Chapter Three
As Gibbs continued his exploration of the guest bedroom, he opened the door to the older part of the closet. He saw clothes that he was sure were his. There were several different blazers and polo shirts, as well as jeans, khakis and dress slacks. There were a few pairs of sturdy shoes and sneakers lined up on the floor, and they were all his size. There were only three inexpensive suits. Something came to his mind. He could remember himself telling someone, “You only need three suits; one for weddings, one for funerals, and one for court. No need for more than that.” In his mind, he could see Tony in front of him when he said that. The clothes hanging in this part of the closet looked like clothes he would wear.
He then moved over to the newer, and much larger part, of the closet and opened the sliding doors. The closet was full to nearly bursting with several expensive, tailored suits, that he knew damn well didn’t belong to him. He knew himself well enough to know that he would never have spent that kind of money on clothing. There were also some casual clothes at one end of closet that he knew just from looking at were high end. He also noted that the clothes were a different size than the clothing he had pegged as belonging to him. The floor of the closet was lined with shoes, and while he couldn’t identify a brand, he could see these were also very expensive. Someone saying something some time in the past came to him. He was at a crime scene with his team. They had been theorizing about their victim and DiNozzo had noticed the brand of the shoes the victim was wearing, and told the rest of them, “Mine cost me over 500 bucks.”
It was now obvious to Gibbs that the expensive things he had seen in the bathroom and the closet that he had a roommate. The picture on the nightstand told him that this roommate was Tony DiNozzo. It hit him then; his senior field agent was living in this house with him, and it was fairly obvious that they shared this room, thus the same bed, and had been doing so for some time.
Gibbs needed to make himself remember if they were living and sleeping together for convenience sake, or if they had feelings for each other. Gibbs was leaning towards them having feelings for each other, because he couldn’t see himself letting someone live with him in his home if he didn’t have strong feelings for them. He just wished he could remember. He needed to explore his home further and see what he could find.
He went over to the dresser on the other side of the room and found his usual cologne. He had been using that same cologne since he was a teenager. There was another bottle of expensive cologne and he opened it and sniffed experimentally. He got an image of himself nuzzling Tony’s neck and telling him how good he smelled. He had heard at some point in the past from someone that smell was a good trigger for memories.
He went to the king-sized bed and picked up the pillow on the side of the bed that he figured would be Tony’s, as he had always slept on the same side of the bed for as long as he could remember. He sniffed the pillow and his mind filled with images of Tony naked in this bed, leaning over him, or him leaning over Tony. He got more images of pleasure filled nights and playful bantering. He got the feeling that he and Tony were very happy together; if only he could remember more than these fleeting images he kept seeing.
Gibbs replaced the pillow on the bed and decided to explore the rest of the house. He went down the stairs and made his way to the kitchen. There were several small appliances on the counter that he knew couldn’t have been his idea. His idea of a fully equipped kitchen included a refrigerator, stove, coffee maker and toaster. This kitchen included several gadgets, the purpose of which he couldn’t even begin to guess.
He crossed the room to the cabinets and opened one. There was kids’ cereal in this one, which he knew he would never eat. His roommate obviously had a sweet tooth. He further explored the cabinets and discovered several things that lead him to believe that DiNozzo was more than likely able to cook. Other than being able to make coffee and toast, Gibbs had never been much use in the kitchen, and he didn’t imagine that the last fifteen years had improved that much.
Gibbs then opened the refrigerator and saw several things that he knew he would never have purchased. There were fresh fruits and vegetables in the drawers, along with several different kinds of cheese and the makings for salad. Gibbs had never cared much for salad and knew he wouldn’t have kept his refrigerator stocked with all of these things.
Gibbs closed the refrigerator door and went to the cabinets on the other side of the room. He opened a door and saw what he recognized as dishes he had had when Shannon was still alive, but there was also a set of China that he didn’t recognize. He pulled out one of the plates to inspect it. He then remembered the room being dark, lit only by two candles on the table, two place settings with linen napkins, and glasses of red wine. He closed his eyes and let the memory come. It was someone’s birthday, his own if he remembered correctly. Tony had surprised him with a candle lit dinner that he had made himself and some very good wine to go with it. Afterwards they had gone upstairs to the bedroom and made love.
He replaced the plate in the cabinet and went into the living room. He looked around the room and saw the solid book cases he had made many years ago, while Shannon was still alive. He remembered them being stacked with books and magazines, and a knick-knack here and there. Now one entire book case was filled with nothing but, what were they called again? He couldn’t really remember what they were called, but he knew they had replaced video tapes, and you could use them to watch movies. There seemed to be hundreds of them. He pulled a few out randomly and as he looked them over, he remembered lying with Tony on the sofa watching some of these movies. He remembered that they usually ended up making out before the movie ended.
Gibbs crossed the room and sat on the sofa. There was what he thought must be a television on the other side of the room, but he couldn’t remember TVs ever looking like that. This one looked like the large monitor on the wall in MTAC that he had seen a short time ago, only not quite as big. It was hanging on the wall like a painting. He knew this monstrosity hadn’t been his idea, much like the many gadgets in the kitchen.
He glanced at the coffee table in front of the sofa and saw a couple of picture albums on it. He picked up the one closest to him and began to leaf through it. The first several pages contained pictures that he remembered. They were taken while Shannon and Kelly had been alive and covered the years they had been together. Then there were pictures of him with Tony, some posed, but most were candid. There were pictures of just the two of them together and others with the people they considered family; Kate, who Gibbs now remembered had been killed in the line of duty, and Ducky, McGee, Abby, and Ziva.
The pictures were of holidays celebrated together, or just a simple barbeque in the backyard. There was one photo that Gibbs studied closer than the others. It was summer and he remembered he and Tony had invited everyone over for a cookout. In the picture he was lying on the ground, Tony straddling him and using his hands to pin Gibbs’ arms over his head. They were both laughing. Gibbs remembered that incident. Gibbs had been teasing Tony and then Tony had chased him all over the yard, finally tackling him and playfully pinning him to the ground.
Looking up from the photo album, Gibbs noticed pictures on the walls of him, Shannon, and Kelly, along with pictures of him and Tony. Tony acknowledged his past with Shannon and Kelly, and Gibbs remembered how Tony had encouraged him to put the pictures of his lost girls on the walls, right along side the pictures of Tony and Gibbs together. He remembered how touched he had been when Tony suggested that. His ex-wives had always felt threatened by Gibbs’ memories of his lost family and wouldn’t permit him to hang any pictures of them on the walls.
Gibbs closed the picture album and replaced it on the coffee table and picked up the other one. This picture album was made of wood. Gibbs recognized his own style and knew he had been the one to make it. The wood was smooth and varnished and the front and back covers were held together with braided strips of leather. There was a round hole cut in the front cover with a picture in the center of him and Tony wearing tuxedos and each holding a glass of champagne. They each had an arm around the other’s shoulder and they were both smiling widely. Over the picture were the words, “Our Wedding.”
Gibbs muttered to himself, “I guess that answers the question of whether we’re living together just for convenience or not.”
TBC
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