Fic: Two Masters - 9/22

[xanthefic]

Two Masters
By Xanthe
Part Nine

The rest of the day passed in an agonising crawl. Eventually Ziva left, and then McGee. Ducky called up that he was on his way home, and even Abby finally left. Gibbs remained at his desk, and Tony, by default, had no choice but to remain at his. He didn't dare leave.

Finally, at 9 p.m., with no solid leads on the case after a day's digging, Gibbs sat back and glared across the room at him.

"Go home, DiNozzo," he ordered.

"Home?" Tony bit on his lip. Did that mean his own home or Gibbs's home? Was Gibbs telling him that he didn't want to deal with him tonight? Did that mean no more training? Were they still on course for his big decision at the end of the week - or had he irritated Gibbs enough that the man was giving up on him? "Your place?" Tony clarified, wincing slightly.

Gibbs looked at him as if he'd grown another head. "You had someplace else to be?"

"No. Just…" Tony felt ridiculously relieved. "Wasn't sure if you were cutting me loose, Boss."

Gibbs looked utterly mystified for a second, and then his expression darkened. He got up and stalked over to Tony's desk with terse, angry strides. Tony grimaced, wondering what the hell was going to happen next. Gibbs reached his desk, and then, without warning, slapped the back of his head with a firm, decisive flick of his hand.

"Don't be more of an idiot than you already are, DiNozzo," he snapped. "Go home. Now."

"Yes, Boss! Thank you, Boss!" Tony said, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head happily. He reached for his bag and ran towards the elevator. Okay, so Gibbs wasn't going to throw him out. That meant the alternative, which was an evening involving some kind of painful punishment, but Tony could handle that much more easily than rejection.

He wasn't sure what to do when he got back to Gibbs's house. They'd eaten takeout at the office earlier in the evening so there was no point ordering any food. It wasn't his place, so he didn't feel comfortable turning on the TV and making himself at home – not least because of the deep shit he knew he was in. He had no idea how long Gibbs would be, either. A part of him wanted his dom to be a long time in coming home, while another part just wanted to get this over and done with.

He didn't turn the light on. He just stood there, in the dark living room, feeling uncertain. He heard a car draw up outside and his stomach flipped. Gibbs walked into the house a few minutes later; he stood in the living room doorway, frowning.

"Tony?" He turned on the light and then looked startled to see Tony. "Why were you standing there in the dark?"

"I really have no idea," Tony sighed.

Gibbs gazed at him, looking perplexed. "You really don't, do you?"

"Nope." Tony shrugged miserably.

"Come here." Gibbs lifted his arm and beckoned with one, crooked index finger.

Tony bit on his lip. Time to face the music. He went quietly over to his dom. He wasn't sure whether Gibbs was going to swing him over the couch, or push him against the wall, but he was pretty sure he was going to be looking at his feet sometime soon while Gibbs blistered his ass for being such an idiot. He went quickly all the same, not caring about the punishment. Gibbs was wrong – he *did* trust him. He trusted him with his body, if nothing else.

To his surprise, Gibbs didn't do either of those things. Instead, he put an arm around Tony, drew him close, and kissed him on the lips. It was a gentler kiss than Tony might have expected in the circumstances, and he pressed up against his top's hard body, feeling some of the day's despair start to dissipate.

Finally, Gibbs released him, but still held him close. "I've wanted to do that all evening."

Tony blinked. "You have? Why?"

"Because you were getting quieter and quieter until I thought you were some kind of zombie-Tony. It was freaking me out."

"Zombie-Tony? Hah! No wonder you were freaked out to find me standing in the dark then, Boss. Wanted to be sure it was still me, and not some brain-eating impostor, huh?" Tony felt some of his usual good spirits returning.

"Oh, I knew it was still you. Nobody but you could have pulled that stunt you did this morning. I've just never seen you that quiet before, even when you've known you're in bad trouble."

"Which I am," Tony said quietly.

Gibbs nodded. "Which you are," he agreed.

"So where do you want me?" Tony asked, his hands going to his belt as he started to undress. "Against the wall? Over the couch?"

Gibbs looked at him thoughtfully. "You think your ass can take another whipping after the past couple of days, DiNozzo?"

"Well…it's sore, and sitting down all afternoon and most of the evening didn't help, but I screwed up, and I figure that’s gonna be more than a couple of swats added to the chalkboard, so…" Tony shrugged and continued undoing his fly. Gibbs's hand fastened over his, stopping him. "What?" Tony frowned. "You said discipline would be daily, and I fucked up."

"Yeah, you did – but I also said discipline wouldn't always be spanking. Anyhow, breaking rule number five is serious - I don't think a spanking really covers it."

Tony felt his gut flip anxiously. "But you said you weren't cutting me loose…" he began.

"And those are the only two options? Christ, and I thought *I* was bad at relationships." Gibbs rolled his eyes.

Tony stared at him, confused.

"So, I either whale on your ass, or I throw you out? No wonder you were so damn keen to get into position," Gibbs grunted. He gazed at Tony thoughtfully. "Who taught you that, Tony?"

"What?"

“Who taught you that you get sent away, no warning, for just one screw-up? Who taught you to offer yourself up for anything to avoid that happening?" Gibbs asked. "Who taught you that if I'm angry I'm gonna hurt you, but at least that's better than rejection?"

Tony stared at him icily. "Are you going to punish me or not?"

Gibbs glared at him. Tony didn't back down.

Gibbs sighed. "Tony…" He put his hand on Tony's shoulder, but Tony knocked it away.

"No, don't do that. I screwed up. Punish me."

"Then it's okay? If I punish you, then it's okay?"

"You were angry, and you had every right to be." Tony shrugged. "I behaved like an idiot this morning."

"Yeah, you did." Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. "But I'm not gonna spank you."

"Why?" Tony demanded belligerently.

"Because, like I said on Sunday, if we're not both getting off on this then we're doing it wrong. Last couple of nights you've enjoyed the training, haven't you?"

"Yeah. So?" Tony shrugged.

"Well, if I spanked your ass tonight you wouldn't, and I sure as hell wouldn't. I never intended to – it's had enough, and you should be the one pointing that out, not me."

Tony gazed at him helplessly. "I don't understand."

"I know," Gibbs sighed. "And I'm just starting to realise that that's a real problem, Tony."

"So you *are* throwing me out." Tony felt his jaw tighten.

Gibbs gave him a look that could kill people. "Did I say that?" he growled. "No, I'm not damn well throwing you out, boy. Okay. Let's deal with this. You're right, you screwed up today, and I will punish you for that. Strip."

