Author's note: Finally, the FIOverse sequel to Second Law. A bit of FIOverse history: Gibbs' and Tony's relationship started its transformation in Post Obsession Conversation in May of 2010, with the events of Figuring It Out starting up right after that, and then Second Law beginning sometime around mid-June; Tony moved in with Gibbs in early August. Need to Know picks up in early October, so they've been living together for about two months. It would certainly help to have read the previous stories in this series, but it may not be absolutely necessary. There's some mention of original characters from Second Law in this chapter, and there may be other references to previous events in the series in future chapters.

Important point: the FIOverse assumes canon up to the end of the season seven episode Obsession, and then goes AU from there, so nothing in canon since that episode has happened. Tony's only dealings with his father have been in the season seven episode Flesh and Blood; none of the rest of the episodes involving Anthony DiNozzo Sr. have happened in this 'verse, so his relationship with Tony is not what it has since become on the show.

The usual disclaimers apply: I do not own NCIS or the recognizable characters from the show. I write these stories because I love the show and the characters and have the utmost respect for everyone involved in their creation.

I hope to post weekly, but can't promise that will happen. Very, very special thanks and chocolate bunnies go out to gosgirl for the beta read on this story!

Need to Know

1: Family

Home

Jethro Gibbs jogged up his front steps, reached for the door handle, and promptly crashed into the door when it didn't open. He stepped back a pace, rubbing at his shoulder where it had impacted the door, and sighed as he fished in his pocket for the keys he still wasn't used to carrying. Two months, and I still can't remember that Tony locks the door.

He opened the door, went through, then pushed it shut behind him, flipping the deadbolt.

"Tony?"

There was no answer. Jethro tossed his keys onto the small table next to the door, then moved forward to stand in the entryway to the living room. Still not used to these changes either… they're good ones, though.

Tony's huge leather couch took up a good part of the room, and his flat screen TV hung on the opposite wall. There was a console that held the DVD player and Tony's stereo system; next to that was the cabinet they'd finished together just before Tony had moved in, the one that held his movies and music. The walls had been repainted a light cream color, with a glossy finish that brightened the place. Shannon's picture still hung on the wall, with a few others showing her and Jethro together, and one of both of them with Kelly. Tony had framed and put that one up without Jethro's knowledge; the older man had been taken aback, but hadn't been as thrown by it as he would have expected. He still found it difficult to look at the picture for long, but it was getting a bit easier over time.

There was a new recliner as well, one that Tony occasionally fell asleep on while watching movies, and a lamp in the corner that cast a warm light throughout the room in the evenings. Tony had surprised Jethro with it, saying it was time the man stopped living in a cave. Jethro chuckled at the memory, then headed out of the room and into the kitchen to grab a beer.

Tony's touch was evident here too: updated appliances, an island on wheels that afforded more counter space, a hanging rack for pots and pans off to one side. New paint as well, and a framed movie poster on the wall near the door to the basement. There were a few movie posters scattered around the house now. Most of them were classics, movies that meant a lot to Tony for one reason or another. Jethro made a point of watching those movies, trying to puzzle out why Tony chose those particular posters. He could have just asked, but he enjoyed ferreting out the answers, and Tony clearly enjoyed his investigations.

Jethro stretched and rubbed at his shoulder again; it wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't hit it earlier while installing the new shelving units in Abby's closets. He sighed, downed a quarter of his beer, than set the bottle down on the counter and headed for the stairs to the second floor.

Beaker still sat in his chair, and Jethro grinned at the bear, remembering the Saturday a few weeks ago when Tony hadn't been feeling well; Jethro had to go in to work for a meeting in MTAC, and Tony had complained about being abandoned until Jethro grabbed the bear and put it in bed next to his lover. Tony had grinned at him, snuggled up to the bear, and quickly fallen back to sleep. Jethro had taken a few pictures with his cell phone – it was Tony's fault for teaching him how to use it – and when he'd returned after a few hours, Tony was still cuddling with the furry monstrosity.

