Again ... I am so sorry for not posting. Inspiration comes in spurts and I don't want to put out anything that i'm not proud of.

Enjoy and as always, I would love to hear what you all think.

It had been a week since Tony had moved back to the U.S. and a few days since Tony and Gibbs had finally decided on the status of their relationship.

Gibbs had actually taken a few days off, much to the shagrin of Director Vance, to help the Tali and Tony settle in. He hadn't told Vance exactly why he needed the days off but the director didn't want to question it. Vance had been trying to get Gibbs to take time off for years and now that he had, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if it was driving him crazy trying to figure it out.

Everyone in the building was trying to figure it out. Gibbs never took time off and this time, it wasn't forced or because he had almost been killed … again …. He just took it and gave no one an explanation.

Of course, Abby knew, and she was having a hard time hiding it whenever McGee, Bishop or Torres would come down to the lab for something related to the case. Tim knew something was up, only because he knew Abby so well, and he was ready to finally get to the bottom of it.

"Any new information on our Petty Officer yet Abs?" Tim yelled as he strolled into the lab. Abby had her music blaring as always, making it hard for her to hear him. She had done it on purpose, in hope of deterring people from coming in and bugging her … no such luck.

She looked over her shoulder as he came in and sighed. "No … I don't yet and you should know that." She gave a slight sly smile to let him know she was kidding … kind of.

"I'm sorry Abs, I'm not Gibbs. I can't sense when you know something … at least not yet."

"You've got a long way before you become as all knowing as the great and powerful Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"Yea yea yea … I know. Speaking of our fearless leader …. Any idea why he all of a sudden took a week off?" Tim said looking straight at the forensic scientist, trying to get her to understand that he wasn't going to back down and he was finally going to get the answer that he, and everyone else, had been waiting for.

"And why would I know something like that?" Abby turned to look back at her computer, trying to hide her face so McGee couldn't read her.

"Because you are Abby and you know things. I know you've seen Tony since he's been back and I suspect that has something to do with it."

Abby shuttered a little bit. She hoped that McGee didn't see it, but of course he did.

"It does have something to do with Tony." Tim said with a jump in octave and excitement.

"Maybe it does and maybe it doesn't. This is something that I think you'll have to ask them."

"Did they finally get together?"

Tim, and everyone else, had been waiting for the two top agents to get together. The pair had always had a special bond but never the best way to act on it. He hoped that Tony coming back had finally given Gibbs the push he needed to finally get the happiness that everyone knew he deserved.

"Again, you need to ask them. It's not my story to tell." Abby was thankful when a ding from her computer would hopefully put an end to this conversation. "Bolo came back on Petty Officer Brennann. He was last seen at a convenience store just outside of Alexandria. Address has already been sent to your phone."

Tim leaned in and placed a kiss on Abbys cheek before making his way out of the room. "Thanks Abs."

"Oh Gibbs, please don't kill me." Abby said once Tim was out of the room.

Gibbs and Tony's House

In just a few short days, Tony had been able to help Gibbs turn his house, back into a home again. Gibbs walked through the house now, with a renewed feeling of actually wanting to be there. A feeling he hadn't had in a really long time.

In the living room, Tony had been able to convince Gibbs to let him take the updated TV, that Tony was still shocked the McGoo had been able to convince him to get, from downstairs and mount it up on the wall in the master bedroom and let his monster flat screen take its place, along with his up-to-date entertainment system. They also filled most of the built in shelves in the room with Tony's DVD collection but Tony insisted that they still leave room for Gibbs collectables and some of his photos up on the top shelf, while adding the photo of Tony and Ziva along with a few a Tali. Tony hoped with time they would add a few of the three of them together as well. The room still kept a feel that was a good mix between the three of them, with a box of Tali's toys taking camp in the corner.

The kitchen didn't have too much that need to be changed, except Gibbs had finally relented and got rid of alot of his old pots and pans, replacing them with Tony's gourmet set and bringing in more electronics than Gibbs would ever know what to do with. Gibbs insisted on still keeping a few of the ones that him and Shannon received as wedding presents and Tony was more than willing, saying it was just as important to him that he kept those things close.