He tossed his keys onto the table, took off his jacket, and then left the room. Tony heard him running up the stairs. He took off his clothes, folded them neatly on the couch, and then he waited. He was confused. Gibbs had said he wasn't going to spank him, but that he would punish him. What the hell did he have in mind? At least it seemed to involve some kind of interaction – and Tony had never had a problem with negative attention, if that was the only kind he was going to get.

Gibbs returned a few minutes later. He had changed into a pair of grey sweats and a grey tee shirt.

"With me. Now," he said, gesturing with his head.

Tony followed him down the stairs and into the basement. Gibbs put his hands on Tony's body and turned him around a couple of times, examining him as he went. His fingers came to rest on the thin red lines on Tony's buttocks.

"You look good wearing my marks, boy," he said throatily. Tony's cock hardened immediately in response to his tone. "Did you forget who you belonged to earlier?" Gibbs purred into Tony's ear. "When you let that guy put his hands on you. When you showed him this…" He ran his hand possessively over Tony's belly.

"No, Boss. I was just trying to make you mad."

"Why?"

"To stop you talking to Shale." Tony shrugged.

"You seriously thought that a couple of days after entering into a serious relationship with you, I'd be out sniffing around for someone else?"

Tony took a deep breath as Gibbs's hand slid over his body. "No. Maybe. I dunno. I just wanted…"

"My attention?" Gibbs suggested.

"Yeah." Tony sagged a little.

"You're mine, and I don't share. Don't ever let someone touch you like that again," Gibbs hissed into his ear. "Seriously, Tony." His voice held a sudden flare of pain. "I mean it. It drives me nuts. I've told you this before."

"I know." Tony felt a twinge of guilt.

"I wasn't particularly possessive with my wives," Gibbs said quietly. "But with my 24/7 sub? I'm in my top headspace around you all the time, and when I see someone else with their hands on you…it hurts, Tony."

Tony looked up, startled by the honesty in Gibbs's voice. "I'm sorry," he said, meaning it.

"I know." Gibbs continued to work his hands over Tony's body, and Tony felt his erection swell. "Close your eyes," Gibbs ordered. Tony complied immediately. "Who do you belong to?" Gibbs asked, as he fondled and stroked.

"You!" Tony gasped, his body responding eagerly.

"I’m glad we’re both agreed on that," Gibbs said wryly. "So, I figure today's screw-up deserves thirty on the chalkboard – don't you?"

"Yeah." Tony nodded. His stomach flipped all the same. Thirty was his highest tally to date, and Gibbs always made his discipline count.

He felt his dom's hands slide up his chest and play with his nipples. God that felt good! Gibbs's fingers tightened around his nipples and squeezed. Tony gave a hoarse shout.

"Thirty what though?" Tony panted. "If you're not gonna spank me?"

"Thirty minutes," Gibbs purred into his ear. He was standing behind Tony, and Tony could feel his cock pressing against his naked ass cheeks through the soft fabric of Gibbs’s sweatpants.

"Thirty minutes?" Tony frowned, confused.

"Yeah. Wearing these."

Tony wasn't sure how he did it, or where they came from, but next thing he knew the tight sensation around his nipples had intensified exponentially. He opened his eyes and looked down to see that Gibbs had placed clamps on his nipples.

Gibbs turned him around. "They're adjustable. I'll start them off relatively tight…" He turned the screw on the one on his left nipple, and Tony gave a yell and held onto his dom's shoulders for support as the claws of the clamp dug into the little nub of flesh. Gibbs moved on to the other one and did the same, screwing it so that it squeezed down hard on his right nipple. "And I'll turn the screw once to tighten them even more every ten minutes. Think you can handle that?" he asked.

His nipples felt like they were enclosed in a vice. Tony didn't see how he could possibly cope with Gibbs tightening the clamps again, but he nodded.

"Yes," he said, in a strangled tone.

"What's your safe word?" Gibbs gazed at him intently.

"Magnum," he replied, without even thinking about it.

"Use it if it gets too much," Gibbs ordered. "I'll still make you take it, but I'll space it out – give you five minutes in them and then a five minute breather until we're done. Okay – stand there, at ease…" Gibbs put him in the corner of the basement, but facing inwards towards the boat. "I'm gonna work on the boat – and you are going to be quiet. Use the time to think about the issue of trust, Tony, 'cause the way you behaved this morning, seemed like you sure as hell didn't trust me."

Tony opened his mouth to refute that, but Gibbs put his finger over his lips.

"Uh-uh. In silence." He leaned in and kissed Tony's mouth…and while he was doing that, his fingers came to rest on the nipple clamps, and he gave a sudden, firm twist. Tony yelled out into the kiss, but Gibbs didn't release either his nipples or his mouth. He just kept on kissing and twisting. Finally, Tony surrendered to both, the torture of his nipples offset by the firm press of Gibbs's lips against his own.

Then Gibbs released him, and Tony stood there, whimpering. God his nipples hurt! He wondered if he could possibly stand thirty minutes of this, but he knew that he had no choice. Gibbs would make him take every single second.

He stood there, shaking slightly, as he watched Gibbs crawl over the boat with his sander, smoothing away at the wood.

Gibbs had told him to think about why he'd ended up here, but he was more interested in trying to figure out the shape of Gibbs's butt through the thin fabric of his sweatpants. He wished he could strip those pants off him and run his hands over his dom's naked ass, but the way things were going right now he thought he'd have a long wait for that. Damn it – when was he ever going to see his dom naked? It didn’t seem fair that Gibbs had seen him naked so often, and Tony had never even got a glimpse of his ass - or that monster cock he’d rammed into Tony’s mouth a couple of times.

He was so lost in this train of thought that he was surprised to see Gibbs suddenly appear in front of him.

"Ten minutes, Tony," he said, and he reached out and turned the screw on the side of the left clamp. The pain in his chest had receded to a dull, throbbing ache, but now it flared up into a full blown blast of agony again. Gibbs did the same to the right nipple, and Tony hung his head, his body shaking from the effort of not putting his hands up there and pulling the damn things off.

"Think you can take it?" Gibbs asked. "Or do you want to say your word?"

Tony's resolve didn't falter. "I can take it," he said firmly, looking up.

"Good."

Gibbs kissed him again, and this time Tony knew what to expect. Sure enough, Gibbs evilly twisted his fingertips on the clamps, drawing an agonised yell out of him again. He couldn't have resisted crying out, even if he'd tried. The sensation of being kissed while having the clamps twisted was so intense. He was almost sure that he couldn't bear it – and that was when Gibbs released him. His dom returned to his boat and resumed working as if nothing had happened.

Tony stood there, reeling, his nipples throbbing. Ten minutes – which meant he had another twenty to go. Christ, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to take it. But Gibbs was asking him to take it, and there was something intensely satisfying about giving it all up to a dom as powerful as Gibbs.

