Happy New Year! First story in the new year. Just a little something I came up with. M/M. You know the saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"? Yeah, that's a lie.
Disclaimer: None of the characters from the hit television show NCIS belong to me. I am merely using them for entertainment.
Summary: Tony gets sick because of something that happened between Abby and himself. I hope you enjoy!
**Warning:** Language. This is a M/M. If you're not into that, don't read this story? Rated T just in case.
"I can't believe you Tony. How could you do that to me? To us?! I don't want to ever talk to you again. Not for a while anyways."
Those words would forever run through Tony's head. Even though it had been almost three weeks now, it seemed as if yesterday that Abby was yelling them at him.
"Tony... Tony... DiNozzo!"
"Boss!"
Tony somewhat woke up, but he wasn't feeling very well. Gibbs frowned at what he saw, but he couldn't bring himself to intervine between Abby and his lover.
"Tony, we're not at work. Come here."
Gibbs tried coaxing Tony over to him, but Tony wasn't having it.
"I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."
"Tony, it's only 8:30pm. You haven't eaten yet."
"I'm not hungry, but thanks."
Gibbs groaned and sighed before heading down to the basement. Between this tiff with Tony and Abby, he'd gotten a lot done on his boat, but he missed his Tony. Tony hadn't been looking well and Gibbs was starting to worry. Between the not eating and sleeping all the time, he could only wonder if it was depression.
***** NCIS *****
The next morning had them up early and at a crime scene well out of the way. It was as out in the middle of nowhere as they came and McGee could hardly believe it when Tony hadn't made one snide remark or joke.
"Are you ok Tony?"
"'M fine."
Tony remarked before turning his head to cough.
"Tony?"
Tony hadn't even been calling McGee probie or any other of the nicknames he usually had for him. McGee was starting to worry, he didn't like the sound of that cough.
"Perhaps this is time for one of your many movie references, yes?"
Ziva questioned as she looked at Tony, but he merely closed his eyes and coughed some more.
"Ziva, you and McGee bag and tag. Tony, you snap photos."
Ziva and McGee quickly set off on their task, but Tony stood there slightly lost for a minute.
"Hey, DiNozzo!"
Tony blinked slowly and looked up at Gibbs.
"'M on it."
Tony said slowly and turned to do what he was supposed to. He had to admit he was happy he'd skipped breakfast that morning. He wasn't sure he could keep it down if he hadn't. Gibbs looked after him for a while, but he couldn't openly worry about Tony as they hadn't officially told the others about their relationship, yet.
"What do we have Doc?"
"Looks like a female, mid to late thirties. Caucasian. Time of death estimated around ten pm last night. Strangulation could be the cause of death, but I want to rule out everything. It would seem the killer also wanted a trophy when they sliced her up. Go ahead and get the gurney over Mr. Palmer. Perhaps Anthony might help you?"
"Sure Dr. Mallard. Hey Tony, you mind giving me a hand?"
"Trophy Doc?"
"Yes, she seems to be missing her ring finger."
Ducky looked up at Gibbs then and noted the frown on his face. Tony was done taking photos and had merely been staring off into the distance. He seemed a little off, but Palmer took it as him just not paying attention.
"Tony?!"
Jimmy called from the truck.
Tony slowly turned towards where he could see Jimmy and nodded slowly. He started for the van to help Jimmy, but he only made it five steps before he collapsed.
"Tony!?"
Jimmy and Ziva called as they raced towards him. McGee had been collecting a piece of glove with hopefully a partial print when he heard the commotion.
"Tony?"
He called and ran after Ziva and Jimmy.
"Tony!?"
Ducky and Gibbs were still going over the body when they heard Jimmy and Ziva's cry for Tony. Gibbs took one look in the direction of his lover and raced towards where he could see him on the ground.
"DiNozzo!?"
Gibbs called and got anxious when he didn't get a response. Miraciously, he was the first to reach Tony and knelt down beside him.
"Hey... Hey? Tony, wake up. Hey, wake up for me."
Ziva was next and quickly fell beside the two of them.
