Sorry about the one day delay. I've actually rewritten this whole chapter and added over 2K words from its original version. If you originally read it on A03 I think you'll like this much better. I've just fleshed out some scenes, added some feelsy discussion between the guys and and all important shower scene (I knew this fic was missing something).

Once again, thank you all for reading and faving and commenting and I hope you've enjoyed.

"Security cameras on the roof, Boss." Tony pointed above one of three doors leading into the warehouse their evidence had brought them to.

"Got it." Gibbs voice came to him through his ear piece. This time they were going in prepared with vests and tech.

From his cover behind a stand of palms, Tony waited for Cabbot to signal that the other agents were in place. Thermal images and radio surveillance indicated three men inside the building but there was a lot of open ground surrounding it and recon was proving difficult. They weren't completely blind but they had no way to know if the men inside were armed or prepared.

"Alpha is go." Cabbot's voice filled Tony's ear.

"Beta is go," he confirmed, waving to Gibbs who was about 50 yards away nearer the opposite corner of the warehouse.

"Go." Gibbs' directed, sending the teams in motion.

Tony moved with the shadows. He couldn't tell the exact range of the surveillance camera but he knew that the tech crew in a nearby van would find its frequency and disable it only at the last moment so as not to arouse suspicion. He tried to stay wide.

"Alpha is at the northwest door." Cabbot's voice was more hushed this time.

"Beta at the south." He pitched his voice low, watching Gibbs who was covering the most likely escape route with another agent.

"Cameras are out." A voice Tony didn't recognize gave the last signal.

"In three…two…one…go!"

"Federal Agents!" Tony's voice boomed as the door slammed open against aluminum siding. Cabbot and his team came through the door on the opposite side where the heat signatures indicated the warehouses' occupants currently were. Scanning the contents of the building he quickly moved to cover on one wall, advancing from crevice to crevice.

"On the ground!" Cabbot and his team had the three men pinned in a corner and it looked as though they had caught them unaware.

The space in the warehouse was largely empty but it was big enough to provide cover for the helicopter that stood almost fully assembled in the middle of the main room. Tony quickly cleared a loft space and what passed for an office and sleeping area while Cabbot's team cuffed their suspects, two of whom looked familiar from the photos Tony and Gibbs had passed around earlier. He didn't know who the third man was but it wasn't Fayed.

"Building is clear, Gibbs." Tony said into his mike.

"Grounds are clear." Gibbs said from the doorway, not bothering with his own mike.

They walked over to inspect the helicopter which was painted with one of the logos from Bright Sky Charters. "Got something in here, Boss."

"Looks like a mount for a rocket launcher." Gibbs inspected the fittings.

"Two," Tony pointed out another mount on the other side. "If they'd gotten into the harbor with this they could have done a hell of a lot of damage."

"Good thing we got here first then, isn't it." He was still examining the interior of the craft.

"And Fayed?"

"We'll see what we get out of the scene. Looks like we got here before they realized Nasir took himself out. Hopefully they didn't have a chance to clean up."

Cabbot's team was securing the suspects for transport when Gibbs and Tony caught up with them. "Got two more teams on their way to process. One for the bird, one for the rest."

Gibbs nodded. "Let these guys chill in a well-lit room for a while. Separately."

"I've got about five different agencies already calling me to get a crack at them." Cabbot grinned.

"They were targeting a naval base. That gives us first dibs. Everyone else can have the leftovers when we get through with them tomorrow. Until then they're on lockdown. In the meantime, let's get teams on cell phone records and the footage from those cameras. Find out if we can get any fix on Fayed. If they get anything significant call me, otherwise we'll be back at 1300."

Tony looked at his watch. It was already 3am. With prep time they'd worked through most of the night but the adrenaline rush had kept him going.

"Leaving us with all the paperwork, eh, Gibbs?" Cabbot chided.

"Hey, we're just guests. Guests don't have to do paperwork." He turned away with a look of mock innocence.

"Don't feel like any guests I've ever had before." Cabbot laughed. "See you in a few hours."

Tony woke to the sun in his eyes and a familiar warmth curled around him. He stretched languidly in Jethro's arms and smiled at the gentle kiss on the curve of his neck.

