AN: Here's a little Thanksgiving gift for you. I know two Thanksgiving stories might be overkill, but I really like holiday stories. This is light-hearted and more than a little bit corny, but hopefully you'll like it anyway. Thanks for reading and I hope all of you who celebrate have a wonderful Thanksgiving day :)
xxxxx
Tony silently slipped in through the side entrance of the warehouse. They knew the suspects were here. It was just a matter of rounding them up and finally wrapping up this case. He couldn't wait for it to be over. They were going to Ducky's house that evening for Thanksgiving dinner. His mouth watered at the thought of Ducky's homemade stuffing. It was his favorite part of the meal. A noise up ahead caused him to quickly refocus on the task at hand and he started in the direction of the sound. He never even suspected someone was hiding in a corner right beside him, never saw the wooden board closing in on his head. He felt a brief, blinding pain and then his whole world went black.
xxxxx
The first thing Tony became aware of as he began to regain consciousness was that his head was aching fiercely and his body was gently rocking, back and forth, up and down. What the heck? He managed to force his eyes open and saw Gibbs looking down at him, concern evident in his eyes. But it wasn't really Gibbs' eyes that Tony was looking at, rather his hat, and he couldn't help it as he started laughing. "Boss, you're a Pilgrim," he gasped.
"Boss? Why do you speaketh so, Anthony?" Gibbs asked, clearly puzzled by the word. "I am your father."
"My father?" Now Tony was even more confused. He must have hit his head really hard. He had to be hallucinating. That was the only explanation for what was happening. He became aware of another set of eyes on him and turned his head slightly, swallowing back the sudden feeling of nausea that accompanied the movement. Then, his gaze settled on Ziva. She was wearing a bonnet and a long gray dress with a white apron over it. He started laughing hysterically again. Ziva in a bonnet? He had a hard time deciding which was funnier, her or Gibbs.
"No way, no way, no way." This had to be a joke. "Are they filming a new Candid Camera or is this that show, 'What Would You Do?' What would you do if everyone you knew became pilgrims?" His laughter finally starting to diminish a little as Tony noticed that no one else was joining in. In fact, they didn't seem to be amused in the slightest. "Come on guys...You've got to admit, you're dressed kind of ridiculously, don't you think? Are you in a play?"
"We are dressed no differently than you are, my son," Gibbs said quietly, obviously worried. "Ah, the good Doctor Mallard approaches. Doctor! Come hither to see my son. He has hit his head and seems to be quite confused. He is speaking nonsensically."
"You're the one speaking all weird," Tony muttered under his breath as he looked down at his own clothes only to find that he was dressed very similarly to Gibbs. Shit. This wasn't good at all. What the hell? He made a move to sit up but was gently restrained by Ducky.
"Lie back, Anthony. Let me take a look at you, dear boy."
Well, at least Ducky sounded like Ducky, Tony thought to himself as he laid back and found himself staring up at bright blue skies and tall, billowing sails. His eyes widened in alarm and he turned toward Ducky. "Ducky? Wh...where are we?" he stammered nervously. "Where are we going?"
Ducky and Gibbs exchanged glances. "Why does the lad speaketh so?" Gibbs asked. "Tis truly strange indeed."
"Twas quite a knock on his head," commented Ducky. "It can sometimes cause such oddities."
"I'm not odd," Tony grumbled. "This whole situation is just bizarre though." He finally decided to just come right out and ask the question that was troubling him so much. "Is...is this the Mayflower?" he asked tentatively.
"Indeed, tis the Mayflower," Abby said as she approached the little group gathered around Tony. She was dressed very much like Ziva with her hair in pigtails, but somehow, Tony wasn't really finding the same humor in the situation. "Anthony, what has happened to you?"
"He has received a blow to the head and twas knocked unconscious," Gibbs explained.
"Timothy, come hither," Abby called out. "Our friend, Anthony has been hurt."
"What has happened?" McGee asked.
"I received a blow to the head, Probie," Tony said, rolling his eyes as he sat up and this time no one stopped him. McGee actually looked quite natural dressed as a pilgrim. "I'm fine."
