Three Times Gibbs Cried (And Someone Comforted Him)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to CBS.

Lately, I have been trying to find some good whump stories about my favorite NCIS character, the one and only Leroy Jethro Gibbs. But most of the whump stories I find are about Tony or McGee. I do like Tony and McGee a lot, but what I really want is some Gibbs whump. So, here it is.

I know I already did a Gibbs has a nightmare story before, but this time, Tony and McGee are in it. It is more of a Gibbs/Tony friendship story, though. I will try to do a Gibbs/McGee story later.

1. The first time it happened, Gibbs was riding with Tony and McGee to the latest crime scene. It was 5:31 in the evening and the ride was taking quite a while.

The last cup of coffee Gibbs had was sometime between 3:00 and 3:15 in the afternoon. Also, because of all the overnighters the team's been having lately, the last time Gibbs got any sleep was about four nights ago. So, it wasn't too surprising when Tony looked over his shoulder from the driver's seat and noticed that Gibbs had fallen asleep.

McGee was asleep in the back, so Tony was the only awake. Hopefully, he could last the whole car ride without falling asleep at the wheel. He figured maybe he could stop somewhere and buy something with caffeine like soda or a coffee while Gibbs was still asleep.

About 20 minutes later, McGee finally woke up.

"Hey, Tony," McGee yawned. "You tired? If you want, I could drive for you."

"Nope! I'm fine, McSleepy!" Tony answered rather enthusiastically. "You hungry back there?"

"A little," McGee replied. "But it will probably be a while until we can eat. Gibbs doesn't want to take any stops. We have to get there right away." That's when he noticed all the chips, donut holes, and other various snack food items on the seat next to him.

"Hey! What is all this?" McGee yelled. "When did you have time to go out and buy a bunch of junk food?"

"When do you think I got it?" Tony replied back as he took a sip of soda and munched on some popcorn. When McGee didn't answer, he half whispered, "I got them at a gas station. They're everywhere."

"Not very healthy," McGee said as he looked through all of the snacks, eventually finding some salted peanuts, which was probably the healthiest thing Tony bought.

"I know," Tony said. "But it's cheap."

"And Gibbs was okay with it?" McGee asked as he started munching on the peanuts.

"Gibbs is asleep," Tony answered, gesturing towards the sleeping man next to him.

"He must be really tired," McGee said as he tried to look at Gibbs' face.

"Yeah," Tony whispered. "Try not to talk so loud, okay? Let him sleep. He needs it."

A few more minutes passed and Tony started noticing that Gibbs was moving in his sleep. At first it was just a little movement, but soon, his whole body was turning and shaking. He seemed distressed.

Before Tony could think of what to do, he heard a whimper. It was Gibbs.

"Kelly!"

That one word was enough to send chills down Tony's back. He knew he should try to wake his boss up before it got too out of hand, even though Gibbs really did need the sleep.

However, the screams continued as he tried to wake him. Gibbs seemed to be getting more and more desperate.

"Don't go! Please don't go! I love you! Please don't leave me! I need you! Please! Kelly!"

By now, tears were rolling down Gibbs' face while he slept.

"Boss!" Tony yelled as loud as he could while shaking the older man's shoulder with his free hand. "Boss, wake up! It's just a dream! You're only dreaming." He continued to yell and shake Gibbs' shoulder for as long as he could.

Suddenly, Gibbs opened his eyes and gasped. His breathing was rapid and he was still shaking quite a bit.

"It's okay," Tony said, trying to sound gentle and calm. "You were just having a nightmare, boss. But it's okay now. Everything is okay now." He started stroking Gibbs' back to try and calm him down.

"No!" Gibbs cried. "No! Everything is not okay! She's gone! My daughter is gone and I- I can never see her again!"

While McGee was trying to think of something reassuring he could say, a sob escaped Gibbs' throat and a new wave of tears started flowing down his cheeks.

At first, Tony didn't know what to do. He had rarely seen Gibbs break down like this before. Maybe the boss was more sleep deprived than he thought.

Suddenly, Tony got an idea. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he knew he had to do something. He couldn't just drive and do nothing to comfort the man he admired so much. Although he usually didn't show it much, he cared for Gibbs just as much as he did for the rest of the team.

It was now or never and never was definitely not an option. So, he reached over and wrapped his free hand around Gibbs' hand, squeezing it tightly. If Gibbs had noticed that Tony was now holding his hand, he wasn't showing it.

After about 10 more minutes or so, the sobs had finally stopped, though the tears remained.

"Thank you," Gibbs said rather softly.

"Anytime, boss," Tony replied, happy to hear that his effort to comfort Gibbs was appreciated. "I can drive with both of my hands if you want me to," Tony said as he started to move his hand away and put it on the steering wheel.