"Tony? What has happened Gibbs?"
"I don't know Ziva. DiNozzo! Open your eyes!"
Gibbs was worried. McGee stood there a minute wondering what he should do. Jimmy got there and immediately started taking Tony's pulse and checking his pupil reaction when Ducky made it over.
"Mr. Palmer?"
"He's pulse is a little fast. He's also got a bit of a fever."
"Here, let me get his blood pressure."
When Ducky got the results, he wasn't very happy.
"His blood pressure is rather low. Let's get him back to the van and we can see if he'll take a sip of water. I believe he's dehydrated with a touch of a cold or perhaps the flu."
Gibbs, with the help of McGee, got Tony up off the ground and towards the van. Ducky had them lay Tony out and allowed Gibbs to try to get Tony to drink a bit of water. Tony merely groaned, turning his head away from the offering, but kept his eyes closed.
"I'm fine. Just..."
The rest of his words were taken away with a cough. He rubbed his chest a little and then tried to get off of Gibbs' lap.
"Are we done? We do have a case."
"Tony, stay still."
"No, we've got work... work to do."
He turned and coughed again falling against Gibbs as he was just too weak.
"Ziva, McGee, get everything you've collected and bring it to the van. Ducky, help me get this stubborn guy to the car. I'm taking him to the hospital. I'd like you to come along."
"Of course Jethro."
"Nooo... no hospitals. I'm fine. Ok? Look."
With that, Tony moved out of Gibbs' caring arms and stood up. He swayed dangerously, but managed to keep upright.
"See?! Fine. Where's my camera?"
Tony started off in search of his camera, but McGee ran up with it and the other evidence they managed to collect.
"Here it is."
"Thanks."
Tony felt like crap, but he didn't believe he felt anything like Abby did when she was forced to utter those harsh words at him. He looked sad for a moment and then pushed the thought away.
"Let's get back to the Naval Yard and get all this processed."
Gibbs walked Tony back to the car and left McGee and Ziva to get everything sorted.
"Tony, look at me. Hey!"
Tony slowly forced his eyes to look at Gibbs.
"Are you sick? What's going on with you?"
"Nothing, just tired ok? Can we go now before we cause a scene and they get... get..."
Tony almost folded over in half with the coughing fit he found himself in. Gibbs held onto him and frowned even more when Tony felt hotter than he had previously.
"Tony, you're going to the hospital, end of story. Ducky! McGee! You and Ziva get Palmer and everthing else back. Get started on processing everything. I'll call you once we find out what's going on with Tony."
They all just nodded. Ducky carryed his medical bag to the car. Tony was still protesting, but he was too weak to fight off Gibbs' hands that were guiding him into the back seat so that he could stretch out.
***** NCIS *****
"It's a good thing you got him here when you did."
The trip over to the hospital hadn't been well for Tony. His fever had gone up and his coughing had worsen. Gibbs and Ducky stood in the waiting room getting an update on Tony now.
"He's dehydrated, his fever is at 102.9 now and rising; we're trying to bring it down. He's got the start of pnemonia and we're treating it before it gets worse. His blood sugar is extremely low also."
"Damn it DiNozzo."
Gibbs sat down in the chair he was standing in front of. He wasn't sure what to think. Part of him wanted to blame the situation between Tony and Abby, another part of him wanted to blame Abby. She had seriously hurt his lover with her words and now look at the mess they were in, but he couldn't do that. He loved Abby too. He could understand that she was hurt, he just hated it went to this degree.
"Can we see him?"
"Yes, follow me this way please."
The doctor lead them to a private room. Gibbs thought that after nearly loosing Tony to pnemonic plague, he could see Tony through anything, but once he entered the door, the realization that something was seriously wrong with Tony hit him. There seemed to be a lot more chords than when he had the plague. He was shirtless as they were trying to bring his fever down. Evidently, between the time the doctor was out talking to them and now, Tony's temperature went up some more.
"Doctor we're trying the cooling pads, but it doesn't seem to be working."
