Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Chapter 8

The Last Scene

Tony's funeral was a lavish affair. The closed casket was white and adorned with a large, beautiful bouquet of flowers. There was a large picture of his smiling face beside it, and the chairs surrounding the freshly dug grave were packed with people who had come to mourn him. His father sat in the front row, and Abby could tell that he was holding back emotion. They hadn't been close for a long time, but they'd been reconnecting. It saddened her to think that they'd never get that chance now.

Gibbs sat just behind the elder DiNozzo, his eyes never leaving the casket that held Tony's body. They had considered an open casket- once dressed in a suit it was impossible to tell that there was any damage done to Tony's body at all- but Tony had been adamantly against it, and Abby had made sure to insist that it be closed, telling everybody that Tony wouldn't want anybody to see him not looking his best. Nobody could argue with that, so the casket had been left closed, and Tony had been relieved.

Had he asked, she would have sat in the back with him. She offered to his hold his hand through the service so he could see what was going on, but he'd refused. He didn't want to see who came to his funeral. He didn't want to know what people said. She saw him sitting in the middle of the aisle staring at the casket that held his body, but she didn't say anything or approach him, instead taking a seat beside Gibbs and allowing the older man to slip an arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.

Part of her still couldn't believe that she was sitting at Tony's funeral. Part of her still couldn't believe that Tony was actually dead. He'd move on soon- pass into the ether, but it scared her to think about it. Having Tony's ghost around was nice. It meant her friend was still with her. When he passed into the ether, he'd be gone, and she'd never see him again. It was a very depressing thought.

She listened to people he knew say kind word about him. She even offered a few herself about how loyal and brave he was. McGee stood up to speak for a few moments, and his speech had brought tears to her eyes. He'd really looked up to his partner, and it was clear that despite their differences, they'd been good friends.

When the ceremony had ended, she watched as the people around her left until it was just she, Tony's ghost, and Gibbs remaining. They all watched the casket, as if it was a beacon of light in the dark. Nothing else existed.

"This is my fault," Gibbs sighed after a long while, and Abby turned her intense gaze on him.

"Of course this isn't your fault," Abby insisted.

"It's completely my fault," Gibbs shook his head. "This shouldn't have happened."

"No, it shouldn't have," Abby agreed. "It's a terrible thing. Tony didn't deserve this, but it's not your fault. It's that stupid Oliver Norman's fault. He's the one who did this."

"If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have gotten the chance," Gibbs refuted.

She furrowed her brow at him. What was Gibbs talking about? Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Tony unfold himself from the aisle and make his way towards her, a look of curiosity on his face, wondering who she was talking too. She didn't turn her head when he passed by in the row behind them, but felt his cold hand rest against her shoulder. He wanted to know how was blaming themselves.

"He was at the house," Gibbs explained, unaware of the added presence. "He wanted to talk, but I was busy. I wanted to work on the boat. We got into an argument, and he stormed out. I didn't think anything of it. I thought I'd see him on Monday morning and everything would be fine. If I'd just taken a moment to talk to him, he wouldn't have been in that park. Norman would never had gotten anywhere near him."

He sounded so heartbroken, and it made her want to cry. This wasn't Gibbs, the boss, sitting in front of her. This was Gibbs, the human, and he was hurting.

"It wasn't his fault," Tony whispered.

"It wasn't your fault," Abby reaffirmed to Gibbs.

"I should have listened to him. I should have heard what he wanted to say," Gibbs persisted.

"I'd have gone to the park had he listened to me or not," Tony admitted. "I couldn't sleep."

"Gibbs, you don't know why he went out there. You don't know what he was doing. For all you know, he left your house, but when he got home he couldn't sleep. He loved that park. It make sense that he would go there to try and unwind," Abby tried to console his guilt.

Gibbs just shook his head, and Tony reached out a hand to touch the guilt-stricken man. Gibbs, unable to see him, simply felt an iciness against his flesh, and brushed at it. Tony removed his hand, letting it fall to his side.

"It wasn't his fault. He couldn't have stopped it," Tony sighed. "He needs to know that. He needs to know that I don't blame him."

Suddenly it became very clear to Abby why Tony wasn't being forced to move on. It wasn't that he didn't want to go- he wasn't being given the choice yet. The recently deceased stayed only long enough to finish what they needed to- to find closure for themselves. Gibbs guilt was keeping Tony there, and keeping the darkness away. The darkness had claimed Darnell because his business was finished and he refused to go, but Tony had yet to do what he needed to do. Unlike the others she'd helped, Tony didn't need help accepting his fate. He needed help convincing Gibbs that he wasn't at fault.

"Gibbs, you need to listen to me," Abby grabbed his shoulders and pulled him around to face her. "This isn't your fault. Tony wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this."

"Tony's not here, Abs," Gibbs reminded her. "He's dead, and it's because I was selfish."

"Tony's not here because some stupid bastard made a choice that ended his life," Abby corrected him. "You didn't kill him. You didn't cut him up and stuff him in the trunk of his car."

"I could have stopped it though," Gibbs said.

"No, you couldn't have," Abby assured him. "Don't you have a rule that there are no such things as coincidences?"

"What's that matter?" Gibbs scoffed.

"If it's your fault that Tony's dead, it means that it's just a coincidence that Tony was in the park at the same time that Norman was there," Abby pointed out. "It's all just one big coincidence that the man who wanted to kill him happened to be walking through the same exact park that Tony went to in order to unwind after a long day at work."

"There's no such thing as coincidence," Gibbs shook his head.

"Then it couldn't have been your fault," Abby said. "Somebody planned for this to happen. Maybe it wasn't Tony, or Norman, or you, but somebody did. God, maybe. It was Tony's time to die, and Norman needed to pay for what he'd done to his wife, so the pieces were lined up and put together, and that's left us here, right now."

"Are you saying its God's fault that Tony's dead?" Gibbs chuckled, looking back towards the coffin.

"It's more God's fault than it is yours," Abby replied. "It was his time to go, Gibbs. There was nothing you could have done to stop it."

She knew Gibbs wasn't going to be rid of his guilt in just a moment. He would hold onto that pain just as he held onto the pain of Shannon and Kelly's deaths, but at least it would plant the seed in his mind. At least it would start the healing process inside of him. It wasn't his fault that Tony was dead, and maybe he couldn't accept that right now, but he would eventually.

"Maybe," he conceded.

It was all she could ask for, and it was all that Tony could expect.

"Thanks Abs," Tony's voice brushed passed her ear as the icy hand on her shoulder seemed to warm up. "Look after him. He needs you."

She wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, and that she'd miss him. She wanted to tell him that she'd never forget him, but she couldn't- not in front of Gibbs anyway. She thought them instead, and a pair of warm lips touched her cheek before disappearing, and she knew that he was gone.

She couldn't stop the tears that overwhelmed her, but she wasn't expected to. Gibbs wrapped her in his arms, pulling her tightly against him, and together they cried.

A/N: So there's the end! I hope you enjoyed this story! There are just a few things I'd like to say before I bid you goodbye:

1) Why Tony was at Gibbs house in the first place is up to you. You can give their 'relationship' any kind of connotation you'd like: Slash, friends, father/son, boss/mentor. I didn't write this story with any relationship between them in mind. Their relationship can be whatever you feel like it was.

2) I wrote this story in about 2 hours, with a bit of editing before posting, and I'm sure it shows. I loved the story though, and I loved writing it, and I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. I appreciate all of the reviews from you guys and I'm glad that you enjoyed this story as well.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this last chapter, and the story as a whole!