"What's happening, Duck?" demanded Gibbs, "I thought he just had a bug?"

"Patience, Jethro," said Ducky, "I am conducting my examination as we speak. No, my boy, I don't think you need any more of this …" he removed the medicine bottle from Tony's weak grasp to prevent him taking another swig. "Jethro, take this, please," he handed the bottle to Gibbs.

"How long has this been going on?" Ducky asked Tony.

Tony shook his head, "Don't know. Feels like hours." He broke off to retch once more although there was little by now to come up.

"Let's move," said Ducky as he came to a decision.

"Hospital?" asked Gibbs, "we taking him or shall I call an ambulance?"

"We will go to Dr Murray's clinic," said Ducky calmly. "Perhaps you would get your vehicle ready, Jethro? Oh, and I think it would be wise to bring a bucket with you."

"Come on, DiNozzo," said Gibbs when he returned from the car, "let's get you up and at them."

Gibbs chose to interpret Tony's groan as assent and pulled him to his feet. It only took ten minutes to get to the clinic but Gibbs had to pull over twice to allow Tony to try to be sick. Fortunately, their arrival at their destination coincided with a momentary pause in Tony's symptoms and he was able to walk into the building without needing Gibbs to keep him upright.

"Right," said Ducky rubbing his hands together with what Tony hoped wasn't excitement, "we need to get this vomiting under control."

"No arguments here," muttered Tony who was beginning to feel the all too familiar slide into nausea again.

"I fear I need to give you an injection, Anthony. An anti-emetic. I know you don't like injections, but …"

"No problem," said Tony waving a hand weakly, "you can harpoon me if you want."

"That won't be necessary," said Ducky, "although that reminds me of a time I spent as ship's doctor on a cruise ship which was whale watching. Not that harpoons were involved, of course. We used cameras to capture our prey." He jabbed the needle in. "There, you should start to feel better momentarily."

"Or not," said Gibbs, as Tony sat up, clutched his bucket like a lifeline and leaned his head forward.

"Sometimes, after a prolonged period of vomiting," declared Ducky, "it becomes almost a reflex action which it is difficult to halt. Just try to breathe deeply through the waves of nausea …"

"Ducky," gasped Tony.

"Yes, my boy?"

"Would you mind not talking about … well … it so much. It sort of brings … it on."

"Of course, Anthony. The psychosomatic features of a condition like this are fascinating," said Ducky.

"You think this is all in my mind?" said Tony incredulously.

"No, of course not," said Ducky, "but as I say, the body can get into a routine of … well … the words you would prefer me not to say. Now, I think I will put in an IV. We need to get you re-hydrated and somehow I don't think you will want to attempt to swallow anything at the moment."

"No, Ducky," agreed Tony, "thanks, Ducky."

A few minutes later Tony's body seemed to be responding to the anti-emetic and his body had stopped its spasmodic attempts to empty the contents of his stomach on to the floor. Gibbs breathed a sigh of relief as colour began to return to Tony's face. Tony, beginning to feel better, made to sit up but was firmly pushed back down by Ducky.

"You'll stay there till that bag of saline has gone through," he ordered.

Tony felt he should argue but as he didn't feel he'd win a fight even with Tali at the moment he decided to obey.

"He going to be all right?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes," said Ducky, "he was lucky."

"This is lucky?" said Tony plaintively from his position on the bed.

"In a manner of speaking," said Ducky, "if this had gone on much longer you could have done severe damage to your throat, not to mention becoming severely dehydrated. As it is, you will probably feel sore and tired for a few hours but I do not anticipate any long term deleterious effects."

"What happened?" asked Tony, "nothing like that's ever happened to me before. Not even after a night out with my Buckeyes."

"Indeed," said Ducky, "how long have you been taking that medicine for?"

"Just this evening," said Tony, "it was supposed to suppress my cough so I could get some sleep."

"There's a lot gone just for the evening," commented Gibbs as he drew the bottle out of the pocket he had placed it in.

"Oh, yeah," said Tony, "well, I took a dose. Then I was sick. Then I coughed so I figured I'd probably coughed it up so I took another dose. And …"

"And then it happened again," deduced Ducky.

"And that didn't seem a bit … hinky to you, DiNozzo?" said Gibbs crossly.

"I guess," admitted Tony, "but I didn't feel too good and I wanted the coughing to stop …"

"There, there," said Ducky soothingly, "I know. You were running a fever and not at the top of your game." He frowned at Gibbs as a warning not to scold Tony at least for the moment.

"You think the cough medicine made me sick?" asked Tony. "Great, another medicine to be allergic too."

"It seems a logical suggestion," said Ducky. He took the bottle from Gibbs and sniffed the contents. "Did you smell this, Anthony?" he asked.

For answer Tony pointed at his blocked up nose.

"Jethro, what does this smell like to you?"

Gibbs sniffed obligingly. "Don't know. It's a bit musty. Reminds me of something … but I can't place it. Something from childhood?"

"I believe this medicine contains Ipecacuanha," said Ducky.

"I peck what?" asked Tony.

"Ipecacuanha," repeated Ducky.

