AN: Hello, all! As always, thank you for your absolutely lovely reviews and for reading in general! It is all greatly appreciated and makes this journey worth it. Hopefully y'all continue to enjoy the story :)

All warnings are the same as before and I'm too exhausted to talk a whole lot. Sooooo, here you go!

The Basement - Part VII


Tony DiNozzo was a weird man and he would admit to that, but he had never felt so weird. He was fine, for all intents and purposes. He had been drugged… nothing to write home about.

He sighed and repositioned himself in the uncomfortable hospital bed. It was really unnecessary for him to still be there but the doctors had insisted that he should stay for one more night just to make sure there were no more surprises from the mystery drug. Now, given that it was morning, he only had to wait for the doctor to clear him and then he would be that much closer to home.

"Hey."

Tony jumped when he heard the greeting from the doorway. It was soft and no doubt belonged to his Israeli partner. He smiled nervously and looked down, suddenly feeling embarrassed for being startled by her presence.

Thankfully she pretended not to notice.

"How are you feeling?"

He grinned again and tried to muster his best Tony DiNozzo charm. "Like a million bucks."

Ziva chuckled and Tony knew that she knew. Knew that he was faking it; knew that he wasn't exactly fine.

"Yes, well," she began as she slowly walked closer to his bed. "I just came to give you some company before you're released. We solved the case last night."

Tony raised his eyebrows. The case itself was a bit of a blur at this point. He remembered it being fairly cut and dry in the beginning: dead sailor, "grab your gear", so on and so forth. Then everything turned into pain, terror and lots and lots of colors. He remembered Gibbs being thrown into the mix, telling Tony about some evil terror scheme and that was about it.

Oh, and McGee. The death and supposed resurrection of his young teammate. Or was it the supposed death and resurrection? Neither, he supposed, given that Tim apparently never died.

Oh, he was so confused.

"You look troubled," Ziva said as he came back to the land of the living.

He chuckled, "Troubled? Poppycock. I am fine as frog hair."

Ziva just stared as he held his smile. She shook her head and sighed.

"You can stop now, Tony." She replied quietly, her eyes locking onto his. "I know you must feel… confused. Or… I don't know."

He dropped his smile and looked out the window. He didn't necessarily mind people knowing he had moments of weakness, but this time was different. This time he didn't even fully understand where his mind had gone and what was real and what wasn't. What he did know, however, is that he had vivid memories of his friend dying horrifically only to be told it wasn't real.

"How is he?" he asked quietly, still terrified that someone would end up telling him McGee was, in fact, dead.

Ziva shrugged, "He's okay, I guess. I only saw him awake once and he had one of those tubes down his throat… It was strange."

As he listened, Tony couldn't decide how he felt about the information. On one hand, everything Ziva was saying felt real as opposed to a lie someone would feed him to make him feel better. On the other, it sounded like McGee was in pretty bad shape. Bullets would do that to you.

"Ducky said he will make a full recovery," she continued in a new, lighter tone. "It'll just take a little while."

Tony nodded and took it all in. He believed her and all, but it was still easier not to think about McGee and all of the other terrible hallucinations. So, he changed the subject.

"Tell me about the case."

Ziva frowned as she observed him for a moment but eventually nodded. "Well, it turns out our dead sailor, Malicks, was recruited by one of your captors, Jaffe, through an online website designed to provide comfort to families who have lost soldiers in the line of duty."

Tony huffed, "That's classy."

"Yeah, well he ended up finding three people total. Malicks and Jefferson Arnold, who both worked in maintenance/engineering roles. They were going to carry out the attack on their respective ships but Malicks backed out last minute. He sent Jaffe a message saying he just couldn't do it but he wished him well with the other attack."

"I guess Jaffe wasn't too happy about that."

Ziva shook her head. "No. That's where Wayne Blakely, the fourth and final member, comes in. He killed Malicks and hid the body. We also think he did a lot of the purchasing and leg work for Jaffe since he did not actually work on a ship. You had the pleasure of meeting Jaffe and Blakely, by the way. Both of whom are dead."

Tony nodded and took a deep breath. For some reason, he found comfort in the systematic nature of crime solving. "So, you found the other guy in time then?"

She smiled and nodded, "Thanks to you and McGee."

Tony frowned and shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

"You told us the drug was in liquid form and McGee gave us the location," she replied simply. "Abby had time to figure out specifics about the drug using your information and her machines so when McGee told us they had mentioned Mayport, all we had to do was call the teams in Florida. Not long after that, Arnold was apprehended and was found with several barrels of tainted water. He actually programmed the system to switch to the emergency back up tanks simultaneously, which were all filled with the tainted water."

