Fidgeting nervously with the trestles that hung from his jauntily placed cap, Tony swallowed nervously. The red silk gown draped nicely across his broad shoulders and caught many an admiring gaze from many a pretty woman, but he was too nervous to care. Friends and family of the soon to be graduates chatted happily as they took their seats, all keeping an eye peeled for their loved one. Standing in the line up of people he barely knew, which was drastically unlike his OSU graduation, Tony was the only one not to peer into the crowd in search of a fawning friend or relative. He was here totally alone, because no one even knew he had enrolled in a night course at The George Washington University. So logically, no one could know today was graduation day, the day his blood, sweat and tears had finally come to fruition. Anthony DiNozzo, MSc, clinical psychology. It had one hell of a ring to it. Gone would be the days where he was the one scrambling to keep up. He had never been stupid, far from it. He may have played at the class clown persona, but under that mask, was an intellect that had lain dormant for a long time.

But not anymore.

It had been a long, arduous and secretive four years. No one could know. He had decided that from the off. He didn't need that needling on a daily basis, no way, no how. It was bad enough being cast aside in the shadow of Mr MIT himself, McGee. He didn't need them to know it bothered him. That he felt unfulfilled, that he felt he had always been pushed into the role of nonchalant jock, the star football player. That there was more to him. There was a brain to match the brawn. As the Dean's speech droned on and on and the line before him began to move, Tony suddenly snapped back into the present. He watched as the classmates he'd had no interest in strutted across the dais in triumph, waving to their loved ones as they collected their parchments. There were five people in front of him, then three, then one…and then there was him.

As "DiNozzo, Anthony," was called out, Tony took a gulping breath and moved forwards.

It seemed to last an eternity, the walk. A sea of flesh pinpricks danced in his peripheral vision as he moved one leg in front of the other. As he reached the halfway point, precisely half of the way, he couldn't help but glance out into the crowd as the others had done; hungrily searching for their beaming loved ones. It was pathetic, he knew that, but he couldn't help it. It was natural, wasn't it? To want to share the good times with someone, someone who cared. But he had purposely kept one of his proudest achievements a closely guarded secret, and so, he had no business looking out into a crowd that couldn't care less about the accomplishments of "DiNozzo, Anthony" because they didn't even care about his existence. Suddenly, time seemed to slow down as a tidal wave of loneliness hit him square in the jaw with regret following soon thereafter.

And it was then that he saw what caused his mouth to drop open mid stride.

There, four rows back, third chair to the left. Dressed in the same suit he wore to every non-work occasion. Wearing the rarest of rare smiles, was Gibbs. He clocked Tony's expression of utter shock and winked, before throwing his head with a grin towards the patiently awaiting conferring Professor. Suddenly aware that all eyes were indeed on him, Tony managed to stumble the rest of the way and fumble through the handshake, before collecting his degree and walking down the stage stairs and mercifully out of sight. The rest of the ceremony passed in a haze and before long the formalities were breaking up, with graduates rising to reunite with their guests, grins plastered on their faces. Staggering to his feet, Tony pushed through the crowd until he found and landed in front of Gibbs, who was leaning against a nearby pillar with an expression of bemused pride etched onto his face.

"Hello there scholar, fancy meeting you here?"

Tony stared, his eyes bulging.

"How…how did you…how could you…" his incoherent spluttering was cut short when Gibbs cleared his throat loudly. "I'm all knowing, surely a postgraduate like yourself, in Clinical Psychology no less, would've figured that out? I know why you didn't want to tell anyone, and I sure don't want to cramp your style here…but I couldn't let you graduate all on your lonesome now could I?" Suddenly, and without warning, Gibbs utterly dropped his usual gruff stoicism and reached out to squeeze Tony's shoulder gently. "This is seriously impressive, son. Seriously impressive. I'm proud of you…I always was, but this…this is something else and you should be proud as hell of yourself too. Great job, Tony, seriously. Great job." Removing his hand, he reached into his suit pocket and drew out a small, but long, gift wrapped parcel. Pressing it into Tony's hand, he winked.

"If you're not doing anything, meet me by my car. It's in the East parking lot. Drinks are on me tonight." With a final and broad smile, he joined the milling crowd of other proud parents and vanished. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tony looked down at the spherical package in his hand. Opening it carefully, his eyes shone when the contents fell into his hands. It was a beautifully hand crafted keepsake box, with scroll engravings carefully chiselled into smooth wood, perfectly proportioned to hold a degree parchment. A perfect message was carved into the middle of the polished oak and Tony felt an odd sensation in his stomach as he read the slanted words.

Anthony DiNozzo, MSc, Clinical Psychology, June Eighteenth, 2010.

Under that, in smaller text, there was an additional message.

Cor Semper…

Latin expert he was not, but he knew enough to get by. Glancing up, he just caught Gibbs' retreating back, rigid with pride, as the tidal wave of emotion crashed upon him and he finished his translations.

Always proud…

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A/N: I appreciate that a few of my Tony/Gibbs stories are pretty heavy at the moment, so here is some buttery and fluffy father/son indulgence.

_Inks

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