Stuck

When he woke, McGee felt his pulse drumming through his head as he fought to sit upright. As he dragged himself up, he gradually opened his eyes and winced at the silver reflective surfaces that bounced back light into his eyes. He screwed them tight again and rubbed them hard. His head was pounding and his back was stiff. Turns out sleeping on a solid metal floor with someone who sleeps in the crucifix position isn't all it's cracked up to be. After a few minutes of just sitting legs crossed, facing the steel doors, McGee remembered the night before, and how he had all of it to look forward to again. Rolling up the sleeve on his arm, he looked at his watch, discovering that he had in fact only been asleep for 2 hours.

"Shit."

He ruffled his hair and turned his back on the doors to face Tony. Through the painful hours of the night, as Tony lay snoring like an injured walrus, McGee had layed awake thinking about how he was confronted, and how he had missed his chance. A chance he would probably miss time and time again due to his own self pity and lack of courage. But how could he possibly put his trust in a man like Tony? He would reveal what was probably his biggest secret, and he would respond by quoting some dumb movie, or worse, rejecting him.

McGee sat quietly observing the older agent, wondering how he had managed to get that much sleep. Not that he was complaining, it was actually nice to get some time to himself. Some time to think. Why he had fallen for Tony in the first place was a mystery even to him, considering how much he annoyed him. But sometimes he will see something that Tony does and that will spark a fire in Tim's heart, send his pulse racing and his cheeks burn red. Sometimes it was the desperate look on Tony's face as he battled with his computer to construct what was to McGee, a simple task. Sometimes it was the way he fell asleep on his desk after a long day at work, and when he woke he would have pieces of paper and sticky notes stuck to the side of his face.

What first woke Tony was the sound of young McGee chuckling to himself, located at the other end of the elevator, but what prevented him from falling back to sleep was the blinding light that was placed directly above his head. He threw his arm dramatically over his eyes and rolled over onto his left hand side, pushing himself up onto his knees. As he stood and turned to face McGee, brow furrowed and eyes squinted, he was sitting at the doors, smiling up at him.

Unaware until it was too late, McGee knocked the smile from his features and cleared his throat. Smooth move, staring up at Tony like a love sick puppy.

"Whaddup, McGee?" Tony groaned, stretching out the vertebrae in his back and attempting to crack his neck. "You look straight from the set of One Flew Over Th-"

"Will you quit it already?" McGee shouted, pushing himself up from the floor and over in Tony's direction. His arms caught DiNozzo's as he pushed him back against the elevator wall. He kept a stern face, but his mind was fighting to understand what had just happened.

"Care to let me go, McTetchy?" DiNozzo was pressed hard against the wall, and his arms were pinned by his side. McGee was pushing against him with his body, and his face was only inches away from his own. He tilted his head to one side and looked into McGee's eyes, awaiting a response.

"Care to shut up?" McGee asked through gritted teeth, tightening his grip on DiNozzo's arms.

Tony chuckled at Tim's feeble attempt to be threatening. "Are you gonna ma-" His words were broken by the unexpected feeling of lips pressing against his as McGee's hands slid up to his shoulders. Without first consulting his brain, his right arm made it's way to McGee's waist and pulled him in closer as his left curled under his arm and tangled in the back of his hair. He closed his eyes.

Tim broke the kiss and leaned back as DiNozzo struggled to come to terms with what had just happened. Both of them kept their eyes shut, and their lips were red, slightly parted.

It came as no shock to McGee that Tony was the first one to break the silence, but what he said caused him to open his eyes and stare deep into Tony's. "Wow. That was.. Impressive." He had panted the words in such a delicate tone, one McGee was unaware he possessed. It just caused further confusion in Tim's mind, so to drown out the questions buzzing through his aching head, he leaned back in, capturing Tony's lips with his own once more. He felt Tony's fingers entwine into his hair as he deepened the kiss. A low moan escaped his lips, and their breathing was sharp and fast.

As McGee pulled away he looked up into Tony's eyes that were burning pools of lust. He panted and gasped, and he could feel DiNozzo's heart beating quickly against his chest. DiNozzo watched down on McGee as he twirled his hair between his fingers, lightly tracing over his head and smoothing it back down again.