"Wow," Tony replied softly. "So they wanted a ship filled with people like me…"

Ziva chuckled and was quick with her response, "That would be bad, with or without the drug."

"Ha ha ha," Tony laughed, though it really did strike him as funny. Mostly because it was a refreshing breath of normalcy after emerging from a convoluted world of anything but normal.

"Alright, Agent DiNozzo," his doctor announced as she entered the room with a smile. Ziva swiftly stepped back towards the wall to give the doctor room to work. "Just one last check, a bit of paperwork and you'll be free to go!"

"Great," Tony breathed, thoroughly glad that they were finally getting him on the fast track out of this bed. He gladly swung his legs over the side of the bed but cringed slightly when the movement tugged on his sore shoulder. Other than that, a headache and fatigue, Tony felt perfectly fine. It wasn't like he had been shot several times or anything.

"Everything looks pretty good," the doctor said after only a few moments of poking and prodding. "The blood test this morning shows a slight trace of the drug but you shouldn't be feeling much of its effects anymore. Maybe a headache and some dizziness, but nothing several hours worth of good sleep can't fix. Now, I would suggest staying with someone or having someone stay with you for the night, just in case."

Tony nodded but wished Ziva hadn't been there to hear that. He didn't want anyone worrying about him and he wasn't really in the mood for a whole lot of company. Or maybe he was… He didn't know. Then again he didn't care, he just wanted to get out of this room.

After another fifteen minutes of questions and paperwork, the doctor finally looked at him and smiled.

"Well Agent DiNozzo, you're free to go," she said kindly as she reached out her hand. He embraced her hand and shook it. "Take care and come right back if anything changes."

Tony smiled and turned to Ziva who was watching him carefully.

"So," she began, observing him as though he was a puzzle she was mentally putting together.

"So."

"Where do you want to go?" she asked, but he knew she only expected to hear one answer.

Of course he wanted to see McGee. For the most part, anyway. Somewhere deep inside him, he was terrified. He would never be able to explain it and he was ashamed of it, but it was there all the same.

"Well," he started as he pulled on the little hospital slippers that went so well with his sweatpants and t-shirt, "I think I'll pay the Probester a visit and then take a much needed shower."

A relieved grin spread across Ziva's face as she stuck her arm out, inviting Tony to loop his own arm through hers.

"Sounds good," she replied, leading him through the hospital towards McGee's room. "On both accounts."

DiNozzo laughed at the quip as they made their way to the elevator and up towards the ICU. And while part of him wanted to run away, he was entirely ready to replace the last image of McGee with a slightly less gory one. One where his head wasn't blown off.

Besides, Tony imagined McGee would be sound asleep, which would honestly be ideal. It would give him the chance to verify that his partner was, indeed, alive but would also give him time to sort everything out in his own mind before he actually attempted to talk.

It truly was an odd thing, memory. It had the power to bring back so much emotion from a time long gone but when tampered with, it had the terrifying ability to shake your very foundation. Tony felt shaken and, subsequently, weak.

Thousands of people willingly took drugs like the one still present in his system every day; so why did his little experience mentally knock him to the ground?

Tony bit his lip and decided there would be other times to contemplate his numerous shortcomings, but now was not one of them. Now he was going to visit his partner. With that, he and Ziva strode into the small hospital room.

Across the room, Tony was awarded with his first glimpse of Tim's bed. The room itself was larger and darker than his had been . There were a lot more sounds, as well. Beeping and whirring; it was borderline deafening. And then there was Gibbs. At first, Tony had noticed his boss sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed but in one swift movement, Gibbs was suddenly standing right in front of him.

"DiNozzo," he greeted silently, though Tony couldn't decide what was really behind those piercing blue eyes. There seemed to be some level of relief but he also seemed a little concerned. "How you feeling?"

Tony glanced at Ziva who was also looking at Gibbs with a slightly confused stare. "Fine, boss," Tony replied with a smile. "Just wanted to stop by and see everyone."

Gibbs nodded slowly before placing his hands on Tony's shoulder. "But you're ready, right?"

Tony stared at Gibbs and knew the expression on his own face must have been very unique. The question struck him as odd at first but then it dawned on him: Gibbs was blocking him from McGee. He was making sure Tony was mentally stable enough to visit the already wounded agent. Tony understood and could only imagine what his drug-addled self had looked like from an outsider's point of view, but the question still cut him like a knife.

"Yeah, boss," he answered simply with no attempts at fake happiness or pleasantries. "Not going to freak out on him. Scout's honor."

Gibbs' face softened and for a moment he looked like a tired father, unsure of how to handle his children in a tough situation. Suddenly, Tony didn't feel quite as hurt anymore.

