The Last "I Love You" by wiccagirl24
Title: The Last "I Love You"
Author: wiccagirl24
Category: Angst
Pairing: Tony/Jeanne
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Minor character death
Spoilers: Post-ep for Iceman
Challenge: Last
Summary: Tony wants to explain...
Disclaimer: The teapot is ready anytime Ducky wants to come for tea. Until then none of the NCIS cast are mine, nor is anything else hving to do with the show.
A/N: This idea came to me after I had already turned off the light last night. It wouldn't leave me alone. Thanks to _tweeter_ who made my scribblings much more sensical.
o)O(o
He showed up at her apartment the next night with flowers and chocolates. Not at all original, but he didn't care. She frowned, but invited him to come inside.
“Let me take you to dinner.” He didn’t bother to take off his jacket as he headed into the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers. The reservations he has made are for forty-five minutes from now.
“Tony, I’m not really in the mood.” It’s an understatement, if her crossed arms and the fact that she’s deliberately standing on the other side of room are signs of her interest. There’s no ice cream sitting out on the table, though, so at least that's a point in his favor.
“I thought it would give us a chance to talk.” A month ago he never would have believed he was capable of saying those words. They sound way too much like ‘where is this relationship heading’ and spoke loudly of commitment. The only thing Tony DiNozzo had ever been able to commit to was the job he currently held. Five and a half years in one place was an eternity for him. Six months with one woman was its own kind of eternity too.
“I’m not exactly dressed to go out,” Jeanne pointed out, waving her hand at the blue sweat pants and oversized t-shirt she was wearing. His t-shirt, Tony realized.
“Just toss on some jeans or something. We’ll go somewhere casual.” He could call the five star restaurant while she was in the bedroom and cancel the reservations it had taken him an hour and fifty dollars to obtain.
“Tony...”
“Please?” he asked softly. Jeanne froze for a moment, then nodded.
o)O(o
They ended up sitting outdoors at the same cafe where he had helped her study for a test once. Spring had suddenly arrived a few days ago and the evening was surprisingly warm. A tease, since a storm was expected to blow through town on the weekend, but for now they took advantage of the weather.
“I need to explain to you about yesterday.” He played with a breadstick in his hands, but looked directly across the table at Jeanne.
“Tony, I don’t want you to apologize for something you don’t feel.” Jeanne was the one to look away, suddenly finding a crease in the tablecloth fascinating.
“Not an apology, an explanation. And as for what I feel, well, I’ll get to that.” He took a deep breath; his past was something he avoided talking about whenever possible. “I was named after my father. I’m actually the third Anthony DiNozzo, and the last. If I ever have a son he’s getting his own name, not one that carries the weight of expectation that mine does.”
“Anthony Francis DiNozzo the Third. That is quite the name, isn’t it?” For the first time in two days she smiled, and he was so very grateful.
“It’s not the name so much as the responsibilities. I was supposed to follow my father into the family business, and spend my days in a corner office ordering transport ships around.”
“You’re one of those DiNozzos?”
“I was. My father disinherited me the day I told him I was planning on going into law enforcement instead of shipping.”
“That was a crappy thing to do.” The ire in her voice, for once, wasn’t directed at him. He didn’t want her pity, though.
“Who knows, I might have ended up a egocentric spoiled bastard with all that wealth at my disposal, instead of the selfless and unassuming guy I am.” This time he earned a soft chuckle. “My father, as you can guess, was rather rigorous in his standards. He believed in the idiom that children should be seen and not heard.”
“And your mom?”
“Mother was...” he grappled for the right words, never sure how to explain his mother to anyone who didn’t know her. “She lived in her own world, and only floated through ours. When I was ten, my father had her taken to an exclusive and very discreet facility where she would be taken care of. The next year he sent me off to boarding school; a military academy in Rhode Island.”
“Oh God, Tony.” Her hand reached across the table and pressed firmly against his own.
“I didn’t tell you so that you’d be sorry for me. Compared to most people my childhood was easy. I never wanted for anything that money could buy, I wasn’t abused, and I received a top-notch education. What I wanted to explain is why I have trouble with the words that you’ve waited way too long for. I’ve never said them to anybody.”
“Never?” Hazel eyes widened in surprise.
“Never. Not to my father because he wouldn’t have given a damn. My mother wouldn’t have heard them. And it’s never felt right with any of my girlfriends until I met you.”
“Until me?” Her eyes glistened and she blinked away the moisture that gathered there.
“Not until you, Jeanne Benoit.” Tony rose from his seat and crouched down in front of her so that their eyes were at the same height. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They both leaned into the kiss, not caring that the other restaurant patrons were watching them; some smiling, some sighing, a few applauding. Wrapped up in each other neither of them noticed the man across the street that was also watching them. Tony, for all his experience, didn’t recognize the sound of the bullet until Jeanne jerked against him and he pulled away to find a scarlet bloom across her back.
“Tony, I don’t feel...”
“Shhh, just hold on, Jeanne, it will be alright.” He held her tight against him as he shouted for someone to call a doctor. A part of him knew, though, that it was too late. There was a look in her eyes, he had seen it before. Kate, Jeffrey, John... He wanted to close his eyes, deny what was happening and hope this was a nightmare, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her eyes.
“I love you, Tony,” she whispered against his neck. Then he couldn’t feel her breath anymore.
