Ducky's Dilemma

Tony DiNozzo rounded the corner to his desk, threw down his rucksack and more or less plopped heavily into his chair, carefully avoiding eye contact with the pristine desk across the way. The desk now wiped clean of any trace of its former occupant.

"Are you okay?" The sudden question caught Tony by surprise. He hadn't notice McGee watching his approach.

"I'm fine." Tony snapped testily and instantly regretted it. It wasn't McGee's fault he was feeling…he wasn't sure just how he was feeling. Feelings of guilt or was it regret? Guilt that so soon after Kate's death, he'd managed to forget for just awhile? Regret about the way in which he'd managed to forget? After all today was the first morning of being back to work after Gibbs' forced leave of absence to get over a cold, ordered by Director Morrow, and he wasn't sure just what to expect. "I'm sorry." Tony said rubbing his temples. "Didn't mean to snap."

"It's okay. I understand," McGee replied. "A whole week alone with Gibbs." The shudder McGee was unable to suppress lightened Tony's mood.

"Anything interesting happen while we were gone?" Tony posed as he looked through the files piled on his desk.

"Nothing much. Actually it's been kind of boring."

Sneaking a glance toward Gibbs desk, Tony finally asked, "Gibbs been in yet?"

"Umm…yeah. He's in a meeting with the director."

"Why?" Tony blinked in surprise.

McGee shrugged. "Dunno. He wasn't exactly in the best of moods. I was afraid to ask."

Tony concealed a smile at the characteristic response before letting out a sigh. He and Gibbs had decided that it would be best if Tony went back to his apartment that last night and it had seemed, at the time the sensible thing to do. After all, they were returning to the workplace and things needed to be put into prospective.

Once back in his apartment however, Tony felt…empty. He had done his laundry and roamed the rooms of his apartment. Never in his life would he have considered that having a relationship with Gibbs would be affecting him this way. Frankly he'd never considered having a relationship with Gibbs at all. What had started out as simple concern had turned into so much more.

"Gave you a rough time?" McGee ventured bringing Tony back from his thoughts. The question, plus the pensive look on McGee's face brought a smile to Tony's. Rough? The memory of Gibbs' purring under his touch had Tony‘s stomach doing flip-flops. Before he could respond however, the sound of feet clomping down the stairway caught both men's attention.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs, clutching his usual container in his hand rounded the corner. It was Tony's first sight of the man since yesterday.

"DiNozzo. Conference Room. Now!" Gibbs snapped as he walked by, not even glancing at the two men who were exchanging startled glances.

Tony slowly arose from behind his desk, his chest tightening. Here it comes, he thought as he followed Gibbs into the elevator, his feet dragging. Inside he moved to the rear, into a corner and waited in dread for the proverbial shoe to drop.

Instead of talking, however, Gibbs flicked the switch that stopped the elevator between floors and began pacing back and forth, like a caged tiger. Two steps one way, turn, two steps back.

Tony watched, his mouth dry, shrinking inwardly and edged closer to the elevator buttons, ready to make a fast escape.

Suddenly Gibbs stopped and spoke. "We can't go on like this," Gibbs said coldly with his back to Tony. "I told Morrow."

Tony, shaken out of his misery, straightened. "You did what?"

"I told him about …what we did this past week."

Tony looked at him in disbelief. True they hadn't talked about what would happen once they were back at work. They hadn't done much talking at all, during their week long… Tony wasn't exactly sure what you could call it. In fact that was one of the reasons he'd dreaded this morning, the not knowing what would happen next. He knew what he wanted, but Gibbs was just so damn difficult to read. His heart was beating double-time in his chest, he wanted to scream out, ‘Why?'. Suddenly he was angry. It wasn't anyone's damn business what they'd been up to. What they'd shared. He wanted to rage, throw Gibbs damn coffee at the side of the elevator. Instead he said with a voice that was remarkable steady. "I suppose he wasn't very happy."

"A bit of an understatement," Gibbs said with a sad smile as he turned to face Tony. "He gave me a choice. Stop or leave NCIS."

Tony fell back against the wall, his head hanging. Here it was. What he'd feared. The "Tony it was fun, but now it's over' speech.


***

Gibbs' blue eyes bored into Tony's hunched form in the corner of the elevator. It had come to him what he would do during the wee hours of the morning as he'd tossed and turned. He'd arrived early and gone directly to Tom Morrows office. After an inquiry about his health and how his recuperation time had gone. Gibbs told him. It wasn't in him to lie and he didn't plan on sneaking around.

Morrows face had turned red. "You and DiNozzo? You can't be serious."

"I assure you, sir, I'm dead serious."

"Look, Jethro, I realize Todd's death hit everyone hard, but consider the consequences. What you're doing is against the rules." Morrow had tried to reason.

