Tony stared up at the ceiling of the Palmer's guest room. He had become quite familiar with that sight over the past few days. He hadn't even gotten an official diagnosis yet and he was still too weak to do anything. Jimmy and Breena were amazing though. They were practically raising Tali, along with carrying for him, and raising their own daughter. They didn't seem to mind, or at least they didn't complain about it around him.

Given he could barely walk thirty feet to the toilet without being out of breath, he was pretty glad that he had moved back to the states. He had come back at the end of the summer. Tali had started noticing different types of families and begun asking about her family. Senior had slipped back into his old ways not long after moving to France. He took up with some girl, and last Tony heard he was living in Spain with another woman. As much as he adored Paris. He decided that Tali needed to live around people who knew her Ima and who he could call her family.

Looking back he had noticed the decline a few months back. His health had been stable for so many years. He did not bother finding a pulmonologist in Paris. He just told his GP the scars were from repeat pneumonia. He had become lethargic and had trouble catching his breath. He moved back to the states and Dr. Pitt found out right away. He was scheduled for an immediate appointment. The doctor knew something was wrong before he even began the exam. The X-Ray gave away the truth. Two masses on each lung. He was scheduled for an immediate biopsy. They were hoping to remove at least part of the tumors but they were too large and inoperable. Basically he was either going to have radiation or radiation and chemotherapy. Either way it was weeks to months of living hell. His phone rang, he pulled himself up and reached up for the buzzing rectangle. It was Dr. Pitt calling, this was the moment of truth. More accurately the moment of dread.

"Hello?"

"Tony?"

"Yeah"

"I have the results of your biopsy in and well. I think you need to get to Bethesda right away."

"OK"

Jimmy's heart was heavy as he waited for Tony in Dr. Pitt's office. Tony had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the hospital. He pretty much knew what the results were going to be. He wished that Tony had told Gibbs or anybody else. He wished that he did not have to endure this alone. Breena wanted to be there but somebody needed to stay with Tali and Tori. Jimmy pulled into the hospital parking lot and took the closest space he could use.

"Tony, wake up. We are here." Jimmy called.

"MK" Tony replied weakly.

Jimmy ended up having to borrow a wheelchair to push Tony back to Dr. Pitt's office. A few year back Tony had signed paperwork allowing Jimmy and/or Gibbs to be present for his medical appointments. Until today he had never invited either back. Gibbs forced his way back once but that was largely because Tony had withheld a few key details from him. Jimmy had never felt the need to even ask. In fact if it were up to him he would never have been there. At least not on a day like today. Not when Tony was about to receive devastating news.

Tony struggled to focus on what Dr. Pitt was saying. He had been prepared to hear every word of it but now that he was actually hearing it. Now that he had verbal confirmation, it was impossible not to keep calm. He looked over at Jimmy. He was trying to hide it but there were obvious tears in his eyes.

"I am afraid that the news is as bad as we had feared. Stage four lung cancer. We will need to run more tests to determine whether or not the disease has metastasized but it is extremely rare for a cancer this advanced to be localized." Dr. Pitt explained.

"What do I do? How do we treat this?" Tony questioned.

"I have researched a few clinical trials but the only treatment we can offer is radiation and chemotherapy." Dr. Pitt explained.

"What is the prognosis?" Tony asked.

"Well I can't say anything for sure until I know if the cancer has spread but given the stage of cancer and the state of your lungs. Tony I am sorry but this is terminal." Dr. Pitt apologized.

While he did not have an exact expiration date stamped on his forehead, Tony still knew that he was dying. He wanted to do any treatment he could, just to give him a shot at being around for Tori. He at least wanted to be around for Tali's preschool graduation in the spring. He doubted that he would be around for her first day of kindergarten in the fall. He hated to think about how much he was going to miss. He hated that he was likely to leave his only child orphaned before she had even turned five. From outside his room he heard Jimmy and Breena discussing the latest developments. Jimmy was taking the news really hard. Breena was hurting as well but she knew that she had to be the strong one.

"How are we going to tell Tali?" Breena asked.

"Tony wants to tell her. Today took a lot out of him. He said that he would tell her tomorrow." Jimmy explained.

"Poor kid. I feel absolutely terrible for her." Breena sighed.

"Me too" Jimmy agreed.

Gibbs had stopped by the Palmer's house to drop off Tony's portable DVD player. Emily Fornell had stayed with him for a couple days while Tobias was out of town for work. He had went to Tony's new apartment but the doorman had revealed that he had been staying with a friend. It took some prying but Gibbs found out that he was staying with the Palmer family. He knocked on the door. He waited and waited, he was about to give up when Tali answered.

"Gibbs!" Tali squealed jumping into the Marine's arms.

"Tali I am glad to see you, but you are too little to answer the door on your own. Where are Mr. and Mrs. Palmer?" Jethro asked.

"With Abba" Tali replied.

"Oh well can you go get one of them? I have something for you Abba?" Jethro questioned.

"Gibbs? What's lung cancer?" Tali asked.

"It's a very serious disease. Not like the illnesses that you catch at school. It's something very, very bad that doesn't happen easy." Jethro explained not wanting to scare the child.

"Is it bad enough to make you dead?" Tali asked.

"Afraid so, why are you asking about cancer? Did you see something on TV?" Jethro asked.

"No I heard Jimmy and Breena talking. Abba has it." Tali replied.


A/N: How will Gibbs take the news? New chapter will be up soon. Thanks for reading and please review.