A/N: This chapter follows the last episode of season 2, Twilight. For all those UNFAMILIAR with this episode, here is a SPOILER warning. For all those FAMILIAR with the episode, I hope you like the twists. All dialogue has been taken straight out of the episode but I swear that I'm not making any money off of it.

Enjoy!

Pneumonic plague sucked, Tony decided. Sure, it was pretty obvious that it was going to suck from the get go, what with it being the plague and all, but he figured he was going to die from it. He didn't count on the suicide chain, or Gibbs's order. Now he was left with all the coughing, body aches, and fatigue that came with survival. And it sucked.

Going back to work a week before sick leave was up sucked too, but that was something that Tony had to do. He couldn't just skip today. Especially since a freaking Angel of the Lord told him he had to be there.

Tony sighed heavily then wished he hadn't sighed at all as it brought on a brand new round of coughing. He coughed and coughed, feeling as if his ribs were poking into his lungs every time he inhaled too deep. There were little specks of blood patterning his hand and he was starting to worry when, abruptly, the coughing stopped.

He looked around warily, wondering why, when the elevator dinged and stopped. Bracing himself against the handrail, Tony barely contained his wince when Gibbs stepped into the elevator. The look the older man shot him was not very pleasant.

"What are you doing here, Tony?" Gibbs questioned, turning around so he wasn't facing Tony.

Tony took the opportunity to wipe away the little blood flecks on his hand, glad that Gibbs hadn't seen them. Then again, knowing Gibbs, he probably had seen them and that was the whole reason he had turned away. "Working," he said, his voice rough from the coughing.

Gibbs shot him a look over his shoulder and replied, "You think you should be doing that."

Ignoring the fact that it wasn't a question, Tony nodded and then remembered that Gibbs, no matter how spooky, really didn't have eyes in the back of his head.

"Yes."

There was a long moment of silence. Then Gibbs turned to Tony and eyed him sharply.

"You sure you're up for this?" he asked, doubt peeking through his strong tone.

Tony looked up at the little numbers counting the floors so he wouldn't have to lie straight to Gibbs's face and said, "Never felt better."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said shortly, dropping his head to nod.

Gibbs turned back towards the elevator doors. "You look like crap."

A light flush crept up Tony's cheeks as he heard the heaviness in Gibbs's voice. He bit his lip before saying sincerely, "I missed you, too, Boss."

"You've got another week of sick leave coming, Tony," Gibbs gave him a quick look. "You should take it."

Tony licked his lips. How was he going to convince Gibbs that he needed to be out in the field with the rest of them? A small idea sparked. "I was going crazy at home," he said, looking back up at the numbers that didn't seem to have moved at all.

"Maybe I'm not a hundred percent," Tony continued, shifting as his legs and back began to ache with the strain of holding him up. "But you need me."

He didn't want to think about just how true that statement was. Not even the slight grin on Gibbs's face that conflicted with what Tony had said was able to diminish the truth.

Tony was going out with the team on the next case whether Gibbs liked it or not. Now, if he could just get him to quit asking how Tony was feeling, everything would be fine. A nice Gibbs didn't ever bode well. Especially for Tony.

-/-

"Boss!" Tony called, making his way around some roadside bushes to Gibbs. "State cops ran the Mustang's plates. It's a rental car out of Dulles Airport. I got a call into this-"

The breath was knocked out of him as the toe of his boot got caught underneath his foot and brought him to his knees. He wasn't fast enough to catch himself before he tumbled down the small hill, gasping and groaning all the way as his sore body was severely jostled. Coming to a hard stop at Kate's feet, Tony wheezed. "Ow."

Kate and Gibbs looked at each other, then at Tony. "You okay?" Gibbs asked finally.

Struggling to breath, Tony replied, "M'just tryin' to catch my breath."

"Should have taken that extra week off, DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked out, walking away. He called back to Kate, who was standing there smiling, "Help him up, Kate. I'll see what's keeping Ducky."

Kate giggled and look down at Tony. "That hurt?" she asked, fingering her camera.

"Yeah!" Tony gasped out, shakily pushing himself up.

Snapping a quick picture, she smiled widely and replied gleefully before walking off, "Good."

Tony weakly stretched out a hand for help, but there was none coming.

-/-

Assessing the scene quietly, Tony ignored Kate as long as he good. It wasn't very long though as his thoughts were buzzing just underneath his skin and he had to get them out. He knew Kate would poke at him but it was a risk he'd have to take. He wasn't used to being condemned to a lot of silence.

"Looks like a professional hit," Tony said softly, looking from one dead man to the other. "Probably took their hands to confirm the kill."

He noticed Kate crossing her arms over her chest out of the corner of his eye and braced himself for battle.

"McGee told me what you said," Kate threw out.

Tony slowly turned his head to look at her. Her eyes and body language screamed with accusation but he honestly had no idea what she was talking about. Oh well, it was best to pass it off as if he did. "Did he now?"

Taking a few steps closer to her, Tony forced out a soft laugh. "Oh, come on. I was joking around! I didn't think he'd really believe me. . ."

