Title: Forcing a Change

Fandom: NCIS

Chapter: 10

Characters: Tony, Gibbs

Word Count:

Warnings: Language

AN: Where was I last week, why did I miss yesterday and why am I posting today?

In that order: dealing with life, laying in bed feeling like roadkill cause I over did it the night before, and because I missed last week and because I'm posting a new story next week.

A Dracula/Jonathan story so look out for that. 3

Carefully shaving his face, Tony smiled as Kelly snickered from the bathroom door. "Why aren't you in your bathroom?" she asked, the pre-teen rocking on her feet.

"Because your father needs to finish shaving before breakfast. We're going out to celebrate today, remember?" her asked her teasingly. Kelly hummed before shrugging.

"Good thing I have a mirror to do my hair in," Kelly teased. Tony rolled his eyes as he swished his razor in his water. "I'm going to do that since you're in here prettying yourself up for your graduation."

"Just wait. Your junior high school graduation maybe small but high school and college is huge," Tony teased as she grabbed her blow dryer and curling iron. Watching her bounce off, he smiled and continued to shave, thinking about what had happened in the last four years. When he had met Leroy Jethro Gibbs, he had been surprised at how happy his life had become.

He had ended up being pushed into the life of a lawyer but had found some happiness in it. He liked helping those who needed it, but he also found that he loved putting the bad guys. He had a place in the NCIS lawyer pool as a contracted lawyer all set up. His mentor had put his name in as a replacement for a lawyer who was retiring, his father long replaced by someone else.

McGee had gotten a job on Gibbs' team as their computer geek, along with a license to hack as he needed to for good reasons. The medical examiner had taken a liking to McGee and was often introducing him to nice men and women for possible dates. His friend had three new friends and was idly flirting with Ducky's assistant, Palmer.

Abby, as he had met her, had pouted had having to write her reports a better way, wanting to keep them in bullet points until he had explained to her why that was bad. He didn't want to have to come down each time she had a pile on his desk to interview her, so he could write a proper report for the courts. He had more to do than his father, or his mentor. One just liked to leer at her while the other worked exclusively on Gibbs' team.

He had three other teams he covered and now had three trials that was coming up on his docket. He didn't need to add more work.

Luckily, she had agreed and only needed to be reminded of what he needed every few weeks. She was getting better.

Finishing shaving his face, Tony cleaned it off, washed his washcloth out and his razor off, emptied the sink and cleaned up after himself. With his shaving done, he started to brush out and style his hair.

"Geeze, nearly three years since I moved in," he muttered as he worked his hair into a proper hair style, eyeing the way his hair sat.

"Just about three months since we started to date," Gibbs drawled from the door, mostly dressed, just missing his jacket and shoes.

Tony chuckled. "Yeah. Let me tell you, when I first saw you, I was not expecting to start dating you. You were a nice guy who was needing to buy a computer for his friend," he said, stealing a kiss with a chuckle as he finished his hair. "And then the guy who was trying to figure out who killed the idiots. You asking me out was a surprise. Pleasant, yes, but still a surprise."

Gibbs snickered and pulled him into another kiss, getting a soft sigh of happiness from Tony before pulling away. "Go get dressed, DiNozzo. I want breakfast and knowing the brat, so does she."

"I'm not a brat!" Kelly cried from her room. "And I'm almost done with my hair! Can I wear some of my makeup?"

"Just a little bit! Use the skills that McGee's sister showed you to do it. Not Abby's," Tony called, stealing another kiss before sliding around Gibbs and heading for their bedroom. Dressing in his soft shirt, trousers, and socks, he made sure his tie was straight before grabbing his graduation cap and gown. He smiled when he folded the valedictorian sash over his arm before heading down the stairs with Kelly, who was wearing a pretty dress and pair of tights, her makeup light and simple.

Just as McGee's sister had taught her.

"Looking good," he said, getting a beaming smile from her as they walked down to the stairs.

"Thanks. You clean up good yourself," she teased, getting a snort as she ran the rest of the way down the stairs to the couch. Their shoes were waiting for them, placed there the night before. They had decided to leave the shoes there so that there wasn't a scramble for them at the last minute. The three sat and pulled their shoes on before leaving the house to get into the car.

They met up with McGee, Abby, Palmer, and Ducky for breakfast, starting their day with a bit of celebration. After breakfast was finished, the small family headed to where the graduation was being held. Kissing his lover once more, he headed around to the back of the stage, meeting with the headmaster of the law school.

Smiling and talking with the other man for several minutes as the rest of the graduates arrived along with the various people who wanted to watch them graduate, Tony finally pulled away. Finding a table with icy-cold water bottles, he picked up one and shook it as he watched the people as they found their chairs.

He had gone to school with all of them, had worked with many of them in various ways. He had so many fond memories of working his way through classes with so many of the people who were settling in.

Clicking his tongue, he drained part of his bottle before closing it. Pulling on his graduation robe and the sash, he smoothed both down. He placed his cap on and adjusted it with a smile. Catching sight of Kelly and Gibbs, he felt warm, so happy that his family was there to see him finish such a big thing as college.

He had been truthful when he had told Gibbs that he hadn't expected anything to ever happen after their first meeting. But he was so glad that he had gone out. Now he had a wonderful boyfriend, a beautiful little girl who saw him as a future father, and a job that he loved.

He also had a ring in his pocket, was going to ask his partner to marry him finally, and a bunch of flowers waiting for him to take to Shannon's grave to pay their respects.

Taking a deep breath, he found his cards, and walked up to the stage, taking his stage and listening to the headmaster's greeting speech. Looking out over the people, he ignored his father, who was scowling in the far back along with his ex-girlfriend. He had heard that her now ex-fiancé had decided to leave her after finding out the truth of how things had happened between him and her.

He didn't feel a damn thing about that and was quite happy with how his life was going.

Swallowing when he was introduced, he stood with a slow breath out, smiling brightly as he stepped up to the podium. "Class of 2012, the very first thing I want to so is: congratulations. You have survived. You have survived scandals, teachers going insane, coffee overloads, and enough tests to give you more than enough gray hairs," he said, beaming at the people around him. "You survived to see the end of our college career and the start of our very promising future as lawyers, be you prosecutors or defenders. You did it. And I am so happy to be standing here to see the end and the beginning with you."