REACH OUT AND TOUCH
By
Ashleigh Anpilova
A sequel to What Happened Next.
Gibbs finds it harder and harder to get through the weeks. He misses Ducky and one day he finds a temporary solution.
An established relationship story.
Written: February 2010. Word count: 1,000.
It had been a month since he'd first slept with Ms. Hart and Gibbs was finding it harder and harder. Once a week, sometimes more, he'd had sex with her, used all his skills to give her pleasure, and so far for nothing.
He'd found out nothing about what Colonel Bell and she were up to. The one time he'd mentioned Bell's name, she'd simply told him that a lady didn't talk about one lover to another. He'd bitten back a comment to the effect that it'd be okay as she was not a lady. He'd also avoided telling her that screwing her when and where (always his bed, he'd never been inside her home) she wanted it didn't count as being lovers. Nor did he tell her he didn't believe she and Bell had been lovers.
He was beginning to wonder if it was all worth it. But every time he considered giving up and returning to how things had been prior to her walking into his life, she'd turned up at NCIS as someone's lawyer - sometimes someone who hadn't even asked for a lawyer!
So instead, he'd gone on bedding her. But it was difficult; he found he had to resort to thinking about Ducky ever time he was with her. And he didn't like doing that. Not only did he see it as cheating on Ducky, but bastard that he was he'd never resorted to thinking about one person while in bed with another. And while he didn't regard his liaison with her as being anything real, it still felt wrong to him to think of Ducky.
Ducky. That was the worst of it. Gibbs missed his lover far more than he'd though he would. He missed holding him in his arms, he missed kissing him; he missed making love to and with him; he missed him. He still saw him virtually every day; in fact he found more and more reasons to visit Autopsy during the day, but it wasn't the same.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could go without holding Ducky, even if only for a few minutes. Maybe he was being foolish, maybe he should just return to visiting Ducky and letting him visit him, but he couldn't. Not only was he not about to put the man he loved in possible danger, but he knew if they met at their homes, it wouldn't stop at a hug, and he couldn't make love to Ducky while he was screwing Ms. Hart.
He sighed, only realizing how loudly when McGee looked up from his desk. "Is something wrong, boss?"
"You could say that, McGee." Gibbs replied without thinking.
McGee frowned. "Is there anything I can do?"
About to say 'no thanks' and get back to work, Gibbs had an idea. He could trust McGee and not just with his life. DiNozzo and Ziva were both out following up a possible lead that might, if they were lucky, lead to a lead that might lead to a - Vance was in LA; Palmer was at Med School; Abby wasn't about to leave her lab anytime soon as she was working on something or other - Gibbs wasn't sure what, but she'd sure seemed excited about it. And McGee wouldn't say anything; wouldn't ask 'why', unlike DiNozzo, would just do, simply because Gibbs asked.
He swallowed as McGee continued to look at him. McGee was poised, Gibbs could see that, mentally and physically, to do anything from fetching Gibbs a coffee to hacking into the CIA and anything in-between. Maybe it'd be taking advantage of McGee's loyalty and skill, but after a month Gibbs didn't care. "The camera in Autopsy," he said.
"Yes, boss?" McGee's fingers were already hovering over his keyboard.
Mentally crossing his fingers Gibbs asked, "Can you fix it so all it shows is static. You know like when -"
"Ari was here? Yes, boss. It's easy. Do you want me to?" McGee's fingers moved even closer to the keyboard.
This time Gibbs couldn't speak; instead he just nodded curtly once.
In turn McGee nodded, turned his gaze from Gibbs to his screen and said quietly. "On it, boss." He didn't ask why; he didn't hesitate; he didn't frown; he didn’t raise an eyebrow; he didn't try to make a joke out of it, or any of the other things DiNozzo would have done. He just set about doing it. Just as he hacked into the CIA, the FBI, ICE, ATF and any of the other alphabet soup agencies. "There," he said, seconds later. "Nothing but static, boss." Once more he looked at Gibbs.
Gibbs nodded. "Thanks, Tim." He stood up.
McGee gave him a half-smile. As Gibbs walked past his desk on the way to the elevators, McGee said softly, "Er, boss?"
"McGee?"
"Um, the camera. I'd better not . . . Well, you know. If security . . . I wouldn't want to . . ."
"Twenty minutes?" Gibbs's voice was as low as McGee's.
McGee looked relieved. "That'd be fine, boss," he said, looking from Gibbs to his computer.
Gibbs strode into Autopsy. "Hey, Duck," he called.
Ducky, who'd been sitting at his desk, stood up and smiled, "Jethro!" he exclaimed. "It is lovely to see you, my dear. But what brings you down here?"
"This," Gibbs said, crossing the gap between them, tugging Ducky into his arms, bending his head and kissing him.
For a second Ducky kissed him back, his lips beginning to part beneath Gibbs's, but then he struggled and pulled back. "Jethro! The camera -"
"Fixed." And with that Gibbs again put his mouth on Ducky's, pulled Ducky even closer to him and once again kissed him. This time Ducky didn't object or struggle.
Twenty minutes later Gibbs, feeling very mellow and content, strode back into the squad room and nodded at McGee, whose fingers once again flew over the keyboard. "The camera in Autopsy is now functioning again, boss. Sorry it took so long to fix."
Gibbs nodded. Yeah, McGee was a damn good agent and person.
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