51. A series of Firsts (Derek Morgan)

First Date

Derek was looking at Garcia pleadingly as she put her case forward for his blind date. “Baby girl, I just don’t want to go on a date with someone I don’t know.”Garcia tutted. “Now, my chocolate hunk, have I ever led you wrong?”

Morgan shook his head because Penny was his best friend and if he had been straight, he hoped he would have been smart enough to chase her. “No sweetness, you haven’t. How can you be so sure?”

Garcia grinned, “Let’s just say there are enough similarities but at the same time ... enough differences to keep it interesting.”

Derek huffed. “And if I can’t make it because of a case?”“He’ll understand as he’s a Fed too, different agency though.” Garcia responded with a grin. “He is also considered quite the ladies man. The ironic part is he has never dated a woman the entire time he has been at the agency. Remind you of anyone?”

Derek knew what Garcia was talking about and misdirection was an artform. He dated but let’s just say Sam wasn’t short for Samantha like everyone assumed. Derek was not keen on blind dates but he knew he would not be able to resist Garcia’s pleading face for long. He sighed. “Okay, set it up.”

Garcia clapped her hands together in glee. “I promise you won’t regret it, Der’.”

Derek was not so sure but he trusted Garcia and even if things didn’t work out date-wise, at the least he’d have another Fed as a contact and may even have a new friend.

&*&*&*&*&*&*

Tony had picked a sports bar knowing that none of his team at NCIS would be caught dead in such a place, feeling they were above sport. Well, their loss was Tony’s gain as he enjoyed watching sport even if he couldn’t play it any longer. It was brilliant too as his favourite team, the New York Jets, were playing in the Wild Card round.

Garcia had been right when she had described her best friend as hot like fire burning. Tony walked up, glad he had worn his tight black jeans which hugged his ass and thighs perfectly. “Hey, handsome.”

Morgan turned around and looked him up and down with a teasing glint in his eye. “Well - you are everything Gracia promised.”

Tony smirked. “Well, she promised me you were hot like fire burning and she didn’t get that wrong either.”

“Flatterer.” Morgan managed to say in a bid to deflect, he was used to being the seducer and was feeling a bit off balance with Tony’s blatant flirting.

Tony shook his head. “Nope, just truthful. Shall we find a seat to enjoy the game?”“Sure. What can I get ya?” Derek asked, nodding at the bar.

Tony smiled. “An IPA please.”“Sure thing.”

Derek sat down and relaxed a little, he’d already shaken off the feeling that this would be an unmitigated disaster. An easy conversation flowed between the couple and as the evening stretched on they seemed to gravitate closer. They weren’t the type to make excuses about saving space as the bar filled up. They wanted to sit closer so they were touching, so they did.

Tony saw the text on his phone and groaned at the last snitty message from Kate. She was really getting on his last nerve at the moment. Good god, she thought he was a shallow, womanising, partying frat boy who hadn't grown past his college days, an x-rated Peter Pan in her own words, and she was supposed to be a profile r.Derek smirked at the eye-roll. “You gonna share?”

“A team member seems to enjoy being extra-bitchy at the moment.”“What’s her problem?” Derek asked and if Tony hadn’t already started to adore Derek - he would right now. The question threw him a little because never before had anyone assumed it was the other person who had the issue.

Tony snorted. “She believes the image I project a little too much.”

“In what way?”

Tony answered Derek as it was said in such a way as to be completely non-judgemental. “Well, when I joined the force being out was just not an option. It didn’t matter how well you could handle yourself, you would have been dead through lack of backup.”Derek gripped Tony’s hand because he’d started in Chicago and he knew exactly what Tony was talking about, it had been his worse fear when he’d been part of the bomb disposal team. There were a lot of very easy messy cases that could have gone conveniently wrong if any of his colleagues had found out about his sexual practices. “I know the routine of a ladies man, I’ve played it.”Tony smiled weakly as he was glad that he didn’t have to explain it. Plus, he really liked Derek so the last thing he wanted Derek to think was that he was a player and not too interested when he was.