After one more moment of heavy tension, Gibbs stepped aside and gently led Tony to his partner's bedside. He felt his stomach clench as memories of the basement flickered through his mind like quick bolts of lightening. For a moment, Tony was almost positive he saw a dark bullet hole right between Tim's eyes but it was gone in a blink.

Regardless, Tony quickly looked away from Tim's pale face and focused instead on the beautifully systematic rise and fall of the man's chest. It looked somewhat like a slow waltz with the steady beeping from the heart monitor as music. It seemed as though he remained that way for quite a while before he felt Ziva's hand on the railing next to his.

"He looks a little better than yesterday," she stated quietly before gently brushing a stray piece of hair away from his forehead.

It was then that Tony allowed himself to really take in the sight before him. In all honesty, Tim didn't look too bad. Apart from the fact that Tony never seen his partner so still and so gaunt, he really didn't look like someone with multiple bullet wounds. Even better, his head was completely intact.

"Well," Tony added with a chuckle, "He looks a lot better than when I saw him last, too."

He looked at Ziva and then turned to Gibbs, only to see them staring back at him. It was almost as though they didn't know how to react to his attempt at humor. Tony sighed and knew the sudden rise in the awkward level was a major reason he hated situations such as this one.

Then again, he assumed they were the ones who had found both of them in that basement. The thought hadn't really occurred to him, but Gibbs and Ziva probably didn't have the most pleasant memories there either. They would have been forced to apply pressure to the wounds and had therefore ended up drenched in blood themselves. McGee's blood. Tony knew all too well how hard it was to wash away the blood of a loved one.

"So why isn't he waking up?" Tony asked finally, desperate to fill the silence.

"He's healing," Gibbs said from somewhere behind him. "It's a lot of trauma on the body but he was awake yesterday."

"He seemed calm and coherent," Ziva added with a small smile.

Tony nodded and took in the information. "Good. That's good."

"What are your plans?" Gibbs asked as he came to stand beside his agent now. Tony looked at him and just shrugged.

"I don't know," he responded with a laugh. "I wouldn't mind a shower but I kind of want to be here."

Gibbs nodded. "What about tonight?"

"He is supposed to stay with someone," Ziva piped up quickly, much to Tony's annoyance. "Or have someone stay with him."

"Take your pick, DiNozzo."

Tony sighed. He really didn't want to be a bother to anyone. He knew any one of them would happily help him out, but he didn't want that. "What about Tim? Someone needs to stay with him."

"We will make sure someone is here," Ziva stated easily.

"Why don't I stay here?" he said without really thinking. Sure, an hour ago he wanted nothing more than to run from the hospital as fast as he could but now… Now he didn't want to leave.

"You need rest, Tony," Ziva spoke softly, "Rest doesn't come easy in hospitals."

In most cases, Tony would agree. But even the previous night, though mostly drug-free, was ravaged by gruesome nightmares; vivid memories from the basement that left him wondering if he was actually living in the world in which McGee had been killed. Maybe being able to wake up and see his partner would be helpful.

"You know the nurses will most likely be coming in throughout the night, right?" Gibbs asked, but Tony could tell he didn't mind the idea. Apparently Gibbs was finally convinced that his SFA was stable enough to actually stay the night beside his youngest agent.

Tony nodded, "They gave me a prescription to help me sleep," Tony answered, leaving out the part about the pills' purpose of helping him avoid night terrors.

Gibbs observed him for a moment before saying, "Okay. Ziva, take him home so he can shower and get some clothes. Take a nap if you need to. And pick up some real food."

"You are going to stay here, right?" Tony asked so suddenly that it took him by surprise. He didn't want to leave Tim but he knew Gibbs' orders were necessary ones. But he would only do them as long as someone stayed with his injured friend.

"Of course, DiNozzo," Gibbs replied and Tony was certain he would have received a head-slap under different conditions. "Now go."

Tony nodded but turned one last time to face McGee. Part of him hoped he would see a hint of life but only received the motionless features of a sleeping man in return. It was probably for the best, but he still wouldn't have minded to actually see Tim's eyes open.

Regardless, Tony took one last breath in and turned to face Ziva.

"Now please don't forget my mind is pretty fragile right now," he began addressing Ziva whose eyes grew wide and soft. "So try to keep your driving at a legal level."

She paused for a moment as though she was expected something more serious, but then he saw it hit her. She rolled her eyes and lightly punched him on his good arm. But she laughed and so did Gibbs. The sound was like therapy.

With that, Tony followed Ziva as he made his way out of the hospital for the first time in what seemed like years.


EN: And that is all for this chapter! Almost done with the story overall, actually. Hopefully it was to everyone's liking and you come back for the final bit. Be safe, be happy and love one another! 3