For a moment Gibbs remained where he stood, quietly watching his senior field agent. DiNozzo was now leaning forward, head hanging, both palms flat on the work bench. His eyes were still closed and he was alarmingly pale.
"Tony." When he got no response, Gibbs moved closer and gently squeezed the back of Tony's neck. "Hey. You okay? Do I need to get Ducky?" Tony finally looked up. –Shouldn't you go with McGee? Seems harsh to send him to pick up a murder suspect alone.- Gibbs dropped his hand and replied, "Ziva's here. She can go with him. At the moment I'm more worried about you. You didn't answer my question."
Tony drew himself up to his full height and attempted a grin. –Don't worry about me. I'm fine.-
"You don't look fine. You look like crap. Have you eaten anything besides that milkshake you barely touched?" Not that Gibbs really needed Tony to answer that. He already knew.
-Not hungry- came the predictable response.
"Yeah." It wasn't agreement. "With me, DiNozzo. We need to get some food in you."
-I'm sure you have something better to do than babysit me.- DiNozzo didn't move. He refused to be a burden to anyone, much less his boss.
"Not at the moment. McGee and Ziva will be gone for a while, and if they do get back before us then Vincent West can just wait." Gibbs could see that his agent was about to dig in his heels, so he softened his tone. "Come on, Tony. Don't make me say please." That got a small smile out of DiNozzo and he gave in. Gibbs steered the younger man towards the elevator.
There was a deli just up the street that had excellent soup. Gibbs headed that direction with DiNozzo following reluctantly. Although the lead agent knew from experience that Tony generally didn't eat much when he was hurting, he also knew that right now the young man was still having some difficulty swallowing. His senior agent would never admit to that, of course, opting instead to just claim he wasn't hungry. As usual, Gibbs made it his mission to protect Tony from himself. He figured that soup should be a pretty safe bet.
Once they were settled at a table and the food had been ordered, Gibbs fixed Tony in a stare. He didn't beat around the bush. "Are you going to tell me what's going on? Or do I have to drag it out of you?" We do this dance every time he gets hurt, Gibbs thought. He is always insistent on blaming himself.
Tony looked out the window. Gibbs knew better than to push, so he simply waited for the outburst. He did not have to wait long. DiNozzo turned to his boss, anguish evident on his face. -I'm completely useless. I didn't fight back or defend myself. I didn't see my attacker, so I'm no good as a witness. And like this- Tony gestured at his throat -I'm no good to you at all. I can't go out in the field or make phone calls or question suspects. I can't even easily communicate with my coworkers without you or Abby around to interpret. What am I supposed to do?-
It took a while for Tony to finish his diatribe. His hands were shaking and in his frustration he couldn't remember a lot of the signs so had to fingerspell instead. Once he was done he sat back and folded his arms defiantly across his chest, challenging Gibbs to argue.
Every time, Gibbs mused. Every single time. Just then the waitress returned, depositing two large bowls of soup in front of the agents. Gibbs waited until Tony grudgingly started to eat before picking up his own spoon. Once Gibbs was satisfied that DiNozzo had eaten a reasonable amount, he resumed the conversation.
"And how, exactly, is any of this your fault? You drew your gun before heading into the woods. You followed protocol. It's exactly what I would have done. There's no way you could have stopped the attack, and I'm not sure how you think you could have fought back since you never even saw it coming." Gibbs shook his head. "Don't be so hard on yourself, DiNozzo. You have enough to worry about right now without shouldering unnecessary blame. And you are plenty useful, voice or no. You'll cope. It's temporary, remember? There's nothing wrong with your brain, and believe it or not I don't just keep you around for your sparkling conversational skills."
Tony snorted at that, and though he didn't look entirely convinced he nodded.
Good enough, Gibbs decided. "Now let's go." He settled the bill as the waitress passed by. "We have a suspect to interrogate."
