'Just take a look around you… At the world you've come to know. Does it seem to be much more than a hehe crazy circus show? But maybe from the madness! Something beautiful will grow…' Artillery Man – Brave New World – War of The Worlds Musical.
The monitor flickered as Kate rapped her fingers lightly on the keyboard as her mind drifted back to Tony. A month ago, she'd never have guessed how much she would worry about him. The screen stayed unmoving as she was too lost in thought to offer any attention to what she was doing. I was doing the right thing. It wasn't my fault. Kate told herself and tried to be convincing. This was the thing she was saying over and over. Tony had an anxiety attack over her opening the letters. In hindsight, it wasn't the best thing to do but she thought she was helping. The incident made Tony worse and it took ages to settle him down afterwards.
"Kate!" Gibbs shouted to get her attention. "This is the third time I've called you," Gibbs said impatiently. He had said her name a couple of times before shouting but wasn't able to pull her out of the daze Kate was in.
Kate rested her cheek in her hand but still remained silent.
"Have you finished your work?" Gibbs asked.
"No," came out the strangled reply.
McGee looked up from his monitor and watched what was going on. All afternoon, Kate had been acting dreamy. Surely Gibbs had noted that earlier. McGee tried to pluck enough courage to try and find out why Kate was so silent. If it was concerning Tony she would've said something to Gibbs or just called in with the news.
"McGee," Gibbs turned his attention to him. "It's time you had a break," he said but it wasn't a suggestion.
"Um, what about," McGee began to say as he looked sympathetically in Kate's direction. Her gaze hadn't shifted away from where it was.
"I was talking to you McGee. Get out of here," his voice sounded annoyed.
"Yes Boss," McGee dared not argue.
Gibbs made sure McGee was out of sight before standing up. "Kate?" He made his way to her desk. In response to his approach, she quickly looked away. "Kate," he squeezed her shoulder and tried to get her to spin around.
Kate sniffed and wiped her cheek hastily. "I'm sorry Gibbs, I'll get to it right away," she said after attempting to compose her self.
Gibbs sighed and wondered is she was picking this learned behavior from Tony or whether it was there all along. "That can wait," Gibbs told her gently. He kept the hand on her shoulder. They rose and fell quickly. "Well?" He prodded for her to talk. "Is it DiNozzo?" If it was something he should know he'd assumed that he would've been informed already.
Kate refused to turn around. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and did her best to hide them. "I am fine," she choked out as her tone betrayed that statement. It was obvious that Gibbs wasn't buying that for a second.
"Kate," his voice was more firm but wasn't unkind. "Is Tony alright?" He asked.
"Tony's so angry at everything," she said. "I'm really worried about him. Thought I never would be but I am and he just seems so hurt… On top of that I did something really stupid. But that's not the worst thing… The worse of it is that I actually don't feel bad about doing it… Of course it had a terrible effect and that what makes it so bad," she sniffed and her voice quivered.
To show how deeply he cared, Gibbs maneuvered Kate's head so it rested against his chest. It was obvious that even though she was distraught, she was self conscious enough to only quietly sob into his shirt. "What did you do Kate?" He asked softly.
"I knew Tony was distressed about opening his mail, said he wanted to have it tested," Kate continued. "I opened up the letter to show him that there was nothing there and he went into panic mode," she continued in between sobs.
"I'd have done the same thing Kate," Gibbs responded. "It's ok. Why don't you leave work early?"
"But," Kate was about to argue.
Gibbs didn't say anything but silently told her that it was alright to go. There was nothing that couldn't be held off until another day. "It's ok Kate," Gibbs told her softly.
Kate wiped her eyes again. "I'm really sorry Gibbs," she said, mainly out of embarrassment for crying on him.
"Saying sorry is a sign of weakness," Gibbs waved her off and put the coat on her shoulders. "Go home," he said.
"Saying sorry is a weakness but crying isn't?" Kate scoffed.
"I know how much you're concerned about DiNozzo. So I'll let it slide for now," Gibbs said with a slight smile to show her it was just a small joke. Kate nodded before leaving the bullpen. Damn it, DiNozzo. You better come back soon. Gibbs thought. He would've never thought that Kate would act like this about Tony.
