Disclaimer: "NCIS" and its characters don't belong to me they belong to CBS and are being used without permission. Please don't sue because I have no money.

Author's Note: The loss of someone special impacts all of them, but two most of all.

The Sweater

Tony stood in the store looking around. It just wasn't the same without Jackson Gibbs. He remembered meeting Leroy Jethro Gibbs's father when they came to Stillwater for a case. He had forgotten his coat and he had given him one of his sweaters. It was nice and soft and smelt like a Grandfather would smell. He remembered when he took time off to return the sweater and decided to help Jackson with the store. He liked helping in the store and Jackson had showed him how to do so. When he tried to return the sweater Jackson told him to keep it and so he did and that is what he was wearing right now. That wasn't the first time that he had come to Stillwater to help with the store and just to talk to Jackson. The month after that he went again and helped out. He liked to listen to Jackson's stories that he told about his military career, to what happened around the town and about Gibbs when he was growing up in the small town of Stillwater.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs walked into the store and stopped as he saw Tony looking around and staring at the cash register and the counter. He had heard from his father that Tony had been there a little after they did the investigation in Stillwater. How he had tried to give the sweater back and he told him that he wanted Tony to have the sweater. He also told him that he liked Tony and told him he was like a grandson to him. He didn't know what to think of it. Out of all his Agents he was closer to Tony than anyone. He wasn't even close to Stan when he was working with him before his ulcer and had to transfer to Agent Afloat. Tony was the first one that he had asked to be on his team from Baltimore after he found out his partner Danny was dirty.

Looking at Tony right now as a tear fell down his face not even knowing that he had walked inside something shifted inside of him and made him think. This man was like a son to him. He knew that Tony had a father, but every time that senior came to see Tony it turned to bad to worse. He remembered Tony telling him that his father had told him that he loved him, but he had never said it back because he was afraid that Senior wanted money from him. He also told him that his father had never said it when he was a child either. He knew from listening to Tony about a year after he had been at NCIS that his father would sometimes hit him, yell at him and push him away. He couldn't understand why a father would not tell his only child that he loved them. He told Shannon and Kelly that he loved them all the time. They knew that he loved them, but Tony's father never told him that he loved him until now. No wonder Tony felt like Senior wanted something.

Gibbs walked up to his Senior Field Agent and laid a hand on his shoulder. Tony wiped the tear off his face and turned to look at Gibbs.

"Sorry, Boss."

"It's okay, son."

Tony looked at him as he said that.

"Jackson told me that you have been to Stillwater a little after the investigation and after that some other times too. He said that he felt like you were his grandson."

"I loved helping him and listening to his stories about his life and about you growing up here. He said that I was a good grandson. That was a month before he died. I told him that he was a good grandpa too. I even called him grandpa when I left for the last time. I really liked him and he was a good guy."

"That he was. I'm glad that you got the chance to know him Tony because to me you are like a son to me."

"Thanks Gibbs. Can I call you Dad?"

"Not in the bullpen."

"I understand." Tony said as he smiled.

"Come on, son. Let's go."

They both turned back to the store to see the place for the last time then walked out the door to the car and drove away. It all started with a sweater and ended with a family.