3 A.M.

Summary: Tony knows all of Gibbs' rules, he knows them better than anyone else. How did that happen?

Disclaimer: According to my best friend, when a character in born in my brain, they're doomed to a life of torment, torture and, well, death. So I suppose it's a good thing I don't own anything on NCIS, otherwise they'd be even worse off. All characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, CBS and Shane Brennan (Which may or not be a good thing). I'm just playing with them for a while. The title is from the Matchbox Twenty song, 3 A.M., so I don't even own that. All I own is the idea.

Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo (One of these days, I'm gonna mess you up and write a TIVA or something)

Warning: As implied above, this story is SLASH, nothing new there. There's also minor spoilers for the Season 7 finale. Its not about the plot or anything that really matters, don't worry. But I saw something at the end that made my mojo start churning.

Author's Note: This story takes place sometime in season 3, nothing from the actual show is used, but Ziva is already on the team, and Hiatus hasn't happened yet. Enjoy!

The bed was cold.

Tony groaned, his arm reaching around, trying to find the warm body that he was wrapped up with only a few hours ago. But the bed was empty. He popped one eye open. Sure enough, his bed partner was nowhere to be found.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows. There was no light around. Nothing from the bathroom, or even the hallway. Most likely, his latest lover was in the basement, pissed off about what they had just done, and trying to work out that anger with a hammer.

The clock on the nightstand told him it was three o clock in the morning. He groaned again. He didn't want to be awake. He wanted to be asleep, cuddled against his bedmate's back, listening to soft even breathing. Didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon.

Damn it, he was hoping they could at least wait until the morning before they did this. He pushed the blankets away, pulled his boxers on and trotted into the hallway.

He was about to head down the stairs when something caught his attention. There was a door open down the way, light flooding into the hall. He didn't know that room. He patted his way down.

"Gibbs?" He leaned against the doorway.

Gibbs was slumped over, looking at something. He too, only wore a pair of boxers, although they looked cleaner than Tony's. He didn't look up.

Slowly, the younger man stepped closer. The room was full of boxes, and a queen sized bed, but there was no bedding. No comfortor, no sheets. It was just a bed taking up space in the middle of the floor. Tony didn't know what this room was for. He was curious, but he didn't want to push it.

"Gibbs?" He asked again.

"Rule twelve," was all he said.

Tony had to think about that one for a while. It was late, and his mind was still in an after sex haze. Then it dawned on him. "Never date a coworker."

He finally moved close enough so he could see what Gibbs was looking at. It was a slip of paper. The words "Rule # 12, Never date a coworker" were written across it. Tony smiled. "Ziva will be pleased to know that you actually did write them down."

Gibbs finally looked up, glaring. "I wrote them down years ago, DiNozzo."

That made the younger man's smile fade. "Ok, boss. What's going on?" He knelt down in front of the man. He gently placed a hand on Gibbs' thigh. Gibbs pulled away, a hint of disgust on his face. Tony sighed. "This is about more than just breaking the rules, isn't it?"

Gibbs didn't answer.

"Is it because I'm a man?"

Still no response.

It wasn't really a surprise. Gibbs was never much of a talker. He was a man of few words but many thoughts. Tony always had a hard time keeping up. It was one of the things he admired most about his mentor.

Gibbs picked up something from a little wooden box and handed it over. Tony stared down at a photo of a young Gibbs with a beautiful redheaded woman and a little girl. Tony's jaw dropped. Seeing the picture, and everything seemed to fall into place. Gibbs' constant moodiness. The young Marine in the photograph was glowing as he looked at the two girls.

Tony felt his heart shatter.

"How," his voice caught in his throat. He swallowed around the lump and tried again. "How'd they…" He still couldn't say it.

Gibbs looked up at him, a little astonished. "How'd you know they died?"

"Because you never mentioned that you had a daughter."

He earned a ghost of a smile for that. It was out of pride. Even for a subject so dark, he was proud of Tony's investigative skills. That warmed the otherwise chilly room a little.

