Title: A Decade of Decembers
Chapter: Christmas 1: Ave Maria
Author: DiNozzoitis aka Violetwarnercobalt
Author's Notes: Written for the Tibbs Yuletide advent calendar over at LJ. This originally had a fanmix with the music and art made by me to download but due to computer problems all there is now is the fics.
Warnings: Pre Series for this chapter, all are un-beta'd
Spoilers: none that I can think of
Characters/Pairings: Tony/Gibbs (obviously lol!)
Rating: G to PG
Genre/Category: Pre-slash, Family, Friendship, little bit of Angst and Hurt/Comfort
Word Count: 667
Disclaimer: I do not own or am in any way affiliated with those that own NCIS, nor am I connected to the show's cast and crew. This is written out of pure enjoyment and absolutely no money is being made from it's creation. Please do not sue. Also so not own Ave Maria or The Night Before Christmas.
Summary: The night before Tony's first Christmas at NCIS Gibbs finds his newest agent in an unexpected place.
Christmas One – Ave Maria
"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee"
Ave Maria – Leontyne Price (rough English translation)
Gibbs never expected to find himself outside a church, late on Christmas eve; or to be more precise very early Christmas morning, listening as the choir perfectly harmonized the well known song; snow falling all around him.
He'd been worried about his newest agent's subdued demeanor all week, the lack of laughter and childish innocence was something he had never experienced where the younger man was concerned, and he'd finally given in to the nagging in the pit of his stomach that had been plaguing him for the past few days. He'd trailed discreetly behind the younger man as he left the office. The ex-marine had been expecting to be led to the Italian's apartment, or more likely, some seedy bar where he would have to drag the ex-cop out of after one too many drinks.
He was more than a bit shocked when Tony pulled into the parking lot of a church not too far from the naval yard. Gibbs had almost turned around and gone straight home at the sight of the building adorned with religious images on stained glass windows, God and Leroy Jethro Gibbs had never had a good relationship, the man upstairs had let him down too many times for them to be friends. However he felt it was too late to turn back, and was bound by a sense of loyalty to stay with the young man, so he pulled his coat tighter around his shivering body and followed his agent through the snow and into the deceptively warm church.
It took him a moment before he spotted his agent, Tony had slipped into the back pew, the only person in the row, and had his eyes firmly glued to the front of the church where the crimson and gold robed choir sang beautifully, the brunette's blue tinted lips moving perfectly in time with the song; the older man not sure if he was just lip syncing or vocally singing along.
He watched Tony for a moment, the younger man was mesmerizing in the candlelit church and the ex marine wasn't sure if it was just from the dull lighting or if DiNozzo's eyes were actually misting over with unshed tears.
Unable to take the sight much longer, Gibbs carefully slid into the pew beside his partner, not uttering a single word.
"Every Christmas eve my mother would send me to bed straight after dinner, she would tuck me in and read 'The Night Before Christmas' while stroking my hair. Come half past ten later in the night she'd wake me up, dress me in my best suit and have the driver take us to the church for midnight mass..." Gibbs wasn't sure how Tony knew it was him, not even having bothered to look over to see who had joined him.
"There were eight Christmases... I only remember 3... my father... well after she died he wouldn't let me go back on Christmas eve... didn't want to be reminded of a tradition that only her and I had shared... a part of her life that didn't include him... he was never a religious man... It wasn't until I went away to college that I started going again... in all that time I've only missed one." his voice began to break with emotion and a lone tear slid down the pale cheek "she was the only person that really liked me... the only one who ever loved me..." Gibbs heart clenched at Tony's words and he knew that it wasn't his agent beside him, but the lonely little boy who had lost his mother too soon.
As they stood together, shoulders touching, two pairs of eyes never leaving the singers in front of them, Gibbs slipped Tony's surprisingly smooth hand into his own calloused one and gave it a firm squeeze. "Not the only one DiNozzo, not the only one."
Tomorrow's Song: Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow by Lena Horne
Thoughts?