He thought about what Gibbs had said, about how much Tony's behaviour had hurt him. He’d meant it too – Tony had been startled by just how *much* he’d meant it. Gibbs was such an overpowering presence in his life, and yet always so emotionally distant, that Tony was surprised to find that something as stupid as the morning's flirtation had affected him.

He heard Gibbs coming towards him, and he looked up.

“Want to say your safe word?” Gibbs asked.

“No.” Tony shook his head. “I want to say that I get it now. I didn’t before. I'm sorry, Boss.”

“No more talk of me throwing you out then?” Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

“No.” Tony shook his head.

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. “Good.” Then he gave a feral grin and reached for the clamps again. Tony actually howled when he turned the screw on each of the nipple clamps for the final time. They were digging in so hard that he hopped from foot to foot for a moment, trying to find a place in his head where he could bear it. Eventually, the worst of the pain receded – but Tony knew what was coming next.

“Ready?” Gibbs asked.

“No,” Tony replied, making a face.

Gibbs grinned and closed in. He kissed Tony hard and twisted the clamps at the same time. Tony convulsed in his arms. Gibbs’s body was hard and unyielding against his own, and he was completely ruthless as he made the punishment really count. Tony was dimly aware that he wouldn’t want it any other way, but that didn’t make it any easier to take.

Then, finally, Gibbs was done. He pulled back, grinned at Tony again, patted his cheek affectionately, and then returned to the boat. Tony stood there, swaying, moaning softly to himself. He had to hold his hands behind his back to stop himself from swiping the clamps away from his chest. His nipples felt like they were being held between a pair of sharp teeth, and the last ten minutes of his punishment felt more like ten hours. He moaned, and sweated, and whimpered under his breath the entire time, trying to pace himself. He hopped from foot to foot again, trying to find a way to deal with it.

Just when he was honestly wasn’t sure he could bear it any more, Gibbs threw down the sander and came back over.

“Okay – thirty minutes, we’re done. Brace yourself.”

“Just get them off me!” Tony begged.

“Hold onto my shoulders.”

“Why?” Tony blinked at him, barely able to think straight. He just wanted the damn things gone.

“Trust me – hold onto my shoulders, and brace yourself,” Gibbs warned.

Tony did as he was told, and a second later he felt Gibbs’s fingers on his chest. This time those fingers were gentle, and they removed the clamps swiftly. Tony’s respite was short lived though – he was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when a wave of the most intense pain flooded through the tortured nipples as the blood returned to the little nubs of flesh.

“Fuck!” he screamed, clinging onto Gibbs’s shoulders.

Yet again, Gibbs was there to hold him up and kiss away the scream. He devoured Tony’s mouth with his own while Tony hollered his agony. He was grateful for Gibbs’s strength, because he was pretty sure his legs wouldn’t have held him up. Gibbs kissed him the entire time, keeping him upright, bracing Tony against his hard, muscular body.

Finally the pain receded, leaving only a dull, nagging ache. Gibbs held him close, running a soothing hand up and down his back.

“It’s okay…ssh, ssh,” he murmured, until finally Tony stopped shaking. Then Gibbs drew back and grinned at him. “What the hell am I gonna do with you, DiNozzo?” he sighed, shaking his head ruefully. “You are just so damn addictive. And even when it’s bad…you’re turned on. Incredible.” He shook his head, his hand resting on Tony’s semi-erect cock where it was jutting out from his body. “C’mon – let’s get you to bed.”

“Your bed?” Tony asked hopefully.

Gibbs gave a little chuckle. “Nope - *your* bed, DiNozzo.”

“Worth a try,” Tony grinned, resting his head on Gibbs’s shoulder as Gibbs walked them both slowly up the stairs, one arm still wrapped firmly around his sub’s body.

“Good to have the real you back, Tony.” Gibbs kissed him again as they reached the top of the stairs. “Didn’t like the zombie version.”

“No more zombie-Tony – scout's honour,” Tony promised solemnly, the stress of the day and the endorphin rush from the nipple torture combining to make him feel both high as a kite and completely exhausted.

“Idiot. Bed.”

Gibbs helped him onto the mattress and drew the blanket over him. Tony closed his eyes, but he was aware of Gibbs standing there, unmoving, looking down on him. Then, finally, Gibbs sighed.

“I hope you trust me with it one, day, Tony, whatever the hell it is. Surely it can't be that bad?"

Tony rolled onto his side, opened his eyes, and stared blankly at the wall.

~*~

Tony really wasn't a morning person, but Gibbs was becoming used to his sub's shortness of temper and general moodiness first thing. Tony could easily earn himself full spankings in the first ten minutes of wakefulness alone if Gibbs wasn't careful in how he handled him. He had learned to back off, and having woken Tony on Wednesday morning he retreated downstairs. Tony put in an appearance fifteen minutes later, by which time, after a shower and shave, he was more amiable.

Gibbs examined his sub's body, as he did every morning before breakfast. He thought Tony was getting used to these little routines. Today, he ran his fingers lightly over Tony's still red nipples, noting the way Tony winced even at that feather light touch.

"Hurt?" he asked.

"Only when you touch them," Tony shrugged. "Otherwise they're fine."

That brought out some toppy instinct in Gibbs, and he couldn’t resist lowering his head and taking Tony's left nipple in his mouth, rolling it between his tongue and lips, making Tony gasp and whimper. He did the same to the right one, noticing that however much discomfort he was in, Tony was clearly also enjoying this judging by his semi-erect cock.

Gibbs grinned. "I got you something for that." He reached into his pocket and drew out a leather cock ring. Tony eyed it suspiciously. Gibbs threaded Tony's cock and balls into the ring and fastened it in place, testing the fit with his fingers, while Tony watched him the entire time through narrowed eyes.

"Wear it all day," Gibbs ordered. "It you get erect at any point – which knowing you is a given – then this will help keep you that way for longer."

Tony pouted. "Isn't it bad enough that I'm not allowed to come? Do you have to make it worse by fixing it so that when I get hard I stay that way?" he asked incredulously. "Isn't that just plain torture?"

"Nope. Although I can think of things that *are* plain torture if you'd like me to try them out on you?" Gibbs raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Kind of you, Boss, but no, thank you," Tony said swiftly.

"You should be happy I've given you a training aid," Gibbs told him smoothly. "’Cause I want you to learn to become hard on order – and hold it for as long as I say."

Tony looked aghast. "Seriously? People can actually do that?"

"With training – yeah." Gibbs patted his face. "And training is exactly what you're getting.”

“Who are these people? Sexual gymnasts? Are they in training for the sexual Olympics or something?” Tony mused plaintively.

