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Title: Happy Fourth of July
By: nancy
Pairing: Tony/Gibbs
Fandom: NCIS
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: for Twilight
Summary: Tony goes to The Mall for the Fourth of July, which is where Gibbs finds him.

***

The Mall was packed, as it was every single Fourth of July. The Nation's Capitol was not the place to be on the Nation's birthday. Tony wasn't entirely sure why he was there, because he'd never gone in the past. It was nuts. Tourists and locals and sparkler sellers and vendors and kids getting lost, screaming for their parents. Lovers holding hands and hanging on each other, which was especially painful for him this year. Families laughing and bickering together, which was excruciating to him.

Last year had been a barbeque at Abby's apartment with the entire team. This year, the team was splintered, one of them gone forever.

A uniform caught his eye and Tony half-smiled as he looked at the sharply pressed, with creases-that-could-cut uniformed Gunny striding by. It wasn't Gibbs, but it could've been, ten years ago. Same ramrod posture and the same terrible haircut, only not seeming as bad because the man wasn't as good looking as Gibbs. He wondered idly was the other man was doing for the holiday. The only thing he knew was that they'd all been ordered off the premises by Morrow for the weekend under penalty of a forced extended leave.

Dusk had fallen and true night was fast approaching, which would soon signal the beginning of the fireworks. Tony found a spot on the gentle incline by the side of the pond to claim for himself and waited, watching those around him. There were several families around him, a kind of figurative pouring of lemon juice on the papercut in his heart. There were younger, gentler versions of himself and Kate all around him in the brothers and sisters squabbling and being scolded by exasperated parents.

"This spot taken?"

Tony jerked in surprise and craned his neck up at Gibbs' question, finding the man in full uniform, looking down at him. "No, of course not."

Gibbs spread out a blanket on the ground and sat on it, then asked, "You want to sit with me?"

Shaking his head in amusement, Tony rolled onto his knees and crawled over to sit on the blanket. "How in the world did you find me?"

"Fate?"

"Yeah, like you believe in Fate."

"No, but you do."

Tony shrugged, looking away as he replied, "Not anymore."

The silence that descended was comfortable, despite his answer, and Tony looked up at the dark sky filled with it's glittering stars. There were kids with sparklers lighting up the area all over the place, but nothing came close to dimming the stars far above.

Then the fireworks started and, against his will, Tony was drawn into their splendor. The 'oooh' and 'aaah' from the kids and adults around him added to the crackling thunder of the man-made fire in the sky.

"It reminds me of war," Gibbs said quietly during a pause. "Always has."

Tony nodded, understanding the comparison. Gibbs wore a strangely vulnerable expression as he stared up at the temporarily empty sky, either unaware of Tony's scrutiny or uncaring of it. That Gibbs associated one of the most beautiful things in the world with death and destruction seemed a crime of the worst kind to Tony and he moved closer. The sky was lit with color again and Tony caught an actual flinch, small though it was, from the man he'd always considered unmovable.

Looking away from the spectacle to Tony, Gibbs froze upon finding himself being watched. There was a long moment where neither man said or did anything save stare at each other. Tony wasn't sure who moved first, maybe they naturally met in the middle as they so frequently did, but lips pressed to lips in a soft, barely there kiss. He pulled back and said, "I'm sorry," though he wasn't sure why.

A smile curved Gibbs' lips, the regret apparent even in just the fireworks' lighting. He nodded and replied, "I know. Me, too."

Relief and warmth filled Tony in that slow, sure way he associated with things that lasted. Smiling, Tony took the other man's hand and leaned against him. He rested his cheek on the smooth cloth of Gibbs' uniform and they sat together watching the fireworks fill the sky with hope and the brazen colors fought for and forged in blood, sweat, and tears; all of which they'd personally experienced in a visceral way, far too recently.

But they watched together.

***