****************NCIS****************

Tony awoke to pain. He tried to figure out where he was but couldn't. All he could see were trees. He tried the door but it wouldn't open. The trees had the car pinned. With the movement, he found new pain.

Deciding he needed to see what his injuries were, he took stock of himself. His vision was a little blurred and his eyes were burning. Probably from the air bag, he thought. His left wrist was broken and had a large bruise growing on the inside of his arm. Right arm seemed fine. He didn't seem to be having any difficulty breathing and for that, he was grateful. His left knee hurt. The same knee he had injured in college. Great, now I can't even get out and walk away.

The car had died when he crashed. Now without the music blaring he was able to hear the phone. He snatched it out of his pocket just as the call was missed. 15 missed calls. He figured they were all from Abby. Then as he remembered pulling a gun on the guard, he figured at least one would be from Gibbs to tell him he was fired.

The phone rang again. He was trapped and in pain, even Gibbs would get him out before he fired him. With that thought in mind, he answered the phone.

****************NCIS****************

The LEO's weren't able to look for Tony. A large fire in a strip mall had all emergency responders tied up. Gibbs understood but it didn't help his disposition. He thought back over the months and realized how right Abby had been. He could now see what he had missed.

His first day back with the team, Tony hadn't looked well. He was thin, his suit hung loosely on him. Over the course of weeks, he had noticed the dark circles that seemed to be a permanent fix under his eyes. At the time, he had decided Tony had needed to quit being the frat boy he'd always been. He needed to be put in his place and brought back to doing his job. He had given Tony every crap thing to do to keep him busy and try to get him focused on work.

"Tony, if I had known…If I had only known. You could have told me. But I understand better now. You weren't partying too much. You were working yourself to death. Jenny should never have made you do that. You're the best we've got when it comes to undercover work but it takes its roll. You didn't have any down time. Hiding from us… hoping not to be found out. You needed to be able to release and what did I do… make it tougher on you."

He thought back to all of the things he had said. When he had returned he wanted things to go back to being as normal as possible. He hadn't wanted to talk about Mexico and what had driven him there. Losing Shannon and Kelly for a second time had sent him over the edge. Not having memories of the years between had just about killed him. He knew he had learned to live without them but the idea was foreign to him. Being around all of these people, his friends who knew more about him than he knew himself had bothered him. They knew who he was, what he liked and how he behaved.

Tony had been good about it. But the rest of them… He felt like a fish in a bowl. They were always watching him. He had wanted to get back to his life; to being their friend, boss or whatever… he wanted to be accepted by them. As a result, he'd turned away from the one person who hadn't judged him or made him feel as if something were wrong with him. Not only had he turned away from him, he'd turned against him and joined them in teasing and punishing him after Jean.

"He was doing his job. The job I taught him to do. Following orders. I may not like it but he'd did it. The only one to blame for Tony lying to me was Jenny. Jenny had made him lie and work without any back up for months. She knew what that could do to a person and did it anyway. But who had paid the price. Tony!" Gibbs pounded the steering wheel again. He needed to find Tony. He needed to set things right. This time he was going to protect Tony from himself.

****************NCIS****************

Abby rang the phone again. She prayed Tony would answer it. He still hadn't moved but at least she knew he hadn't turned off his phone. There was hope. The phone stopped ringing. She could tell he'd picked it up. However, he wasn't talking. She had it on speakerphone. She began recording, just in case.

"Tony…Tony are you there?"

"Abbs?" The pain and strain in his voice was clear.

"Yeah Tony it's me. Are you okay 'cause you don't sound okay." She hoped he wouldn't downplay what was happening.

While Tony was trying to decide how to answer her, Abby patched through the call to Gibbs and Ducky. Ducky had brought his van. He believed in being prepared. Gibbs would want time with Tony without an audience. Ducky knew he would need his own ride home.

"Gibbs" "This is Dr. Mallard."

Quickly she hit the mute button on Tony and got Gibbs and Ducky up to speed. She conference called all of them so they could hear what was happening.

"Tony are you still there?"

