Partnership 2/4 - Tony gets emotional.
*******
Paula Cassidy had been on active assignment with the Major Case Team for the last month, taking over most of Tony's duties while he was away. Now, on his first morning back in the office, she found herself studying the young agent with interest. This was the first time she had seen him since he had become Gibbs' partner, and she was surprised at the change in him. He looked far more relaxed and happy than she had expected, knowing Gibbs.
How could anyone bear to live with that cold-hearted son of a bitch? The partnership thing was incomprehensible to her. How could you make a permanent connection with someone in just a day; something strong enough to last - allegedly - for the rest of your life? Especially when that person was Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Thank god she had been out of town that day!
Tony had really not deserved such a punishment, no matter how irritating he could be. She had dated him herself at one point, and she knew how focussed Tony had been on women and their bodies. He would flirt with anything in a skirt. He was charming, good company and he had been fun in bed. The only thing he had lacked was commitment. Frankly, to have all of that exuberant desire and male potential wasted on Gibbs was a crying shame.
Right now, the young agent was talking to his partner, standing close behind Gibbs' shoulder as he pointed something out on the computer screen. Too close for just a casual relationship between co-workers.
His green eyes flickered upwards and he saw her watching him. He blushed a little, then he very deliberately placed his good hand on Gibbs' shoulder, one finger almost casually slipping inside Gibbs' collar to caress the older man's skin. A small gesture of intimacy. Then, his eyes shining with laughter, he sent her what she privately termed the "DiNozzo shit-eating grin."
She scowled at him and looked away, having got the point immediately; only he could get that close to Gibbs. The boss would tolerate things from Tony that would, at the very least make Gibbs kick her ass, if she made the same mistakes.
Tony grinned in triumph. Paula could be such a bitch! From the moment he had walked in this morning, close behind Gibbs, she had been giving him the "evil eye." She just couldn't hide her discomfort at the thought of Tony and his partner. Not that she had said anything; Paula wouldn't have risked her career with a blatant display of prejudice. Still, there was none of their former friendly banter and she had even reacted coldly to his best lawyer jokes, though he knew she was still dating that beltway lawyer.
Tony had soon lost patience with her, and had it hadn't been a hard decision to shove his partnership in her face. He had enjoyed it in fact. He still got a thrill from being allowed to touch the formerly unapproachable Gibbs. Getting close up next to the older man. Oh so casually running his fingers down Gibbs' arm...
Paula felt nauseous at the sight. God. Gibbs was so much older than Tony. Oh yeah. And the biggest bastard she had ever met! So the sight of Tony flirting with his lover had been uncomfortable.
Tony couldn't hide his smirk. She had been satisfyingly embarrassed. But then Gibbs caught hold of the young agent's hand as he started to move towards his desk.
"Wait, Tony." The younger man's green eyes met his and filled with warmth at the low voice of his lover.
"Jethro?"
"Don't ever do that again! I don't appreciate being used in your point scoring games with Cassidy. It's demeaning. You want me to spank your ass in front of her?" The anger in his eyes made Tony flinch. Of course Jethro had noticed Tony's little display. He missed little of what went on around him. Tony sometimes thought that his partner's perceptiveness verged on the supernatural.
"No." The young agent shook his head contritely. "Sorry boss. It's just... Well, I'm proud to be your partner. I wanted to show off in front of her."
"You think I didn't see the way she looked at the two of us," Gibbs said quietly. "She thinks our partnership is disgusting, and given the fact that you two used to be an item, she's probably as jealous as hell of me." He sighed as he realised that Tony's behaviour was just an expression of how deep his insecurities were. The younger man was just trying to maintain some self-respect in the face of Cassidy's evident contempt. He sighed, his anger evaporating.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy... Aw hell!"
