Disclaimer : I own nothing, but the typos. Oh and the OCs.

Warnings : Rated T for language.

Author's Note : Thanks to everyone who's read, favorited and followed so far. And many thanks to those of you who've left reviews.

To momcat: In the story, Gibbs hadn't retired completely. He was still on medical leave since it's set the summer post him being shot after Tony went on his trip to hunt down the calling with Dornegat's mother.

This is it! Hope you enjoy!

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Despite Terrence's watchful eyes and careful warnings, Tony manages to interfere twice.

The first is shortly after he goes back. Late one night, he makes a phone call to a crusty, NCIS agent whose voice drips with whiskey and cigarettes. He tells the agent—named Mike Franks—about a suspect who divulged a plot to kill a young witness and her only daughter. Thanks to Franks' quick thinking, fate spared Shannon and Kelly Gibbs from an untimely and gruesome death. The near miss brings Leroy Jethro Gibbs back from Gulf early and leads him to take a job with the same agency responsible for saving his family. Years later, his and Tony's paths cross and Gibbs is still as volatile and as much a powder keg as he ever was. It seems, without Tony, being a bastard is just Gibbs' nature.

The second invention comes five years after Tim McGee moves in. Even though Tim prefers not to discuss his extracurricular activities, he is actually a well-known author based on his tenure as an NCIS field agent. When he is invited to be the guest of honor at a writer's conference in Pittsburgh, he almost turns it down until Delilah convinces him that they should make a weekend trip of it. Right before they are set to leave, Tony ropes Tim into running evidence for a slam-dunk case. Two all-nighters and a missed conference later, Tim figures out that Tony really didn't need the assistance. They don't speak for almost a month, but Tony considers it far better than the alternative.

-oooooooo-ooooooooo-ooooooooo-

As the years fly by, Riley and Matty grow up together, almost permanently attached at the hip, the very best of friends. They spend summer nights watching the stars in Matty's backyard and winter evenings with movie nights on Riley's couch. Sometimes, they let Phoebe to hang out in the big tree house that Tim and Tony built in the DiNozzo's backyard. But usually, it's just the Riley and Matty Club in those branches. They even make a big sign that reads: No Phoebes allowed.

When they hit high school, things quickly change between them. Matty grows into Matt the brainiac with a heart of gold to whom academics comes as easily as breathing while Riley blossoms into a star athlete who manages to pass her classes. Mostly with Matt's help.

Their bodies and hormones go haywire, trying to give way to something more. They fall in and out of love with each other constantly, but their feelings never line up at the same time.

As a member of the field hockey and basketball and softball teams, Riley tends to only date the good-looking boys on the football team. Matt heads the Mathletes, Chess Club, French Club and the Fencing Club. No matter how hard he tries, he can't score a date with anyone because he is always too something. Too nice. Too awkward. Too nerdy. Too smart. Too close to Riley.

Even though they aren't particularly close at school—Riley likes to give Matt his space and he doesn't want to give his friends the wrong idea by lingering around Riley and the football team—they still spend most of their weekends together. At least, when Riley doesn't have a boyfriend that week.

Their entire world changes once high school comes to a close. During their graduation, Matt is still riding the high from reading his Valedictorian speech in front of a packed auditorium. Ever the social butterfly, Riley spends the day bouncing from clique to clique while leading the star quaterback around by the nose. Matt hung back with his friends, discussing the latest video games while working up the nerve to talk to Riley. When he finally does, he pulls Riley away from her friends.

When she stands in front of him, he suddenly realizes that she is everything he has ever wanted in a girl. Smart as a whip, beautiful in that supermodel who doesn't know it kind of way. It makes him a little crazy, a little drunk and he almost loses his nerve. She combs her fingers through the ends of her long, dark hair, the yellow tassel of her graduation cap bobbing. When she looks at him with those wide, hazel eyes, he worries he might just drown.

"I have something to tell you, Ri," he whispers. "If I don't say it now, I never will."

Riley's gaze turns curious. "Are you okay, Matt?"

"I love you."

Once it's out in the open, he turns away with his cheeks blazing. He can't even look at her. Her mouth turns into a little 'o' before she presses her lips together.

Eventually, she nods. "I know."

Matt's heart plummets. "Oh."

