Don't own them, if I did they'd be on tv still.
Thanks to Tammy Fitzwater for the loan of her Sentinel tape so I could see the boys interact in their natural environment. And to Matt for betaing and being a great cheerleader-nice knees!
Liberal use of fanon and canon in this story.
This story is a sequel to:

Alexandria, VA

The murder scene was grisly, and their suspect had disappeared. Tony put up his weapon, his nose wrinkling at the smell of fresh death. The coppery tang of newly shed blood wasn't doing much for his appetite either. "He's gone, boss."

"Gee DiNozzo, ya think?" Gibbs replied, frustration in every line of his body as he surveyed the scene.

Tony smothered a smile and began to search through the paperwork, phone books and computer printouts that were strewn over the coffee table. A word caught his attention and he picked up the paper. "Hey boss, look at this."

Gibbs moved to look over Tony's shoulder, "Cascade? Do they mean dishwashing detergent?" his voice was impatient.

"Look closer, oh wait, do you need your glasses?" Tony asked, completely straight faced.

This taunt made Gibbs lip twitch, but he would be damned if he smiled. "Just read it, Tony." He was acutely aware of the younger man's body. Just a little bit closer and they'd be touching.

"Cascade. 425 Elm St. Apartment D." The name Cascade triggered a memory for Tony and he frowned thoughtfully.

"Tell Abby to look up the address for every Cascade."

"You got it, Boss." Tony replied, physically forcing himself away from Gibb's body heat.

Cascade, WA

Blair was making tea, his eyes blindly staring into space. The opening of the bathroom door made him glance over and try not to drool as his room mate stepped out. Jim was rubbing his hair with a towel, another towel slung low around his hips, leaving his muscular body exposed. `God,' Blair thought longingly. The phone ringing jerked him of his daze, "Hello?"

"Sandburg. I need you and Ellison to meet me at 425 Elm. There's a possible hostage situation."

Blair glanced over at Jim who was listening as well. "You got it Simon." Simon grunted and hung up the phone.

"Nothing like a hostage situation first thing in the morning," Jim complained as he took the stairs two at a time to the loft to get dressed.

Blair chuckled, "I'll get you an oatmeal bar and we can stop at Starbucks on the way."

"Thanks, Chief," Jim called as he pulled on a pair of pressed jeans. He half listened as Blair did his morning chat routine while he moved around the kitchen. It was a comforting routine of years together, and the thought of it made him smile. He and Blair had lived together for 5 years. He and Carolyn had divorced after two. He thought it telling that he cared, (loved?) Blair more that he ever had loved his wife.

"Jim?" Blair's voice made him jolt.

"One sec, Sandburg," Jim called as he pulled on a dark blue blazer, then headed downstairs.

Simon glared impartially at everyone, but especially the head of the SWAT team. "What do you mean you can't get them on the phone?"

"He's not answering!" The hostage negotiator practically whined.

This exchange made Jim smile as he got out of his truck. "There's been no contact with the hostage taker."

Blair grabbed Jim's wrist to check the time, "It's been what, an hour? And no contact?"

"Weird," Jim agreed. They walked up and Jim extended his hearing, trying to isolate the sounds inside of the house from the chaos outside. He could feel Blair's hand on his back and it steadied him. Hearing nothing he frowned, almost zoning as he tried to find any kind of heartbeat. "There's no one inside Simon," he said quietly. "At least no one alive."

Simon's head whipped around. "Are you sure?" then cursed under his breath as his phone rang.

"Banks," he listened for a long moment. "Yeah, we're still out here, sir. No, no resolution yet. NCIS? Sir, I don't need government weenies interfering....Yes, sir. Interagency co-operation." He sighed impatiently as he slapped his phone shut. SWAT was getting ready to storm the house while they'd talked.

"What's NCIS?" Blair asked curiously. They watched as SWAT broke down the door and stormed inside.

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service," Simon answered. "They handle cases that involve Marine and Navy personnel. Apparently our missing hostage taker is a former Captain in the United States Navy, with a couple of murders under his belt."

"Shit," Jim said with feeling. A militarily trained murderer wasn't something he was looking forward to. "Who's the hostage?"

Simon was about to answer when an obvious rental vehicle pulled up behind Jim's truck and two men got out. "Here's our government weenies now."

Jim and Blair both turned to watch as the silver haired man and his partner headed their way. "Son of a bitch!" Jim snarled.

Tony pulled off his sunglasses and looked at the semi-organized mess of cops and SWAT that were everywhere. Suddenly he stiffened. "Oh, god-damnit," he said disgustedly, making Gibbs glance at him in surprise.

Jim moved forward to intercept the NCIS agents. "Well, well, if it isn't Detective Di-No-zzo," he drawled sarcastically.

Tony glared back. "Oh great, just great. It's the local yokel, Detective Ellison. You aren't retired yet?" he snapped back, moving up until he was practically chest to chest and nose to nose with the muscular cop.

Blair was surprised, and little concerned by the obvious territorial alpha male display. "Um, Jim?" Simon too was staring at the unusual behavior of his best cop.

"DiNozzo, what the hell?" Gibbs was bewildered and pissed. Tony was one of his most even-tempered agents and this behavior was totally unlike him.

Icy blue eyes glared into hard moss green ones, then Jim's lip twitched, and Tony snickered and the two men grabbed each other in bear hugs.

"Rocky!"

"Jamie!" the two men laughed and slapped each other on the back enthusiastically.

Jim smiled at the younger man. "So, how ~is~ the `Italian Stallion'?"

"Ohgod, I haven't been called that for years. I'm good, how are you big guy?" Tony asked, reluctantly stepping back from his old friend. And lover.

"I'm great, what's it been, 5, 6 years?" Jim could remember the great times that they had together, and how Tony had helped him back when his senses were already starting to whack out.

"Something like that," Tony agreed. He grinned over Jim's shoulder. "Hey Captain Banks, long time no see."

Simon suddenly recognized the younger agent. "Oh yeah, you're that kid from Baltimore."

The SWAT commander came out of the house and pulled off his helmet, grimacing in disgust. "It's clear, Captain. Looks like he crawled out the back window, there's blood all over."

"Hostage?"

"No body."

Gibbs looked at Tony. "Grab your gear and let's get in a get samples and photos for Abby."

"You got it, boss." Tony said cheerfully, winking at Jim before walking back to the rental.

Simon's phone rang again but he ignored it for the moment. "Ellison, you and Sandburg stick with the NCIS guys." He impatiently answered his phone, "Banks!" he barked.

Gibbs and Tony headed in first with the Cascade detectives on their heels. Gibbs went one way with evidence bags while Tony began documenting the scene on film.

As Jim watched he could see the changes in his former lover. Tony was calmer, more focused and as Jim watched he could see the absolute devotion the younger agent had for the older one.

"So..." Blair began hesitatingly as he watched the NCIS agents professionally gather up evidence.

Jim raised an amused eyebrow. "So what, Darwin?" He could almost smell Blair's curiosity.

"How do you know Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony came back into the living room. "Jamie, could ya come here for a minute? I need you to look at something."

Gibbs walked in to hear Tony. "What is it, DiNozzo?" he barked.

"It's okay, boss. Nothing for you to worry about, I've got Jamie," Tony replied, dragging Jim to the back of the house.

In the back bedroom Jim smiled warmly. "Well, if I'd known you were going to be this eager..."

Tony snorted. "Ha ha. Check this out," he handed over an empty notepad. Neither man noticed Blair in the doorway.

Jim nodded and rubbed his fingers over the paper, closing his eyes to focus. "It's pretty weird, wait, I think it might be code, um, yeah, Morse code," he opened his eyes. "You ready to write this down?"

"Yeah." Tony pulled his PDA out and looked at Jim expectantly. "Shoot."

Concentrating, Jim closed his eyes again. "Highway 72 to Morgan Road, then turn right on county line. Gray house with small barn out back," he opened his eyes again. "How did you know, Tony?"

Blair thought that Jim meant his abilities, but Tony's answer surprised him. "There's no paper or anything by the phone in the kitchen, and he crawled out of the window in here," Tony shrugged. "No brainer."

Jim laughed. "Way to go, Rocky," he took the PDA, then looked up at a very surprised Blair. "Hey, Chief."

"He knows?" Blair asked incredulously, and something like hurt might have flashed through those blue eyes.

Tony and Jim shared a knowing look, then Jim nodded. "He figured out something was different about me when we worked together last time."

Gibbs' shout of, "DiNozzo!" made Tony wince.

"Let me show this to Gibbs and see what he wants to do."

Gibbs looked from his agent to the bland faced cop and his little sidekick. "And how did you find this?"

"Deductive reasoning, boss," Tony said cheerfully. He glanced over at Jim and saw the big man smother a smile. Blair had to look away to hide his amusement.

The fact that the three men he faced were hiding something made Gibbs sigh. "Well, let's go, damnit. We'll follow you."

Jim nodded. "Let me notify Simon first. C'mon, Chief," he said to Blair and they headed off.

Inside the car, Gibbs kept glancing at Tony who was driving. "DiNozzo, how long have you known Ellison?"

Tony flashed back to the motel room , his hips snapping forward as he buried himself into Jamie's excellently toned ass, as they fucked for three solid days. It reaffirmed for them that life wasn't all ugly murder and violence. He rolled his shoulders, his sudden arousal making him twitchy.

"Um, I dunno, 5 years I guess. We worked a case together, a child kidnapping and murder. It was just before I went to work for you."

Gibbs could sense that there was more but it didn't seem like Tony was going to give it up.

Once the four men got to the cabin, Tony stopped Gibbs from taking over. "Hang on for second, boss," he said quietly.

"And why do you think I should do that?" Gibb's voice was harsh with sarcasm.

Tony closed his eyes. "Gibbs, for god's sake, just for once trust my judgement," he bit out, his green eyes snapping open to glare. "Just once."

He ignored Gibb's surprise and stalked over to Jim who was waiting. "Can I help?" he asked, not letting his agitation leak out into the gentle tone.

Blair looked at him in surprise. "He's okay, I know what to do." The sheer jealousy that tore through him almost made him wobble on his feet. That Tony knew, and knew how to help Jim, just made him crazy on a personal level. Shit.

Tony nodded and patted Jim on the shoulder. "Get to it then, Jamie," he ordered softly, making Jim chuckle.

Jim looked at his guide. "And here we go..." and he extended his senses towards the cabin that was just behind the ridge. He could feel Blair touch his arm and it steadied him as he listened carefully. There. Two heartbeats, but one was sluggish, dying. He pulled back slightly and could hear the weeping of a woman, but hers was the strong heartbeat. "Something's happened to our suspect. We need to go in," he said.

Without replying, Tony jogged back to Gibbs. "We're going in."

"You have some explaining to do," Gibbs growled as he pulled his weapon.

"I can't," Tony said simply and he followed Jim and Blair over the rise.

They were let into the cabin by the traumatized victim. She'd held on as long as possible, and then when she'd found her chance, she'd stabbed her ex-husband in the heart with a steak knife.

Blair was with her as they waited for back up and the ambulances. Gibbs was trying to speak the dying man, while Tony and Jim did a quick check of the cabin. After the ambulances left, Jim looked over at Tony, "How about dinner after we finish with the paperwork?"

Tony's eyes heated and he saw the answering flush on Jim's face, he opened his mouth to answer when Gibbs said from behind him. "Sure, Ellison. I'd like to hear more about DiNozzo's time in Baltimore."

Blair came in and heard the tail end of the conversation. He was in agreement with Gibbs, he wanted to hear more about the young NCIS agent.

Jim smothered the grin as he caught Tony rolling his eyes, and turned to Blair. "How does Zobra's sound, Chief?"

Blair narrowed his eyes, then he saw that his partner was gonna jerk the NCIS agent's chain with the vegetarian restaurant. "Sounds great, big guy," he replied innocently, and saw the answering gleam of humor in Jim's eyes.

Later at the restaurant, Gibbs looked around suspiciously, then at his three companions. "Vegetarian? You have got to be kidding me."

"It's healthier for you, man. And you need something to purge that cranky aura that you have," Blair chimed in, at his hippie best. Tony had to turn away to smother a chuckle but Jim outright grinned.

"Hey, if I have to eat healthy then I get to torture the out of towners too," the big Cascade cop said self-righteously.

Blair rolled his eyes. "If it wasn't for me your arteries would be ready to pop and you'd stroke out, man."

Tony laughed. "Finally, someone to keep you in line."

"You have no idea," Jim growled, then yelped as Blair punched him He grabbed the shorter man around the head and gave him a quick noogie while getting swore at. This little byplay made Tony laugh with delight. He really liked Jim's partner.

Tony watched as Jim automatically ordered for himself and Blair. "Veggie? You getting healthy on me, Jamie boy?"

Jim made a face while Blair snorted. "Not bloody likely. I like the veggies but Jim likes to listen to his arteries harden into bricks."

"Getting old is a bitch," Tony replied solemnly and got cuffed by Gibbs. "Hey!!"

"Nothing wrong with eating healthy, DiNozzo," Gibbs pointed out.

