The word 'dumbfounded' wouldn't even begin to describe how Gibbs was feeling at that moment!

He might be used to waking up in the middle of the night to go and investigate gory crime scenes; but to hear something like that? No, you could never be prepared for it.

And the way he'd been told? And more importantly the person who had delivered the news?

No, he must be dreaming! That couldn't be anything but a stupid terrifying nightmare. His guilty conscience must be finally getting at him. He had been pretty harsh to his SFA lately. That was probably his subconscious mind's way to tell him that he was going too far.

He lowered his gaze and for the first time noticed the blood on Senior's hands. His shirt was also stained with what seemed to be blood, like he'd been trying to clean his hands with it.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was up and grabbing Senior's shirt collar. The smell of alcohol coming from his mouth made Gibbs grimace, but he refused to let him go. "What the hell are you talking about? What have you done?"

"I..." Senior stammered. "I... was-" but before he could finish his sentence his eyes rolled back in his head and he bonelessly fell against Gibbs' chest.

Disgusted by the older man, Gibbs shoved him away and didn't care the least bit when the man hit the ground with a loud thud.

Grabbing his cell and keys, Gibbs headed for the front door when a thought occurred to him, stopping him from leaving the house. Turning around, he grabbed Senior by his arm and pulled him towards the nearest radiator pipe and cuffed him to it; making sure that he couldn't escape once he came around and remembered what he'd done and what he'd confessed to.

Once he was sure that Senior was secure, Gibbs ran out of the door and jumped in his car, heading to Tony's place and calling 911 at the same time. He couldn't be sure how bad Tony was hurt or if he even needed to go to the hospital, but he thought it'd be better to be safe than sorry.

He just hoped that Senior hadn't been right and Tony wasn't really dead. Because then there was nothing- ... No, he couldn't think like that. He couldn't lose Tony. And definitely not like this, by his drunken father!

He got to Tony's place in record time and was out of the car before even turning off the engine; but he faltered when he realized that he couldn't remember the last time that he'd actually checked on his younger friend or seen him for something that wasn't related to work.

It wasn't the right time for that kind of thoughts, though. The paramedics hadn't showed up yet, so he ran into the building and ignored the elevator, rushing up the stairs to Tony's flat. To his utter fear the door was ajar and nothing could be heard from the inside.

Knowing that Senior was responsible for that, he didn't care about being cautious and just went inside. Nothing seemed out of place at first, but that changed as soon as he got to the kitchen.

Fear gripped his heart for a moment as he glanced around.

The table and chairs in the kitchen were all over the place and behind them was Tony. He was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood that had formed under his head, but worse than anything else were his lips which were tinged with blue.

Pushing his fears aside, Gibbs knelt beside his fallen agent and reached a hand to check his pulse. It was there, not steady and definitely not strong, but it was enough for Gibbs. It didn't matter as long as Tony was alive; he could make sure that the younger man would be fine later.

Cautiously, Gibbs started to check for other injuries to be able to answer the questions the paramedics would definitely have, but they arrived right then and he decided to leave his boy in their hands, so they could save him sooner.

His mind was racing a mile a minute at that point; looking for a way to figure out what his next step should be, while he was trying to understand what the medics were saying. The worried look that they exchanged and the urgency in their voices didn't go unnoticed by Gibbs when they mentioned the words 'broken ribs', 'punctured lung' and 'possible brain damage due to the severe head injury and the lack of Oxygen.'

Not knowing what he could do that early in the morning, Gibbs finally decided to lock the apartment's door behind him and drive to the hospital behind the ambulance. He could deal with the crime scene a.k.a. Tony's apartment, later. He had the criminal in custody and was sure that the man couldn't escape or do anything stupid.

'Crap.' He thought when he remembered that he hadn't bothered to leave a trashcan near Senior which meant he was likely to puke on the floor. 'Disgusting! Just like the man himself!'

He'd make him clean it himself before taking him to the Navy Yard.

Soon the ambulance stopped in front of the hospital and Tony's stretcher was wheeled out of the vehicle and into the hospital and then a trauma room, leaving Gibbs with his thoughts in the waiting area.

He contemplated on whether to call Ducky and ask for his help, but realized that it was too early in the morning and although it was an emergency, probably more important than anything else that they'd had in ages, there was little to nothing the old ME could do at that moment. So, he decided to wait a bit longer, at least until the sunrise.

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... TBC ...


A/N: Let me know what you think? :)

And sorry I divided this chapter into two short ones! Really wanted the last chapter to end where it did! *evil grins* But hey, I didn't keep you waiting, that should count for something, right? !:D

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