Gibbs bit back a grin. “You feel any pain, you have my permission to remove the cock ring – otherwise, it stays on.” He pointed at the table. “Bend over."

Tony did as ordered, and Gibbs removed his butt plug. He put some lube on his finger and slid it inside Tony's hole. Tony was more open now, after days of being plugged. But, more to the point, he was becoming used to Gibbs touching his body and slipping his fingers or plugs into it whenever he wanted. In short, he was starting to get his head around the concept that his body now belonged to his dom and not to him any more.

Gibbs wriggled his finger around – Tony was still tight, but Gibbs didn't want to open him up any more. He wanted to save that moment for when he finally pushed his hard cock into this puckered hole. He wanted to be the one who stretched Tony out to his full capacity. Gibbs removed his finger. "No need to wear a plug today."

Tony looked at him over his shoulder. "Really? Why?" he asked, standing up.

"Because you're ready for me to fuck you now," Gibbs told him bluntly.

Tony's cock became fully erect and then stayed that way, trapped within its leather ring.

"Right now?" he asked hoarsely.

"No – I told you I wouldn't fuck you ‘til I collared you. You still have a couple of days to decide if that's what you want. If it is, then I'll fuck you on Friday. But it's your choice, Tony. It has to be what you want."

"Do I look like I don't want it?" Tony pointed to his hard, straining cock.

Gibbs grinned and ghosted his fingers over it, loving the way Tony rutted into his hand, desperate for his touch. "Nope. You look like you'd be happy if I threw you down and took you over the table. But I said I'd give you a week to be sure, and I will. You're new at this – you need to decide if you like it, if you want more of it, or if it's not for you. That's what this week's all about."

"I don't need any more damn time…" Tony began, but Gibbs interrupted him.

"Take the final couple of days to decide, and be really clear about it, Tony. I won't change. This is who I am, so if this is what you want then good, but if not, don't pretend. That would be unfair – on both of us. You need to be really sure – because once I've fucked you, I won't give you up easily after that. You'll be mine then, and I'll fight for you if I have to."

Tony's eyes flickered. "Am I what *you* want?" he asked. "I mean, I know you said you'd made your decision, and this was all about me making mine, but you've had a chance to put me through my paces now. Sure you haven't changed your mind?"

“I told you – I already made my decision. This is about you. You've woken up every day this week with a sore back, or butt, or chest. You've spent days and nights with something stuffed up your ass, and I've asked you to submit to all kinds of painful or intrusive things. If you say yes, there won't be less of that, there’ll be more, ‘cause then I'll *really* put you through your paces. I'm *demanding*, Tony."

"Ya think, Gibbs?" Tony's mouth quirked into a smile.

Gibbs didn't smile back . "Decide, Tony," he said seriously. "Decide if you can handle a 24/7 dom/sub relationship with me. Don't jerk me around. Take it seriously. Really think about it. And if you need more time – ask."

Tony looked surprised by his tone. "I will take it seriously. I do. I am.”

"Good." Gibbs picked up his keys and jacket. "Then I'll see you at work in half an hour. And Tony?" Tony turned towards him. "Wear something casual today."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me what to wear?"

"Yes, Tony, I'm telling you what to wear. Wear those blue jeans that hug your ass but not too tight – and the navy blue shirt and brown suede jacket."

"I'm amazed you’ve even noticed the contents of my closet," Tony grinned. "Okay, Boss!" He gave a mock-salute. "Your wish is my command."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, but he couldn't resist pulling his naked sub in close for a kiss anyway. Then he released him, pushed him in the direction of the stairs, and slapped his ass to send him on his way. He grinned at Tony's exaggerated yelp but stayed to watch his bare ass as he ran up the stairs to get dressed.

~*~

By the time Tony got into the office, Gibbs was striding around like a bear with a sore head. Tony flattened himself against the wall in alarm as his dom stormed past him on his way up to the director’s office.

“Yikes – the boss got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” he said to Ziva - which wasn’t true, because he knew damn well that Gibbs had left for work with a smile on his face.

Ziva glanced up from her work. "Admiral Adams has been demanding to know what progress we have made on finding the man who killed his son. He is extremely upset – which is understandable - but he is pulling rank and demanding that Gibbs update him every hour on the hour.”

“That explains why the boss isn’t his usual sunny self then.” Tony put his bag down on his desk.

Ziva nodded. "Admiral Adams expects a full briefing on all new developments."

“Clearly the admiral doesn’t know Gibbs very well,” Tony grinned, because he could imagine Gibbs’s response to that kind of interference in *his* case.

Ziva sighed. “Unfortunately, because he is an admiral – and also a close personal friend - SecNav is insisting that Gibbs comply.”

Tony winced. “Ouch. Gibbs has gotta be loving that.”

“I believe you saw just how much he is ‘loving’ it.” Ziva glanced up in the direction of Vance’s office.

“Uh…does the admiral know that his son was hanging out in a gay gym?” Tony asked.

“I believe that Gibbs has informed him, but the admiral is insistent that his son was not gay.”

“Ah. Yeah. Denial.” Tony was all too familiar with that.

He sat down at his desk and clicked on his emails. There was one there from Mulder, with the subject header: “Sitting comfortably?” He opened it.

“Tony, I trust you’re *not* sitting comfortably. I don’t think I sat comfortably for a year after Walter enslaved me. Anyway – how’s it going? Want to come alien-hunting with me one day if Gibbs will let you out? And yes, Walter is making me write this. He thinks you need mentoring or some kind of shit like that. So say yes, or he’ll bug me until you do. Mulder.”

Tony chuckled and typed a quick reply. He and Fox didn’t exactly have much in common, but somehow he liked the guy, even if he was completely crazy.

He checked the rest of his emails - and his fingers froze on the keyboard as he saw a name flash up in the headers.

D.Grasso
And the subject line: “Fridays”

He sat there for a moment, looking at it with a sense of dread, and then he glanced up in the direction of Vance’s office. “Is Gibbs still up there?” he asked Ziva.

“Yes he is. Why? Are you going to do something naughty?” she asked, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

“No, Ziva, I’m not going to do something ‘naughty’ because I’m a trained federal agent and not, you know, ten,” he told her. Although he sure as hell *felt* naughty as he clicked on the email.

“You left without saying goodbye. Friday nights aren’t the same without you. Seahawk docks end of next month. Be seeing you…”

“Not if I see you first,” Tony growled under his breath. He clicked on the delete key and watched the email disappear.

“Problem?” Ziva asked.

“No, Ziva – hey look – what’s that?”

He pointed somewhere over her left shoulder, and she turned. He took the opportunity to run for the safety of the men’s room. Knowing Ziva’s proclivity for following him even in here, he went into a stall and locked the door behind him. Then he stood with his back against the door, breathing heavily.

