Title: Genesis

Author: the_7th_swan

Authors Note: This is actually more pre-slash, though it's pretty avert so I think this counts. Especially the epilogue. Also, this is the final instalment of the NCIS cliche's and looks at, arguably, the most famous: the first meeting. Also, the title is a bible reference and refers to the creation myth or the beginning of all things. Presumptuous, perhaps, but apt.

Warnings: Er... none, actually. Wow. I think that's a first. It has a dead body in it. Does that count?

Spoilers: Pre series, obviously. Though the ending is just before Ice Queen, for those obsessed enough with NCIS to recognise it. Like me. ^^

Characters / Pairings: Tony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs

Rating: PG-13

Genre / category: Drama, romance.

Word Count:

Disclaimer: Unless someone wants to buy them for me for Christmas, I don't own the character's of NCIS.

Summary: It's a cold and snowy day in Baltimore when the body of a petty officer brings together two men –one a federal agent, the other a lowly city detective. A single moment, a single meeting and two lives are changed forever.

Just a moment
In instant in time
Blink and you'll miss it
It's delicate –fine.
It didn't shake the earth
And I didn't even know
For how could I have guessed
How massive it would grow?
It was only a moment
And there are thousands a day
But now, in hindsight
What a part it did play
For while only a moment
It was surely divine
In the single instant
That your eyes met mine

Genesis

The snow fell thick and fast, fluttering majestically around a street lamp that was struggling to pierce the night with its glow. It was silent, the whole world drawing hardly a breath, as though it was frozen in time. The interplay of light, the drift of the snow, the white canvass before him –it was peaceful and white and eerily beautiful.

Tony couldn't care less.

His quiet but simmering anger prevented him from appreciating the moment and the cold hardly helped. He was wearing more clothes than was physically comfortable and he still felt the hand of the wind on his neck like a knife. He shouldn't have to deal with this: stuck in the middle of a snow storm, hemmed in the dead end alleyway by yellow police tape, freezing his ass off.

The dead body by his feet tempted him. Dressed as it was in a uniform it was hardly a head scratcher figuring out whose jurisdiction this was and the Baltimore Police Department was already swamped, but Tony found himself annoyed regardless. It rankled him that some hoity-toity agency could swoop in without so much as a by-your-leave and not expect a fight. Not that they were going to get a fight –Tony had his orders and all of them resulted in handing the officer over.

Well, if they were going to steal his body they could at least be prompt about it. Damn the captain to hell and back for nominating him as the greeting comity. Tony probably shouldn't have filled all the lockers in the precinct with bells (cops and loud, sudden noises apparently didn't mix. Who knew?) but it was hardly his fault that half his colleagues couldn't take a joke. The other half had been laughing their heads off –surely that spoke well of him?

Lights flashed in the distance, the unmistakable hallmark of a coming car. Shifting in place, Tony took one more look at the crime scene and bid it a sombre goodbye. He consoled himself with the thought that it could be worse –processing crimes in snow was absolute hell and unless the team was quick about it most their evidence would be useless. Not to mention that catching a case this close to Christmas was bound to cause some grumbling.

"That my body?"

The man asking the question was gruff, silver-haired and fierce looking. His expression was as hard as diamonds but Tony figured from the set of his shoulders that it was probably his default expression and he shouldn't read too much into it. Then there was his eyes... piercing blue and filled with a sense of righteous determination, the light Tony found there the only thing stopping him from quipping back 'I don't know, is your name on it?'.

"This is him," Tony agreed instead, "And you are?"

"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," the man introduced himself, already eyeing the crime scene sharply, "Did you disturb anything?"

Tony bristled in irritation, as much from the question as from the man's tone. He didn't appreciate being spoken to as though he was four years old.

"Captain Burke sends his regards," Tony said rather than answer, "He wishes to let you know that he appreciates your coming out here. He also offers the use of the Baltimore labs and autopsy as it would be difficult to transport the evidence back to DC in this weather. Our department is rather busy at the moment but Burke says he can spare an officer or two if you're short staffed."

Tony swept his eyes around pointedly as he said that, for Gibbs had only one other agent with him, a young girl who was hanging back and observing Tony with quiet contempt. Surely he couldn't expect to solve this case with only this woman providing help?

"I have my own people," Gibbs disputed, resolute as iron, "But we'll take the lab and the autopsy."

He didn't sound very happy about that, but since the snow had only thickened as they spoke Tony didn't imagine he had much of a choice. It would be hell having to go back and forth in such conditions –and besides, since the murder had occurred in Baltimore, chances were the murderer was here.