"Morning." Gibbs smiled against Tony's skin.

They'd practically fallen into bed together when they'd gotten home, neither bothering to voice the desire that it be the same bed. "What time is it?" Tony rubbed at his eyes, realizing that his arms didn't feel nearly as sore as he'd expected after his adventures in the ocean the day before.

"Nine thirty. Have a little while." He kissed a slow path across Tony's back.

"Mmm…what were you thinking?" Tony pressed into the other man's embrace.

Gibbs laughed. "Not that." His fingers traced a zig-zag line between the freckles on the younger man's shoulder. "Was gonna hit the beach. Catch a few sets before we head in."

"All this time and I never would have thought you'd choose surfing over sex. Boat building maybe, but definitely not surfing."

"Plenty of time for the other one." His teeth nipped at Tony's earlobe playfully. "Don't know how long we're here."

Tony sighed. "I'm in. A few more days and I might give you a run for your money. Or drown trying," he tossed over his shoulder as he extracted himself from the surprisingly comfortable tangle of their limbs and headed for the bathroom. The way Jethro was watching his bare ass was just a little unnerving and would take some getting used to again.

This time Gibbs loaded up the boards and they drove to another beach where the break wasn't quite as intense and there were more lifeguards since Kai couldn't join them. "Just in case," Gibbs had teased lightly.

After a few sets and more than a few wipeouts, Tony was managing to stay up longer and longer and even Gibbs seemed impressed. When they finally hauled themselves out of the water he was exhausted but refreshed. "Think maybe I could get into this after all," he mused to Gibbs as they finished loading up the car.

"Gonna put in for a transfer?" Gibbs laughed, pulling out onto the main road.

"Depends," Tony looked at him speculatively. "You gonna follow me?"

"Anywhere." Jethro's gaze was fixed on the cars ahead of them but his answer was quick and firm.

Something warm and alive spread through Tony's chest and his breath caught in his throat. "You really mean that don't you?"

"Wouldn't say it if I didn't."

They rode in silence for a few minutes.

"I didn't come back for half way, Tony." Jethro looked over at him. "When I got back to DC, I didn't know how to start with you, how to let you know that you were the real reason I came back and stayed, the only reason I ever needed." The words seemed to be coming easier now. "We both needed some time just to learn how to be in the same room together again. Hell, I haven't even thought one move ahead yet, let alone played out how all of this will work. But I don't love you half way, Tony." The declaration was strong and impassioned. "So yeah, I'd follow you. I'd follow you anywhere."

As they pulled into the driveway Tony realized that the man next to him now was not the same man who had left him five months earlier. Despite their involvement and the fact that he had been confident the other man had deep feelings for him, the Jethro Gibbs he knew would never have been bold or open enough for such a confession, would never have invited him in quite as intimately as he had in the last few days. He could find no words to follow-up Jethro's clearly heart-felt revelation and so he settled for silence as they carefully placed Kai's boards back up against the house.

They only had an hour and a half before they were due back at Pearl now. Tony ran a hand through hair which was still wet and salt-spiked. He watched as Jethro began to peel off his wetsuit just inside the doorway and stripped to the swim shorts he wore underneath. His fingers scrabbled for his own zipper but before he found it, the other man's hands were pushing his aside, pulling the long closure open and pushing the suit from his shoulders.

Tony rounded on Jethro, crowding him up against the countertop of the small kitchenette. Driving his fingers into damp, silver hair, he found the other man's mouth and kissed him hard, letting his lips and tongue say all the things he didn't dare to say out loud, didn't yet have words for. His hands roamed the acres of warm skin available to him, skimming over slim, carved shoulders, a beautifully arched back, the curve of a firm bottom.

Jethro opened to him, accepting the restless passion of Tony's kisses while slowly pushing the stubbornly clingy suit down his thighs and onto the floor. Tony kicked it aside and pressed his hips forward, easing up the pressure on his mouth for a moment.

"Need to shower." He nipped at Jethro's lips, resting their foreheads together as his hands continued to wander.

"Probably not a bad idea." It was beginning to look like one of the most immediate consequences of breaking rule 12 was going to be a hell of a lot of frustration and cold showers. Tony's hands continued taking thorough inventory of his body and he was still throbbing with the pent-up need from the night before.