As soon as Kate got down to the parking garage her cell rung and she answered it. "Agent Todd," she said. The sound of heavy breathing was the only response followed by a couple of weak sounding coughs. "Tony?" After all, who else would sound like that.
"Kate… I'm at Lincoln Park…" Tony fought hard to catch his breath. "Sitting down." There was a small coughing fit. "I need, for you to come… and get me," he eventually got out.
"I'm on my way," Kate said.
"Don't tell… anyone," His voice was pleading. "Gibbs'll kill me… I understand (cough) if you can't help it," he added.
Kate thought for a moment. Perhaps this was something she should tell Gibbs about but fought the natural urge. "I'm already on my way out," Kate told him. "Just stay there," she ordered.
"Wasn't thinking of going anywhere," Tony replied. She could hear the smile he was trying to force out.
Lincoln Park was relatively quiet and for that, Tony was very thankful. It meant that he was able to sit on the bench and get his breathing back to normal. It had only been a short walk from his apartment but it had taken everything out of him. His body had begun trembling and he was only barely able to make it to the bench. That was over half an hour ago.
Tony had no idea how much time had passed since the phone call. There was a sigh of relief as he heard Kate's voice call out, "Tony!" She shouted as soon as she saw him. "Are you alright? Come on let's get you to the car," Kate said.
Tony's apartment
Tony muttered something as Kate helped him to his feet and supported him inconspicuously on the way to the apartment. Neither of them wanted to make a big deal out of it. It wasn't long till they were in the comfort of his home. "Strip, shower, pajamas… Bed," Kate ordered in a no nonsense manner.
The fact that she received no juvenile sexist comment proved to her that Tony wasn't exactly feeling right. I'll check on him now… After, after the shower. After he's in his pajamas. Kate thought with a shocked expression. Why can't I think straight? She deduced that it had to be the concern she felt for him.
"Hey," Kate walked into the bedroom where Tony was just lying back. "You feeling better?" It wasn't hard to notice how pale he looked.
"What are you doing?" He asked as she placed the back of her hand against his forehead.
"Checking for a fever," Kate said. Tony definitely had one.
"I thought you weren't going to fulfill my nurse patient fantasy," Tony gave a halfhearted grin. That grin was met with a frown.
"I'm going to call Ducky," Kate said.
"No!" Tony said. "I'm fine… I'm good. If you call Ducky, he'll tell Gibbs and Gibbs will have my hide," he said with some mild panic.
Any other time, Kate wouldn't have listened. The last thing she wanted to do was bring on another anxiety attack so she decided not to call Ducky but called Brad instead. But if he was unable to come, Kate would resort to calling in whoever she had to. "Alright Tony, I won't call Ducky unless I have to," she said.
"Thanks for coming Brad," Kate said to Brad.
She was thankful when Brad had turned up at the door. "I don't usually make house calls," he smiled at her. "But I thought that I'd make an exception."
Kate showed the doctor to Tony's room and he entered. "You didn't really need to bother," Tony said as soon as he woke up.
Brad sighed. Ever since Tony started feeling better, his stubbornness had returned. "I'm here for a house call," Brad said cheerily. Any efforts to convince Brad that he was fine were betrayed by his pale face and raspy voice. "So what brought this on?" Brad asked.
"Nothing really," Tony clearly lied to avoid being chastised. Brad looked into his eyes until Tony changed the story. "I went for a walk because I was sick of being cooped up all the time. So I went for a walk to the park," Tony explained.
"mm-hmm," Brad replied. "I take it you went alone. Let me guess what happened next… You had to call somebody to come and get you," he continued but his mood was light as he put the thermometer in the mouth and took the blood pressure reading.
"Yeah," Tony said.
"Am I going to have to take you back to Bethesda? Or maybe break your leg agan to keep you from doing this again?" Brad asked in a non serious tone but just harsh enough to get the point across. He frowned at the readings.
"That bad, Brad?" Tony asked.
"Not, bad bad," Brad replied. "You have a slight fever and your BP is a little higher than I would like," he used the stethoscope to listen to Tony's rattling breathing. "Hmm," Brad said. "You've been coughing much?"
"Not a lot actually," Tony answered. "Not except for when I was out," he added.
"Not good," Brad replied as he left the room. "I'll be right back."
