I WON'T LET GO

Hey guys! First of all, this is my first story, so please be kind. I really appreciate polite, constructive criticism though. I was kind of bored with the heap of (wonderful) Tony-saves-Gibbs-and-gets-hurt-stories around here, so I decided to write it the other way round. This was also inspired by the lovely video "NCIS – Tony and Gibbs - I won't let go" on YouTube which made me cry. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Ziva, take McGee and go in through the back door. Tony, you're with me."

This had become second nature to Tony: the procedure was always pretty much the same when they entered a suspect's house or hideout. They split up like they had done many times before, went in, saw the suspect pointing a gun at them, shouted their standard "NCIS! Drop your weapon!" and waited.

Everything would have continued to go as usual (they would have shot the suspect in defence), if it hadn't been for the whisper, the whisper so low only Tony could hear it, the whisper of a small child that didn't have the energy for more than that whisper: "Help!"

Because of that whisper, Tony was distracted for the fraction of a second and didn't see the bullet that came flying out of the suspect's gun straight at his head. When he noticed, the time to duck had passed. The only thing he could do was close his eyes and wait for it all to end.

Only it didn't.

Gibbs didn't hear the child. The only thing he noticed was the bullet flying his Senior Field Agent and the only thing he thought was "No. Not him..."

When he acted, it was more out of instinct than out of a conscious decision. The same fiercely protective instinct that causes a mother to shield her child from any harm without considering the consequences for herself caused Gibbs to jump in front of Tony because there wasn't time to pull him down and because there wasn't anything to take cover behind near them. In the split second before the bullet hit him his only thought was "He's safe. My son will live..."

The next thing Tony knew was that Gibbs was down. This wasn't right, it shouldn't be him lying on the ground, it should be Tony himself...

Gibbs' shirt was reddening fast and Tony heard himself shouting at the man who was like a father to him as though some other person was shouting it: "NO! Stay awake, Boss! Stay awake! Don't do this to me. Boss! Don't..." The voice that seemed to belong to somebody else faded as Gibbs struggled to say something. Tony leaned down to be able to hear him better while at the same time he was pressing down heard on the other agent's wound, determined that these words would not be Gibbs' last although they sounded terribly like it:

"Try not to grieve too much, Tony. I will die in peace. I love you, my son..."

"Boss! Don't say that! You have to stay awake! Don't pass out!Don't do this to me, Boss..Boss? You listening?"

He wasn't. Gibbs was slowly closing his eyes, a smile on his face as his vision went black. He could hear Shannon and Kelly calling...

To continue or not to continue, that is the question the answer of which depends entirely on you...so please please please review

Love, Leonie Kenobi