Hey, guys, what's up? Not much up with me. It's been an awful first week of school, the worst I've ever had. I won't go into details why, there are too many. I'm glad for the weekend, despite the fact that I have a TON of homework AND I have to work! :( But I'll live. I'm watching "Reqium" as I update this. One of my favorite episodes. :)
Before we begin, I don't own a House, M.D. quote reference that will appear in this chapter. I can't remember the episode name, or I would disclaim it, but I think it is/was House's Head. All I remember is House was basically under house arrest, with an annoying in-home care lady, whose cell phone he took to call his team about a bagel test... XD I'm almost positive that was House's Head, so I'm disclaiming it as that. See if you can find it. :)
Here is chapter 10. A lot longer than normal.
Chapter 10— Crisis
Five months later...
How could things have gone to hell so quickly? Tony wondered.
It had been a normal day, but now it was almost two a.m., and both his senior field agent and his daughter were in the hospital.
One more reason to hate Halloween, Tony thought bitterly.
Four hours ago, after Abby had discovered definitive evidence linking one of their suspects to the crime scene, and they had learned he had booked a one-way flight to Canada for that night, the team had hurried to go arrest him, regardless of the evening hour.
As they arrived at the suspect's house, he had been heading out the door, large suitcase in hand. Upon spotting the agents, he threw the luggage at them and hurried back into the house. The team rushed in, guns drawn, and had cleared the house, except for one small room at the back. Gathered around it, Tony quickly kicked in the door and they saw the suspect, Ryan Davis, pointing a gun at them.
"Put it down, Davis. It's 3 to 1. Not good odds," Tony said.
Davis had refused, swearing that he would sooner die than go to jail, before suddenly squeezing off a shot in McGee's direction, sending McGee reeling to the ground with a holler of pain.
It was over after that. Tony had quickly shot and injured the man, preventing him from fleeing, then turned to check on his SFA. Luckily, McGee was wearing his Kevlar, but being shot at such close range would have been painful under any circumstances; and in this instance, the force behind the bullet had actually managed to break his collarbone.
The Senior Field Agent would not have had to stay at the hospital overnight, had they not had to screw it back together in surgery.
Waiting in the waiting room, Tony thought about how Fiona getting in the car accident had come to happen.
The details were still sketchy, but according to Seth, whose word Tony trusted wholeheartedly, Fiona, an N.C.I.S. Special Agent going on a year, had done some shopping on a rare afternoon off, then headed down to Washington Medical Center, where Seth worked as a medical transcriptionist. He guessed she was going to surprise him, but with what, he still didn't know.
And it looked now that he may never know.
Unbeknownst to her, he had gotten off half an hour earlier than usual, and had left the hospital by the time she had gotten there, going home to surprise her. It had taken him a little longer to get home, because he had to take a detour, due to an accident a couple blocks from their house. It looked like one car had hit another car and wrapped the second car around a tree.
Seth couldn't see the license plate, so hadn't thought it was Fiona's car, until he had gotten home and was beginning to put together the surprise. A police officer had called his cell phone and told him about the accident occurring. On his way out, he had immediately called Tony.
Tony had been in interrogation, interrogating Ryan Davis, the man who had shot McGee, when Ziva had interrupted it. She knew Tony hated being interrupted in interrogation just as much as Gibbs had. But Tony needed to know.
"Tony," she said, "a moment, please."
Tony gave her an annoyed look, but Ziva beckoned to him, insisting. He let out a sigh, then met Ziva in the hallway.
"What?" he snapped, after the interrogation door shut.
"Fiona has been in a car accident. You needed to know."
Tony's breath caught, his heart wrenched, and his blood ran cold with adrenaline.
"Oh, my God," he said. "Is she OK?"
"The officer wouldn't tell me details. He just said you couldn't be contacted on your cell phone, so he tried your desk phone, and I answered it."
