Title: Moments
Author: Elizabeth
Pairings: Tony and Ziva
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/Dramedy
Summary: Life is defined by a series of moments. Follow Tony Dinozzo as these moments come together to set the stage for what will one day lead him to the happiness he has always wanted, yet never fully had.
A/N: I wanted to explore how Tony was dealing with his life after the end of season 6. The idea came from envisioning Tony working on rebuilding a car in the same way Gibbs does his boat.
-This story takes place in September assuming the finale took place in May. I am writing with the idea that Ziva is back at NCIS however she was saved. She is working with the team again, but her and Tony's relationship is still damaged. In later chapters I will address more about her and the other characters of the show.
Spoilers: All of season 6 is game, and I reserve the right to work in season 7 spoilers and eventually actual episodes as we get closure to the premiere.
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. The official law enforcement agency is property of the Marines (oh-rah!) and the U.S. Navy. The creatively awesome show and its characters are Property of Donald Bellisario and CBS.
Chapter 1
Anthony 'Tony' Dinozzo stepped out of the cool September weather and into his quiet house. It had been another long week at work, and he was looking forward to the promised weekend off.
He bypassed the various boxes he had yet to unpack and headed straight to the fridge. After accessing that the food fairy had yet to visit, Tony grabbed the nearest beer and after popping the top off leaned against the sink. As he slowly sipped out of the bottle, he allowed his gaze to travel around the room.
Unbeknownst to anyone at NCIS, his father, or really anyone other then his dead Uncle Clive, and his lawyer, about six months ago he came into a lot of money.
After a conversation with Gibbs while waiting for the call to confirm his inheritance, he decided to hide his unexpected windfall. When Gibbs questioned whether he was thinking about leaving NCIS when he came into this potential money, Tony decided he would rather not be put in the position of people questioning his decision to stay or go. He grew up wealthy, and even after 20 years of living at barely middle class, he found that he was still judged as a spoiled rich kid. He knew like few others that money definitely couldn't buy Happiness, and he would prefer to not be judged by money ever again.
And while he would never admit it to anyone, the fact that Gibbs thought he would actually leave NCIS over money really hurt. It was at that time he decided to keep his money a secret and continue living as if his bank account didn't jump up a couple, well more then a couple, zeros.
Not to say he lived as a pauper by any means. At first he bought small, some new suits, a new TV, and of course added to his already extensive DVD collection. But then he decided to go a little bigger.
Tony decided to buy a house. Since he was twelve, he had lived in dorms, and later apartments. For most of those years roommates had been apart of the living space.
The first time he had been able to live without a roommate had been a happy day in his life. He enjoyed his independence more then he ever thought he would.
While the apartments had been fine for a while, Tony decided that it was time to invest in a house that may one day become a home.
When Tony began his initial house hunt, he considered houses with a basement. That is until he found the perfect house, with a garage.
Just about anyone who met him and Gibbs would say how alike they were. And even though they did share many of the same characteristics, Tony never saw himself building a boat in his basement.
But like Gibbs he liked working with his hands and found the idea of building something from the ground up oddly rewarding. The minute he saw the garage he knew immediately the house was everything he needed.
The rest of the house wasn't exactly shabby. It was a two story, 4 bed room, 2 and a half bath. The spacious living room was big enough to house his large entertainment system and extensive DVD collection. Along with a state of the art kitchen and comfortable living room, the house also had a huge library complete with a spiral staircase. Tony splurged and upgraded all of the appliances and fixtures and purchased all new furniture. If he ever got around to unpacking the rest of his stuff the house would be great.
Well at least he thought it would be. Tony had officially moved into the house in late April, and after five months he had yet to have any house guests. He wasn't sure of the reaction he would get, and decided to postpone as long as possible. The time was coming soon when he would have to revel his new living arrangements, as his NCIS co workers were beginning to get suspicious.
With one last swallow of his beer, Tony placed the empty bottle in the sink and headed up to his room to change.
He quickly switched out his work suit for an old Baltimore PD shirt and a pair of worn jeans. Heading back down stairs Tony flipped on his stereo waiting until he heard the familiar voice of Elvis Costello. Making sure it was loud enough he stepped into his haven, the garage.
As he entered the garage he looked at the reason it had became his sanctuary. In the center of the room was a '69 Mustang. Or at least it would be when he finished building her. She was his pride and joy, and his every free moment was put into completing her.
Shortly after he moved into his house, Tony began scoping out the nearest salvage yards for the perfect car to rebuild. He spent months looking, but had very little free time to travel far outside the D.C. area. During his recovery after what he privately had come to think of as 'the incident' he had more time to really search. When he came across this baby in a salvage yard in North Carolina, it was love at first sight.
Tony had to completely take the car apart before he could begin rebuilding. Since he happened to still be recovering at the time it had taken a little longer than he thought it would. Since then he had already put a small fortune into the car for various parts even though he wasn't even close to being finished. But regardless of all that he knew it would all be worth it in the end.
He now understood why Gibbs spent so much time building his boats, it was oddly therapeutic. It was in the moments he was alone in his garage he was really able to let go of his façade and relax. It was only here that he was able to feel completely at ease and let his troubles slide away.
With mainly only the frame of the car in tacked, Tony had decided it would be a good idea to work on rebuilding the engine before he dove into working on the body some more. Grabbing another beer from the mini fridge next to his work table he set to work screw driver in hand.
As he delved into the mystery that was the engine, Tony let his mind wander to what led him to this point in his life.
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That's it for the first chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it.
Depending on how well everyone likes it I would like to take this story far and eventually add character interaction, dialogue, action and much more.
Please review and let me know what you think!!