"Probie?" McGee asked. "What is this probie you speak of?"
"You, you, you are the probie!" Tony shouted, his face reddening as he became even more frustrated with the situation.
"No. My name is Timothy," McGee said.
"Perhaps we should get the lad to bed," Ducky suggested. "He seems not quite right in the head."
"Tony couldn't help but smirk. "Hey, that rhymed, Ducky."
"Why does he call you Ducky?" Gibbs whispered to Ducky. "Does he think you are a duck?"
"I do not know, Jethro, however tis best to just humor the lad in this situation, until he is feeling better."
"I am kinda tired," Tony admitted as he allowed his eyes to close. Hopefully, when he opened them again, this weird dream, or whatever it was, would be over.
xxxxx
The next time Tony opened his eyes, he found himself alone in a log cabin. He was lying on a thin mattress on the floor and covered by a homemade patchwork quilt. At least he was feeling better though and the horrible headache was gone. He got up and found that he was still dressed like a pilgrim which didn't particularly thrill him. Slowly he made his way to the door and opened it. Outside, people were milling about busily laying out food on tables.
"Good Morrow, Anthony," McGee greeted him.
"Good Morrow, Timothy, " Tony returned the greeting automatically, unsure exactly what it meant. "What are you doing?"
"We are preparing for the feast. Do you not remember?" McGee asked.
"Uh yeah, I mean yes, I remember," Tony lied. He was finding this situation to be more and more distressing. He was beginning to wonder if this was a dream or if somehow he had gone back in time. He really hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't think he'd be able to stand it. He couldn't live in these times. He liked his creature comforts too much, his bed, his car, his big screen t.v., blu-ray player and huge movie collection, indoor plumbing, heat, air conditioning, not to mention pizza. How would he be able to live without any of those things? It was one thing if you never had them, but if you did and then lost them, that was just too cruel for words.
Curious as to exactly what was going to pass for a feast, he start wandering about to see what he could see. He then ran into Gibbs who was putting a large platter of some kind of meat onto a table. "Hey...hello, bo...father," Tony said, hoping Gibbs was still his father in this world.
"Hello, son. How art thou today?"
"Fine...how art thou?" Tony replied. "What is that?" he asked, pointing at the platter.
"I, too, am fine and that is venison." He gave Tony an odd look "You should go and see if Abigail and Ziva need any assistance before we begin our feast."
"Yeah, okay," Tony said, knowing his reply wasn't grammatically correct by pilgrim standards and not really caring that it wasn't. What were they going to do, call the grammar police? They already thought he was weird anyhow. He walked around and finally found Ziva and Abby putting some breads and fruits on the table. So far, this feast or dinner didn't seem all that appealing. He longed for stuffing and cranberry sauce. "Hello ladies. Can I help you with anything?" he asked.
"Good day, Anthony," Abby said, smiling at him. It was nice to see her smile. It comforted him somehow, even though she wasn't really the Abby he knew so well. "We do not require any assistance, but thank you for your kind offer."
"You're welcome."
"Fare thee well."
He wandered around a little bit more and finally it was time to eat. There was goose lobster, rabbit, fish, berries, clams, boiled pumpkin, squash, chestnuts, onions, squash, cabbage, carrots, eggs, goat cheese, maple syrup and honey. It was very different, not in a bad way really, just not what he was used to. But, at least his friends were with him. Even being stuck in a whole different world, that was one thing he was very thankful for.
xxxxx
"Tony? Tony, can you hear me? Tony?. Come on, wake up...I know you can do it."
He recognized Gibbs' voice as he started to come around. The darkness was quiet and comforting and he had a hard time pulling free of it, but Gibbs' voice was persistent and Tony was trying his damnedest to obey. Finally, his eyes slowly opened. His vision was a little bit blurry at first and he took a few moments to focus. When his eyes had cleared, he saw Gibbs staring down at him, looking more than a little bit worried.
"Hey, Tony. How are you feeling?"
