Chapter Text
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.
[Address in the Assembly Hall at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt, June 26 1963]”
― John F. Kennedy
*************
As Gibbs followed Tony and Tali from the terminal to the short term parking lot he made a concerted effort to take a few deep breaths, or in the words of Jack, ground himself a little. Despite the chill in the air, the sun felt good on his face after the long and at times uncomfortable trip from Afghanistan to Paris.
“Look we got a new car, Uncle Gibbs,” Tali pointed towards the dark grey SUV as they rounded the end of a row.
“Far cry from your sports car,” Gibbs teased Tony, knowing decades later that the loss of his beloved car was still a sore spot. Tony just grumbled something unintelligible as he hit the key fob to unlock the doors. Tali climbed in the back seat and buckled her seatbelt while Tony tossed Gibbs’ duffle and backpack in the cargo area.
Gibbs pulled off his hat and raked a hand through his hair as Tony started the car and backed out of the space. Tali was chatting a mile a minute about things Gibbs wasn’t quite able to follow.
“Hey Tali,” Tony said, catching his daughter’s eye in the rearview mirror.
“Yeah, Dad,” she answered with a grin.
“I think Uncle Gibbs could probably use a few minutes of peace and quiet right about now,” Tony explained as he gave a glance towards his passenger who looked about 30 seconds away from dozing off.
“Okay,” Tali answered. She looked out the window for a few minutes before speaking again. “Hey Dad, what time is it in DC?”
“Uh, about 9 in the morning,” Tony answered after glancing at his watch. He pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. Asking what time was it in DC was Tali’s code for---can I use Messenger Kids and text with Victoria. Tony held the phone over his shoulder and Tali grabbed it. She was hoping to get a phone of her own soon, but she was still only 8 so both of her parents had vetoed that request quickly. It wasn’t like she couldn’t use her iPad to talk to her friends and when that wasn’t available, her Dad’s cell phone would do just fine.
“Thanks,” Gibbs whispered. Tony just nodded.
************
Half an hour later, Tony eased the car into the narrow driveway next to their house. Tali was out of the car almost immediately.
“Uh, I didn’t ask, is Ziva around?” Gibbs asked as he reached to unlatch his seatbelt. He had noticed there was no other car in the driveway or parked out in front of the house.
“I expect her home later this evening,” Tony said, offering no additional information on the situation. Gibbs just nodded. He didn’t say anything else, there would be time for that later, if Tony chose to talk about any of it.
Gibbs grabbed his backpack and followed Tali into the house.
“Ima and I redecorated my room since you were here over the summer. Do you want to see it, Uncle Gibbs?” Tali asked after hanging her coat in the closet and kicking off her shoes.
“Sure honey, just give me a few minutes to get settled,” Gibbs said, trying to muster up some enthusiasm for the tour. What he wanted most at the moment was a cup of coffee and perhaps a couple of Advil.
“Tali, why don’t you take your dirty clothes to the laundry room and toss them in the washer,” Tony said, figuring that would buy Gibbs a few minutes.
“Thanks,” Gibbs whispered followed Tony into the bright sunny kitchen. Tony motioned towards the coffee maker and his former boss gave a grateful smile.
“Just say the word and I will send Tali out to ride her bike or something,” Tony offered as he measured the coffee grounds.
“It’s fine, Tony,” Gibbs assured him as he rooted around in the front pocket of his backpack for some Advil. He downed a few with a handful of water before sitting down at the small round table by the window. He looked around the room, noting a few changes since his visit 6 months earlier.
Tali wandered back downstairs 15 minutes later. “Are you ready?” she asked from the doorway separating the kitchen from the dining room.
“I am,” Gibbs declared with a smile before finishing his coffee and standing up. He grabbed his backpack and duffle to take them up to the guest room.
***************
“Can I watch TV?” Tali asked as she finished the last bite of the chicken Tony had made the three of them for dinner.
“Sure, just clear your plate please,” Tony replied as he reached for another slice of bread. “Not hungry, boss?” he asked, pointing at Gibbs’ plate which was still half full.
“Not your…oh never mind,” Gibbs chuckled. He knew Tony would refer to him as “boss” as long as both of them were still breathing. “I don’t know, I think it has more to do with the fact my body has no idea what time of day it is, or at this point, what day it even is.”
“Understood, just making sure it wasn’t my cooking,” Tony teased. “And it’s Saturday evening,” he added with a grin. Tony’s text alert went off and he grabbed his phone off the counter.
“Ziva?” Gibbs asked as he took notice of the slightly annoyed expression which had fallen across Tony’s face.
“Yeah, she’ll be back early tomorrow afternoon. Plans changed, they always do,” he muttered as he stuffed the last bite of bread into his mouth and stood up to clear away the rest of the dishes.
The two men worked silently, putting away the leftovers and loading the dishwasher.
“So you want to talk?” Tony asked as he dried his hands and hung the towel up on the oven door.
“Was gonna ask you the same thing,” Gibbs chuckled. “I’m going to go change and I’ll meet you in your office.”
“Rock, paper scissors to see who has to start talking first?” Tony teased. Gibbs just nodded and headed for the stairs.
***********”
“Damn,” Gibbs muttered, having thrown out paper, only to have Tony put out scissors. “Fair is fair,” he muttered as he flopped down on the overstuffed brown leather couch in Tony’s home office, while Tony sat down behind the desk, putting his feet up and getting comfortable.
