FF: Crossroads 18
Title: Cross Roads
Chapter: 18
Summary: Life is never easy and is forever tossing curve balls. Gibbs has been caught in the explosion, but what is happening with everyone else. This is a SlashMPreg story, nothing to graphic but rating may change as the story continues.
TV Show: NCIS
Characters: DiNozzo/Gibbs, Ducky, Ziva, McGee, Abby, Jen
Disclaimer: I don't own them, only wish that I did.
A/N: This is a work in progress, not sure how far it will go, but hopefully it's worth the ride!
Gibbs looked at the clock by his bed as he continued to toss and turn. It was only 3am, to early to get up and even if he did he’d probably only end up disturbing Ducky who was sleeping in the guest room.
He sighed. He wondered how after only a few weeks of being back with Tony he was already finding it impossible to sleep without his lover again. But he couldn’t hold back the smile that played across his lips as he remembered the night. The team had all gone out to dinner. At first things had been a little tense with some of them, but McGee, Ziva and Palmer had all taken their cues from Tony and Abby and once they had relaxed a little, shared some good food and conversation the night had been a raging success. He was glad that he’d suggested it, as much as he liked his alone time and time with just Tony, he had to admit that tonight had gone a long way to getting their team, their family, back into an easy flow. He’d even made headway into repairing his relationship with Ducky. And he hadn’t realised just how much of a relief that would have been until he’d been sitting in his lounge room sharing some single malt with his old friend.
But now it was early morning, and he was alone in his bed because he’d encouraged Tony to continue the night with movies at his place with Abby, Ziva and Tim. Jimmy had declined the invite to Tony’s because he was meeting up with a “friend”. He chuckled as he remembered the blush that had suffused the younger man’s face when he’d admitted why he couldn’t join the others. He and Ducky had decided to let the younger ones have their movie night and had gone back to his place for some after dinner drinks and to talk a little more.
It had been comfortable. Something he hadn’t realised that he’d been missing until they’d had a few drinks. And that was also when he’d admitted that he wished that Tony and the others were here, having their movie night. When Ducky had pressed him as to why they weren’t he’d said that he hadn’t wanted to put pressure on Tony to move back in, he was the one who had messed up and he would do whatever Tony wanted. He needed to make things right between them, and that included taking things at a speed that Tony was comfortable with.
But laying in bed here by himself he wished that Tony was here with him. That he’d move back into the house where he belonged. This house hadn’t felt like a home since Shannon and Kelly, none of his ex-wives had managed to make an impression on the house, but with Tony it was like the house had been waiting for him, that Shannon and Kelly had welcomed him into their home. And when his lover wasn’t here it just felt cold, and lonely. Even with Ducky staying the night.
He sighed and looked at the clock again 3.12am.
This was going to be one long night.
He was almost relieved when his cell phone started to ring, that was until he saw who was calling. He was up, out of bed and half dressed by the time he had answered his phone. At this time of night this could not be good news.
“What the hell did you do to him this time? What did you say huh?” Abby shouted through the phone.
He barely stopped as his blood ran cold, he didn’t know what she was talking about but he finished dressing and was out of the bedroom before he spoke.
“Slow down Abbs and tell me what’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG?”
“ABBY”
That stopped her dead. “Tell me he’s there with you, please tell me he’s there...”
He paused as he headed down the stairs. His heart stopped. Tony had run? He wanted to yell, to punch something, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to wake Ducky up. Not yet at least. Not until he knew what was going on.
“He’s not here Abbs, now slow down and tell me what happened.”
He could almost hear her deflate, and the fear that crept into her voice.
“Oh god, I thought he was all right, I thought that everything was starting to work out, I didn’t realise anything was wrong...”
“Abbs, tell me what happened, please.” Gibbs said softly. He’d made it downstairs now and was unlocking his gun. He needed facts, he needed to know what had happened so that he could go and find Tony, so that he could make it right. He couldn’t lose him, not again, not now.
It was the please that did it, and he knew it.
“We had a great night, it was a great night wasn’t it?”
He smiled a little at that.
“Yeah Abbs, it was great. What happened when you got back to Tony’s?” He had moved to find his keys. If Tony had run, he hadn’t seen it coming any more than Abby had.