"It's not that I don't…" She offers a sympathetic smile. "It's not that I don't love you. Because I do. Just not in that way. I love that you're Matt. My best friend, my partner in crime." When he swallows hard—because he was so damned sure she felt it too—she hugs him. "I'll always love you, Matty Matt."

He holds his breath. "Yeah, me too."

After that, things between them are never quite the same. The time they spend together over the summer is less frequent, more awkward with less conversation and more fiddling with their respective cell phones. In the fall, Matt heads to MIT without saying goodbye. Riley follows in her father's footsteps to the police academy and works on her degree in Criminal Justice at the local community college. They barely see each other for a few years, only catching up with the occasional e-mail or phone call.

Somewhere in there, Riley realizes what she threw away. She doesn't know to fix it.

Over Christmas Break during their sophomore year, Matt brings home a pretty blonde math major from Biloxi. She has a Southern drawl that could melt even the hardest heart…except for Riley's. After meeting Matt's girlfriend, Riley spends her days moping around the house.

Eventually, she turns to the only man she trusts for advice. Tony sits at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, plate of pancakes, and a casefile.

"Dad, what do I do?" she whines.

Tony glances up from his reports. "Are you asking me as your father or your future boss?"

Letting out a little laugh, she dramatically rolls her eyes. "Are you going to remind me that you're police chief every chance you get?"

"Until you start calling me Boss, Rookie." He winks.

"I can't call you Boss because I need Dad advice, Dad."

Setting his file aside, he gives her his full attention. After taking the seat across from him, she stretches to pluck a piece of bacon off his plate. She picks at it morosely without speaking.

"What's on your mind, Rookie?" Tony asks.

"Matt has a girlfriend now. And…" Her voice trails off as her gaze drops the floor.

"You realized that you want to be with him," Tony replies, giving her that I told you so dad smile. "It's never too late to tell him how you feel."

"But – "

"Tell him before you lose him forever. Believe me, I've been there."

Riley's brow furrows. "What are you talking about, Dad? I thought you and Mom got married while she was still on the force. You've never been apart. Unless there was…"

"There never was anyone else, Rookie. Just your mother." Tony shakes his head at the fleeting memory of his old life, his original life. "Always your mother."

Later that same day, Riley asks Matt to come over. Alone. She lays her heart on the line. She tells him that she has always loved him, but was too stupid to realize it. She tells him that it's for real this time, that it's forever this time. Before she can even finish her speech, he kisses her with a reckless abandon that she has never known. And then, she knows what he did all along: they'll be together forever.

The math major leaves on the next flight out of Dulles.

Matt finishes his semester at MIT before transferring to Georgetown. Riley graduates from the Academy at the top of her class and somewhere near the bottom for her bachelors. They get a little apartment in Foggy Bottom. Riley starts at Metro as a rookie while Matt starts his Master's Degree at Georgetown.

Their relieved families often like to ask what took them so long.

-oooooooo-ooooooooo-ooooooooo-

Saturday, September 24, 2033 – 3:30pm – The Potomac Yacht Club – Washington, DC –

It was originally planned to a small wedding, just a group of close family and few friends. However, once news broke that Police Chief Tony DiNozzo's daughter was getting married, the wedding took on a life of its own. Like Frankenstein's monster, the day grew its own planner, a guest list of a few hundred people—to avoid playing favorites in the sea of Washington politics that Tony swam in—and a cake large enough to feed the entire US Navy. Even though the price tag ballooned, the DiNozzos and the McGees decided not to spare any expense on the celebration of a lifetime.

After a picture perfect ceremony in Washington's most popular church, Tony slips away from the pomp and circumstance and the photographer—Phoebe. He ends up at the bar during cocktail hour. Behind him, soft jazz music pumps through the speakers while the guests snack on appetizers and talking about just how wonderful—the weather, the crab puffs, Riley's dress, that darling McGee boy—everything is.

Since no one is expecting him here, Tony enjoys his moment of anonymity, his moment of peace before he is bombarded with questions about his daughter, the wedding, his job.

He calls for a Scotch. Once the bartender realizes just who he is, he nearly trips over his own two feet to bring the high-shelf alcohol they have on hand. Laughing, Tony takes his drink and slips the kid a twenty.

Before he takes a sip, he catches his reflection in the amber liquid. It's the first time he notices just how old he looks. The lines etched into his face are a testament to the career, the family, the life, he built. The grey hair on his temples give him a distinguished air, but make him appear older than his real age.

Growing old like this is a beautiful thing.