"Blackadder, start processing," Gibbs barked and, jumping, the woman immediately got to work.

"Here are the sketches I drew," Tony offered, reluctantly handing them over.

Gibbs took them and looked them over. As he did, his eyebrows rose incredulously, as though he was actually amazed that the work was decent. Tony found himself scowling again.

"What?" he demanded, "I'm not an agent, so I must be an idiot? I didn't make it to detective because I'm pretty you know."

There was more bite behind that than Tony had intended, if only because people did have an irritating habit of thinking that. They took one look at Tony's Italian face, laughing lips and endless playful remarks and pegged him as an idiot without bothering to dig any deeper. A lot of the time, Tony delighted in using that misconception, for it often led to people severely underestimating him, which was always a useful weapon. The rest of the time, it just got on his nerves.

"That so?" Gibbs returned and Tony fumed, even though he could detect no mocking in the words, "Alright then. Dazzle me."

Tony stared at Gibbs in bemusement. Gibbs stared steadily back, his whole being transmitting a message of infinite patience –as though he had all day. Tony was sure he was being patronized, and his eyes narrowed. Gibbs eyes, however, held only a mild curiosity.

Still, whatever Gibbs' game was, there was crime scene in front of him and Tony couldn't help but analyse it.

"His name's Jason Connor," Tony began, figuring he'd start with the obvious, "He's thirty-three and he lives alone. He's in the middle of some much-earned leave and was likely only wearing his uniform for some formal party. No kids, never married, non-smoker, left-handed, diabetic."

Gibbs' face was a block of marble, giving nothing away. His agent, however, was looking satisfyingly startled but also sceptic.

"You can't possibly know all that," she scoffed, "I mean, there's no way to tell what hand he writes with."

"Of course there is," Tony shot back, frowning, "He's wearing his watch on his right hand, for one. You never wear it on your dominate hand. Besides, there are calluses on his left hand but not on his right. Probably from handling a weapon."

"And the rest?" Gibbs asked mildly.

"Medical alert bracelet to show he's diabetic," Tony pointed out, "No wedding ring and no tan line where one used to be, so no wife. No blackened fingernails so not a smoker and he must have been in the middle of his leave because his hair has grown out. If he'd just started, it'd still be short."

Blackadder still looked doubtful while Gibbs just looked thoughtful. Before any of them could say anything further, however, another two men approached the crime scene.

"Sorry I'm late Jethro," the elder said at once, "Horrid weather this. Gerald had trouble finding his way."

Gibbs turned to greet them while Tony indulged himself in a quick smile at Gibbs' expense. With a name like Jethro, it was suddenly much harder to find the man intimidating.

"Baltimore has offered the use of their autopsy, Ducky," Gibbs was explaining and Tony hid another smile. Ducky? Really?

"Excellent," Ducky cried happily, "That will make things easier. And you must be the representative from the BPD."

"Detective Anthony DiNozzo," Tony introduced himself.

"Not a liaison officer then," Ducky observed.

"God no," Tony said hastily, making a face at the thought.

"The body, Duck," Gibbs reminded tiredly.

"Poor soul," Ducky tutted as he stooped over the corpse, "It'll be hard to get a TOD here, Jethro. The cold will mess with my measurements. I can tell you he was strangled. Cause of death was likely asphyxiation."

"Anything else?"

"Not without a lab and some equipment," Ducky denied, spreading his hands helplessly.

"Start packing it up then," Gibbs allowed.

Considering how few of they were they got the job done astonishingly fast. To Tony's puzzlement, Gibbs actually seemed to do more work than his agent Blackadder did –she spent most her time grumbling under her breath and stomping her feet against the persistent cold.

Shrugging the matter away, Tony made no effort to help as they trundled the body away. His earlier musing on the snow being problematic in regards to finding forensic evidence were proven sound as, apart from the body, the only samples Gibbs and Blackadder took were samples of the snow that had surrounded it.

It was only as they retreated to the relative shelter of their cars that Tony abandoned his post and followed them. Whether he liked it or not, Burke had assigned him this job and thought it had been done mostly out of spite Tony was going to perform it to the best of his abilities, and that meant formally introducing the NCIS agents to his lieutenant.

A part of him dreaded the very idea but, more strangely, another part of him was curious as to what the two men would make of each other. Though the both of them were utter bastards, Burke was a bastard in a slimy way that made tony itch while Gibbs seemed to be one in the accept-no-excuses way.

When they finally strolled into the squad room (bursting with activity and noise) Tony was favouring curiosity and, as such, had the strength the stroll right into Burke's office without so much as a by-your-leave.