"Used to like showering with you in the mornings." Tony's fingers trailed lightly across Jethro's clavicle and into the hollow of his throat.

Warm water hitting between his shoulder blades-sound of mingled moans ringing off the tile-taste of Tony's wet skin against his tongue-damp hair between his fingers-tight heat around his cock.

"I remember."

Tony felt Jethro's breathing hitch and the older man shuddered in his arms. "I'm sorry. Didn't know it would hit you like that."

"Don't be." Jethro shook his head. "Wasn't a bad memory at all."

Tony kissed him again, more softly this time, letting the heat of it build and spread. That he could do this again, that his tongue could taste the familiar warmth of Jethro's mouth, that his hands could touch angles and curves carved indelibly into his memory, still seemed miraculous.

When they were both breathing hard and Jethro's lips had moved on to travel the cut of his jaw, Tony pulled them away from the counter and toward the rear of the small house, keeping his hands firmly planted on the other man's hips.

"Where we headed?" Jethro murmured against his cheek.

"Shower." Tony nipped at the other man's lower lip with sharp teeth and suddenly found his back pressed to the wall behind him.

Jethro's fingers fumbled at the tie to Tony's swim shorts before he pushed them down his thighs. "Think I'd like that."

Tony's body pinned him against the cool tile, arms fencing him in, and Jethro wondered where the submissive creature inside of him had come from, the one that seemed to like the cage, the one that moaned and begged and pleaded as the other man's mouth latched onto his overheated skin and suckled hard, marking him.

The sharp little twist of nipping teeth along his clavicle became the soothing lave of a velvet tongue became the pull of heat around his nipple as Tony worked his way down his body, leaving warm, aching flesh in his wake. A needy gasp and low moan accompanied the coil of his fingers against Tony's scalp when the younger man dropped to his knees and licked into the crease of his thigh.

Clever fingers reached between his thighs, pressed up behind his balls making his toes curl against the tile and his breath come in strangled little pants. Tony's lips were everywhere, his hips, the inside of his thighs, the flat of his stomach, everywhere but where he desperately needed them right now. Jethro almost sagged in relief when the younger man's palm finally wrapped around his shaft and stroked him with a touch that was far too delicate.

"Look at me, Jethro. Open your eyes and watch me." Tony's voice was thick and throaty.

Jethro hadn't even realized that his eyelids had fallen closed in the haze of his desire and as he canted his head down and let them flutter open, the heat in his belly coiled that much tighter. Darkened grey eyes looked up at him, the focus of a face filled with heavy lust and unabashed adoration. Kiss-swollen lips parted and he didn't breathe as Tony took his cock and teased the tip of it with feather-light kisses, running the sensitive rim along the inside of his lip just deep enough that he felt the rough edges of the younger man's teeth. His entire body convulsed with the pleasure-pain of it and his muttered curses echoed off the walls around them.

"So beautiful, Tony," he murmured, thumb sliding along the younger man's jaw, "so beautiful…how could I ever…" And suddenly there were no more words because Tony was taking him deep, opening his throat and swallowing him before retreating and advancing again.

The muscles in Jethro's thigh's twitched and bunched with each long stroke and he barely recognized the tight keening sounds that passed his lips when Tony's tongue flattened against the underside of his shaft and undulated with each pass of his lips. His blood sang in his ears and throbbed in his veins, making his whole body feel like it was about to fly apart. A soft palm tightened around his cock and began to stroke firm and fast, twisting just a little with each caress. He tried to hold back, to rein in his own need but Jethro was so lost in the heat of it all that he began to thrust lightly into Tony's mouth, broken pulses that weren't half of what he really wanted.

"Jesus, fuck…Tony…so good…so good, your mouth on me…don't…gonna come like this… can't…fuck, Tony…" The words dissolved from his tongue as the heat climbing his spine finally shattered, spreading crystalline and sharp into his shoulders and his hips in tight, hard beats that had his fingers scrabbling against the tile, clutching at Tony's shoulders. The younger man took him deep again then and he felt the strong contraction of smooth muscle around his cock as Tony drank down everything he could give, suckling gently for more.