“Everything was fine, we were having fun and watched a couple of movies. We must have fallen asleep. I woke up and we were all covered with blankets and the TV was turned off. I thought he’d just gone to bed so I went to check and make sure he was all right. But he wasn’t there. I looked. I woke the others up and got them to help me look, Timmy went down and checked and his car is gone. Where’s he gone? Why didn’t he let me know what was going on Gibbs?”
“Damn.” Was all he could say, all he could think. He’d thought that Tony was finished with running, he couldn’t have gotten his lover that wrong. Could he? And even if he’d missed something, he didn’t think the others would have missed all the signs as well, not now.
He heard a sound behind him and spun around, hoping that it was Tony but realised that it was Ducky at the same time. He rubbed a hand over his face as he thought. There had to be something.
“Is anything else missing from his apartment? Clothes?”
“Oh my.” Ducky said quietly, he didn’t need to ask what was happening. He’d heard Gibbs cell phone and had wondered if they had been called in, even though it was technically their weekend off.
Gibbs checked to make sure he had everything he needed while he waited for Abby and the others to check the apartment. He could hear Abby moving through the apartment and talking to the others as she went. He could hear doors being opened and closed.
“I can’t see anything missing. Where is he Gibbs?”
He’d reached the door and turned on the porch light. His heart warmed as a wave of relief washed over him.
“It’s all right Abbs, he’s here.”
“What? Why didn’t you say before! I was so worried, can I talk to him?”
“Abbs, slow down.” Gibbs sighed, then the relief that he had felt moments ago washed away as he realised that something still wasn’t right, why hadn’t Tony come in when he arrived? Why was he still outside in the cold? How long had he been here? “He’s in his car, I’ll call you back once I get him inside.”
He hung up and called out to Ducky and then hurried out to Tony’s car. He was huddled up in his car with his head resting on the cold glass window. He tried the door and was somewhat reassured that the door was locked, at least Tony had been thinking of his safety before he’d fallen asleep. But that still didn’t answer why he hadn’t come inside when he’d arrived. He sighed, knelt down and tapped on the window to wake Tony up.
“Tony, wake up Tony.” Gibbs almost pleaded as he knocked on the door. But Tony didn’t even stir. He saw Ducky move closer and placed his hand on the hood of the car as he passed.
“He’s been here for some time Jethro, the hood is cold. We really must get him inside quickly, this cold will not be good for his lungs.”
Gibbs cursed quietly as he went back to trying to wake Tony. He was tempted to try breaking into the car, but as he was looking around for something to help him Tony finally started to stir.
“Come on Tony, that’s it. Time to wake up.” He continued to tap on the window to get Tony to focus on him. He was considering sending Ducky back inside to get his lockpick tools when he saw Tony open his eyes and look at him, but he could tell that his lover wasn’t fully aware of where he was. “That’s it Tony, I need you unlock the door so we can get you inside where it’s nice and warm.”
Tony smiled before his eyes started to close again.
Gibbs felt his heart stutter, no he had to get Tony to unlock his door so they could get him inside. There was no other option.
“No Tony, don’t go back to sleep, I need you to unlock your door,” he said as he continued to tap the glass near Tony’s head. He almost sighed with relief when he saw Tony slowly reach up to the lock. He heard Ducky echo his sigh of relief before he turned his attention back to Tony. “That’s it, we’ll get you nice and warm soon.”
As soon as Tony unlocked the door Gibbs was easing it open, making sure that Tony didn’t fall out as he was still leaning on the door. He knew that Ducky was hovering just behind him, impatient to check the younger man out.
“That’s it Tony, time to go inside now. We have to get you nice and warm.” Gibbs said as he eased his lover out of the car. He was worried that Tony still didn’t seem to be focusing on what was going on around him, but was glad that he had come to their home instead of running. “Good Tony, not far now and then we’ll be inside. The fire is still nice and warm. It won’t take long to get it going again. We’ll just go inside, get comfortable in front of the fire and Ducky will check you out, then we’ll go upstairs and get comfortable in our nice warm bed, how does that sound Tony?”
Tony snuggled a little closer into Gibbs arms as he helped him inside. He didn’t care where they were or what they were doing, he just soaked up his lovers presence, his warmth, the sound of his voice. It was what had been missing since he’d gone back to his apartment with others, it had been what he had been missing when he’d been trying to get to sleep. It was what had led him to leave his warm flat and venture out into the cold in the early hours of the morning as his friends, his family, had slept.