Tony pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, opened it, and saw '1 Missed Call' on the screen. He recognized the number as the police department non-emergency number. He flipped his phone shut, sighed, and nodded. "Thank you for telling me, Ziva."
Ziva nodded. "Go to her. I will take over the interrogation."
Tony smirked at the idea; Ziva had a reputation for her intense interrogations. "Alright," he said. "Thank you."
Ziva nodded again, then Tony left.
Tony wrung his hands together, over and over, waiting with Emmy and Seth in the waiting room. All they were doing was waiting. Waiting for a doctor to come out and speak to them about Fiona's condition. She had been in surgery for nearly three hours.
Tony had called Gibbs as soon as he had gotten to the hospital, and to Emmy and Seth. He needed his mentor to calm him down, even if it was from four hours' distance away.
"Do you know anything about Fiona yet?" Gibbs asked, over the phone.
"No, they won't tell us a damn thing, Boss," Tony said worriedly. He began pacing around the room.
"Sit down, Tony."
Tony looked around, confused, before sitting down.
"Stop looking around suspiciously, and yes, you are completely predictable," Gibbs said. "Be strong for Emmy and call me as soon as you know anything."
"OK. I need a Valium, Boss."
"I know, Tony. Hang in there. She'll be OK."
"God, I hope so. We'll talk soon, Boss."
Tony hung up and turned to look at Emmy, whose face was stained from tears. She leaned into his hug, exhaled deeply, and he held her close, waiting.
Still in the waiting room, Tony reflected on Fiona's becoming a Special Agent. She had graduated from college and asked her father if she could join the team. He had initially hesitated. She was his little girl. He didn't feel right in allowing herself to put her life on the line for this job, especially on the same force for which he worked.
Tony leaned back in the chair, as a memory came to him. It was an argument they had had, when Fiona had first wanted to become a member of his team.
"Dad, I want to join your team," Fiona said to Tony one day, when she stopped by N.C.I.S. headquarters a couple weeks after the wedding. She and Seth had finally finished moving into their new house and they both were in the process of finding jobs. Seth had applied at Washington Medical Center and had an interview in a few days.
Tony looked up from what he had been doing, in shock. "You what?" he asked, certain he had misheard her.
"I want to join your team," Fiona repeated.
"No," Tony said. "No. Absolutely not."
"Why not?" Fiona asked. "You won't even give me a chance?"
"It's not about giving you a chance or not, Fi."
"What is it about, then?" Fiona asked, looking between him, McGee, and Ziva, as if waiting for them to back her up.
Tony looked around as well. "Maybe we should take this somewhere else," he warned.
"Fine," Fiona said, crossing her arms over her chest.
They walked toward the elevator, and as they got in, Tony shut it down, Gibbs-style.
"Fiona," he began, "look. You're my little girl, my only child, and I don't know how I feel about you being in such a dangerous profession."
"I knew you'd say something like that. That's why I have the degrees, Dad. I find it all fascinating and thrilling. Scary, of course. I'm not stupid and I'm not joining it for kicks and perks. All you have to do is put me through testing and see if I meet all the requirements," Fiona said. "What made you decide to join the team?"
"I joined for the guns and babes," Tony said shortly, not cracking a smile. "Fiona, I know being a federal agent is romanticized, and probably seems like it's all thrills and catching bad guys, but this is serious business, and having the right degrees won't necessarily cut it. Besides, do you know how it would look, having my daughter on my team? I'm not even sure Director Vance would allow it."
"I know it's serious business. I'm not joking around. And you know better than to make assumptions before double-checking, Dad. You taught me all Gibbs', Jenny's, and your rules. You can't say Vance would disapprove before even asking him. Why do appearances matter, whether I'm your daughter or not?" Fiona asked.
"Fiona, whether they should or shouldn't, appearances do matter," Tony told her gently. "Now if you're really serious about being a federal agent, do you really think you want to be on my team? That wouldn't be the slightest bit weird or anything?"
