Hey! Guess what? I'm a lazy lazy author, and I am SO VERY FREAKIN' SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE! I mean... like really. I love you all really... I have an ear infection, and a horrible cold, and to top it off, I have been DREADING the Gibbs-will-kill-Tony part... I mean I was having nightmares about it (not really) but I was scared of writing it. Mostly because I am HORRIBLE at writing Gibbs. Oh, and I've had school alot, there's an excuse for not writing it. Anyways, I finished the chapter... and you couldn't exactly call the Gibbs-will-kill-Tony part a Gibbs-will-kill-Tony part, because it's really not. There is alot of love and affection for Tony in this chapter ;) Just the way I like it. But there is some reminding from the pneumonia... saying that it is still there. And guess what soundtrack inspired me through this whole thing? The Ellie Badge from Up... yes... you heard me (well you didn't really hear me... but you get my jist) a soundtrack from Up. It's pretty silly, but I enjoy writing to it... anyways... buon divertimento! ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize (wish I did though...)

Characters are slightly AU

Did I mention I am SUPER tired? Well... I am...

~Very Special Agent Bandit

(P.S. To all of you out there who has read, reviewed, or simply glanced at this story... I thank you all so much. And I love you all. Like... really...)

Attention

Chapter 10

Tony blinked, and gave a resolute sigh. He shut his eyes tightly, and snapped them open at the sudden movement at the end of his hospital bed. He knew he only had a split second before Abby, Ducky, and Gibbs came bursting through the closed door. And then he would face his doom. Ziva snuck him a mischievous look before she swiftly left Abby's line of fire. The bed bounced a little as she got up, and Tony gave a soft groan as his stomach began to flip.

"Sorry," Ziva whispered, moving backwards slowly, until she was on the other side of his bed. He watched her with his intense green eyes. She gave a soft start as she brushed his feverish, clammy skin. She tugged on his arm to get him to sit up, gently bracing him as he gave another small moan, along with a miserable sounding cough. She then leaned against the wall, and waited for a show that would be better than cable.

Then finally the door burst open with a loud creak, and a black blur came flying into the room. Tony gave a small laugh, and as large of a gulp of air he could muster before Abby tackled him. He wrapped his arms around her with another raucous cough. She rested her head on his shoulder as she squeezed the air out of him.

She didn't say a word as she silently sobbed, and Tony was somewhat frightened by the eerie lack of noise. He was aware of the audience watching them both, but he was just glad he could see her now. He didn't want her to think he didn't care about any of them. He was glad he could kiss the top of her head and rub her back. She was a sister to him. He tried his best to hold back the most horrible of his coughs, trying to comfort her the best he could. He shut his eyes and rested his forehead against her.

"Glad to see you Abs," he whispered to her in a soft voice.

When she finally pulled back, she scooted down and sat on his legs, in the most comfortable position she could muster, her legs in a difficult pretzel knot. He looked into her jade green eyes red and puffy, and she'd obviously not slept for days. He was disappointed in her physical state, though he figured he didn't look much better, and her emotional state must have been so much worse. He felt a surge of guilt wash through him. He gulped, and his eyes darted frantically around the room. He met Ziva's eyes. Her skin was pale, obviously not from the small cold she had, and dark circles rested under her eyes. He realized he'd noticed the same thing under McGee's eyes. His team really was falling apart. Because he'd decided everything would be fine if he just didn't say anything to anyone.

And Ziva and McGee had aided him. He didn't want to think about the scolding they must have gotten from everyone. The anger he would receive from everyone in general would be ten times worse than what they had gotten. Tony gave a small shiver, realizing he was feeling sorry for himself. What was he doing? How could he have messed this up so much?

"Tony, are you okay?" he was slightly aware of footsteps on the cool hospital floor, Ziva's hoarse voice, and Abby shifting on his feet.

He just gave a groan, shifting down in his bed, causing Abby to squeal and jump off her spot, and put his hands on his head, "Oh my God," he shut his eyes tightly, wishing it would all go away. He was back in his house. He wasn't sick. He trusted people. He hadn't gone into a coma. He hadn't gotten pneumonia. He was safe.

"Tony!" he snapped his eyes open at Ziva's frantic voice, he was right by his side, two hands on his left arm, "What's happening, are you okay?"

He was barely aware of people standing around him. He nodded slowly, "I'm fine, really. I feel fine. Well not exactly fine, I feel like shit to be honest, but that's not why I— I am so sorry, all of you," he looked around all of them.

He took a shuddering breath, "I'm so glad to have you all around to look after me. You are all great. Every single one of you—yes, that includes you, McGoo," Tony snuck a glance at his co-worker. "I'm actually quite surprised I haven't been killed maliciously," Tony counted each of the people around him on his pale fingers, "five times," this time he looked straight at Gibbs, "I feel glad that I can count on all of you to put me back in place. Without any of you, I wouldn't be where I am today—."