D. Grasso.

Chief Petty Officer Dale Grasso.

He could smell the stench of whisky on his breath as he moved and could hear the harsh rasp of his own breathing. The liquor was slowing him down, and he tripped and stumbled, then sank down onto the floor, laughing to himself. Grasso loomed over him; his breath smelled of stale tobacco and the shit they served in the ship’s cafeteria.

"Christ, you're a fucking loser. A fucking motherfucking piece of shit, DiNozzo!"

Tony laughed some more, and waited for what would, inevitably, happen next…

Tony pushed the memory away and tried to think of Gibbs instead. He thought of the sensitivity in his nipples from Gibbs’s clamps and the binding of the leather ring on his cock. He tried to think of being owned, of belonging to someone. It helped. He got himself back under control, straightened up, and pasted his shiny Tony face back on again. Then he returned to the squad room.

The day didn't bring any breakthroughs on the case, and Tony watched Gibbs become more and more irritable as both SecNav and Admiral Adams rode him hard to find the man who had murdered the admiral’s son.

Tony wished he could help his dom in some way – not that Gibbs needed his help, but he was working his ass off to get some answers, and Tony could see that he was precariously close to the edge.

Gibbs’s mood only deteriorated as the day wore on, until Tony sent Ziva and McGee to take refuge in Abby's lab. Only Tony hung around in the squad room to bear the brunt of his dom's bad temper. He figured that he could handle the pressure better than they could. He had always seen team morale as his responsibility as Gibbs's second in command. Sometimes that called for him to goof around to lighten the tension - and sometimes, like now, it called for him to step in and take one for the team when Gibbs was stressed out.

"Go through the timeline," Gibbs ordered as the evening wore on. Everyone else was long gone, but Tony knew he couldn't leave while Gibbs was still here. He didn't want to in any case.

"Again, Boss?" Tony asked. They'd been through it a dozen times already. Gibbs turned to glare at him, so Tony quickly brought up the details on the plasma. "Okay." He stretched, and his back made a popping sound. "Charles Lamb and Mark Adams arrived within ten minutes of each other." He pointed to the security camera footage showing them arriving at the Ironman gym. "They worked out for a couple of hours until ten p.m."

"Working out that late was usual for them?" Gibbs demanded.

Tony glanced at his notes. "Yeah," he nodded. "Lamb finished first – by a couple of minutes. They both spent about twenty minutes getting showered and changed, and then Lamb left the gym at 22:23 pm." He showed grainy footage of Charles Lamb leaving the gym wearing a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes. "That's the last shot we have of him alive. Adams left five minutes later." He clicked the next image. "And that's it. Ducky puts time of death at about fifteen minutes after they both left the gym."

"Who died first?"

"Adams," Tony confirmed. They'd gone through this several times already, but if Gibbs wanted to go through it again then that's what they'd do. He stifled a yawn, and his back made another popping sound. Gibbs glanced at him.

"Go home," he ordered. Tony felt a wave of relief. He was damn tired, and so was Gibbs by the look of him. Tony didn't think that either of them would be up for much by way of training this evening.

"You coming too?" Tony asked.

Gibbs shook his head, still gazing at the plasma. "Not yet. I'm missing something. If Lamb left first, why was Adams killed first? Why were they even together at that point? Lamb should have been halfway home."

"I have no idea," Tony shrugged. "Maybe they went to the park to have sex?"

"They both lived alone – no room-mates – why the hell would they need to go to the park to have sex?" Gibbs demanded.

"I really have no idea." Tony stared at the plasma helplessly. “Maybe it’s a gay thing?”

Gibbs glared at him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Tony winced, remembering all the very gay things they’d been doing together all week.

“Nothing,” he sighed. He cricked his neck from side to side, and it cracked, relieving some of the tension in his shoulders.

"I thought I told you to go home."

"I'll go home when you go home," Tony replied defiantly.

"No – you'll go home when I order you to go home," Gibbs retorted. "Which is right now."

Tony nodded. "Okay – but don't be long, or I'll come back here and drag your ass home, whether you like it or not."

Gibbs gave a grin – his first grin in about ten hours. "I'd like to see you try."

"You think I couldn't?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

Gibbs gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment and then nodded. "I think you could, Tony. And thanks. Now go home."

Tony picked up his bag and shouldered himself into his brown suede jacket. Gibbs beckoned him over, and then, without warning, brushed his hands over Tony's sensitive nipples. Tony gave a little howl, but his cock immediately sprang to attention – and, thanks to the cock ring, he knew it'd stay that way for awhile.

"Thank you, Boss," he muttered, glancing down at his tented pants. “Just what I need.” At least there was nobody around to see, but even so, just walking around with such an obvious erection was so damn embarrassing.

"You're welcome, Tony," Gibbs grinned, glancing down at his groin. Tony rolled his eyes and placed his bag strategically in front of him as he walked to the elevator. All the same, he felt more relaxed than he had all day. Whether he liked it or not, Gibbs knew exactly how to play him.

Tony drove home wearily. He wished he could crack this case, not just because it was his job and he took pride in it, but also because he wanted to be useful to his dom for more than sexual favours. He wanted to share the load with him, to be at his side and help out.

He pulled up at the house and went inside, his cock still ramrod hard.

"Damn cock ring," he muttered, but he felt a glow of pride all the same to be wearing it. It had felt like their little secret all day, knowing he was wearing it at his dom's command. If it had been a less stressful day, he was sure that Gibbs would have played with the situation more.

Tony took off his jacket and made himself a coffee, then sat at the kitchen table to drink it. He remembered the conversation he'd had with Gibbs this morning in this room. He’d barely had a chance to think about it all day. Now he wasn't sure he wanted to think about it. What Gibbs was demanding was actually a commitment to a relationship, and Tony had never found that an easy concept. On the other hand, he'd never felt about any of his many girlfriends the way he felt about Gibbs. He actually wanted to commit to Gibbs.

His only nagging doubt was how long it could possibly last before he screwed up so badly that Gibbs threw his worthless ass out. He had no doubt it would happen – but how much worse would it feel if he got really close to Gibbs first? He was already getting too close to the man –Gibbs kept finding ways past his defences. Tony thought of those nights he’d spent lying with his head on Gibbs's lap, zoning out to the feel of Gibbs stroking his hair with those dextrous and surprisingly artistic fingers of his. Damn it, he had to stop letting Gibbs *do* that.

