A/N: Okay, I really, really, really shouldn't have done that and I really don't know why I've done it, but again, my muses were very insistent that I start this story, and sorry that the first chapter is so short, but it's kind of a test drive, how you like it...

Again, I can only hope you won't hate me for this idea and maybe you will like it a little *smiles hopefully*

It's not set around any particular episode of NCIS or Leverage, so you can let your imagination run wild *grins*

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Comments would be more than appreciated, especially since I don't know, if I should really turn this into a story, even though I've the whole plot lined out in my head and I have even written the last chapter... well, more or less, and I only need to figure out how exactly to get there...

Well, now enough of my ramblings and have fun reading *smiles*

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Warnings: SLASH (Eliot/Tony), Tony!whump and a lot of Eliot!whump and maybe OOCness in later chapters...

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Disclaimer: None of the Leverage or NCIS characters belong to me and I'm just borrowing the characters for that little story. This is just for fun and not for money...

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Summary: A chance encounter between Eliot Spencer and Tony DiNozzo might just be what saves the two of them. It might be what Tony needs to be happy again by choosing a new path. And it might just save Eliot from going down that dark path again... (SLASH)

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The You only miss it when it's gone Job

Chapter 1

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A dull noise reached Tony DiNozzo's ears when his fist made contact with the worn leather of the punching bag. Again and again he hammered the battered leather, trying to get rid of the tension that coiled in his body. He hadn't even opted to wear boxing gloves, because he wanted to feel the pain. He needed to stop feeling so numb and any pain helped. Again Tony swung his hand, ready to give the punching bag one last punishing blow and then he'd call it quits.

Normally he might have used the gym at the headquarters, but the last thing he needed today, was that one member of his so-called team caught him. Tony had been more than happy to slip out of the bullpen when the others had been bonding... again on his expanse, something that happened more often than not in the last days.

Sure, maybe he was overreacting, but once again he hadn't been invited to a team-hangout at Abby's... at Abby's of all places. They had apologized, well Abby and McGee had, but right now, he really wasn't ready to face them anymore, after the Petty Officer they had rescued and who didn't even know him, had told them about Tony's little run-in with the dog. It had nearly bitten his hand off, but the team obviously found that funny. Well, McGee hadn't and Tony was kind of grateful for that, remembering how he had teased him after his own encounter with a German Shepard.

But still, after all the things that had happened over the last days, the not-invitation only the tip of the iceberg, Tony had needed a little time to himself.

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And that was why he found himself here, where he always retreated to when he needed time to think, his hand about ready to hit the punching bag really hard. But before it could, another hand closed around his wrist, effectively stopping the hand.

"If you hit the bag like that, you'll break your wrist," a deep, rumbling voice told him and Tony's head whipped around to be faced with a long-haired man, blue eyes looking curiously at him, his own hand still closed around Tony's wrist. The man's hair was tied in a ponytail and his lips were curled into a slight smile. Tony had never seen him around, so he assumed he wasn't a regular, because DiNozzo came to this little gym often enough to know all the regulars.

"None of your business," he snapped, yanking his hand free from the other man's grip. He really wasn't in the mood for small talk with a stranger. To his credit the shorter, but, judging by his frame and the way he held himself that screamed military, none the less stronger man than Tony, didn't even flinch. Tony studied him carefully and he looked a little like a cowboy in workout clothes and DiNozzo had no idea where that thought had come from, but he didn't have time to think about it, because the stranger was talking again.

"Maybe not, but I'd think that an NCIS agent needs both of his hands for the job," he drawled, grin still in place. Tony stared at the man for a second.

"Do I know you?" he questioned, hands crossed in front of his chest, tension rising again, because it was odd that this man knew that he was an NCIS agent, since most didn't even know what NCIS actually was.

"Nope, not yet," the other replied with a dirty grin that left no doubt that he was kind of flirting with DiNozzo. And not that he wasn't flattered, because the other was good-looking, but again, he wasn't in the mood for a one-night-stand tonight, especially if this was some creep, who had been watching and maybe stalking him to know who he was, and yes, Tony was paranoid enough that those thoughts crossed his mind.

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"And how do you know that I'm NCIS then?" he asked and the other snorted.

"You have a very distinctive stance and technique that just screams Navy-related, but your haircut doesn't match, so I figured you're NCIS, I've dealt with them more than once," he told him with a shrug and against his will Tony felt himself chuckle and he felt slightly better and a little more at ease.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Tony questioned, reaching for the towel that he had deposited on the bench beside the punching bag.

"Nah, just passing through, I'm here on a job, but I needed to work out a little steam after my team has done something stupid or I'll kill them instead. I figured the punching bag was a better option," the other man told him dryly, again with a shrug, obviously he came with a little anger of his own and Tony muttered: "I know that feeling."

"I thought so. That's why you wanna break that hand?"

The other man took a sip from his water bottle after asking that and Tony shrugged again.

"Not really breaking it, just feeling a little less numb," he answered and mirrored the action of the nan that had saved his hand, taking a sip of his own water bottle, waiting for the other man's reaction, which was not at all what Tony had expected.

"You know, there's another way to feel less numb. Maybe we could have some beers together and talk about our teams. I've been told that talking about it helps."

There was so much sarcasm in that last sentence that Tony couldn't help but laugh for a second. He appreciated the other man's dry humor and so he didn't really mind the invitation.

"Are you trying to pick me up?" he questioned, amused glint in his eyes. The other shrugged again.

"Thought it was worth a shot. I mean, you're obviously upset, I'm upset, so let's be upset together and have a few good beers while we're at it, because I'm sure you know a place that has good beer in this town. And if you'd shot me down, it wouldn't lead to any future embarrassing encounters, because I'm leaving town in a few days."

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Again, the other was straight forward and Tony appreciated it. Well, he hadn't been in the mood for a one-night-stand before, but the longer he talked to the stranger, who really wasn't unpleasant to look at, quite the contrary, he was handsome with those piercing blue eyes and that southern charm and probably a good body hidden underneath those clothes, the more he was willing. And having a few beers couldn't hurt, since he had tomorrow off anyway. And if he ended in bed with a handsome stranger, well, that would at least take his mind off of his problems.

"Then I guess you're lucky. I know just the place where we can get good beer and talk about our problems." Tony winced at the last part of that sentence and the stranger chuckled.

"You know, there are other things we could talk about, for example, which football team do you root for," he suggested, grabbing his own bag that he had dropped while talking to DiNozzo, shouldering it. Tony grinned and clapped the other man on the bag.

"Now you're speaking my language," he informed, grabbing his own bag and the two walked towards the showers in silence and just before they parted to get dressed and get out of here, Tony extended his hand towards the stranger.

"I'm Tony by the way. If we're having beer together, we should at least be on first name basis," he explained. The other man hesitated for a second, before shaking Tony's hand, the one he had stopped from being broken and told him with a hint of a smile, and again slight hesitation: "I'm Eliot."

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to be continued, if you're interested...

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So, how bad was it?

And please don't mind my totally unlogical Eliot line about how he knew that Tony was NCIS without being told, but I wanted to get "It's a very distinctive xy" in there somehow *grin*