I'm so sorry that I haven't written anything for this story in so long. Please forgive me. :'(

This is sort of a filler chapter. I just want you to know that I'm still thinking of this story. I don't really know how long the rest of this story is going to be.

The rest of the meal consisted of laughing and eating. Everyone helped clear the table and put the food away. Tony eventually shooed everyone out of the kitchen so that he could have room to actually move about and wash the dishes.

Tony had turned back to the sink as the others left, but wasn't surprised when someone was still in the kitchen with him.

"If you're staying in hear you could at least dry the dishes." Tony teased, knowing that it was McGee left in the kitchen.

"How'd you know it was me?" McGee chuckled as he grabbed the wash cloth and started to dry the dishes.

"Let's just say that I have psychic abilities, McQuestioner." Tony said teasing McGee.

"McQuestioner, that's a new one" McGee said back.

"Yeah," Tony said throwing McGee a smile. "In all actuality I expected you to stay because you're like that."

"Yeah, I am." McGee said, "I can be so predictable sometimes, but I have some surprises."

"I love those unpredictable moments, but I love that I can surprise you because I can predict you." Tony stated a slight blush on his face, from saying something so lovey dovey.

"That's one thing I love about you, you like to keep me on my toes." McGee said as he dried the last dish on the counter and looked around. He had accomplished drying all the dishes, but where does he put them.

"Tim," Tony asked, "you look like a lost puppy. It's really cute, but is there something I can help you with." Tony smiled at McGee's look of sheepishness.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure where to put the dishes." McGee said, all the dishes had been set out in the morning, probably when Tony was decorating the house.

"Oh." Tony chuckled. "They go in a box down in the storage area; I found them when I was shifting through the decorations." Tony shrugged, "Do you want to take them down and then we can give our guests their presents?"

"That's a great idea." McGee stated, "How many trips did it take you to bring all these plates and bowls up? They weigh quite a bit."

"It took me about four trips," Tony said picking up some of the dishes, "I wanted to be careful with these, they were also from Dan." Tony said quietly.

"Okay, I'll be careful." McGee said picking up a small stacking leaving about enough dishes that would require another trip for both and one more for one of them.

"I know you will." Tony said, "Why don't we ask for help with the dishes? We can take one trip down to the storage unit."

"That's a great idea; I really didn't want to walk up and down all those stairs multiple times." McGee said smiling at Tony.

Tony and McGee walked out of the kitchen holding their respective dishes. "I was wondering if I could have three lucky volunteers to help with caring the dishes down to the storage unit to be put away." Tony asked dramatically.

"I'll help." Palmer got up instantly and grabbed one of the three stacks; Gibbs and Ziva were the next fastest up and grabbed the rest of the dishes.

"Thanks," McGee said to them.

"I want to come, too!" Abby exclaimed.

"You can come if you want Abby." Tony said to her, "You could grab the keys on the counter by the door. I have to unlock the storage unit."

"I'll join you guys, I'm curious to know how much young Anthony has in storage." Ducky stated standing up joining the other by the door.

"I guess were taking the whole group." Tony chuckled as they walked out of the apartment.

Abby, Palmer, and Ziva walked behind McGee and Tony as they led the way to the storage unit, which was a short distance from the apartment. It wasn't really snowing, but it was surprisingly quiet outside. There were no cars going by, all that could be heard were the conversations between each other.

"They look like they are made to be walking next to each other." Ziva stated looking at McGee and Tony talking and laughing in front of her.

"They do." Palmer agreed, "I remember when Tony felt so alone."

The two girls looked at Palmer, not really knowing what he was talking about. "You guys know when Gibbs left that Tony felt that he had been abandoned once again." Palmer gave them a stern look. "You guys weren't much help either. You guys kept comparing him to Gibbs. You guys kept saying that he would never be as good as Gibbs and he should stop trying."

"We were pretty harsh weren't we?" Abby said looking sadly at Tony.

"Did he talk to you about what he was feeling?" Ziva asked, "Not trying to be rude, but around that time I didn't really see him talking to you a lot."

"He talked to me after hours." Jimmy said looking a Ziva. "We bonded, you could say. Ducky was feeling quite betrayed by Gibbs. He hadn't heard a word from Gibbs and Ducky started spending more time with his mother."

"Oh, you guys were like," Ziva paused for a moment, "Brothers in arms?" Ziva looked at them, "Is that right, I think I said that wrong."

"Actually," Abby said looking at Ziva, "You got that one right."

Ziva smiled very proud that she actually got one right.

"Yeah," Palmer said smiling, "We were like that. We still are." They gave him another look, confused yet again.

"Well," Jimmy said, "Even at the time, I never asked, but he would come over worried about something.