"Yeah, Abbs I'm still here. Abby? I don't know where I am." He sounded tired.

"That's okay Tony. Help is on the way. Gibbs and Ducky should be there soon. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

He gave a small sad chuckle. "I don't think I have enough battery life to tell you what all is wrong." He shook his head and wiped the blood out of his eyes. "I'll just stick to what's wrong at this minute. I guess I've had an accident. I'm stuck in the car…there's nothing but trees around. I…I can't get the door open to get out because of the trees."

"Tony, I've got Ducky on the line. He's headed towards you. Can you tell me if you're hurt?"

"Yes. My left side." He paused taking a deep breath, which made him cough because of the dust from the airbag. They all grew more concerned.

"Tony?!"

"It's okay Abby. Just the dust getting to me. Sorry? Where was I?"

"Your left side. What's wrong with your left side?"

"Banged it up pretty good. Nothing major. I'm breathing okay except for the dust. Ducky are you there?"

"Yes Anthony. Can you give me a report of your injuries so I can be prepared?" Ducky was concerned. The fact that Tony was asking for him caused him to worry more.

"Sure Duck. Hit my head on something, have a cut on my forehead that's still bleeding. Keeps dripping into my eye. Left wrist looks bad, probably broken. And… and… Duck it's my knee. God it hurts like hell."

"Hang in there Anthony. I should be there in about 10 minutes. Jethro should be there any moment. Just sit tight."

"Okay Duck. I think Gibbs is here. I hear tires screeching. I'm gonna hang up now. Thanks Abbs, you've been a great friend." Before anyone could respond, the line went dead.

****************NCIS****************

Gibbs pulled to a screeching halt, a deer laid dead on the road. The guardrail was broke and below he could make out the tail end of Tony's car.

"I've got him. He's about 30 yards off the road. I'm headed down. Be careful Ducky, I'll see you when you get here. Abby see if we can get a helo here. He needs to be at Bethesda."

"Will do Gibbs. Good luck…and be nice to him." She hung up as soon as she had replied. Time was a wasting. No one knew how long Tony had been down there. He needed medical attention.

****************NCIS****************

Gibbs made his way down the hillside to the car. Trees circled the front of the car pining the doors shut. He was trying to figure a way in. The only way was through the back window. "Tony, can you hear me?"

"Yeah Boss." His voice sounded tired and strained.

"I'm going to break out the back window. Cover your eyes. I'll be in there in a second."

True to his word, Gibbs was in the car and beside Tony within seconds. "Boss?" Tony sounded uneasy. Gibbs wasn't sure if it all was from the accident or not. But he figured it was more than just the accident.

"Easy Tony. Let me help you. I'm just going to take a look, okay?" Tony nodded his approval. Flipping open his phone, Gibbs dialed Ducky. After calling Ducky with an update, Gibbs settled in to wait. He took his handkerchief out and tried to stop the bleeding from the cut on Tony's head. "Just keep your eyes closed. Ducky will be here soon and we'll get you out of here."

Tony grunted his reply as Gibbs put more pressure on his head. His head hurt and the added pressure was almost unbearable. He couldn't hold back his pain filled groan.

"Sorry Tony. I know it hurts just hold still. Ducky will be here any minute." Tony could hear the sorrow in Gibbs voice. He just wasn't certain why it was there. The added pain increased his feeling of nausea. He started to breathe faster. The thought of vomiting in front of Gibbs was never appealing. However, with everything else that had been going on he didn't figure he could disappoint his boss any more than he already was.

Gibbs picked up quickly on the change in Tony's breathing pattern and the slightly greenish tint to his skin tone. There was nowhere to go to get away from the smell if Tony puked. From experience, he knew Tony couldn't handle the smell of his own vomit. It always amazed him how Tony could walk through a gruesome scene without even becoming queasy or even how he could deal with some one else getting sick and it didn't affect him. But…it was like a light bulb going on in the dark, the realization struck so hard. Tony didn't get sick at any of those other things but it was a different story if it was his own. Gibbs would have smacked himself in the head if his hands were full of Tony's head. This was another one of those bastard father things. Suddenly it all made sense….well at least why Tony got sick and upset.

