A/N: There is something terribly wrong with me. I enjoy whumping my favorite characters too much… Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own NCIS

Review if you want to.

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The day had been productive they had finally put the Sorensen case to bed after a week of hitting brick walls. It was often the stupidity of criminals that broke a case but this time it was hubris. Lt. David Sorensen's arrogance was so great that he actually thought he could get away with embezzling from PSD Norfolk and not get caught. The idiot didn't even have sense to hide his laptop thinking he was so brilliant no one would find anything he'd hidden. Tony laughed at that, Sorensen may have been above average in the computer skills department but he was no McGee and it brought them all great pleasure when McGee found Sorensen's hidden file on his laptop and cracked the encryption a few hours later. The look on the smug bastard's face when McGee put the cuffs on him was priceless. All that was left was writing the report and Tony could head home for some much needed rest and a weekend off. He was so tired his head was pounding and the words on the monitor were running together but he powered through and was finished an hour later. He emailed a copy to Gibbs and was printing out a hard copy to put on his boss' desk. As the document printed across the room Tony began straightening up around his desk, bending over at one point to pick up one of McGee's paper missiles from their skirmish in the morning.

Big mistake DiNozzo

Tony's head fired off explosions of pain that whited out his vision and made him dizzy.

"Oh shit." He whispered as he tried to raise his head back up to the desk.

It took several seconds for his vision to return and for him to be able to move without puking from pain.

Damn, I need to sleep. I'll just rest here a minute and then head home.

Gibbs walked up and took in the scene of his Senior Field Agent laying his head on his desk his eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"DiNozzo, you finished with your report?"

The sound of Gibbs' unusually calm voice banged around Tony's skull like a timpani drum, sending a wave of nausea through him.

"Yeah Boss, all done." Tony squeaked.

"Well then get your ass home and get some sleep. You look like hell."

"On it Boss." He said weakly.

Gibbs grunted and walked back to his desk watching Tony stand up like a drunken octogenarian.

"You okay Tony?" Gibbs' said, concern seeping through his tone.

"Fine Boss, just tired ya know?"

"Yeah I know. You okay to drive?"

"Took a cab Boss." Tony dreaded having to pick up his backpack from the floor he wasn't sure he'd make it back up again.

Gibbs heard the odd slur in Tony's voice and chalked it up to fatigue. Gibbs shut down his computer and walked over and picked up Tony's backpack and handed it to him.

"Come on DiNozzo, I'm taking you home."

Tony sighed he didn't want to deal with Gibbs' particular brand of TLC he just wanted to go home to his bed and his apartment and spend the next two days veg'ing. But he knew Gibbs wouldn't take no for an answer. At the very least he was riding home with him at the most Gibbs would be in his mother hen mode and force Tony to stay with him.

"Thanks Boss I can't wait to crawl into my bed." He was letting Gibbs know as gently as possible that he wanted to be alone.

Gibbs figured he could do with some alone time himself so he conceded to Tony's unspoken request.

"Then I guess you better get your butt up so we can leave DiNozzo."

Tony stood up, swaying slightly. This time his vision only greyed out around the edges and he walked carefully but quickly behind Gibbs to the elevator mindful of hiding his difficulty he didn't want Gibbs to change his mind about leaving Tony to his own devices.

The elevator ride was silent and uneventful and so was the car ride. Both men were tired and ready to be alone. A week like this when you are running on adrenalin, eating crap and around people 24/7, wears you out mind, body, and soul. They needed the quiet.

Gibbs' mind meandered as he drove on autopilot to Tony's apartment. He was so exhausted he actually drove somewhere near the speed limit. His brain skipped around processing things that he had placed on the back burner trying to focus on the case. He thought about how Tony was hiding his headaches, about how Ziva was hiding her change in her relationship with Ray, how Palmer was getting married, how Ducky would probably cut down on his hours if not retire altogether when Palmer finished his residency. He ruminated on the new SecNav and his agenda, and he came full circle back to Tony. Tony was different lately, more quiet. Not brooding or anything, just different. Gibbs was relieved the whole EJ thing seemed to be over and he could bury his jealousy and desire for Tony better. He knew Tony didn't return his "feelings" but he couldn't stand to see him being used by EJ. She wasn't evil really; at least not that he could prove. But he wasn't sad to see her go that's for damn sure. They arrived at Tony's apartment what felt like ages later. The younger man had fallen asleep and Gibbs hated to wake him but it was late and he was just as exhausted as Tony.

"Tony?" He shook Tony gently.

Tony didn't even stir.

"DiNozzo?" This time he was louder and more insistent.

Tony groaned something incoherent.

Gibbs sighed and opened his door and came around to Tony's side of the car and opened it cautiously to keep Tony from falling out.

"Come on Tony." His voice suspiciously tender he pulled Tony to his feet from the car.

"Boss?"

"Yeah, come on DiNozzo let's get you into bed."

"Sounds good Boss." Tony mumbled and leaned into Gibbs. His long body pressed against Gibbs in an almost suggestive way.

Gibbs swallowed hard and pushed the younger man away gently. "DiNozzo wake up I'm not carrying your ass up these stairs."

Tony still out of it mumbled, "Sorry Boss, just so tired."

"Well yeah DiNozzo so am I, and I'm twelve years older than you, so get a move on."

Tony was a bit more awake and quipped in return. "Yeah Boss but you're like superhuman or something."

Gibbs chuckled. "Nope, just a Marine, now move it!"

They made it up to Tony's apartment with little incident though Tony leaned on Gibbs struggling as the pain in his head escalated with each step. He was finding it harder to walk and not start vomiting. By the time they reached his door Tony was so out of it he couldn't get his key in the lock.

"What the hell is wrong with you DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked with a mixture of irritation and concern.

"Not sure Boss my head is killing me and my eyes are acting weird."

"Sounds like a migraine."

"Yeah, I guess."

Tony stumbled in to the dark apartment and turned to Gibbs. "Thanks Boss. I got it."

The hall light filtered through the gloom of the living room casting Tony's face in shadow and making the pain etched there obvious. Gibbs gave him an appraising look.

"You sure you're okay Tony?"

"Yeah, Boss, just have a bitch of a headache."

"Okay. But if you get worse call me."

"Sure thing, Boss, but I'm fine I just need some sleep."

Gibbs nodded skeptically but turned to leave. "Goodnight DiNozzo. Don't come in tomorrow."

"Thanks Boss, goodnight. Have a good weekend."

Tony closed the door and all but fell against it in relief at the returning darkness. Gibbs' nearly silent footsteps sounding like stomping in his aching head. The last thing he remembered was the echoing of the stairwell door exploding in his brain.