bags,
They made their way through through the bullpen towards the elevator, passing Tony's desk, Tony looked up and asked, "Taking him to a safe house, Boss?"
Without breaking stride Gibbs threw Tony a smirk and replied, "Safest house in town, DiNozzo." And without another word he and Daniel got in the elevator.
After the elevator closed McGee piped up from his desk, "Safest house in town?"
Tony replied flatly, "His."
Tony was a little concerned about Gibbs' behavior towards Dr. Jackson. Gibbs had tried to hide it, but Tony had seen his initial reaction to the photo of Dr. Jackson. And he had been growling at them all afternoon, more so than usual. And now Gibbs was carrying the man's suitcase and taking him to his house for the night. Honestly Tony didn't care either way whether or not Gibbs was attracted to Dr. Jackson, he did care about the case. Tony did think it was odd though, considering Gibbs had been married four times. He would never have thought Gibbs would be interested in another man, unless of course it somehow figured into his three divorces. He was grateful at times for the "don't ask, don't tell" mentality of the office.
--------------
"A safe house?" Daniel asked looking over the top of his glasses at Gibbs in the elevator on the way down.
Gibbs smirked and chuckled, "Well it's my house, and it's safe. So I guess we can call it a safe house."
The little errant schoolboy expression on Gibbs' face made Daniel laugh in spite of everything.
Their mood was lighter when they left the elevator than when they had entered it and Gibbs was glad.
---------------
Chapter List for My Own Eyes
Author: CJ aka WritinginCT
Fandom: NCIS/Stargate Crossover
Pairing: Gibbs/Daniel Jackson
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slash
Categories: First Time, Romance
Feedback: Love it? Hate it?
Disclaimer: I don’t own the recognizable characters I’m just inspired by them. Hopefully they’ve had fun playing in my sandbox.
Summary: A dead Marine brings together two quiet, blue-eyed men.
Status: WIP
banner by the amazing
kaylashay81
---------------
The apartment building doorman helped him get upstairs with his suitcase, garment bag, laptop, and briefcase. He had pulled the seldom used key from his wallet and unlocked the door. The coppery smell of blood hit them first as the door swung open to reveal something out of a horror movie.
---------------
"Grab your gear," Gibbs announced zipping into the bullpen.
"What's the case, Boss?" Tony asked as he holstered his weapon.
"A Marine Captain found butchered in his apartment."
---------------
The team, with Gibbs in the lead, stepped into the apartment where the sight and smell assaulted them. There was blood everywhere, and the man propped on the couch had been tied into position and had his heart cut out. And although Ducky would need to confirm it, from the blood splatter he had been alive when it had been done.
Tony was photographing and found something, "Hey, Boss, I think you're gonna wanna see this."
Gibbs walked over to where Tony was near a bookshelf full of books and framed photographs. Following Tony's pointing finger he saw a photo of two men standing next to each other. One being the victim in his dress blues, and the other a handsome, broad shouldered man in a suit. They appeared to be at some sort of military function given the number of uniforms Gibbs could see milling around in the background. It was the civilian's eyes that captivated Gibbs though. Hidden in plain sight behind his eyeglasses, they were crystalline blue and he could see a twinkle of something in them, like he had a secret only he knew. Gibbs felt a spark of attraction as he looked at the picture, he wondered who the man was, where he was. He hadn't felt that urge in a very long time. What worried him though, and what had brought Tony's attention to the photo was the fact that written in blood across the chest of the man was the word "next". Apparently the Marine Captain's killer had an agenda.
---------------
Gibbs left his team with Ducky to finish processing the scene and he went to interview the doorman and the Captain's visitor that discovered him. He spoke with the doorman in the lobby and was told that the visitor was in the building manager's office. Gibbs made his way there and his mouth almost fell open when he saw that the visitor and the blue-eyed man from the photo were one in the same.
He recovered his wits and introduced himself, "Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS."
"Dr. Daniel Jackson."
"Medical doctor?"
Daniel shook his head, "Anthropology, linguistics, and archeology."
Gibbs noticed that the man seemed to be moving a little stiffly as he had stood up from the chair, and he could see a couple of fading bruises on his chin and forehead. And he could be willing to bet that the hand Dr. Jackson had wrapped around himself was protecting some tender ribs. The man had obviously been through the wringer. How and why Gibbs wanted to know, and did it relate to the dead man upstairs?
