fojee

Yes, a bit late, but well I couldn't resist. I wasn't exactly familiar with the original challenge, although I have encountered some of the fics before, mostly the Oz ones, as back in 2001, I haven't even heard of Due South.

A 560-word drabble; Tony and Gibbs and a shack in Canada.

Enforced Leave
by Fojee

"Boss, this isn't exactly my idea of a good time," Tony said, dragging the log to the growing pile at Gibbs’ feet. "I know Director Vance practically threw us out of the country so we could get a vacation, but a shack in Canada? In the middle of winter?" With a bit of exaggeration, he rubbed his hands to warm them and winced at the texture. "Good thing I brought some extra moisturizing hand cream," he muttered.

Gibbs squinted out at the gray horizon, before raising his axe and bringing it down in a practiced swing, splitting a log neatly in two. "Storm's coming," he grunted, frowning, thinking of all the things left to be done.

"Yes, and the windows have been nailed shut, and the flashlight and radio batteries are fully charged, and the gas tank’s full, and we've got about a week's worth of frozen pizza ready to be thawed over the fire." Tony kicked at a pile of snow, looking like a little boy who had asked for a pony for his birthday and got a scolding instead. It didn't help that his cheeks and nose were bright red, and the side of his face down to his neck was still covered in yellow and green bruises from the last case they worked.

Gibbs' jaw clenched tight. He had to force it open to say, "Go inside, DiNozzio."

"But there's nothing to do there!" Tony threw up his hands. "No TV, no Internet. I think I liked it better as Agent Afloat. At least I wasn’t bored out of my skull."

Gibbs almost threw the axe on the ground, and Tony flinched at the sound it made bouncing against a log before it hit the packed snow. He had taken a step back just as Gibbs grabbed his collar (flannel; which was just demeaning) and hauled him forward. He raised both hands as if to push him away, but when Gibbs just slammed his mouth to Tony’s, managed to respond quick enough to wrap his hands around Gibbs' shoulders. And hold on.

It was... well, steaming was an accurate descriptor under the circumstances. A steaming hot kiss, out in the open, under the wide Canadian sky, where anyone could see them—even though their nearest neighbor was some Mountie with a deaf wolf three miles out—and Tony felt himself blush all the way to his double-socked toes.

He was still dazed when Gibbs ended the kiss. "Go inside, DiNozzio," the other man repeated. "Night's long, and we'll be able to take our time, alright? I promise you, you won’t get bored."

Tony nodded. For the first time in his life, he didn't trust himself to speak.

"There's some packets of hot chocolate in the pantry," Gibbs continued. "Why don't you go and make some? I'll just get these finished."

Tony cleared his throat. "Okay." He grinned and Gibbs found himself grinning back. "Don't take too long," Tony said, voice taking on that familiar lilt. “And you know what?” He added.

“What?” Gibbs said, rubbing his mouth with a knuckle, shocked a little at his audacity.

“I’m glad I brought some extra moisturizing hand cream,” Tony replied, wiggling his eyebrows. And his ass.

Gibbs laughed out loud at that, and as he watched the other man walk away, he found himself looking forward to the coming storm.