“Come on, not much further now. Just a few steps up and we’ll be inside. How does that sound Tony?” Gibbs asked as he led an unresisting Tony inside. He took a moment to look back and see that Ducky had locked Tony’s beloved car before following them closely.
“Make him comfortable on the couch Jethro, I’ll just go and retrieve my bag and then check young Anthony out. We can’t be too careful now can we?”
“Thanks Duck.” Gibbs said as he settled Tony on the couch before he moved to stir the fire back up. He was worried about how cold Tony felt. He knew that that couldn’t be good.
“J’ro” Tony groaned as he felt Gibbs move away. He didn’t want him to go, not now he was enjoying being near him.
Gibbs quickly stirred the fire back to life before he turned back to his lover. He moved even faster as he heard Tony call out for him, soft and a little lost. His heart broke a little more. He was still realising just how much damage he had done when he had run to Mexico and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to make it up to Tony. But he was willing to spend the rest of his life trying. He’d already taken steps, steps that only his lawyers had any knowledge of.
“It’s all right, I’m not going anywhere.” He said as he sat next to Tony who had begun to try and get up again, he pulled Tony a little closer and felt him stop struggling and relax back into him. He pulled the blanket around Tony to try and help warm him up a little.
“Now my dear boy, let’s see what mischief you have managed to get yourself into this time shall we.” Ducky said as he put his bag down next to Tony and started his exam. “Now my boy, I thought you were going to have a nice evening at home with the others? What happened, were the movies not up to your usual standard? Or did you happen to run out of snacks? I remember one time when I was entertaining…”
“Duck,” Gibbs cut his friend off as he felt Tony snuggle closer to him. He knew that Tony usually loved to listen to Ducky’s stories, but when he wasn’t feeling the best he tended to have trouble dealing with it. He knew that Ducky understood and didn’t mind the gentle reminder.
“Of course, that is a story for another time I think.” Ducky said as he wrapped up his exam. “Now I don’t think we have much to worry about my dear boy, but we do need to get your temperature up to normal.”
“Do we need to take him to a hospital Duck?”
That seemed to get Tony’s attention as he groaned his displeasure at the mention of hospitals. Gibbs simply tightened his hold on him, he knew how much Tony hated hospitals but if his lover needed to go then he would carry him there if he had to. Tony’s health mattered too much to play games with. It always had, to him at least.
Ducky smiled, “No I think he will do much better being here with us looking after him. It is only a mild case of hypothermia, and his lungs are clear for now. I will make him some hot chocolate to help him warm up a little while you continue to keep him calm. The fire will help warm him up nicely.”
Gibbs smiled for the first time since he’d answered his phone, which reminded him he needed to call Abby back. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since she’d called but he knew that if he didn’t call her soon she would turn up on his doorstep sooner rather than later. He moved a little, much to Tony’s displeasure, and retrieved his phone.
It barely had time to ring before Abby answered and was loudly demanding answers as to what was going on. Gibbs chuckled when he heard Tony whisper to tell her to take a breath. He knew then that his Tony would be all right.
“Abbs!” he called out after letting her rant for a few more moments just so that he could take the opportunity to watch Tony. When he finally got her attention he spoke again. “Abbs, he’s going to be fine. I’m not sure what happened and I’m not going to push it for now. He’s just a little chilly and tired. I’ll make sure he calls you later once he’s had a chance to get some sleep.”
“Can’t I just talk to him for a minute Gibbs? I promise I won’t pester him, I just need to make sure he’s all right.”
“Abbs,” Gibbs started only to stop as he felt Tony move to get a little closer to the phone.
“Good night Abby” Tony said before he settled back down against Gibbs.
Gibbs felt his smile grow a little more at Tony’s antics. “Good night Abbs, and thank you for calling me.” He said before he hung up. That would have to do her and the others for tonight. Now he had to concentrate on Tony, who seemed to be warming up quite nicely.
“Here you go my dear boy, drink up and then I think Jethro should take you to bed. I’ll check on you later to make sure there are no complications but I do believe you have been very lucky this time.” Ducky admonished as he handed the cup of hot chocolate to Gibbs to help Tony drink.
Gibbs let him take a few sips before he spoke.
“What happened Tony?” He asked when he saw that Tony was more alert. He saw the uncertainty flash over Tony’s face before he continued. “It’s not that I’m not pleased that you’re here, but why? I thought we were going to have a movie night with the others at your apartment.”