He was still quaking with the aftershocks of release when Tony climbed up his body and pressed cum-slick lips to his, feeding him the flavor off of his tongue.

"Missed the taste of you so much, Jetho. Missed you like…like air some days." Tony's body was still tense with his own need and he pressed close to Jethro, pumping his cock into the crease of the other man's hip as he spoke against his mouth in breathless, ragged bursts. "So hot when you come for me…when you beg, Jethro. Almost came when you said my name like that…so close…so close and I…"

Tony's mouth covered his, tongue thrusting between his lips in a reckless counterpoint to the pulse of his hips as he reached the brink. Sharp teeth bit his bottom lip, hard enough to bruise but not wound, and Jethro felt the spill of Tony's cum against his skin as the younger man shook and trembled in the circle of his arms.

"Don't look at me like that," Tony scolded, quietly.

"Like what?" Gibbs asked, keeping his eyes trained on the screen in front of them.

"You know like what. Like I just sucked your cock in the shower." He felt a faint heat in his cheeks and looked around to see if anyone was standing close. Thankfully, with three suspected terrorists in custody, it was a busy day.

"I'm standin' behind you, DiNozzo."

"I can see you in the reflection." He could, and there were things written more plainly on Jethro's face than lust, things which set up a warm ache right behind his ribs. "Think about something else. People will notice."

"What if I don't care if they notice?"

"What if..? Come on, Gibbs. Of course you care." Tony tried to focus on the files McGee was sending to them.

"Not sure I do anymore."

Tony turned to him, mouth open, nearly stunned right out of his chair. "You're not serious."

"Think I might be." He made it sound casual. "Come on, Cabbot's waiting."

Tony scrambled after him. "We're not done talking about this, you know."

"I know," he sighed, coming to a stop in front of the door to interrogation. Thankfully the corridor was abandoned. "That was one hell of a blow job though." He leaned in and quickly kissed Tony's lips, disappearing through the door before the younger man could voice his objection.

Their day at NCIS Pearl was a productive one. The warehouse had produced some leads on Fayed which were being passed on to other foreign offices and at the very least, they seemed to have neutralized any immediate threat. Tony spent the day tracking the origins of the ordinance that had been found with the helicopter and doing print elimination with Spencer. By the end of the day, the two were laughing and joking as though they were good friends, or, at the very least, familiar co-workers. There were still things to shake out, but as they left for the night, most of the follow-up had been doled out to other agents or agencies and they would be starting fresh in the morning. Cabbot assured them there were still plenty of half-leads to work through as well as security sweeps of various ports on the island which would take up their time.

Tony couldn't pinpoint the exact moment things had begun to build again between he and Jethro during the day, though it might have been the insanely impetuous kiss just before Gibbs handed their suspects their asses in interrogation. Perhaps it was his own heightened awareness but it seemed the other man stood closer, lingered longer, touched more often than normal, seemingly making good on his musings from the beginning of their day.

Whatever had started it, the heat between them was at a slow boil for the entire drive back to the house. The muscles in Gibbs' thigh quivered beneath the touch of his hand and he watched Jethro's reaction as his fingers traced a light pattern, moving ever higher. The tension in his jaw told Tony everything he needed to know.

They had just pulled onto the two lane around the North Shore when the other man shifted, spreading his legs wider as he covered Tony's hand with his own and placed it between his thighs.

"No surfing tonight?" The question was moot as it was already well after dark.

"No surfing." Jethro tensed as Tony gently lowered his zipper and began lightly stroking his erection through his boxers. "Careful," he warned, trying to concentrate on the road.

"How long till we're back?" Jethro's head had slipped from the hole in the fabric and he teased the leaking slit of it with one finger.

"Too damn long," he growled in reply, tightening his grip on the wheel.

"We could stop," Tony proposed casually. "Lots of isolated spots out here."

"Want you in a bed tonight." Jethro's voice was thick with need. "Not gonna make love to you for the first time in a car or by the side of the road somewhere."

"Technically it's not our first time," Tony corrected, though he liked the idea of a bed and his chest throbbed a little at the places Gibbs' head was going.

"Yes it is. For me it is." Jethro glanced over at him. "I'm not saying everything that happened before doesn't count, Tony, that it doesn't matter. But I'm starting over with you. With you and no one else, so for me, this is the first time."

