Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends in the United States this weekend. Be safe and enjoy your holiday!
Story Note: Oh my gosh I actually wrote a happy story! Well...happy by my standards hahahaha
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of its characters.

The Open Table
By Headbanger_Rockstar

Wednesday November 23. The day before Thanksgiving. Tony DiNozzo was finishing up his report on the team's latest case. He typed the last sentence, saved it, clicked submit, clicked print, and sat back in his chair, letting out a long sigh.

It had been a rough case involving drugs, stolen funds, the death of a lieutenant's wife, and it had ultimately ended with the death of the lieutenant, thanks to a bullet from Tony's gun. McGee had turned his back on the lieutenant who then pulled a knife on him. He'd nearly stabbed McGee, but Tony's shot had been steady and at just the last second. McGee had earned himself a tongue lashing from their boss for his carelessness.

Tony had completed the required debriefings with Internal Affairs and the Director. He'd turned in his gun pending investigation—standard operating procedure, even though he and Gibbs agreed that it was a clean shooting. The report was the last piece of paperwork he had to complete for the case and he was more than ready to be finished with it. McGee was finishing his debriefings now.

The Senior Field Agent plucked his hot-off-the-press report off the printer and walked to Gibbs' desk where he placed it reverently in his boss' inbox.

"Here you go Boss," Tony said.

"All done DiNozzo?" Gibbs' reading glasses were perched on the end of his nose, and his eyes flickered to the report in his inbox.

"All done Boss," Tony replied.

Gibbs nodded and took off his glasses. "That was good work today Tony," he said softly. Tony nodded, uncomfortable with the praise. He'd only been doing his job. He'd done what he hoped McGee would do for him if the situation was reversed. "Go on Tony," Gibbs said. "Get outta here and enjoy your weekend. We're off rotation until Monday 0900."

Tony nodded and turned back to his desk. A moment later he stopped and turned back to face Gibbs' desk again. "You uh…um…nevermind," he said softly, turning away and shaking his head at himself.

"What is it Tony?" Gibbs wondered what was on Tony's mind.

Tony looked decidedly nervous. "Do you um…I mean that is…well Boss I was wondering…" he stopped and took a deep breath. Why was this so hard? "Do you have plans for Thanksgiving Gibbs?"

Gibbs smiled, wondering why Tony was so nervous. His stuttered ramblings were reminding him greatly of McGee when he first joined the MCRT.

"Actually," Gibbs said, frowning when Tony's face dropped just slightly, "I don't have plans for tomorrow," he said softly.

Tony blinked. "Really?" He was unable to hide the hopefulness in his voice.

Gibbs nodded. "Really Tony," he said softly. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I um…well I was wondering if you wanted to um…hang out with me," Tony said lamely.

Gibbs nodded. They'd spent several holidays in each other's company over the past few years. "Your place or mine?"

"Uh…mine. If that's ok."

"That's fine Tony. What time?"

"Can you come…um…at like, ten?"

It seemed a bit early to celebrate Thanksgiving to Gibbs, but it also sounded like he wasn't getting the whole story. And Tony looked pretty nervous.

"Everything ok? You don't have a secret bride you're going to introduce me to, do you?"

Tony paled. "N-nuh, no Boss! Just uh, want it to be a um…a nice day. That's all. So…ten?"

Gibbs nodded. "It'll be nice Tony. We'll have fun. I'll bring the beer."

Tony nodded also. "Great. Sounds great. Night Boss."

Gibbs smiled as Tony all but ran from the office. "Night Tony," he said softly.

xxx

At exactly 9:58 the next morning Gibbs raised his hand and knocked on Tony's door. He was holding a six pack of Dominion beer in his hand. His Senior Field Agent lived in a modest two bedroom apartment with a view overlooking Columbia Ave. near Georgetown in DC. He'd lived here ever since he'd moved to DC and completed FLET-C.

Gibbs had spent a great deal of time in this apartment with Tony—thanks to holidays, illnesses, injuries, and random movie nights. Gibbs and Tony were as close to family as two unrelated people could be. They'd come to expect spending holidays together, but for some reason, this was the first Thanksgiving they were spending together outside of the office.

Tony opened the door. "Hi Boss!" Gone was the nervousness from last night. "Come in!" He stepped out of the way to allow his friend through the door and into the apartment.

Gibbs' jaw dropped when he saw Tony's living room.