Tony glanced at both Gibbs and Ducky before he laid his head back on Gibbs shoulder. “I was and we did, it’s just that the others fell asleep, and….”
Tony trailed off, he felt a little silly sitting here now. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to admit what had been going through his mind. They would think he was stupid, weak.
“Hey, Tony, whatever it is you can tell me” Gibbs encouraged, he really wanted to know what had happened, had Tony got cold feet and decided to run? Or was it something else? He sighed and placed a gentle kiss on Tony’s head, hoping that he’d get an answer, he wasn’t going to push too hard for answers tonight.
“It can’t be that bad my boy, what happened?” Ducky asked gently.
“I decided to go to bed, but I couldn’t sleep.” Tony said quietly. “After a while I realised that I couldn’t sleep because you weren’t there so I decided to come here.”
Gibbs kissed the top of Tony’s head again and pulled him a little closer. A small smile graced his face as he remembered the trouble he’d been having sleeping. “So why didn’t you come in when you got here?”
“I wasn’t sure what to do, I thought I’d drive past and see if you were still awake, and if you weren’t I’d just go for a drive and head back to my apartment. Sometimes driving around for a little while is enough to make falling asleep a little easier.” He couldn’t stop the yawn that escaped, he was tired and being this close to Gibbs and warm again was better than any sedative that Ducky could ever give him. “But once I got here I didn’t want to go anywhere else, but all the lights were out and I thought you were asleep. I didn’t want to intrude…” Tony trailed off, unable to look at either Gibbs or Ducky to see the disappointment in their faces.
“Ah hell Tony, you should have come in. This is your home! You are always welcome here no matter what.” Gibbs said as he lifted Tony’s face so that he could look him in the eye. Tony shook his head in denial. “This is your home Tony, you can come and go as you please. Ducky can you get the folder from the bookcase for me?”
“Of course,” Ducky retrieved it quickly and saw that it seemed to contain some legal documents.
“This is your home Tony, I’ve been waiting for the right time to give these to you but I think I may have waited too long.” Gibbs said as he held out the document that he’d had his lawyers work on weeks ago. “Tony I want you to come home, please. Without you here this place is just a house, cold and empty. But with you it is a home, our home. You bring this house to life, you bring me to life, you make me a better man.”
Tony looked at the documents that Gibbs was holding in front of him. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, it couldn’t be right. Gibbs wouldn’t have had the deeds to his home changed. Not for him. He hadn’t done it for any of his ex-wives, he knew that, knew that the only other name that had been on the deeds had been Shannon’s. He thought he must be dreaming, maybe he was still sitting in his cold car looking at the dark house that he so badly wanted to be inside of.
“You don’t have to decide now, I said that we will take things at your pace and I meant it. I will do whatever I can to gain your trust again, to believe me again. But no matter what you decide, this house will always be your home. Even if you decide that you do not want to move back in.”
Tony felt a rush of warmth flood through him, so much had happened since the explosion. But he’d never in his wildest dreams even hoped that he would be offered this. The one thing he’d been looking for all his life.
A home.
With someone who loved him, and who he loved. Gibbs may not be a man of many words, but his actions always spoke loudly, even the smallest ones.
“Home…” Tony whispered as he tried to get his mind around this. What Gibbs had offered him.
Gibbs sighed, he knew it was too much too soon, but he’d felt he had to try and make Tony understand just how important he was.
“If you really want to go home I’ll take you after you finish your hot chocolate and get a little warmer. I don’t want you going outside in the cold again so soon Tony.” Gibbs said even as he held a little tighter to Tony. He didn’t want him to leave now that he had him here, but if Tony wanted to go back to his apartment then he’d make sure that he got there safely. Would even stay if that was Tony wanted.
Ducky watched his friends with concern. In all the years he had known Gibbs he’d never seen him so in love, so happy as he was with Tony. And they had been good for each other, still were. But he wondered if his two friends, who could usually practically read each other’s minds, were a little out of step with each other at the moment. He was about to step in when Tony beat him to it.
“No, this is home.” Tony smiled gently, “I think it may have been even before we got together.”
Gibbs smiled.
Ducky felt a tear escape as he watched his friends heal a little more. “I think you should finish your hot chocolate my boy and then let Jethro help you to bed so that you can both get some sleep.”
Tony smiled around another yawn. “I think I like the sound of that.”