"Oh. Oh! This from the man whose blood coffee volume is about three parts coffee to one part blood," scoffed the younger NCIS agent.

"Coffee is made from beans. A vegetable," Gibbs said with a straight face, and smirked as Tony fell about laughing, Blair and Jim joining him.

When everyone settled down, Gibbs eyed Blair curiously. "Did you write a book?"

Jim grinned. "Meet Dr. Blair Sandburg, author of `Police Society'," he introduced proudly.

Tony looked up in surprise. "You wrote a book on the police?"

"I've been riding with Jim as a police observer for several years," Blair said with a grin. "I had to do something with what I learned."

"It was a good book," Gibbs said to Blair. "It was very interesting how you point out the structures within police that help foster the closed societal factor. I actually used it when dealing with the local cops in Virginia."

"Wow," Blair said, a little shocked. "I didn't think it made it outside of Washington State's academic community. How did you get a copy?"

Gibbs shrugged as he forked up some zucchini, "A friend who I served with once upon a time. He's in the civilian side of law enforcement and thought I'd be interested in the book."

The men discussed the differences between military and civilian law enforcement, then Blair asked a question that had been bugging him. "So, how did you guys meet? Jim never said."

Jim swallowed and took a sip of his beer. "I was chasing a kidnapper to Baltimore and Rocky and I were assigned to work together. It was love at first sight."

Tony choked on his rice, then began to laugh. "Oh right, how many 'Italian Stallion' jokes did you torture me with? I was ready to drown you or smother you in your sleep."

The undisguised affection in Tony's voice made jealously churn in Gibbs' gut. It was almost as bad as the time Tony went chasing after Paula Cassidy.

Jim smiled back sweetly. "Yeah, but it was so true," his eyes met Tony's and memories of fast and tender fucks were exchanged. Tony saluted Jim with his beer bottle, taking a long drink.

"Boy, do I know what that feels like," Blair agreed with sincerity, making Jim cough in surprise.

"Hey! I'm the perfect roommate," Jim protested.

Tony's eyebrows rose. "You're roomies? Does he still fold his clothes to dump them into the hamper?" he asked Blair impishly.

Blair nodded solemnly. "But I broke him of color coding his tupperware."

Laughing, Tony could only shake his head. "If only I could break Gibbs of some of his bad habits."

Gibbs looked affronted. "I don't have any bad habits."

Tony held up his fingers. "Coffee addict, techno-phobia, your rules..."

Blair yelped. "He has rules too? Ohmigod, it must be a military thing. You were in the military, weren't you, Agent Gibbs?"

"Marine Corps," Tony hissed as if it were a secret. Gibbs tapped him on the side of the head, none too gently, making him rub there, scowling mightily.

Jim chuckled. "Oh c'mon you two, just because Agent Gibbs is formerly a jarhead does not make him narrow-minded and anal," he smirked at Tony who'd turned beet red at the word 'anal' while struggling to control wild laughter.

"Like you," Blair said self-righteously. "What's a jarhead?"

"Ohgod, stop, I'm gonna shoot beer out of my nose," Tony whimpered, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

Even Gibbs had to smile. "It's a reference to the haircuts we receive in the Corps."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense," Blair frowned thoughtfully. "You know, that would be an interesting paper on closed societies. How do the separate entities of the military interact, you know, like the Rangers and the Marines."

"We don't," Jim and Gibbs chorused, then exchanged grins.

"Of course you don't. What was I thinking?" Blair rolled his eyes.

Gibbs leaned back. "So, ~how~ did you meet?" The time for politeness was over, he wanted to know how close the two men had been.

Jim wiped his mouth with his napkin, hiding his smirk from the obviously jealous man. "It was a kidnapping," his eyes went to Tony's. "There were two little girls, one from Cascade, one from Baltimore. Tony and I met in Dallas in the pursuit of the kidnapper. One of the girls had left a note in the McDonald's bathroom, there."

Now Tony, who was busily peeling the label off of his beer bottle spoke up. "We kinda tripped over each other, both of us trying to take over the case," his eyes slid to Jim's. "We decided to work together. Reluctantly."

Both men fell silent, lost in memories. Blair cleared his throat. "What happened?" he prodded gently.

Jim smiled sadly at his partner. "It took us two and a half days to find the animal, and we almost made it in time."

"He killed them?" Gibbs asked.

"One of them." Tony clarified, "Sarah Temple, a fourth grader from Baltimore. She liked to roller-skate, collected Barbie's and played a mean game of soccer," he swallowed hard and Jim leaned over to touch Tony's hand.

"I'm gonna tell you again, it wasn't your fault," their eyes met, taking comfort from each other, and the two men with them felt very left out.

Sitting back, Jim pinched the bridge of his nose. "He'd just finished Sarah, and was about to start on Brittany when we busted in and Tony shot him." What really happened was Jim had frozen, overwhelmed by the tiny bloody body and Tony had saved both his and Brittany's bacon with his fast reflexes.

"Jim took Brittany home, then he flew back to Baltimore to stand with me at Sarah's funeral. Stepped in front of her mother who asked me why her baby didn't live," Tony put down his empty bottle, snagging Gibbs half finished beer and took a long swallow, and Gibbs didn't complain.

Jim sat silently for a moment. "Hey Tony, Brittany's almost fifteen and is a promising gymnast. She's won a lot of competitions."

Tony smiled bravely. "That's great, Jim."

"Not Brittany Slade?" Blair asked Jim curiously. He'd met her once or twice when she'd stopped by Major Crimes with Girl Scout Cookies.

Jim nodded. "She's the only one I'll buy Girl Scout cookies from."

"And that's a good thing, or you'd be as big as a house from all of the Thin Mints you'd buy," Blair snarked cheerfully, trying to raise the level of gloom that had settled over the two men. He looked at his watch. "Damn, I've got early classes in the morning. I need to get going"

"Sure Darwin, let me visit the little boy's room," Jim stood and Tony stood with him.

"Yeah, I need it too. Hey boss, pay up, would ya?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet but Jim shook his head. "Our treat. I'll charge it to Simon." He snickered as Blair guffawed.

Inside the restroom Tony was scribbling on a business card, then he turned as Jim walked around the corner. Blue eyes blazed as he was pressed against the wall and kissed within an inch of his life, "God," Tony gasped when Jim lifted his head.

"Is that card for me?" Jim purred and took it out of Tony's shaking hand. Neither man heard the restroom door open, both were absorbed in each other.

"Yeah, come over after ten. The boss goes to sleep early," Tony's voice was breathless with need, and Gibbs was shocked. When had Tony found a woman? Then what he heard next floored him...

Ellison's voice, "You got it, Rocky." There was the sound of a long kiss, then a very male moan.

Hastily Gibbs opened the door behind him as if he was just coming into the restroom. "DiNozzo!" he called sharply.

Jim jerked back and went into one of the stalls while Tony went to a sink and splashed water on his face, "Just a second, boss," he glanced up as Gibbs came around the corner.

Heart sinking, Gibbs could see that Tony's lips were swollen and that his face was flushed. "Let's get going, DiNozzo, I need to get a hold of Ducky."

Grabbing a paper towel, Tony quickly patted his face dry. "Sure thing. See you Jamie," he called to the silent man in the stall.

"Tomorrow, Rocky." Jim stood in the stall, breathing heavily as he tried to control his arousal. After a couple of minutes the tightness in his pants went down enough where he could leave.

He washed his hands and walked back to the table, his eyes affectionate as he watched Blair trying to fight yawning. "C'mon, Chief. Let's get you home before you turn into a pumpkin."

Blair stood. "Thanks, man."

He waited until Blair was settled down, then he drove to Tony's hotel, careful to be quiet as he knocked on the door. It opened and he was jerked inside, shoved against the wall and his mouth devoured. Jim was panting heavily as Tony slowly pulled back. "Hi."

"Ohgod, hi yourself," Jim moaned, grabbing Tony for another desperate kiss. They stripped, tossing clothes every which way while their hands caressed each other, driving each other to a passionate frenzy.

Soon Jim was on his back, his legs spread out with Tony between them, licking and sucking his cock voraciously. "Ohfuckyeah, suck me, Rocky," he moaned, arching as the other man's talented tongue slid up, then around the crown before sucking again.

Tony slurped and sucked before sliding one finger to press back behind Jim's balls in a move he remembered from five years before and he felt his lover explode, the salty sweetness pumping down his throat. He swallowed eagerly, then got up to share the sweetness with his lover. They kissed, tongues sliding as they tasted each other.

"I've missed you," Jim whispered.

The NCIS agent rubbed his cock against Jim's hard abs, "Ahh, that's sweet but you've got Blair now."

Jim looked surprised. "Sandburg's straight as an arrow." He cupped Tony's ass and pulled him close for another kiss, feeling the other man's erection slide against his own reawakening one.

Tony shimmied enticingly, then placed a kiss on Jim's nose. "Huh, I think his arrow's a little bent." He rubbed his cock until he arched, his come covering their stomachs. "Ohyeah," he moaned and collapsed onto Jim.

The older man rumbled with a soft laugh, slowly running his hand up and down Tony's back. This was one the things he really liked about Tony, the man liked to snuggle after sex. Even Carolyn hadn't been big on that...

"So, how long have you been in love with Gibbs?" He felt Tony stiffen but continued to stroke his back.

"A couple of years I guess," Tony sighed, and snuggled closer.

"I like him."

Tony snickered. "You'd be in the minority," he pressed a kiss to the muscular chest. "It's never gonna happen anyway." He pushed up and looked into Jim's eyes. "Make love to me?"

"Anything for you, Rocky," Jim growled and rolled the younger man underneath him, startling a boisterous laugh out of him.

~*

Gibbs couldn't help hearing the sounds of sex through the rooms connecting door, and he felt sick. Tony was gay. He hadn't known Tony was gay, not with all of the women the younger man bragged about. Then he groaned to himself. If Tony had been someone he'd profiled he'd have realized ages ago that over-compensating with women was the first sign of a major smokescreen.

He rolled over and tried to muffle the sounds of lovemaking with his pillow. It didn't work.

~*END PART ONE

Tony's watch alarm woke him, and he rolled and met a solid wall of muscle. "Hey Jim, it's five," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the warm shoulder.

Jim slowly woke, automatically adjusting his senses. It was easy with Tony, he realized with surprise. It always had been. "How long are you staying?" he murmured back, rolling over to press his lips against Tony's.

"Mmm," Tony hummed. "I don't know."

"Try to stay," Jim pleaded quietly. It had been so long since he'd been personally happy. He was happy at work, and happy at home with Blair, but personally? It had been way too long.

This made Tony stare at Jim. "Are you ok, Jamie?" his voice was soft with real concern.

Jim smiled and cupped Tony's face. "I am, with you."

Tony smiled brilliantly. It had been forever since he'd been needed, "I'll talk to Gibbs. He's been after me to take some overdue vacation. No reason I can't take it here."

~*

"What?" Gibbs exclaimed loudly.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I want to take a weeks' vacation. You've been nagging me for the last couple of months," he pointed out.

"No. Out of the question," Gibbs barked. He couldn't let Tony do this, wouldn't let him. Not until he could sort out everything he'd found out in the past 24 hours. Until he had time to deal.

Reigning in his anger, Tony stood and glared. "Why not? You give me one good reason why not? I'm caught up on all of my back cases, and you keep telling me that I'm overdue for it."

Gibbs was practically vibrating with anger. "Because you're just staying here to fuck Ellison."

Tony was floored by the rage, and a little scared that he was about to be fired but held his own. "My personal life is my own, Gibbs. It doesn't matter who I fuck," he replied flatly.

Helpless, angry but realizing that if he fought Tony on this he'd lose, not only the fight, but Tony as well, Gibbs threw up his hands. "Fine. But you'd better be back on the 28th. And then we're gonna have a talk. "

"Fine." Tony snapped back.

*(*

Blair finished with the report and saved it on the computer. "Hey Jim, another one down." Jim nodded absently, his eyes going to the door.

"You expecting someone?" Blair asked curiously.

Jim glanced over at his partner. "What?" then his head snapped back around, and he smiled just as someone appeared in the door.

Tony grinned as his eyes met Jim's. "Hey, homeless guy looking for a place to stay."

Jim stood. "And I've got a couch with your name on it."

"Did someone declare a holiday?" Simon came out and frowned.

Tony snickered. "Now I know what it is. You were a Marine."

Simon looked surprised. "How did you know?"

"My boss was a gunny."

Jim smiled. "Non-coms, can't live without them," he looked over at his boss. "Can I take the afternoon off and get Tony settled?"

"You running a hotel that I didn't know about?" Simon asked around his unlit cigar.

Tony smiled, his charm on high. "Jim's doing me a favor. I had to take vacation or lose it."

"Humph. Make sure your phone's on, Ellison," was all that Simon said before he disappeared into his office.

"No doubt about it, twin sons of different mothers," Tony said solemnly, making Blair laugh.

"Gibbs isn't that bad, is he? I mean, he strikes me as a mellow kind of guy."