Even as he asked it, though, he knew that Fiona was serious. She got a determined streak from her mother and a stubborn one from him, making her doubly bull-headed. And he knew that he wouldn't want any other team watching his daughter's six.
"Yes, I really want to be on your team," Fiona said seriously, staring her father down.
Tony sighed. "Alright. Well, we'll have to be careful, to make sure we go through all the correct channels exactly, with unconnected, outside sources judging your entrance tests. We don't want anyone to be accused of any impropriety."
"Alright, so I'm in, then?" Fiona asked him eagerly.
"If you pass all the tests with flying colors," Tony warned. "It won't be easy."
Fiona grinned and jumped up and down a couple times, squealing eagerly. "Alright!" she exclaimed, pulling her dad into a hug. Tony allowed himself a small smile.
When she finally let go, Tony reached around and tapped her lightly on the back of the head.
"No way," Fiona said, flabbergasted. "You wouldn't." Tony raised an eyebrow at her. "You would?" she asked, incredulously.
"Oh yes, I would. You can't expect special treatment, just because you are my daughter. Wasn't that your point this whole time?" Tony asked firmly.
"Yes," she said cautiously.
"Well, then, welcome to the team, Probie." Tony grinned.
Fiona smiled. Tony flipped the switch back and the lights and power came back on in the elevator. The doors dinged as they re-opened and both father and daughter stepped out, much to the curiosity of McGee and Ziva about what had just happened.
The memory ended and Tony opened his eyes, and was brought back to his harsh reality. After talking with Director Vance and being tested by external, un-baised sources, she had passed all the tests, met all the requirements, and Tony couldn't exactly turn her down. It was more of a hassle than normal, especially since Tony, like Gibbs, didn't like training new agents, but Fiona had learned everything and adapted extremely well. With each case they worked and each suspect they apprehended, she learned new things and became a better asset to the team.
Tony had, in the end, been glad he had chosen her as the new recruit, and no one else.
But right now, he was not sure he would ever see his little girl on the team again.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, a nurse came out and called Fiona's name. Tony, his thoughts disrupted, Emmy, and Seth stood up and went up to her.
"Right this way, please," she said. They followed her down a long white hallway, into a small office, which consisted of a doctor's desk and chair, two other chairs, an exam table, tan carpeting, and white walls covered with posters advertising teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and patients' rights and responsibilities.
All three family members remained standing, especially Emmy, due to her bad back. Ever since her accident, her back was often stiff and painful and took professional massage to relax and loosen up, which only lasted for a few days at the most, before it tightened back up and became painful again.
"The doctor will be here in a few minutes."
"OK. Thank you," Tony said. The nurse nodded, then left the room.
A few minutes later, the doctor came in. "I'm Doctor Ken Holmes," he said, shaking hands with Seth, Tony, and Emmy.
"How's Fiona?" Seth and Tony asked simultaneously. Emmy's throat was so tight with worry, she couldn't speak.
"She's stable," Doctor Holmes said. "She's going to make it. However, she has sustained some life-long injuries. Whiplash caused her to slip a couple disks in her neck. She will be complaining of stiff necks for a while. Physical therapy and medication will help this. With as hard as her car hit the tree, she was very lucky not to have broken her neck, and she is also in a coma and is on a ventilator, because she isn't breathing on her own at this point. She had bleeding in two places in her brain, which surgery fixed. However, until she wakes, we won't know if she has any brain damage and we won't know the extent of her injury."
Emmy sank into a chair, burying her face in her hands. Tony wrapped his arms around her and held her close, comforting her, wishing he could take away all her pain.
"Of course you know, non-medically induced comas are very tricky things. They can be harder to monitor or predict. But we'll be watching her very closely and doing our best," Doctor Holmes said. "She is currently critical, but stable."
"What happened to the drunk driver?" Emmy asked.
"He died at the scene."
"Good," Tony and Seth said firmly.
Emmy glared at them, surprised.
"If he hadn't," Tony said angrily, "I might kill him myself."
Emmy stared at him, surprised, then looked back at the doctor.