Jethro took off his shirt, tossing it onto the comfy chair that had previously sat in Tony's apartment bedroom, and went to the nightstand, fishing out a tube of Icy Hot and rubbing some onto his shoulder. He'd started buying the unscented kind as a means of self-preservation; if Tony could smell the stuff on him, he asked a million questions, and the scent was strong enough that it impeded Jethro's ability to sneak up on the man.

Jethro was putting his shirt back on when he heard the front door open, and his name called from downstairs. "Up here!" He headed out of the room, head slapping Beaker on the way out, and jogged down the stairs to find Tony in the kitchen, unloading groceries from plastic bags.

"Hey," Jethro greeted, walking up behind his partner and sliding his arms around him, dropping a kiss on the back of his neck.

Tony turned around, smiling brightly. "Hey back." The younger man reached up, running his fingers through Jethro's hair, then pulled him in for a slow, deep kiss, rumbling happily in his throat. It lasted over a minute, until Jethro pulled away to breathe.

"Wow, Tony… what was that for?"

Tony grinned, then ruffled Jethro's hair. "Reward for locking the door. I'll get you trained yet."

Jethro rolled his eyes. "How do you know my locking the door isn't training you to give me kisses like that?"

Tony thought about that for a second, then leaned in to drop a kiss on Jethro's nose. "Either way. Win-win, works for me."

Jethro grinned and moved to help put the food away.

Tony opened the fridge and took the handoffs from Jethro, rearranging a few things on the shelves to make room. "How was Abby?"

"Excited."

Tony laughed. "Of course. She's always happy when you spend time with her. Shelves done?"

"Yeah. Still have more repairs to do, but she had a date to get ready for, so I'll go back sometime this week if we don't get a case."

Jethro reached for a couple of steaks, feeling his shoulder twinge as he did; he paused to rub at it and stretch it out again, then grabbed the steaks and turned to see Tony standing by the open refrigerator, eyebrows raised. "You forgot the door was locked again, didn't you?"

Jethro rolled his eyes and moved forward with the steaks, giving Tony a light tap to the head as he reached around him to put them in the bin. "If you'd just leave it unlocked, there wouldn't be a problem."

Tony returned the favor, gently bopping Jethro on the top of his head. "Security measures, Jeth. What if someone just walked in and was waiting to ambush you?"

Jethro smiled. "I'd use those super-sneaky Marine skills you always accuse me of using on you."

Tony's eyebrows shot up again. "Should I be jealous?"

"Not those skills, Tone." Jethro reached over and grasped Tony's hips, pulling him close. He kissed Tony's lips slowly, then pressed another kiss to the corner of Tony's mouth, then to his neck, lingering for a moment to inhale his scent. "Those are only for you."

Tony reached up when Jethro pulled back, tracing his fingers over the older man's lips. "Have I told you how happy I am about that?"

"Not today."

"I'm really, really happy about that."

"Good." Jethro gazed into Tony's eyes and smiled, then raised his eyebrows. "What's for dinner?"

Tony threw together a stir fry while Jethro watched. They speculated about Abby's date, Ducky's new coursework, and the convention that McGee had put in for time off to attend. The term 'Comic Con' meant nothing to Jethro, and even after a few explanations, it still didn't really seem to make sense.

They sat at the table to eat, doing so in comfortable silence for a few minutes, until Tony had cleared off about half his plate as well as half his beer. "Got an email from Eddie earlier today… says Segel's doing a great job out there."

"Yeah?"

"Apparently he did his first solo interrogation a couple of days ago… Eddie said he was muttering 'channel Gibbs' over and over before he went in."

Jethro laughed. "Eddie say if he pulled it off?"

"He got the confession, so I guess so."

"Kid surprises me."

"You knew he had potential; you'd have kicked him off the team if he didn't."

"True enough. Anything on the lawsuit?"

Tony sat back in his chair. "Oh, yeah, that's the best part. Judge threw out Burrows' claims of gender discrimination. Said there was no evidence to back it up, especially since I was brought in as an impartial observer. Eddie said my report helped, but the kicker was what happened to Fitzy, and the fact that Taylor was placed on leave as well."

"So you won't have to go back to Seattle to testify."