When he nurses his drink, someone clasps a strong hand on Tony's shoulder. He goes rigid before he forces a bright smile, readying himself for yet another strained conversation with a high-ranking official he doesn't even like.

Instead of a career politician, Tim stands by Tony's side. The years have been far kinder to him. Tony thinks it's probably because Tim doesn't spend his days playing kiss-ass with Washington, worrying about the budget or giving press conference. Other than the laugh and smile lines, few wrinkles grace his aging face. However, the middle aged spread that spared Tony took over Tim's midsection years ago.

"I didn't think I'd find you here," Tim says, smiling.

Tony sips his Scotch. "Yeah, I can't remember the last time I had a drink."

"Well, now is the time we both need one." Laughing, Tim orders a glass of Chardonnay. "Can you believe our kids are getting married?"

"They already, Tim." When his neighbor tilts his head, Tony holds his hand out to the reception to prove it point. "What do you think they did at the church?"

Laughing again, Tim makes a duh face to himself. "Good point."

"Yeah." Tony glances through the glass to the view outside where Zoe and Delilah walk past, deep in conversation. "Do you think they'll notice we're gone?"

"Not a chance in hell." Tim shakes his head resolutely. "Delilah and Zoe are too busy trying to find the best picture location for Riley and Matt. Phoebe keeps nixing all of their choices because the light isn't quite right. I have no idea what that means, but they're going to be a while."

Tony grins to himself. Even though she is just a senior in high school, Phoebe has already carved out her niche as a gifted photographer. She possesses a natural gift to capture the rawest photos between two people. Tony's home overflows with her work, the walls covered with instants she captured as soon as her hands found their way around a camera. When Riley and Matt decided to get married, she was the obvious choice to record their day. But that control freak streak she inherited from her mother, Phoebe spends a lot of time trying to find just the right location before telling her subjects to just act natural!

Tony knocks back his Scotch while Tim sips his wine. For a split second, it feels just like it did back when he was an NCIS agent and they went to the bar to celebrate a case. He bristles.

"So how is Matt's research going?" Tony already knows the answer, but he just needs to fill the silence.

Tim half-smiles. "From what he says, not bad. He is on track to finish his PhD early. Although, I think he's already planning on trying to stay with the university as a professor. Apparently, they're in dire need of astrophysicists with a subspecialty the visible emissions from quasars."

Tony has no idea what the hell Tim is talking about. "And you said he'd have a hard time getting a job."

"I guess I was wrong." Grinning, Tim shrugs. "How is Riley doing on the force?"

"Are you asking me as her father or her boss?"

Tim chuckles. "A little of both."

"As a dad, I'm so proud of her. She's one of the best young unis that I've ever seen and she takes her job so seriously." He swigs his drink, considering. "Hell, I'd say the same thing as her boss. She's on track to be the youngest detective in Metro's history. Hard to believe, huh?"

Tim's eyebrows rise. "What are you talking about? She wrote me a ticket for a burnt out tail light at seven. Then she tried to place me under citizen's arrest at nine."

Tony laughs. "What was that for again?"

"Littering because I didn't put the hedge clipping into a trashbag."

Tony laughs even harder. "I totally forgot about that."

"Yeah. So it's no surprise that she became a cop. You trained her well."

Tony rubs the back of his neck. "Thanks."

"I've always been surprised Phoebe didn't follow in your footsteps too."

"She never was interested in playing cops and robbers. Once she found our camera, she started wanting to document everything. So we helped her do what she loved, just like Riley."

Tim smiles. "Does she know where she's applying to college yet?"

"Not yet. But we've already spoken with New York Film Academy and the School of Visual Arts several times since she won that award last year. They're both really interested in her." Tony beams his brightest smile. "She isn't sure if she wants to be a press photographer or a director yet."

Tim lets out a low whistle. "She never told me any of that."

"You know how she is. Modest, just like her dad."

"Oh yeah, sure." Tim thumps Tony's back while they both laugh.

As they fall into a companionable silence, they turn to watch the wedding guests milling around on the dance floor. Tony barely recognizes half of them. Most are people from his dealings as police chief, socialites here to treat the biggest day of his daughter's life as just another party.

But in the middle of the dance floor, Terrence is in the midst of break dancing to the slow jazz music. Andrea Sparr cheers him on, laughing and whooping at the spectacle. When he holds out his hand, she jumps right into the fold with him. Several guests stop to watch them with abject horror.