At this point, an officer walked in.
"Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo and Mr. Larson?" he asked.
Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded.
"I'm Lieutenant Brian Lanaghan. I was the first on the scene."
"What happened?" Emmy asked, clutching Tony's hand.
"She was two blocks away from her home, when a drunk driver ran a stop light and hit her driver's-side door. The impact sent her car up over the curb and wrapped it partially around the tree. She was not belted in, causing all her injuries," the lieutenant explained.
"Was she alive when you got her out?" Tony asked.
"Barely, sir," Lieutenant Lanaghan said. "We had to use the Jaws of Life to take off her passenger side door and pull her out that way, and even then it was tricky."
"Why?"
"She was pinned between the steering wheel, door, and her seat. It all smashed when she was hit. And her heart rate and BP were zero at some point. She had to be brought back twice."
"Oh, my God," Emmy cried, starting to cry.
Tony nodded, holding her close and staying strong for her. "Thank you for telling us," he said.
Tony hated seeing his little girl like this, so frail, so broken, with countless machines hooked up to her, including a tube down her throat, breathing for her, because she currently was not breathing on her own.
"I'm only allowing family to see her right now," Doctor Holmes put in. "So I trust you are all family."
"Yes," Tony said. "We're her parents and her husband."
"Alright," Doctor Holmes said, "just clarifying." Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded. "If there is any change in her condition, you will be the first to know. Otherwise, I'm afraid there isn't anything more you can do for now but wait and pray. I'll be back in an hour or so to check on her again, unless her condition changes for the worse."
Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded, then Doctor Holmes left the room.
Tony suddenly realized something. "I should go check on McGee," he said.
"What do you mean? Why?" Emmy asked, confused. He hadn't told her about McGee getting shot earlier that day, so she didn't know.
"We were bringing in a suspect and it went badly. He got shot, but he was wearing a Kevlar, so he's OK. But the bullet broke his collarbone, and it had to be wired together surgically, so he's staying at least overnight," Tony explained.
Emmy nodded. "Sure, go check on him," she said. "I'm sure the rest of the team is wondering how Fi is doing, anyway, so if they're there, you can let them know."
Tony nodded, then kissed Emmy before leaving the room. "I'll be right back," he promised.
Emmy nodded, then Tony left the room.
Tony knocked before entering McGee's hospital room.
"Hey, McGee, how you feeling?" he asked, going over to sit in a chair next to McGee's bed.
"Like I just got shot in the shoulder," McGee said, wincing. "I heard about Fiona's accident. Abby called me when Ziva told her. Tony, I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, so am I. A sorry excuse for a father, that is," Tony said, suddenly frustrated.
"Tony, you're not a bad father. You're a great father," McGee said, unsure of what else to say to calm his boss down.
"Then how come my daughter is lying in a hospital bed right now, fighting for her life? How did I let this happen?" Tony asked angrily.
"Tony, there was nothing you could have done. Seth left work early to go home and surprise her, and she went to surprise him. It was a complete miscommunication, a fluke," McGee said. "There was no way you could have prevented this."
"I could have not let her leave early. None of this would have happened, if I'd done that," Tony said.
"Maybe so, but it happened now and there's nothing more you can do, except let the doctors and nurses do their jobs and stay strong for her and be there for her. I know you will get through this," McGee said. "Stop beating yourself up over this, Tony. It won't make things easier or faster or better."
Tony sighed. "I know. Thanks, McGee."
McGee nodded. "You're welcome."
Tony turned to leave. "You rest up," he said. "I need my senior field agent back."
McGee nodded. "Good luck, Tony."
Tony nodded, then left the room.
Emmy and Tony held each other anxiously, not taking their eyes off their daughter, watching her first movements, as she slowly came out of the coma. It had been 14 hours since her accident and she was slowly waking up. She would slip in and out of consciousness, as the doctors and nurses monitored her closely and kept Tony, Emmy, and Seth updated on her condition. Doctor Holmes said it could take several days for her to awaken completely, even if she moved slightly now and then.