He pulled Tony into his arms and kissed him thoroughly. For a moment, the younger man stood frozen in surprise against his lover, then he melted into Gibbs' arms, surrendering to him completely. Gibbs knew how to kiss with devastating effect and as his mouth was plundered, Tony heard himself moan. His fingers clutched at Gibbs' shirt and his body instinctively arched against him. He felt Gibbs' hands slide down his back to rest on his hips possessively. Perhaps the older man felt just the tiniest twinge of jealousy at the presence of one of his lover's former girlfriends.
Both of them heard Paula gasp at their very public display.
"Oh that's hot!" Tony heard Ziva gave a chuckle. He didn't really care. His brain seemed to have melted and trickled down into his boots. Well, almost... Perhaps just bit higher.
What finally brought them back to their surroundings was the sound of a dozen people clapping enthusiastically. Most of the agents in the bullpen had broken into a spontaneous round of applause. Gibbs looked smug as he reluctantly pulled away from Tony, who blushingly made sure his erection was hidden by a hastily positioned file cover. Gibbs looked too much like the cat who'd got the cream. One finger reached out in a familiar gesture, tapping the underside of Tony's chin in a surprisingly intimate "Keep your chin up" gesture.
"Now that's how you show off!"
******
Yeah, well, in retrospect, Tony should have known that the good feeling couldn't last, his luck lately being what it was. It was such a stupid argument that later Tony just couldn't figure out how it had turned into such a big deal.
He had been absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, so maybe his temper hadn't been at its best. But things between them had still seemed good when Tony had practically tumbled into bed, barely able to keep his eyes open. He had fallen asleep within moments, his last conscious thought being a contented purr of pleasure as Jethro's arm had wrapped round him from behind and he had felt the older man spooned behind him protectively.
When had it started to go wrong? Part of it had to be Jethro's uncommunicative nature.
Sometime, deep in the night, Tony had gone from a sound sleep to full wakefulness without knowing why. He had lain in the darkness, instinctively listening for a threat. Something had triggered his internal alarms.
A low moan sounded close by.
Tony turned towards the sound and his breath caught. Jethro lay close beside him, on his back. The older man was evidently in the throes of a particularly bad dream. He was tossing and turning restlessly, and even as Tony watched, he flung out one arm defensively and cried out in denial.
Before Tony could even reach out to him, he screamed aloud and came awake, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with horror.
"Jethro?" Tony said hesitantly.
The older man turned to him with a low moan of distress and buried his face in Tony's shoulder with a low sob. The young agent automatically pulled his partner close and held him tightly for long minutes until he had finally stopped shivering.
"What is it?" Tony faltered. Gibbs never showed weakness; most of the time, the man refused to admit there was such a thing.
"Nothing... Just a bad dream." Tony could almost feel Jethro's icy control fall into place, like a wall going up abruptly between him and his partner. The exact same reply that he had given at least a dozen times in the past few weeks when he had woken from terrible nightmares.
His partner's voice was muffled against his shoulder, then Gibbs pulled away from him, rolled over and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Tony couldn't see his face in the dark but he just knew that Gibbs was embarrassed by his momentary weakness. Why oh why didn't he trust Tony enough to be honest with him? To let Tony know what was troubling him and accept the younger man's loving support.
Tony would have done anything for Gibbs and he trusted Gibbs absolutely. Apparently his partner didn't reciprocate.
He had never before realised that something was missing from their relationship. Gibbs just didn't trust him entirely. He never talked about his feelings or his past. He never let Tony help him. Some part of the younger man's heart longed to be needed by Gibbs, and his lover's refusal to communicate felt like rejection. Suddenly miserable, Tony rolled onto his side, facing away from Gibbs, and tried to sleep.
He must have succeeded, because it seemed only moments later that he was being woken by the early morning sun At some point in the night, he had turned towards Gibbs again and he was moulded against Gibbs back, his morning erection hard against Gibbs' ass. And because some insecure part of him really wanted to know how much Gibbs trusted him, he finally decided to act on those desires he had been trying to repress.