"Tony? What's all this stuff?"

Tony's living room was filled with shopping bags. The bags were filled with sheets, blankets, sweaters, towels, gloves, hats, scarves and coats—every article of clothing you could imagine to keep warm with.

"Well Boss…I may not have been entirely honest with you last night. We're not going to spend Thanksgiving here. I mean, unless you want to then we can, but I'll still need to run out for a bit and take this stuff to—"

"I'm game for going wherever you had in mind Tony. Should I have dressed up?" Gibbs was wearing his old Marine Corps sweatshirt and jeans with his sneakers.

"You're dressed fine Gibbs. I'm going like this. No need to dress up." Tony was in his Ohio State hoodie with a long-sleeve t-shirt under it and jeans. "Did you bring your car Boss?"

"It's Jethro when we're not working you know that, and yes I did," Gibbs replied.

"Awesome then we won't have to make two trips…I wasn't sure this stuff would all fit into my car…I've been collecting stuff for a couple of months now and didn't realize how much I had."

"It should all fit in my trunk," Gibbs said nodding his head. Then something else caught his eye. "What's this Tony?"

"Oh that. That um…is a collection of my suits that I um…am not wearing anymore," Tony said softly.

"What are ya doing with them?"

"Taking them with us. I told Rusty I'd bring some with me when I came."

"Where exactly is it that we're going?"

"Well see, when I came to DC I didn't know anybody, and that first year we didn't work on Thanksgiving. I kind of um…went and volunteered at this Mission House down the block. And it's kind of become a yearly tradition—if I'm off work, then I always go. I thought…I thought maybe this year you'd want to come with me," Tony said. "But if you don't that's fine, I completely understand."

Gibbs smiled at his boy, proud of him. "And this stuff is going with us?"

"Yeah. There's always a shortage of stuff like this…they have some beds in the house, so I got enough new sheet sets to cover each of the beds…and then I got a whole bunch of blankets and throws and stuff so that the guys will all have something to cover up with in case there isn't enough beds. And y'know how cold it gets…lots of these people die from frostbite and stuff every year. I have the money…got a whole freakin' trust fund from my mom…can't use it all on myself Gibbs," Tony said, his voice getting softer and softer as he spoke. "I'm taking the suits because a lot of the guys are looking for jobs and stuff…I thought they might help them look a little more put together…might help them get back on their feet, y'know."

Gibbs' heart filled with pride. He reached out and squeezed the back of Tony's neck affectionately. "You're a good boy Tony. Proud of ya," he said. "C'mon, let's load this stuff up."

xxx

It took them six trips up and down the four flights of stairs to Tony's apartment to get all of the things loaded into Gibbs' trunk. By the time Tony dropped into the front seat of Gibbs' now filled car, he was breathing hard and slightly out of breath.

"Ok Tony?"

Tony nodded. "I'm ok," he panted. "Just hate…those friggin…stairs."

"You bring your inhaler?"

Tony nodded again. "I'll use it…'f I need it," he said. "Just needa…needa minute."

"I'm trusting you on that one," Gibbs said, pulling out into traffic. "Point me in the right direction."

Tony pulled out his inhaler and pointed right. Together they sped down the street.

xxx

"This is the place Boss. You can pull in right here," Tony said, pointing to an open slot in front of a nondescript three story house, seven blocks from Tony's apartment.

"Ohhhh you came, you came!" A woman in her late fifties with gray-ish brown hair rushed out of the house. She hit Tony in a full body hug, very similar to an Abby hug, and then turned to see who Tony brought with him.

"Rusty this is uh, this is my boss, who is also my closest friend. Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, meet Rusty. Rusty, meet my boss."

"Ohhhh you're so sweet to come with Tony," Rusty said, hugging Gibbs equally as tightly as she hugged Tony a moment earlier.

Gibbs smiled. "Call me Jethro," he said. "Pleasure's mine. Tony surprised me with this."

"I brought stuff Rusty. Like I said I would," Tony said quietly. Gibbs opened up his trunk while Tony opened the back door.

Rusty's eyes rounded. "All of this?" Her voice sounded slightly choked up and her eyes glassed over with tears. "You brought all of this for us?"

Tony nodded, smiling cheekily. "We brought blankets and sheets for all the beds upstairs, new towels and washcloths for the bathrooms, coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and socks. And I went through my suits and brought the ones I don't need anymore in. I know you mentioned that a lot of the guys are trying to find work…if this will help them then…" Tony shrugged. "I wanna help," he whispered.

