AN: I really have no idea what compelled me to write this today unless it was just the need to give myself a good cry. In any case, read at your own risk. Its a sad one :( *sob*

xxxxx

It should have been a simple, routine call. They had only gone there to ask some questions. There was no hard evidence, no real reason to be suspicious. It had been a fact finding mission more than anything. But it had gone so horribly, impossibly wrong. One minute they were knocking on the door of the old country home... Seconds later, there was a hail of gunfire leaving one Anthony DiNozzo, lying on the front porch in a pool of his own blood.

"Tony! My God..." Gibbs was by his side in an instant, pulling him away from the door. He could see right away that it was bad...really bad. He wasn't even sure how many shots had hit him. There was just so much blood. Tony's chest was covered in it. He heard a car door slam from somewhere behind the house and the screeching of a car as it peeled down the driveway. Gibbs took aim and fired numerous shots at the vehicle, but the driver got away. "Bastard." Gibbs pulled out his phone and frantically called for help, barely managing to keep his voice from shaking as he did so.

"Gue...guess this suit's ruined," Tony smirked, then began coughing harshly as some blood trickled from his mouth.

"Don't worry about your suit, DiNozzo." Tony was already shivering. Shock was setting in fast. Gibbs took off his jacket and covered Tony with it. Then, as carefully as he could, he pulled Tony into his lap and placed his hands over his chest in an effort to slow the bleeding.

"Guess...guess, I can't be buried in this one," Tony murmured. "You'll have to find another one.'

"Don't talk like that," Gibbs snapped then shakily calmed his tone. "You're going to be fine."

Tony ignored Gibbs' words. Somehow, he just knew they wouldn't prove to be true. "Tell...tell Abby I'm sorry I won't ma...make her bowling tournament next week."

"Don't you give up on me, DiNozzo...don't you dare give up." The words were spoken sharply, an order. The kind of order Tony would have followed without a second thought...if he'd been given a choice...

"Al...always ho...hoped you'd take me out sailing someday...tho..thought t would be kinda cool...guess that won't be happening now..." Tony's eyes were glassy and he shivered again.

"We can do that, Tony," Gibbs said softly. Where the hell was that damn ambulance? "I'll take you out as soon as I finish the boat."

Tony considered that for a moment, a sad smile on his lips. "That woulda been nice. I would have liked that..."

"We'll do it...really soon." Damn...why hadn't DiNozzo ever told him he wanted to go sailing? Why the hell hadn't he told him? He would have taken him. He would have been happy to. He'd never even thought to ask him. Why hadn't he asked him? Gibbs could feel the tears beginning to well in his eyes now and it was impossible to stop them from trailing down his cheeks.

"Boss?"

"Yeah?" Gibbs swallowed hard. Tony looked so young...so incredibly young. This was wrong and so damn unfair.

"I...I'm scared. Don't...don't really want to die, boss. Did...didn't expect this today...not like this..."

"You're not going to die, Tony...you'll be okay." Empty words. He didn't believe them and he knew Tony didn't either. Gibbs couldn't bear this. He felt like his heart was shredding into about a million pieces.

"Don't leave me...sta...stay with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere...Staying right here."

He clutched him tighter, assuring Tony he wasn't going to let him go. Tony lifted up his hand and Gibbs took it, grasping it firmly in his own. There was no sense in trying to stop the bleeding. There was just too much of it and the blood was flowing too quickly. The most important thing now was to make Tony as comfortable as possible...ease his mind if he could.

"Don't...don't tell Probie I was scared, boss, okay?"

"I won't tell him," Gibbs promised. He'd do anything for this man, whatever he wanted. He just wished he could save him.

"You...you're a good man, Leroy Jethro Gibbs," Tony said with another brief smile which turned into a grimace as he was hit with a jolt of pain. "I...I'll miss our talks in your basement and...and your cow...cowboy style steak..." His breathing was labored now. Gibbs could see how badly he was struggling. "I...I'll miss you..."

"Don't try to talk..." Dear God, this was killing him. He wanted nothing more than to trade places with his dying agent. How the hell could this have happened?

"Ha...have to say it...won...won't get another chance," Tony said haltingly. "Tell...tell the team I love em...they're gon...gonna miss me..."

"I'll tell them,"Gibbs said with a catch in his voice. This was his worst nightmare come true. God he wanted it to be a nightmare. He wanted to wake up in his bed and realize it was all just a horrific dream and that Tony was safe and sound. He'd lost too much in his lifetime. His wife, his daughter and now he had to lose Tony too? People had miracles. Why couldn't he and Tony have one? Why couldn't they have a miracle just this once? Even as he began to pray with all his heart for Tony to live, he knew it wasn't going to happen. Gibbs silently damned a world so full of hatred and violence and unspeakable acts.

"Love you too, boss...you...you were like a father to me...more...more than...more than my...my real dad..."

"You're my boy, Tony...you're my son...you always will be..." Gibbs said. "I love you too...love you so much."

Tony smiled then, a bright, warm smile that would have made Gibbs absurdly happy any other time. "That means everything..."

"You...you mean everything." A stifled sob escaped Gibbs and he inwardly cursed. He didn't want to make this even harder on Tony.

"I...I'm sorry..."

"You're sorry?" Gibbs looked down at Tony incredulously. "You've got nothing to be sorry for,"

"I...I'm sorry that I'm leaving you alone." Tony's eyes had a far away look in them now. He appeared to be somewhere else, somewhere out of the scope of Gibbs' realm of understanding. Gibbs had never seen Tony's eyes appear so vibrant and green before. "Boss? I can see my mom...and...and I see Kate...she's smiling...she looks really happy. There's a lake too. It's beautiful..the colors are so vivid and dazzling...nev...never saw anything like it before...and...and a boat...I...I'll be looking out for you...Some...someday we'll take that sailing trip together..." Tony gave a small gasp then and looked up at Gibbs intently, almost as if he was trying to commit him to memory. He then gave him one final smile before his eyes closed and Gibbs knew that he was gone.

Much too late, the sounds of approaching sirens filtered through the air. Still holding Tony tightly in his arms, Gibbs began to sob for his fallen agent...his son...whose life had been cut short much too soon...