"Captain Burke?" Tony called as he entered, stepping immediately aside to allow his captain a good vantage point of the feds, "The NCIS agents are here. Meet Special Agent Gibbs and Special Agent Blackadder. Sir, ma'am, this is Captain Burke."

"Ah," Captain Burke muttered, obligingly putting aside his paperwork, if only grudgingly, "Decided to make use of our lab and autopsy I gather?"

Tony thought the answer to that was self-evident but wisely held his tongue. He gathered Gibbs was suffering under a similar condition, for the other man merely nodded in answer.

"Good, good," Burke dismissed, all but waving a hand to show how little he regarded this matter as important. Tony felt himself flushing slightly in embarrassment, though Burke himself seemed unrepentant, "Please let me know if you require anything further and feel free to disregard anything Detective DiNozzo has said, quoted or insinuated."

Blackadder shot him a look that was a halfway between smug and curious. Even Gibbs flicked a look his way, though Tony had no hope whatsoever of deciphering it. Tony ignored the both of them.

"Would you like me to show the agents around Captain?"

"I'm putting you at the agent's beck and call," Burke announced, nodding, "You're to help them however you can. When you're not doing that you can be helping out Simmons."

"Simmons," Tony echoed dumbly, "With all due respect sir -"

"No," Burke interrupted, holding up a hand and frowning, "I don't want to hear it. I know the problem you have with Simmons and I don't care. You'll just have to learn to deal with each other. You're dismissed."

Tony hesitated a moment before nodding reluctantly and ushering the agents out of the room.

"Come on," Tony sighed, turning his attention to Gibbs, "I'll show you around."

It didn't take long, the precinct wasn't huge and Gibbs and Blackadder weren't the type to ask a heap of questions. They followed him without comment and, as such, the tour was over in ten minutes. Tony mourned that slightly –it was very clear that Gibbs wouldn't be asking for his help on anything further and that meant he'd be stuck working with Simmons whom he despised.

"Alright, that's it," Tony concluded the tour as he returned them to the bullpen, "Do you need anything else?"

"You can start by looking into Jason Connor's background. I want to know everything about him from his shoe size to his cavities."

Tony blinked. Was Gibbs actually including him in the case? He shot a look at Blackadder and saw that her jaw was hanging open. Clearly, she was as taken aback as Tony was.

"Well?" Gibbs demanded, raising an eyebrow expectantly, "Why are you still standing here? Get moving!"

Tony got moving, deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth and trying, with mixed success, to hide his smile.

Tony sung softly as he walked, papers firmly clutched in hand as he searched for Gibbs. Looking into Jason Connor's background had been very enlightening and Tony was cautiously hopeful that Gibbs would continue to include him in the investigation –he'd be interested to see how this one ended. And if nothing else, it would get him away from Simmons.

"Oi! Tony!"

Speak of the devil.

"Simmons," Tony greeted reluctantly, turning to face him.

"I've just been told you're at my beck and call," Simmons looked appropriately delighted at the thought, "Isn't that convenient?"

"I'm helping out the NCIS agents right now," Tony replied, flashing his trademark smile, "Afraid their needs are more important than yours. How sad."

"Careful DiNozzo," Simmons warned, poking a finger into Tony's chest, "The feds won't be here forever and you don't want to piss me off more than you already have."

"Gonna hit me too?" Tony asked pleasantly, "I must warn you, I won't take it as placidly as Maria did."

"Jesus, what is with you?" Simmons demanded in disgust, shaking his head, "She was a freak'n whore, Tony."

"I tend to be against violence against women as a general rule," Tony drawled, frowning right back, "And I don't care what she was or who your family is. You can be rest assured that I'll be watching you."

"As if the captain would believe you over me," Simmons scoffed, "You're a good-for-nothing playboy who was disowned by their tycoon father and I'm a third generation cop."

"Better a good-for-nothing disgrace for a son than a women beating redneck without a sense of honour." Tony shot back, unmoved. He'd been called worse, after all.

"Mark my words Tony," Simmons growled, eyes flashing, "You're going to slip up eventually and this is a dangerous industry we're in. You might find yourself without backup one day if you don't take care."

Tony was taken aback by that. Simmons was a bastard and a waste of a human being, but he was still a cop and cops looked out for each other. Tony hated Simmons, but he'd never leave the man without backup. The very idea was repulsive.

"Is there a problem here?"