Rusty hugged Tony again and kissed him on his cheek. She held his face in both of her hands. "You are an angel," she said. "Sent from God. You know that right?"

Tony blushed. "Just had a lot of stuff lying around I didn't need anymore," he said, trying to deflect the praise.

"That's a lot of stuff to have just lying around your apartment," Rusty said. "And a lot of stuff that still has tags on it," she said.

Tony smiled and nodded. "Ok ya got me. Let's just take it inside. Quit fussing over me," he laughed, his ears pink.

Gibbs stood back and watched the exchange. This woman adored Tony in a completely maternal way. She looked older than she probably was, and Gibbs figured that was due to years of taking on the stress and pain of those people around her. But she was a gentle person, Gibbs could easily see that. He could also see that just below the surface was a wild cat that no one dared to anger.

Together they started unloading the car. A moment after they took their first handfuls in the car, two guys volunteering at the shelter came out to Gibbs' car and helped unload more of it. Once they got everything inside, Tony pulled off his jacket and headed out into the dining room. It was already beginning to fill up with people of every variety.

Gibbs hung back a bit, just watching his boy use his dazzling personality to brighten these people's lives. He was surprised to realize that Tony knew most of the people by name, knew most of their families, and were aware of facts about the people he knew—favorite colors, who liked chocolate, who had arthritis or some other ailment—things about people that you find out from spending time with them. It was quickly obvious to Gibbs that Tony spent a lot of time here helping Rusty out. This was way more than a one time a year deal.

A while after their arrival, Tony returned to Gibbs' side. "We're gonna help serve up Thanksgiving Dinner," Tony said. He looked at Gibbs, taking in the odd look on his face. "What?"

Gibbs smiled. "You're happy here. Makes me happy to see you happy like this."

"I like these people. They don't…they don't care who I am or where I came from. They're just glad to see someone friendly. What do you think of this place?"

"I think it looks pretty amazing," Gibbs said. "What's it called?"

"It's called The Open Table," Tony said. "It's a privately funded mission…but the money is running low, so there's not a lot of money for supplies like blankets and towels and stuff. Their food money comes from donations, and they get some food donations from the local food bank."

"Sounds like they need all the help they can get," Gibbs said wisely. He followed Tony down the short hallway into the kitchen.

In the kitchen they washed their hands and put on plastic food service gloves. Tony showed Gibbs where the plates were stored while he got out the plastic eating utensils. Working in tandem as they often did, it didn't take long for Tony and Gibbs to get an efficient system set up, fixing plates for their guests, filling them high with food, and Rusty began rushing them out to the people waiting to eat. There was turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans and corn. Every person got a dinner roll. And instead of water or the watered down juice they were typically served, today they were served tea to drink with real ice in the cups. There was an entire rack of fresh baked pumpkin pies for dessert with whipped cream to go on top.

Once every person had been served—over two hundred people—Tony turned to Gibbs and smiled. "Now we eat too," Tony said. They fixed their own plates, identical to the ones they'd served the others, and Tony led Gibbs to the dining area where there were several people were sitting at a table that had a couple of free seats.

"May we join you?"

One of the women looked up and her eyes widened. "Tony? Tony is that you?"

Tony smiled and nodded at the older lady. "It's me Miss Maudine. How are you?"

"Lord honey this has been a hard year ya know?"

He'd heard about her son being arrested for drugs, and her husband being killed while he worked third shift in a gas station not far from the mission. He squeezed her hand. "I know," he said softly. "I'm so sorry to hear about everything you've gone through this year."

She nodded and patted Tony's cheek. "I still gotta lot to be thankful for," she said. "This nice meal, the nice pink fuzzy blanket that someone brought in with them today." She looked meaningfully at Tony. "You're a good boy, you know that?"

"Thank you ma'am," Tony said softly, his voice creaking with emotion. "Uh Miss Maudine I'd like you to meet my very good friend. He's…well he's like a father to me. His name is Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"Jethro, please," Gibbs said politely shaking the dark skinned hand.

She smiled at him. "You work with Tony dontcha?"

Gibbs blinked. "Uh yes," he said. "How'd you know that?"

"I heard Tony talk about Gibbs before. You're good for him, you know that?"