Three days later, Fiona's condition had not changed. She was still not awake, but moving gingerly. She moved her right arm slightly and squeezed their hands ever so gently with her left hand.
On day seven, Fiona's condition took a turn for the worst. The pressure in her brain was going up, instead of down. At one point, as Seth, Tony, and Emmy watched nearby, a piercing shriek emitted from the EKG machine monitoring her heart.
Then Doctor Holmes said the very words no one wanted to believe.
"She's in V-Fib! I need a crash cart, STAT!"
As Doctor Holmes began chest compressions, several nurses rushed in to help, two pushing a crash cart. One immediately began to ventilate Fiona using a bag valve mask. A nurse took over chest compressions after she handed Doctor Holmes the defibrillator paddles, on which he squirted gel.
"Charging to 200! Clear!"
The nurse providing Fiona with oxygen got clear and Fiona's body jumped as the pulse went through her body, but there was no change in the irregular rhythm of her heart.
"Charging to 300! Clear!"
Still no change.
It was like Fiona was suddenly giving up hope, giving up on living, on getting better.
It was the last thing Seth, Tony, and Emmy ever wanted to happen.
"I need an amp of Epi," Doctor Holmes said. Another nurse rushed over to the doctor, with a syringe filled with adrenaline in her hand, and injected it into Fiona's I.V., while he continued compressions.
Then, he picked up the paddles again.
"Charging to 360! Clear!"
This time, as the shock went through Fiona's heart, it did what it was supposed to.
"We've got a normal sinus rhythm. She's back," Doctor Holmes breathed, sighing, as the line began to jump more steadily.
Emmy broke down into tears again, sobbing with relief in Tony's arms. Their baby was back.
"BP is one-twenty over sixty and holding. Pulse 43, weak, but it'll do." Doctor Holmes looked back at Seth, Tony, and Emmy. "I hate to be blunt, but as you can tell, it is easy for her to go either way, good or bad, with her brain swelling being how it is. We're doing the best we can. I always have hope. And so should you."
Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded vaguely, worried about what might happen next.
The next day, day 8, some changes had occurred, but not for the better. Though Fiona's brain and heart had stabilized, she was not tolerating the tube feedings, therefore losing some valuable nutrients. Her brain was not getting better. Her injuries were far more severe than Tony, Emmy, and Seth had ever imagined.
Doctor Holmes brought Tony, Emmy, and Seth into his office on day 9.
"We need to talk," he said. "We are trying to take Fiona off some of the medications we have her on right now. But whenever we do, her brain swells back up," Doctor Holmes said. He looked at them seriously. "I have to be honest with you. At this moment, we don't know what we're going to do."
Emmy broke down into tears in Tony's arms. Tony held her close and waited until her gut-wrenching sobs lessened, then looked at the doctor, waiting for more.
"I always have hope, Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo, Mr. Larson," Doctor Holmes said. "However, it is logical to always be prepared for the worst."
Seth, Tony, and Emmy nodded numbly. They needed a miracle, big-time.
Day 11 brought new challenges for Seth, Tony, and Emmy. Fiona was developing pneumonia from being immobile for so long. The doctors put her on more medications to control and treat it.
Day 12 was the best day for Seth, Tony, and Emmy. With the persuasion of both her parents and her beloved husband, Fiona's eyes eventually fluttered open and she looked at her parents.
"Hey, kiddo," Tony whispered. "Don't try to talk, OK?"
"Mommy's here, sweetie," Emmy whispered, crying as she smoothed what of Fiona's hair escaped the bandages encompassing her head. "Seth, too. We're so glad you're awake."
Fiona smiled wearily around the ventilator, but it came across as more of a grimace.
"Hello, Fiona, I'm Doctor Holmes," Doctor Holmes said, coming forward and beginning to examine Fiona's vitals.