"Can you believe those two?" Tim says, laughing and gesturing at them.

"Did you expect anything different?"

Tim considers for a long moment, then concedes: "From your old roommate and your partner, definitely not. They always were a little different."

And Tony decides not to tell Tim the whole story. After he came to Philly, Terrence was Tony's roommate for a few years while he learned how to become human and Tony dated Zoe. When they moved to Washington, Terrence followed and got his job as a security guard at NCIS. The two remained close friends—as close as Terrence could be without impacting Tony's life too much. From what Terrence said, he slowly fell in love with Sparr's rough and tumble exterior and her heart of gold. When she and Tony worked the Mulroney case, he finally worked up the nerve to ask for her number. "He's an angel," she later told Tony. And the rest is, as they say, history.

Suddenly, the music cuts out and overhead lights flash a few times.

Since they're about to announce the wedding party, Tony and Tim should probably be finding their way to their tables with their wives and everyone else. But, well, they are the fathers of the bride and groom, so they stay by the bar for the best seat in the house. They silently watch as the wedding party—friends that Riley and Matt accumulated over the years—parade into the reception hall to a rock song that Riley loves. The bridesmaids are dressed in tea length red gowns while the men where traditional tuxedos.

Phoebe, the maid of honor, abandons her camera long enough to plaster a smile on her face and march in with Matt's college roommate on her arm. She looks every bit of her mother with Tony's smile for good measure. Short with dark, waist-length, stick-straight hair and piercing brown eyes. Her gaze finds Tony and she gives a bright grin, mouths I love you, before she doubles back for her camera.

As soon as she's ready, the music quickly changes to an old Billie Holliday tune.

While Tim shifts his weight and stands up a bit straighter, Tony tries to will the tears away. He already cried at the church while they said their vows, while he realized that she isn't his little girl anymore.

He so can't do it again.

But the moment Matt and Riley appear, Tony knows all bets are off.

In her organza, mermaid-cut gown, Riley is positively radiant. Clutching Matt's arm, she beams a megawatt smile that Tony hasn't seen since she graduated from the academy. Even though everyone always comments on how she looks exactly like him, Tony thinks today she looks like Zoe on their wedding day. And he hopes her future is just as bright.

Matt is a spitting image of Tim from his probie days with those big, green eyes, chubby cheeks, and baby face. The only piece he seemed to inherit from Delilah is her dark brown hair. In his tuxedo, he resembles Tim from Tony's memories of NCIS. He looks like a kid playing dress-up in his father's closet.

Before they make a move, Matt and Riley sneak a glance as though they're the last people on the planet. They share a hopeful grin and Riley gives Matt's arm a squeeze, likely to help settle his nerves. She gives him a good tug and they make their way into the reception hall to an explosion of cheers.

Pride wells up in Tony's chest at his daughter's proudest moment. Tears prick to his eyes as they move into their first dance. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Tim holding out a handkerchief.

After taking, Tony wipes his face.

"I'm not crying," he says.

Tim nods. "Of course not."

Seconds later, someone wraps their arms around his waist. He would recognize Zoe's touch, the scent of her Chanel perfume. Leaning back into her, he wraps an arm around her shoulders and kisses the top of her head. Even though it tastes like hair spray, he nuzzles her anyway.

Beside him, Delilah and Tim share a similar embrace.

"They look so happy," Zoe says excitedly. "It reminds me a lot of our wedding day. How glad we were and how much fun we had."

Tony hugs her closer. "And how excited we were to start our life."

Zoe looks up at him, her dark eyes burning. "I'd like to think we've had good one."

Tony's mind wanders languidly through the moments of his life past and the one he truly lived. He considers what he had here and what he could have had back home. And how he would never give up what he had for anything.

"So far, we've had a great one," he says to her. Then add, only to himself: "It certainly has been a life less ordinary."

-oooooooo-ooooooooo-ooooooooo-

Author's Note 2.0: And we're done! I will miss this story and its characters, but I appreciate those of you who stuck with me on the journey. I've grown a lot while writing it both personally and as a writer. And I have loved every minute of it. The only thing I'd ask is to consider taking a few minutes to let me know what you thought. Good or bad. Please remember that fan fic writers make no money from their work. So their only reward is the personal satisfaction of finishing a piece and the readers' thoughts. Thanks again. I'll be back with something else...eventually.

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