"Isn't that the stuff they used to use to make you throw up?" asked Gibbs. "I think my granny had a bottle somewhere."

"Indeed," said Ducky, "it was favoured as a way of combating accidental ingestion of poison. It was also used a couple of centuries ago as a specific against dysentery and has also been an ingredient of some cough liquids. It is, when taken in reduced amounts, an expectorant."

"You mean it was meant to do all this?" asked Tony gesturing towards the bucket.

"By no means," said Ducky, "I would be surprised if it was used as an ingredient in modern day cough remedies and, if it was, certainly not in the quantities which would be required to produce this effect."

"Great," said Tony, placing an arm over his eyes, "I got the crazy chemist!"

Gibbs and Ducky exchanged rueful grins over Tony's head. Gibbs looked at the bottle but thought, after the rough treatment it had received, it was unlikely to produce any finger prints.

"When did you get the bottle?" asked Gibbs.

"I didn't," said Tony. "I phoned Doc Murray. He advised a brand of cough liquid, said it was only available at a pharmacy. I was busy so Henry went to get me a bottle. And then I nearly forgot to bring it but I coughed as I went out the front door and that reminded me. Mac went back for it."

"Well," said Ducky, "we will need to check with the pharmacy to see whether they have made some egregious error. In some ways it was lucky that it was Anthony who got this bottle."

Tony removed the arm from his eyes in order to cast a reproachful look at Ducky.

Ducky hurried on, "I mean it was fortunate that it was someone in otherwise good health who suffered from the ill effects. The impact would have been much more severe in someone not in the prime of their life."

"Better," said Tony reluctantly. "Well, I guess I am here to serve the community."

"That's the spirit," said Ducky cheerily. He saw that Tony was beginning to fall asleep so he drew Gibbs away so he could have some peace.

"Duck, you think this was an accident?" asked Gibbs in a low voice.

"It is possible," said Ducky, "it may have been an old fashioned pharmacy which still used the ingredient. It seems unlikely that it was a serious attempt to harm Anthony."

"Looked pretty serious to me," said Gibbs still a little shaken by what he had seen in Tony's bathroom.

"Yes, yes," said Ducky, "but it was unlikely to cause any permanent ill effects. And besides, who in North Carolina would want to injure him? They haven't known him long enough to get to dislike him."

"Like us, you mean?" said Gibbs sardonically.

"No," said Ducky in annoyance, "I didn't mean to imply that the longer you know him the more irritating Anthony becomes! I simply meant that, so far, Anthony has led a quiet and blameless life in North Carolina and has only been in his new job a for a week or so. I do not see how he can have become a target so quickly."

"Hmm," said Gibbs, "you may be right. We'll ask our CAFALO to work out who has jurisdiction over a pharmacy. We'll get an analysis on what's left in the bottle. And I think I'll get McGee to run a check on the Nanny."

"On Frazer?" asked Ducky, "but it's such a good Scottish name! He can't be up to no good."

"He was the last person to handle the bottle," said Gibbs."

"You think he 'doctored' the contents?" asked Ducky doubtfully.

Gibbs shrugged.

"And what grounds do you have for doing a background search on the young man?" asked Ducky.

"Not asking McGee to do anything illegal. Besides, it's a threat to a former federal agent. Should be some wiggle room there."

Ducky nodded and went back to his patient.

NCISNCIS

As predicted, Tony was soon feeling better although he was still coughing and, understandably, refusing Ducky's offer of a cough liquid. He decided to make do with Millie's hot lemon and honey drink instead.

Tony accepted Millie's offer of sanctuary in her shady backyard during the day. Gibbs and John went fishing, Ducky went to do some 'house visits' leaving Tony and Tali to play. It turned out, however, that Tali was also in restful mood and was content to lie on the sun lounger with her father and watch the clouds scud overhead. She seemed fascinated by the different shapes and waved to them as they disappeared. Millie, using her usual impeccable timing, seemed always to know when her guests might need refreshment and managed to come out with an offering just as Tali began to get restless.

Millie was just delivering the latest offering when the gate opened and Ruskin came in from a walk with one of Millie's customers.

"Hey, Kelev!" called Tony.

"Kelev?" asked Millie, "I thought you'd changed his name to Caleb."

"Ah," said Tony, "it's a case of my daughter knowing more than me."

"You'll find that happens a lot," said Millie drily.

"When she was saying kelev she was using the Hebrew word for dog. I thought she said Caleb. See?"

"OK," said Millie, "so what's his name now?"

Tony opened his mouth but Tali spoke first. She pointed a finger at the dog and shouted, "Ruskee!"

"There's your answer," said Tony, "for today anyway. Who knows what it will be tomorrow?"

Millie laughed and turned to go back to the house. Tony looked up and saw Gibbs returning from the fishing trip with a scowl on his face.

"Tali," he said, "why don't you go with Millie? There's a good girl."

Millie looked surprised but Tony nodded towards the approaching Gibbs and said, "looks like stormy weather ahead."

Millie nodded. There had been times in the past when Gibbs and Tony's dealings had been fiery and, if this was going to be another of those times, it would be best for Tali to be out of the way.