"With the timeline, I believe he was worried if McGee would reciprocate his feelings." Jimmy continued, "He was talking about not wanting to be too forward with someone. I basically told him that he needed to just give it a try, because if the person was really a friend, they would not be pushed away."

"That's really sweet, Jimmy." Abby said putting an arm around Jimmy in a hug.

"You give good advice." Ziva stated smiling at Palmer.

"Well I have enough time to observe the chemistry of the group. I see you guys at a distance and listen most the time." Palmer smiled, "Not to mention, I had to listen to Ducky about psychology for the longest time. I did learn a few things at that time." Jimmy said raising his voice so Ducky could hear his teasing.

"About time you learned something from my rants, young man." Ducky teased back, "You better keep it up."

Everyone in the group laughed at the banter. When Palmer looked up at McGee and Tony he was surprised to see that they were so far ahead of the others. "I think we should pick up our pace a little." Palmer gestured to the two men a head of them, "They're in their own world."

Ducky and Gibbs were still smiling at the teasing that had just gone on between the Palmer and Ducky, when the three in front of them speed up a bit.

Gibbs could see what he could only guess is the storage unit in front of him as he and Ducky speed up to keep pace.

"Looks like Tony and McGee have a quicker stride then we do." Gibbs said smiling as he saw his two you boys he thought as sons quite a bit ahead of the others.

"Yes, if to be young, is to experience the feeling of first love." Ducky said smiling at the boys.

"Am I a scary person, Duck?" Gibbs asked looking forward.

"No," Ducky said, "Not to the people who know you." Ducky looked at Gibbs with concern, "Why do you ask, Jethro?"

"Well, the boys were scared to tell me or even be open about their relationship, because of rule twelve." Gibbs states, "Am I to strict?"

"I feel that it was a combination of rule twelve and that they have been told by everyone that dating a coworker is a bad thing." Ducky stated, "Already stating that you're gay or bi is one thing, but to say you have a boyfriend takes it to a whole other level."

"Yeah, I can see that." Gibbs said, chuckling a bit, "I've always had a problem with rule twelve."

"Yes, yes you have Jethro." Ducky agreed. "I wonder if Anthony or Timothy was the first to admit their feelings for the other."

"I bet it was Tony." Gibbs stated with a smirk, "To McGee," Gibbs added, " he might have been the second to realize his feelings for the other."

"I wonder if Timothy is nervous about their relationship." Ducky stated, not really expecting an answer.

"Why would McGee have to be worr-"Gibbs stopped as they reached the storage unit. He wanted to finish the conversation, but not when the others could hear his discussion.

Gibbs smiled as Abby seemed so enthralled with just unlocking the lock that she was practically beaming from ear to ear.

They followed Tony and McGee into the storage unit, which was bigger than they thought it, would be. There were tons of boxes that seemed to have not been touched in a long time.

Gibbs spotted a few boxes that had been moved recently and were open. He glanced in one as they passed them, they had some decorations. He had been surprised that Tony's place was so decorated.

They near the back of the storage area were a nicely finished wooden box that they saw held all more of the same kind of dishes.

"Where did you get all these dishes from?" Gibbs questions as he put his away. "You never had a really big family."

Gibbs and Ducky noticed the look that McGee gave Tony. They didn't know what to make of it, it seemed to be filled with concern, but why?

"It was from an old friend." Tony said, "He gave it to me a while ago."

Tony didn't elaborate and nobody seemed to notice anything odd about it. Gibbs did, looking at Ducky Gibbs found that he had noticed too.

McGee grabbed Tony's hand and intertwined their fingers and squeezed. Ducky and Gibbs walked a head of the others who were questioning Tony about what was all in the storage unit.

"As I was saying before," Gibbs asked continuing the conversation from before "Why would McGee be worried about his relationship with Tony. Tony is more loyal then anyone in the world."

"I wasn't saying that there was anything wrong with Anthony." Ducky said back, "I was just saying that with the way that Tony used to brag about his one night things and all the girls, I would feel insecure about my relationship too."

"Yeah, Tony always came off as a player type didn't he." Gibbs said, "Though, I know that he was just trying to keep a barrier up, make people think that he wasn't who he really is."

"Anthony is a big question sign isn't he." Ducky said.

"Yeah, but McGee is just as much as a question mark." Gibbs stated, "I've hardly heard about his family or what it was like for him when he was a kid."

"I wonder if Timothy and Anthony are more alike than we actually know." Ducky questioned, "Maybe not to the same extreme as Senior was, but still a gap in the family."

"Maybe." Gibbs pondered as they finished walking up the stairs to Tony's floor and waited for him to open the door to the apartment.

I hope that you enjoyed this little filler chapter. My writers block is basically gone, but I have one thing that is keeping me from having a good next chapter.

Reviews are nice. ;D