"Really?" Kate glared at him in disbelief. "And why is that?"

He blinked. He really hadn't expected her to question him. So, he threw out the first thing that came to mind. "Anyone looking at you can tell your breasts are real."

Kate pulled back as her mouth dropped open. "Wha—You told him I had breast implants?"

There was a pause.

"Heh, no!"

"You know what, Tony?" Kate dropped her arms and took an offensive stance. "I can't even believe I worried about you! You are nothing more than a giant-"

"Snake." Tony cut her off, pointing down at the ground.

"Exactly!"

"No. Big big big big snake. Down there."

Kate looked down and yelped. There on her feet was a corn snake, slithering around. She started to panic. "Tell me it's not poisonous!"

Tony wanted to, he really did. But after the way Kate had been taunting him all morning, she kind of deserved some payback. It wasn't his fault that she didn't know which snakes were poisonous and which weren't. "I think it is," he confided to her.

She emitted a quiet noise of protest and fear as the snake curled around her ankle. "Ewww, what is it doing?"

"It's wrapping around your leg," Tony pointed out the obvious, internally rolling his eyes. Couldn't she feel what the snake was doing?

"Do something, Tony!"

"Okay!" He snapped before noticing that Kate really was tense. A little kernel of guilt grew in the back of his mind but he tried to push it away. "I'll try and grab it. Just don't make any sudden movements, alright?"

He bent down to pull the snake away from her, ignoring her fearful noises.

"What if you miss it?" Kate suddenly gasped out.

Tony winced at her lack of faith in him. Absently, he brushed it off with bravado. "They do this stuff on the Discovery Channel all the time. How hard could it be?"

It helped that he knew the snake wasn't poisonous.

"Oh, no," Kate grit her teeth and pulled out her gun, aiming at the snake. "Screw it! I'm gonna shoot it."

"Hey!" Tony looked up at her warily. Guns really weren't a part of his 'keep everyone alive' agenda. "Put that gun away. It'll blow your foot off! Let me do this."

Tony reached for the snake but was stopped again.

"Ugh. My life, in your hands. I knew I was gonna end this way!"

Breathing through the total absence of trust and the fear that Kate was right, Tony went to grab the little monster that was causing all this trouble. "Quiet! You're making me nervous."

He quickly picked up the snake and crouched back, smiling up at Kate. She looked down at him and nodded faintly, "Okay, I'll give you this much: you do have your moments."

"So, are we friends again?" Tony cheesed, resisting the urge to wiggle his captive in her face. Unfortunately for him, they were interrupted by McGee before Kate could answer.

"Oh! Cool corn snake! Can I hold him?" the young man asked as he walked up.

"No! It's poisonous, McGee."

McGee shook his head. "Uh. . .no, no actually, they're not, Kate."

She whipped around to look at him and so did Tony. "Yes, they are, McGee," he stressed.

"What about that one you caught in Shenandoah State Park? You had it around your neck for like an hour."

Kate glared down at Tony. He knew it was time to back down. "That near fatal illness may have clouded my memory."

Throwing out a leg, she kicked Tony back onto the ground. "You're such a loser. Alright, let's get back to work." She pulled out a set of keys and handed them to the younger man. "McGee, check the trunk. Nobody touches dead bodies until Ducky says all clear."

McGee took the keys and put them in the lock of the trunk just as Tony rolled over and caught sight of some wires and a blinking light on the underside of the car. "Freeze, McGee, don't move!"

He jumped up off the ground and made his way to McGee, Kate looking on cautiously. "The car's wired to explode. Looks like the detonator's tied to the trunk."

"How far did you turn the key?" Kate questioned urgently.

"Uh. . .not sure," McGee looked up. "Almost all the way, I think."

"Okay, don't let it snap back, alright?" Tony ordered as he reached for the key.

"Yeah," McGee agreed shakily.

Tony grabbed the keys tightly and shifted to take McGee's place. "Let go."

Watching McGee hurry over to Kate instilled a peace in Tony that he didn't know if he'd be able to achieve for the rest of the day. He exhaled shakily and said to them, "Okay, both of you, run!"

"No, Tony, we're not leaving you standing-"

Cutting Kate off, Tony spoke harsher than he would have otherwise. "I'm a lot faster than you are; I'll be right behind you. This is not a debate! Okay? This thing might be primed already."

Relief flooded through him at the sight of his teammates, his family, running to safety. "Anthony," he murmured to himself, knowing that what he was about to say hadn't been possible. "You should've taken that extra week."

A/N: This chapter was supposed to go from beginning to end of the episode however my writing ran a bit late and at nearly 2,000 words, this seemed like a good stopping point. Despite my early convictions that this would only be a two-shot, it will have a third chapter. Hopefully it won't run as long but in case it does I'll not make any promises that the third chapter will be the last. I would like everyone to remember that this is the FIRST story in a SERIES. Just because this story will be finished shortly doesn't mean the plot will be.

Please review and tell me how you don't/like it.

~S.