“So, do I have to ask you questions or are you going to start talking? Tony teased when Gibbs didn’t exactly launch into a conversation. Not that Tony expected him to.
“Channeling Grace are you DiNozzo?” Gibbs snorted as he knocked back a healthy mouthful of bourbon his host had just poured. Tony just grinned. “Well, I just left the woman I love 7000 miles from the house she’s supposed to be moving into, with me. We didn’t get out of the vague planning stage, let alone move a single box across the Potomac.” Tony smiled broadly at his friend. “What?” Gibbs muttered gruffly.
“Just never heard you refer to Jack as—the woman you love,” Tony pointed out. “Not to say that fact hasn’t been perfectly clear for a very long time. Must be getting a little sappy in your old age.”
“Whatever,” came Gibbs’ reply. “And let’s not forget where I left her isn’t exactly the safest place on earth. But as I told Jack, I knew from the moment the damn C-130 touched down that I would be returning to DC alone. Hell, I knew that to be a fact before Jack even realized it herself,” he added. “Once she met those girls it was all over. She sees in them what she missed with Faith. And I understand that. What I wouldn’t give to have seen Kelly grow up. Took Jack all of 3-4 days to become the mother figure with the girls.”
“That left you as the father figure?”
“Yeah, it did. And gotta be honest, it was pretty nice. The girls are just so curious and fun. The life they lead is hard and unpredictable but deep down, they’re just normal little kids who want to play and learn and grow up. It was hard to leave them too,” Gibbs admitted with a sigh.
“Jack’s stay there isn’t permanent, is it?” Tony asked. His previous conversations with both Gibbs and Jack hadn’t exactly answered that question.
“Damned if I know. Deep down I don’t think so. She was going to leave NCIS, that’s been clear for almost a month. This opportunity, if one can phrase it as that, came up suddenly. Like I said, one minute she was mentally remodeling my kitchen and the next we were packing for Afghanistan.”
“How did you leave things?” Tony asked curiously.
“I guess we left with things in a good place. Some of it seemed clinical if you know what I mean. She signed POA over to me, made me her medical proxy, important things, I get it. We didn’t have a big emotional goodbye, if that’s what you’re asking. That’s just not us.” Gibbs took a sip of his drink before continuing. “I left secure in the knowledge that we love each other and we want to make things work as best we can. And that’s the bottom line, I suppose,” he added with a shrug of his shoulders.
Both were quiet for a few minutes; Tony was both waiting for Gibbs to continue and trying to decide how to respond.
“You going to be okay?” Tony asked, cringing at how awkward the question was.
“Don’t have a choice, do I?” Gibbs asked, ignoring the awkwardness of the moment.
“Oh, you do have choices, Jethro,” Tony pointed out. The use of “Jethro” struck a chord with Gibbs and he knew the conversation was about to head in a direction he wasn’t going to be thrilled about discussing but would do so anyway.
“I know,” Gibbs whispered as he pushed himself to his feet to refill their glasses. He paced the room a little, ending up at the window overlooking the small but functional backyard.
“I know you have no desire to go home to DC, pack up our things and return to Afghanistan, even if the woman you love is there,” Tony started with a chuckle. Gibbs just nodded, not bothering to actually turn around and look at Tony. “But let’s face it, you are past the point where most people, especially federal agents, think about retirement. We’ve danced around the subject before but haven’t gotten very far,” Tony pointed out.
“No, that conversation has not gotten very far, with you, with Jack or with Ducky. Who by the way, is the last person who should be giving advice about this,” Gibbs chuckled.
“True, but then again, he has stepped back in his role at NCIS, way back,” Tony pointed out. “Don’t you think about it? God knows I think about retiring completely on a near daily basis. Yes, we will be talking about me at some point but it’s still your turn,” Tony said, wanting to make it clear that the conversation would not be turning to him and his situation in the next few minutes.
“DiNozzo, I’ve thought more about retirement in the past 18 hours than I have in my entire life,” Gibbs admitted as he turned and walked back to the couch. “But before you ask, I haven’t come to any conclusions. Just spent a good deal of the plane rides thinking about what comes next. But you know how I hate change,” he muttered as he slid down on the couch a little until his head rested on the back.
“Change is the law of life,” Tony said as he held out his glass in a mock salute.
“Nice JFK quote,” Gibbs said as he held up his own glance before draining it in a single gulp. “I’m going to at least take some time to actually consider my options, talk to a few people and go from there. Not making any promises on that front,” Gibbs declared.
“That’s all I can ask for,” Tony said with a sincere smile. “I’m going to see what Tali is up to. Make yourself comfortable,” he said as Gibbs was already pulling the plaid blanket off the back of the couch and spreading it over his legs.
*************
By the time Tony had gotten Tali headed off to the shower, started the washer and changed into pajamas pants and an ancient NCIS t-shirt, Gibbs was well on his way to falling asleep on the couch.
“Guess I get out of talking,” Tony whispered to himself as he pulled the glass out of Gibb’s hand.
“Only for tonight,” Gibbs muttered without bothering to open his eyes.
“You just going to crash here?” Tony asked. Gibbs nodded, already half asleep. Tony grabbed a pillow from the closet and made sure Gibbs was settled before turning out the light and heading to the kitchen, he had promised Tali they could have ice cream for dessert.
TBC