The doctor made another suggestion of some medicine to give to Tony. Gibbs and Ducky were asked to wait in the waiting room once more.
"Tony..."
Gibbs murmured something about going for coffee while he left Ducky to give him updates when he returned. He wasn't sure how far he went for the coffee, but he eventually stopped at some place, then called Abby.
"Hey Boss man, what's up?" She asked cheerfully.
"Abby..."
Gibbs couldn't seem to swallow pass the large lump in his throat and Abby started to worry.
"Gibbs? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Tony..."
"Tony? What about Tony?"
"Hospital."
"Hospital? What hospital? Gibbs what's going on? Where are you?"
Gibbs gave her the name of the hospital and took a seat in the parkish area that he was in. Abby told him she'd be on her way. Sure she'd been mad at Tony, but she was over it. She definently hadn't meant anything to happen to him. Gibbs allowed his eyes to water, but he wouldn't allow the tears to fall. He couldn't do that.
"Abigail, what are you doing here?"
"How's Tony? What happened? Where's Gibbs?"
"Tony's not doing very well and as for Jethro, he went for coffee."
Ducky got her up to speed and then she looked at her watch.
"Ducky, how long ago did Gibbs go for coffee?"
"Humm... my word, it's almost been an hour. I wonder where he went for that coffee."
Abby tried calling Gibbs, but he didn't pick up.
"Boss man, I need you to answer so I know where you are. What happened to rule 3? "Never be unreachable"! Call me back."
Gibbs took a little bit longer to get himself together before he reached for his cell to see what time it was. He hadn't meant to be gone that long, but he needed some time alone. He noted he had a missed call from Abby and listened to his voice mail. He then called Ziva and McGee for an update on the case. They had pretty much wrapped it up before Abby left. They were just finishing their reports and were going to head to the hospital soon.
"We'll be there in a little while, Boss." McGee said and they hung up.
Gibbs stood to his feet and started off back to the hospital.
"Where have you been?!" Abby questioned when she finally saw Gibbs making his way over to them.
"Got an update on the case. Needed a little time to think."
"I'm sorry Gibbs."
He simply nodded. He couldn't exactly say it was alright, his lover was fighting for his life in that very hospital. He couldn't say don't worry about it because deep down he felt she should worry about it. He hated the feelings he had towards Abby right now, but he couldn't help feeling as though they wouldn't have been in this mess had she and Tony not fought. Sighing, he took a seat. He looked older and Abby felt bad.
"What's going on now Duck? Has there been any word? Any change?"
"No Jethro. I'm afraid there hasn't."
Gibbs sighed and held onto his coffee cup a little tighter. Abby took a seat next to him and Ducky took the other side.
***** NCIS *****
"Alright. He's responding to the medicine to bring his fever down which is a good thing. He's not out of the woods yet, but he's making progress."
The doctor told them when he finally came out of the room to give them an update.
"That's wonderful."
Ducky smiled and clapped Gibbs on the back. Gibbs merely smiled a little.
"Can we go see him?"
"Yeah, he's asleep right now however."
Gibbs nodded and went back to the room. Ducky and Abby hung back in the waiting room to let Gibbs have some time.
"Hey Tony. Not too sure why you're trying to scare the life out of me, but you're doing a pretty damn good job of it. Umm... you know I love you. I know how much you hate hospitals so how about you do us both a favor and get better so we can get out of here and I can stop feeling like this."
Gibbs swallowed hard as he wasn't given a response and he noticed the situation in full. He grabbed Tony's hand and held it for a while before he squeezed it and got up to let the others have a moment with him.
"Remember I love you Tony. Never forget that."
He left the room and sat down with Abby as Ducky took a turn.
"Hello Anthony. I'm not sure you understand what's going on. I've wondered for a while if you and Jethro were somewhat more than just teammates and I have to say that this confirms my suspection. I'll have to ask Jethro when I get the chance, but you have to understand, dear boy, Jethro needs you. You get better my boy."
