This 8-chapter story was written for jane_x80 as part of the 2019 NCIS Secret Santa Gift Exchange.
Part of her request was: I would love to see a story where Gibbs pursues Tony to get him into a relationship. Tony is clueless about Gibbs' feelings for him and has never considered Gibbs to be anything but partner and friend, although he has no objections to dating men. Bonus if McGee or Abby is roped into Gibbs' schemes to date Tony.

Takes place season 6, April 2009, between Toxic and Legend I.
Not favorable towards Ziva.

Thanks go out to my wonderful beta - Jacie!

MAN OVERBOARD

CHAPTER 1 - THE FUGITIVE

Saturday, April 18, 2009

She was gorgeous. Breathtaking. Tony had never seen anything so beautiful, so sleek, so incredibly fucking luxurious in his entire life. The Valiant, all 195 feet of her – a grand motor yacht with ten staterooms, three sundecks, a mini pool and an outdoor horseshoe bar – spoke of wealth beyond his dreams. He'd read up on the ship: charters ran upwards of a quarter-million a week in the Mediterranean, with ten-course, five-star meals prepared by a Michelin-star chef. Amenities included Jacuzzis, Jet Skis and water toys. In addition, there was an experienced, good-looking crew, the best money could buy, catering to your every whim.

Unfortunately, the reason he, McGee and, of course, Gibbs, were aboard the yacht, was because they were hunting down a fugitive. The man they were after, a 21-year-old named Martin Antibo, had murdered a Navy admiral the day before. Antibo was one slippery little fucker who had found a hidey-hole somewhere on the boat, and they were having trouble locating him.

They'd scoured the ship from stem to stern and now he, McSeasick, and a couple of Coast Guard agents were keeping an eye on the crew who'd assembled on the main deck. Tony took a moment to check out the pretty head steward, Katrina, and the even prettier bosun, Jason, while wondering if this would be a good time to make a major career change. Hell, even the captain, a tall blond woman in her forties, who looked as if she could break him in half if she so desired, was damned good looking. God, the smell of salt air and pineapple suntan lotion was turning him on. Oh yeah, he could definitely see himself yachting around the Bahamas or the Med, serving cocktails and having wild monkey sex with the crew, and maybe even with some of the passengers.

A shout jolted Tony from his little fantasy, and he looked up just in time to see a man dive off an upper deck – in a beautifully executed dive that wouldn't have been out of place in the Olympics – and hit the water 40 feet below with a huge splash. "Shit! Did you see that? Man overboard!"

• •

"Man overboard!"

The moment he heard those words, Gibbs was out of The Valiant's wheelhouse and double-timing it down the steep stairs. He could hear the captain's footsteps behind him as ran the length of the luxury motor yacht, through the dining area and past the horseshoe bar, and out into the bright sunlight of the aft deck. Below, the crew members were leaning over the railing, pointing and shouting at a man in the water.

DiNozzo was right in the middle of things, shouldering his way through the small crowd to get to the rail. McGee was busy herding the crew – all young and tanned, in bright blue shirts – out of the way, to give DiNozzo some room.

The captain came up behind Gibbs. "If he jumped from up here, it's a 40-foot drop."

"Who went over? My suspect?" Gibbs asked the tall blond woman, who was scanning the crew below to see who was missing.

Captain Carol, as they called her, pulled out a walkie, and after a terse conversation with the bosun, confirmed, "It was Martin. He jumped from the sundeck."

Gibbs muttered, "Damn," and continued down to the main deck, with the captain on his heels.

The good news was The Valiant was at a standstill, anchored south of Annapolis, away from the main channel. Once NCIS had radioed the captain they wanted to board her ship – which had been making course for Canada after a stopover in Annapolis – they had dropped anchor. Gibbs and two of his NCIS agents had grabbed a ride on a small Coast Guard cutter, and, along with two USCG agents, boarded The Valiant to search for a man who had killed a Navy admiral.

DiNozzo, McGee, and the two Coast Guard agents had searched the ship and rounded up fifteen of the yacht's crewmembers. Apart from the deckhands, there were two engineers, several stewards, and one very pissed-off chef. The man they were after, their murder suspect, had not yet been located.

Gibbs had left the Coast Guard agents checking IDs, and told DiNozzo and McGee to question the crew while he went up to the bridge to talk to the captain. He had exchanged only a few words with Captain Carol when the cry of 'man overboard!' had resounded.

The captain kept apace with Gibbs as he made his way down another set of steep stairs to the main deck. One of the crew was throwing a life preserver over the side, and another deckhand appeared to be preparing to jump in the water to assist in the rescue. His fellow workers were preventing him from going over the side, cautioning the current was dangerously strong. Gibbs could see the Coast Guard boat maneuvering off the stern to help in the rescue of the man in the water.