Tony took a quick look around the room. It was bigger than Gibbs' bedroom. He sighed again. "This is the master bedroom." He turned back to Gibbs. "You stopped sleeping in here after she died?" He shouldn't have said anything. It wasn't any of his business.

As quickly as it appeared, the grin was gone. It was replaced with a frown and a headshake. Gibbs dropped his head, refusing to meet Tony's eyes again. "I can't, I—" He covered his eyes with his fingers.

Tony reached forward and rested his hands on Gibbs' thighs again. "Hey, it's ok. I don't need to know."

Again Gibbs pulled away.

Tony plopped down, adding a little distance between him and Gibbs. He sighed heavily. "I was really hoping that we could wait to have this talk until the morning. When I'm not exhausted. And sore." Every time he moved his legs, his backside yelled at him.

Gibbs scoffed. He still looked miserable, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice. "You're sore? You ain't exactly gentle, DiNozzo."

Tony smiled. He and Gibbs had switched positions during their encounter. Gibbs went first. Tony took his revenge.

"So, did you pull out rule twelve to have a physical thing you could shove in my face?"

Gibbs sighed. "This shouldn't have happened."

Tony shrugged. "Probably not. But it was fun."

That earned him another small smile. But, just like last time, it disappeared almost immediately. "Tony, I could list a dozen reasons why this was a bad idea."

"I could list the same ones. And I could add a few." He waited a second to see if he'd get another grin. He did. "Gibbs, I'm not asking for a ring here. If you say it was a onetime thing, I'll walk away, no hard feelings. If you say you never wanna talk about it, my lips are sealed." He shook his head. "Just don't tell me you regret it."

Gibbs looked deep into his eyes. Tony could see so much pain and heartache. He didn't know how he never saw that before. How could he not have realized sooner that Gibbs had been a parent? He knew Gibbs better than McGee and Kate, although probably not better than Ziva. But he never made a dossier on the man for his homicidal terrorist half brother.

"I don't." He wasn't lying.

Tony gave the older man a soft smile of his own. He got to his feet and placed a light kiss to Gibbs' forehead. It was completely innocent, he just had to urge to do it. He couldn't explain it, especially after what he just said, but it felt right. Personal. He didn't really do personal with any of his past encounters. They'd meet, they'd have sex, Tony would leave in the middle of the night like a theif. But he didn't want that with Gibbs. Even though he said there'd be no hard feelings. Whenever he was around the older man, he always felt more at home than he had in a long time.

He turned and started to walk away. Then a thought came to him, and he found himself slowly turning around, an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Boss, since this could be the only chance I have to see all the rules laid out on paper..."

Gibbs actually gave him a full smile on that one. It was the first real one he'd ever seen Gibbs have. And he was the one who put it there. It was probably one of the proudest moments of his life.

Gibbs waved him over. "Come here."

The younger man practically bounded for the bed. But at the last second he turned around and gently sat down next to Gibbs. The other man wrapped his arm around Tony's shoulder and pulled him closer. Their sides were pressed together, skin to skin. It was very intimate.

Then he pulled them both down.

Tony almost giggled at Gibbs' moment out of character. It wasn't like him to be playful, or cute. But Tony watched him smile and laugh. Damn it, he looked adorable.

Gibbs looked him straight in the eye. The glow he saw in the photograph was back. It made Tony's heart lurch. "Kelly would have loved you."

Tony wasn't sure if that was Gibbs' wife or daughter, but he was afraid to ask and spoil the moment.

Gibbs pulled the box onto his torso and pulled out a sheet of paper. Tony finally came back to reality and rested his head against Gibbs'.

In the morning, everything would be back to normal. They would never speak of this night again. Tony would have all of Gibbs' rules locked up in memory, but no one would ever know how he got them. Nothing would change.

But tonight, lying here next to the man, Tony could pretend they had an eternity ahead of them.

Talk to me!

Bob