Ducky patted Tony's left arm and stood up to leave. He walked back out into the waiting room and motioned for Abby to have her turn. He showed her how to get to Tony's room and then left her to her visit.
"Tony?" Abby called quietly once she entered the room.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm not sure what happened, but Gibbs doesn't seem to be taking this too well. Is there something you guys needs to tell me? It's kind of scary the way he's acting. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. That's not what I really wanted to talk about though. I'm so sorry Tony. I know I had a reason to be mad at you, but I'm not usually like this. I hate that we fought. So... I need you to get better so I can tell you to your face that I'm really sorry. Ok? Umm... I guess I'll talk to you later. See ya Tony."
Abby gently reached over and hugged Tony before making her way out of the room. She sighed and moved over to where Ducky and Gibbs were sitting.
"What do we do now?" She asked.
"We merely wait." Ducky replied.
When Tony's fever finally broke, he woke up confused and Gibbs had to explain to him what happened. Tony was shocked when he saw Abby and shyed away from her when she went to hug him.
"I'm so sorry Tony."
"You're sorry? I'm the one that's sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. You know that right?"
"I do and that's why I'm sorry. I didn't think and look how this stupid fight between us nearly got you killed. Will you ever forgive me?"
"I will if you forgive me."
Abby nodded and hugged Tony. Gibbs was glad the two of them worked it out. Tony released Abby and turned his head to cough. Gibbs moved closer and rubbed his back a bit.
"So... is there... anything you'd like to tell me?"
Abby looked from Tony to Gibbs. Tony was blushing and Gibbs merely sighed before sitting back down.
"Well, we might as well tell them."
Gibbs grabbed Tony's hand and held it.
"We're together."
"I knew it!" Abby said excitedly. "I'm so happy for you guys!"
"Well it was certainly about time. Congradulations gentlemen. Might I ask how long you two have been together?"
"For f-"
A coughing fit stole Tony's words and breath away as he tried to answer. Gibbs jumped up from his seat and allowed Tony to hold his hand. He didn't wince once when Tony squeezed it tightly as he found it hard to ignore the pain in his chest and stop the cough so that he could breathe. This fit seemed to sap all the strength Tony had and he fell limp into Gibbs arms. Gibbs worried for a split second, but was able to feel the slight breathing. Ducky moved over to Tony's monitor and frowned.
"He needs more oxygen. His levels are dropping rather rapidly. I'm sorry dear boy, but you're going to need the oxygen mask for a while."
Tony didn't even protest when his head was gently pulled away from Gibbs and a oxygen mask was placed upon his face. He opened his eyes weakly, searching for Gibbs; and when he found him, he tried to say something, but the mask was in the way. He sighed, slightly, and closed his eyes once more as the energy he had left was spent trying to breathe.
"Ducky?"
"It's alright, Jethro, he's merely asleep. I say the boy truly deserves it after what he's been through. Besides, it's what his body needs most right now."
Gibbs looked at his lover in his arms and gently returned him to his bed.
"Let's let him rest. I believe you two haven't eatten a thing in a while. I know I'm a bit peckish myself. Shall we journey to the cafeteria?"
"I don't want to leave him Duck."
"I understand Jethro. Abigal and I will bring you something back. Come along Abigal."
"We'll be right back Bossman. Then you can tell us how long you two kept this a secret."
Gibbs took Tony's hand and held it for a minute before a nurse and the doctor walked in to check on Tony.
"His oxygen levels are still looking low. I'm gonna turn his oxygen up."
Gibbs never took his eyes from Tony and frowned when he saw the pain lines on Tony's face.
"Is he supposed to be in pain?"
"In pain? No. A little discomfort, yes. With his lungs as bad as they are, the oxygen is helping him to breathe easier, but it's also causing discomfort because
his lungs are so weak right now."
Gibbs didn't like it, but he knew it was to help Tony.
"You hang in there Tony."