"N-no," Gibbs said a little nervously, reaching his hand out. "Just a little bit longer. Please?" Tony looked back at him and noticed that he had a small smile on his tear stained face. It even looked like he was blushing a little. In other words, he liked having his hand held. Realizing this, Tony took Gibbs' hand and gave it another squeeze. If that's what it would take to make his boss feel better, he would hold his hand for the rest of the ride.

"Sure, as long as you want," Tony said, smiling warmly and making eye contact.

Then, from the backseat, McGee leaned over to talk to Gibbs.

"Hey, boss, I know it's not much, but would you like something to eat?" McGee asked as he showed off a few snacks to choose from. "We actually have quite a lot of snacks now, thanks to Tony. I know that you haven't eaten for a while, so it might be good if you have something now, you know? I don't want you to starve."

"Thank you," Gibbs said softly, taking a bag of chips from McGee. "You really care about me, don't you?" More tears started to form in his eyes. "You're good friends."

Since Tony and McGee rarely heard Gibbs say something like that, they weren't really sure what to say next.

"I don't know why I'm acting like this," Gibbs said as he started to wipe away the tear stains on his face, even though he knew he was still crying. "I don't mean to be weird. I'm just usually alone whenever I have one of those dreams. I'm not used to having someone comfort me."

Hearing Gibbs say that, all Tony could think was how much he wanted to give him a hug. It was even possible that Gibbs might actually accept it. He really did look like he wanted someone to comfort him.

After a few more tears were shed, Tony asked, "Are you going to eat those chips soon?" Although he hoped that the food would help Gibbs feel a tiny bit better, he knew that nothing would ever help him get over the loss of his daughter. No one gets over something like that, they just learn to live with it.

Gibbs was now looking at the bag of chips from McGee rather nervously. A little worried, Tony asked, "Is something wrong, boss? Are you feeling sick? Does your stomach hurt or something?" He knew he sounded like an overly concerned parent, but he couldn't help it. Even though Gibbs was older than him, his paternal instincts had kicked in.

"No," Gibbs answered in a shaky voice. "I-I am hungry, but . . ."

Tony could feel Gibbs' hand trembling. It felt awfully cold. As he looked at his hand still tightly wrapped around Gibbs' hand, that was when he realized what the problem was. He knew exactly what to do.

So, he took his hand off of Gibbs hand. Of course, as predicted, he immediately heard Gibbs' familiar whimper. He also noticed that Gibbs had started shaking again. He was right. Gibbs really did want him to comfort him. He had never seen his boss so needy before.

"T-Tony," Gibbs stuttered, trying not to sound nervous, though it was pretty obvious to the younger agent that he was.

"It's okay," Tony said in a gentle voice as he placed his right hand on Gibbs' back and started stroking him again. "I've got you." Gibbs immediately stopped shaking and began to calm down.

After all the chips were eaten, along with a few other snacks and a drink, Gibbs turned to look at Tony with pleading eyes. They were practically puppy dog eyes, which was hard to believe. Tony was much more used to Gibbs' piercing blue eyes.

Eventually, Tony took his hand off of his boss's back. Almost immediately after, Gibbs reached out his hand, which Tony took, squeezing it tightly.

"Like I said, as long as you want," Tony said, smiling affectionately.

"I could get used to this, you know," Gibbs replied, smiling back.

Watching everything from the backseat, McGee was glad that Tony had managed to make Gibbs feel a little better, but now he was feeling kind of awkward. He didn't want to ruin their moment, so he closed his eyes to try and fall back asleep. If he couldn't, then he would just try to relax and be quiet.

About 5 minutes later, they finally made it to the crime scene. Only a few minutes later, Ducky and Palmer arrived.

As Ducky was giving Gibbs all the details he could on the Marine's death and rambling on like he always did, he was surprised when he noticed his friend had tear stains on his face and red eyes. It even looked like he had unshed tears in his eyes. Something had definitely happened.

"Jethro," Ducky said worriedly as he touched Gibbs' damp face. "Are you all right? You've been crying."

"Yes, I'm . . ." Gibbs started to reply before stopping for a moment. He was going to say he was fine, but he knew it was unmistakably obvious to anyone that he had been crying. Not to mention the fact that Ducky was one of his closest friends, who was clearly worried about him. He didn't want to lie to him. "No," he said, staring at the ground. "No, I'm not all right, Duck," he answered as he looked up into Ducky's eyes. "I'm not." He sounded very emotional, which everyone on the team had picked up on, even Palmer.

He glanced over at Tony, who walked over to his side. "But I will be," he said as he took Tony's hand. "Someone will help me feel better. I'll be okay," he said with a slight smile

Knowing he was with people who cared about him, he let his unshed tears flow.

That was when he felt a familiar squeeze from Tony. He squeezed back. He knew it wouldn't be too long until he would have to slap the young agent's head. He smirked, wondering what Tony would do next. Though, for now, he was perfectly content, standing hand in hand together. He would not forget Tony's kindness today.