Beside him, Tony blushed. Gibbs smiled. "He's a good boy without me helping."

Tony looked down. "Not so special," he said softly. "Just a normal guy."

"No Tony," Miss Maudine said. "No you aren't normal. Not at all."

"Normal guy would sit at home and drink beer and watch football all day," Gibbs said, pointing out exactly what he'd been expecting to do all day. "Normal guy wouldn't load his car so full it wouldn't close with gifts for people that need the things he has. Normal guy wouldn't raid his own closet of designer suits to give away to people who maybe can't afford a suit. Normal guy wouldn't be here."

"Not many people come here by choice, Tony," Miss Maudine said. "But you? You're here all the time. You're here enough that you know the people's names, you know that Mr. Byrd over there don't like butter on his bread, and you know that Miss Annie's favorite color is that light baby blue. You know that my Marvin died this year and that my Eddie is in jail. You always send Miss Rusty a Christmas card and gift because you care about her, and you always dropping stuff off for us here. You think we don't notice."

She smiled kindly at Tony whose eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"We notice child. We notice. And this year we's all thankful that you are here, and that you come to spend your thanksgiving with us."

Gibbs clapped Tony on the shoulder, and two happy tears slid down Tony's face.

xxx

Later that afternoon, once all of the food had been eaten—and indeed, all of the food was eaten—and after all of the blankets, coats, and other gifts had been carefully distributed, Tony and Gibbs helped Rusty clean up the dishes and put them away.

"You know Tony," Rusty said. "I've been wondering something."

"What's that?"

Rusty wiped her towel over another serving pan. "You come here every year. Usually alone."

Tony nodded, wiping his rag over the counter, dragging crumbs carefully into his hand and studiously avoiding her gaze.

"We aren't complaining, and we love having you here, but…where's your family?"

Gibbs paused in his dish washing, but didn't turn around. He wanted to hear what Tony had to say.

Tony was quiet for a long moment. "I um…well it's uh…" he chuckled nervously. "It's complicated."

Rusty raised an eyebrow. "Try me. Bet I've heard about everything."

Tony ran a wet hand through his hair, causing it to stand up spikier than normal. "I um…well my family…they aren't exactly the nicest people…they're rich and selfish…self-centered…conning, crooked…" he broke off and shuddered at the mere thought of them.

"Who cut ties with who?" Rusty was very perceptive.

"They disowned me," Tony said in a low voice. "I've been on my own ever since."

Rusty stopped and put her hands on Tony's shoulder, turning him to look at her. "How old were you?"

Tony looked at her for a long moment before his gaze dropped and he turned back to his (now sparkling) counter. "I was twelve," he said softly. He shrugged. "Like I said," he chuckled sadly. "Complicated."

Rusty knew there were not words to make this pain of Tony's go away. "Well," she said finally. "You know we love having you here—even if you can't afford to bring your own glass of water with you—you're always welcome here with us."

She hugged Tony again and did not comment on the tears in his eyes. How badly did this kid need to feel loved? Had no one ever loved him before?

"Thanks Rusty," he whispered. Then he glanced around. "Um. Looks like we're all done here. Boss? You ready to hit the road?"

"We're only going seven blocks," Gibbs said. "That's hardly hitting the road," he chuckled.

Together they bid Rusty goodbye, and both of them promised to come back soon to visit and help out again.

xxx

Gibbs pulled into Tony's parking lot. It was nearly dark out. "You uh, you wanna come up Boss? Er, Jethro? We could order a pizza and watch a movie? You did bring beer."

"Sure," Gibbs said.

He parked the car and they got out. When they got up to Tony's apartment, Gibbs called and ordered the pizza while Tony picked out a movie.

"So I'm um…I'm glad you came with me today," Tony said softly. "I mean going alone is still fun and all, but was nice…it being the holiday and all…was nice having you with me. Wouldn'ta been a holiday without that."

Gibbs smiled. "Thank you for inviting me. You're the closest thing to family I've got," he said seriously. "I mean I talk to my dad every now and then, but…but he doesn't know me. Y'know? Not like you."

Tony smiled, ear to ear, quite possibly showing off all of his teeth. "Thanks Boss," he said softly. "That's a huge compliment. I feel the same way."

"Glad ya stuck around kid," Gibbs said. He held up his beer bottle. "Family?"

Tony clinked his bottle to Gibbs'. "Family."

The End!