Gibbs squeezed Tony's hand and watched as the doctor and nurse soon left them just as quickly as they walked in. Gibbs leaned over and gave Tony a small kiss. Tony frowned for a brief moment, as if he were trying to open his eyes, but they didn't open. He settled back down and slept. Ducky and Abby returned with a sandwich for Gibbs and a report that Ziva and McGee had arrived. They figured they'd switch out and allow the other two a chance to see Tony. Gibbs only nodded and heard them leave. He left the sandwich on the tray beside the bed and turned his head slightly when he saw Ziva and McGee walk in.
"How's he holding up Boss?" McGee asked and moved closer to the bed.
"He'll be alright McGee." Gibbs answered.
"Ducky told us what is wrong."
Gibbs merely sighed and looked at the two of them.
"You get the case all wrapped up?"
The two of them nodded.
"You guys go home. Get some rest. I'll see if Vance needs you on another team."
"But Boss, we don't..."
McGee started to protest until he saw the look in Gibbs' eyes.
"Alright. Take care."
Tim turned and headed for the door. Ziva seemed confused, but took McGee's cue to leave.
"We shall see you later then."
Gibbs nodded his head and returned his focus to Tony.
***** NCIS *****
Over the next few weeks, Tony got better. It was rough the first two weeks. His health took a drastic decline which scared Gibbs so bad he nearly joined Tony in his own hospital bed. The only times he left Tony was to hit the head, grab a quick shower at home, or when he was forced out by the doctor or nurses. Ducky put his foot down when he took in all the sandwiches that had been left in the trash or on the tray.
"You're not eating Jethro and this isn't doing Tony a bit of good. You either start taking better care of yourself or I'll have the doctor keep you from seeing Anthony."
"You... you wouldn't!"
"I would! Anthony's already doing poorly, I don't need to worry about you too!"
After that talk, Gibbs started taking better care of himself and it seemed Tony was doing better too. Which lead them to today. Tony's release day.
"You got everything?"
"Yeah."
Tony was still easy to tire, so he kept his sentences short. He was just happy to finally be leaving. His relationship with Abby was returning to what it once was. She apologized again and Tony merely shook his head when she did.
"It was both of us Abs. Don't worry about it."
When Gibbs got Tony home, he got him settled on the couch.
"You need anything?"
"No. Just you."
Gibbs gave a small smile.
"I'll be right back, gotta bring in all the crap everyone from the office sent you."
He leaned over and gave Tony a quick peck before heading back out the door. Tony wasn't sure what to do, but he was getting tired again. He hated it, but it did seem to make the day go by faster. He got more comfy and watched Gibbs bring everything in. He couldn't hold back a smile to see how much everyone at the office liked him. He'd have to make sure to send each and one of them a thank you.
"You ok?"
Gibbs had been looking at Tony for a while. Tony seemed to be spacing out, but he wasn't really worried.
"Yeah."
Gibbs took a seat beside Tony and wrapped an arm around him. Tony leaned closer to Gibbs and breathed in his scent. Gibbs closed his eyes and recalled how he almost lost Tony. He squeezed Tony a bit tighter and sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for. I should've known something was off and that whatever was happening between you and Abby would've had an effect on you. I'm sorry I didn't do anything about it before all this."
"What could you have done?"
"Forced you and Abby to sit down and talk about it before it lead to what it did. Never again Tony. I don't ever want to go through something like that ever again."
Gibbs hugged Tony hard and could feel the difference in the weight Tony had lost. Tony nodded his understanding and leaned his head against Gibbs' shoulder once Gibbs let him go.
"Want to watch a movie?"
"Nah, I'm ok Jethro. I don't mind just sitting like this. Besides, I'd probably fall asleep before the movie really started."
"Alright."
The two of them stayed like that for the rest of the night, before moving up to their bedroom so Tony could sleep more comfortably.
"Good night Tony."
"Night Jethro."
Gibbs pulled Tony in close as they laid on the bed.
"I love you."
He whispered as he thought Tony had finally fallen asleep.
"I love you too."
Tony breathed out. Gibbs smiled and closed his eyes, falling asleep.
Thank you so much to those of you that read this. I hope you'll let me know if you enjoyed it or not. Thanks for reading! Until next time...