"Gibbs! Gibbs!" Tony calls after his boyfriend who doesn’t stop or even looks back at him.

Tony frowns at that. Whatever Gibbs just saw in Ducky’s eyes, it has upset him a lot. "Hey, boss?" Tony tries while starting to go after Gibbs, who has just disappeared around the corner. He can fell Kate’s eyes on his back and he really wants to get away from her profiler eyes.

"Boss?" Tony calls out. He almost jogs past the break room, but he catches movements out of the corner of his eyes and jerks to a halt immediately.

Gibbs has his back to Tony and doesn’t seem to have noticed the other man. Tony takes a moment to just look at him. The tense set in his shoulders and the clenched hands. "Jethro?" he asks softly.

Gibbs doesn’t answer, but he sighs deeply and Tony notices that the hands unclench again. Tony closes the door before slowly walking to the older man. "What’s the matter?" Tony asks softly while sliding his arms around Gibbs’ waist.

Tony hears the other man draw a shaky breath and Tony smiles slightly when he feels the other man relax against him.

"You should have seen his eyes. I don’t know what’s the matter, but something about this case has affected Ducky strongly," Gibbs answers. "Apart from the fact that he worked on a similar case ten years ago."

"Maybe you should just go ask him? Ducky really looked like he could use a good friend," Tony suggests before pressing a small kiss to his boyfriend’s temple. "And you and Ducky have been friends for many years."

"I know," Gibbs answers while turning in Tony’s arms, so they’re facing each other. "But how do I approach him? I don’t wanna sound like an old, grumpy team leader, I wanna…"

"…sound like an old, grumpy friend. I understand," Tony finishes. He winces when Gibbs slaps him on the head.

"Hey!" Tony exclaims while jerking away from Gibbs. "What was that for??" he demands.

"For being a smug, overgrown child," Gibbs says in an irritated voice.

"No, I was being a smug, overgrown child who happens to love the old, grumpy team leader and now is worried about him," Tony corrects him. Gibbs would probably have believed him more if the mischief wasn’t so noticeable in Tony’s eyes.

Gibbs feels anger rise, but knows it isn’t only Tony’s fault. It’s because Gibbs feels helpless with not being able to help his best friend. "Whatever." Gibbs turns his back to Tony again.

"Being angry won’t change anything, Jethro." Tony embraces Gibbs from behind again.

"I just feel…helpless," Gibbs answers.

"Then go help Ducky," Tony says. He gently turns Gibbs so that they are facing each other again. "You need it as mush as he does." He gently kisses Gibbs.

After the kiss ends, Gibbs keeps his eyes closed for a few moments and a small smile appears on his face. "Thank you," he says while opening his eyes. "I don’t know what I should do without you." He pulls Tony into a tight hug, which Tony immediately returns.

"Use all of your time at the boat," Tony says with a teasing smile, but then sobers up. "I love you, Jethro."

Gibbs pulls back to look Tony in the eyes which he searches for a moment. It’s not like Tony is going to lie, but Tony doesn’t say the words all the time, only at special occasions.

A huge, happy smile, which would probably have scared the shit out of Tim and Kate, appears on his face. "I love you too."

Tony smiles, before kissing him again, then says, "Off you go." When Gibbs is at the door, Tony calls out.

"What??" Gibbs asks with his hand on the door handle.

With his usual smile, Tony says, "be nice."

"Believe me, I’ll with Ducky," Gibbs says, then continues with a smirk, "It’s another story with you," before he’s out of the door.

Tony shivers at the words and a particular part of his body responds to the words as well. Tony looks at his watch. "My God! I’m not gonna make it until closing time."

//The end\