He wondered whether Gibbs was freaked out by the cuddling too. Maybe he wasn’t. Gibbs was a tough bastard, but Tony had caught a glimpse of someone else beneath the gruff exterior recently. He had never thought of Gibbs as a real life, flesh and blood person before. He had always been – well Gibbs. He’d never thought of Gibbs as even human before - superhuman maybe, but not human. Now Tony’s perceptions were changing. Gibbs had a heart - a heart that could be broken - and Tony didn't want to be the one doing the breaking.

But he *wanted* this. He wanted this more than he'd ever wanted anything – and he didn't think he was strong enough to say no. He remembered what Mulder had said about him wanting to belong to Gibbs, and he knew that was true. But then Mulder had also sounded a note of warning about just how hard it would be for him to hide in such a relationship. Was he ready for anyone to look into his soul?

He heard the door slam and looked up in surprise. Half an hour had passed while he'd been pondering, and his coffee was now cold. Gibbs walked in, and Tony was struck by how exhausted he looked.

"Hey," he said. "Why don't you go sit down on the couch? I could do something for you."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, but Tony just grinned.

"Trust me?" he asked. There it was. That word again. The 'T' word. More dangerous even than the 'L' word. Much more dangerous. Love was simple and uncomplicated in comparison to trust.

"I do," Gibbs replied, turning to go into the living room. Tony grabbed a clean, dry, towel from a pile of laundry on the table and then followed him. Gibbs sat down on the couch, and Tony knelt down in front of him. He pushed Gibbs's legs open and settled down between them. Gibbs raised a questioning eyebrow again.

"Let me do this?" Tony asked. "Stress relief? It's been a long day."

Gibbs nodded. Tony tied the towel over his own eyes and then leaned forward. His fumbling fingers found Gibbs's fly, and he opened it. Gibbs's cock sprang out, already pulsing and half hard. "Hey – looks like I'm not the only one who gets turned on around here, big boy," he commented. A second later he felt the half-hearted slap on the back of his head, and he grinned widely.

Then he leaned down and licked tentatively on the crown of Gibbs's cock. The flesh was warm and solid under his tongue, and he liked how it tasted. He felt Gibbs become fully erect in seconds. He wished he could see his dom's cock – it felt so big and powerful. He wondered what something this big would feel like pounding away in his ass, but that just made his own cock stiffen inside his pants, and, thanks to the cock ring, he knew it would stay that way for awhile.

He covered his teeth with his lips and then moved his mouth down over Gibbs's cock, enjoying the little gasp of pleasure that his dom gave. This wasn't like the previous times he'd had Gibbs's cock in his mouth. On those occasions he'd just knelt there, and Gibbs had fucked his mouth like there was no tomorrow.

This time, Tony was doing his best to please his dom, trying to be a good sub to him after a hard day at work. He wasn't experienced in giving oral sex to a guy, but he knew what he liked when receiving it, so he drew on that.

Tony’s jaw was stretched to the limit as he worked his mouth down over all that firm flesh. He wanted to go further and deeper, but his gag reflex got in the way. He really needed to figure out a way around that if he was going to get really good at this.

He did his best anyway, alternating his moves, licking and sucking enthusiastically with as much finesse as he could muster. He loved the way Gibbs gently stroked his hair as he worked, and his little grunts of pleasure. Being blindfolded helped Tony focus on his dom's response, and he found that he could tell what Gibbs particularly liked by the way his body reacted against his lips and face.

He placed his hands on Gibbs's open thighs and worked harder, throwing himself into it. Gibbs tasted like Gibbs should. He exuded some powerful pheromones that turned Tony on. He loved the warm, dark, earthy scent of the man, and the way his cock felt against his lips and on his tongue.

He could feel Gibbs getting close, and a few seconds later Gibbs grabbed his hair and pumped his come into Tony's mouth. Tony savoured the taste. It was pure, distilled Gibbs, and it didn’t get any better than that. He drank it all down and then licked Gibbs's cock clean. Then he sat back and untied the towel from around his face – to find Gibbs gazing down at him with a look of such unguarded affection that it took Tony by surprise.

"Come here," Gibbs said tiredly. He pulled Tony up onto the couch, and wrapped an arm around him, guiding his head onto his lap. Tony went, berating himself for not being strong enough to refuse. But after the day they'd had, it felt so good to just lie here and be fondled, and petted, and stroked and…loved.

Tony closed his eyes, feeling a rising tide of panic. He was getting in way too deep.

~*~

Gibbs knew something was wrong the minute he woke up the next morning. He spent a few minutes trying to figure out what it was, and then rolled over onto his side and gazed down on the mattress beside the bed – to find that it was empty.

“Tony?” He got up and glanced into the bathroom, but that was empty too.

Gibbs stood there for a moment, concentrating on the feel of the house, but he knew instinctively that Tony wasn’t in it. He knew how an empty house felt. His gut clenched fiercely, surprising him. Hadn’t he been here before - so many times? First, after Shannon and Kelly had been killed. Waking up in this house every morning and feeling the emptiness of it – this house that had once been so full of life, laughter and happiness.

Then again, after each of his wives left him. That had hurt less, because he couldn’t honestly say that he missed any of them. This was different. Tony might only have been here a few days, but Gibbs had become used to having him around. It had felt right, and if he was honest it had made him happy – and that wasn’t an emotion he’d felt in a while.

Then again, it had been his decision to make Tony wait, and he didn’t regret it. If this hurt, then it’d hurt even more if Tony walked out after he’d fucked him. Not that there were any guarantees, but Gibbs hadn’t realised how much he wanted this until he was up to his eyeballs in it.

He wondered what was going on in Tony’s head. Tony was like shifting sand, constantly moving and changing, never staying stable underfoot. It just wasn’t possible to be on solid ground when you were with him. Just when you thought you had him figured out, he shifted out of your grasp, and you were left with nothing but grains of sand in your hand.

Gibbs walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. There was a post-it note attached to the coffee jar.

“Had a hunch. See you at work. T.”

Gibbs felt a wave of relief. “Christ, I’m gonna kick your ass into next week when I get my hands on you,” he growled, scrunching up the note in his hand and tossing it angrily into the waste.

It was a wake-up call though. He couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t invested in this. He was. He hadn’t felt like this about anyone since Shannon, and he hadn’t thought he ever would again, either. Tony was just so damn addictive, with his laughing green eyes and highly responsive body. Gibbs loved the way that body felt when he was playing with it, loved the way Tony looked at him when he was loving on him and hurting him just a little at one and the same time. Tony’s eyes would darken with arousal, and he’d push his tongue between his lips, wetting them sinfully, his grin goading Gibbs on.

Gibbs went back upstairs and reached for his cell phone to call his wayward sub – only to be sent straight to voicemail.

“You’d better have a damn good reason for being unreachable, DiNozzo,” he growled into the phone. “Call me.”