Tony and Simmons both jumped. Gibbs, leaning casually against the wall, merely raised a brow. Simmons flushed at his condescending look, clearly wondering how much Gibbs had heard. In the end, however, he merely shoved Tony against the wall and stalked off without a word.

"Thanks," Tony muttered, rubbing his shoulder and looking after Simmons with a frown.

His last threat had been a serious one and what galled Tony the most was that Simmons was right –Burke would take Simmons' side over Tony's and if Simmons shrugged and told their captain that he simply hadn't made it to Tony's rescue in time, odds were he'd be believed. Since Tony had no aspirations on ending up dead, it was probably time to move on. It wasn't like he was particularly attached to Baltimore anyway.

"You right?" Gibbs demanded, and Tony stared at him. As gruff as Gibbs was, he had trouble believing he'd actually bother asking the question.

"I come bearing gifts," Tony said rather than answer, holding up the file.

"Any red flags?" Gibbs asked, taking the file and flipping through. He looked at the multitude of information it contained and raised an impressed brow. Tony fought off a blush.

"I'd check out the brother Colin if I were you," Tony suggested, "He has gambling debts longer than my arm but his parents cut him off so he can't pay them. He has multiple calls to Jason within the last few days, probably trying to score some dough. My gut says he took it personal when his brother said no."

"Good enough for me," Gibbs agreed, already strolling away, "You coming?"

Tony blinked and hastened to catch up, finding himself at the older man's right shoulder. He wondered whether they should wait for Blackadder but it turned out not to be necessary as they walked right passed her on the way through the bullpen.

"What's going on?" she demanded as she fell into line.

"Going to talk to Jason's brother," Tony explained shortly.

"And you're coming... why?"

"For my charming personality," Tony quipped, shooting her a smile bright enough to blind, "You object?"

She clearly wasn't stupid enough to do any such thing in front of Gibbs and settled for firming her lips and frowning at him disapprovingly. Tony stuck his tongue out in answer, delighting in her horrified expression.

Her disgruntled expression only worsened when they got to the car and Tony beat her to the front door. He shot her a smug smile, but all his good humour vanished once Gibbs got them onto the road.

It quickly became apparent that Gibbs had a death wish.

Tony found himself gripping the side door with a death grip, bracing himself with his legs and trying not to cry out every time Gibbs defied the laws of physics with his driving. A quick look to the backseat showed Blackadder all but curled into a foetal position, her eyes scrunched closed and her knuckles white from gripping the upholstery.

Remarkably, Gibbs didn't flinch one iota as he wound around the various cars. On the bright side (and with his stomach heaving rebelliously Tony was quite desperate to find one), at least he got them where they were going quickly. Which meant there was less time to suffer.

Though Tony couldn't help but wonder what his driving was like in summer, if it was this horrible in winter when they had slightly iced roads to deal with. The thought made him shudder.

Both Tony and Blackadder scrambled out of the car the second it was still, swapping a mutual glance of horror that quickly became the most amicable gesture they had shared all day.

Gibbs shot them an amused glance as he walked past, approaching the house with easy confidence. With a quick flick of his fingers he sent Blackadder around the back and Tony to his side.

"Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested," the man who answered the door snapped up without looking.

"We're not here to sell you anything," Gibbs denied, flashing his badge, "We're here to ask you some questions about your brother."

The guy bolted so fast Tony swore he left a body-shaped indentation in the air behind him. Gibbs cursed, pelting after him at once, while Tony backed-up, preparing to edge around the side of the house and back up Blackadder. He was barely off the front veranda when he heard a loud curse from the back of the house and then Colin was pelting around the house and up the street. Tony took a split second to wonder how on earth he'd gotten past Blackadder before he sprang into action and gave chase.

Colin Connor wasn't a very fit man and compared to Tony –ex-football player –it really wasn't the epic chase scene Tony usually coveted in movies. Tony had the man tackled and pin down in record time, easily securing his hands behind his back and waiting for Gibbs to arrive with the handcuffs.

Colin snarled, bucked and swore as they lay there but Tony didn't give an inch, smiling brightly when Gibbs approached and accepting his handcuffs with a grateful nod. Blackadder, standing slightly behind him, looked embarrassed and flushed.

"He managed to get by me," she explained to Tony, running a hand through her hair and being entirely unhelpful as Tony had, in fact, managed to figure that much out himself.

Gibbs shook his head but didn't comment, instead reaching down and hauling Colin to his feet and escorting him back to the car, reading him his rights while I did so.

"Bit of a pity really," Tony bemoaned as he climbed into the car, again snagging the front seat, "I was looking forward to an epic mystery: love, betrayal, the twist ending. This was hardly The Minority Report."