One of the things that Gibbs loved most about Tony was that he didn't try to change him too much and he didn't look down on him because of his past or get angry with him when he wasn't ready to face something yet. He respected it and let him talk about it when he wanted to, and not talk about it when it was too much.

The thing Tony was most proud of, was that he was able to get Gibbs to go out shopping with him and they now had a new couch and coffee table in the living room and a really nice oak table in the dining room.

The dining table was something that was really important to Tony. He wanted to have a nice table to have family dinners, and to have the team over as much as possible. They were starting something new and building a family together and this table would be the center of a lot of their new memories, along with all of the good and the bad that would come along in their life.

It was around this table that Gibbs found Tony and Tali when he got home from the hardware store where he was picking some things up for the boat.

"Hey," He said to Tony with a quick kiss before looking over at Tali, who was coloring away while Tony typed away at him computer. "And how is my favorite girl?" Gibbs asked with a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'm good," she said with a big smile before going back to her picture.

"She is very serious about her coloring." Tony said with a chuckle.

"I'm gathering that." Gibbs pulled a chair up next to Tony. "Whatcha working on?"

"Just finishing up some things for the place in Paris, wrapping up some of the cases I was working on with interpol."

"Anything interesting?"

"Actually yes." Tony moved to the opposite end of the table from Tali. Gibbs followed. "There is this case about a U.S. Marine that was arrested in London. Chief Petty Officer Ryan Addona. Originally from Virgina but had been stationed in London but had been reported UA for almost a week before being spotted in Paris. He was fleeing from London after robbing a bank. He insisted that he was only doing what he was told but won't give up who was telling him to."

Tony turned the laptop towards Gibbs so he could see as he put his glasses on.

"I heard about this. Didn't they interrogate him for something like 14 hours?"

"Yep, I was there for part of it. I have seen very few people hold out like that. I mean, I pulled out some of your tricks," Gibbs chuckled at that. "And nothing worked."

"Are they planning on bringing him back to the states?"

"They were … until he escaped custody a few days ago."

"Seriously?"

"Yea, highly skilled and trained Marine, he is giving them a good run for their money."

"Do they have any leads?"

"A few but none of them are panning out."

Gibbs could see the small flash a fear that came across Tony's face. Tony tired to cover it but he was fooling himself is he thought Gibbs couldn't see it.

"Hey Tali girl, why don't you head upstairs and play with your dollhouse?" Gibbs asked.

"Do you and Abba have to have some grown up talk?"

"We do." Gibbs said with a laugh. "We promise to come up and play with you when we're done."

"Okay." Tali said and packed up her coloring supplies. She got a quick kiss on the top of her head from her dad and Gibbs before heading up the stairs.

"Okay, now tell the real story."

"It scares me how well you can read me sometimes."

"That's my job. Now spill."

Tony stood up and started to pace from the kitchen, through the dining room, into the living room and back. Gibbs leaned against the edge of the dining room table and just watched him for a few minutes. Gibbs could see that he was stressed and scared of something and just like when they were working together, Gibbs would have to give him time to work through it. When Tony was ready to talk, he would.

Tony wasn't sure if he was going to be able to get out all that he needed to say. He knew the way that Gibbs would react. He would go fully protective, he would go to the ends of the earth to make sure his people were okay, even if it meant at great expense of himself.

Tony was still trying to wrap his mind around all that had happened in the last week. He couldn't believe that this man that he had truly been pinning over for what felt like his entire life, had loved him back all along, and now loved his daughter as if she were his own.

Tony hadn't meant for things to get this far. To get this complicated, but Ryan had fixated on Tony from the moment they met over the interrogation table. Tony had known that he wanted to come back to the states almost from the moment that he left, but Ryan finally gave him the push, especially after what was said.

Tony stopped in the middle of the floor, right in front of Gibbs.

The two just stared at each other, Gibbs waiting for Tony to start and Tony trying to gain the courage.

"It all started the moment I walked into the interrogation room …"