"It's an act. Trust me." Tony shook his head and laughed quietly. Gibbs hadn't been any kind of mellow that morning.

Blair stood and stretched. "I've got a class to proctor this afternoon. Is it my turn to make dinner?"

"Oh, let me Blair," Tony said. "I'll make DiNozzo's famous chicken tetrazzini."

The anthropologist lit up. "You've got it, man. I should be home by seven," he grabbed his book bag and waved cheerfully before leaving.

Jim watched for a moment before his attention returned to Tony, noting the lines of stress around his lover's eyes. "Ready to go?"

Tony smiled grimly. "Past."

~*

Gibbs was pissed. Actually he was way beyond pissed and soaring by infuriated. He closed his eyes and without realizing it, clenched his fists. Hell, who was he kidding? He more than angry, he was jealous. Jealous of Tony's bond with Ellison. Jealous that Tony was fucking the man. Jealous that Tony wanted to stay. Realizing that his hands were starting to hurt, Gibbs slowly unclenched them, forcing himself to relax. He glanced out of the airplane window and saw nothing but clouds. What was he going to do now?

~*

Jim had a ball with Tony at the grocery store. Tony was as much a food snob as Blair, without worrying about the fat.

"Um, Rocky. That's sausage."

Tony nodded as he dropped it into the cart. "Yeah, I love it for breakfast."

Jim pursed his lips. "Sandburg thinks it's bad for you."

The NCIS agent had swung incredulously around, and broke out into laughter. "Oh Jamie, have you got it bad!"

"Shut up," Jim growled, blushing.

"Hi, Mr. Ellison," one of the teenage boys who worked in produce greeted. "How's Blair?"

Jim smiled. "He's great. He's proctoring a class at Rainier."

"Gotcha, so you're doing the shopping today. Here's the bok choy that he asked me to save for him."

"Thanks, Fred," Jim said absently, taking the bundle of greens and swatting Tony with it because he was making faces.

Tony chortled some more as he picked out the ingredients for his tetrazzini. "So, Blair's a health nut?"

"You have no idea. I try to get a Wonderburger and he lectures me for days."

"And you put up with it because you love him," Tony pointed out cheerfully.

"Could you say it any louder? I don't think they heard it in ~Cleveland~, Rocky!" Jim snarled, grabbing a bag of Oreo's and tossing it into the cart. He would deal with Blair's complaints later.

Tony added a bag of ginger snaps as he looked around. "You and Blair shop here all of the time, right?"

Jim glanced around the small shop, nodding to some of the workers he knew. "So?"

"They know, Jamie."

"Know?" Jim looked at him blankly.

Tony snickered. "They ~know~, Jim. That you and Blair are a couple."

Jim's head swept the store and he realized that Tony was right. "God, am I that obvious?"

Tony snorted. "You both are. And I think you haven't been paying attention, Jamie boy."

"I wish," Jim wasn't convinced.

Blair had to hold his sides he was laughing so hard. "Oh man, quit it, Tony," he laughed again at the scowl on Jim's face. Tony had been telling Blair how he and Jim had stumbled over each other, quite literally, with Jim ending up in the pile of smelly garbage.

"I was dyin', Chief and all you can do is laugh?" Jim pouted, but a smile hovered in his eyes at the sight of Blair laughing unrestrainedly.

Waving a hand weakly, Blair took a big drink of tea before shaking his head. "And you're usually so graceful, man. I wish I could've been there."

Tony snickered. "No you don't, he reeked."

"Don't you forget who helped me there, and don't think I don't remember the boot in my back holding me down," Jim threatened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tony lied, his face angelic.

"Nice try, Rocky," Jim said, smacking Tony's head with a pot holder as he got to his feet to clear the table.

A bit later the men sat relaxing in the living room, and Tony stretched out with a sigh. "So, Blair. You help Jim with his senses thing."

Blair straightened out of his comfortable slouch. "Um, yeah." Brilliant, he thought wryly.

Jim smiled at him. "He's actually found a book about people like me, we're called Sentinels. In fact, that's what his thesis was on."

"I thought it was on police work?" Tony asked curiously.

Blair made a face. "We were lucky. I actually wrote two theses, because I didn't want Jim to be exposed. My mom found the police one and had it published, and I hid the other until the uproar publicity down, then after I changed some things, I presented my Sentinel one to the university."

Tony mulled over what he knew about Jim, and what he'd seen between Blair and his friend. "So, Jim, if you're a Sentinel, then what is Blair?"

Jim smiled. "You play dumb so much that I forget how smart that you really are. According to the book Blair is my guide. It's this, I don't know, psychic thing, a tie between us. He guides me, takes care of me and I protect him and the city."

Blair stared at Jim, never having seen him be this open about his abilities before. "Man, talk about playing dumb."

With a wicked smile, Tony looked at Jim. "So, you two are connected, you're his Sentinel and he's your guide. Cool."

Jim glared at the not so subtle emphasis on the pronouns while Tony smiled innocently at him, and Blair looked between them confusedly, trying to understand the sudden undercurrents. He was beginning to think that maybe there were some parts of Jim that he truly didn't understand.

*

Blair sat up on his futon, wondering why he was awake at the butt crack of dawn, when he heard another cry. He shook his head to clear it and got to his feet when he heard Jim come pounding down the stairs.

"Tony! Tony, it's okay." When Blair opened his door it was to the sight of Jim wrapped around a crying Tony.

Jim's heart was pounding still, the first scream of Tony's nightmare bringing him abruptly awake and the second cry down the stairs in a flash. "Shh, it's okay. You're okay," he crooned as he rocked Tony slightly as the other man tried to shake off the nightmare.

"Should I get some water?" Blair asked hesitantly from his doorway.

"Please, Chief," Jim answered thankfully, finally feeling the tension start to release from Tony's muscles as he settled.

Jim pulled back and cupped Tony's tearstained face. "Hey, are you alright?"

Tony grimaced and shook his head. "Yeah, it's the same thing. Cait getting shot and dying again, then Gibbs getting shot by that fucking terrorist bastard and I can't do anything to stop it..." he sighed and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes.

"Terrorist?" Jim asked quietly.

"Never mind," Tony made to get up but Blair handed him a box of Kleenex and a bottle of water. "Thanks, Blair." He wiped his eyes and blew his nose before guzzling the water under Jim's watchful eyes. "I'm fine, Jamie," he said softly.

"Liar," Jim replied just as softly. "Come up to bed with me. I won't be able to sleep if I'm worrying about you the entire time."

Nodding wearily, Tony didn't even argue. "Okay by me."

Blair retreated to his own room in confusion, because he could tell, could see that they'd been lovers once, and maybe were even now. And how in the hell had he missed that Jim was gay or bi? And god, where did it all leave him? Oh, and he was hating this feeling that his life was spiraling out of control, starting with one Tony DiNozzo.

**

Gibbs was snappish, making everyone scatter as he stalked through the offices of NCIS. He sat at his desk, sat his coffee down, and proceeded to scowl across at Tony's desk. God, he missed him.

"Gibbs?"

New agent number seven, or was it eight, peered at him hesitatingly.

"What is it, Agent Dean?"

"I was trying to find a file on...."

"Ask Agent Di...." Gibbs closed his eyes. "Ask McGee."

"Okay," And the young male agent scurried off.

The Director frowned down at his top agent and friend and wondered what in the hell was going on. He glanced around and didn't see DiNozzo and wondered why. He walked down the stairs and went to stand in front of Gibbs. "Jethro."

Gibbs looked up in surprise and jumped to his feet. "Sir, I didn't see you there."

"No kidding. Can I ask what's going on? And where's Agent DiNozzo?"

Gibbs winced. "I gave DiNozzo a week's vacation."

"Good, he's got a lot of days accumulated. By the way, I received a phone call from Captain Banks and he praised you and DiNozzo for your help and professionalism."

"His detectives did most of the footwork."

"Uh huh. So what's going on?"

Gibbs visibly gathered himself up. "I'm fine, sir."

Knowing when to back off was an important element of being a Director. "Come and talk to me anytime you need to, Jethro." He silently resolved to let Ducky know and have him pry it out of their friend.

"Thank you, sir." Not bloody likely, Gibbs thought.

A phone call distracted him with the news of three dead Petty Officers in Virginia Beach, and he gathered up his team, grabbing an agent from another team and left his troubles with Tony to figure out later.

Tony woke up, surprised that he woke at his normal time, with Jim wrapped around him. He pulled away carefully, smiling when Jim made protesting noises. "Shh, it's not time to get up yet," he whispered and had to smile when his friend settled down under his touch. He pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and padded downstairs to take care of his insistent bladder. He washed his hands and used someone's mouthwash, rinsing his mouth before wandering to the kitchen and starting coffee.

The glow of a spectacular sunrise dragged him over to the doors to the balcony and he watched dreamily, wondering what Gibbs was doing, if he was asleep on his boat again. Damn it. Tony wiped the wetness off of his face and went to pour himself some coffee..

Jim coming downstairs and Blair's door opening occurred simultaneously, and Tony could only laugh as Blair zipped into the bathroom in front of his frustrated friend.

"Little bastard," Jim grumbled, taking Tony's coffee and drinking some before handing it back. The bathroom door opened and Blair got a swat as Jim passed him, making the younger man yelp a laugh.

"Sore loser," Blair called cheerfully. He'd decided that he'd overreacted about last night. Jim and Tony were just friends and Jim was helping Tony. He ignored the little voice that kept telling him `Denial' was not just a river in Egypt.

Tony snickered at the men's byplay. And it made him miss the shenanigans that he and Cait used to get up to. And he missed Gibbs smacking him, hell, he missed Gibbs touching him at all. Shit. He needed to call Abby and let her know what was going on.

"Blair, are you going to start breakfast?" Jim called from the bathroom.

"I'll get it since you guys are going to work," Tony called back, waving Blair away to get dressed. He pulled out the eggs and sausage that they'd bought the day before and he cooked it as efficiently as a short order cook, sliding the plates in front of Blair and Jim with a flourish. "Omelets with mushrooms, cheese and a dash of green peppers so as not to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the eggs, and sausage, pork for Jim and beef for Blair, and toast."

Jim grinned at Blair. "Why can't we eat this way everyday, Chief?"

"Because you'd stroke out in a year, man," Blair rolled his eyes as he took a hearty bite. "Ohmigod, this is fabulous!" he said with his mouth full.

Tony smiled smugly. "Thank you. I worked at a restaurant the summer of my senior year in college. It was run by these Amish women who could cook. I'd heard of Amish before but I'd never met one until I moved to Columbus."

Blair took a swallow of his tea, his eyes curious. "Did you learn their language?"

"I already spoke German, so learning high German was a piece of cake, and using it everyday for 3 solid months polished it, let me tell you," Tony said with a nod.

Jim held up his hand. "Okay, you can pick his brain tonight, Chief. You've got to be at school in a half hour and I've got an early meeting with a snitch."

The younger man laughed. "Sorry, curiosity is the anthropologist's curse."

As the men got ready to leave, Jim looked at Tony who was happily ensconced on the couch. "Do you need anything, Rocky?"

Tony pursed his lips in thought, then looked at Blair who was pulling on his backpack. "Can I read the book on Sentinels?"

Blair looked surprised, but nodded. "Sure, Tony. It's on the bottom shelf in my room."

When Blair and Jim had left, Tony put his feet on the arm of the couch and pressed a button on his cell-phone.

*

Abby's head was bobbing enthusiastically to Green Day's American Idiot when her personal phone vibrated in her pocket. With a flick of her finger the music was turned down and she answered, "Bitch goddess!"

Tony laughed. IT was so Abby. "Hey Abs, how's tricks?"

"Tony!" Abby squealed. "Do you miss us? I know we miss you! Gibbs has been a bear!"

Wincing, Tony rubbed his hair restlessly. "Damn, sorry. I think that's my fault. The boss discovered that I'm not picky when it comes to the sex of my partner." He had no trouble talking to Abby, she was his best friend in the world and they had confided in each other quite a bit, especially since Cait had died.

"Oooh," Abby hopped up onto her labchair and settled down to kvetch. "Who with? Details, man. I need details? Did you top?"

This was what he needed, Tony thought as he laughed himself sick. "Never you mind, miss nosy pants. He's an old lover and an older friend, okay? Do I bug you about McGee's and your sexual escapades?"

"Yes, you do. And darn, I wish you were here so I could interrogate you," Abby pouted.

Tony just snorted. "Then I'm glad I'm here. You could get an oyster to speak, brat."

Abby laughed gaily, then stiffened as Gibbs came into her lab. "Hey, Tony. I've got stuff to do. Talk to you later, `kay?"

"Later, Abs," and Tony hung up with a smile on his face. Abby was the best.

Gibbs head snapped up when he heard Tony's name and he strode over just as Abby ended the call. "That was DiNozzo?"

"Yep, he says he's fine and enjoying himself," she said smugly, watching with interest and not a little glee, as Gibbs' face clouded over. Their bossman was soooo jealous.

