Author's Note: I was watching INTERNAL AFFAIRS today and I realized that that last conversation could have and probably should have gone a whole lot differently. This is my take on what would have happened hat Tony said Yes to Jeanne's question.
DISCLAIMER: Characters are property of the genius that is Donald Bellisario. I am merely borrowing them.
"Was any of it real?" she asked and Tony knew that this was one of those crossroads in life. He could say that nothing in their relationship was real, indicating that all those special moments that he shared with Jeanne had been part of an act—but as he looked into her eyes, Tony knew that he couldn't say it because it was al lie.
The silence between the two of them was almost unbearable and Jeanne for her part could feel her heart beating against her chest. Part of her wanted to know that Tony loved her while another part of her wanted to be able to walk away. She searched his eyes, begging and pleading without words for him to tell her the truth for because everything that Jeanne had been through, she desired the truth more than anything.
Tony took a shallow intake of breath and answered. "Yes."
Jeanne choked back a sob as tears sprung to her eyes. She was too overwrought to even speak, or even look at him. Tony for his part found that he didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if Jeanne was happy that he had told the truth or whether it made everything that much worse.
"Jeanne?" he finally managed to whisper, hoping to elicit some sort of response from her, but she refused to meet her eyes. "Jeanne," Tony repeated his voice soft and low. "Jeanne, you need to know that at the beginning none of it was real. I was doing my job as an NCIS agent but then suddenly and I don't know when, but suddenly I found that aside from my name and profession, everything was real. That night I came to your apartment and told you…do you remember?"
Jeanne nodded, smiling a little despite herself. "I remember," she stated as she looked up to meet Tony's eyes. "That's the night that you said—"
"I love you," Tony interrupted. "I meant it then Jeanne and I still mean it now. My love for you is real Jeanne. It always has and it always will and I know that you might walk out of here and never speak to me again but you needed to know that it was real."
Jeanne felt herself at a crossroads. As she stared into Tony's face she knew that she could either walk away and regret ever meeting him, or she could find it in her heart to forgive the little lies he had told her for the sake of the greater truth—that he loved her. And if she was being completely honest she knew that deep down she loved Tony too.
Jeanne knew that she would never forget what he had done, just like she would never forget what her father had done—but her father was gone and she would never have the chance to forgive him. As Jeanne stared into Tony's eyes she knew that she had the chance to forgive him. And as Jeanne brought her lips to Tony's she knew that what they had, she was willing to fight for because it was real.