“I love you too.”
Author: wiccagirl24
Category: Angst
Pairing: Tony/Jeanne
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Minor character death
Spoilers: Post-ep for Iceman
Challenge: Last
Summary: Tony wants to explain...
Disclaimer: The teapot is ready anytime Ducky wants to come for tea. Until then none of the NCIS cast are mine, nor is anything else hving to do with the show.
A/N: This idea came to me after I had already turned off the light last night. It wouldn't leave me alone. Thanks to _tweeter_ who made my scribblings much more sensical.
o)O(o
He showed up at her apartment the next night with flowers and chocolates. Not at all original, but he didn't care. She frowned, but invited him to come inside.
“Let me take you to dinner.” He didn’t bother to take off his jacket as he headed into the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers. The reservations he has made are for forty-five minutes from now.
“Tony, I’m not really in the mood.” It’s an understatement, if her crossed arms and the fact that she’s deliberately standing on the other side of room are signs of her interest. There’s no ice cream sitting out on the table, though, so at least that's a point in his favor.
“I thought it would give us a chance to talk.” A month ago he never would have believed he was capable of saying those words. They sound way too much like ‘where is this relationship heading’ and spoke loudly of commitment. The only thing Tony DiNozzo had ever been able to commit to was the job he currently held. Five and a half years in one place was an eternity for him. Six months with one woman was its own kind of eternity too.
“I’m not exactly dressed to go out,” Jeanne pointed out, waving her hand at the blue sweat pants and oversized t-shirt she was wearing. His t-shirt, Tony realized.
“Just toss on some jeans or something. We’ll go somewhere casual.” He could call the five star restaurant while she was in the bedroom and cancel the reservations it had taken him an hour and fifty dollars to obtain.
“Tony...”
“Please?” he asked softly. Jeanne froze for a moment, then nodded.
o)O(o
They ended up sitting outdoors at the same cafe where he had helped her study for a test once. Spring had suddenly arrived a few days ago and the evening was surprisingly warm. A tease, since a storm was expected to blow through town on the weekend, but for now they took advantage of the weather.
“I need to explain to you about yesterday.” He played with a breadstick in his hands, but looked directly across the table at Jeanne.
“Tony, I don’t want you to apologize for something you don’t feel.” Jeanne was the one to look away, suddenly finding a crease in the tablecloth fascinating.
“Not an apology, an explanation. And as for what I feel, well, I’ll get to that.” He took a deep breath; his past was something he avoided talking about whenever possible. “I was named after my father. I’m actually the third Anthony DiNozzo, and the last. If I ever have a son he’s getting his own name, not one that carries the weight of expectation that mine does.”
“Anthony Francis DiNozzo the Third. That is quite the name, isn’t it?” For the first time in two days she smiled, and he was so very grateful.
“It’s not the name so much as the responsibilities. I was supposed to follow my father into the family business, and spend my days in a corner office ordering transport ships around.”
“You’re one of those DiNozzos?”
“I was. My father disinherited me the day I told him I was planning on going into law enforcement instead of shipping.”
“That was a crappy thing to do.” The ire in her voice, for once, wasn’t directed at him. He didn’t want her pity, though.
“Who knows, I might have ended up a egocentric spoiled bastard with all that wealth at my disposal, instead of the selfless and unassuming guy I am.” This time he earned a soft chuckle. “My father, as you can guess, was rather rigorous in his standards. He believed in the idiom that children should be seen and not heard.”
“And your mom?”
“Mother was...” he grappled for the right words, never sure how to explain his mother to anyone who didn’t know her. “She lived in her own world, and only floated through ours. When I was ten, my father had her taken to an exclusive and very discreet facility where she would be taken care of. The next year he sent me off to boarding school; a military academy in Rhode Island.”
“Oh God, Tony.” Her hand reached across the table and pressed firmly against his own.
“I didn’t tell you so that you’d be sorry for me. Compared to most people my childhood was easy. I never wanted for anything that money could buy, I wasn’t abused, and I received a top-notch education. What I wanted to explain is why I have trouble with the words that you’ve waited way too long for. I’ve never said them to anybody.”
“Never?” Hazel eyes widened in surprise.
“Never. Not to my father because he wouldn’t have given a damn. My mother wouldn’t have heard them. And it’s never felt right with any of my girlfriends until I met you.”
“Until me?” Her eyes glistened and she blinked away the moisture that gathered there.
“Not until you, Jeanne Benoit.” Tony rose from his seat and crouched down in front of her so that their eyes were at the same height. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They both leaned into the kiss, not caring that the other restaurant patrons were watching them; some smiling, some sighing, a few applauding. Wrapped up in each other neither of them noticed the man across the street that was also watching them. Tony, for all his experience, didn’t recognize the sound of the bullet until Jeanne jerked against him and he pulled away to find a scarlet bloom across her back.
“Tony, I don’t feel...”
“Shhh, just hold on, Jeanne, it will be alright.” He held her tight against him as he shouted for someone to call a doctor. A part of him knew, though, that it was too late. There was a look in her eyes, he had seen it before. Kate, Jeffrey, John... He wanted to close his eyes, deny what was happening and hope this was a nightmare, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her eyes.
“I love you, Tony,” she whispered against his neck. Then he couldn’t feel her breath anymore.
“I love you too.”