Had A Dream
lyrics by Bird York
He comes undone
says he's lost the map his life was on.
Says everything is unraveling.
I take his hand
and then I kiss him like the world is ending and say
"Where logic ends, faith begins."
'Cause I had a dream
that our hearts were like flowers opening up
every time that we love,
and I'm wondering if we just try and risk everything for love
how can we ever go wrong.
Chapter 1
He comes undone
says he's lost the map his life was on.
~ Bird York
Out on Gibbs' patio, Tony pokes at the two fat steaks that are sizzling on the grill, and tries to tune out the raised voice of Gibbs' ex-wife coming from inside the house. All of the words aren't clear but it's impossible to miss her frustration when she says, "You never let anyone get close to you, Jethro!"
Even from the back yard Tony can tell that Gibbs' low rumble of a response consists of the bare minimum of words. He senses that Gibbs is digging in his heels even if he isn't outright fighting back. Tony finds it interesting that Gibbs is the type of man who doesn't take crap from any of the gun-toting people on both sides of the law that he encounters daily at work, yet he yields to his ex-wife without much protest, if the almost-one-sided conversation going on inside is anything to go by.
Tony knows that her name is Stephanie because a couple of days ago he heard Gibbs say her name aloud when he was barking at her lawyer over the phone, and now Tony also knows that her voice carries really well when she is angry and upset.
The steaks turn a darker shade of brown, so Tony prods them a bit, wishing Gibbs hadn't left him in charge of their dinner. He knows next to nothing about cooking outdoors â€" okay, so he doesn't know much about cooking indoors either â€" and he's concerned that there'll be hell to pay when Gibbs returns and finds his expensive steaks have been reduced to a couple of charred lumps. Unfortunately there's a very real danger that they will be ruined if Gibbs doesn't quit fighting with his ex and get back outside real soon.
One thing's for certain, Tony does not want to let Gibbs down, especially when he's been nice enough to invite his recently hired agent to a backyard cookout. Tony does a mental double take; he used 'Gibbs' and 'nice' in the same train of thought. After only three weeks on the job, Tony knows it's not wise to push Gibbs too far, and he has first-hand knowledge that his boss is not stingy with the head-slaps. He strives to please Gibbs, even if he isn't always successful.
Tony isn't sure if he should read anything into it, but Gibbs didn't invite anyone else over that evening. It's just the two of them, like it is out in the field because Gibbs is still building his team, or it was just the two of them before Stephanie turned up. It isn't lost on Tony that he's slightly jealous of Gibbs' former wife. He is already so immersed in 'everything Gibbs' that if there were a choice between being on Gibbs' bad side, or not being with Gibbs at all, the bad side would win out in a heartbeat. So long as he can work under the man all day long, Tony will be happy.
To say that he knows Gibbs would be presumptuous, but Tony has felt a connection with the ex-Marine right from the start. It didn't take him long to catch on that the Navy cop was a to-the-point, take-no-prisoners kinda guy. Even when Gibbs was pinned underneath Tony on the hard ground of an empty lot in a seedy section of Baltimore, it was clear that Gibbs was not, and never would be, a bottom. It was painfully obvious from Tony's body's reaction as he lay on top of Gibbs that he was more than a little interested in taking it further, even if he knew right from the start that it was out of the question.
Tony will never forget the way Gibbs' eyes gleamed and the way his mouth curled up at the corners in barely tolerant amusement. Not that the gray-haired man gave any indication he was responsive; the sexual attraction was all on Tony's side.
Tony's interest hasn't waned one iota since the day he was recruited by Gibbs, although a strong sense of self-preservation has made him keep his fascination under wraps. Tony's good at covering up so it's no hardship, really. He has this one special daydream that involves a naked and buff Gibbs, a lot of hot chocolate sauce and chilled champagne, and his Red Dragon vibrating dildo (whose name does not stem from the film of the same name in which a psycho murders entire families, but rather from its vivid color and monster-like shape.) But it's only a dream.
Tony is startled back to the present by a loud spitting noise as the fat drips from the steaks onto the charcoal below. The flames surge high, engulfing the choice hunks of meat, and Tony starts to sweat from standing over the grill.
The angry voice belonging to the latest ex-Mrs. Gibbs can be heard, this time all-too clearly, through the open kitchen window. "I was the only one who actually participated in our marriage, Jethro! At least I took it seriously." Whatever Gibbs replies is obviously not satisfactory because Stephanie responds, "I don't understand why you can't give, just a little!"