Tony decided to just shoot straight and not waste time playing games. “Look, I want to meet up again. Are you game?”Derek slid a little closer, eyes on the prize. He’d been wanting to taste those lips for a while. He grinned and said a little lower than normal. “Depends on one thing.”“What’s that?”Derek swooped in kissing him slowly, savouring it, wanting to build tension for their next date.

_________________________________________________

First “I love you”

Derek opened the door to his place and he was surprised by the heap he found on his couch. Any exhaustion he felt disappeared seeing Tony sitting scrunched up like he was trying to make himself as small as possible. Derek was concerned by how morose and sad his partner looked.

“Babe?”Tony looked up with bloodshot eyes, the type you get when you have been awake for well over twenty-four hours and you can’t sleep because adrenaline is coursing through your system. He managed a weak. “Hey.”Derek didn’t like the fragility he was witnessing. What the hell was his team playing at leaving him alone? He was just relieved that Tony had come here rather than going back to his own apartment to settle his demons. If he was going to help, Derek needed to ask. “What happened?”Tony chuckled but it was devoid of any humour. “Bad undercover op. Let’s just say that it did not go to plan.”“You said you were hunting antiques.” Derek said with confusion because this was why he was so confused by Tony’s reaction.

“Yeah, it turned out way more complicated. The one we targeted wasn’t the submissive partner and was, in fact, the serial killer. So I just spent twenty-fours handcuffed to a lunatic. It ended when he tried to slit my throat.”Derek pulled him close not liking the idea that Tony could have died today at all. In fact, just the thought made him feel cold. He found himself staring at the dark line on Tony’s throat with anger. He knew without his lover having to say anything how the situation was resolved. If Tony was here, then the serial killer was dead. “I don’t care about him. I’m just glad you are still here, so whatever you had to do was worth it as far as I’m concerned.”

Tony whispered so quietly that if Derek hadn’t been hugging him he wouldn’t have heard. “I liked him.”Derek sighed because that was the one part of undercover he didn’t envy - to be successful you had to get close and sometimes it was hard to keep that mental and emotional distance. “Yeah, well, I love you and I’m so glad you did what was necessary to still be here.”

Tony froze for a second before coming alive in his lap not so morose all of a sudden. “You love me?”Derek nodded wondering at the look of awe on his lover’s face. “Yeah, I do.”

Tony bit his lip. “Love you, too.”Derek understood in that second. Tony hadn’t had much in the way of positive examples of love. Well, he would turn that around. He would get his sisters to help, knowing they would love Tony just as much as he did.

He vowed to buy Garcia the biggest and bestest chocolates he could find for the gift of Tony. “Come on, babe. Let’s go to bed.”

&*&*&*&*&*

First Holiday

For both Tony and Derek work had been pretty, well, horrific, one case after another with little downtime. So Tony had done the unimaginable - he’d applied for leave and he’d begged Derek to do the same. He wasn’t stupid and he had no intention of letting either Derek or himself burn out.

Tonight they were at Tony’s as they seemed to split their minute spare time between their places. Tony needed his piano and Derek just lounged on his couch and listened to the sound the ivory keys made.

Derek knew what they both needed apart from time together was a vacation. He was not the spontaneous type but he wanted to be now. “Let’s go to Panama.”The music stopped short - probably because of his statement.

Derek smirked seeing Tony thunderstruck. It was not often you could rob him of words. “What? Not keen?”

Tony sucked in a breath. “Okay, loverboy. Let’s go to Panama.”“Yeah?”Tony nodded getting up from his piano to the laptop in the corner of the room. He was seizing the moment. He pulled up TripAdvisor to see what hotels would be available on their leave dates. “What are we looking for?”For the next thirty minutes, Derek rested his head on Tony’s shoulder as they debated and decided on the details of their break. Their excitement grew as the plan solidified in their minds. The fact that they had just planned their first holiday together was not even noticed by the exhausted couple.