McGee was standing at the rail, speaking urgently to DiNozzo. "You can't! You heard what they said!"

DiNozzo didn't seem to be paying any heed to his partner's warning. He had already stripped off his jacket and was toeing off his shoes, and in the time it took Gibbs to get to his agent, DiNozzo's belt and holster had joined the small heap of clothes on deck. Realizing what his man was about to do, Gibbs shouted, "DiNozzo!"

DiNozzo turned his head, just for a second. Gibbs knew he'd heard his warning, but, with a determined set to his jaw, DiNozzo jumped up on the gunwhale. Gibbs surged towards him, thinking he could somehow stop him from making such a foolhardy move, but he was too late. Just as he reached the railing, DiNozzo jumped, feet first, with his arms crossed tightly over his chest in the 'abandon ship' position. There was a loud splash and the bosun shouted, "Another man overboard!"

• •

One day earlier: Friday, April 17

"Body in Alexandria. Gear up," Gibbs barked.

Tony had a feeling the boss found it entertaining to watch his three agents jockeying for a good position in the elevator, in order to be the first one out. Gibbs knew damned well that all three of them were intent upon claiming the shotgun seat, but he never played favorites. Tony had good reason to hate being crammed into the back seat, as did McGee; there simply wasn't enough legroom in an NCIS sedan for a tall man. But the thing he hated even more was that somehow Ziva always managed to slide her ass into the front passenger seat before he did, and that her small victory would invariably be accompanied by an annoyingly smug smile.

As soon as they were on the move, Tony called the Alexandria Police and got the details from the desk sergeant, who he knew from when they'd worked together on the Baltimore police force. As soon as he hung up, Tony reported, "Admiral Brian J. Kelsey is the deceased. Suspect is one Martin Antibo, age 21, who is not in custody at this time."

"Witnesses?" asked Gibbs from the front seat.

"Uh yeah, about fifty," Tony replied. That made Gibbs turn just enough to glance over his shoulder at his second-in-command. "The admiral and his wife were throwing a sweet-sixteen party for their daughter," Tony said, "and half the country club members were there. My contact, Sergeant Maloney, says that the admiral appeared to be telling Martin Antibo to leave the party. They exchanged some heated words and then Antibo knifed him. Antibo ran off, evading a couple of guests who did their best to tackle him, and he has literally vanished. There's a BOLO out on him. He's believed to be on foot, but so far, no sightings."

"Anyone else hurt?" asked Gibbs.

"Not as far as Sergeant Maloney knows. EMTs pronounced Admiral Kelsey dead when they arrived a short time later. By the way, Boss, once we're off the bridge, go north on Route 1, and after two miles, left onto Elm, go right on Sky Hill Drive," Tony said helpfully.

"And you know your way to this location because one of your bimbos lives there?" Ziva asked.

Tony stared at Ziva in disbelief, but recovered enough to say, "No. I attended a black-tie charity dinner in the same neighborhood, at Governor Gillman's estate."

McGee asked, "A charity dinner?" as if he found it hard to believe Tony would attend such an event.

"Yeah, McDubious, and I escorted Connie Hall. Lovely woman, smart as a whip."

McGee looked at Tony with wide eyes. "You mean the ZNN White House correspondent?"

"You know her?" asked Tony.

McGee laughed. "I wish I did. How did you manage to hook up with her?"

Tony said, "Ms. Hall and I both support the Governor and his wife's fundraising work and she needed an escort who–"

"That is low, using a charity to get into bed with a woman," Ziva said, turning to frown at him.

Tony had had enough of Ziva's sniping at him. He said in a calm and controlled voice, "Not that I owe you any explanation, Officer David, but Governor Gillman hosts an annual dinner and auction to raise money for leukemia research. My mother died of it, so I give whatever I can to the cause." He was going to leave it there, but instead, because he was really pissed off at her remarks, he said in a formal manner, "Your constant digs at me are out of line, and I'm cautioning you: if you say anything negative or inappropriate to me, or about me, or to anyone else we encounter on the job, I'm going to write you up." Ziva took a breath in preparation to talk back, but Tony held up a hand to stem the flow. "Whatever it is you're dying to say, please don't. I'm giving you an official warning that it would not be in your best interest to open your mouth at this time."

With a sound of disbelief, Ziva turned to Gibbs. But instead of backing her, Gibbs jerked his thumb in Tony's direction and said firmly, "What he said. He's the senior field agent."