They'd just put the steaks on the grill when she'd appeared from around the side of the house, seeking Gibbs. She was, of course, a redhead, of the fiery variety that went well with her green '60s hippie dress and fringed purse that swung frenetically when she launched herself at Gibbs, demanding, "Can you please listen to me?" She was so focused on Gibbs, Tony doesn't think she even noticed him standing there gawking.
Gibbs made a disgruntled noise, pressed the long-handled barbeque fork into Tony's hand, and ushered ex-wife-number-three inside with a strained look on his face.
She must be standing near the window because her voice is clear when she accuses, "Look, you couldn’t make me happy so I'm going to do my best to find someone who will. Someone who might care more about me than about his damned job! Can't you just be happyâ€""
Her voice fades away and Tony turns his attention to the grill once again. The steaks are sizzling away and their aroma makes his mouth water, but even though he moves them a little off the flame, they are beyond the rare-and-bloody stage and heading fast into medium-well-done territory. If Gibbs responds to Stephanie, Tony can't hear it.
*
Tony hates hearing couples fight. He's witnessed enough breakups within his own family to know how messy they can become. His father certainly never had any amicable divorces, if there even are such things, and it was Tony's bad luck as a young teen to have ringside seats to three of Senior's incendiary breakups. After Tony's mother died, every one of his father's successive relationships and marriages went down in flames, repeatedly dashing young Tony's dreams of being part of a family like the Waltons. Even in hard times they always pulled together and showed they cared for each other in so many ways.
Still, Tony believes that his parents' marriage was based upon true love, and that their years of wine and roses (okay, so there was a lot more wine than roses) would have stayed the course if his mother hadn't died when she crashed her '58 Ferrari Berlinetta into the towering oak tree that grew on the corner of the long driveway that led to the mansion.
As a kid Tony had loved to hear his mother's tales about her youth, when she was still Imogen Paddington (before she became Genie DiNozzo of the Long Island DiNozzos) and how all the handsome young men flocked around her. If her cocktail-time stories were to be believed, Carrozzeria Scaglietti himself built that Ferrari for Mom during their brief yet torrid affair.
Dad had repeatedly warned her about her wild driving. "Genie, you've got to stop taking that corner at fifty miles an hour because one day you won't make it." Unfortunately, DiNozzo rule #2, which was 'Dad is always right,' was confirmed on that terrible day.
The morning after Mom was killed, Dad went out and cut the hundred-year-old oak down â€" or more accurately, he had a team of men with buzz saws do the deed for him. Although Tony, who was only a kid, was glad that the reminder of Mom's death had been cut down and hauled away, he cried his eyes out every time they rode in the limo past the raw stump at the end of the driveway. It wasn't long before Dad ordered their chauffeur to drive them off the estate using a side road so he wouldn’t have to hear Tony sobbing his heart out.
That was when Dad started to enforce the 'DiNozzos don't cry' rule. Not that he was cruel or anything, because he wasn't. He hated to hear Tony crying because it made him choke up in response, and being seen with wet splotches on the lapels of his Armani suit was not acceptable.
***end chapter 1***
Story Notes:
Written for: spoonyriffic for ncis_ficathon
Prompt: Tony/Gibbs, slash - Tony helps Gibbs through his divorce (or after it) when he starts working at NCIS.
Betas: Mamamia, Combatcrazy - very helpful with their advice.
Note: Kathleen York, also known as Bird York, is the actress who played Gibbs' third ex-wife, Stephanie. She is also a songwriter-singer. I have used lines from one of her song's lyrics at the beginning of every chapter.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Soon after Tony begins his new job at NCIS, Gibbs invites him over for a cookout. When he sees Gibbs is upset over his divorce, Tony decides to stick around to comfort him.
Chapter End Notes:
Written for: spoonyriffic for ncis_ficathon
Prompt: Tony/Gibbs, slash - Tony helps Gibbs through his divorce (or after it) when he starts working at NCIS.
Betas: Mamamia, Combatcrazy - very helpful with their advice.
Note: Kathleen York, also known as Bird York, is the actress who played Gibbs' third ex-wife, Stephanie. She is also a songwriter-singer. I have used lines from one of her song's lyrics at the beginning of every chapter.
Prompt: Tony/Gibbs, slash - Tony helps Gibbs through his divorce (or after it) when he starts working at NCIS.
Betas: Mamamia, Combatcrazy - very helpful with their advice.
Note: Kathleen York, also known as Bird York, is the actress who played Gibbs' third ex-wife, Stephanie. She is also a songwriter-singer. I have used lines from one of her song's lyrics at the beginning of every chapter.