"Damn it," he muttered softly as he absently scratched his arm. He glared at Abby's phone where it lay on the stainless steel counter, then he spun around and left.

Upstairs Gibbs sat at his desk, still scratching his arm. Damn rash. It had started when he arrived back in D.C. and was getting worse. He was half tempted to go around naked to ease the itch, that'd give Abby a thrill. He snorted, or a chill.

"Agent Gibbs?" The temp agent stood before him, a pile of folders in his hands.

"What is it, Agent Dean?" he scowled and itched his leg fiercely.

"You okay, sir?" the agent asked in concern.

"I will be when you tell me why you're here, Agent Dean," Gibbs growled.

The agent stammered something about filing and Gibbs stiff arm pointed to the cabinets and the agent fled. "I was never that young," he growled.

"Jethro, what are you doing?" Ducky's voice came out of the blue and Gibbs about flew out of his seat.

"I'm playing canasta, Ducky," he said, not seeing the older man's eyeroll as he scratched somewhere else. Ducky came up and grabbed Gibbs arm, yanking up a sleeve. "Hey!"

"Good lord, what have you been rolling in?" Ducky asked in a scandalized voice.

"Nothing," Gibbs was aware he sounded petulant, but he'd went over everything in his mind and there was nothing out of the ordinary in his routine or anything else for that matter.

"Come downstairs, I'll give you an antihistamine and see if that doesn't help," the older man ordered.

With a sigh, Gibbs nodded and stood. "Thanks, Duck. It's been driving me crazy," he said.

When the men disappeared, McGee shook his head. That wasn't the only thing that had been making Gibbs cranky, and he sure wished that Tony would hurry up and get home. His phone rang and he answered it, taking notes quickly. As he hung up, Gibbs was back and scowling.

"Who was on the phone, McGee?"

"That was the base police in Quantico, boss. They have three missing Gunnery sergeants, Adams, Genovese and Franklin."

Gibbs paled slightly. He knew all three men, all were snipers that he'd either worked with in past wars or he had gone to school with, or both as in the case of Gunnery Sergeant Genovese. He and Geno had been sniper partners as well, and he had a soft spot for the man.

"Grab your gear, McGee. We're headed to Quantico." Damn, he wished Tony was there. "Dean?" he raised his voice and the man popped up nervously. "Get your ass in gear, we're headed out."

"Yes, sir," the man stammered, grabbing his hat and following McGee.

**

Blair puzzled on one Anthony, call me `Tony', DiNozzo, all day. There was something about him, something that raised all of his instincts. It wasn't that he didn't like Tony, he really did, it was that Jim and Tony had a shared past.

"Dr. Sandburg?"

He looked up to see a first year grad student standing in his doorway. "Sean, come in. What do you need?"

The younger man flopped into the chair and sighed. "I've been trying to put together a cohesive graph to show my results. Something that is scientifically sound, but easy to read."

Sean Donovan was writing his thesis on his theory that South American Indians, American Indians, the Canadian aboriginals, and the Inuit's, were genetically related to the Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan. Blair was fascinated by his theories and was looking forward to seeing the finished product.

"Are you separating it by race or religious practices, or what?" Blair asked curiously.

Sitting up, his green eyes glowing enthusiastically, Sean launched into his idea of how to separate his research. Blair slipped on his glasses and listened intently, smiling at the honest enthusiasm. He dove in, throwing out ideas, pulling out books with similar graphs and charts. They worked until Blair suddenly realized the sun was setting outside of his office. He glanced at the clock and yelped, "Shit!"

Sean glanced up and his eyes widened. "I've got a date! Oh man, I'm so late."

"I can't believe Jim hasn't called," he grabbed his phone and winced when he realized that the battery had died. He picked up his office phone and dialed, getting his message box. "I'm an idiot, sorry. See you at home soon."

The grad student chuckled at Blair's message. He gathered up all of his files and papers and as he was about to leave, he looked at Blair. "The similarities are there, the lifestyles, their abilities, their beliefs; it's just a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Thanks for the help, Dr. Sandburg," he said and left with a smile.

And suddenly it clicked for Blair. "Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed. He smacked himself in the forehead and grabbed his book bag. "It's tough being such an idiot," he said to himself as he trotted out to his car. It was all so obvious, and he couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before.

Tony lay on Jim's bed and was thoroughly engrossed in Blair's thesis. The explanation of what a Sentinel was grabbed him from the first paragraph, and the research and all of the information on Jim, even though his name wasn't mentioned, was fascinating. What he could do with Jim's abilities at NCIS, he thought wistfully. He abruptly wondered how instinct figured into the whole Sentinel thing.

**

Back at NCIS headquarters, Gibbs paced back and forth, clearly distracted. "McGee, what do we have?"

McGee sighed. "Nothing ,boss. They all disappeared on their morning runs. Abby is going through any security tapes that might have caught something, but ..." he trailed off, frustration in his voice.

"They ran in areas where there were few buildings, less traffic, and even fewer cameras," Dean finished, his own frustration showing. There didn't seem to be anything that tied the cases together. Spouses were bewildered and all had alibis, the men had no discernable enemies, though one of the wives mentioned a court-martial her husband had testified in. And there were no bodies, they were at a dead end.

Gibbs pressed his lips together and nodded. "Go home and get some rest. We'll begin again the morning," he scratched his neck, looking irritated. He sat down at his desk for the next few hours and went over the information and then sat back and stared across to DiNozzo's desk. Maybe he should call his agent back, but immediately dismissed the thought. He wasn't even sure if Tony would come home.

**

Jim opened the door and sighed with relief. The headache he'd had on and off all day immediately abated. "I'm home!" he called, expecting Blair to pop out. Instead, Tony's head showed over the railing, a welcoming smile on his face.

"Hey, Blair's not here yet, and you're home late!"

"Tell me about it," he grunted. "How does take-out sound?"

"If it's not vegetarian then I'm all for it," Tony said cheerfully as he trotted down the stairs.

Jim grinned, his good humor restored as he watched Tony's hot body head toward him. He wasn't Blair, but then no one was, however Tony was a good friend and you could never have too many of those.

Tony smiled back, aware of the interest in Jim's blue eyes. They reminded him of another pair of remarkable blue eyes, but since Gibbs was out of reach, and Jim was offering...

Meanwhile Blair's brain was busy with all of the implications of Tony being a possible guide. It would explain a lot of things, all of which flew out of his head when he opened the door to the sight of Jim and Tony kissing in the kitchen.

HIS Sentinel! All of his formerly unknown primitive instincts made him see red. He dropped his book bag onto the floor and strode over to the two men, grabbing Tony and pulling him away from Jim. "Get your own Sentinel!" he growled, and threw a right hook that would've made Jim proud, in any other circumstance.

"Blair!" Jim said in horrified amazement, rushing to hold Blair back from attacking Tony again. "What in the hell is wrong with you?"

Tony was lying on the floor, trying to get his eyes to focus, his head on the wooden floor staring up at a very angry Blair, and he started laughing. He clutched his aching jaw and laughed until he was dizzy. "Damn, Blair. That was some punch!"

"He's my Sentinel," Blair said again, wrapping his arms around Jim and staring at Tony, not even registering that Jim was trying to get his attention. All of his ferocious regard was on the threat to his Sentinel.

Tony nodded. "He's your Sentinel. I swear it," he pushed himself up to he could lean against the cabinets.

The words seem to release something in Blair's brain, and he relaxed fractionally and suddenly his eyes widened and he pushed Jim back. "Oh shit, what just happened?"

Jim stepped back and stared at his guide with something like awe, and a lot of amusement. He was going to tease Blair about this for years. "You just came in here like a primitive throwback and staked your claim, Chief. Apparently you think Rocky is a guide?"

Blushing furiously Blair went over and held out his hand to Tony. "I'm so sorry, man."

Tony grinned carefully, taking the offered hand. "It's nice to find that my instincts aren't totally shot."

This verbal jab made Jim roll his eyes, before he found himself with an armful of Guide. "Chief, what's going on?"

Blair shook his head, his eyes on Tony. "I have this inexplicable need to, to...shit. This is sooo embarrassing," he muttered.

Jim rolled his eyes. Any other time Blair would be talking his ear off about the Sentinel and Guide stuff. But now he was speechless. Go figure. "How about I check Tony..."

"No!" was growled.

Tony smirked and Jim sighed and shrugged. "Ooo-kay. Let's go sit on the couch and discuss this like adults."

Tony made his way widely around the very upset Blair, and settled himself into the recliner with a sigh. "Man, I could use a drink."

Jim settled onto the couch, Blair glued to his side. "I think we need to figure out what's going on, first." he turned to his Guide. "Blair? I think you have the floor."

"And the Sentinel," Tony murmured wickedly.

This made Blair snort, and sidle away slightly from Jim, his hands twisting before looking at Tony. "I think that you're a guide, too."

Jim nodded. "We get that. Why?"

"I noticed that he helped you at the crime scene, and you mentioned he helped you back when you worked together the first time," Blair said to Jim.

Nodding, eyes narrowed in thought, Jim mentally walked back through the past couple of days and he grunted. "I had a headache all day today, and when I got home it went away suddenly. I thought you were home already, but it was Tony."

Blair smiled. "See? That's what I mean."

Tony looked at him thoughtfully. "Okay, I read your thesis, and you say Guides are drawn to their Sentinel's, and I don't know anyone like Jamie. And anyway, Blair, I have to go home to D.C. at the end of the week."

Blair looked away. "Yeah, but ~you've~ slept with Jim, there's not a much closer bond than that," he said, aware that he was sounding sulky and hating it. It was like his brain and his mouth were disconnected.

Jim stared at Blair, suddenly seeing how upset the younger man was. Hearing how jealous he was, and felt such a jolt of hope. "Tony is a good friend, and yeah, we slept together, but it was only because I couldn't have the man I wanted." He didn't have to look at Tony to know that the other man wasn't offended by what he'd said.

Blair's head came around and he stared back at Jim, and saw, finally, everything that he'd ever wanted in those icy blue eyes. Affection of course, they'd known each other for years. Desire, which was new to him and caused a fluttering low in his stomach, and love. "How did I miss this? Boy, some anthropologist I am..." and he had to stop speaking because Jim's tongue was in his mouth.

Tony smiled and got up from the recliner. "My work here is done," he said, blessing the two men facetiously.

Blair pulled back, sucking in breaths, his eyes dilated as he looked at the man he loved. "Oh wow," he said blissfully. Jim could only grin goofily back.

"I'm gonna to call a cab," Tony said from where he was stuffing things into his duffel bag.

Jim shook his head, trying to clear it from Blair's devastating kisses. "Rocky, you don't have to..." he protested.

Tony twisted his head, "Oh yeah, like I'm going to let Blair try and knock out my teeth again. Not."

Blair made a face. "I promise I won't hit you again. I think I'm under control."

Still holding his shaving kit, Tony sighed, hanging his head, "I'll just be in the way."

Jim and Blair could see the dejection in the line of Tony's shoulders, and Jim began to think that there was something deeper than Tony taking vacation as a favor to him. "Tony, what's going on?"

Tony stared at his duffel bag, trying to ignore the feeling of loss. He was happy for Jim, he was. Blair and Jim were meant to be together, and he was glad that it had happened. But he wasn't ready to go home.

"Tony?"

"It's been a sucky year," Tony said, and was appalled to hear his voice crack. Suddenly he felt arms around his shoulders, and another pair of arms around his waist and he dissolved into tears. He NEVER cried, he never let himself fall apart, but it had been such a goddamned sucky year.

END PART 2

Jim had never been good with tears, and he was helpless with this. He looked over Tony's head and pleaded with his eyes for Blair to DO something.

Blair rolled his own eyes. "Can you talk about it?" he asked hesitantly. "I mean, does it involve what you dreamed about last night?"

Tony shuddered in a breath, "I almost died this year. And I lost a friend, and it was so close, I could've lost Gibbs instead. And I hate myself for feeling happy that it wasn't him who died." He sniffed and accepted the handkerchief Blair gave him, blowing his nose.

"How did you almost die?" Blair asked quietly.

Tony settled and the three men were on the floor, Jim and Blair were surrounding him, radiating concern and care, which he sucked up like a sponge. "It was 6 months ago. There was an envelope for Gibbs, sealed with a kiss," he sighed and let his head drop back. "You'd think I'd know better after 9/11, but I was crazy with curiosity and opened it anyway. A cloud of white powder came out and I was infected in the blink of an eye with Y Pestis."

Blair sucked in a surprised breath. "The plague? I didn't think that existed outside of the labs?"

"The plague? The disease carried by rats in the dark ages?" Jim asked curiously.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, it was from a lab. Fortunately, though we didn't know this at the time, this strain had a failsafe. It was a strain made for experiments. I won't bore with the why, we caught who did it. My team mate, Cait stayed with me even though she was in serious danger of getting sick herself. Then, a couple of months later a terrorist targeted Gibbs. Oh, but before that I almost got blown up."

Jim sighed and rocked Tony slightly. "You're a trouble magnet, Tony. Just like Blair. It must be a Guide thing."

