It was the pain that woke Tony up a couple of hours later.

He pushed the button of the PCA pump but it didn't bring him any comfort. He wanted to yell but even that seemed impossible; he'd never experienced so much pain in his life; or if he had, he couldn't remember it at that moment.

Fortunately someone was there and apparently saw how much pain he was in, because the next thing he knew, the person was squeezing his shoulder and telling him to take deep breaths; and then the same person was arguing with someone else in the room.

"What's the point of using that pump if it's not gonna reduce his pain?"

"Mr. Gibbs. It's the first day he's woken up; it's not unexpected for him to be in so much pain. But we can't give him anything too strong." She injected some medicine into Tony's IV. "This will do the trick." She said and walked out.

A few minutes later, Tony's breathing evened out.

"You feeling any better?" Gibbs asked.

"Much." Tony croaked. "Gibbs?" He tried to open his eyes but the pain stopped him.

"Yeah, who else?"

Tony was silent for a few more seconds and when he finally spoke his voice was a bit stronger. "You really need to take it easy, Boss. It's not good for your back to sit up for so long." He didn't know how long he'd been out, but he could remember Gibbs being there earlier.

"It's been just a couple of hours. I'll go home at night." He said ruefully and Tony felt it in his voice.

"You should. Look, about earlier. Umm, I didn't say anything stupid, did I?" Tony wasn't sure how he'd reacted and what he'd said.

Gibbs grinned slightly. "No, but after the last two months, you have every right to say stupid things to me."

"Just the last two months?" Tony smirked.

Gibbs smacked the top of his head very lightly.

"Aww, Please, Boss. I..." He tried to keep the pain at bay. "I don't think I can stand any of your headslaps now. Can you give them to Tim for a while?"

Gibbs winced inwardly at the pain in the younger man's voice. "Oh, I would, if I knew where the hell he was." He growled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Gibbs noticed that Tony was keeping his eyes almost shut. 'The headache must be really bad.' "After they closed the case, Vance gave the whole team some days off and then they'll be assigned to other teams; since then he's gone AWOL."

"Why would he do that?" Tony frowned.

"I'd say guilt."

"Guilt?" Tony winced when he turned his head towards Gibbs and the light hit his eyes more directly. "What has he done?"

"I don't know, seems like he feels guilty for you getting shot."

"Why?"

"You got hurt saving his life." Gibbs stated succinctly.

"So what? It wasn't the first time. We're supposed to have each other's back." Tony observed.

"Answer my question first, that true that they would question your every order?"

"That's what this is about?" Tony blinked and kept his eyes open despite the killer headache.

"Is that true?" Gibbs pushed.

"Well yeah, but it was much better this time."

"This time?" Blue eyes narrowed. "So it's true that they didn't listen to you when I was in Mexico either."

"That's ancient, Gibbs." Tony rolled his eyes. " And they questioned my orders, yes, but they'd eventually do what they were told; you think I'd let them get away with disobeying my orders? And, It wasn't his fault I got shot. None of us expected the firefight. I just happened to see the shooter sooner than those two."

"You're my best agent for a reason."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well, No. I mean, er, it sounded kinda... Umm-"

"Offhand?" Gibbs helped. "Where is McGee when I need to slap him?"

Tony laughed and grimaced. "Aw, remind me not to do that."

"You should've reported them." Gibbs jumped back to the old subject.

"That wouldn't do anyone any good." Tony sighed & closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "Like I said, at least they were better this time."

"Maybe it's not such a bad thing if he feels a little guilty, then. Maybe next time he'd pay more attention to your orders."

"Even if it's true, don't you think he's been feeling guilty enough?" He rubbed his temple with his fingers.

"Not like I could do anything about it. I haven't even seen them."

Tony sighed. "Maybe it's not guilt." He opened his eyes again, not remembering when he'd closed them.

"Judging by what Abby and Ziva said I'm pretty sure it is guilt."

Tony opened his mouth to say something but coughed and the pain rushed through his body.

"You should get some sleep. Let the meds work."

"Tired of sleeping."

"What about getting up and running a few miles? Sleep is all you can do, DiNozzo. You need to get back on your feet before Vance decides to build another MCRT."

"Are you drunk, Boss?" The question seemed totally irrelevant.

"What?"

"You're talking a lot. You just do that when you're drunk." Tony noted sarcastically.

"And you're this close to receive a headslap."

"Shutting up."

Gibbs smirked. "Good."

Tony sighed.

Gibbs hesitated for a moment. "Thank you."

"What for?" Tony looked puzzled.

"Everything. Not sure how you could stand me the past month."

"Oh, that. Well, you weren't much worse than the past 11 years." Tony smirked and even though it was far from his usual bright mischievous smirks, it was nice to see it on his face.

"That so?" Gibbs' tone had a dangerous edge to it.