Tony's hand had stilled completely and without a word he carefully tucked Jethro back into his pants and laid his hand on his thigh once more. "Then it's a first for me too," he agreed.

It was only another five minutes back to the house but it felt like an eternity. Thankfully it was late and the main house was already dark.

Jethro was on Tony before they were even in the door, wrapping around him and mouthing at his neck while he fumbled with the keys. They didn't bother with lights. As soon as the door was closed and locked, they began shedding clothing, stumbling their way in an awkward dance toward the bedroom. Tony paused just at the threshold.

"I need just a minute," he said regretfully. He didn't want to stop but there were practicalities to be dealt with.

Gibbs nodded.

He grabbed his go-bag and disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned a few minutes later he found Jethro naked and waiting for him on the bed, propped up on an elbow with one knee raised and looking at him with hungry eyes.

"Hey," Tony said lamely, coming to stand beside the bed. He trailed his fingers through Jethro's hair and down his cheek.

"Hey." Jethro caught his fingers and kissed their tips lightly, pulling one into his mouth and sucking gently while his tongue worked over the pad. He watched Tony's cock lengthen against his thigh.

Tony set a small tube on the nightstand. Rather than crawling in beside Jethro, he pushed his shoulders back so that they were flat on the mattress and then straddled his hips. Curling forward, he stretched out and clasped both of Jethro's hands, moving them above the other man's head as he leaned down to capture his mouth. Teasing Jethro's lips apart with little twisting bites, he plunged his tongue deep inside, pulsing slowly. He could feel the other man's cock against his bottom and he moved so that it grazed back and forth over his hole, stopping when Jethro began to moan into his mouth and push against his hands.

The feel of Tony's tongue in his mouth was dizzying and if the younger man didn't stop teasing his cock things were going to be over before they began. Jethro freed one of his hands and grabbed for the tube beside him, managing to get it open with one hand. "What do you need?" He managed to get the words out against the younger man's lips.

"Just you. Just you inside me." His mouth moved to the hollow of Jethro's throat and his tongue traced a tendon back up.

"You sure?" He quickly slicked up his cock one-handed.

"Hurry up with that or I'm gonna go without it." Tony sank his teeth into Jethro's earlobe. "You think you remember how everything works?" He asked as he felt the other man's erection nudging at his hole.

"Memory's a little fuzzy on the details but I think I remember the important parts." He held the shaft of his cock as Tony slowly pressed back, easing himself through the opening until just his head was inside.

Tony gasped and grunted at the tight stretch and burn. After four months, his body was no longer used to this but he knew the discomfort would soon be a memory. Rocking back and forth, he slowly worked himself down Jethro's cock, letting his body adjust to the invasion. When Gibbs was fully seated inside him, Tony leaned forward so that their bodies moved together.

Raising his knees. Jethro began to thrust lightly into the tight heat of Tony's body. Images flashed in his mind, sense-memory coupled with emotion which intensified the ache in his chest. Arms around Tony's back, he rolled them so that he was on top.

"You always were such a top," Tony smiled up at Jethro as he began to move again. "Well, except that one time."

"Don't remember that." He found his rhythm and plunged deep into Tony's body in long, fluid strokes.

"Mmm…you liked it. Maybe a little too much," Tony added breathlessly. His fingers twisted in the sheets as his body to ascend the steep spiral of arousal.

"Maybe you'll have to…convince me later," he gasped at the slap of his balls against Tony's ass.

"Later?" Tony writhed on the bed, meeting the thrust of Jethro's hips.

"Later," Gibbs growled. He was too gone to form more words. He picked up the pace, pressing Tony's knees back toward his shoulders and taking aim at his sweet spot.

"Fuck! Jethro…" He reached up and fisted his hands in the hair on the other man's chest. He began to pull frantically at his own cock, feeling the tantalizing pressure behind his balls suddenly build out of control.

Tony began to moan with each breath, tossing his head on the mattress, and Jethro shifted his weight forward, opening his mouth against Tony's throat as his rhythm began to falter. "Gonna come," he panted in warning. He needed Tony to get there with him and he needed it soon.