He also noticed that Dr. Jackson seemed to be pulling into himself. Not an uncommon reaction to something like the scene upstairs. He suspected that the other man might need softer handling, he seemed to be taking this very hard.
"Dr. Jackson, can you go through your version of finding the scene for me."
"Not much to tell really. The doorman helped me upstairs with my bags and I used my key to open the door and we found...him." he trailed off softly, his brow furrowed in grief.
"You have a key to Captain Ward's apartment?"
"Yeah, I stay with him whenever I get to D.C., he gave it to me over a year ago."
"Who knew that you were coming into D.C."
Daniel went to run a hand through his hair but winced as his ribs reminded him that it was a bad idea, "Not many people, I just decided last night. I called Martin, um, Captain Ward and he told me that he'd pick me up at the airport. When he didn't, I caught a cab to get here. Other than Martin the only other person I told was my boss to let him know where I would be. But other than those two, no one. It was spur of the moment thing. My team is on standby for a while and I decided to spend some time out here."
The door started to open behind Gibbs and he had his hand moving and his Sig out in a heartbeat. Daniel also noticed that he had also positioned himself between Daniel and the door. There was something Agent Gibbs wasn't telling him.
Tony stuck his head in the door, "Boss, we found something."
Gibbs re-holstered his weapon and stepped into the hall with Tony. Tony handed him an evidence bag with a small electrical device in it, "His phone was bugged. McGee disabled it."
"Good catch, make that Abby's first priority. My gut's not liking this case."
"Yeah. Boss, doesn't this feel like it's personal or something? I mean, why cut the guy's heart out? It seems like a revenge thing or something."
"Could be. Any sign of the heart in the apartment?"
"No."
"Killer took it as a souvenir." He sighed, this was going to be an ugly case.
"Let me know when you're done upstairs."
"On it, Boss." Tony said as he headed back upstairs.
---------------
Gibbs took a deep breath before going back into the office. Because if he thought he had been affected by the picture of the man, it didn't even come close to what was coursing through his body standing next to the man in person. There was certainly a physical attraction, but what was even more surprising was that he wanted to hold him close and get rid of that haunted look that was deep in Daniel's eyes. He wanted to protect him, because it was obvious to him that no one had protected Daniel in a long time.
Tamping down on all that, he opened he office door, and was both pleased and curious as to why he did it when he saw that Daniel had placed himself in a position to be behind the opening door and out of the direct line of sight of the person entering. There was definitely more to Dr. Jackson than met the eye, and Gibbs wanted to know it all.
At Gibbs' questioning little smirk at his actions Daniel couldn't help but grin back and give a little shrug. He took a moment to really look at Gibbs. He had felt a strong bolt of attraction run through him when the agent had first introduced himself. He hadn't felt that since, well since he had met Martin at the SGC two years ago. Daniel was used to people commenting on his eyes and he never really thought much about them, but now seeing the crystal blue of Gibbs eyes that he could just fall into, he wondered if his own had that affect on people. He put a quick lid on all those thoughts and feelings, he had worked too long with military personnel and knew he was just asking for trouble if he let them out. But he did let himself take a mental picture of the cocky little grin Gibbs had thrown at him.
"Dr. Jackson..." Gibbs started to say but Daniel interrupted.
"Please, call me Daniel."
Gibbs gave him a little nod and another grin, "Daniel, do you know if Captain Ward had anyone that would want to do this to him? Anything in his personal life that would open him up to a crime like this?"
"Nothing I can think of, Martin was a quiet sort of guy, but well liked. He did just break up with his girl friend a couple months ago."
"Was it a bad breakup?" Gibbs asked.
Daniel chuckled ruefully, "Yeah, it was pretty explosive. She accused him of cheating on her..." he locked his eyes with Gibbs, wanting to see his reaction, "with me."
Gibbs didn't miss a beat though, carefully keeping his reaction to himself. But the question had to be asked, "Any truth to that?"
"I've worked with the military long enough to know you're not supposed to ask me that, Agent Gibbs." Daniel replied with his own grin.
"It's Jethro. And it's off the record."
"No, Jethro, Martin had no interest in men."
Gibbs noticed how carefully Daniel worded things, especially that last answer, so he prodded, "You're sure about that? How would you know?"