"Cut the graduation speech, DiNozzo," Tony snapped his head up at Gibbs. It was the first time he'd spoken that night, and his voice was shaky, as if he was trying hard not to suddenly burst out at him in the most menacing way he could conjure, for the sake of the others, though Tony knew he felt comfortable scolding him, properly, in front of his team.

"Sorry, Boss," Tony said almost automatically, staring steadily into his icy eyes. It was a moment before he crumpled under the stare, and looked down at his feet. There was an awkward silence as Tony simply lie there, not moving a muscle. He was inwardly dreading the yelling he was about to receive, not to mention deserved. Oh, he really had messed things up.

He could tell everybody was shifting uncomfortably as he looked frightfully up at Gibbs, like a beaten dog did to his master when he'd done something wrong. A fluttery feeling raced through him and he suddenly had a pang of nervousness. What if Gibbs wouldn't want him on the team anymore? He suddenly snorted, resulting in a quiet, soft cough, but he looked away, his mind dancing. He had not honestly just thought that. Had he? This kind of thinking was what got him into this mess. He was mildly considering giving himself a head slap, but he had the feeling Gibbs would take care of that later on.

"Apologizing is a sign of weakness, DiNozzo," Oh no, he was calling him DiNozzo now. Oh he was really mad. Tony made a small choking sound as Ziva stepped around everyone and winked at him before heading out of the room. Taking this as the perfect opportunity to do so, Ducky quickly ushered everyone out of the room, Abby with much difficulty, as she had to be pried away from Tony. Everyone except Gibbs.

Tony sniffed as they all stepped out of the room, trying to hide his anxiety. He watched as Gibbs stood perfectly still, never knowing his boss to look so serious, or ever not move a muscle as he did now. His icy blue eyes, that constantly reminded Tony of a hawk's were trained on him, his mouth a straight line, and a dangerous look about him as he watched his Senior Field Agent with amazing calmness. Tony thought he even looked a little generous. He sure hoped he guessed right, and his boss would let him of the hook. Not likely. Tony took as deep of breath he could, though it turned into a short, pitiful-sounding cough, and braced himself for the biggest scolding he'd ever gotten, along with the wonderful side of the world-record head slap.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Tony closed his eyes as his boss said these words slowly, and almost calmly. He was going to die if this continued any longer.

He opened his clouded green eyes and looked at his boss with an eyebrow raised, tempted to say, "That's it?", but he knew this wasn't over. "I w-was…" Tony was surprised at how cold the room suddenly felt, "About what? 'Cause I've done a lot of things wrong these past few days," Tony decided it would be best, for him at least, if he went with the method he used when he was a child and he'd just broken a window with a baseball or something.

Gibbs just peered at him with his infamous glare that sent shivers down Tony's spine, and he buried himself deeper in the nest of thick wool blankets, "Both…okay… Well, for the cold thing, I already told you, I just didn't want you to be disappointed in me. I mean at the time, I had no clue it wasn't just a cold," he quickly adverted his eyes as Gibbs' stare grew slowly more intense, "And I honestly didn't want you to think I was weak just because I didn't come in for work because of a cold. I'm not much a physiological guy, if you haven't noticed, that's Ducky, but I think I'd convinced myself that I nothing seriously wrong with me, that I actually believed myself."

Tony stopped to give a feeble cough to keep going, "And so I didn't tell you. If you haven't already found out, I got Ziva and McGee, and eventually Abby to help me with this ingenious plan of mine, but don't go beating them up too, because I forced them to. And as for the coma thing, well, Boss, I honestly can't tell you what was going through my mind then, because I don't know. I just, was thinking I didn't want to hurt you guys, and I didn't want to get in trouble, and I just kind of… well fell asleep. I didn't realize what I'd done until Kate told me-"

"Kate?" Gibbs interrupted him quietly, eying his agent suspiciously.

Tony groaned half-heartedly. He hadn't meant to tell Gibbs that part, "Yeah. While I was in my coma I saw Kate and Jenny. They kept me company. I guess. They said I had 'wished them there'. And…" Tony paused, licking his chapped lips, and wiping sweat off his forehead before looking up Gibbs, surprised he'd let him get this far in his story without killing him. His team was acting very oddly, "I kind of realized I didn't want to wake up," he looked harshly into Gibbs' eyes, "You know what that feels like. But… I heard you guys talking. And I figured I'd have to wake up sometime, so I just kind of decided I wanted to come back. And apparently I just wanted to get away from the park, where I'd been at this whole time, and I went to Bethesda Isolation thing. With Kate. And I saw all of you there. And then, I was… In the diner. Where Jenny died. And then, this is the weirdest part, I heard things that had effected me the most. But worse of all, Boss, I am sorry. And I don't want you to scold me for apologizing, because I really mean it. And I didn't want to scare you all. Just because… I was a little selfish… and I thought no one loved me."