He showered and dressed, one eye on the phone the entire time, and then drove into work. There was still no sign of Tony so he tried his cell again – only to go through to voicemail once more.

“DiNozzo!” he yelled into it. “Where the hell are you?”

“I’m right here, Boss,” a voice behind him replied, and Tony sauntered into the squad room with a big grin on his face. “And before you kill me, or, you know, do something even worse…” Tony grimaced. “I bring gifts!” He held aloft a tape.

“Better be the best damn gift ever,” Gibbs growled, grabbing the tape out of his hand and throwing it to a startled McGee.

“Well, it’s certainly got its moments,” Tony said, with a wink. “Get up on the wrong side of bed this morning, Boss?”

Gibbs turned to him, slowly and threateningly. “The only reason you’re still alive right now is because I want to see what’s on the tape,” he said darkly. “Now sit down, and shut up.”

“On it, Boss!” Tony sat down with a grin that said he didn’t think he’d be in trouble for very long.

McGee loaded up the tape onto the plasma, and Gibbs frowned as he gazed at the fuzzy images on the screen.

“What am I looking at?” he demanded.

“Interior of the gym locker room at 22:09 a couple of nights ago,” Tony replied promptly.

“I thought you said there were not any cameras in the locker rooms,” Ziva said, getting up to look at the screen more closely.

“There aren’t – for obvious reasons. People need their privacy. However…that’s official cameras. I found an unofficial camera hidden in the A/C unit.”

Tony nodded his head at the screen just as Charles Lamb emerged from the shower, naked and dripping wet.

“Now, that is a good looking man,” Ziva commented.

“That *was* a good looking man, Ziva,” Tony pointed out. “He’s lying downstairs in Ducky’s refrigerator right now.”

She made a face at him. “Oh – who is that?” she asked, as a second man entered the shot, behind Lamb, his back to the camera. "He is very…muscular. Hmm, he seems familiar…wait…is that…?"

Tony nodded and pointed at the screen, just as the second man turned so that they could see his face. "Yup. That's our other dead guy - Lieutenant Mark Adams - Admiral Adams’s son."

Adams pushed Lamb against the lockers and then sank down in front of him – and swallowed his cock with one smooth slide of his mouth.

"The son who is definitely not gay," Tony smirked.

“Oh. Uh…uh…that’s…explicit…” McGee stammered, his face going bright red.

“Live and learn, Probie!” Tony grinned.

“So Lamb and Adams were having an affair,” Ziva shrugged. “What does that tell us?”

“You’re not asking the right question, Ziva,” Gibbs snapped at her. She gave him a bewildered look. “It isn’t the fact that they were having oral sex in the locker room.” He glanced back at the screen, where Adams was enthusiastically sucking on Lamb’s cock.

“It’s who was spying on them having oral sex in the locker room,” Tony finished for him, pointing to the screen. “And why he was angry enough to then follow them and kill them.”

“Any ideas?” Gibbs asked.

“As a matter of fact…yes!” Tony smiled smugly.

Gibbs resisted an urge to slap the back of his head. Tony had done a good job on this, and he knew an equally good way to reward him for it later.

“Let me set the scene for you,” Tony said, clearly thoroughly enjoying himself. McGee sighed and rolled his eyes, but this was Tony’s moment, and Gibbs was going to let him have it.

“Charles Lamb is an investment banker. He’s wealthy, good-looking, intelligent, sophisticated, and he likes to keep himself in shape. He’s also gay. And kind of slutty,” Tony grinned.

“You would know,” Ziva muttered. Tony ignored her.

“And he likes muscular guys. Big, strong, beefcake kind of guys. They don’t need to have a lot going on up here…” Tony held his finger to his head and twisted. “He doesn’t really give a damn about that as long as they look good. Now, take a look at this.” Tony clicked on his keyboard and a picture of a man came up onscreen. Gibbs frowned at it - the guy seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place him. “This is Jason Tulley two years ago,” Tony explained.

“That guy you were…” Gibbs paused. The word was ‘flirting’, but he wasn’t going to say that in the squad room. “Talking to a couple of days ago?”

“Yup.” Tony had the grace to flush a fetching shade of bright red right up to the tip of his ears. ”Notice anything?”

“He’s in shape, but he isn’t anywhere near as built as he was when we saw him two days ago,” Gibbs commented looking at the picture.

“That’s right. See…Jason developed a thing for Charles Lamb. Lamb was way out of his league, but Jason fell hopelessly in love with him. So he bulked up to be the kind of guy Lamb would look twice at. And he did. So they started an affair.”

“When?” Gibbs demanded.

“Couple of months ago. For Jason, it was serious – but not for Lamb. When Mark Adams came along – younger, just as muscle-bound, and very good-looking, Lamb went after him. Jason became suspicious. He put the camera in the locker room, connected it up so that he could view the footage remotely, in real time – and caught them in the act. But, thing is, Jason bulked up by using steroids, and that made him prone to violent and aggressive outbursts.”

“He followed Lamb when he left the gym that night, tied him to a tree in the park, and gagged him!” McGee exclaimed.

Tony nodded. “That’s right, Detective McProbie! Then he waited for Adams, who would be taking the same route home a few minutes later, and he beat him to a pulp in front of Lamb, to punish Lamb for moving on from him and finding someone new. I don’t think he meant to kill Lieutenant Adams – I think he just meant to deliver a beating - but his rage spilled over, and he couldn’t help himself.”

“And once he’d killed Adams, he had no choice but to kill Lamb too – because he’d witnessed the whole thing,” Gibbs said. “Neat, DiNozzo.”

“Thank you, Boss!” Tony sat back in his chair with a wide grin.

“Got any proof?” Gibbs shot at him.

“Uh…” Tony rocked forwards again. “Uh…well, the tape…”

“It’s a good *story*, DiNozzo. But do we have any proof?” Gibbs snapped.

“No, Boss. I thought about bringing Tulley in for questioning, but then I thought that I should, you know, speak to you about it first.”

“Ya think, DiNozzo?” Gibbs glared at him, making his displeasure at being dumped first thing in the morning eminently clear. He went back to his desk and got his gun and badge. “Tony – with me. Let’s go and find out if this little theory of yours stands up to any scrutiny.”

He could hear Tony trotting along behind him. They got into the elevator together.

“So, are you still mad at me for running out on you this morning?” his sub asked, glancing sideways at him.

“What do you think, DiNozzo?”

“Just…something was niggling me, and once I had that hunch…and, well, you were sleeping like a baby and snoring like an elephant – you do know you snore right? - and so I thought…”

Gibbs reached out and slapped the back of his head firmly.

“Right.” Tony nodded. “You do know. Okay. Anyway, so I thought I’d just go and check it out.”