Gibbs thought about that for just a moment before calmly commenting. "We're not dating, sir."

Gibbs hadn't thought Morrow's face could get any redder. "Damnit, Special Agent Gibbs, I won't stand for it." That was when he'd slammed down his coffee cup, shattering it and issued his ultimatum.

Gibbs smiled in grim satisfaction as he tapped Tony on forehead to get his attention. "I chose you," he said simply.

Tony straightened up and stared at him in shock, then grabbed the cup from his hand draining it in one gulp. He made a disgusting face and looked at the cup held in his hand, "Gag. What is this?"

"Juice." Gibbs eyes twinkled in amusement.

Tony, however, wasn't amused. The thought of no Gibbs at work had him almost frantic. "You've got to go back, Boss. Tell Morrow you made a mistake. That you were delusional. That…mmm"

Gibbs silenced him by the simple means of backing him against the wall pressing against him, placing both hands on wall on each side of Tony's face for balance and claiming Tony's open mouth with his. Oh how he loved that mouth and the things Tony was capable of with it. He pulled back to inform Tony, a smug smile plastered across his face. "Don't have to. He backed down."

"Bastard." Tony said grinning broadly, then Gibbs heard the sound of the empty cup dropping and Tony's hands were tangled in his hair, Tony became the aggressor. That was how the rest of the week had played out. When one of them had run out of idea's the other had taken over. It had made for a very enjoyable week.

Neither man realized that Tony was pushed up against the elevator buttons, nor did they feel the elevator once again running. So engrossed in each other were they that they barely heard the elevator door open or the quietly spoken "Ah, sorry. I think it would be best if I catch the next lift."

Tony was the first to break what was becoming a record breaking kiss. "Did you hear something?"

Gibbs became aware that the elevator was in motion. "Shit," he scowled as he hit the button that would take them to their floor. While he wasn't going to hide what they had, he didn't plan on advertising it either. They were going to have to set some ground rules.

"I wonder who it was." Tony asked bemusedly as they moved out the elevator and back to real life.

***

Ducky Mallard slowly made his way back to the morgue. The test tubes, filled with bodily fluids that Palmer was supposed to have taken to Abby's lab, rattled against each other. He shakily set them down upon his desk before slowly sinking into his chair. What he had just witnessed had left him numb with shock. Things he'd noticed yet not noticed were starting to jell.

He sat there trying to get his mind around what he'd seen when he heard it.

"Ducky, are you all right?"

There sitting on one of the autopsy tables, a vision of loveliness in white, was Kate Todd.

"Hello, Caitlyn my dear. You're looking well." Ducky said calmly.

Kate laughed, her eyes twinkled as she raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem surprised."

Ducky smiled just a little and shrugged. "At my time of life it's rather hard to be surprised by anything."

"You're upset, aren't you?" Kate asked

"No. No I'm not upset." Ducky denied.

"Shocked then."

Ducky clasped his hands together, his eyes looking upward to something only he could see. "Yes…yes I admit to being shocked. I've known Jethro for years, thought I knew him as well as anyone could. Or at least I thought I did."

"What bothers you the most about this? That they are having a relationship or that you weren't aware of it?" Kate asked.

"Are they having a relationship?" Ducky wondered. "Or are they just…?" Ducky shook his head. "Jethro and Tony were in the elevator…kissing. It's just so unbelievable."

Kate giggled. "At least that's all they were doing." Then she said, "Oh Ducky, they were both hurting so much. They needed each other."

Ducky looked at her suspiciously, "That sounds more like something Abby would say."

They sat in companionable silence, and then Ducky, looking pensive, spoke what he'd been thinking. "Can they make it work? After all Jethro can be quite a bastard."

"I think Tony knows that." Kate laughed.

"It still seems all so improbable." Ducky continued. "Much like Jethro's developing a cold."

"Yes it was." Kate admitted. "Educational too."

"Kate, what exactly do you mean by that?" Ducky took off his glasses and narrowed his eyes at her.

Kate leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially into Ducky's ear. "I watched."

"Caitlyn Todd! You didn't." Ducky's eyes widened with shock.

The look so delighted Kate that she started to laugh heartily. When she was done her face grew more somber. "Ducky, it won't be easy for either of them. They're going to need you and your understanding now more than ever."

"Do you think so?"

"I know so."

Ducky nodded, replacing his glasses and taking Kate at her word. Then his features crumbled. "Oh, Kate. You were so young."

Kate wanted to reach out and touch him, try to comfort him. "Don't, Ducky. Please. Don't be sad for me."

"There was no reason for it." The overwhelming sadness almost too much for him.