"Good fishing?" asked Tony, not sure if that was the right adjective for a fishing trip. In his limited experience the number of fish caught didn't seem conclusive as to whether a trip had been successful.

"McGee did a background check on the Nanny," he said sternly.

Tony felt a familiar rising annoyance, "Why?" he said levelly.

"He was the last person to handle your cough liquid. The medicine which had you throwing up all night."

"So?" asked Tony, "we don't know how the I Peck stuff got in it. Ducky phoned the local station. They're looking into it."

"I taught you better than that," said Gibbs sternly, "we don't wait around for answers. We go and get them."

"And you chose Mac to go after?" said Tony.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"My gut," said Gibbs unanswerably.

"Because you don't approve of male nannies?" asked Tony.

"No," said Gibbs although Tony wasn't completely convinced by the denial. "He was shifty when we met. When he found out I was an agent."

"So? Newsflash, Gibbs, not everyone loves federal agents."

"He was in a hurry to get away," pointed out Gibbs.

"I know the feeling," said Tony softly. "It was the weekend," he continued reasonably, "I'd already cut into his weekend off by getting him to bring us down."

"He was coming down here anyway," said Gibbs.

"True. But he was supposed to come down in the morning. He hung around to give us a ride."

"In your new car," said Gibbs.

"You think he's going to steal my car?" asked Tony.

"Why not? It's worth a lot of money."

"He's not going to steal my car. Why would you think that?"

"Where did you find him?"

"What?" asked Tony.

"Where did you find him?"

"Well, I don't know Gibbs. I went to the corner of the road and grabbed the first person who came along!"

"DiNozzo!"

"I went to a reputable agency, Gibbs and interviewed a selection of candidates. Mac was well-qualified. Tali liked him. I liked him."

"So you just talked to him?"

"No. I got Andy to give me her opinion. I took up references. The agency does background checks. Gibbs, he trained at one of the top schools in the country. He's got a degree in child psychology and a masters in child development. He's a certified life saver and he's trained in first aid. He's better qualified than I am to look after Tali. What's going on?"

"And the agency's 'background check' didn't turn anything up?" asked Gibbs.

"Ah," said Tony, "now I know what this is about. Mac told me."

"That he's a drug addict?" demanded Gibbs.

"He's not a drug addict," said Tony pacifically.

"You telling me that McGee got his facts wrong?" said Gibbs.

"No," said Tony.

"Good. Because his check showed up that Frazer McKenzie has a conviction for possession of marijuana."

"A small amount," said Tony. "And it was six years ago. He'd just started college and he got into the wrong crowd."

"You put the care of your child into the hands of someone who got into the wrong crowd and took drugs?" roared Gibbs.

Tony held on to his temper. "It was a mistake," he said, "a one-off that shook him. He didn't deserve …"

Gibbs cut him off, "He didn't deserve? What about your daughter? What does she deserve? A safe place, a safe environment where she's not looked after by some spaced out druggie?"

"Gibbs," said Tony firmly, "Mac is cleaner than I am. He's a sportsman, an athlete. He's not going to be taking drugs."

"What about steroids?" said Gibbs, "performance enhancing drugs? Who knows what he's into."

"Gibbs, Mac made a mistake once. He told me about it. He doesn't do drugs now. Would you really have his life blighted because of one mistake?"

"You don't understand, do you?" said Gibbs jabbing his finger in a way Tony remembered all too well.

"What don't I understand?" asked Tony trying to be calm but feeling his control beginning to slip.

"That child is the most precious thing you have."

"You think I don't know that?" said Tony softly.

"Then behave like it," roared Gibbs, "be responsible. Don't hire someone to look after your child because he reminds you of some half-baked version of you in your glory days. Don't hire someone because you feel sorry for them. Your first priority is Tali. You've got to live up to that responsibility. Otherwise, you'll …"

"I'll what?" hissed Tony getting to his feet, "I'll lose her? You'll take her away from me? Because you'd be so much better at looking after a child than me? Because you've got such a great record of protecting the people you love?"

Tony felt as if he might have stepped off a cliff and wondered if his words were unforgiveable. Part of him regretted saying them but another part was still furious that Gibbs had implied that he was a bad parent. He swallowed hard, "Gibbs. I didn't mean to say that it was your fault that your family … that you lost your family. I'm sorry … I shouldn't have thrown that in your face. "

Gibbs glared bleakly at Tony but Tony hoped he could see a little softening around the eyes. "But, Gibbs. You have to trust that I have Tali's best interests at heart. I'll do anything for her. It might not always be the right thing. I'll make mistakes but I'll do my best."

Gibbs looked at Tony, "your best might not be enough, DiNozzo."

Tony stared as Gibbs stalked out of the yard and towards the beach. He was still staring when Millie came out with a coffee for Gibbs.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Tony wearily, "and I don't care."


AN: in a previous story I got the dog's name wrong. I thought it was Caleb ... so I've 'fixed' it by making Tony get confused between 'kelev' and Cableb.

I've no idea if the Ipecacuanha thing would work but I don't recommend experimenting to find out!