Ziva seemed taken aback. "You don't…"

"You don't want to buck me on this, Ziva. Or him, either," Gibbs said bluntly. He caught Tony's eyes in the rear-view mirror and gave him a nod before turning his attention back to the road. With a huff, Ziva crossed her arms and slumped in her seat.

Tony smiled to himself about getting Gibbs' support. McGee leaned towards him and said softly, "I'm sorry you had to go through that, losing your mom when you were a kid. That had to rough."

Tony nodded, accepting his words as sincere. Wanting to get back to the case at hand, he motioned towards McGee's laptop, which he'd brought with him. "Can you get us any more background information on the people involved?"

"Sure." McGee opened up his laptop as they sped along the highway, and got down to business. After a couple of minutes, he reported, "The victim is Admiral Kelsey, age 55. He's been on the USS Carl Vinson for the past couple of months, and returned only yesterday. Married to Faith Greenway Kelsey; they have one daughter, Ashley. The admiral looks solid; he's a decorated pilot, oversaw American naval operations in Europe…" He worked on the computer for a few more minutes, and then reported, "Several people saw Martin Antibo stab the admiral. He was positively ID'd. There isn't much on him. He entered the US, flying from Italy two weeks ago, and started working at American University as a guest diving coach. Looks like he was on the Italian Olympic diving team but didn't make the cut. He gave his current address as 1200 Rodman Street NW…"

Tony added, "That's faculty housing. The university owns or leases all the property below the 1200 block." McGee gave him a funny look so he shrugged. "What? I remember details."

"That's what computers are for," McGee said.

Tony laughed because the probie actually believed that. "Sure, until you lose power. Or if you're in a remote location. Or if your laptop is stolen or compromised…"

Gibbs chimed in, "Or if someone shoots a hole in it…"

Despite Gibbs taking the off-ramp at a speed that caused everyone to lean heavily to the left, McGee remained focused on his search for information. His eyes lit up when he found something interesting. "Martin Antibo's mother died three weeks ago, in Italy… in a town called Catania."

"That's in Sicily," Tony corrected. "Catania is the land of three-hour lunches, arancino and a language not to be confused with Italian. Parrami n sicilianu? You know Sicilian, Ms. David?"

"I speak ten languages," Ziva said, as if that settled the matter.

"But not Sicilian," Tony said, pushing his point.

"It is a bastard language and not one I need to know." She turned to McGee and asked, "Any other relatives or connections in the United States?"

McGee said there was no record of anyone in the US. "But once we're back at the Yard, I can access more info on secure channels… I can tell you Martin Antibo is a US citizen. He was born on a US base, and his father was American military."

Ziva mused, "Perhaps the admiral and Martin already knew each other, and had some bad blood?"

Tony was doubtful. "You mean a vendetta? A blood feud that's been going on for generations? There has to be some reason Martin killed Admiral Kelsey, and in front of all those witnesses. Was he even invited to the party?" Before Tony had a chance to say any more, the NCIS sedan made a sharp turn into a circular driveway, and skidded to a halt in front of a stately white house with an elegant, columned portico. Small groups of well-dressed people stood around under old shade trees at the side of the house, many with drinks in hand. The pretty picture was marred by their distressed expressions, and the presence of police and emergency vehicles parked bumper to bumper in the driveway.

Gibbs parked behind a police car and exited the sedan before his two agents in the back seat had even unbuckled their seat belts. Ziva was out of the car like a flash, and standing at Gibbs' side as if she owned him.

"We really have to interview all of them?" McGee asked Tony, as he closed his laptop and put it in a carrying case.

"Yup, and write up a separate IWR-522 for each one," Tony sighed. "I hate forms."

Gibbs leaned down just enough to glare through the car window at Tim and Tony. "You two waiting for an engraved invitation to the party?"

"No, Boss! On your six!" they both said as they scrambled out of the vehicle.

They retrieved their gear from the trunk and were walking up the path to the front door when Gibbs took Tony's arm and stopped him. He let McGee and Ziva walk ahead before saying, in a low voice, "I don't want to hear any talk of feuds or vendettas when we're in there. And no flirting with anyone, understand?"

"Of course not, Boss," Tony said, surprised that Gibbs thought he'd say anything out of line at a crime scene. Okay, so now and then he made nice with an attractive woman, and occasionally a man, but only as a way of obtaining information. "You know me. I'm nothing if not professional."

Gibbs snorted, but the corner of his mouth twitched as he walked away. Ziva gave Tony a fake smile, shaking her head a little as if she found it amusing that Gibbs had told him off.

Tony picked up the two bags containing the evidence-collection supplies and trudged after them, thinking that this shaping up to be a long and trying day.

• •