Chapter: 18
Summary: Life is never easy and is forever tossing curve balls. Gibbs has been caught in the explosion, but what is happening with everyone else. This is a SlashMPreg story, nothing to graphic but rating may change as the story continues.
TV Show: NCIS
Characters: DiNozzo/Gibbs, Ducky, Ziva, McGee, Abby, Jen
Disclaimer: I don't own them, only wish that I did.
A/N: This is a work in progress, not sure how far it will go, but hopefully it's worth the ride!
Gibbs looked at the clock by his bed as he continued to toss and turn. It was only 3am, to early to get up and even if he did he’d probably only end up disturbing Ducky who was sleeping in the guest room.
He sighed. He wondered how after only a few weeks of being back with Tony he was already finding it impossible to sleep without his lover again. But he couldn’t hold back the smile that played across his lips as he remembered the night. The team had all gone out to dinner. At first things had been a little tense with some of them, but McGee, Ziva and Palmer had all taken their cues from Tony and Abby and once they had relaxed a little, shared some good food and conversation the night had been a raging success. He was glad that he’d suggested it, as much as he liked his alone time and time with just Tony, he had to admit that tonight had gone a long way to getting their team, their family, back into an easy flow. He’d even made headway into repairing his relationship with Ducky. And he hadn’t realised just how much of a relief that would have been until he’d been sitting in his lounge room sharing some single malt with his old friend.
But now it was early morning, and he was alone in his bed because he’d encouraged Tony to continue the night with movies at his place with Abby, Ziva and Tim. Jimmy had declined the invite to Tony’s because he was meeting up with a “friend”. He chuckled as he remembered the blush that had suffused the younger man’s face when he’d admitted why he couldn’t join the others. He and Ducky had decided to let the younger ones have their movie night and had gone back to his place for some after dinner drinks and to talk a little more.
It had been comfortable. Something he hadn’t realised that he’d been missing until they’d had a few drinks. And that was also when he’d admitted that he wished that Tony and the others were here, having their movie night. When Ducky had pressed him as to why they weren’t he’d said that he hadn’t wanted to put pressure on Tony to move back in, he was the one who had messed up and he would do whatever Tony wanted. He needed to make things right between them, and that included taking things at a speed that Tony was comfortable with.
But laying in bed here by himself he wished that Tony was here with him. That he’d move back into the house where he belonged. This house hadn’t felt like a home since Shannon and Kelly, none of his ex-wives had managed to make an impression on the house, but with Tony it was like the house had been waiting for him, that Shannon and Kelly had welcomed him into their home. And when his lover wasn’t here it just felt cold, and lonely. Even with Ducky staying the night.
He sighed and looked at the clock again 3.12am.
This was going to be one long night.
He was almost relieved when his cell phone started to ring, that was until he saw who was calling. He was up, out of bed and half dressed by the time he had answered his phone. At this time of night this could not be good news.
“What the hell did you do to him this time? What did you say huh?” Abby shouted through the phone.
He barely stopped as his blood ran cold, he didn’t know what she was talking about but he finished dressing and was out of the bedroom before he spoke.
“Slow down Abbs and tell me what’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG?”
“ABBY”
That stopped her dead. “Tell me he’s there with you, please tell me he’s there...”
He paused as he headed down the stairs. His heart stopped. Tony had run? He wanted to yell, to punch something, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to wake Ducky up. Not yet at least. Not until he knew what was going on.
“He’s not here Abbs, now slow down and tell me what happened.”
He could almost hear her deflate, and the fear that crept into her voice.
“Oh god, I thought he was all right, I thought that everything was starting to work out, I didn’t realise anything was wrong...”
“Abbs, tell me what happened, please.” Gibbs said softly. He’d made it downstairs now and was unlocking his gun. He needed facts, he needed to know what had happened so that he could go and find Tony, so that he could make it right. He couldn’t lose him, not again, not now.
It was the please that did it, and he knew it.
“We had a great night, it was a great night wasn’t it?”
He smiled a little at that.
“Yeah Abbs, it was great. What happened when you got back to Tony’s?” He had moved to find his keys. If Tony had run, he hadn’t seen it coming any more than Abby had.