"Oh, Ducky." Kate sighed. There was so much she wanted to say and couldn't. Kate had been given an unique opportunity to look back over her life. Some of it she hadn't liked. She saw the times she had gotten too close to their cases. Enough times that Gibbs had to ask her if she was okay on several occasions. She saw all the times she'd ganged up with Tony on McGee and the times she'd gone too far teasing Tony and felt regret. Then she thought of all the times Tony had gone through her things and the regret vanished.

Strangely enough she cared about Tony, and she was pretty sure in spite of all the teasing that he cared about her. She wasn't so sure how fast Tony would be able to bounce back from this. Gibbs she hadn't worried about. Tim had Abby and Abby, Tim. Ducky would be okay too, she felt, thought looking at his face right now she wasn't so sure. So she said the one thing she knew would bring a smile to the medical examiners face. "I've met this really great guy."

True to her expectations Ducky laughed until he could laugh no more. Removing his glasses and wiping the tears from his eyes. "I miss you, Caitlyn Todd."

"I miss you too." Kate assured him. "I have to go now." And with that she slowly faded from view.

***

Tony, in a much better frame of mind then when he'd arrived, rounded the corner to find McGee and Abby in what appeared to be a conspiratorial confab. Abby looked up, spotted them, and with a delighted smile on her face threw herself into Tony's arms, swinging them both around in her exuberance. "Tony, you're back. I missed you."

"Abs, we were only gone a week." Tony replied, smiling fondly at her.

Abby linked her arm with his, walking with him toward McGee's desk, her face in a delightful pout. "I know, but it's been so boring around here with out you." She leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "Alone with a grumpy Gibbs for a whole week!" she shuddered.

Tony looked over Abby's head, one eyebrow cocked, at Gibbs.

Gibbs returned the look with a slight shake of his head; he sat at his desk and started sorting through the mail that had piled up while they were away. "So what have you two been up to while I was out sick?"

Abby and McGee exchanged glances. Abby nodded for McGee to start.

"Well we've been working on tracking Ari."

That got Gibbs attention. "And?"

"Nothing." McGee gave the disappointing news. "So Abby hacked into the FBI database."

Gibbs leaned back in his chair, impressed. "And?"

"Nada. Zip." Abby said, clearly disappointed. "It's as if the man never existed. All records on him have been purged."

Tony frowned, "You couldn't …"

"No." Abby shook her head, frustration radiating from every pore. "Believe me I tried." Her face brightened. "We did find out one thing though."

McGee entered into the conversation. "It concerns Agent Fornell. He's on…"

"Extended leave of absence." Everyone, except Gibbs, turned around surprised to find FBI agent behind them. "Hello, Jethro," he said, placing a cup of Gibbs favorite coffee on his desk as a peace offering.

"Hello, Tobias," Gibbs said, ignoring the cup, his expression blank. "Extended leave?"

"Yeah," Tobias replied. "This is personal. Haswari made a fool of me. Hell he made a fool of the whole FBI. I'll be damn if I let that pass. I'm planning on tracking the bastard down. Thought you might like to join me."

Gibbs took a deep breath and settled back into his seat. It was not a decision he could make lightly. In fact, before the previous week he would have jumped at a chance like this. Even Morrow wouldn't have been able to stop him. Now he was torn between his desire to avenge
Kate and his yearning for more of what had happen with him and Tony.

Gibbs knew that whatever decision he made would affect not only himself but Tony and the rest of the remaining team. He also knew they would follow his lead. In the meantime he had a lot to think about.

During the past week Gibbs had learned a few things about himself that he'd never known before. Gibbs had managed to find peace and serenity in the arms of another man and not just any man at that. It had been an almost spiritual reawakening, feelings and desires that he usually managed to control had been set free. In all his many years and in spite of all his sexual experiences, which were considerable, he'd never actually allowed himself to let someone else be in control.

Gibbs still didn't know what had possessed him to take the initiative, but he was glad he had. Once started all he'd had to do was lay back and let Tony do what Tony did best. Gibbs had always thought that Tony's bragging had been an exaggeration, he'd found out he was wrong.
In bed Tony was a natural, knowing instinctively what buttons to push and just how to push them. Just the thought of his touches…Gibbs bit the inside of his cheek. The mere fact that Tony was unaware of the power he held over Gibbs was such an unbelievable turn-on.

Gibbs wasn't ready to give that up.

"Sorry, Tobias. I'll do everything I can to help, but taking an extended leave," Gibbs shook his head. "Just can't do it, not at the present time," he said, with genuine regret in his voice.

Fornell stared intently at Gibbs as if he were trying to look inside the man's soul, and then nodded accepting his decision. "I can count on you when I need you?"

"Without a doubt."

With a wry smile, Fornell nodded to the rest of Gibbs team and turned to walk away, bumping into a short young fellow on his way out.

