Okay so it's pre-series but not a Baltimore/how Gibbs and Tony met fic, I will get to that one ASAP. This is mainly a Tony/Abby friendship, and Tony/Gibbs, father/son fic as usual.

Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine as usual.

Summary: Just how exactly does Tony begin to fully trust Gibbs while working for NCIS. How will two stubborn people trust each other when one won't talk and the other refuses to get too involved into his team member's personal life? And when a case comes up connecting everything together how will they both handle it?

Silence Isn't Always Best

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

Prologue

Night had firmly settled upon the city; only a few cars driving around, some with an end in mind, others without. The usual faces seeing each other at the same time, either there by way of their jobs or simply not being able to sleep.

Two dark figures drifted towards each other like the opposite ends of a magnet, one upbeat, one barely hanging on to a sense of time or space. Solid objects twisting and turning; like some sort of surrealist piece of art work, mixing the bright lights of the car headlights and the midnight black of the sky, with the very solid structures of buildings and all the other people, drifting about in their own world.

The larger one's steps faltered ever so slightly, nobody would think anything was wrong with a brief look. Only, when they looked longer and deeper, would they see the desperation to find something familiar in all the strange sights before him. Anything, anyone who could tell him what he was supposed to do now.

As the figures drew closer, the smallest noticed the familiar figure coming towards her and breached the silence of the street they had both been walking.

"Tony!"

Tony looked up blearily at the sound of the familiar squeal, Abby. No one else could possibly have that much energy at one o'clock in the morning. Before he knew it he'd been engulfed in black, no time to even gasp her name. No time to even tell her anything before the dark engulfed his vision and his mind.

Abby had been surprised when she had seen Tony this late in the night and had immediately run up and hugged him, as she usually did with the people she cared about. It had taken a couple of weeks to get used to the usually vivacious Tony DiNozzo but recently, she had noticed something 'hinky' about him, and that worried her. She was more surprised as he didn't seem to protest as he normally would. An uneasy feeling crept its way through her, Tony always either tensed or protested a little against her hugs, something had to be wrong.

She was unfortunately proven right as he fell limp in her arms, his knees sagging, his breathing a little uneven. Fighting back a few tears that burned in her eyes, she tried to figure a way out of the position they were both in without hurting him more. Silently hoping it was merely exhaustion of the case they had just closed and not anything else more sinister or dangerous. Noting his silence, she tried to get his attention, whispering pleading words in his ear; her arms started to ache from his weight.

"Tony, can you hear me? Come on, Tony?" Her voice wavered ever so slightly; she needed to help her friend right now. She could breakdown later, when he was safe. But it was hard when it was her friends in danger.

Keeping her hold on him tight, she slowly guided him to the floor. Laying his head down gently, she placed her rolled up coat beneath it as a pillow. Looking around briefly, she checked to see if anyone in particular was watching them. Seeing only the normal city streets she was familiar with, she relaxed minutely.

Going over the situation logically in her mind, she knew she should check to see if he was injured but she found that she didn't really want to know. Well…that wasn't exactly true, it's just…if she knew what was wrong; would she really be able to help him anyway? She wasn't a doctor after all. Where was the level-headed and calming Ducky when you needed him? Knowing she was pretty much on her own, she checked him over.

When she saw the state he was in, her heart sped up in fear for him, and a single tear escaped her eyes as she tried to control her emotions. Pulling out her cell, she rang for an ambulance, wondering why such a thing would happen to Tony of all people. Calling the only other person she needed to ring, she awaited the arrival of the ambulance.

Poring his usual measure of bourbon, Special Agent Gibbs swallowed back the drink in one go and resumed sanding the ever present boat in his basement.

The last case and been a long one, catching naps here and there, mainly in the office. The whole team- well, him, DiNozzo, Abby and Ducky had worked none stop for the past week on little rest. He'd been surprised by the willingness of his newest agent, one Anthony DiNozzo, eternal playboy on the outside but had the oddest ways of making connections that had lead to solving the latest case.

So then, what was it that was bothering him about the younger agent tonight? Well, whatever it was it left an uneasy feeling in his gut and had him working even harder on his boat to relieve some of the tension within him. Something had been going on with his agent recently but he wasn't inclined in the slightest to ask, keeping his distance was best at this point, not knowing how long this new agent was going to last. He couldn't get too close to them, if he did, it might spell disaster for them both.

But again he found himself drawn back, his mind telling him to stop being so damned distant and telling him that Tony would be able to help fix what had been missing all these years. Growling at his own fears, Gibbs sanded his boat a little harder than intended and made a silent vow to at least keep a better eye on his agent for the time being. He didn't want to risk getting too close if he was just going to lose the agent.

Just as he was about finished on the boat for the night and started heading up to bed, his cell rang. Abby flashed up on the caller ID.

"Gibbs."

"Gibbs, Tony's hurt." The panic in her voice cleared the cobwebs that had started to form in Gibbs' brain. He immediately started gathering his things and started moving out of his house.

"What Abs, how?" He asked, not really caring about the undercurrent of concern within his own usually gruff and commanding voice. If someone was after his agents, they'd be hell to pay.

"I don't know Gibbs, I just bumped into him on the street and he was really quiet, not speaking and you know how he's always talking, and then just collapsed. Oh god Gibbs, what if something is really wrong with him. We've only just-"

"Abby, calm down, he'll be okay, if only to make another stupid remark about a movie. Where are you?" Gibbs winced at his own statement, not really knowing where it had come from.

"Gibbs that's not nice, erm… I'm waiting for the ambulance, I'm gonna go with him, okay?" Abby carried on, telling him exactly where she was, it wasn't all that far from Abby's apartment.

He got quickly into his car and started the engine, he also called Ducky, asking him to be ready to go to the hospital when they knew which one Tony had been sent to and jumped in his car to go to where Abby was. It wouldn't take long to get there but it would seem like a lifetime. He hated it when any of his agents were injured. Even the new ones.

TBC

Hope you all like this first part and please review!

I found this on my dad's computer and thought why not upload it ! I will get back to my others, this one just seems easier to write and think about at the moment considering somethings recently that have been going on….but I'll not harp on about that! Enjoy !