Fiona smiled again, this time for real, and they heard a hoarse noise that was unmistakably a giggle. Doctor Holmes shot Emmy a curious look, as he finished, then stepped back, satisfied. Emmy thought she knew what was going through Fiona's mind.
"Sherlock Holmes is currently her favorite movie," Emmy explained.
"Ah," Doctor Holmes said, smiling. "No relation," he added to Fiona. "You were in a bad car accident. You're in a hospital now. Don't try to talk, because you can't talk around the ventilator. Blink once for 'yes', twice for 'no'. Do you understand what I just said?"
Fiona blinked once. Yes.
"I should tell you what your injuries are," Doctor Holmes said. Fiona blinked once nervously. "Slipped disks in your neck from whiplash, and you had bleeding in two places in your brain, which was remedied with surgery. However, your brain is still our primary concern, as you were in a coma for almost two weeks and we still don't know what damage has been done." Doctor Holmes checked her reflexes, then added, "I need you to try and do some movements for me."
Fiona blinked once. OK.
"Wiggle your right fingers for me."
Fiona did.
"And now, your left fingers."
Fiona did.
"Wiggle your toes for me."
Fiona did.
"Is your dad in this room?"
Fiona looked around carefully, then blinked once. Yes.
"Point to him."
Fiona slowly raised her arm and pointed to Tony, who sighed heavily with relief.
"How about your mom, is she here?"
Fiona looked around, blinked once again, then pointed to Emmy. More tears fell from Emmy's eyes as she hugged Tony tightly.
"And Seth?"
Fiona looked around, blinked once, then pointed to Seth. Seth smiled and signed "I love you" to her.
"Very good. That's enough for now. You need to rest," Doctor Holmes said. "Your blood pressure is a little high."
"She's scared. She doesn't like being restrained," Tony said.
"But she isn't, Mr. DiNozzo," Doctor Holmes said.
"Tony," Tony corrected him. "We're informal here. And I know. She might not be able to move herself."
"That is normal for post-comatose patients," Doctor Holmes said, both to Fiona and Tony. "Relax. The movements should return slowly with time. I've left you a pad of paper and a pencil to write questions on, OK?" Fiona blinked once. "I'm going to go check on some other patients. I'll be back in an hour or so."
Fiona blinked again. OK. Then, after a short while, surrounded by the comforting presence of her parents and husband, she fell asleep.
Three days later, Fiona had surgery to place a tracheotomy, instead of a breathing tube. This sucked out her lungs, and she was able to speak by pressing a button on a plug. She also had a feeding tube placed in her stomach.
Fiona slept most of the day. When she was awake for a short period of time, she pointed her finger again at her mother. Tony brought in her IPod and played some of her favorite songs from her playlist. Her heart rate went up; she clearly could hear it and was enjoying it.
Two days after the surgery, doctors had been trying to get Fiona off the ventilator, but she was not always breathing on her own enough. She did fine while awake, but forgot to breathe when sleeping. She still could not talk yet.
The next day, eighteen days after the accident, was the best day for Seth, Tony, and Emmy. Fiona's EEG results came back and nothing had changed, so she was not getting worse. She was slowly improving. She also no longer needed the ventilator, as she was breathing on her own for the first time in eighteen days, even when sleeping. She was sitting up in bed and giggling as Abby tickled her feet. She flipped Abby off; her attitude was back.
On day 19, Fiona slept most of the day again. Doctor Holmes said this was perfectly normal, as she was very tired and her brain was "still waking up". When she was awake, she was smiling and restless. When her voice wore out from lack of use, she wrote on a white board that she wanted to go home.
Seth, Tony, and Emmy couldn't wait for that day to come. It had been a very long few weeks.
A week later, Fiona was been moved to rehab. She was walking, talking, and remembering things every day. She could brush her own teeth and she finally ate some pudding and drank some pop. She was now going to have therapy three hours a day.
