Just a cute little idea I thought of and typed around midnight one night. Hope you like, and please review!
Disclaimer: N.C.I.S and any characters affiliated with it do not belong to me. The band Nickelback and their song 'Photograph' do not belong to me.
000
Tony stared up at the grand old house. It was so familiar, and yet so strange. He hadn't been there in years, but it seemed to be that he had just left to go for a stroll around the block. Time, he mused grimly, has a funny way of messing with you. The years go along at a moderate pace, and then, all of a sudden, something happens, and you're fourteen again, worried about being scolded and punished for coming back past curfew.
His eyes slammed closed and Tony drew in a sharp breath. He hadn't worried about breaking curfew in years, ever since he had gotten his first car. But now, a small voice inside him seemed to be chastising him for disregarding, even sometimes dreading, the stern lectures his father had given him inside the big study. They had been some of the few times his father and him had been alone in a room together.
Tony opened his eyes and forced himself to walk up the path leading to the front door. He slowly pulled a key he hadn't used in God knows how long out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Without a second thought, his feet turned him towards the stairs and he walked up to his old room.
He opened the door and felt his face break into a small smile, the first in over a week. Dad hadn't touched a thing in here, that much was obvious by the thick layer of dust over everything. In fact, Tony concluded as he stepped forward and bent down to examine something green and fuzzy on the carpet, it looked as though the cleaning staff hadn't even been in here since he had left. They never would have left a decades-old…sandwich?...rotting on the floor. It was so far gone it didn't even smell anymore.
Tony straightened up and looked around, his eyes sliding over the faded posters of cars and movies tacked onto the walls and the old television set in the corner. It was sitting on a low cabinet that was completely empty, a much younger Tony having emptied it of all the movies it held when he had left home.
He turned in a slow circle, taking a good look at the room that had been his refuge when he was younger, stopping when the sunlight coming in through the curtains bounced off something shiny and caught his eye. Tony moved towards the bedside table and picked up the object, allowing another smile to escape. It was an old picture, one he had forgotten about until he picked it up.
Three seventeen year old boys and two girls of the same age had been smiling and laughing at some long-forgotten joke when a fourth boy had pulled out his ever-present camera to capture the moment. Tony examined his young face, roaring with laughter, as his four best friends cracked up around him. Their names, personalities, and prominent memories of them, buried so long in the locked vault of childhood memories, sprang to his mind instantly.
Look at this photograph.
Every time I do it makes me laugh.
How did our eyes get so red?
And what the hell is on Joey's head?
Craig, always quick to find the humor in a situation, and who had once stolen his older sister's bra and worn it all day over his shirt after losing a bet to Tony.
James, a little violent and arrogant, but loyal to a fault and a great pranking buddy, and who had chased the same girl for almost ten years with unwavering persistence before she finally agreed to date, and eventually marry, him.
Rose, smart and sassy enough to make up for her clumsiness and terrible shyness around strangers, and who had beaten Tony a few times in movie trivia games.
Lauren, so talented at turning an uncomfortable situation hilarious with a few well-timed, random comments, and who had once talked Tony, Craig, and James out of what would have surely been a month's worth of detentions.
And last, but certainly not least, Colin, who wasn't actually in the picture, but always with the other five along with his trusty camera, and who had often taken excellent blackmail pictures of other teenagers the group disliked.
Tony set the picture down to look at the one underneath. It was of all six of them in front of his house, which had looked a lot different before the new addition. He remembered they had asked a gardener to take it for them.
And this is where I grew up.
I think the present owner fixed it up.
I never knew we'd ever went without.
The second floor is hard for sneaking out.
The next picture was in the old high school's cafeteria. Colin had caught Craig laughing, milk coming out his nose, at the look on James's face as he stared at his crush.
And this is where I went to school.
Most of the time had better things to do.
Criminal record says I broke in twice.
I must've done it half a dozen times.
