Title: Favourite Friend
Author: Trista Groulx aka dustytiger
Rating: T (same as the show, nothing explicitly naughty)
Disclaimer: I am an unmotived beauty consultant and frazzled barista who does not own NCIS, it belong to its creator, network, writers, actors, actresses and other people who bring it to life weekly, I make no money from having fun with these characters, just some much needed sanity. I also do not own the song which helped this fic to grow it belongs to Katie Rox, and likely SOCAN.
Summary: Tony goes to pick up Ziva from the airport after she buries her father, but she doesn't want to go home.
Notes: We're almost at the end how sad, just a little bit of Gibbs/Tony bonding left… Posting this before my friends arrive and I hunker down for an evening of English fare and Monty Python… Let me know what you think, tomorrow is the big day! PS ran out of lyrics at the end cause of the additions...

"…I won't let go…"

Dinozzo had never understood the tradition that the bride and groom couldn't see each other before the wedding, and he certainly didn't know why when he lived with his soon to be wife, they couldn't spend the night together as they always did. It was such an outdated custom. Gibbs had insisted he stay there that night, since Ziva needed to sleep in in her own bed. It had been two hours since the two men had gone to bed, and Tony was still wide awake. Ziva had started to text him shortly after, but he had dialed her number fearing they would wake up their boss who neither was sure actually slept.

"I cannot sleep," Ziva sighed into the phone.

"Me neither," he assured her. "This is ridiculous."

"When Gibbs falls asleep, why do you not come over here, and then sneak back before he wakes up?"

There was something he thought was thrilling about sneaking out of Gibbs' to see her that night. McGee had listened, and his bachelor party was exactly what he wanted, and now all he wanted was to not be alone in a cold bed. He had always known his boss must have a bedroom or two, but he never thought he would have what could have been army surplus mattresses in them, he fully understood why his boss usually slept on his very cloud-like couch.

"That's a great idea. I'll text when I'm out of the house," he told her.

"All right," she assured him. "I look forward to it."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Dinozzo hung up the phone a few seconds later, and started to tip toe down the stairs. He felt like he was a teenager sneaking out past curfew, but he was determined. He was not going to spend a night alone when he didn't have to, he had done that for far too long in his life already. He had his hand on the doorknob when he heard movement. He froze, hoping that he hadn't woken Gibbs up.

"Do not make me shoot you twelve hours before your wedding," a groggy Gibbs grumbled.

"Boss, I just…" Dinozzo reasoned.

"Dinozzo I know you're sneaking out to see Ziva and I swear to you I will shoot you in the foot if you try to take one step out that door."

"I don't know why it means so much to you. It's such an outdated tradition. Ziva and I have been living together for three months now, and we've clearly had sex. Damn good sex too."

"Dinozzo, I don't want to hear that. It may be outdated, and I know that you live with her, but there was only one wife I didn't see before the wedding and she was the one who should have lasted."

"Sorry Boss, I'm going to text Ziva and tell her you caught me and threatened to shoot me."

Gibbs laughed. "I want to give you the best chance of having this work. I don't want you to have a line-up of ex-wives."

"If this one doesn't work out for some reason I'll never want to try again. It took me too long to realise just how important she was in my life. I sound like romance novel."

"A little bit Dinozzo. You should try to sleep."

"Boss, I can't shut my brain off. What if something goes wrong?"

"Of course things are going to go wrong, but by the end of the day you'll be married and that's all that's going to matter. I should know I've been there four times already."

"Do you think you'll try it again?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No I got it right the first time and you can't recreate perfection."

"Now you sound like the romance novel. Boss, when you married Shannon did you feel like you already were, and the whole wedding was just to prove to yourself that the commitment was real?"

"I did, and I only felt that way with Shannon. I knew the second I put her engagement on her finger I was committed. If she had asked me to have the ceremony while scuba diving I'd have agreed, because that was for her, and for her family to know I was serious about being there for her," Gibbs explained.

"Boss, I've seen a few pictures from your other weddings, but not those."

"I can't look at them Dinozzo. It was small, she didn't want a military wedding. She said she loved the uniform but for her wedding day she wanted to see the man, and that meant a tux. She had the most amazing dress I had ever seen, one of those huge ones I'd laugh at when I saw them on other women, but damn she made it work. Her family had a farm, and that's where we got married. I remember how much her parents tried to talk her out of it. You could imagine my shock when I looked down at her feet and she was wearing an old pair of cowboy boots."

"Really" laughed Dinozzo. "She must have been something else, Boss."

"She was. Every time I think about it the whole day comes back."

"I'd love to have a story like that, Boss."

"You will have something tomorrow that will make anyone who knows ask if that was real. She was something special, and once you find that you can never look back."

"Don't I know it, Boss I never thought I'd be doing this."

"I never thought I'd see the day Dinozzo."

He then yawned. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"Leave your phone it'll help you sleep."

"What if…?"

"Anything about tomorrow can't be fixed now, and if Ziva really needs you she can call me. Let her know you're staying here and let the phone go."

Dinozzo texted Ziva quickly, to be sure she believed he was going to bed for the night, and staying put. Before Tony went up the stairs, Gibbs hugged him. The two men had been close for a long time, but never like this. Tony was glad that this was the thing that go them to act like family like his boss did with the rest of the team.

"Night Boss," Dinozzo said.

"Goodnight Tony."

Tony went back up to the room Gibbs had set him up in. He laid down in the bed, his mind still racing about the next day. He still wanted to not be alone, but he understood now why his boss had been so insistent he stay there, away from Ziva that night and he would never disrespect him. He knew that there was nothing more he could do to make the next day go smoothly, but he was he couldn't stop thinking about it for long enough to let his brain drift into a proper sleep.

End Part 25

Notes: Tomorrow is the big day. Hope you liked the getting there 3