Daniel licked his bottom lip, a move Gibbs would swear he did on purpose, and replied very matter of factly, "Because I kissed him a while back and he told me."
Gibbs could hear the blood pounding in his ears, and he swallowed hard trying to stamp out the mental image of Daniel kissing Captain Ward out of his head but he couldn't. And when the image morphed into Daniel kissing him and he knew he was really in trouble.
Daniel saw the way Gibbs pupils contracted and how hard he swallowed after his little confession and suddenly Daniel realized that maybe he had misread the agent. It would take further observation.
Swallowing hard again, Gibbs said, "Okay. Tell me about this girlfriend."
Daniel filled him in on what he knew about her and their spectacular breakup. But something Gibbs wasn't telling him was bugging him, "What aren't you telling me, Jethro?"
"We have evidence to indicate you are the killer's next target."
Gibbs was surprised when Daniel took that in stride, not realizing that the number of people in the galaxy that wanted Daniel dead seemed to grow every time they stepped through the Stargate.
"You think it might be his ex-girlfriend?"
"It fits. But we need to process the evidence and see what that tells us before jumping to conclusions. But right now my concern is protecting you. So we're going to head back to my office for now. I know you'll be safe there."
"Okay. I do need to call General Hammond and let him know the situation."
Gibbs raised his eyebrow at that, "General?"
"Um, yeah, I work as a consultant for the Air Force in Colorado Springs helping decipher deep space telemetry."
Gibbs had been around long enough to know a bad cover story when he heard one but didn't press. He grabbed Daniel's bags, knowing that lifting them would cause pain to those ribs Daniel was babying, and headed for the door, "C'mon. You can call him from the car."
---------------
During the drive back to the office, Gibbs could see that Daniel was very quiet and deep in thought, the grief of losing his friend etched on his face. He was also a little pale around the edges, and Gibbs wondered when the last time was that Daniel had eaten. He pulled into a favorite little plaza that housed his favorite coffee shop and a deli that made great fresh sandwiches. At Daniel's questioning look when he pulled in he asked Daniel, "When was the last time you ate?"
Daniel just gave him a look and shrugged. Gibbs just chuckled and shook his head, "I didn't think so. C'mon let's get a sandwich and some coffee. It'll do you good, your body needs food to heal."
Daniel was going to question how Gibbs knew he was injured but just left it alone, but the thought that someone cared about his well being did sort of niggle at his brain a little, but he shoved the thought aside figuring that the agent was just taking care of someone in his charge, nothing more to it. "Coffee really sounds good. I'm not quite sure what it was they served on the plane but I'm pretty sure it wasn't coffee."
"Never is."
The two men got food and coffee and settled at one of the little tables in the deli to eat. They didn't talk much, but the quiet wasn't uncomfortable. It just was. They lingered over their first coffees and got a fresh one for the road. As they walked back to the car Daniel stopped and turned to Gibbs, "Thanks, I needed that. It's been a rough week."
Gibbs hand was moving before he realized it to rest on Daniel's shoulder, "I know. And Daniel? We're gonna get whoever killed Captain Ward. Trust me."
The hand on his shoulder was strong, but at the same time warm and reassuring. Deciding to test the boundary a little, Daniel reached up and squeezed the hand resting there. "I believe you."
Gibbs didn't pull away to Daniel's delight, and he returned the squeeze gently, "Good. Now let's get going so I can see what my team has put together."
The men separated and got into the car, both wondering if the other had felt the almost electric tingling where their hands had touched.
---------------
Gibbs got Daniel comfortably ensconced in a conference room with his coffee and his laptop, figuring that he might as well get some work done.
Gibbs pointed to the phone in the corner, "Don't forget to call your boss. Do you need a secure line?"
Their eyes met for a moment, and Daniel realized that Gibbs had seen right through the cover story. "No, this will be fine. Thanks."
Gibbs nodded and headed out to the bullpen. Daniel took a deep breath and picked up the phone. After explaining this situation in detail to General Hammond and assuring him that he was safe and that he didn't need him to recall SG-1 and send them to Washington Daniel hung up the phone and collapsed into the chair.
He was grateful that Jack was in Minnesota for their down time, if he had been at the mountain he would have either insisted that Daniel return to the Springs or he would have been on the next plane out here to fuss over Daniel and make a nuisance of himself. Daniel smiled at that thought, because for all his bravado, he knew deep down that Jack cared about him and that was why he worried. It was why Daniel always knew to look for Jack when he woke up in the infirmary. Jack was just Jack.