"Boss? You're not a pilgrim anymore?"
"A pilgrim?" Gibbs smirked. "Pretty sure I'm not a pilgrim, DiNozzo."
"I went back in time to the first Thanksgiving and all of you were there...I was on the Mayflower and everything."
"I will go and get a doctor." Tony turned his head and saw Ziva who smiled fondly at him. Abby and McGee were there as well. "Everything is fine, Tony. You will be fine."
"Ziva...you were a pilgrim too. You wore a bonnet..." He trailed off, realizing that this was a real life Wizard of Oz moment. "Anyhow...guess it must have been a dream..."
"You were unconscious for a couple hours, Tony," Gibbs said. "Had us really worried."
"Sorry I wrecked your Thanksgiving..."
'You didn't wreck it," McGee said. "Ducky's still having dinner. Now that we know you're okay, we can still go."
"McGee!" Abby hissed as she punched his arm then gave Tony a hug. "Don't you worry, Tony. We're going to stay here with you."
"Maybe I can get out of here?" Tony asked, giving Gibbs a hopeful look.
Gibbs shrugged. "You'd have to ask the doctor, not me."
"Ask me what?" A kindly-appearing doctor,looking about 60 years of age walked into the room with Ziva. "I'm Dr. Cunningham. Its nice to see you with your eyes open," he said to Tony, then directed his attention to the group gathered around Tony's bedside. "If you could give e a few minutes. I'd like to examine him now."
"Come on, let's give the doctor some room," Gibbs said as he shepherded the team out of the room. "We'll be right out in the hall."
"Lot's of support you've got there," Dr. Cunningham said with a smile as he took out a penlight to examine Tony's eyes.
"Yeah, they're great," Tony said, squinting against the bright light..
"The light bother you?" Dr. Cunningham asked.
"A little bit."
"How about your head? On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your headache?"
"Uh...about a seven," Tony admitted after thinking about it for a few moments.
"Do you remember what happened to you?"
"We were going into a warehouse after some suspects and..." Tony thought hard then shook his head. "I remember walking into the warehouse, but that's about it."
Dr. Cunningham nodded. "We did a CT scan when you came in which was normal. We'll observe you overnight and barring any complications we can release you tomorrow."
"Its Thanksgiving, Doc," Tony said. "Can't I get out of here today?"
Dr. Cunningham shook his head. "I don't feel comfortable releasing you today. You need to be monitored. I'm sure your friends will be happy to save you some leftovers and our Thanksgiving dinner here actually isn't all that bad."
Tony sighed, disappointed but not really up to debating with the doctor. "Okay, thanks Doc."
"You're very welcome. I'll have your nurse bring something for your headache and I'll check on you a little bit later."
Dr. Cunningham left the room and a few moments later, Gibbs and the team came back into the room. "You check out okay?" Gibbs asked.
"Yeah...I need to stay overnight though. You all might as well head out. You don't want all of Ducky's hard work to go to waste."
"I'm going to stay and keep you company," Gibbs stated. "The rest of you head over to Ducky's."
"I'm going to stay too," Abby said, sitting on the bed and cuddling with Tony.
"We will all stay," Ziva said.
Tony shook his head. "I don't want any of you to stay. You're going to hurt Ducky's feelings if you don't show up. He's been cooking for days. I'm just going to sleep." He was disappointed that he couldn't go, but he didn't want everyone's holiday spoiled on his account.
"Are you sure?" McGee asked.
"I'm sure," Tony nodded. "Go. All of you."
"Love you, Tony," Abby said, kissing his cheek.
"Love you too, Abs."
"Feel better, Tony," Ziva said, bending down and placing a kiss on his forehead.
"Thanks, I will."
"We'll save you a ton of leftovers," McGee said. "You can have your Thanksgiving tomorrow."
"That'd be great, Probie. Thanks."
The three headed out as Gibbs settled down in the chair next to Tony's bed.
"What are you doing. boss?" Tony asked, looking over at Gibbs.
"I told you. I'm going to stay and keep you company."