“Everything was fine, we were having fun and watched a couple of movies. We must have fallen asleep. I woke up and we were all covered with blankets and the TV was turned off. I thought he’d just gone to bed so I went to check and make sure he was all right. But he wasn’t there. I looked. I woke the others up and got them to help me look, Timmy went down and checked and his car is gone. Where’s he gone? Why didn’t he let me know what was going on Gibbs?”
“Damn.” Was all he could say, all he could think. He’d thought that Tony was finished with running, he couldn’t have gotten his lover that wrong. Could he? And even if he’d missed something, he didn’t think the others would have missed all the signs as well, not now.
He heard a sound behind him and spun around, hoping that it was Tony but realised that it was Ducky at the same time. He rubbed a hand over his face as he thought. There had to be something.
“Is anything else missing from his apartment? Clothes?”
“Oh my.” Ducky said quietly, he didn’t need to ask what was happening. He’d heard Gibbs cell phone and had wondered if they had been called in, even though it was technically their weekend off.
Gibbs checked to make sure he had everything he needed while he waited for Abby and the others to check the apartment. He could hear Abby moving through the apartment and talking to the others as she went. He could hear doors being opened and closed.
“I can’t see anything missing. Where is he Gibbs?”
He’d reached the door and turned on the porch light. His heart warmed as a wave of relief washed over him.
“It’s all right Abbs, he’s here.”
“What? Why didn’t you say before! I was so worried, can I talk to him?”
“Abbs, slow down.” Gibbs sighed, then the relief that he had felt moments ago washed away as he realised that something still wasn’t right, why hadn’t Tony come in when he arrived? Why was he still outside in the cold? How long had he been here? “He’s in his car, I’ll call you back once I get him inside.”
He hung up and called out to Ducky and then hurried out to Tony’s car. He was huddled up in his car with his head resting on the cold glass window. He tried the door and was somewhat reassured that the door was locked, at least Tony had been thinking of his safety before he’d fallen asleep. But that still didn’t answer why he hadn’t come inside when he’d arrived. He sighed, knelt down and tapped on the window to wake Tony up.
“Tony, wake up Tony.” Gibbs almost pleaded as he knocked on the door. But Tony didn’t even stir. He saw Ducky move closer and placed his hand on the hood of the car as he passed.
“He’s been here for some time Jethro, the hood is cold. We really must get him inside quickly, this cold will not be good for his lungs.”
Gibbs cursed quietly as he went back to trying to wake Tony. He was tempted to try breaking into the car, but as he was looking around for something to help him Tony finally started to stir.
“Come on Tony, that’s it. Time to wake up.” He continued to tap on the window to get Tony to focus on him. He was considering sending Ducky back inside to get his lockpick tools when he saw Tony open his eyes and look at him, but he could tell that his lover wasn’t fully aware of where he was. “That’s it Tony, I need you unlock the door so we can get you inside where it’s nice and warm.”
Tony smiled before his eyes started to close again.
Gibbs felt his heart stutter, no he had to get Tony to unlock his door so they could get him inside. There was no other option.
“No Tony, don’t go back to sleep, I need you to unlock your door,” he said as he continued to tap the glass near Tony’s head. He almost sighed with relief when he saw Tony slowly reach up to the lock. He heard Ducky echo his sigh of relief before he turned his attention back to Tony. “That’s it, we’ll get you nice and warm soon.”
As soon as Tony unlocked the door Gibbs was easing it open, making sure that Tony didn’t fall out as he was still leaning on the door. He knew that Ducky was hovering just behind him, impatient to check the younger man out.
“That’s it Tony, time to go inside now. We have to get you nice and warm.” Gibbs said as he eased his lover out of the car. He was worried that Tony still didn’t seem to be focusing on what was going on around him, but was glad that he had come to their home instead of running. “Good Tony, not far now and then we’ll be inside. The fire is still nice and warm. It won’t take long to get it going again. We’ll just go inside, get comfortable in front of the fire and Ducky will check you out, then we’ll go upstairs and get comfortable in our nice warm bed, how does that sound Tony?”
Tony snuggled a little closer into Gibbs arms as he helped him inside. He didn’t care where they were or what they were doing, he just soaked up his lovers presence, his warmth, the sound of his voice. It was what had been missing since he’d gone back to his apartment with others, it had been what he had been missing when he’d been trying to get to sleep. It was what had led him to leave his warm flat and venture out into the cold in the early hours of the morning as his friends, his family, had slept.
