A/N: This story continues on from 'Zoe's Revenge'. Again, it is able to be read alone, but there are links back to the last two stories that may be confusing.

Tony is still off work, one month into his recovery. He has gone back to his apartment, and Emma has moved in temporarily. Delilah is back from an undercover operation (which happened during 'Zoe's Revenge'), and catching up with Tony, so there will be a few flashbacks, or at least memories during conversations, to the last few days of Tony's hospital stay and the first few days out of the hospital.

Tony opened the door for McGee and Delilah, who were coming over for dinner and to keep Tony company until Emma came back from her shift at Bethesda. McGee had visited almost every day for the past three weeks once Tony had returned home, but Delilah had just come back into town after her latest op had ended.

"Nice place, Tony," said Delilah, admiring his apartment. It was the first time she had been there.

"Thanks Delilah," said Tony with a smile.

"Did you do the decorating?"

"Yes. Who else is going to do it? I live alone."

"That's a good point. I've just never met a man that willingly decorates his home. I practically redid all of Tim's apartment when I moved in."

Tony laughed. "Sounds about right."

"Hey!" McGee complained. "That's not fair."

"What?" asked Delilah innocently, which quickly turned into a fit of laughter at the look on McGee's face.

Soon, Tony and McGee were joining in on the laughter. It had been a long time since any of them had really laughed, though for different reasons. They continued laughing, occasionally stopping for air, during which someone would tell a stupid joke. It went on like that for nearly an hour, only stopping when the door opened again.

"Hi McGee," said Emma.

"Oh, hey. How was your day?" Emma had taken the last three weeks off to look after Tony, so it was her first day back.

"It was slow. I missed Tony." Emma put her bag on the coat rack next to the door and went over to Tony, wrapping her arms around him.

"I missed you too," whispered Tony, holding her close.

They stood there for a moment, happy to be in each other's arms again, then Tony looked up and introduced Delilah.

"Nice to meet you, Emma," said Delilah. "It's great to meet the woman that finally caught Tony."

"I think it's actually Tony that caught me," laughed Emma. "But, yes, it is nice to have Tony back."

"McGee kept me up to date until about four days before Tony went home. It's good to see that you're doing better, Tony."

"Thank you Delilah," said Tony gratefully.

"Anyway," said Emma, sensing that Tony wasn't ready to talk about his health just yet, "let's have dinner, and then we can chat."

"Good idea. I'm making lasagna for us tonight," said Tony, making a beeline for the kitchen.

"Sounds nice. Why don't you guys come and have a seat, and Tony will bring out dinner when he's finished." Emma led their guests through to the dining table. Tony had already moved a chair for Delilah. "So, Delilah, if you don't mind, how did you end up in the chair?"

"I was working when a bomb exploded. It left me paralysed from the waist down," shrugged Delilah. "It's actually not too bad, once you get used to it."

"Fair enough. Sorry I asked."

"That's alright. It's not something that I hate talking about. What about Tony? Does he have permanent damage?"

"No. He'll tell you later, I think he's still trying to work out his feelings about everything he went through."

"Poor thing. I know how it feels. He must be so ready to go back to work."

"Not really. I mentioned it a few days ago, and he told me that he misses work, but he isn't ready to go back. I think he wants to deal with things first, before he thinks about his job."

"He has two months off anyway," said McGee. "And Vance is willing to give him more time if he needs it."

"When are the trials?" Tony asked as he entered the room. He put the lasagna on the table and served it.

"The first one is next week," answered McGee, purposely avoiding using names. "The second trial is straight after the first."

"What about the third one?"

"What third one?" McGee paused. "Oh, uh, no. There's only two. Keller and Johnson are combined."

"Okay." Tony put some food in his mouth, thinking as he chewed. "Delilah, you wanted to know what you missed?"

"Only if you want to talk about it. Remember, I've been there, I know how hard it is to talk when you aren't ready."

"It's alright. What did McGee tell you last?"

"You had just woken up, and the doctor had noticed you lost your memory," McGee said.

"It took two days for my memory to return. Poor Emma, she was so hurt. I couldn't remember that we had started dating."

"His appetite was good though," said Emma with a little laugh. "We got him pizza for lunch the day after he woke up, and he had finished it in ten minutes."

"It was pizza, of course he ate it." Delilah grinned. "Everyone knows he loves pizza."

"After my memory came back, albeit in a crappy way, I kind of got angry with the doctor and with Gibbs. Emma came in afterwards and spent some time with me until I calmed down. I ended up falling asleep on the poor woman."

"Hey, that didn't bother me in the least," said Emma with a cheeky grin.

"Anyway," continued Tony. "After lunch that day, they made me see a therapist. Luckily, it was Rachel, otherwise I would have made them leave again. But, I'm kind of glad that I spoke with her, because I did feel a little better afterwards."

"That's good Tony," said Delilah. "You have to look after yourself, especially at the moment. There's no shame in asking for help."

"I know. I've just never been good at talking about myself, the real me anyway."

"Well, time for that to change," said Emma, again wearing a cheeky grin.

"It's time for a new topic, I think," said McGee when he realised what Emma was up to. "How did it go with the neurologist?"

Tony had had an appointment that morning for a follow up head scan to compliment the one taken at the start of his home recovery.

"It went well. The neurologist told me that the scans he took this morning showed a marked improvement from the ones he took a month ago. The first ones he took showed that the swelling was still there, but it was minuscule and not enough to worry him. He was more concerned about the fractures in my skull. The ones he today showed no swelling at all, and the fractures have healed quite well. They are still there, and he told me it was likely to take at least another couple of months for them to heal fully, but he isn't worried about it. As long as I'm careful, I'll be alright."

"What about damage?"

"There's no permanent damage, though he wants to keep checking for a while. The neurologist, when I saw him a month ago, tested me for close to three hours. I have to say, I was getting quite bored with it by the time he finally finished."

"Three hours?" Delilah asked, feeling that was a bit too much.

"Yes, three hours," said Emma. "Because of Tony's injuries, the doctors wanted to ensure that Tony's brain was healing and that the risk of anything else happening was as minor as possible."

"What tests can they do that take so long?"

"Well," answered Tony, "I don't really remember what they were all called. He started off with normal check up stuff, like looking in my eyes with a light and getting me to follow his finger without moving my head. Then there were other tests too. The neurologist had me walk along a straight line, without looking down at the line; then I had to do the same on a zig-zagging line. After that, I had to memorise things and put the objects in order after a minute of seeing them. That was a little hard, actually. I got all of them except the last one right."

"That's quite normal after a head injury. Nobody was worried about it," Emma interjected. "They were more concerned when it came to quoting movies. Tony was finding it hard to remember the quotes he was asked about. We all know that that's a problem for Tony."

"Movie quotes? Why?" asked McGee.

"Because it's something Tony likes. Most tests they do are standard for all patients. But they always throw in at least one task that is specific to the person. It's the best indicator for how well they are doing."

"So, what happened with that?"

"Nothing," said Tony. "Because it had only been a few days since I woke up, the doctors were happy to let it go for the time being. It didn't mean I got a free pass or anything, just that they were aware that I wasn't going to be at my full capacity, or even half of it. When I went in this morning, they tested me with it again. I passed with flying colours this time."

"So, that's good, right?"

"Yes. Tony still has quite a long recovery ahead, but he's making progress every day. He'll get tested again in a month's time, and that will help decide whether or not he's ready to return to work," stated Emma, giving Tony's hand a squeeze.

"Well, we're all here for you. We're all on your side, Tony," said Delilah with a smile.

McGee nodded. "Of course," he said.

"Thank you guys," said Tony, "it means a lot."