"Hey!"

Tony snickered at them, then he sighed and rubbed his forehead, staring at his fingers. "The terrorist killed Cait in front of us, using a sniper rifle. Forehead shot. Sometimes I can still feel her blood spray on my face," his voice trailed off in a whisper.

Blair looked stricken and rubbed Tony's back, not able to speak. Jim rested his head on top of Tony's and rocked him gently. "I know how it is to lose your friends; I'm so damn sorry, Rocky."

Closing his eyes against more threatened tears, Tony rested against his friend gratefully. "It's been a sucky year." His stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, and Jim snickered.

"Let's call out for some Chinese," Blair said with a grin. He patted Tony's back a final time and got to his feet. True to his Jewish roots, Blair was a firm believer that food could fix anything. At least in the short term.

As they ate their Chinese, Tony stayed silent, then abruptly looked up at Blair. "If I'm a guide, then where's my Sentinel? Am I supposed to find him?"

Blair blinked slowly. "I think that they maybe someone already in your life, Tony. You'll probably need to meditate if you don't know who it is."

Tony made a face at the thought of Gibbs reaction to him starting meditation. "I don't know how to meditate. I mean, I don't have to sit cross-legged on a mat and hum or something, do I?"

Jim snorted and Blair smacked him. "Probably not. Haven't you ever centered yourself, you know, going undercover or something?"

Tony nodded slowly. "But I generally am not asking for something, or looking either."

"Tell you what, let's just table this `til tomorrow," Jim said blandly, totally in control, or so he thought.

"Ohhhh, you wanna go nail Blair. I totally understand, man. I'll go sleep in Blair's room," Tony teased, while Blair laughed like a loon at the blush on Jim's face.

"Shut up, Rocky," Jim growled and kissed Blair to stop his laughter.

Tony lay in Blair's futon, grinning foolishly as he heard Jim and Blair make love above him. It gave him the warm fuzzies to know that he'd had a hand, however unintentional, in getting the two of them together. He rolled to his side, thinking wistfully about Gibbs and wondering who his Sentinel could be. He should probably call Abby tomorrow to see how everyone was doing...he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

**

McGee was the first one into the office, and he began to dig through the case file, trying to see if he'd missed anything. After 10 minutes, he sighed and resorted to doing the unthinkable. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

**

Jim padded down the stairs, grumbling slightly because he'd been pulled from the bed and Blair's warm body. The cell phone shrilled again and he walked over, digging into Tony's coat to grab the damned thing. He then went into Blair's room and knelt beside the oblivious, sleeping man. "Rocky, your phone is ringing."

Blinking blearily at Jim, Tony asked, "What ~time~ is it?"

"Three thirty."

"Geez," Tony said and sat up, taking the ringing phone. "DiNozzo!" he barked. Jim patted his shoulder and left him to his phone call.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but I need some advice," McGee said.

"Probie? Do you ~know~ it's only three thirty in the morning here?"

"Tony!" McGee said with exasperation. "Stay with me here, I need some help on this case!" He ignored Tony's grumbling and walked him through the case, telling Tony what they'd found so far.

Tony sat on the futon, his mind whirling. "Have you asked Gibbs if he knew the missing men?"

"Um, no. Why?" McGee asked.

"The Marine Corps is a small organization, Probie. Once you get to the rank of Gunny you've met just about every other Gunny on active duty. Gibbs probably knew each one of them. See if he can think of something that links them."

Tony could still amaze him. McGee wrote down Tony's recommendations, "Thank you, Tony. I feel like we've been spinning our wheels here."

Tony yawned. "Glad I could help. Call me in 5 hours if you need more help."

"You got it," McGee said absently.

*

Gibbs was cranky. He felt cranky. His eyesight seemed worse today and he had to keep his glasses on, which pissed him off to no end. Thank god Tony wasn't there to tease him about it. And, on top of everything else, he still itched. The antihistamines were as helpful as tits on boar hog.

"Boss?" McGee was in front of him.

"What do you want, McGee?" Gibbs growled.

"Did you know the missing men?"

Gibbs frowned up at McGee. "Sure, I served with all of them at one time or another."

McGee pulled out his notepad. "So, you served with all three of them. Was there a place you served with them all at once?"

He gave the rookie agent an incredulous look. "You think I'm the common denominator?"

"You knew all of the men, boss. It's more than we had yesterday," McGee replied doggedly.

There was a short silence. "You're right. I'll check their records and see if we have any commonalities," Gibbs said with reluctant respect.

"Thanks, boss."

At eleven they received another call about another missing gunny, and Gibbs was starting to get pissed. They drove to his house where his distraught wife met them. While Dean and McGee took pictures and interviewed the wife, Gibbs started walking in the direction the wife had seen her husband jog in. Gunnery Sergeant Mark Andrews was a fine Marine, and he wouldn't have just left his wife and 10 year old son.

His mind roiled with possible enemies, while his eyes continued to check the ground by the side of the street that had turned into a dirt road. He found tire tracks and pulled out his phone to call McGee when he felt the sting of something in his neck. With the antihistamines in his system, the drug that was supposed to make him docile dropped him like a rock.

McGee looked toward the road with a frown, Gibbs should've been back by now. "Dean, stay here and finish up. I'm going to find Gibbs."

"Call him," Dean replied practically.

With a shrug, McGee pulled out his phone and listened to it ring until it went automatically to Gibbs message box. Okay, something definitely was not right. "Dean, call for backup," he ordered sharply and he pulled his weapon.

"What?"

"Just do it! Get the Gunny's wife inside and call for backup now!" McGee called back and he headed down the road at a jog.

It was 20 minutes later and there were enough NCIS agents in the vicinity to resemble a convention. What had started out as seemingly random kidnappings of Gunnery Sergeants had turned into a federal case of a missing NCIS agent.

McGee was standing beside a worried Ducky, watching glumly as casts were taken of the tire tracks that he'd found. The dart which had felled his boss was already in an evidence bag and headed back towards Abby at the lab. "It's my fault, Ducky."

Ducky patted him gently on the shoulder. "My dear boy, you had no way of knowing that they used drugged darts to kidnap their victims. Jethro can take care of himself, though I'll admit, he usually has better instincts than this."

"Tony's gonna kill me."

**

Tony was in that la la land between sleep and wakefulness when suddenly there was a commotion outside of his room. It consisted of crashing of furniture, the scrabble of claws and squawking. Heart beating a mile a minute, Tony peered out of the door and stared in shock at the bald eagle that was currently trashing Jim and Blair's living room.

"Hey! Stop it!" he said sharply, not expecting anything. To his surprise the eagle stopped its thrashing, staring back at him with its golden eyes. Tony could see that its feet were bound together and its beak was open, panting harshly. The magnificent bird was angry, not scared, though Tony didn't know how he could tell the difference; he was a cop, not Steve Irwin.

Strangely, Tony knew the eagle wouldn't hurt him. He carefully made his way around the fallen chair, kneeling beside the bird. "It's okay, I won't hurt ya, big fella," he said quietly. He reached down and untied the ropes, then leaned back. The eagle eyed him imperiously, then disappeared.

"Shit!" Tony yelped, scrambling backwards in shock. He sat staring at the fallen chair and knick knacks on the floor, then he jumped for the phone. He dialed Jim's number and waited impatiently as it rang.

Jim couldn't help smile as Blair walked by. And the subtle shimmy his lover imparted made him grin. God, he loved Blair so frickin' much. His cell phone rang and he pulled out, "Ellison," he answered absently.

"Hey Jamie, can you ask Blair why I saw a bald eagle in the living room, and then the damn thing vanished like smoke?" Tony's voice was tense.

Blair caught Jim's body language and asked with his eyes what was wrong.

Jim waved him over, a shell-shocked look on his face. "You'd better talk to Tony, Chief."

Confused, Blair took the phone. "Tony?" he asked, and was treated to a slightly hysterical description of what had just happened in his own living room. He listened and sat down in his chair, mind spinning as he tried to see all angles at once.

"Can you describe the eagle for me?"

Tony scrubbed his face with one hand. "A bald eagle, Blair. Not much more to say, except it wasn't afraid of me."

"Of course not, it belongs to your Sentinel," Blair said absently. "Well, there's nothing I can do right now. We'll try to meditate when I get home, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks, Blair," Tony said, sighing slightly. His adrenaline was still up and he couldn't figure out how to calm down. He closed his cell phone and it immediately rang again.

"DiNozzo."

"Tony?"

Alarm bells started ringing and Tony almost couldn't speak through the tightness of his chest. "Probie? What's going on?"

McGee swallowed hard. "They've got Gibbs."

"I'm sorry," Tony began with awful care. "I could've swore you said that you LOST Gibbs!" this last part was shouted.

"I didn't mean to," McGee babbled and the phone was snatched out of his hand.

"Anthony, you need to come home right away," Ducky said seriously.

Already at his dufflebag, Tony was yanking clothing out of it. "I'll be on the next flight, Duck," and he snapped his phone closed. A thought struck him and he straightened slowly, and even as he tried to work out this latest revelation he called Jim back.

"Ellison," Jim said absently.

"Jamie, Gibbs has been kidnapped. And tell Blair that I figured out who the bald eagle is," Tony choked out.

Jim yanked Blair over, the wheels of his office chair squealing in protest. "Jim!"

"Gibbs has been kidnapped," he hissed.

Blair blinked and grabbed the phone. "Tony, Gibbs is who you're looking for!" he didn't want to say Sentinel out loud.

"In more ways than one," Tony agreed. "I'm catching the first flight back to D.C. Thanks for letting me stay with you guys."

"We're coming with you," Blair said, ignoring Jim's shock. "Let me make the reservations and we'll see at the house in 20 minutes."

Tony stared at the buzzing phone while in Major Crimes Jim stared at his Guide.

"What? Who better to find another, um, person, than you?" Blair said. He got to his feet and went to cajole Simon into letting them fly to Washington D.C. to help with the investigation.

**

Gibbs awoke, feeling nauseous. The feeling of tape over his mouth clued him in that he wasn't anywhere he wanted to be. He clenched his bound fists and tried to control the roiling in his stomach and the pounding in his head. As he began to settle he could hear others with him, and even as his hearing seemed to cut in and out he thought he recognized the voices. He could also smell death, and he wished his nose hadn't decided to be so fucking sensitive.

"So Gunny, you're awake," a rough almost familiar voice said gruffly. The owner of the voice yanked the dirty bandanna from his eyes and Gibbs blinked up into the face of someone he'd hoped never to see again.

Former Marine Captain Blaine Wright had been convicted of fragging three separate Colonels who'd been in charge of his unit. Each of the gunnery sergeants had been called in to testify, damning testimony that had sent the Captain to Leavenworth. How he got out early was a question that someone was going to have to explain to Gibbs. If he lived long enough for it to matter.

"Wright," Gibbs rasped. "Got enough of being someone's girlfriend at Leavenworth?" he didn't have time to wince as the man's boot connected with his ribs. He felt a crack and as he hoped that he was going to live through this there was another vicious kick and the pain overwhelmed him, making him pass out.

Genovese heard Gibbs and laughed silently at the rude comment. That was Gibbs all over, facing death and spitting in its eye. He wasn't going to lie to himself, he was going to die in this stinking rat hole that Wright had them in. The crazy bastard had already killed Sean Adams, and he felt such sadness for Adam's wife and kids. It was such a waste. He heard Wright leave and tried to relax, letting the pain carry him away.

**

Tony was pacing, waiting for his duffel bag to come off of the luggage carousel. "I can't believe that they LOST him! I'm gonna kill McGee."

Blair made a face at Jim. He knew Tony was worried sick, when they arrived in D.C. they'd gotten the call that the body of Gunnery Sergeant Sean Adams had been found. Tony had asked Ducky to delay the autopsy until they arrived so Jim could check the body over.

Jim, for his own part, wasn't sure how he could help. He'd been to D.C. dozens of times, but he didn't know the area well enough to do any kind of intelligent analysis. And he was puzzled, he wasn't feeling any of the irritation or whatever of being in another Sentinel's backyard.

They grabbed their bags and got into Tony's SUV. Blair held on to Jim as Tony took the quickest way to NCIS headquarters. He kept up commentary on the significance of the bald eagle in Native American folklore, but he had a feeling that Tony only heard about half of it.

At NCIS headquarters, Tony signed in Jim and Blair and took them back towards his desk. McGee stood as he caught sight of them. "Tony, thank god."

"Don't!" Tony bit off. "Just tell me what you've got so far," he said sharply.

Blair gave the agitated young agent a sympathetic look. "Hi, I'm Dr. Blair Sandburg and this is Detective Jim Ellison. Agent Gibbs and Tony worked with us in Washington State last week."

McGee gave them a jittery smile after introducing himself, then filled Tony in on what they had so far. "Abby found a case that all of the missing Gunny's and Gibbs had testified on together. Captain Blaine Wright was put away for murder, supposedly for life, on their testimonies. Somehow Wright scored early release from Leavenworth and hasn't been seen since."