"Unless she can get another lawyer to try a higher court. Scuttlebutt says she annoyed the previous one so badly that she got dropped as a client."

Jethro grunted in satisfaction. He hadn't wanted Tony to go back to Seattle without him.

They finished eating and Tony helped Jethro clean up in the kitchen. As he put away the last plate, he turned to Jethro, giving him his version of Bambi eyes. "Movie?"

Jethro raised an eyebrow and tried to look stern. "It's a Sunday night in October. You don't want to watch a game?"

"None of our teams are playing tonight. I feel like being nostalgic."

Jethro turned to face him and leaned one hip against the counter. "What movie?"

Tony grinned at him. "The Big Chill. 1983, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Kevin Kline, Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, William Hurt… other big names too. Several Oscar nominations."

Jethro tilted his head. "I think I saw that one with Shannon."

"You up for it with me?"

Jethro looked at him. "Pretty much up for anything with you," he said, then could have kicked himself for it.

Tony's grin widened, and a glint appeared in his eye. "I have you wrapped around my little finger, don't I?"

Jethro snorted. "With great power comes great responsibility."

The grin slid from Tony's face. "You just quoted a Spiderman movie."

"The comic book, actually."

"Whatever. Every time you do that, you mess with my head."

Jethro smirked at him, then pushed off the counter and moved around Tony to the fridge, giving the other man a firm smack to his rear as he passed him. "Go on, set up your movie."

They sat next to each other on the couch, beer and popcorn at the ready, lights off and TV on. Jethro looked at the DVD case by the light coming from the screen. "Yeah, I did see this. Don't really remember much… why does it make you nostalgic?"

"Just the feel of it… I dunno, tough to explain."

Jethro glanced at Tony, but his partner was settling back, his eyes on the screen. He shrugged, and followed suit, deciding to try to figure it out as he watched.

About an hour later, the film was paused, a little square hopping slowly around the screen while Jethro was on his back on the couch, being subjected to a very thorough investigation of various body parts when Tony's phone rang. Tony muttered something but stayed focused on what he was doing to Jethro's neck, until after about four rings, Jethro gave Tony a light head slap and mentioned rule 3.

Tony sighed and sat up, smoothing his hair into place and adjusting his shirt. He picked up his phone from the coffee table, and answered without looking at the screen, his eyes on Jethro's. "DiNozzo."

"Hello, Junior."

Disruption

"Dad?!" Tony's eyes widened and he stared at Jethro, who met his gaze calmly and reached out to squeeze Tony's knee.

"Am I calling at a bad time?"

"Uh, well, no, I guess…"

"Ah, you've got some female company, don't you?"

Tony could hear the smirk in his father's voice.

"No, no woman, Dad."

"No matter, I'll keep this short. I'm going to be in town in a few days –"

"Here? In D.C.?"

"Well, yes, Junior, why would I call you if I was going somewhere else?"

"Yeah, good point." Tony dropped his free hand and reached for Jethro's, entwining their fingers.

"So, plan on dinner Wednesday night, the two of us. We need to talk."

"Sure, Dad, no problem. You're getting in on Wednesday?"

"That's right."

"And you're staying until when?"

"I'd like to stay through the weekend, spend some time with you."

"Really."

"Of course."

"You're coming here to spend time with me." Tony gripped Jethro's hand harder.

"Now why is that so difficult to understand? I'm your father."

"You've got to admit, Dad, this isn't something we really do."

"Yes, well, maybe it's time we change that. Just a minute, Junior." Tony could hear his father speaking to someone else, followed by the sound of laughter. Then Senior came back on the line. "I have to go, Anthony. I'll see you Wednesday. Give my best to those lovely women for me… Abby and Ziva. Especially Ziva."

The call cut off, and Tony lowered the phone to stare at it.

Jethro propped himself up on one arm. "Your dad's coming for a visit."

Tony blinked and let go of Jethro's hand, rubbing at his fingers as he realized how tightly he'd been holding on. "So he says. Wants to meet for dinner Wednesday night."

Jethro nodded. "Might not be a bad thing. He owes you a thank you for that trip to Monte Carlo."