Neither Gibbs nor Blackadder commented on that and Tony took the silence as tacit approval to launch into a mini monologue that thoroughly explored the many wonders and pitfalls of said movie.

The made it back to the precinct without Gibbs' driving leading them all to a fiery death and Tony all but bounced into the bullpen.

"You're an alright detective," Blackadder conceded as Tony gathered all the Intel together and handed it over to the agents so they could use it to write a comprehensive report.

"I try Blackadder," Tony teased, grinning.

"Vivian," Blackadder corrected, gifting him with a smile back.

"Knew you'd warm up to me eventually," Tony winked. Blackadder rolled her eyes, managing to keep her smile. This couldn't have been an easy trip for her considering how thoroughly Tony had showed her up but at least she was reacting with good grace.

"Why are you two wasting time?" Gibbs demanded, Ducky by his side. Clearly, he'd gone to fetch the man now that the case was closed and they could wrap up the loose ends back in DC, "I don't wanna be stuck here any longer than necessary."

"It was nice meeting you all," Tony said by way of farewell, "I had fun."

"What the hell are you talking about DiNozzo?" Gibbs demanded, frowning.

"Uh..." Tony faltered, "I'm saying goodbye?"

"Go and be quick about it then," Gibbs allowed, "And gather up what you need to take with you."

"Wait, what?"

"Unless you'd like me to leave without you?" Gibbs inquired, raising a brow, "Keep dawdling and I will."

Tony stared blankly.

"He's offering you a job," Blackadder put in helpfully, smiling.

"What?" Tony managed blankly, "Really?"

"I need a senior agent," Gibbs shrugged easily.

"Senior agent?" Tony parroted dumbly, eyes wide.

Gibbs frowned and Tony jumped.

"On it boss!" Tony cried instead, all but exploding with happiness. Before he could help himself, he launched himself at Gibbs and caught him in a brief hug before bouncing happily away.

The look on Gibbs' face was priceless and while the possibilities there were interesting Tony told himself they could wait. For now, he had to talk to Burke. He had some things to say to his soon-to-be former captain.

Tony smiled a smile that was the personification of evil, all but rubbing his hands together in glee.

Oh yeah. This would be fun.

*~*~*~Epilogue ~*~*~*

It took Tony a month before everything was officially official.

New apartment, new supervisor, new colleagues. He and Vivian (he couldn't think of her as Blackadder any more) butted heads occasionally but they eventually managed to coexist as something approaching friends. Though Tony got the idea she was a trifle irked that he outranked her, she'd also know that Gibbs was looking for a senior field agent so she could hardly complain that she hadn't seen it coming.

As for Gibbs...

Working with that man was something else. Considering they hadn't met on the most amicable of terms and Tony's hiring had happened rather quickly, it was amazing how well they bounced off each other. It was clear from the get go that there's was a good match and it was made even more so by the fact that Tony felt comfortable enough to tease Gibbs and Gibbs felt comfortable enough to let him.

Tony's impressions of Gibbs developed quickly and his label quickly developed from 'bastard' to 'justice-junky' to 'the-best-man-I've-ever-met'. As they worked more and more cases together Tony found his admiration and respect developing into something more. It hardly escaped his notice that Gibbs tolerated things from him he didn't from anyone else. The way people stared in amazement as they watched Gibbs react to him let Tony know that Gibbs felt it too.

Of course, there was that bothersome rule 12 in the way.

That Gibbs had made a point to pull aside and tell him that, however, probably spoke well of just how easy it would be for Tony to break it. If Gibbs was acting on the defensive, that proved that he was reacting to Tony as much as Tony was reacting to him. If he hadn't cared, the rule wouldn't have been an issue and he wouldn't have brought it up so out of the blue.

"Grab your gear, we got a body with an arrow in it," Gibbs barked, already striding to the elevator.

Tony met Vivian's eyes across the room as he slung on his bag and followed his boss' lead, admiring the man's prosterior as he did so. Oh yeah, definitely time to up the ante. No one had ever accused Tony of being patient, after all, and with a reward like that, how could Tony resist? Gibbs would, of course. It was in his nature. Tony was confident, however, that he could break through that stubbornness. He thrilled slightly in the challenge.

He gave the man a week.

*~*~*~The End~*~*~*

AN: Pretty sure some details are not entirely cannon but oh well. Hope you enjoyed all three of my cliché fics. I know I had fun writing them –though I think my fav was 'A Small But Precious Thing'. That one had vampires in it. ^^

As always, please let me know what you think.