Tony nodded, then glanced at Jim. "We should see what Abby has and then see the body. Then I think we should go to where Gibbs was taken."

Jim nodded, "Sounds good. Though I don't know if I can help," he said as they headed to the elevator.

"Whatever you find Abby can verify, don't worry," Tony said.

"Rocky, listen..." Jim began a little uncomfortably.

Tony pressed the elevator stop button and it jerked to a halt. "Jamie, if Gibbs is my Sentinel then Abby and Ducky will have to know. Ducky is one of Gibbs' closest and oldest friends, and Abby is my best friend. Not to mention that they'll be our backup out in the field, and it seems that we'll need all that we can get."

Jim raised an eyebrow, then looked at Blair who shrugged as if to say, `he was your friend first, ~you~ decide',. "I trust you, Tony. If you think we can trust them..."

"I do, with not just Gibbs' life and yours, but mine as well," Tony said seriously. As he pressed the button, he looked over at Jim. "By the way, Abby likes to play her music really loud. You might want to..." the elevator dinged and the door opened to the sound of really loud music, hard rock of some kind, playing.

Jim winced but he'd hastily dialed it down when Tony had spoken, and was soooo glad. In the ruthlessly organized lab was a Goth woman with her hair in pig tails. She turned around, saw Tony and squealed, throwing herself into his arms while at the same time the music cut off as if by magic.

"Tony! You're home! And who are the cuties?"

Tony laughed and hugged her tightly. "As if you didn't know I'd come home as soon as I heard about the Boss," he set her on her feet. "Abs, this is Dr. Blair Sandburg and Detective Jim Ellison of the Cascade P.D. Guys, this is Abby Sciuto, the most sought after forensic and dna lab expert in the United States."

"Ah Tony, I didn't know you were paying attention," she said.

"Oh please," Tony said fondly. "Listen Abby, show us everything that you have so far."

She nodded and walked them through what she had on the case so far, including the casts of the tire tracks and pictures of the crime scenes. Then she led them to the morgue so they could check the body of Marine Gunnery Sergeant Sean Adams.

Ducky glanced up when he heard several voices coming into the morgue. "Mr. Palmer, I do believe Anthony and our guests have arrived."

Palmer smiled as Abby came in, leading Tony and two men he didn't recognize. Tony looked pleadingly at Ducky. "Can you send him on an errand? For about 20 minutes or so?"

Ducky raised an eyebrow, but looked at his assistant. "Go get some dinner, Jimmy."

"But, Doctor," Palmer protested as Abby took his arm and escorted him to the door.

"We need to discuss something and its better if you can honestly say that you didn't know," she said. She kissed him on the cheek and his baby face blushed as he nodded dumbly, the door sliding shut in his face.

"You're so bad, Abs," Tony chided.

"The body was at a chicken farm," Jim said abruptly. He moved around the stainless steel table to carefully check the body out.

Ducky peered at him, then at the body. "And what would lead you to that conclusion, Mr....?"

"Ducky, this is Detective Jim Ellison of the Cascade, Washington P.D., and Dr. Blair Sandburg of Rainier University. Guys, this is Dr. Donald Mallard."

Blair smiled. "Which explains the `Ducky'. I'm so pleased to finally meet you," he said warmly. "I've read several of your papers, but the one on forensic psychology was, I think, the one that impressed me the most."

Ducky was flattered. "Thank you, Dr. Sandburg. You obviously work with law enforcement, what is your doctorate in?"

"Anthropology, plus I partner with Jim and teach."

Jim shared an affectionate eyeroll with Tony. If they didn't get to the nitty gritty they'd be here all day while the two doctors talked. "Chief, you need to let Abby and Ducky in so we can find Agent Gibbs."

Blair nodded. "Have you ever met anyone with enhanced senses?"

"Tony," Abby said promptly.

Jim and Blair looked over at Tony. "Really?"

Tony shrugged, arms crossed negligently in front of him. "I see better than 20/20 far, though I sometimes need glasses for close up, and my sense of smell is pretty good."

Blair nodded. "I did my thesis on what was once called Sentinels. They were the watchmen of the early villages, tribes and family groups. They had enhanced senses, so they could adequately protect their neighbors and relatives. They would have a guide to help them with their senses, to teach them to control them. Some had at most four enhanced senses, and rarely all five senses," he looked at Jim. "Of course, over the course of human development the ability was mostly lost in our genetic history. However, once in awhile a Sentinel is found. I found Jim in the hospital because he'd been having sensory problems and headaches."

Ducky blinked at him. "Jethro. He's been having trouble with unaccountable sensory spikes, rashes and headaches. Oh, good Lord. He's a Sentinel."

Blair beamed at Ducky like he was a favorite student, while Tony shifted. "Okay, class is over. Jim's a Sentinel too, Blair's his guide, and we need to find Gibbs before he ends up like Adams."

The old doctor regaled Blair with stories he'd heard in Scotland about legends of folks who were called `Freicadan', Gaelic for guard, while he let Jim work with him on the autopsy. Abby worked on the computer to see if they could find the area most likely to have their missing Gunny's, and Gibbs.

**

Gibbs groaned. It hurt to breathe, he felt weak as a kitten and he had to think hard about what had happened to him. He blinked his eyes open, relieved to find his vision had settled. Though the coyote he was seeing wasn't consistent with his surroundings. Did they even have coyotes in Virginia?

He listened carefully and heard stressed breathing out of his line of sight. He could actually smell the men and recognized them, memories providing him with names. Tim Franklin and Tommy Genovese were close by him and Mark Andrews was further down and sounded like he was badly hurt. He listened harder and was bombarded with sounds that didn't make sense to him, but didn't hear Wright so he decided to risk it. "Guys?" he whispered.

"Jethro?" a thready whisper answered him.

Tommy Genovese. Gibbs almost smiled. "Yeah, are you all okay?" he replied almost soundlessly. As Marines they'd been taught to speak almost silently for stealth purposes, something he didn't get a lot of use out of, usually.

"Five by five," Franklin answered.

"Andrews is bad, but I'm ready for Aruba," Genovese joked quietly.

The sound of a car door slamming made the men fall quiet, and Gibbs could smell the fear, and other things, like chickens?

He had to believe that they would be found.

Tony.

Please find me.

Wright came in, his flashlight shining over his collection of men who'd wronged him. Now it was time for his next judgment. He quickly moved over to his newest prize, dragging the gray haired man to his feet. "Time to go for a little ride, Gibbs. Your last ride," he laughed harshly.

Gibbs felt helpless, his muscles not answering his frantic summons as adrenaline started to course through his veins. He was dragged out of the chicken house and over to an old Cadillac Saville. His captor popped open the trunk and pulled a red five gallon gasoline container out and set it onto the ground, then Gibbs was man-handled into the trunk, and the lid was slammed down with a finality that frightened him. He tried to reach over to knock out a tail light but he bumped his cracked rib against something hard and metal and the pain overwhelmed him, making him pass out.

**

The NCIS team, along with Jim and Blair were at the site of the last two kidnappings. While Tony went over the scene with McGee, Jim and Blair were following Jim's nose, so to speak.

As Jim stood in the middle of the gravel road, he couldn't differentiate the animal smells. Something else was getting in the way. He turned to call Blair who was speaking to Ducky, when he saw Tony, and at his feet a sharp looking coyote.

"Chief?" Jim said mildly. Blair glanced over and started in surprise when his eyes hit Tony and his furry friend.

"Uh, wow," Blair said.

Suddenly, the coyote's head snapped up, as did Tony's, and the NCIS agent ran past Jim into the woods. Jim cursed, quickly following Tony into the oaks, hickories and hanging curtains of Virginia Creeper. After about a hundred yards Jim caught up with Tony, grabbing him and holding him while the younger man fought him.

"I have to find him!" Tony said, his hazel eyes wild.

"Rocky," Jim cupped Tony's face firmly. "Listen to me. You can't go running in there half-cocked, you'll get him killed."

Tony stopped fighting him, "I can feel it, he's afraid."

Jim swallowed and nodded absently because with his hands on Tony he was suddenly totally aware of everything in the vicinity. He felt Blair behind him, could hear the others of the NCIS team following. Blair reached them first, his worried eyes on Tony.

"Abby called, Wright's step-father has a chicken farm about 4 miles from here," McGee panted as he crashed through the underbrush.

"Four miles by road, right? How about as the crow flies?" Jim asked. He released Tony's arms and stepped back.

The younger NCIS agent pulled out his PDA and found a map, narrowing the address down until he looked up with a relieved smile. "1.86 miles south, southwest."

Tony nodded. "Take the truck and meet us there. Tell Ducky and notify the local cops and ambulances," he ordered.

"You got it, boss," McGee said before crashing back through the overgrown greenery.

Jim made a face. "Hope he's not sensitive to poison ivy."

This made Tony chuckle as he started quickly towards the chicken farm, and Gibbs. "He's allergic big time, and he's gonna hate himself when he realizes that he just called me `boss'."

Jim chuckled too, catching Blair's hand as they followed Tony. Both men could see glimpses of the coyote moving on ahead of them, and after a few minutes of silence, Blair asked, "Tony, can you see the coyote?"

Tony glanced back at them, puzzlement on his face. "The gray and tan dog? He's a coyote?"

Blair smirked. "He's your spirit animal, not just some stray that's going along on a joyride."

"Huh," Tony commented. The sound of a car trunk slamming ahead of him made them all, duck down out of sight. The coyote shot them a look and bounded into the low building with peeling red and white paint on it. Tony gave Jim a look and he nodded.

Jim could feel the men, they were terrified. "Chief," he whispered and Blair leaned into him, placing his hand on Jim's shoulder. Jim closed his eyes and let his sense of hearing widen. There was one man standing, that had to be Wright, and he could hear the coyote skulking in the shadows.

"One man, northwest side of the building, still outside but he has a gas can. We need to go in now," he said softly.

Tony half stood, pulling his weapon. Jim stood, concealing himself behind the tree, before he bent to say to Blair. "Stay here, please."

"Jim!" Blair grouched but that was all he had time for because his Sentinel and Tony sloped off through the trees, both men taking separate directions around the chicken house. As he watched, a bald eagle swooped down and screamed defiantly and then there were gunshots.

**

Wright was angry. His drop of Adam's body had been found immediately, he hadn't even been able to disguise the corpse. It would only be a matter of time before he was traced to the farm, and he had to get rid of the evidence there before he killed Gibbs. He opened the gas can and was about to start pouring it on the ground when a Bald Eagle swooped out of the sky, its outstretched claws raking the tender skin on his head. "Aaaargh!" he screamed, dropping the gas can and grabbing his weapon, shooting blindly into the sky.

Jim ducked his head around the corner and couldn't hide the grin. Damn, what a great distraction. He saw Tony step around the far corner of the chicken house and point his weapon.

"Freeze! NCIS!"

**

The trunk was rank, Gibbs could smell the blood and bodily fluids of a previously dead body, probably Adams, and his senses began to spiral out of control as he tried to keep from vomiting. The loud scream of a bird, a hawk or something, and the gunshots overwhelmed his out of control hearing but before he spun away into darkness he thought he heard...

"Freeze, NCIS!"

Wright was half blinded by the blood dripping into his eyes, and then a brown dog came out of nowhere and bit deeply into his leg. "Damn it!" he shouted, dropping his gun into the dirt and kicking at the dog. The dog danced out of the way, its muzzle darting in for another bite. He kicked out, waving his hands and arms wildly as more blood streamed into his eyes and blinded him.

There was another painful bite, then a voice spoke, "Okay, back off. I've got him."

Wright felt himself shoved to the ground and handcuffed. "Damn fucking dog! I've probably got rabies!"

"That's the least of your worries, Wright," Tony hauled the man up and pushed him towards McGee who began to read him his rights. He shoved his weapon into the back of his pants, distantly registering the paramedics and local cops that were just arriving. He stepped into the dusty darkness of the old chicken house and voice shaky, said, "Hello?"

"Over here," a raspy voice called from the gloom.

Making his way carefully, Tony found the first man in bound in his narrow box and smiled reassuringly at him. "I'm Special Agent DiNozzo of NCIS. You're safe now," his head twisted around. "I need paramedics in here and McGee, bring your camera! We need to document everything!" he called sharply. He moved to each man and carefully cut their bonds, "This guy is badly hurt!" he called and a paramedic came over to help him.

There was only one problem. "Where's Gibbs?"

The first man he'd helped coughed harshly then waved a hand towards the door. "Wright took him outside. I think he's in the trunk of the car."

Spinning around, Tony barreled through the emergency personnel and dashed to the Cadillac. He tried to jerk open the trunk, then turned to McGee. "Get me the keys!"

McGee let go of Wright to pat him down for his keys when the bloody man lurched forward and grabbed McGee's gun. Jim already had his weapon out and a shot through Wright's eye even as the ex-con started to lift the stolen weapon. Instead he fell dead onto the ground.

Tony scrabbled for the keys that had dropped from McGee's nerveless fingers and was back at the Caddy, unlocking the trunk and heaving a sigh of relief at the sight of Gibbs curled up, alive and breathing inside.

