A\N: A new Jeanny oneshot. It's AU, so Tony chose Jeanne over NCIS, with only Jenny, Helen (Jeanne's mom) and Ducky knowing his location in case of emergencies.
Enjoy, Angels.
It's dark with only the overhead porch light on for light.
On a porch swing sits a lone man, the silver of his wedding ring splints in the porch brightness.
He wears a silver platinum medical band around his wrist.
It's been two years since he chose to leave the only job he had felt like he belonged.
He simply couldn't take it any more. Everything had gotten too much for him to handle:
The cases, the head slaps, the constant danger, the not knowing if he'd have to say goodbye to another member of his team, the disrespect, the lies, the shootouts with suspects, the injuries.
The undercover assignment he had been involved in had been the best part of his recent times at NCIS. He wouldn't change any of it, well not all of it. He'd change his car blowing up and lying to his mark.
God his partner, not Ziva, Kate, would head slap him for lying and falling in love with an arms dealer's daughter.
Kate has been dead for three years and he misses her everyday. She did so much for him and he didn't get to thank her for any of it. Before he met his wife, he used to wish death upon him if it meant Kate could come back to life.
A blanket is draped over his shoulders and he feels his wife beside him, leaning into his side. "You know I don't like you being out here when it's cold out." She scolds him lightly, he chuckles. "Sorry, got caught up thinking." He says.
"About?" She probes gently. He's not spoken much about his time at NCIS, he's only told her about Kate, Paula and his bout with the plague.
"NCIS." He tells her. "Kate." He says quietly with a look at the sky.
His wife rubs his arm. "Jeanne, she's been dead for three years and it still feels like yesterday. I wake up and I feel her blood covering my face." He admits.
She knows he has nightmares but he won't talk about them.
"I'm sorry, Tony. I know how much she meant to you." His wife says. Tony sniffles, trying to quell the tears that are in his eyes.
"She stayed with me even though she didn't have to, even though I could get her sick too. She had a cold and risked getting exposed to the plague, she did that for me. She stayed the night the bug died, checking on me throughout the night. She checked up on me every night after I was discharged, hell she even stayed over one night. She started leaving clothes so she wouldn't have to leave early. She even bought the demon dog with her!" He rants, he takes a breath. "And I didn't even get to thank her because two weeks later she was dead, killed right in front of me. I couldn't grieve because the bastard was on a warpath. At her funeral, I could say a proper goodbye to my partner, my partner because I didn't know how to. I miss her, Jeanne."
Jeanne only rests her head on his shoulder as he lets the tears flow down his face.
The front door to the house opens. "Mama, Papa!" A little voice crows.
"What are you doing up, little miss?" Tony asks, wiping his eyes so the little girl wouldn't see.
"I couldn't sleep. When are Auntie Jenny and Auntie Rachel and grandma coming?" Tony smiles. Jenny had been declared an aunt when she had met the little girl soon after her adoption, so had Rachel, Kate's sister.
After Kate's death, he had reached out to Rachel and the two had kept in contact.
"They'll be here tomorrow, baby, and I think Auntie Rachel is bringing Toni." Jeanne says as she pulls the three year old onto her lap, Tony groans dramatically.
"She's bringing the demon dog, really? She still barks at me. Rachel still hasn't taken off the pink bow Katie put around her neck after Gibbs blew up the trailer. Did I tell you that she and Abby used my ball cap as a makeshift dog bowl?" Despite his whining about Toni the dog, he can't help but smile.
Toni, aka demon dog, loved Kate and he liked that Kate named her dog after him.
"YAY!" Their daughter cheers. Tony chuckles and kisses his daughter on her forehead and his wife on her lips.
"I'm gonna go to bed, I'm picking Jen and Rach and grandma tomorrow morning. I love you." He says before he gets up off the porch swing and goes into the house, turning around and admires his wife and daughter talking animatedly.
Yep, he thinks, choosing Jeanne was the best thing I've ever done.
A\N: Just a short Tony chooses Jeanne oneshot. Enjoy, Angels.