Tony shook his head, then looked at the screen. "Figures he'd call during a movie about dysfunctional relationships."

Jethro watched as Tony reached for the remote, switching off the DVD and letting the screen's blank glow light the room. The older man scooted back a bit while Tony shifted off of his legs, sitting up and leaning against the back of the couch, propping his head on his hand. Tony sat there, staring at the screen without moving. It didn't take long for Jethro to get a little impatient.

"Talk to me."

Tony laughed humorlessly. "Where do I start? Didn't expect to hear from him for months yet, much less see him again so soon."

"Is it really so bad?"

Tony sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. Still don't know what to make of how we left things."

"What do you mean?" Jethro reached out and laid his hand on Tony's upper arm, rubbing gently.

Tony leaned toward him just a bit. "It's just… he told me he loves me. I still have no idea what he means by that."

"You think there has to be an ulterior motive?"

"With him? There usually is."

"You think he didn't mean it?"

"I don't know what to think. I can't remember ever hearing him say it before, not even when I was a little kid. Why then? Was it because he knew I paid his bills, got him that plane ticket? Was it because of what you said to him? Was he setting me up for something?"

Jethro moved closer and moved his hand from Tony's arm to his neck, squeezing gently before running his fingers through Tony's hair. "Is it possible he was just expressing his true feelings?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't know. I have no idea what my dad looks like when he's expressing his true feelings. Everything's a con with him, a game."

Jethro considered his next words carefully. "I made some assumptions about my dad," he offered. "Started to see past those, during that case in Stillwater… we're doing better."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, but…"

"You should give him a chance."

Tony sighed. "Yeah."

Jethro glanced at the screen. "Wanna finish the movie?"

"Not really… kinda lost interest."

They sat in silence for a moment, until Jethro moved to put his arm around Tony's shoulders. "What do you need, Tony?"

"I don't even know."

Jethro nodded to himself, then stood up, squeezing Tony's shoulder. "Switch the TV off, then come upstairs." He picked up the empty bowl and beer bottled, and headed for the kitchen.

Tony watched him go, listened to the noises of things being rinsed and placed in the sink, then watched as Jethro walked past the living room and went up the stairs. He sat there for a few minutes, then quickly switched off the television, double-checked that the door was locked, and headed up the stairs.

He reached the bedroom to see Jethro wearing nothing but sweatpants, the covers turned down on the bed, and a few lit candles sitting on the nightstands. He stood there, unsure of what to do, just watching while Jethro opened a drawer and pulled out some massage oil, then turned to look at him.

"Come on, Tone… he's got you in knots. Let me fix that."

Tony nodded and relaxed a bit, stripping down to his boxers before lying on the bed. Jethro moved to straddle him, poured a little oil on his hands, and warmed it up before getting to work on Tony's neck and shoulders.

"You know this will put me to sleep, Jeth." Tony's voice was a bit muffled by the pillow.

"I know. Nothing wrong with that."

"Sorry… my dad, he just –"

"S'okay, Tony."

Tony sighed, relaxing into Jethro's touch, until he suddenly went rigid and his eyes shot open. "Oh, hell."

Jethro raised his hands and sat back. "What?"

"Dad doesn't know about us."

"Yeah. You want to tell him?"

Tony was silent for several minutes while Jethro went back to work on him. "Not really. I have no idea how he'll react."

"He gonna have a problem with this?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't think so… I know he's had gay business partners, but money pretty much trumps everything with him, so that may not mean much."

"We don't have to tell him, not if you don't want to."

"Prob'bly for the best."

More silence while Jethro worked his way down Tony's back.

"Ya know that doesn' mean 'm 'shamed 'f'us, righ'?"

Jethro grinned at Tony's failing attempts to stay awake and coherent. "I know that, Tony, don't worry. Sleep… you're going to need it."

Jethro kept up the massage until he was sure Tony was asleep; he carefully got up off the bed and cleaned off his hands before blowing out the candles and sliding onto the mattress, pulling the covers up over them both. He turned on his side and put his arm around Tony, who snuggled into him in his sleep. Jethro closed his eyes, but it took him a long time to follow Tony into slumber.