He knew exactly what he wanted to do; ever since their first encounter, the thought of having Jethro had haunted him. He wanted to be inside his lover, like he had on that very first occasion. They had both enjoyed it, though somehow he had never dared mention his darkest desire to Jethro. What would he say? Hey boss, can I fuck your ass? Oh that would go down well, not that Tony would ever dare say it! Tony frowned. After all, why shouldn't he find his lover's body sexy?
Tony had a plan. He was going to blow Jethro, and if his fingers should find themselves straying somewhere they didn't normally visit, making Jethro all slick and ready... Well, that was all to the good, wasn't it?
He slipped out of bed and grabbed the necessary supplies from a nearby drawer, then turned back towards his lover. At that moment, providentially, Jethro sighed softly in his sleep and rolled onto his back. Tony's eyes sparkled with mischief. He nudged his lover's knees apart and covering his long fingers with lube, he positioned himself between Gibbs' legs. He lowered his mouth to Jethro's quiescent cock and licked a stripe down its length. Jethro moaned softly in his sleep but didn't wake. Meanwhile, in an impressive display of hand and mouth coordination, Tony's knowing fingers gently teased at his lover's opening, circling the sensitive skin. Then he gently worked his finger inside.
Jethro sighed softly, his legs falling apart, still deep in sleep. It was a measure of their growing relationship that Jethro didn't wake immediately at his touch. When they had first started sleeping together, the man had been far more uptight about having Tony in his bed. The young man smiled tenderly. Sometimes he couldn't believe how lucky he was. Who would have thought, six months ago, that he could be in Jethro Gibbs' bed? His lover...
Gibbs moaned sleepily, his hips thrusting in the direction of Tony's hand. The young agent added another finger and slid both digits slowly inside his partner, finding the sweet spot inside his lover almost immediately. Gibbs whimpered drowsily and pushed back against him, his erection hardening rapidly as pleasure assailed him from the double stimulus of mouth and fingers. Tony thought it was one of the hottest things he had ever seen; Gibbs' uninhibited responses to his touch, and that sound he made. Tony was achingly hard by now.
Grinning, he took the older man's hard shaft into his mouth and began to apply everything he had learned in the past few months. Taking him in deep; something he had found difficult in the early days of their partnership, simply from a physical point of view. He had learned to do things with his tongue that still astonished him with their effectiveness. Like now, when he could feel Jethro close to waking and even closer to the edge. One last effort and...
Tony heard Jethro gasp aloud and felt his partner come fully awake as Tony brought him to orgasm. One final finger-tease and Tony's mouth was filled with a flood of creamy semen. His lover cried out in pleasure as Tony's eager mouth sucked him dry, sagging bonelessly back onto the bed. He smiled blissfully at Tony.
"Hell of a way to wake up!"
With a grin, Tony climbed on top of Gibbs, nudging the older man's legs further apart. He was achingly hard by now, his cock rigid against his belly. He began to push himself into Gibbs' utterly relaxed body.
Big mistake. The older man's eyes went wide and something flared in them that might, in another man, have been mistaken for fear.
"What the fuck! What the hell do you think you're doing, DiNozzo?" Gibbs shoved him away. Not gently. Limbs flailing, Tony only just managed to stop himself from falling out of bed and onto his ass. He found himself transfixed by the patent Gibbs icy glare. Well that was a bad sign, Tony decided. He stared at Jethro with a hurt expression in his eyes.
"I wanted to try something different. You were enjoying it too!" A hint of entreaty crept into Tony's voice. "Let me make love to you. I'll show you how good it can feel when you're not on top... Just relax and let me take care of you..." The older man stared at him as if he was crazy.
"That isn't going to happen!"
"But you like it. I know you do. The one time we did it, you liked it so much you begged me to do it harder! You loved it..."
" I wasn't exactly in my right mind at the time, Tony. You think I'd choose to offer my ass to a man if I had a choice. I'm not gay!" Gibbs snapped. Tony froze, the words like a bucket of cold water to his libido.
"So what exactly do you call sleeping with me?"