"Hey, boss?" he whispered it even as he cupped the unconscious man's face. Jim was by his side in an instant, helping him pull the former Marine from the trunk and lay him gently on the ground. He wasn't aware of the bigger man keeping the paramedics back, focusing his concentration on the man he loved. "C'mon Gibbs, you need to wake up."

Blair knelt down beside them. "Touch him, speak to him and breathe on him gently at the same time," he instructed quietly.

Tony nodded and bent down to speak in Gibbs's ear. "I want you to wake up, we need you. Everything is okay," he pressed the barest of kisses to the ear, then moved back to caress the rough face. "C'mon, Marine. You're laying down on the job."

Gibbs was safe. He could smell Tony and feel him and immediately felt calm and secure. He opened his eyes and stared into the warm, hazel eyes that were fondly looking back at him. There was a fundamental shift in his psyche that he couldn't explain, and he asked fuzzily, "I thought you were on vacation?"

Tony smiled wryly. "Seems like my boss was kidnapped by some whack job and I was needed back here," he grabbed the hand that Gibbs held out, holding it tightly as Ducky and a paramedic checked him over. Their eyes never left each others, Gibbs asking semi-coherent questions about the case and Tony and Ducky filling him in. McGee came over and gave Gibbs a heartfelt grin at seeing him alive, and Gibbs had Tony smack the younger man on the head when he kept apologizing for letting him get kidnapped.

~*

Gibbs didn't have to open his eyes to feel Tony sitting beside him. "Report done?" he asked, making a face at how dry his mouth was. He could also hear Ducky and Abby in the hallway outside.

"Yes, boss. Report's done and on your desk, even though I'll have to deal with it since you're in the hospital," Tony held the plastic cup and straw, letting Gibbs sip as much water as he wanted.

"How are the others?" Gibbs rasped, hissing in a breath as his rib shifted painfully.

"Genovese and Franklin have been treated and released, but Andrews is in critical condition. They're going to operate soon," Tony said, taking Gibbs hand and squeezing it. As he did he could see the visible reaction to his touch as the older man unconsciously relaxed.

"You're going to be okay," he continued softly, "just a cracked rib and a major case of dehydration." He jerked his shoulder towards the saline I.V.

"How did you find us?"

Tony rubbed his face and eyed Gibbs. "It's a long story. Let's just call it interagency co-operation?"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs growled.

"I'll tell you everything when I take you home, okay?" Tony said firmly.

"Not okay, but tell me something else. Did I imagine Ellison and Sandburg?"

A smile crossed Tony's face. "Nope. When I found out that McGee lost you, Blair volunteered himself and Jim to fly out with me."

Gibbs was silent for a moment, then without looking at Tony he asked, "Are you leaving NCIS?"

"Huh?"

The sheer surprise in Tony's voice made Gibbs look up, and he felt something in his heart unclench when he realized that the thought of leaving hadn't crossed the younger agent's mind. "I thought you and Ellison..." he let the question hang and was surprised by the look of delight on Tony's face.

"No! He and Blair are together now, and let me tell you," Tony leaned forward conspiratorially, "they are ~so~ married!"

Okay, he was obviously suffering from memory loss, Gibbs thought wryly. "I could have sworn that you and Ellison were together," he insisted quietly.

Tony tilted his head and had a burst of intuition. Gibbs had been ~jealous~, and wasn't that the best news he'd ever had! "We're friends, boss. And we were lovers, but it wasn't any more serious than that." He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "It was just comfort sex, you know, confirming that there was something more than death in our lives."

Gibbs nodded. He'd been a Marine and understood life affirming sex, and he hated seeing the shadow in Tony's eyes as he remembered that murdered little girl. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business."

"Actually, I think it is," Tony murmured.

Hearing that, Gibbs' head turned to Tony and was about to ask him to repeat what he said when the door opened and Ducky and Abby came inside.

"Bossman!" Abby said enthusiastically, but quieter than normal as she came up and gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek. "How are you?" she asked, looking over at Tony as if she knew Gibbs was going to lie.

"He's good, they're going to let him out tomorrow after they make sure his electrolytes are alright," Tony answered while Ducky hummed and made approving noises as he read Gibbs chart.

"I'm here, you know," Gibbs said snarkily.

"How are you feeling, Jethro?" Ducky inquired brightly, perching on the side of the bed and absent mindedly checking Gibbs pulse. Abby and Jethro exchanged amused smiles while Gibbs sighed.

"I'm fine. I could go home today..." he trailed off hopefully but was stonewalled with disapproving silence. "Or not."

Ducky chuckled. "How's your rash?"

Surprised, Gibbs checked his arms and realized he hadn't been itchy at all. "It's gone, that's weird."

Tony squirmed.

"And how are your senses? You're not overly sensitive to the lighting or the hospital odors, are you?" Ducky continued in a pleasant voice.

"What is going on here, Ducky?" Gibbs demanded.

Now Tony sighed and squinched his eyes closed. Abby snickered at him and Ducky shot them a level glance. "I think you should tell him, Anthony."

"Tell me ~what~?" There was the threat of bodily harm in Gibbs voice that made Tony wince.

Tony gave a long suffering sigh. "Can you guys give us a minute?"

"Actually, now that I know Jethro is going to be all right, I need to get home to mother," Ducky said with a smile.

Abby bounced to her feet. "Just remember that Ducky and I have your backs," she chirped. She gave Gibbs another kiss, then one for Tony and then she and Ducky left.

As soon as the door closed Gibbs pinned Tony with a look. "Talk to me, DiNozzo."

Tony nodded. "First, let me check and see if anyone's coming."

Gibbs watched as Tony poked his head out of the door, wondering what the cloak and dagger stuff was for. When the younger man let the door shut, he snapped, "What's going on?"

Getting to his feet, Tony began to pace. "Okay, there are people that have one or more heightened senses." He smiled at Gibbs. "Like me, my sense of smell is very good, so is my hearing, as is my ability to see close up. But there are a very few people, I only know of two, that have all five senses. Are you with me?"

The older man nodded. "You think I'm one of them, don't you?" What kind of shit was DiNozzo trying to pull, Gibbs mentally questioned as he tried to ignore the unfamiliar feeling of panic .

"Yeah. Okay, so there's a guy who wrote about them. He studied them in South America, and he called them Sentinel's. They were the watchmen of their family groups or tribes, using their sense to protect, find food, you name it."

Gibbs absorbed this. "I don't understand, why now?"

"I don't know. Well, I have a theory, based on what happened to Jim," Tony said.

"You think Ellison is the other one?" Gibbs blurted.

Hiding a wince, Tony nodded. "Yeah. So, the Sentinel's are so sensitive to the environment that they need someone to guide them. That person helps settle the senses, making sure that they're not overdoing it, making sure that the Sentinel takes care of themselves, things like that. Blair calls them guides." He held up a hand as Gibbs opened his mouth to ask another question. "Let me finish, I'll try to keep it short."

With a put upon sigh, Gibbs waved a hand that Tony correctly determined meant, `Get on with it already before I smack you'.

"Okay, so, Jim got his senses after his helo crashed in Peru, killing everyone onboard except himself. The local shaman became his first guide. When I met him during our investigation, I kind of acted like a guide to him, without knowing that's what I was doing. ~That's~ why Jim wanted me to stay, he felt better when I was with him, but then Blair went postal and punched me because ~he's~ Jim's guide. Now Jim and Blair are together, because they're supposed to be." Tony blinked. "Did that make ~any~ sense?"

"So," Gibbs began slowly, "According to this information, you think that I'm a Sentinel and you're my guide?" He was beginning to get angry, and he was not going to examine why.

Tony threw up his hands. "I don't know. We need to talk to Blair, but Sentinel's get really territorial when another Sentinel gets around their guide." He didn't see the look on Gibbs face.

"DiNozzo, look at me," Gibbs commanded.

Surprised the sharp tone, Tony did, and what he saw made his heart sink. "Boss?"

"Whoever led you to believe this stuff is full of crap. Whether it's Sandburg or Ellison, they're messing with you. There's no such thing..."

Tony leaned forward, eyes intense. "Gibbs, there is! I've seen proof! How do you think we found you?"

Gibbs sliced his hand through the air in a dismissive movement, ignoring his instincts that were screaming at him. "I think you used good detective work. DiNozzo, I don't want to hear anything more about this. I'm not a Sentinel, the rashes and the other stuff are just coincidence."

Leaning back in his seat, Tony didn't think he'd ever been more disappointed in his boss. "Gibbs," he began but was stopped by a look. He got to his feet, surprised by the welling of grief that he felt inside, but he carefully kept his face blank. "I'm sorry to waste your time, Boss. I'll see you back at work." He gave Gibbs a nod and left, feeling like he'd just lost something and he didn't know how to fix it.

An injudicious move made the rib scream and Gibbs sucked in a pained breath even as he grabbed for the call button. The upside was the bright slice of pain kept his mind off of the garbage DiNozzo had been spouting, and the memories that were engendered. He was never happier to see the nurse and her painkillers.

Jim could feel Tony's unhappiness as clearly as if he'd spoke. "Didn't go so well, huh?"

Tony shook his head, going over to slump down on his couch and close his eyes. "I knew I should have had Blair talk to him. I screwed it up."

The big Sentinel sat down beside Tony and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I don't think it was you, Tony. He's military; it's hard to accept things outside of the box. Believe me," he added wryly.

"You should've seen how Jim reacted," Blair said cheerfully. He sat on the coffee table and rested his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands as he looked at Tony. "I was slammed against a wall and called a neo-hippy witch doctor punk." A smirk was tossed at Jim, who snarled playfully. Tony snickered as Jim leaned forward to jerk Blair's hair.

"Jim, you have such a way with people," Tony teased his friend, laughing when Blair slapped at Jim's hands, then let himself be dragged forward for a kiss.

The next day Tony took their statements, the three working to keep the Sentinel parts out of the investigation. Then he took them to the airport, watching wistfully as the plane took off.

He missed Blair and Jamie already.

**

Gibbs knew he was asleep, which didn't explain the fact that he was standing in the middle of a humid jungle. He surveyed the area with a professional eye, noting he was probably in South America, and wondered why he was dreaming about this.

Noises from behind made him spin around and a man, a native with a painted face, was staring at him.

"A Sentinel is chosen because of his heart and his honor, because there is a need for him. Now you must choose if you want to be a Sentinel," the man said firmly.

"This is just a dream," Gibbs said, hearing the slightly desperate tone in his words.

The native man rolled his eyes. "You know that it is, but you can sense that it is also the truth."

There was the sound of an eagle overhead, and Gibbs caught sight of a small coyote out of the corner of his eye. He could remember the look of betrayal in Di..no, ~Tony's~ eyes when he'd shot the Sentinel thing down.

"If Ellison is a Sentinel, then why do you need me?" he asked.

"Enqueri is but one man. The great city has need of a new Sentinel to watch over and protect them. That man is you."

Gibbs stayed silent and the native man grinned. "Ah, I see you want proof. Very well," the man waved a hand and suddenly Gibbs was back in Virginia, the air swelteringly hot as he stood beside the NCIS van. He stared uncomprehendingly at the scene in front of him, paramedics working on someone. Suddenly it hit him, they were working on Tony.

"He's gonna be fine, boss," McGee said softly.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked, heart in his throat. He couldn't block out the constant moans that were being wrenched from Tony's throat.

McGee winced at a loud cry from the gurney, his eyes searching Gibbs. "Remember, boss? We were searching the wrong warehouses. Abby said the signal was getting closer but we couldn't find him."

They couldn't find the kidnapped Tony because Gibbs hadn't used his senses, which meant he was to blame for all of it. He had flashes of seeing weapons fire, hearing the bullets strike Tony as he tried to protect someone, hearing Tony cry out. For him.

"Agent DiNozzo? C'mon buddy, don't do this!" one of the paramedics exclaimed as they started to load Tony into the ambulance.

Gibbs clambered in after them, taking the limp hand in his, his eyes not leaving the pale face. "Tony, stay with me!" he pleaded to the unconscious man.

"He's stopped breathing!"

"Damn it, no heart beat. Increase his oxygen..."

"Push the epi..."

"Still no heartbeat..."

"Ohgod," Gibbs moaned. He understood what was happening. He'd denied being a Sentinel, and Tony was paying for it. "Stop it! I get it..."

"Agent Gibbs, Agent Gibbs!"

Gibbs gasped and his eyes flew open, heart pounding so hard in his chest that it was setting off alarms, because there were nurses and a doctor in his room, checking his i.v.'s and trying to wake him up.

"Bad dream?" The doctor asked as he checked Gibbs' blood pressure, his face sympathetic.

"Shit," Gibbs cursed as he shakily realized that it ~had~ been a dream. And he was so relieved that he felt nauseous. "You could say that."

The doctor took a look at Gibbs' face and then quietly asked the nurse for something, before turning back. "I'm going to give you a mild sedative to help you sleep."

