Reticent - Mission version

In an unusual turn of events, Tony had become the reticent one. Gibbs’ announcement that he was being sent on an international undercover job over Christmas had been met with complete silence. Tony couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

He hated the idea of Gibbs being gone over Christmas. On the other hand, he understood where Gibbs was coming from. They’d agreed early on in their relationship that work came first.

They were both dedicated to their jobs. That dedication to their jobs didn’t prevent them from being dedicated to each other as well, but it did make it harder sometimes. Christmas was an important time of year for them.

Not only was their anniversary around Christmas, but their first good memories of Christmas in years had been their first Christmas together. It wouldn’t be their first Christmas spent working after getting together, but it would be their first Christmas spent apart. The very idea tore Tony apart inside, but he couldn’t tell Gibbs no.

He couldn’t even tell Gibbs about the special plans he’d made for Christmas that they wouldn’t be able to utilize now. He’d planned a second honeymoon for them. Fortunately, he’d gotten tickets without dates so they could go some other time, but it still sucked.

He didn’t want to worry Gibbs though. The mission Gibbs was going on would be dangerous enough without Gibbs worrying about Tony and being distracted, so Tony didn’t say anything. He just gave Gibbs a hug and pulled him into a deep kiss that he hoped would give Gibbs incentive to come back to him and then watched him board the plane.

Once Gibbs’ plane took off, Tony turned with a deep sigh and headed back to NCIS. There was no point in going home. All that their home held, right now, were reminders that his husband was gone.

Abby, Tim, and Ducky all notice how stressed out Tony was, but Tony wouldn’t let them help. He just pushed himself harder, trying to bury himself in work and forget that his husband was halfway around the world without him on a dangerous mission. He tried to hide his devastation as he buried himself in work.

In reality, neither worked as his mask was not staying in place now that Gibbs had left. Abby, Tim, and Ducky all tried to help, but Tony constantly rebuffed them. He couldn’t handle the niceness when all he wanted was his husband back and they couldn’t give him that.

The team tried to drag Tony away from work on Christmas Eve, but he refused to budge and before they could come up with greater ammunition to get him to leave the Director called them all into MTAC. They all marched up to MTAC only to find out that Gibbs had missed four checkins with his handler and was presumed dead. Tony’s facade completely broke and he collapsed devastated.

He tried to pull himself together. He couldn’t give up on Gibbs. He had to go rescue him. The director shook his head and denied him the permission to rescue Gibbs.

Tony completely lost it. He shook the Director angrily before trying to leave anyway to go save Gibbs. Thinking fast, Ducky pulled out a sedative and sedated Tony before he caused himself or someone else injury.

They transferred Tony to a hospital room not sure what Tony’s mental state would be like when he woke up from the sedation. Ducky stayed with Tony. He could do nothing less for his friend.

McGee and Abby tried to get news about Gibbs. They weren’t finding anything though. They grew more and more worried about Tony.

Meanwhile, Tony woke up and remembered about Gibbs and continued to freak out. Ducky had to have the doctors sedate him again for his own mental health. Ducky wasn’t sure how long they could keep this up.

At some point in time, they’d have to either take more drastic measures or Tony would have to be confined to a mental hospital if he couldn’t come to terms with Gibbs’ death. Ducky breathed a sigh of relief when Gibbs showed up in person at the hospital. The next time Tony woke up, Gibbs’ face was the first thing he saw and he broke down in tears of relief.

“I’m sorry, Tony.” Gibbs whispered to him, holding him close.

McGee and Abby show up at the hospital having realized that Gibbs was back in town even though they’d not been able to find any information about him. They all wondered what exactly had gone down on Gibbs’ mission, but none were brave enough to ask. Gibbs had already briefed the Director and now his only concern was Tony.

Tony just grabbed Gibbs and held on tight. All he could think was how glad he was that Gibbs was alive. He kept squeezing Gibbs tighter and tighter, trying to convince himself that Gibbs really was here with him.

Gibbs turned to Ducky and asked about when Tony could be released. The doctors discussed it with Ducky and they decided that it would be better for Tony to be home with Gibbs surrounded by all their stuff. Gibbs signed the release forms for Tony and walked his husband to the car.

Unbeknownst to either of them Abby and McGee had decided that they both deserved to enjoy the Christmas they missed. So when they entered their house, neither of them recognized it. The living room had been decorated and had a Christmas tree complete with lights and presents under it.

They looked at each other and then at the living room and the rest of the decorations. There was no sign of anyone. They couldn’t imagine someone breaking in just to decorate their house.

Still they searched the house to confirm there were no nasty surprises waiting. Finding nothing, they turned to each other and shrugged. Grabbing their gifts for each other, they added them to the pile around the tree.

Tony wasn’t willing to be parted from Gibbs, he’d been so worried. He knew he was being silly, but he couldn’t help it. He dragged Gibbs to the tree and together they gathered the gifts, realizing that their friends had left the presents and likely been the ones to decorate as well.

They opened their gifts including the ones they’d gotten each other. It wasn’t the same as if they’d been together on Christmas, but in some ways it was better. They knew how much their friends cared and together they reunited and reacquainted themselves with each other.

Gibbs couldn’t remove the memories Tony had of when he’d thought Gibbs was dead, but he did his best to give Tony new memories to replace them with instead. They touched and kissed and spent the rest of the night and the next 2 days together. By the time they were done getting reacquainted with each other, they’d formed a bond so deep that it would be impossible to break.