Work Text:
Ian stared at the metal monstrosity in front of him in dismay. He'd been duped. This was supposed to be a one horse open carriage, but whoever made it clearly didn't know the first thing about how one worked. This one lacked a place for the horses and barely qualified as having a place to sit. This wouldn't do at all.
A sniper buddy of his had asked Ian to procure one and help him arrange a surprise proposal. Ian had owed the other sniper, Gibbs, one or two favors and had agreed to arrange for things. The only problem was that COVID had shut down all of the normal ones. Ian had resorted to trying to make his own.
He'd ordered what he thought was a working one online, but clearly they'd misrepresented something because what he had was not at all what he thought he ordered. The proposal was supposed to take place tomorrow, so he would be pushing it to figure out how to fix this in time. He was great at fugitive recovery, but this was a bit beyond what he normally did. Still he'd have to figure out some way to fix it before the expected time tomorrow or he'd disappoint his friend.
With a sigh, Ian pushed up his sleeves and set to work on finding a way to attach the contraption to a horse or two. Needless to say the horses weren't cooperating in the slightest. He finally managed to get them attached after much fighting.
Next he needed to deal with the seat. It needed to support two people. He wished he knew someone who knew metal working as getting this bent into a better shape wouldn't be easy.
He worked through the night. By the time eight AM rolled around, he had something that would at least move. It still wasn't very comfortable, but he still had a couple more hours. This would be the best proposal ever if he had anything to say about it.
Finally, he had it repaired as best as it was going to get. It was time to take it to the designated spot. He couldn't wait to watch his friend get engaged. He hoped he'd be happy.
"Tony?" Ian asked, glancing at Gibbs.
"Ian? What are you doing here?"
"A favor for Gibbs, but I didn't realize he knew you."
"He's my boss."
"Your boss?" Ian raised an eyebrow in Gibbs' direction. Since when did Gibbs cavort with the employees.
"Ian, thanks for bringing the one horse open carriage. Now get in the back."
"What?"
"You two are going on a date."
"Wha? Boss?" Tony looked at Gibbs in confusion.
"You heard me, DiNozzo. Get back there in the seat and I'll take the reins to lead you around the park."
Both of them knew better than to argue, but they exchanged glances. "Do you know what's going on?" Tony whispered.
"Nope. I thought I was bringing this to Gibbs and he was going to propose to someone."
"Man, I hope not. We don't need a fifth Mrs. Gibbs."
"Well it seems unlikely given he's claiming we should be dating."
"Yeah. That's weird too. Any ideas where that came from?"
"Nope. As far as I know he didn't know that we knew each other until today."
Ian eyed Gibbs and contemplated what he knew of the man. "There's some specific outcome that he's hoping for. I don't know what."
"The question is if we figure out what it is, do we give it to him or do we do the opposite?"
"I say we give him a show."
"But first we should gather some additional information," Ian murmured. Louder, he addressed Gibbs, "Hey Gibbs. What made you think Tony and I should date?"
"Tony's lonely."
"So what? You set me up with the first person to cross your mind?" Tony's voice carried a note of hurt.
"Nah. If I'd done that I would have set you up with a red-head."
Tony snorted. "That's your vice, not mine."
"I know."
"So how did we end up here?"
"The last time I talked to my good buddy, Ian, he'd just ended a relationship with a math professor who couldn't handle or understand his lifestyle. He seemed rather convinced that he would never find someone who understood."
"I knew I shouldn't have called you," Ian muttered.
"Anyway, the more I thought about how to help you both, the more I realized you were perfect for each other."
"Did you also realize that we used to date?" Tony wondered.
"No. I thought you didn't know each other."
"Huh?" Tony turned to Ian. "Do you want to give it a try again despite knowing it will make my boss insufferably happy?"
"Not particularly." Ian grumbled. He did, however, grab Tony's hand and slip something into it.
Tony pocketed the piece of paper to look at later without prying eyes. The two of them gave each other a broad smile and turned their attention back to Gibbs.
"You'll have to do better than that if you want to get us together, Gibbs." Tony smirked.
Gibbs huffed, but didn't respond.
Ian, Tony, and Gibbs spent the rest of the ride catching up on each other's lives. Ian even ended up telling them the story of how he acquired the one horse open carriage that they were in. As they all laughed over that, Gibbs finally pulled to a stop and Ian and Tony got out.
They all went their separate ways. Ian took the one horse open carriage with him. He planned to donate it to someone who would find a better use for it and Gibbs had only wanted to borrow it anyway. If he kept it temporarily for the memories and in hopes of a response to his note, well no one had to know that.
He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face when he received a text message from an unknown number with a single word, "Yes."
The day hadn't gone at all as he expected as there had been no proposal, but with that answer things were starting to look up. He hadn't told Gibbs, but Tony was the one that had gotten away. He'd always regretted the way things ended between them and had wanted to try again. Now, he could.
He had a date with Tony for New Year's Eve and he couldn't wait. Maybe there would be a proposal, yet, though not between Gibbs and anyone. He hoped that the future with Tony would bring one, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself. After all, they still had things to work through, but if Tony was willing to try that meant that not all hope was lost. He truly believed that this time they would get their happily ever after.