“Come on, not much further now. Just a few steps up and we’ll be inside. How does that sound Tony?” Gibbs asked as he led an unresisting Tony inside. He took a moment to look back and see that Ducky had locked Tony’s beloved car before following them closely.
“Make him comfortable on the couch Jethro, I’ll just go and retrieve my bag and then check young Anthony out. We can’t be too careful now can we?”
“Thanks Duck.” Gibbs said as he settled Tony on the couch before he moved to stir the fire back up. He was worried about how cold Tony felt. He knew that that couldn’t be good.
“J’ro” Tony groaned as he felt Gibbs move away. He didn’t want him to go, not now he was enjoying being near him.
Gibbs quickly stirred the fire back to life before he turned back to his lover. He moved even faster as he heard Tony call out for him, soft and a little lost. His heart broke a little more. He was still realising just how much damage he had done when he had run to Mexico and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to make it up to Tony. But he was willing to spend the rest of his life trying. He’d already taken steps, steps that only his lawyers had any knowledge of.
“It’s all right, I’m not going anywhere.” He said as he sat next to Tony who had begun to try and get up again, he pulled Tony a little closer and felt him stop struggling and relax back into him. He pulled the blanket around Tony to try and help warm him up a little.
“Now my dear boy, let’s see what mischief you have managed to get yourself into this time shall we.” Ducky said as he put his bag down next to Tony and started his exam. “Now my boy, I thought you were going to have a nice evening at home with the others? What happened, were the movies not up to your usual standard? Or did you happen to run out of snacks? I remember one time when I was entertaining…”
“Duck,” Gibbs cut his friend off as he felt Tony snuggle closer to him. He knew that Tony usually loved to listen to Ducky’s stories, but when he wasn’t feeling the best he tended to have trouble dealing with it. He knew that Ducky understood and didn’t mind the gentle reminder.
“Of course, that is a story for another time I think.” Ducky said as he wrapped up his exam. “Now I don’t think we have much to worry about my dear boy, but we do need to get your temperature up to normal.”
“Do we need to take him to a hospital Duck?”
That seemed to get Tony’s attention as he groaned his displeasure at the mention of hospitals. Gibbs simply tightened his hold on him, he knew how much Tony hated hospitals but if his lover needed to go then he would carry him there if he had to. Tony’s health mattered too much to play games with. It always had, to him at least.
Ducky smiled, “No I think he will do much better being here with us looking after him. It is only a mild case of hypothermia, and his lungs are clear for now. I will make him some hot chocolate to help him warm up a little while you continue to keep him calm. The fire will help warm him up nicely.”
Gibbs smiled for the first time since he’d answered his phone, which reminded him he needed to call Abby back. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since she’d called but he knew that if he didn’t call her soon she would turn up on his doorstep sooner rather than later. He moved a little, much to Tony’s displeasure, and retrieved his phone.
It barely had time to ring before Abby answered and was loudly demanding answers as to what was going on. Gibbs chuckled when he heard Tony whisper to tell her to take a breath. He knew then that his Tony would be all right.
“Abbs!” he called out after letting her rant for a few more moments just so that he could take the opportunity to watch Tony. When he finally got her attention he spoke again. “Abbs, he’s going to be fine. I’m not sure what happened and I’m not going to push it for now. He’s just a little chilly and tired. I’ll make sure he calls you later once he’s had a chance to get some sleep.”
“Can’t I just talk to him for a minute Gibbs? I promise I won’t pester him, I just need to make sure he’s all right.”
“Abbs,” Gibbs started only to stop as he felt Tony move to get a little closer to the phone.
“Good night Abby” Tony said before he settled back down against Gibbs.
Gibbs felt his smile grow a little more at Tony’s antics. “Good night Abbs, and thank you for calling me.” He said before he hung up. That would have to do her and the others for tonight. Now he had to concentrate on Tony, who seemed to be warming up quite nicely.
“Here you go my dear boy, drink up and then I think Jethro should take you to bed. I’ll check on you later to make sure there are no complications but I do believe you have been very lucky this time.” Ducky admonished as he handed the cup of hot chocolate to Gibbs to help Tony drink.
Gibbs let him take a few sips before he spoke.
“What happened Tony?” He asked when he saw that Tony was more alert. He saw the uncertainty flash over Tony’s face before he continued. “It’s not that I’m not pleased that you’re here, but why? I thought we were going to have a movie night with the others at your apartment.”