Tony clearly and vividly remembered sneaking into the school after hours a few times to set up some crazy prank, usually with James, and sometimes Craig and Colin.
I wonder if it's too late?
Should I go back and try to graduate?
Life's better now than it was back then.
If I was them I wouldn't let me in.
Tony flipped to the next picture. It was of his own awestruck face when he found out that his dad was letting him take the old, then new, Corvette out for a spin.
Oh, oh, oh, oh God I, I.
Every memory of looking out the back door,
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor.
It's hard to say it, time to say it.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door,
I found a photo of the friend that I was looking for.
It's hard to say it, time to say it.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Tony's smile grew slightly at the next picture. It showed Lauren and Rose blowing bubblegum bubbles that had gotten stuck together somehow. Both girls faces expressed alarm, bewilderment, and amusement as Craig laughed openly behind them.
Remember the old arcade?
Blew every dollar that we ever made.
The cops hated us hangin' out.
They say somebody went and burned it down.
The next few pictures were mostly Tony, James, and Craig in one of their mock-wrestling tournaments, where Lauren and Rose acted as cheerleaders and Colin was often forced to referee when arguments about illegal moves broke out.
We used to listen to the radio,
And sing along to every song we know.
We said someday we'd find out how it feels,
To sing at more than just the steering wheel.
Tony laughed softly at the next picture of the five of them in their 'band' getup. His hair had been gelled up into something that resembled a mo-hawk, Rose looked positively dangerous in too-high heels that she was almost falling out of, Lauren looked like a relative of the raccoon family with dark makeup all around her eyes, Craig looked dazed because, as Tony remembered, he had hit himself in the head just moments before when trying to throw and catch his somewhat heavy drumsticks, and James actually looked okay with his carefully messed up hair and black clothes. Craig could barely play the drums and Tony could play on the keyboard, but that was the extent of the group's musical talent.
Kim's the first girl I kissed.
I was so nervous that I nearly missed.
She's had a couple of kids since then.
I haven't seen her since God knows when.
The next picture was older than the others, it was of Tony and his first girlfriend, Kim. His smiled faded a bit. He still remembered how he had felt when he had found her making out with another guy down a deserted hall at school one day.
Oh, oh, oh, oh God I, I.
Every memory of looking out the back door,
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor.
It's hard to say it, time to say it.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door,
I found a photo of the friend that I was looking for.
It's hard to say it, time to say it.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Tony smirked at a few blurry pictures of an angry Colin. James had stolen his camera and had been taking pictures while running away.
If I could relive those days,
I know of one thing that would never change.
Every memory of looking out the back door,
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor.
It's hard to say it, time to say it.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door,
I found a photo of the friend that I was looking for.
It's hard to say it, time to say it.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Tony paused at the last picture. It was of him showing his first brand new, very shiny, police badge to the others. They all seemed impressed and proud of him. But, as Tony knew all too well, he had left just a few days later, only staying long enough to pack his things and find an apartment. He didn't remember saying goodbye.
Look at this photograph.
Every time I do it makes me laugh.
Every time I do it makes me…
Tony sighed and dropped the pictures back onto the table before leaving the house. He had thought he was ready to deal with his past, but he was wrong. He paused at the end of the walk and looked back for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Dad," he said clearly, "I'm sorry James, and Craig, and Colin, and Lauren, and Rose. I guess I'm not strong enough to do this yet."
It might have been his imagination, but it seemed like he heard an echo of his dead father as he turned back towards the road. He was yelling.
"Anthony DiNozzo Jr., you come back here right now and finish what you started!"
A voice he loved and respected more than he ever had his father spoke calmly over the ghost's shouting.
"Don't apologize, it's a sign of weakness."
"Yes, boss." Tony muttered, and for good measure gave himself a headslap.
Gibbs gave his Senior Field Agent an understanding smile. He hadn't thought that Tony would last long, and that was why he had waited by the car.
But Tony would be back after a little grieving time, he was sure. If DiNozzo was anything, it was stubborn.