Kate observed the goings on with some confusion as he went straight for the pantry and started rifling through it. Eventually he pulled something out of the cupboard and placed it on a cutting board and took a knife to it. "Does he keep whiskey here?" Brad turned and asked.
Kate nodded as she went and got a bottle from the cabinet. "What you going to do?" She asked.
Brad found a glass and poured a shot glass portion of whiskey into it. Kate followed him to Tony's room. "I think it would be best if you wait out here," he told her in a flat tone. She wanted to argue but knew it would be a lost cause.
"Alright," Kate answered. Not exactly sure at what's going on as she watched Brad enter the room and shut the door. She sat at the kitchen table and tried to stop herself from imagining what possibly could be going on. Brad had a real serious look on his face when he went back in.
She heard a couple of small coughs and something that was akin to someone banging on a wall before the coughing quickly intensified into the large hacking coughs that reminded her of the chamber. Any thought rushing in was cut short by the door being opened and Gibbs rushed in.
"Doctor Pitt's in there with him," she stopped Gibbs from forcefully entering. Kate had to speak over the coughing. The sound was making her feel scared but she was sure that Brad had some reason for inducing the horribly sounding cough. "Was told to wait out here," she added.
Finally the coughing subsided to quiet end. Gibbs opened the door right away and entered the darkened room. "What happened?" He went to ask.
Brad tapped Tony on the shoulder. "We should leave and let him sleep," Brad said as he pulled the covers up and left the bedroom alongside Gibbs. "Tony needs it," he added.
"So what happened?" Gibbs pressed again as Brad closed the door quietly.
"I was doing a routine checkup," Brad answered.
"That didn't sound like a routine checkup," Gibbs said, referring to the coughing that he'd walked in on.
Brad stopped momentarily before responding. "You can ask him when he wakes up," he answered. "Tony is my patient… I can't break doctor patient confidentiality," Brad said as he closed the bag.
"Like hell," Gibbs tone flared in anger.
"I know how much of a stickler you are for protocol," Brad half joked but was half serious as well. "Hey!" Brad called out as he was held up against the wall with Gibbs' forearm across the throat.
"Stop it!" Kate yelled. "Just stop it… You both think you're helping? You both are too busy taking part in a pissing contest. You should know better Gibbs… In fact both of you get out and the next time you come, you can leave your testosterone at the door," Kate let fly with her anger. "Get out… Both of you," she said, stopping short of stomping her feet to accentuate the point.
Gibbs was about to argue but was only met by a finger pointing to the door. He somehow knew that right now, any argument would be useless with Kate as pissed off as she was. "Keep me updated," Gibbs said but she didn't respond with words.
Kate snuck into Tony's bedroom to place a bottle of water on his bedside table. She thought she was quiet enough as to not disturb him. "Can you get my toothpaste and brush, please," Tony said quietly.
"Sure," Kate said as she went to the bathroom.
She returned with a brush and glass of water in hand. "Thanks," he said with a small croak in his voice. "Did I hear Gibbs?"
Kate nodded as Tony brushed his teeth harshly. "Yeah," she said.
"Did I hear you kick Brad and Gibbs to get out?" Tony asked. It did sound funny really as he asked it.
"Yeah," Kate repeated.
"You still don't want to tell me what's going on?" Tony asked in between movements. "They can't seem to stand being in the same room together," he observed.
"I haven't been told much… All I know is there was some sort of altercation between the two and since then they've been at odds," Kate answered as best as she could. She was definitely kept in the dark concerning whatever that was about.
Tony rinsed his mouth out with the glass of water. "That's better," he said.
"Are you alright?" Kate asked.
"Was having problems getting the stuff out... I always thought that in the movie... The Stuff was white," Tony answered as he cleared his throat. "Brad soon helped that with some raw garlic and whiskey," he smiled. "But feel somewhat ok now… Just tired." He tried to put up a cheery front… But he felt too exhausted to maintain the DiNozzo mask.
"I'll let you sleep. Call if you need anything," Kate said to him. "I'll just be outside," she told him.
"Kate," Tony said quietly as he fought the drowsiness that was engulfing him. She looked at him waiting for Tony to say something else. "Why'd you stay? You know in the… chamber? Glad you did, you could've died though." He said even quietly.
"I love you," Kate answered.
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