AN: This was something I'd been thinking about for quite a while and couldn't get out of my head. Didn't involve a lot of planning or sketching and I'd like to apologize for any continuity errors. Also, I couldn't remember whether or not Bishop and Palmer had been into Gibbs' basement, but for the sake of the story, they have even if they haven't in canon. Which I don't believe. Basically built on my headcanon about the ending of NCIS: Gibbs dying, Ducky retiring and DiNozzo taking the lead of the team.

Hope you enjoy

The Last Case

DiNozzo sighed. He was almost done, standing alone in the now empty house. He had already arranged all the furniture to be moved, but the last room he had left for himself, he couldn't bear the thought of just some people doing it. He turned the door handle and let it swung open slowly, staring at the darkness. He walked down the steps that were so familiar and after he reached the ground level, he searched for the light and turned it on.

The room lit up. It was dusty and messy, as usual, filled with different kinds of parts and tools. On the counter lied a half-empty bottle of scotch, paired with two jars that were filled with different sized nails and bolts. In the middle stood now finished boat, its brown coating shining through the layers of lacquer. He ran his hand on the edges of the boat, along with the beautiful grain patterns still visible under the weather-proving surface coating. He pushed his hands further, admiring the work that had been done for the leather benches and just how well tailored they were to their purpose. He rested his harm on the back of the front seat, and lowered his head, fighting back the tears forcing their way up his eyes.

Tony remained still for a while. He only moved after he heard a creak upstairs. Knowing no-one was supposed to be in the house, his hand flew to his belt, pulling out his service weapon. He crept back to the stairs, climbing them up as silently as he could. When he reached the upper end, he pressed himself tightly to a wall and waited. Now that he was closer, he could hear hushed voices, at least three different people were speaking. The voices grew louder, clearly getting closer to Tony's hiding place. After a few heartbeats he decided to act. He jumped out from behind the door, shouting "Federal agents" as he aimed his gun at the intruders. He could hear a small yelp of surprise as he unintentionally crashed into one of the assailants, causing them both to fall to the ground.

"DiNozzo, what the hell you think you're doing?" a woman's voice asked, clearly annoyed.
"Wait, what?" he asked, turning around on the ground, facing the lady who spoke. He found himself staring at Bishop, whose expression had gone from annoyance to amusement in a matter of seconds. Tony turned his head to his right, were the person he had tackled was laying and apparently cussing.
"Did you really have to tackle me, Tony?" the man groaned.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to" Tony said with his usual smirk, then turning his attention to the person still standing. "So, Bishop, you just going to stand there? Give us a hand"
"I'm sure you two are capable of getting up on your own" she smiled, put held out both of her arms, pulling the guys up.
"What's going on?" another voice joined in the conversation. Abby walked in the room, followed by Jimmy Palmer.
"Nothing, agent DiNozzo is simply taking his role as the protector of the people too seriously", McGee fumed, though he didn't seem to be that angry about their collision.
"Ah"
"So, what are you guys doing here? I thought I was supposed to take care of clearing up the house?" Tony asked, clearly puzzled by the sudden appearance of his coworkers.
"You really thought we'd let you handle it on your own?" Abby replied, hugging his friend.
"Well, yeah, that's what we agreed on, didn't we?"
"Gods, Tony, you're so dumb sometimes", Abby huffed, causing small chuckles among the others.
"What did I do?" After Tony had asked without getting a reply. After a moment he continued, "should we get started then?" and lead the group down to the basement.

"Whoa, the boat is beautiful" McGee exclaimed as they reached the bottom.
"Tell me about it" Tony agreed. "It's probably the best one he's built"
"That's probably true"
The room fell quiet. The five of them had settled around the boat, letting their eyes move around the room. They are dwelled in their thoughts and memories, on the conversations they had had in the very room. Neither Jimmy nor Bishop had been down there for more than few times, but the advices they had gotten had been worth more that they could've imagined, whereas Tony, Abby and McGee had been down there more times than they could count. The space wasn't just a basement, it was a safe place to them, even though not only good things had happened down in the dimly lit room.

"Right" Tony broke the silence. He walked up to the shelf, took out a couple of jars and brought them to the table, next to the ones that were already waiting. He turned them upside down, causing the bolts roll around and some of them fall on the floor. He reached for the scotch and poured it into each jar. He offered one to each of the five, who took them without a murmur.
"So much has changed" Abby started, staring through the liquid in her glass
"Ducky retired" Jimmy responded. "The morgue is so much quieter now"
"So is the bullpen" Bishop added, but after a moment she continued "Well, not really quieter but still"
"I miss them" Abby stuttered, trying to hold herself together. "I miss Ducky's stories I miss the hugs I miss the caf-pow I miss Gibbs staring at me with his solid eyes I miss his what'ya got's I"- she only stopped when McGee moved over to hug her, holding her to his chest, soothing her.
"I know" Tony said with sadness in his voice. "I know I'm not Gibbs and I can never replace him, but I'll try" he promised.
"But not tonight. Tonight we're just friends" McGee declared, his hands tightly around Abby.
Tony locked eyes with McGee and nodded a silent thanks. "We better get started, then" he said and raised his arm, holding his jar of scotch. The rest slowly following.
When all of them were ready, Abby's shaking hand rising lastly, together they raised a glass, chanting "To Gibbs". After the glasses were empty and back on the table, they moved on to their actual mission, clearing out the basement.

Most of the tools had been already boxed before anyone spoke again. Finally, the silence was cut by the most obvious question, answered simply by shrugs of shoulders and puzzled looks combined with laughter.

"How are we going to get the Chickadee out of here?"