After Tony returned, he used finding that absolutely golden little photo of Kate to deflect any attention on who he was in Panama with. It worked a treat.

&*&*&*&*&*&

First outing

Tony couldn’t breathe and had no idea you could feel so many aches and pains and still be alive. He’d gone downhill with scary speed. This was so bad, they hadn’t come back to tell him what he’d contracted but he knew it couldn’t be good. This was nasty and all he could think was he wished Derek was here.

He was so out of it, he’d forgotten that he’d changed Derek to his medical proxy almost straight after Panama City.

He was under blue lights and there were voices. Tony wasn’t so out of it to not recognise them, Gibbs and Kate.“What do you mean you are not the proxy?” Kate asked a little loudly considering he had such a headache.

“Exactly that.” Gibbs said flatly.

Kate was confused and worried for Tony, a delay in permission could be fatal. “So who is?”“SSA Derek Morgan, FBI, BAU.”Kate wasn’t expecting that. “Why?”A new voice interrupted them. “None of your business. That’s between Tony and myself. Now does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?”“Agent Morgan?”Derek rolled his eyes and flashed his badge. “Gibbs, what is wrong with Tony and how serious is it?”Gibbs knew who Derek was to Tony. He couldn’t believe Kate hadn’t figured it out. Then again, if she had never had true love then she might not recognise it. “This morning a package triggered our bio-hazard defenses at the office when Tony opened it. He inhaled some of the powder, it was tested and today it came back positive for the pneumonic plague.”

Derek had many moments in his life that defined him - and right here now, there was a new one. Tony, his lover, his partner, was dying on the bed - who cared about hiding who he was? It was not the time. Christ, his mind went to prayers he hadn’t used since he was a child. Tony needed a miracle - he must be so scared.

Derek would be there with him as much as he could. He wouldn’t let Tony suffer alone.

“You shouldn’t stay here.”

Derek frowned at the woman. “Lady, I don’t know you but if your lover was lying in that bed, would you leave?”She shook her head and was indignant at the implication. “Of course not!”

Derek glared. “So why would you expect me to leave?”

And then her eyes widened catching the implication. Tony was gay. Jesus. They must have kept their relationship secret, what a way for it come out. She wouldn’t say anything - now was not the time. “Okay, I get it. I’m sorry. You should stay here.”Gibbs nodded. “We are going to find the bastards that did this to Tony.”Derek shared a look of agreement with Gibbs and so many things passed in that one look. “Good hunting.”Gibbs just said. “Make sure he has something to stay here for.”Damn, here, being on Earth. Derek would do all that he could to make sure Tony kept on fighting. Derek had followed all the protocols that Dr. Pitt had demanded but now he was here. He could see how poorly Tony was, he wanted to touch him and comfort him but he was scared to cause any pain.

Tony opened his eyes. “What are you doing here?”Derek smirked although he knew it was a weak one. “They told me you were in the hospital. Where do you think I would be?”“People will know.” Tony said.

Derek shook his head but making it clear that Tony shouldn’t worry about it. “I don’t care if they know I love a gorgeous guy. If anyone wants to be a dick, well, I still have my gun.”“You’ll get sick.”Derek wanted to smile at the way even though Tony was seriously sick he was still thinking of others. “Babe, you can’t scare me away with the plague. If you’re worried, the doctor assures me the danger element for infection has passed. You just need to keep concentrating on breathing.”

“Sure,” cough , he was wheezing but Tony needed to say this to Derek, just in case he never got another chance. “I love you.”

Tony, through a sheer miracle, survived. It was a long, slow recovery that Derek took time off for to support him. By the end of it, they’d moved in together and stopped pretending they were not crazy for each other if anyone asked. They were done hiding and let’s face it - if the plague hadn’t ended them - nothing would.

Their favourite first would be first marriage - when they walked down the aisle a year later. It would be their only time as well.