I know a lot of people are already doing "Bucket List" fics but I couldn't stop the wheels from turning, so you're getting one from me as well.
This started almost simultaneously to writing "Number 31" and was supposed to be a 3,000ish word one-shot. It is now nearly twice that long and not even finished. Sigh...best laid plans and all that. It doesn't split up terribly evenly, so I'm posting Chapters 1 - 3 at the same time and expect to have the rest up pretty quickly.
Disclaimer: Definitely Tony-centric, but this is the most blatant Tony/Ziva pairing I've ever written (or at least will be, eventually). So if it's not your thing, just give it a miss!
It coulda been us every single damn day of the week. Sometimes it has been.
The others don't take him seriously, but the plane crash genuinely rattles him. The boss's words from years ago keep repeating in his head. There have been too many close calls over the past decade: countless shootings, explosions, terrorists...even the goddamned plague. He's tired of putting off the things - both juvenile and frighteningly adult - that would make him happy.
You wanna worry about something, worry about tomorrow.
So even though the others laugh and mock his bucket list, he goes home that night and sticks it to his fridge with a tacky tourist magnet he bought in Cartagena, promising to cross off a few items as soon as possible.
Tony's Bucket List
1. Master the art of Kung Fu.
2. Drive a 1965 Aston Martin DB5 like the one in Goldfinger.
3. Discover the meaning of life.
4. Catch a shark.
5. Date a Bond girl and/or Miss Universe.
6. Ride in a motorcycle ball of death.
7. Write letter to Roger Ebert re: his reviews of FullMetalJacket and Benjithe Hunted.
8. Develop a catch phrase.
9. The luge.
10. Tell Dad it's okay.
11. Watch all Hitchcock films in order of release (including both versions of TheManWhoKnewTooMuch), pausing only for bathroom breaks.
12. Experience a Wonder of the World (besides Gibbs).
13. Learn to play the bass.
14. Kick McGee's butt at some video game.
15. Create DiNozzo coat of arms.
16. Ride a Ferris wheel naked. (oops…did that already)
17. Get and pass on Gibbs' recipe for steak.
18. Visit Bogie's grave.
19. Discuss Paris.
20. Give a motivational half-time speech.
21. Find Jimmy Hoffa, dammit.
22. Finish memoir.
23. Make cameo in the movie version of memoir.
24. Let friends get closer.
25. Try space tourism.
26. Tell her.