Tony finally finds a door to exit the hospital, he slams the door open looking for something to hit, Brick, not a good idea, glass, nope not good either. Instead he leans against the building sliding down onto the ground taking deep breaths hoping to keep from hyperventilating. He sits on the hard ground finally getting his breathing under control.

"Come on DiNozzo, what the hell is wrong with you?" Tony yells pulling his knees up, lowering his head to rest against them. He can almost hear Abby answering him, nothing, Ziva just got shot what would be weird is if you weren't upset. Then he hears Gibbs, rule 12 DiNozzo, don't forget it, would you be feeling this way if were McGee in that operating room instead of Ziva? Then finally Ducky, Anthony, it is normal to feel this kind of pain in a situation such as this, you and Ziva have a very special bond one that is not easily understood by anyone else. In fact it reminds me of this time…

"I have to tell her" he says cutting of his imaginary Ducky about to go into one of his stories. "If she wakes up, I have to tell her"

"Hey Tony?" McGee asks hesitantly as the hospital doors shut behind him.

"What do you want Probie?" Tony snaps looking up at McGee

"I was just letting you know that the nurse just came and gave us an update, I thought you would want to know"

"Well are you going to tell me or are you just going to sit there and stare at me?"

"The nurse says that Ziva is out of surgery and that is looks like it went fine…she lost a lot of blood, and was out for a while…they said they should know more in the morning."

Tony feels the nausea return as McGee is talking about the blood loss and the amount of time she was out "can I see her?" He asks never looking at McGee but staring straight out in front of him.

"She is in recovery right now, but they think we might get to see her in a few hours." McGee pauses staring at a broken Tony, this is not the joking prankster Tony that he knows and as much as that Tony can drive him crazy he would give anything to have him back to normal. "She's still alive DiNozzo, that means there is still a chance."

"That also means there is a chance she could still die McGee"

"Tony, you can't beat yourself up about this, Ziva wouldn't want that."

"You don't know what she would or would not want" Tony snaps at the younger agent.

"Okay Tony, I'm going to go back inside, I will talk to you later." McGee says turning around to open the door.

"Hey Tim" Tony says softly causing McGee to stop "I'm sorry and thanks"

"Hey don't apologize to me…"

"I know, it's a sign of weakness." Tony finishes

"Ya, and Tony, you're welcome." McGee says walking back into the hospital

McGee walks back into the waiting room seeing Abby and Ducky sitting there talking, Gibbs seems to have disappeared, probably to get some more coffee. He walks over to his seat joining Abby and Ducky.

"So how is he McGee?" Abby asks

"Not Tony"

"What do you mean not Tony, he is Tony how could he be not Tony?"

"Abby you know how he snapped at you?"

"Yes…"

"Well he did me too"

"But he always snaps at you McGee, that is your relationship, you say something Tony thinks it is stupid and so he makes some sort of joke…" Abby gets cut off by McGee when she begins to ramble

"Ya I know that but he also apologized to me."

"Now that is odd" Abby says grinning at McGee

"Timothy, it is perfectly reasonable for Anthony to be upset, his partner, no his friend, just got shot and now her life is hanging in the balance. He cannot see her and he cannot help her, this is a situation he cannot control. But I believe there is more than this." Ducky says raising his eyebrows at Abby seeing what conclusion she gets too.

"Do you mean what I think you mean Ducky?"

"Well my dear, what are you thinking?"

"I am sure that what I am thinking is the same thing I have been thinking for the last 3 years, which in this situation seems to be a bad conclusion to make. I don't know maybe it isn't maybe I have been right all this time…"

"Abigail, you need to breathe" Ducky interrupts

"Abby just take a deep breath" McGee says looking at Abby before turning "Ducky, maybe you should just tell her what you are thinking first I would hate to have to be here for Ziva and Abby."

"I believe that Anthony has feelings towards our Ziva, and I believe that she is considering reciprocating those feelings."

"Really Ducky?" Abby asks

"I had a feeling about Tony and then I had this conversation with Ziva the other day and I got a slight feeling of something but I didn't think it for very long, you know how Ziva is…" Abby begins again this time being cut off by McGee.

"Abby, breathe!"

"Sorry Timmy, I don't know what to think about them."

"What to think about who Abs?" Gibbs asks walking back into the room with a new cup of coffee in one hand and a CafPow in the other.

"O…just um…these two people I know…I met them when I was at that conference I went to last month I spoke to one of them the other day…"

"Okay Abs, here ya go" He says rolling his eyes handing her the CafPow. "McGee, how's DiNozzo?"

"Just peachy Boss" Tony says walking back into the room

"Tony there you are!" Abby squeals jumping up and hugging him

"Yep I'm here…um Abs, I can't breathe."

"Sorry Tony" she says releasing Tony going back to her chair

They all sit in the waiting room for a hour with the occasional tears from Abby or story from Ducky before Gibbs finally breaks the silence that has since fallen over the group.

"Its late, you guys should go home, I will call you if I hear anything"

"Are you sure Gibbs? I mean we can stay" Abby asks

"Yes, Jethro is right, there is nothing we can do here. We should all go home and get some sleep, it could still be a while before she wakes up." Ducky says standing signaling for Abby and McGee to follow him.

"Okay but only if you are sure Boss" McGee says as he stands up to follow Ducky

"Okay Gibbs, you promise to call if you hear ANYTHING right?" Abby asks standing to hug Gibbs

"Ya Abs, I promise" Gibbs hugs Abby as she turns to Tony who hasn't moved from his spot, she leans down to give him a hug.

"Tony, she will be okay, this is Ziva we are talking about she doesn't take crap from anyone…including herself" Abby whispers before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek

"I know Abs…thanks" Abby stands up walking out the door with McGee and Ducky

"DiNozzo" Gibbs says looking at him

"I'm not leaving Boss" Tony says looking at Gibbs with a defiance in his eyes that Gibbs has never seen before, Gibbs realizes that there is no point in arguing with him, not today but they will have to have a serious talk about rule 12.