Seth, Tony, and Emmy were staying with Fiona all the time now. She was scared to be by herself. They refused to call the car wreck an 'accident', because in their minds, it was not and never would be. Though Fiona was making good progress in rehab every day, working on walking and they could finally hear her voice, they knew she would most likely be suffering for weeks, months, or years after this. Tony would never forgive the drunk driver who hit her. Every day was a lesson for them all.
On the thirty-third day following the wreck, Gibbs came to D.C. from Stillwater and visited Fiona in rehab. Fiona was re-learning to walk using crutches. When she tried to go without, she was very shaky and often struggled to keep her balance. Seth, Tony, and Emmy were always nearby, never leaving her for a second.
Fiona hobbled most of the way over to Gibbs, then stopped a few feet away to try and take some steps to get to him. Her legs shook badly, still weak from lack of use. She stumbled, but he caught her.
"Hey, kiddo," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"Good," Fiona said. "What are you doing here?"
"Surprising you, of course," Gibbs said, smiling. He produced two boxes, one bigger than the other.
"For me?" Fiona asked, beaming.
Gibbs nodded and she opened the two boxes. The smaller of the two boxes held spaghetti, one of her favorite foods, with her mom's special red sauce on top, and the other, bigger, box held a chocolate cake.
Fiona looked up at Gibbs. "This is great, Gibbs," she said. "Thank you."
Gibbs smiled. "You're welcome. You keep improving, OK? You're so strong. You're doing great."
Fiona smiled back. "Thanks. I will," she said.
"When do you go home?" Gibbs asked.
"23 days," Fiona said. "Found out yesterday."
Gibbs smiled. "That's a long time," he said.
"Yeah, well, maybe it's like jail time and I'll get days taken off for good behavior," Fiona said, grinning.
Gibbs laughed. "Don't count on it," he said. "And you know you would make horrible jail bait."
Fiona laughed. "Oh, don't I know it," she said, smirking. "It's good to see you, Gibbs."
"You too, kiddo," Gibbs said, smiling.
Finally, three weeks later, Fiona got to go home. She had made incredible progress in her rehabilitation, with, luckily, no setbacks. A welcome-home party was held at her parents' house, with the entire team present. Fiona was glad to go home to her and Seth's house. She was also glad to be able to sleep in her own bed for the first time in two months. She was happier than she had been in a long time.
Gibbs stood up, and everyone fell silent, as he prepared to propose a toast.
"I'll keep this short," he said, a rare smile on his face. "I've known Fiona... forever. Just about as long as her parents, so maybe I should get paid damages." Gibbs grinned, as a laugh went around the room at this remark. Fiona laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "And I know she is now happier than she's ever been. I'm just glad I'm able to say this at her welcome-home party, not at her funeral. Welcome home, Fiona. I look forward to all the future moments."
Gibbs raised his glass. "To Fiona."
"Fiona," the others echoed, lifting their glasses and drinking.
"And second, I'd like to raise a toast to our late friend, mentor, teacher, and colleague, who left us all too soon. I'm sure he was one of the ones watching over Fiona that day, looking out for her, protecting her." Gibbs raised his glass once more. "To Ducky."
"Ducky," the others echoed, lifting their glasses and drinking the last of their champagne.
And alas, it is finished! Well, at least I think so. In my mind, this is a good ending, but I could continue it. What do you guys think? If I were to continue it, with a tri-quel (new word! Ha!) or further chapters, it wouldn't focus on Tony and Emmy, but on Fiona and Seth and their life together. If you guys want, I may write some more about that, or I may not. We'll see. I don't anticipate having any time to write from at least August 20 to November 1. I know, I know, famous last words...
Thank you, as always, to Tiffany331, my WONDERFUL beta reader, idea bouncer, muse, friend. For RPs and conversations and humor and more. This story is for you. :)
And of course, thanks to all the rest of you who reviewed. I love feedback. Thank you!
Alright, I'm hanging up now. BOLO for some things posted by me later... maybe. No promises. :)
As always, lots of love, and please review!
Renthead07