“Why were you even awake to have a hunch at that time of the morning, Tony?” Gibbs asked. Tony’s expression changed, becoming much more serious.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted. “Too busy thinking. Lot to think about. Big decision to make.”

Gibbs remembered how it had felt to wake up in that empty house this morning, and he felt his gut clench. “Come to any conclusions?” he asked quietly.

Tony turned to look at him, and they gazed at each other for a moment. Then the elevator reached its destination, and the moment passed. Gibbs strode out into the parking garage. Whatever decisions Tony might have made, now wasn’t the right time to talk about them.

The gym was busy when they got there. Jason Tulley took one look at them moving purposefully across the room towards him and took off at a run, which seemed like a pretty guilty thing to do. Gibbs yelled at Tony to run after him, while he went out the back exit and around to the front – just in time to see Tulley bursting out of the front door. Gibbs caught his arm to slow him down, and Tulley turned and aimed a punch at him. Gibbs ducked it, moved in fast, caught the guy a glancing blow on his solar plexus, and then took him down with a hard upper cut to the jaw – just as Tony emerged from the building.

Tony took his handcuffs from his pocket, knelt down beside Tulley, and fastened his hands behind his back.

“Like I said, he’s never been beaten in a fight, Jason,” he told their captive cheerily. “And really, you were never gonna be the first one to take him down.”

“Fuck you!” was all Tulley managed to snarl in reply.

“Why did you do it, Jason?” Tony asked. “I’m thinking you were overdosing on steroids to try and keep in shape for Lamb, and when you saw him with Adams that sent you into a jealous rage. Terrible thing, jealousy. Isn’t it, Boss?” He glanced up at Gibbs, a quirky, self-deprecating smile on his face.

“Sometimes,” Gibbs conceded. “Sometimes it’s just raging insecurity. And lack of trust,” he added. Tony’s eyes flickered in acknowledgement.

Gibbs let Tony perform the interrogation. He’d solved the case, so he deserved the arrest. Tulley wasn’t exactly a hard nut to crack – he was too volatile for that, and too hyped up on steroids – and Tony soon needled him into a full confession. It was all pretty much as Tony had laid out for them in the squad room earlier.

Gibbs reported back to SecNav and got Admiral Adams off his back, and then there was the paperwork to do, so it was late by the time he finally got home.

Tony was already there, sitting in the dark on the couch, staring into space. Gibbs didn’t turn the light on. He sat down beside his sub.

“So…” Gibbs began.

“I need to leave,” Tony interrupted him.

Gibbs felt his gut clench again, for the third time in one day. “Yeah,” he said wearily. He'd been left by three wives, two subs, and various lovers. He knew how the script went. “I know.”

“You’re right.” Tony turned to look at him in the darkness of the room. “It’s a big decision. I was being flippant about it. You deserve more than that. You’ve been upfront with me all the way along. It’s important though. There are…” He hesitated. “Feelings involved,” he said eventually. “Real feelings. You kept telling me we weren’t playing at it, but see, thing is, I was having so much fun it didn’t feel that way to me.”

Gibbs scratched his hand over his jaw, feeling the stubble rasp against his fingertips.

“I’m going home,” Tony told him. “Tonight. I’m going home. I need the thinking time. Alone.”

“Okay.” Gibbs nodded tiredly. “Whatever you need, Tony.”

Tony put a hand on his jaw and then leaned in and kissed him. It was a sweet, tender kiss, light and gentle. Tony drew back.

“I screw up, Gibbs,” he said, his green eyes gleaming. “That’s what I do. All the time. You know that.”

“No.” It was Gibbs’s turn to reach out and grab Tony’s jaw now. He turned Tony’s face back so that he was looking at him. “You didn’t screw up today, Tony. And I wouldn’t have kept you on my team if I thought you were a screw up. You’re not. You just have your…insane moments.”

Tony grinned, his teeth unnaturally white in the darkness. “Insane moments? Yeah. Is that what this week has been? One long insane moment, all set in motion by me using a dead man’s ID to get into a place I didn’t belong?”

“If it was insanity, then I joined you in it,” Gibbs sighed. “Go, Tony. Make your decision.” He already had a pretty good idea what that would be, judging by the tone of their conversation this evening.

“It’s complicated,” Tony told him, as if by way of explanation and yet somehow explaining nothing.

Gibbs shook his head. “No. It really isn’t. It’s simple. It’s about trust, Tony. Go away, think about it – see if you can trust me.”

Tony nodded, and then he got up. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“Never apologise,” Gibbs replied automatically.

“I know.” Tony looked down on him. “Sorry anyway,” he said again, and then he left.

Gibbs went upstairs to get changed and then went straight back down to the basement. He emptied some nails out of a jar, poured himself a whole jarful of bourbon, and swallowed it down in a few gulps. He started walking towards the boat but didn’t make it that far. He turned back, grabbed the bottle of bourbon, and disappeared with it under the boat.

At some point, and he wasn’t sure when, he got his cell phone out, fumbled with it for several interminable minutes, and then waited for a familiar voice to answer.

“You fucking bastard,” he croaked. “I told you I didn’t want to do this again, but you didn’t fucking listen. Told you it was cruel. Christ, how many times...” He shook his head, losing his train of thought.

“Jethro? Is that you?” Walter sounded concerned.

Gibbs laughed out loud. “Who the fuck else would it be? How many fucking people d’you think I can stand to lose, Walter? How many? Huh?”

He took another swig of the bourbon and gazed up at the roof of the boat overhead. He had known this was a mistake. He had told Walter it was a mistake. And it *was* a mistake. He shouldn’t have taken the risk. Shouldn’t have opened up that part of himself that wanted this, shouldn’t have exposed himself to the inevitable disappointment.

He blinked again and hours seemed to pass. He was aware of someone clambering under the boat and then hauling him out on his ass.

“Bed,” Walter told him firmly.

“Fuck you,” he snarled in reply, but Walter was too big and too strong for him to fight when he was this drunk.

“Bed, Private Gibbs. Now!” Walter snapped, pulling Gibbs’s arm over his shoulders and dragging him up the stairs. Gibbs gazed at him blearily, opening his mouth to protest. “Don’t fucking argue with me, son,” Walter told him, in that no-nonsense tone that even several decades later made Gibbs feel like he was back at boot camp again.

He shut up and allowed Walter to half walk, half carry him up to his room and throw him down on the bed.

Gibbs rolled over and gazed blankly at the empty mattress on the floor beside the bed, as empty tonight as it had been this morning. They never did stay. Not the wives, not the lovers, not the subs. Not anyone. They always left eventually, and sometimes he cared more than others.

This time he cared.

End of Part Nine
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Two Masters - Part Ten