"Easy Tony. Slow your breathing down. Try to match my breathing." He pulled Tony's right hand and put it against his chest. "Nice and easy." He waited a few moments as Tony slowed his breathing down. His color improved but little else had changed, Tony was still being silent. Very un-DiNozzo. "Better?" Tony nodded. "Are you still nauseated?" Again, Tony nodded. He didn't want to risk speaking. He was afraid he would say something he would regret later.

****************NCIS****************

Ducky approached the car and found Tony and Gibbs in the front seat. Tony still held his hand against Gibbs chest. Ducky could tell by his coloring he was nauseous. "Anthony, my boy, how are you doing?"

"Been better…been worse."

"Jethro Why don't you and I switch places. I'll check on Anthony while you figure a way out of here. Abigail called; the helo can land 1 mile south of here. But we need to get him there."

"Ok Ducky. He was right on target for his injuries. He hasn't said much of anything." Gibbs removed the hand from his chest and put it to Tony's head. "Hold that there while Ducky and I switch places." After doing so he removed the keys from the ignition and pulled the parking break."

****************NCIS****************

Switching places was the easy part. Figuring a way to get Tony out of the car was harder. Gibbs began breaking branches off or smothering them down to get to the car door. It only took 10 minutes but it had seemed like hours. Finally able to open the door, Gibbs looked inside to see how they were progressing.

"Jethro, I have Anthony's wrist splinted but I have nothing to splint his knee. I don't believe it to be broken but it would be impossible for him to bare weight on it."

"That's okay Duck. I'll carry him up the hill. You just keep behind me." He looked to his still silent Senior Agent, "Tony? You with me?"

"Ye…Yeah, Boss?"

Gibbs frowned at the uncertainty and pain filled response. "Tony. I need you to help me out here." Tony nodded; Gibbs was starting to hate the silent responses. If Tony was talking, he could gauge how he was doing. But silence left to way too much interpretation. "Okay, here's what we need to do. I need to get you turned so you can wrap your right arm around my neck."

The process was slow and painful but eventually they were able to get Tony turned. Gibbs braced himself to pick up his friend. He knew Tony out weighed him by 25-35 lbs. However, as he reached around to grab him he was struck by just how thin Tony had become. Gibbs was struck yet again, by how unobservant he had been as of late. Tony probably weighed less than he did. Oh my God. When this is over, we are going to have a serious talk. How could I have been so wrong? He's been working himself to death, literally. I wonder when was the last time he ate a decent meal?

Gibbs again felt the need to hit himself in the back of the head. Not only had he missed this but also apparently so had everyone else. The trek up the hill wasn't easy but it could have been worse. Tony remained silent and stoic. Ducky had the gurney prepared with blankets to make it more comfortable.

Ducky prepared him for the trip to the helo. When he finished, Gibbs pulled him to the side out of Tony's earshot. "Duck, how long has he been like this?" Ducky could see and hear the torment Gibbs was putting himself through but wasn't willing to try to comfort him.

"There's no real way to determine the time of the accident. I could autopsy the deer but even then it wouldn't tell us the exact…" Ducky never finished as Gibbs had repeatedly called his name.

"Not the accident, Duck, the weight loss. He's got to be at lease 10 lbs lighter than me."

"Well Jethro I don't know. He hasn't been in to see me in months. Asides from a case that is. I had noticed his suits looked a little baggy the other day but I didn't think much of it. Then he was in casual clothes and who could tell anything with as baggy as kids wear their clothes these days."

"Duck this didn't just happen. Check into it and let me know. If there is anything else wrong with him I want to know. I don't want you telling anyone else? Do you understand? Me and only me got it!" He cut off any reply Ducky might have had by turning back to Tony. "Tony, we're going to get you to a hospital now. Just take it easy. Ducky says you are going to be alright." Thank God for small favors. Now, I have a reprieve. I have time to find out what has been going on here for the past 6 months. And to get my head out of my …

Ducky pulled away and headed to meet the helo. Tony mercifully was unconscious for the trip.