"I appreciate that, but I really want you to go to Ducky's. I just want to sleep and I'll feel like I should stay awake if you're here."
"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked, obviously reluctant to leave his senior field agent alone on Thanksgiving.
"Positively positive."
Gibbs sighed. Tony did look pretty wiped and it was easy to see he was in pain. "'Okay...you call me if you need anything at all though, okay?"
Tony nodded.
"You take care of yourself." Gibbs stood up and very gently ruffled Tony's hair. "I'll be back in the morning to take you home."
"Thanks, boss," Tony said, smiling up at Gibbs. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"Get some rest, Tony."
Tony kept his eyes open only a few minutes after Gibbs left before he dropped off to sleep.
xxxxx
"Put that over here, Timmy." Abby's whispered voice was the first voice Tony heard as he started to awaken.
"If we stack anything else, its all going to topple over," McGee protested.
"Shh! You are going to wake Tony up!" Ziva said.
Tony smiled, but he kept his eyes closed.
"He's already awake," Gibbs stated.
Tony's smile widened as he opened his eyes and when he did, he started laughing. "Oh man...that's priceless." Abby, Tim, Ziva, Ducky and even Gibbs were all wearing pilgrim hats. "I thought you said you weren't a pilgrim, boss."
"He owed me a favor," Abby grinned. "It wasn't easy, but I finally got him to wear it."
"Anthony, how are you feeling, dear boy?" Ducky asked. "I am terribly sorry I wasn't here earlier when you were first admitted. Would you like me to raise your bed so you can sit up a bit?"
Tony nodded. "That'd be good, Ducky. I'm doing much better and don't worry about not being here earlier. I totally understand."
Ducky raised Tony's bed until he was in a more comfortable position and Abby placed a pilgrim hat on his head. "There you go, Tony. Don't want you to feel left out."
"Thanks, Abs," Tony said with a grin. "So what are you guys doing here, anyway?"
"We could not enjoy ourselves knowing you were here alone in the hospital," Ziva said.
"It just wasn't Thanksgiving without you, Tony," Abby said, wrapping him up in a hug.
"So we decided to bring Thanksgiving to you," McGee ended with a smile.
"Wow...thanks, guys. This is great," Tony said, genuinely happy with the way everything had worked out.
"It was the least we could do, Anthony," Ducky said. "Though the food might not be quite as hot as it could be."
"I don't mind," Tony said. "I'm sure it will be great, but we probably ought to get started on it before it gets any colder, don't you think?" He was starving and could hardly wait to begin eating. "How'd you get it all in here anyhow? Didn't the nurses notice?"
"Yeah, they noticed," Gibbs stated.
"Gibbs smiled at them and they couldn't resist his deep blue eyes and pilgrim charm," Abby giggled.
"Keep it up, Abs," Gibbs said, but was unable to totally hold back a smile.
"Oh you know you love me, bossman," Abby said. "Besides, its Thanksgiving and you can't be mad at me on Thanksgiving. This is a day for appreciating everything you have. We have a lot to be thankful for this year, mainly the fact that Tony is going to be okay.".
"Thanks, Abs," Tony said, smiling at her. "I'm thankful for having friends who are willing to have their Thanksgiving dinner in a hospital room just so I don't have to spend it alone. And I'm starving so can we get started?"
"Yes, Anthony, we can get started," Ducky said, "but first we need a toast."
"I don't know if we're supposed to be drinking in here," Tony said. "It might be frowned upon."
"Cider, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, shaking his head.
"Of course its cider, boss," Tony stated. "I mean...I knew you wouldn't be smuggling alcoholic beverages into a hospital room, even on a holiday."
Ducky and McGee poured the cider into plastic cups and passed them around.
"To friends and family," Ducky said and the others echoed the sentiment as they clinked their cups together.
Tony smiled as he took a sip of his cider and watched as Gibbs started to put the turkey onto the plastic plates. The day hadn't started out well, but it was ending on a definite high note. He was very thankful to have these people in his life and that was what this holiday was all about.