An hour of stumbling and Gibbs literally dragging Tony, they had to stop under the protection of a huge, obviously ancient, tree. The only positive thing about their location in the forest was that the leaves of the trees kept the heavy drops at least a little bit from dropping mercilessly on their already freezing bodies.
In the distance, Gibbs suddenly saw silhouettes of what seemed to be a cabin. First, he wanted to blame his imagination. But as soon as they came closer it was clearer.
Yes, that is definitely a cabin. Thought our luck was run out…
Gibbs led the now even paler looking Tony at the root of the giant tree; his back leaning at the bark. Cupping Tony's face into his hand he could see how Tony tried to keep his eyes open. He tried hard to focus on Gibbs but his eye lids kept drooping.
"Hey Tony? I need you to stay awake for a bit okay? I might have found somewhere we can stay the night. But I need to check it first. Can you do that for me?"
Tony's eyes suddenly widened and his tremor intensified. He clung with his freezing hands onto Gibbs arms.
"Don't leave me here, please." He whimpered. "Please."
Gibbs was a bit surprised but touched Tony's cheek and patted it gently.
"Hey, hey, I'm coming back, I promise okay? I just need to check if and WHO is in this cabin. We don't want another bad surprise, do we?"
"Huh?" Was Tony's only reply.
"You just wait here and stay awake okay?"
Tony reluctantly let go off his boss' arm, nodding. "Kay.."
"Good boy," Gibbs ruffled Tony's hair and made his way to the cabin, which appeared to be inhabited as he could see a dim light in the window. When he was close, he ducked and made the last part quickly so he wouldn't get noticed.
At the window, he looked into the room. He could see a couch in front of a fireplace, which was lit. Somebody was sitting on the couch but he couldn't make up who or what person it was as he could only see the shadow. He waited a few minutes and looked again. The person was gone.
Shit, shit, shit.
He was just about to get back to Tony when he heard the door creak open. Expecting the worst, he just stared at the door.
-NCIS-
The door opened slowly and then Gibbs saw the person…and he led out a breath. A woman at least in her mid 70s walked out of the door and looked instantly at the man crouched in the corner.
"My dear, what are you doing out there? You will freeze to death. Come inside."
Gibbs, who still had to recover from this fortunate surprise, raised and stared at the woman.
She held the door open and waited for Gibbs so enter.
"C'mon in, it's nice and cosy inside. But not if we keep the door open for much longer!"
"Thank you. This is very nice of you, but there's someone I need to get first. I'll get him and be back, right away."
Gibbs literally ran over to the tree where he left Tony. When he arrived he could see Tony's form lying on his side with his eyes closed. He was by his side instantly and lifted his upper body into a sitting position. Tony's limp body fell on his chest.
"Hey, Tony! Tony! Open your eyes." He patted Tony's cheek to wake him up. Then, Tony's eyes fluttered open. His fists curled into Gibbs coat.
"Y-y-you s-s-said y-you w-wouldn't l-leave m-m-me."
When he saw Tony's eyes filling with tears Gibbs' heart broke. "Yeah, I know, but I came back right? And I've got good news, there is a cabin where we can stay."
Tony stared at him as if he didn't have a clue what Gibbs was saying as he was struck by a coughing fit. By the time he was finished he began to shake violently.
"You okay now? C'mon, up we go. It's warm inside."
Gibbs pulled Tony up and they went to the house. The door was left open. When they entered they could immediately feel the warmth of the fire. He kicked the door closed with his boots and saw the old woman standing in front of the couch.
"Good heavens! What happened to him? Come over here; we can lay him down on the sofa."
Gibbs made his way to the couch with the now semi-conscious Tony and put him on the couch. He took off Tony's soaked coat before he wrapped the blankets around his shivering agent. Tony had his eyes already closed and was still shivering, violently.
Gibbs took off his own coat and sat down beside the couch where Tony was lying, in front of the fireplace.
Rubbing his hands Gibbs turned to Tony who, surprisingly, had his eyes suddenly open, staring at his boss. Gibbs looked at him for half a second and then saw how Tony raised his shaking hand into Gibbs' own and squeezed it with all his power he had left.
"Th- th- thanks." Was all he managed to say when he gave up the battle of staying awake, his eyes closed and Gibbs knew Tony was asleep straight away.
-NCIS-
Gibbs looked up when he saw the old woman coming downstairs with a couple of blankets in her arms. Arriving at the couch she draped two of them around Tony's shivering form and one around Gibbs shoulders before going to the kitchen. Gibbs nodded his thanks and looked back at Tony. He had to make sure he woke him up soon to check if he still was all right.
The woman returned asking, "I assume you'd like a coffee? I put the kettle on."
"Yeah I think I could use some of that. But first, did you call an ambulance already? If not that should be the first thing..." He stopped talking when he saw the change on the older woman's facial expression. "What? What's wrong? You do have a telephone right?"
She sighed "Yes, yes I do but the storm and bad weather...I've got no electricity at all. I live so far away from the next town."
"But how do you get food and other stuff? Won't your family or friends worry?"
"I don't have family anymore...and I get groceries delivered every week. Last delivery was two days ago..."
Gibbs was ready to scream by now out of frustration. How were they able to get Tony help now?
"My name's Lisa by the way..." She smiled at him with a apologetically. "Sorry about the phone but I'll try to do everything I can to help."
Gibbs shook his head "No, it's not your fault. Thanks to you, we're at least out of the freezing cold." He smiled to reassure her, although he felt like crying. Gibbs was just about to get up from the floor when he saw Tony stirring on the couch, mumbling something unintelligible.
Gibbs was at his side instantly.
"Hey Tony, can you hear me?" Tony had narrow eyes and his face showed signs of pain.
Gibbs touched his agents cheeks and patted them gently. "Hey, hey, wake up Tony, it's me."
Then suddenly Tony's eyes flew open and blood shot eyes stared through Gibbs' without even seeing his boss. He looked frightened to death. Gibbs tried again. "Tony, c'mon really, look at me. I'm here, it's gonna be okay." Gibbs pushed Tony into a sitting position. But Tony made no effort of keeping himself upright so he just leaned into Gibbs who sat next to him. He was now staring right into the fire. Gibbs could feel the heat radiating from Tony's body.
"Lisa, please get a cool cloth for him." Lisa nodded her understanding and headed to the kitchen. She returned quickly with the cloth and handed it to Gibbs. He laid it onto Tony' s forehead who winced by the touch. Soon Tony's eyes closed and his body relaxed slightly against Gibbs' and he drifted off to sleep. While watching the fire Gibbs stroked Tony's damp hair absent-mindedly. He didn't even notice Lisa coming to the couch putting a pot of coffee on the table next to the sofa.
"I don't know if it helps, but there is a car in the back of the garden. It wasn't used for a long time, but maybe you could get it working, I mean it's worth a try, right?" She looked down on her hands nervously. For some reason Gibbs felt better knowing there was at least something they, or better he, could do instead of waiting for next week. He looked up to Lisa who was still standing there.
"Yeah, thank you. I think I'll take a look at it tomorrow morning. And thank you for everything."
"I am glad I can help, and maybe the weather is better tomorrow. And maybe the car will work and we can get your son some real help." Gibbs smiled when he heard her referring to Tony as his son. He didn't have the power to tell her he is not. And for Gibbs, sometimes Tony felt like a son to him. So it wasn't that off base anyway.
Gibbs tried to relax himself in the couch and tried to drift off to get some needed sleep himself.