Tony glanced at both Gibbs and Ducky before he laid his head back on Gibbs shoulder. “I was and we did, it’s just that the others fell asleep, and….”
Tony trailed off, he felt a little silly sitting here now. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to admit what had been going through his mind. They would think he was stupid, weak.
“Hey, Tony, whatever it is you can tell me” Gibbs encouraged, he really wanted to know what had happened, had Tony got cold feet and decided to run? Or was it something else? He sighed and placed a gentle kiss on Tony’s head, hoping that he’d get an answer, he wasn’t going to push too hard for answers tonight.
“It can’t be that bad my boy, what happened?” Ducky asked gently.
“I decided to go to bed, but I couldn’t sleep.” Tony said quietly. “After a while I realised that I couldn’t sleep because you weren’t there so I decided to come here.”
Gibbs kissed the top of Tony’s head again and pulled him a little closer. A small smile graced his face as he remembered the trouble he’d been having sleeping. “So why didn’t you come in when you got here?”
“I wasn’t sure what to do, I thought I’d drive past and see if you were still awake, and if you weren’t I’d just go for a drive and head back to my apartment. Sometimes driving around for a little while is enough to make falling asleep a little easier.” He couldn’t stop the yawn that escaped, he was tired and being this close to Gibbs and warm again was better than any sedative that Ducky could ever give him. “But once I got here I didn’t want to go anywhere else, but all the lights were out and I thought you were asleep. I didn’t want to intrude…” Tony trailed off, unable to look at either Gibbs or Ducky to see the disappointment in their faces.
“Ah hell Tony, you should have come in. This is your home! You are always welcome here no matter what.” Gibbs said as he lifted Tony’s face so that he could look him in the eye. Tony shook his head in denial. “This is your home Tony, you can come and go as you please. Ducky can you get the folder from the bookcase for me?”
“Of course,” Ducky retrieved it quickly and saw that it seemed to contain some legal documents.
“This is your home Tony, I’ve been waiting for the right time to give these to you but I think I may have waited too long.” Gibbs said as he held out the document that he’d had his lawyers work on weeks ago. “Tony I want you to come home, please. Without you here this place is just a house, cold and empty. But with you it is a home, our home. You bring this house to life, you bring me to life, you make me a better man.”
Tony looked at the documents that Gibbs was holding in front of him. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, it couldn’t be right. Gibbs wouldn’t have had the deeds to his home changed. Not for him. He hadn’t done it for any of his ex-wives, he knew that, knew that the only other name that had been on the deeds had been Shannon’s. He thought he must be dreaming, maybe he was still sitting in his cold car looking at the dark house that he so badly wanted to be inside of.
“You don’t have to decide now, I said that we will take things at your pace and I meant it. I will do whatever I can to gain your trust again, to believe me again. But no matter what you decide, this house will always be your home. Even if you decide that you do not want to move back in.”
Tony felt a rush of warmth flood through him, so much had happened since the explosion. But he’d never in his wildest dreams even hoped that he would be offered this. The one thing he’d been looking for all his life.
A home.
With someone who loved him, and who he loved. Gibbs may not be a man of many words, but his actions always spoke loudly, even the smallest ones.
“Home…” Tony whispered as he tried to get his mind around this. What Gibbs had offered him.
Gibbs sighed, he knew it was too much too soon, but he’d felt he had to try and make Tony understand just how important he was.
“If you really want to go home I’ll take you after you finish your hot chocolate and get a little warmer. I don’t want you going outside in the cold again so soon Tony.” Gibbs said even as he held a little tighter to Tony. He didn’t want him to leave now that he had him here, but if Tony wanted to go back to his apartment then he’d make sure that he got there safely. Would even stay if that was Tony wanted.
Ducky watched his friends with concern. In all the years he had known Gibbs he’d never seen him so in love, so happy as he was with Tony. And they had been good for each other, still were. But he wondered if his two friends, who could usually practically read each other’s minds, were a little out of step with each other at the moment. He was about to step in when Tony beat him to it.
“No, this is home.” Tony smiled gently, “I think it may have been even before we got together.”
Gibbs smiled.
Ducky felt a tear escape as he watched his friends heal a little more. “I think you should finish your hot chocolate my boy and then let Jethro help you to bed so that you can both get some sleep.”
Tony smiled around another yawn. “I think I like the sound of that.”