The sudden shock of vibrating in DiNozzo's thigh was enough to break the two agents out of their temporary Heaven and pull them back to reality. McGee moved to the wall next to DiNozzo and rested his back on it as Tony drew the cell phone from his pocket.

"DiNozzo. Yeah boss. No boss. Sort of. How long?" McGee took that as a sign of good luck, watching DiNozzo form the words with his bright red lips. It was just his sort of bad luck that just as he had found something to keep him entertained and Tony quiet they would get rescued. "Thirty minutes, got it. By-" DiNozzo was about to hang up as he pressed the phone closer to his ear and his eyes widened. His gaze suddenly shot to the black panel above the door, the one that had the arrows and the floor numbers on, and he clamped his mouth shut. "Got it, boss." He hung up, closing the phone and placing it back in his pocket. Horrified, he slid his back down the wall of the elevator until he landed on the floor, speechless.

"Tony?" McGee asked, kneeling besides him and trying to wake him from his state of shock. It was no use, as Tony carried on staring into the little black box, lips pressed tightly together and panic running through his eyes. McGee looked over and followed Tony's attention. Confused he turned back around to face him. "Tony? I'm sorry, I didn't mean fo-"

"Cameras, McGee. There are cameras in the elevator. Did you know about the cameras, McGee?" DiNozzo looked at Tim with his expression a combination of anger and sarcasm. Tim's mouth fell open and his eyes dropped to the ground. Sitting back on the floor and pushing himself against the wall, his mind started to pound once more, but this time with fright, not excitement. "Thought not. The boss saw everything. He was waiting until we'd woken up to inform us we're out of here at half seven. 30 minutes and we're out. Free."

For the last eight hours or so McGee had been praying to get out of that elevator, but now he'd settled into the idea of being trapped there until one of them had died, and the last one standing had to eat his deceased friend to survive. Anything to avoid the confrontation and jokes he would receive from the rest of the lab when they had gotten out. His head spun with the concept of half of the lab being aware of him making a move on Tony, and he was pretty sure he'd rather spend the rest of his short life in a tin can than face the consequences.

Tony was motionless. Sitting against the hard metal, he tried to comprehend the extent of damage that could be caused through his actions. Maybe the team would have to split up? Maybe the rest of NCIS had found out already? Not knowing what was happening as a result of their kiss was driving him mad, and he sighed with frustration. All he wanted was to be on the outside, safe, where he could defend himself and McGee, and protect what little dignity they had left.

With no knowledge of what had happened at the other end of that security camera, neither of them could prepare for being reunited with their friends. They both sat silently in thought until a distant banging from the top of the elevator shaft caught their attention. DiNozzo looked up toward the sound, and McGee rolled his eyes at his partner's response, as if he'd be able to see anything.

Tony rushed to his feet as the light above them flashed off and then back off again. He rushed to the front of the elevator and pressed his ear to the doors. McGee sat silently, watching DiNozzo. Suddenly the elevator jolted, and Tony turned to smile at McGee, flashing his teeth.

Tim remained quiet and had a terrified look on his face, because he knew that in less than two minutes he would see Gibbs, Ziva and Abby again, and possibly even the rest of NCIS, and he would have to bury his head in the sand until the situation had gone away. Tony saw the panic in his eyes, and offered a hand to McGee who kindly excepted it.

"It's OK, Tim." He said. "You don't have to be afraid."

McGee felt a wave of relief wash over him, and he shyly smiled back in return. It was reassuring that DiNozzo wasn't angry at him, that he didn't blame him for what he did, just like he blamed himself. Tony smiled and took Tim's hand in his, feeling the electricity run through his fingertips and up his arm, making his heart jump.

"We can do it together." He continued, sensing that McGee wasn't ready to face the music. He wasn't sure how he felt, but after kissing McGee it felt right, and he felt he had to protect his friend this time instead of hiding behind a facade of jokes.

Tony's words were kind, beautiful, but most importantly Tim knew they were true. He laced his finger's through Tony's and squeezed, feeling the comfort in his embrace as the elevator started to move upwards. They kept eye contact until it stopped, and the barely audible buzzing of the doors filled the silence, revealing the orange interior of their floor.

Hand in hand, they both took one last breath and turned towards the open doors.