"Thanks," Gibbs said. He hated drugs but he knew he had to get some sleep, without dreams.

"It was just a dream," he said to himself as the drugs lulled him to sleep.

~

Ducky smiled as he stepped into Gibbs' room. "Hello, Jethro. Are you ready to go home?"

"Where's DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked in dismay. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, Ducky," he amended gruffly. He covered the awkwardness by studiously paying attention to his buttons.

"No offense taken," Ducky replied with a smile. "Anthony called me this morning and asked me to pick you up." He sent Gibbs a sharp look as he looked over his friend's chart. "Is his defection related to the Sentinel issue?" he continued blandly.

"He told you?" Gibbs asked, eyes wide as he stopped in the middle of buttoning his shirt.

Ducky snorted. "Of course he told me. Who else would Anthony confide in with your medical health? And Abby knows as well because she is his best friend and can be trusted."

Gibbs snorted as he finished buttoning up. "It's a bunch of bullshit, Ducky. I'm not one of these Sentinels. I'm not some kind of freak with super abilities."

The older man eyed his younger friend with a frankly disbelieving look. "Is that so?" was all he said but let the subject drop.

*~

It was a few days later and Tony arrived at NCIS early since Gibbs was due back. Sipping his coffee, he got everything in order and caught Gibbs arrival, watching as the other NCIS agents welcomed the ex-Marine back.

There were still bruises on the older man's face, and he still carried himself carefully because of his ribs, and the vulnerability was something Tony didn't like to see. It was hard, there was this pull to help Gibbs, to be by his side, to joke around and touch. God, he wanted to ~touch~ so damn bad. But Gibbs had made his choice, and now he had to lie in it. Or something like that.

*~

Back at work, ignoring his bruises and ribs, Gibbs surveyed the office with satisfaction. The bad guys lost again and he was back and ready to kick criminal ass. Life was good. Well, it was until he caught sight of DiNozzo.

He looked like a fucking male model, Gibbs thought. All angles and mussed hair, serious hazel eyes with gold and green glints that he shouldn't be able to see at this distance and skin...god, the skin at the base of Tony's throat. No, don't go there Leroy Jethro Gibbs, he snapped to himself.

He resolutely ignored the tension headache beating on the base of his neck, going through the cases he'd missed while he was out from his injuries. Tony had been in charge with a case of a missing female sailor and a case of embezzlement, all solved in short order and without injuries. The reports were impeccably done and Morrow had added his own comments of praise. His second in command had done a great job.

"DiNozzo," he called out, keeping his voice level as his hearing went loud then very soft. Ignore it, ignore it! His brain bitched at him even as Tony's eyes turned towards him.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Morrow said you did a great job while I was gone," Gibbs said.

Tony smiled crookedly, not realizing it didn't go up to his eyes. "Just doing what you taught me, boss."

The casual answer and the unhappy look in Tony's eyes made Gibbs uneasy, but he let it go. And not out of cowardice like his conscience was saying, either. Really. Anyway, his conscience already had enough to worry about.

A couple of days earlier, a visiting Abby had buttonholed him about the Sentinel thing and he'd snapped at her about sticking with science and leaving the mumbo jumbo to the whackos. She'd not been a happy camper. His conscience was having a bad week.

At an expensive Washington D.C. restaurant, Ducky shook his head in dismay. "Tom, this is a mistake. Jennifer Sheppard is a lovely woman, but she's not Director material. And Jethro will be very unhappy."

Morrow laughed bitterly. "It's out of my hands, Ducky. I was offered the job at Homeland Security, Sheppard's name was back by influential people and my input was not required."

The Coroner pursed his lips. Jethro wasn't the only one who was going to be unhappy. He had a feeling that Anthony was going to be even more displeased.

"You can't say anything, Ducky," Morrow warned.

The older man's face was disapproving. "Well, as Abby would say, this situation sucks!"

And Morrow had to laugh at the absurdity of the word coming out of Ducky's mouth, but had to agree with the sentiment.

A threat. There was a threat to Tony. All of Gibbs instincts screamed with it. He stayed close, ignoring the confused looks from the younger man. Over the next few days Gibbs ignored what he'd told Tony about not wanting to believe in Sentinel's, his awareness of everything around him heightened in response to whatever was going on.

On Monday it took Tony all day to figure out that Gibbs was hovering. On Tuesday Tony felt like Gibbs was watching his every movement. On Wednesday Tony realize that Gibbs ~was~ watching his every movement, and the heat in those blue eyes was making him antsy, perpetually aroused and annoyed. Tony took to haunting Abby's lab.

On Thursday the phone on Gibbs' desk rang. "Gibbs," he barked.

Everyone's heads came up as Gibbs stood and retrieved his weapon. "Get your gear. We have a missing teenage girl in Norfolk. Her father is an Admiral in charge of Subron 17."

Thank you, Mary, Mother of God, was Tony's semi-sacrilegious but fervent thought. Maybe Gibbs would focus on the case and stop stalking him.

Unfortunately by Thursday evening Gibbs' nightmare was coming true. He drove like a bat out of hell, zipping by warehouses on the wharf side of Norfolk to find Tony. Tony who'd used his instincts and found the kidnapped girl, and in the process gotten himself injured again and kidnapped to boot.

McGee's phone ringing jolted him and he yanked the car over to the side of the road, almost making the phone fly out of McGee's hands. "Answer it!"

"M-McGee," the younger agent answered, freaked out slightly by Gibbs' mental state over Tony's kidnapping. He held out the phone to Gibbs. "It's Abby, boss."

Snatching the phone, Gibbs snapped, "What have you got for me Abs?"

"An ass kicking if you don't use your senses to find Tony and the Admiral's daughter!" Abby replied tartly. "I've tried to triangulate and can't; now you've got to do your thing. And don't lie to me, Tony's life is at stake."

Busted. Had to be a Sentinel, had to use the talent he hadn't asked for, because he didn't want Tony to die... decision made. "Already on it, Abby."

"Good," and Abby hung up. Gibbs tossed the phone to McGee and glared. "Whatever you see you don't talk about. Ever. Understood?" Confused, McGee nodded slowly.

"Fine. Don't as any questions, I need to listen."

Gibbs closed his eyes, letting his hearing open wide and letting the sound rush in like the ocean. He winced and tried to filter out everything so he could hear Tony. It wasn't easy but suddenly he thought he hear something familiar. Was it behind...no, ahead of him. He concentrated and suddenly heard Tony speaking clearly even though the younger man was whispering reassurances to the kidnapped girl and he started the car, letting Tony's voice guide him.

Tony sat, letting the paramedics fuss over him, his eyes never leaving Gibbs as he wrapped up the case with McGee, the kidnapped girl reunited with her father. It wasn't the fact that Gibbs had found him, Gibbs would ~always~ find him, it was the bald eagle soaring overhead in the evening light, and the coyote lying placidly under the NCIS sedan.

Knowing he was under intense scrutiny, Gibbs flashed Tony a glance and a smile and Tony couldn't help but smile back. Life was good all of the sudden, if you ignored the fact he had another concussion.

At Tony's apartment, Gibbs got Tony situated on the couch with a fresh icebag, then sat on the coffee table to scowl at the injured agent. The sense of danger had been alleviated somewhat, but not entirely.

Defensive, Tony opened his mouth but shut it at Gibbs' headshake.

"I'm not mad at you, DiNozzo," Gibbs said quietly. "Your instincts were right on the money and you kept Keshia alive. That's all you could do with a bad situation." The smile Tony gave warmed him.

After a minute Gibbs cleared his throat and resisted looking at the floor. "The Sentinel situation is hard for me. I was a freak as a kid. Always hearing things that weren't said, perfumes or any strong smell making me sick, able to see things much farther away than any other kid. Nana said I was a gifted child, but growing up in the same town your entire life, well, labels tend to stick with you."

Tony reached out and touched Gibbs hand, smiling as their fingers twined. "Like freak," he said softly.

"Like freak," Gibbs agreed wryly. "The Marines was my chance to get away and be normal. To channel all of those ~gifts~ into something just outstanding instead of freakish. And I guess I didn't want to lose that."

"Are you ready to be a Sentinel now?" Tony asked hesitantly.

Gibbs nodded. "I think so, though," he held up their hands, "maybe we should work on the Sentinel Guide thing before we explore this any further."

Disappointed, but resigned, Tony nodded. "I agree."

~*

Gibbs couldn't remember being this content. With Tony's help his senses were under control and he was eager to start their relationship, though now it was Tony dragging his feet. Understandably wanting Gibbs to make sure that he wasn't just falling into bed because Tony was his guide.

Hardly, Gibbs snorted to himself even as he thought it. He'd wanted to get Tony into the sack ~before~ the Sentinel thing had come up, not letting himself hope before because he'd believed Tony was straight. Now there were no obstacles, except Tony's ability to stall.

He glanced at his watch and saw it was time for his meeting in MTAC with the Director.

*~

Tony frowned as he caught sighed of Gibbs' eagle, feathers ruffled in one of the trees outside. Something was wrong. As he got to his feet he looked up in time to see shapely legs belonging to a redhead, who was gazing at ~his~ Sentinel like Gibbs was the dessert tray at BellaItalia. The tension between them told him that Jethro and the woman had been lovers and it was obvious that she wasn't averse to restarting the relationship.

All of those primitive instincts came screaming to the forefront of Tony's brain.

Oh, no fucking way, bitch, he thought savagely. Gibbs is mine!

Gibbs closed the door with a sigh. The fickle finger of fate had struck like a renegade lightening bolt bent on destruction, in the form of his ex-lover and former subordinate agent Jen Sheppard. Who was now the new Director, and his boss. Just the thought made him search out a bottle of bourbon and pour himself a hefty amount, tossing it back without regard for his stomach lining. Hell, his stomach didn't need a lining, did it?

The sound of his door opening made him glance around to see his absolutely pissed off Guide. His guide who was now ~locking~ his front door. "DiNozzo?"

Gibbs watched, lust pounding in his veins as Tony positively slinked towards him, hazel eyes dilated. There were pheromones and wow...Tony's mouth was moving.

"Put the bottle away, Jethro and go to your bedroom and strip."

"What?" Brain cells were not processing apparently, because Tony had ~not~ just said what he thought he'd heard.

"You're a Sentinel, I'll bet that you heard me perfectly fine."

Oh.god. Gibbs didn't have time to decide as Tony dragged him into the bedroom, with their lips connected. Apparently the time out was over. And the Guide was about to claim his Sentinel. And Gibbs was really okay with that.

Waking up with Tony's mouth on his cock wasn't too bad either, Gibbs thought with the two brain cells he had left to rub together. He could feel Tony's tongue doing wicked things with the head of his cock, making him shiver and writhe, moaning Tony's name as he pumped his come down the younger man's throat with all of the self control of a teenager.

Tony looked down at Gibbs who was a big puddle of satisfied ex-Marine goo. "You're mine." He slurped a wicked lick around Gibbs sensitive cock, making the older man squeak. "Just so you remember."

And Gibbs was really okay with that too.

"DiNozzo," Tony answered his cell cheerfully.

Blair grinned. "Hey Tony, it's Blair. How's everything going?"

"I guess I'll live. What's going on with you guys?"

The Shaman could hear the tension in his fellow Guide's voice and knew its cause. Tony had called them when Gibbs' ex-lover had been put in charge of NCIS, and Jim had talked the new guide out of walking, or `accidentally' running over the new Director.

"Well, Jim and I are flying out there next week for the law enforcement conference in D.C. and wanted to know if you wanted to get together?" It was a formal request for a Sentinel to visit another Sentinel's territory, couched in an informal request.

Tony grinned. "That would be great! I'm sure Gibbs won't mind but I'll ask him first. How's Jamie doing?" The two Guides settled down to gossip about their respective Sentinels, and to commiserate with their mate's propensities to attract bitchy red-heads.

"Hey, baby. Who was on the phone?" The Sentinel ran a hand over the wood he'd sanded and approved of its perfection.

Tony sat on the stool and smiled at his lover. "It was Blair. He and Jim are flying out this way next week for the law enforcement conference and wanted to know if we wanted to get together."

Gibbs understood the request. He was still jealous of Ellison and Tony's relationship, add that to the fact he was an extremely territorial Sentinel (and like his Guide wasn't?) and you had a situation that could get dicey. He looked at Tony and saw the love and knowing amusement in those beautiful hazel eyes, and laughed wryly. Tony saw right through him and didn't even have to be a Sentinel.

"Sure. It would be nice to see them. We didn't get to take them to any of our good restaurants when they came out last time."

"Gee," Tony rolled his eyes. "Maybe `cause you were kidnapped and we were kinda busy, Jethro."

Gibbs laughed and pressed a kiss to Tony's luscious mouth. "And you're going to be more than kinda busy while they're here." It was a playful warning, and a sensual promise.

Tony accepted the kiss happily.

And outside a coyote lounged in a sunny spot on the porch while a bald eagle vaned idly in the evening skies.

End How to be a Guide in Three Easy Steps.Not! by Belladonna: Belladonnaf66@yahoo.com
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