Even through the haze of his own need Tony could hear the desperation in Jethro's words. He drove his fingers into the other man's hair and raised his knees against his flanks, getting just angle he needed. "Now," Tony cried breathlessly, "oh fuck, Jethro…right now."

Jethro felt Tony's release against his stomach, felt the tight heat around him clutch and try to pull him deeper. With a last volley of broken thrusts he came hard, teeth sinking into Tony's shoulder as his body shook and trembled with the force of it, spilling deep inside his lover, his partner, his everything.

Tony ran his hands over the sweat-dampened skin of Jethro's back, his body still quaking with the sweet reverberations of their lovemaking. Fingers carding gently through the soft, silver strands of the older man's hair, he pressed his lips reverently to his forehead, sighing at the heaviness that had bled into every limb.

"Hell of a first time, Jethro."

"It really was." He turned his face up and found the other man's lips.

Tony kissed Jethro long and deep, somehow putting a seal on what had just happened between them, on the tacit agreement they had now made with each other "Wow." He smiled against Jethro's lips as they gently broke apart. "Only three days on this island. Maybe there's something in the water. Let's never go back to DC." He nuzzled into Jethro's still-overly warm skin.

Gibbs gently withdrew from the warmth of Tony's body and shifted to a more comfortable position. "Weren't you the one going on about abandoning the team? Dragging me back from the far corners of the earth?" Jethro chided gently.

"You're right," he sighed. "We can always bring them here. Even McGee could get laid on this island."

"Nice try." Jethro swatted his bottom playfully. He was absolutely exhausted and could feel his eyelids getting heavy. He pulled Tony tight against him and began to drift.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" Tony asked quietly after awhile.

"Yes." Jethro answered unequivocally.

"Don't you want to ask me which part?"

"Meant everything I said to you today. But if you want to talk about something specific..."

"The part where you said you didn't care if people found out about…about this." He gestured between their naked bodies.

"I don't. Not anymore. Why, do you?"

"I don't know. I guess I just always thought you would so I never even thought about it."

Jethro pushed himself up on an elbow and looked at Tony in the dark, idly tracing little patterns through the hair on his chest. "Think we went about this the wrong way the first time."

"How do you figure? You can't even remember most of it."

"I remember enough," Jethro argued. "I remember that we tried to make this work around the job, that we spent too much time trying to figure out how to fit ourselves between the lines." He kissed Tony gently. "Think I'd like to try it the other way around for a while. Try to make things work around you and me. What do you think?"

Tony tried to remember to breathe. "I think I could do that." It was close to a whisper.

"Okay." Jethro nuzzled into the hollow of his throat and then pulled him into his chest.

"Okay," Tony murmured, wondering exactly what he had just agreed to, but liking the idea of it.

The silence closed in on them again and rather than quieting, Tony's brain recovered from its post-coital stupor and began to turn things over.

"So this sleeping together thing. You know, we didn't used to do that. I'm not complaining, it's just weird. Not bad weird, just…weird. For you." Tony fumbled. They'd fallen asleep in the same bed more than a few times but Gibbs had always eventually moved to the couch. "For me too, actually." His eyebrows furrowed. "And are we a couple now? Do we get pet names? Are there more rules?" Suddenly his mind was going a million miles a minute.

"Shh…we'll figure it out," Jethro said sleepily, lips teasing just behind Tony's ear.

"But what about Tim and Ziva and Abby and, oh God, Ducky?" There were a million realities to be faced when they returned home and Tony's head knew them all.

"They'll be fine. We'll figure it out." Jethro repeated.

"But the Director, and…"

"We'll figure it out, Tony." Jethro said more vehemently this time, squeezing the younger man's hip. "I don't have the answers right now, but I love you and we'll figure it out."

Tony blinked as it sank in and he felt his body relax. "You love me," he breathed.

"I do." Jethro smiled, just on the edge of sleep.

"And we'll figure it out," Tony said quietly, almost to himself. This time there was no response from Jethro but the sound of deep, even breathing and the little 'poof' sound. "Because you love me." He smiled as he said the words and with a heart lighter than it had ever been, he fell asleep in his lover's arms.

Thank you for reading,

Kat

I met a man who took me on a walk through the world of dreams...