Daniel had lost track of the number of times he had wished that he would meet someone that not only cared about him as much as Jack but that would also be someone that he could fall in love with and that would love him in return. He had had one blissful year with Sha're, and knew what that felt like. And in the years since her abduction and death he had tried to cling to the memory of that feeling. But there were nights alone in his bed that the loneliness cut his soul wide open and he ached for someone to fill the void.
His thoughts turned to Martin. He had been instantly attracted to him. Martin was an Marine translator and a self-proclaimed code and puzzle junkie. He had been assigned to the SGC in the hopes that he could learn some of the off world languages and help Daniel with the massive backlog of translations. The two men got along well and spend time on and off base together, having similar interests and personalities. Daniel recalled the night he kissed him. They were at Daniel's loft celebrating the completion of a particularly puzzling translation that had them stymied for weeks. The two of them were in the kitchen making a salad and broiling a couple steaks as they shared a bottle of wine. Their mood had been so light hearted and comfortable that Daniel just took a chance and kissed Martin. The compassionate look in Martin's eyes when they parted had screamed volumes, and gently he confirmed to Daniel that although he was beyond flattered that he wasn't interested in men. Daniel almost panicked, seeing their friendship and working relationship crashing and burning. And it had taken Martin throwing a companionable arm around his shoulder and repeating several times that they were okay for Daniel to breath again. And they were okay. Their friendship as strong as ever. And when Martin was reassigned to Washington, he was welcomed in Martin's apartment as his home away from home.
But now Martin was dead. His heart carved out by some lunatic. And this lunatic now wanted Daniel. He really didn't know how to feel about that. But the grief of Martin's death was fresh, and his chest hurt with the pain of it. He found himself staring out window of the conference room at the setting sun with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, trying not to let the tears start that were threatening to fall. There would be time for that later. When he was alone, in the dark, where he kept all his ghosts.
---------------
Gibbs had stepped quietly into the conference room and saw Daniel at the window, he read Daniel's body language like a book, the slumped shoulders and chin on his chest telling him that the other man was hurting, grieving. He fought back the urge to envelope Daniel in a bear hug.
He cleared his throat gently to alert Daniel to his presence, "Hey."
Daniel swallowed hard before turning halfway around, to be sure his emotions were in check. "Hi."
Gibbs crossed the room to stand side by side with Daniel as they looked out. "Abby's running all the evidence, it's gonna take till morning to process all the test results. We've got a few leads too but we can't do anything about them until morning either. What do you say we pack up and get out of here, we'll grab some Chinese on the way and I'll take you someplace safe to spend the night?"
Daniel nodded and closed up his laptop and and slung the bag over his shoulder, Gibbs saw the wince as the weight of the bag pulled on Daniel's ribs and before Daniel could pick them up he grabbed the rest of Daniel's bags,
They made their way through through the bullpen towards the elevator, passing Tony's desk, Tony looked up and asked, "Taking him to a safe house, Boss?"
Without breaking stride Gibbs threw Tony a smirk and replied, "Safest house in town, DiNozzo." And without another word he and Daniel got in the elevator.
After the elevator closed McGee piped up from his desk, "Safest house in town?"
Tony replied flatly, "His."
Tony was a little concerned about Gibbs' behavior towards Dr. Jackson. Gibbs had tried to hide it, but Tony had seen his initial reaction to the photo of Dr. Jackson. And he had been growling at them all afternoon, more so than usual. And now Gibbs was carrying the man's suitcase and taking him to his house for the night. Honestly Tony didn't care either way whether or not Gibbs was attracted to Dr. Jackson, he did care about the case. Tony did think it was odd though, considering Gibbs had been married four times. He would never have thought Gibbs would be interested in another man, unless of course it somehow figured into his three divorces. He was grateful at times for the "don't ask, don't tell" mentality of the office.
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"A safe house?" Daniel asked looking over the top of his glasses at Gibbs in the elevator on the way down.
Gibbs smirked and chuckled, "Well it's my house, and it's safe. So I guess we can call it a safe house."
The little errant schoolboy expression on Gibbs' face made Daniel laugh in spite of everything.
Their mood was lighter when they left the elevator than when they had entered it and Gibbs was glad.
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Chapter List for My Own Eyes