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“You got married again, Jethro?” Gibbs forced himself not to scowl or hide the band on his ring finger from sight as he turned to face his second ex-wife. “Does she know about your appalling track record, or are you saving that little bit of information for the divorce proceedings?”

“Diane.” He kept his voice deliberately calm, for maximum infuriation factor. “Good to see you again.”

“Oh, don’t give me that, Jethro Gibbs. I-”

Tim chose that moment to return from paying for their petrol. “Jethro. Tony just called. He said Lt. Bradford just arrived at…oh, um.” His report trailed off as he noticed the pretty red-head glaring at him.

Gibbs felt a smile surfacing but he suppressed it, “Tim, this is Diane. Ex-wife number two.

Tim’s eyes narrowed and he stepped forward so he was standing half in front of Jethro, almost protectively. “The one that tried to brain you with a seven-iron?”

Diane opened her mouth to protest but Gibbs beat her to it. “That’s the one.” This time he couldn’t stop the smile. It broadened as Diane looked Tim up and down dismissively and spotted the matching wedding band on his finger. Her eyes widened.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”

“About what?” Gibbs frowned with mock puzzlement. He stepped forward so he was level with Tim, slipping an arm around the younger man’s waist as he did so.

“There is no way that you- You can’t seriously expect-” She didn’t seem to be able to finish her sentence.

“I’m always serious, Diane, surely you remember that?”

Diane’s face, already flushed, now went red with annoyance as she opened and closed her mouth and couldn’t come up with a retort. After a few attempts, she turned and flounced away.

Tim watched her go with an expression of mild puzzlement. “I’m pretty sure we didn’t have to use the ‘just married’ cover story until we actually got to the gay bar Lt. Bradford is at.” As he finished speaking, he turned and raised questioning eyebrows at Gibbs.

Jethro raised his eyebrows back, “Did I tell her we were married?”

“You let her assume it.”

Gibbs grinned and patted him on the shoulder, “Never miss an opportunity to screw with an ex-wife’s head, Tim.”

Tim smirked, “Is that a Gibbs Rule?”

“Oh, yeah. But dammed if I can remember what number it is.”

It took over a minute for Tim to stop laughing and even then, it was only because Jethro kissed him quiet.