Jimmy stood outside his friend's room. Even though Julian and Gibbs had both told him what to expect. He was still apprehensive about going into the room. He had wanted to run when Julian had told him that Tony had been raped but he knew that would only make Tony feel worse. Jimmy had asked Gibbs if he knew that Tony was raped. The former Marine had done something Jimmy had never seen him do before. He had stiffened and looked legitimately afraid and hurt. Jimmy noticed a glint in the older mans eyes and how red and puffy they were. He had been crying. Somebody who remained stoic in the worst situations was crying. That only intensified Jimmy's fears. What was he going to see on the other side of that door? Was there any hope at all that Tony would be OK psychologically again? Finally Jimmy knew he couldn't hide any longer. He took a deep breath and walked into his friend's hospital room. Tony was lying on the hospital bed. He face was red and puffy from crying as well. When he heard the door open he flinched and started to cower on the bed.
"It's OK Tony. It's me Jimmy." Jimmy assured.
"Autopsy Gremlin?" Tony asked shakily.
"Yeah Tony it's me and you are safe." Jimmy assured.
"They messed me up bad Gremlin." Tony replied.
"I know Julian and Gibbs told me everything." Jimmy replied.
"Are they ashamed of me?" Tony asked.
"They are more pissed at your attackers and scared for you than anything." Jimmy replied.
"What about you?" Tony asked.
"To be honest I am a little scared for your attackers. What they did was pure evil but I would not want to see the side of Leroy Jethro Gibbs they are going to have to deal with." Jimmy explained.
"I wonder if there will be anything left when he is done with them." Tony commented.
"I hope not." Jimmy replied.
"Yeah" Tony mumbled.
"Tony are you OK? I shouldn't have brought them up." Jimmy asked.
"I just hope my weakness doesn't end up ruining Gibbs' life." Tony sighed.
"He would go down for you." Jimmy replied.
"But I'm not worth it." Tony whined.
"He killed the man who killed his daughter not caring what could happen. You are his son and somebody hurt you. He will take them down with no thought to the consequence." Jimmy explained.
"I never meant as much to him as she did. How could I?" Tony asked.
"Because he loves you the way a father loves a son. You may not be genetically his and you will never replace Kelly but dammit you are just as precious to him as Kelly was." Jimmy explained.
"Why?" Tony asked.
"Because you are basically a young Gibbs. I've seen old pictures of him and you look like you could be his son." Jimmy explained.
Gibbs sat across from Julian in the hospital cafeteria. They had only known each other a few hours but they were already becoming close friends. Gibbs never took to people that quickly. Not even when he was a kid before all the tragedies in his life but something about Julian was special. The young man had defended his son during the dark days of his youth. Before he was there to protect Tony from the world. In a way Gibbs owed him his life.
"I hear Tony is coming home tomorrow." Julian commented.
"You heard right." Gibbs replied.
"He shouldn't be alone with his mental state and he can't do a lot with a broken arm." Julian observed.
"That's right" Gibbs replied.
"Gloria and I have a nice guest house. I can call her and have her set it up for him." Julian offered.
"He's coming home with me." Gibbs replied.
"Are you sure?" Julian asked.
"You have little kids and Tony has a lot of evil people who would love to take advantage of his vulnerable state. They could also be a threat to your family. In the state he is in if anything happened to you or your family. It would destroy him." Gibbs explained.
"Thanks for the warning but if you need any help just let me know." Julian replied.
"Your welcome and I will need it." Gibbs replied.
"I just hope we can do enough to help Tony." Julian replied.
"He's going to need professional help and we can't give it to him." Gibbs explained.
"Are you sure he will open up to a shrink?" Julian asked.
"I can't make that promise but I will arrange the sessions and when I do I will tell the shrink everything." Gibbs explained.
"You can do that?" Julian asked.
"I'm probably not supposed to but NCIS has a great shrink and she knows what makes Tony tick and he gets along with her." Gibbs explained.
"Good because that's what he needs right now. If he doesn't get it we could lose him forever and I don't want to know that world." Julian replied.
"Neither do I Julian." Gibbs replied.
After they finished their lunch Julian and Gibbs headed back to Tony's room. When they opened the door they saw Jimmy sitting by Tony's bed. He had cupped Tony's uninjured hand between his. The younger man was speaking slowly and softly to his friend. Julian was about to say something until he realized that Jimmy was saying a prayer. Julian closed his eyes and joined in on the prayer. Jimmy was praying that Tony find peace. He only stopped when he heard a soft snore escape from Tony's lips. The three still awake men looked at each other with relief. When Tony didn't start crying out. They knew that Jimmy's prayer had worked. They also realized that it may not last long. So they all quietly stepped out into the hall.
"Thanks for doing that Jimmy." Julian said.
"Your welcome Julian but it wasn't me." Jimmy replied looking up.
"You two know each other?" Gibbs asked.
"We all went out for drinks a couple of times when you were in Mexico." Jimmy explained.
"As it turns out Jimmy went to the same med school as me and even had some of the same professors. So we had a lot to talk about." Julian explained.
"We just kind of clicked and have been pretty close ever since. Julian even helped find a new bakery after the one that was supposed to make Breena and I's wedding cake closed down." Jimmy explained.
"Welcome to the group Gibbs. We are going to need to become a foursome to bring our Tony back to us." Julian replied.
"We are not a foursome Julian... We are a family." Gibbs replied.
A/N: This chapter ended on a positive note. Jimmy will tell Gibbs about the others in the next chapter. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.