"Absolutely not. Just joking. You're all kind and nice every other day." Tony smiled sheepishly.

"That's what I thought."

And a few minutes later Tony was fast asleep.

"I mean it, Tony. Thank you." Gibbs reached out and squeezed the other man's arm.

It had been a close call. Too close, and the whole time that Gibbs had spent by Tony's side or alone in the house, he thought about the appreciation that he hadn't shown the younger man.

He knew that Tony was aware that he liked having him around. He'd tried to show it in his way a couple of times, but he felt that it hadn't been enough; that maybe he was paying for his cruelness, because he hadn't been appreciative of the good things he had.

And although Tony hadn't brought up their argument from earlier that day because he probably couldn't remember clearly, Gibbs knew that Tony was once again back to his normal self and was hiding behind his many masks.

Gibbs could say that the lighthearted comments and banter wasn't because Tony had forgotten his hurtful words, but it was merely because the younger man had been the target of those kind of comments way too many times and so he'd gotten perfect in hiding his feelings.

He still had to make sure Tony knew he could trust him with his personal issues again, but that was for another time.

At that moment, he had something else to take care of.

He wheeled himself out and called Abby. "Abs. yeah... Yeah... Yeah." He rolled his eyes. "Abby. Stop... Good. Listen, I need you to trace McGee's phone and find him. Tell him that I want him in the hospital in one hour or he can look for another job." He smirked. "Yeah, you do that. Good girl."

He'd talked to Tony and though he still needed to show his senior field agent that he was indeed appreciated and needed, he knew that they were on the right track. Now was the time to bring his other agent on the right track. Besides, he needed to take care of that problem, so Tony had one less thing to worry about.

About 45 minutes later Abby walked through the hospital doors, literally dragging McGee behind herself.

"Nice of you to join us." Gibbs snarled.

McGee gulped. "Hi, Boss."

"Your teammate, your acting Team Leader is down and you didn't bother to visit him even once. Why?" Gibbs knew the reason and knew that he was playing dirty, but thought that it was just fair to scare the young agent a little.

The younger man could be really arrogant sometimes; he needed to know that insubordination wasn't accepted in Gibbs' team and even though not coming to visit Tony had nothing to do with that problem, it still was an issue that needed to be addressed. "Don't you care what happens to your teammate? Do you really think you're that good that he doesn't deserve a little of your precious time?"

"What?" McGee's eyes were wide. "No, Boss. I... I swear. That's not the reason. I... I-"

Abby took pity on him and decided to help. "He feels guilty." That didn't mean that she wasn't more than ready to participate in Gibbs' mind game.

"Guilty? And why is that? Are you the reason he was shot? Because I still don't know what exactly happened out there. Is he hurt because you didn't have his back? I heard you were questioning his orders constantly."

McGee turned a whiter shade of pale. "Boss, I can explain."

"Good, that's what I'm waiting for."

McGee looked away and swallowed hard, he actually had no explanation. "I- I... I had his back. I swear. I'm sorry I questioned him, but I never wanted this to happen and I wasn't arguing or questioning his orders when it happened. I just didn't see the shooter. We didn't expect it."

"That happens to everyone. Especially when you're not experienced enough. Why do you feel guilty then?"

"That bullet was for me." McGee mumbled.

"Which one? Tony was hit three times."

"He wouldn't have been if it wasn't for me. When he pushed me out of the way, he exposed himself to the hail of bullets and that's why he got hit three times." The young agent looked dangerously close to tears.

"So he just saved your life." The team leader concluded.

McGee nodded.

"Is that the first time he's done so?" Gibbs asked.

McGee blinked. "Well, No. But-"

"But what, Tim? He'd done it before and you've never felt or acted this way."

"It's the first time that he-" he dropped his gaze. "He almost died."

"It was not your fault. In our job, we're supposed to have each other's backs. Yes, he went beyond the call of duty, but that's DiNozzo for you. He wouldn't let anyone get hurt on his watch. Not if he can help it." Gibbs paused to make sure McGee was following him and then continued, "You'll answer for your insubordination, but Tony told me that it wasn't your fault he got shot and from what you just told me, I can say that he isn't just trying to cover up for you."

"Like many other times that he has." Abby added pointedly.

McGee looked down; he knew what they said was true. He might never show it, but he'd learned that during his years in NCIS, Tony had helped him a lot and had saved him from Gibbs' wrath or the formal reprimands, time and again.

"He's asleep now, but you better be here tomorrow morning. He doesn't believe me when I say you're fine."

"I'll come back. Thanks, Boss." McGee smiled. "I... Um... Can I see him before leaving?" He asked tentatively.

"Ask the nurse, but I think she'll let you in for a few minutes."

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... TBC ...

A/N: I'd love to hear your opinions. :)

Thanks again for your encouraging words. You guys ROCK.

Sorry for any mistakes.

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