"Damn it Tony, being in a partnership isn't the same thing!"
"Two men. Sex. Duh!" Tony glared at him. "Or maybe you were trying to pretend you don't fuck me every night." Tony paused, his tone turning angry. "Don't you trust me? Or maybe you think of me like the wife in this relationship, because I'm the one spreading my legs! Is that it, Jethro?" A desolate note entered Tony's voice. Gibbs didn't notice.
"I never said that..." Gibbs protested, still angry. "But now that you mention it, you're being as emotional as my last wife!"
Tony flinched, a look of visible hurt crossing his face. Gibbs faltered and lowered his eyes guiltily. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It's just such a stupid issue to have a fight about... I thought you liked what we do in bed..."
"I do!" Tony said. "But when did you ever ask me what I wanted to do? Everything we do pleases you. But I have fantasies too, Jethro. If you'd ever asked me about what I like, even once, you'd have known that I wanted to fuck you... And why not? I know you'd like it!"
"Tony..." Gibbs was looking at him like he was a particularly dense probie who needed things spelling out in words of one syllable. The younger man tried desperately to articulate his unhappiness.
"You just don't trust me, do you? You're such a control freak that you can't bear the thought of letting me take charge!" Tony could feel tears threatening to spill down his face. For some reason, he couldn't seem to get a grip on his emotions.
"Don't be ridiculous! Of course I trust you!"
Tony tried again. "Well, if you trust me, prove it. At least tell me about your bad dreams."
Jethro shook his head, something desolate flickering across his face. "I can't..."
"See! You're just shutting me out again! I guess this explains why you can't stay married. Though you don't even trust me enough to talk about that..."
"Damn it Tony! Why would I want to talk to you about my ex-wives? I'm not exactly proud of my track record with women. Anyway, this has nothing to do with trust and everything to do with your feelings of insecurity! Don't blame me because you're feeling paranoid about my past relationships!"
"Screw you!" Tony said softly, without a hint of irony. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. He got up from the bed, walked into the bathroom and slammed the door. Gibbs stared after him, totally at a loss as to how he should deal with the situation. Why had his young lover suddenly become so emotional? So easily upset? Was it a side effect of the virus? Not that he had helped the situation.
What the hell had he done?
He knocked at the door after a few minutes, knowing guiltily that he had probably gone too far with that last remark. Tony had always been insecure; the incident yesterday with Paula had shown him that, though he had always known that the young agent thrived on his praise.
There was no response from the younger man. Gibbs sighed. Damn. He hated this feelings crap! He just didn't know how to deal with it. Apparently, his relationship with the younger man wasn't as solid as he had first thought. Who would have guessed that DiNozzo could be so touchy? So high-maintainance?
Then his sharp hearing heard odd noises from the other room and he sank down onto the bed, his head in his hands, hating himself at that moment. He was beginning to realise how much he loved his crazy, annoying - damn it to hell, endearing - young partner. Why else would Tony's distress hurt so much?
What he could hear was the soft, quiet sound of Tony crying.
******
The whole bullpen knew it (from long experience) when Gibbs was in a bad mood, from the moment he exited the elevator that morning. McGee's cheery, "Morning boss" was met with an inarticulate snarl, and Gibbs' first task of the day, checking out the morning mail delivery, took far less time than usual. Most of it was unceremoniously dumped in the trash with a muttered, "Crap!" The NCIS agents were all familiar enough with Gibbs' moods to keep their heads down so they wouldn't attract his attention. Tony came into the bullpen about fifteen minutes later, glared pointedly at Gibbs then deliberately turned his computer screen away so that he wouldn't have to look in his partner's direction.
Tony heard McGee's voice from the other side of the partition.
"Oh god, they've had another argument! Everybody keep your heads down."
And Ziva.
"This was supposed to be a safe assignment."
Finally, Cassidy's dry comment, a world of scorn in her voice.
"Does this happen often?
"Once is enough!" Ziva muttered.
******
End of Partnership 2/4
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