An excited Jimmy Palmer looked back at the man who'd run into him without so much as an apology. His mouth was open with indignation when he spied the person he was looking for while the rest of the team stood frozen with looks of disbelief splattered across their faces.

Abby was the first to spot him. Sparing him a smile while ignoring McGee's disapproving look, she asked, "Hi, Jimmy. What's up?"

Jimmy's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he got the words out. "It's Dr. Mallard. Something's seriously wrong with him."

He blushed as Abby blinked and asked, "Ducky? Wrong how?"

Jimmy gulped nervously, everyone was staring at him now, remembering that he'd been on his way to Abby's lab only to find he'd forgotten the lab samples he was supposed to be bringing. So of course he'd gone back to the morgue to collect them. Looking through the window,
he'd seen Ducky… "Dr. Mallard was talking to himself."

Tony laughed. "Big news. Ducky's always doing that." Dr. "Ducky" Mallard tended to talk to his patients quite often.

Jimmy shook his head violently. "You don't understand. There was no one there. No dead body. No one at all."

Tony's face developed an apprehensive look. He exchanged a glance with Gibbs.

Gibbs pushed himself out of his chair. "Shit," he said, as he pushed past Palmer.

A worried Tony followed close behind, remembering the voice from the elevator. "You don't suppose...?"

Gibbs gave him a look "You think, DiNozzo?" he growled as he punched the indicator on the elevator.

With a mental sigh, Tony got into the elevator, quite sure that this ride would be nothing like their earlier one.
***

Tony and Gibbs looked through the glass panel before entering the morgue. Ducky sat staring off into space, his expression, surprisingly, one of serenity. Tony crouched down beside the medical examiner while Gibbs hung back. "Ducky? You okay?" Tony asked softly.

"Tony!" Ducky said startled as if coming out of a trance. "When did you get here? And Jethro?"

"Palmer was worried about you," Gibbs said.

"Mr. Palmer? Why would Mr. Palmer be worried about me?" Ducky asked incredulously.

"He seemed to think your behavior was a bit unusual…even for you." Tony peered intently at the medical examiner. "It was you at the elevator, wasn't it?"

"Unfortunately yes. You can thank Mr. Palmer for that." Ducky said reaching for the rack of test tubes. "If he hadn't forgotten these I'd probably still been in the dark." He sent an accusing glare Gibbs way.

"That wasn't exactly the way we wanted you to find out." Gibbs admitted, rubbing his forehead. "In fact I'd hope we could keep this strictly between Tony and me.

"You needn't worry; I don't intend to tell anyone. However I might point out that it might not be possible if you continue to… oh what is the word I'm looking for...ah yes, make-out in elevators," Ducky said wickedly.

Tony choked and Gibbs turned red and looked away trying to hide his grin.

"Does anyone else know?" Ducky asked curiously. "Besides me?"

"Gibbs told Morrow." Tony looked up at Gibbs with a glare of disapproval.

"That must have gone over well," Ducky stated, imagining the scene in his mind, then he continued in a more jovial tone. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

Tony saw Gibbs moving forward out of the corner of his eye and put out a hand to halt Gibbs' advance. "That may be a bit premature. You're not shocked?"

"I was at first." Ducky said. "But Kate said…"

"Kate?" Gibbs blurted out.

"Yes, she was here. You see I wasn't quite sure how to feel about finding out… you know. But Kate assured me it was…"

"You saw Kate?"

"Didn't I just say that? She was right there," he said pointing to the examination table. "Of course white isn't really her color, but…" Ducky noticed the look of disbelief on Gibbs face. "You do believe me?" He turned his gaze to Tony. "Don't you?"

Tony patted Ducky on the arm and rose from his crouch. "Of course I believe you." Tony stated for hadn't he seen Kate in Gibbs' bathroom? Hadn't Gibbs seen her as well? Of course Gibbs had been on drugs at the time.

Ducky seemed satisfied with Tony's response. He rose from his chair grunting and headed toward the door. "I suppose Abby will find out eventually," he said more or less to himself. "I do wonder how Timothy will take it."

Tony had moved to stand next to Gibbs and they exchanged startled looks.

"Why?" Gibbs called after him.

Ducky turned around to look at the two men. "Well, you do know he worships you," he said stating the obvious.

"He does?" Gibbs said a thoughtful look on his face.

Tony turned on him, using his slight advantage in height, and started poking Gibbs in the chest as he advanced backing him into the wall. "No. N O and hell no. Don't even think it. There will be no sharing, no three-way."

"Now, Tony…" Gibbs started, trying to placate his incensed lover.

Ducky smiled fondly at the picture the two made and left them to themselves. He headed for Abby's lab certain that, in this instance, Tony would get his way.