His breathing was getting ragged as he continued to talk, and he looked away once again, breaking his gaze with Gibbs, and coughed harshly into one of the pillows, burying his face into the soft thing, his eyes squeezed shut in pain as the coughs turned into raucous hacks. And suddenly, Gibbs was crouching by his side, a somewhat grim expression painted on his face, gently helping him into a sitting position, and handing him a cool glass of water.

Ziva raced into the room, still wearing the light blue mask around her nose and mouth, having heard the loud noises, followed closely by Ducky, McGee, and Abby. The new agent bent by Tony as well, and used a tissue to wipe the blood from his mouth. She and Gibbs exchanged looks, and Ziva quickly ushered Ducky forward, "Should I get Nurse Mallory?"

"You might as well," the doctor pulled up a chair, and began to look over Tony as Ziva sprinted from the room and down the hall. McGee stood in the corner, an arm slung gingerly around Abby's shoulders as they both watched nervously.

The Italian agent, surprisingly enough, was cooperative with Ducky, and apparently had no problem with Ducky checking him for any telltale signs of worsening symptoms.

Tony's voice was hoarse and raspy as he turned to his boss, "Does this mean," he paused and gave a frail-sounding cough, "You forgive me, Boss?"

Gibbs gave an indifferent chuckle and peered at his senior field agent in an odd way. He blinked a couple of times before his expression grew serious, and he looked down in thought. His expression twisted into an amused smirk before he stepped forward on the cool hospital tile and smacked him on the back of the head as hard as he could.

"Ouch!" Tony cried out in surprise, and held his head in his hands, interrupting Ducky. He gave another hostile-sounding wheezing before looking up at his boss, and furrowing his eyebrows. He caught the twinkle in Gibbs' icy eyes, and gave a dismal chuckle before allowing both Gibbs and Ducky to help him lay down again. He looked into his boss's eyes and smiled shakily. Abby padded forward slowly as Gibbs left the room silently, like a cat, and got cautiously onto the bed, softly resting her head against Tony's chest as she curled into a ball.

Tony grinned as he closed his eyes, stroking Abby's black hair, which was pony-tail-less faintly.

Ziva stepped into the room, aware that no one was with her, and that she was no longer wearing her mask. She knew it wasn't the best for Tony, but it was three in the morning, and she honestly just wanted to check that he hadn't been engulfed by another coma. Or that he was still breathing. She slid down the door frame, drawing her knees up to her stomach and wrapping her arms around them as she turned her head back to the exhausted-looking, sickly agent. He was obviously having trouble breathing, it looked as though he'd just run a mile, and was incredibly out of breath. His skin was pale, and his lips slightly tinged with blue. Little splotches of blood were dusted around his mouth, and Ziva was sorely tempted to wipe the red liquid off, a habit she'd picked up in the last two weeks, though she knew it was impossible to be able to touch him. It was strictly against Ducky's rules to touch a sick patient when you were sick yourself. She agreed with him.

She noticed Abby coiled next to him, holding onto his free hand as though her life depended on it, and Ziva with a small jolt that it was as though she didn't want him to leave her in the middle of the night. She gave a small, peaceful sigh and closed her eyes for only a second, letting herself picture Tony in her mind. Tony wasn't sick. Tony wasn't lying in a hospital bed. Tony hadn't just gotten back from a coma. Tony was alright. Tony was fine. Tony was… okay.

Her lips trembled in silent tears, though none of the horrid drops fell down her slightly flushed cheeks. She shivered and closed her eyes in silent prayer, realizing for the first time, that she had been truly terrified when he was in a coma, and she was truly terrified now. What if he wasn't okay? What if he was going to continue to get sicker and sicker and he'd never leave. She gave a sharp intake of breath, scolding herself for being so silly. She paused her breathing for a moment to stop, and listen. When she finally began to breathe normally, she had fully composed herself. Well, not exactly fully. She continued to shake, and she was still sobbing, though no tears fell.

She jumped and snapped her soft brown eyes open as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and met Gibbs' eyes. She stood almost instantly, and looked at him for a split second. His eyes were caring, and gentle, and it surprised her slightly. She took a deep breath before nearly collapsing into his arms. He held her almost protectively, kissing the top of her forehead. She hadn't realized that tears had really been streaming down her face like rivers as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I'm so worried," she whimpered into his shoulder, her voice breaking slightly.

"I know, Ziva, me too," he replied soothing, stroking her hair in a comforting way, resting his head on hers.

"What will happen?" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut once again.

"I don't know," he replied, looking across the room to his feeble-looking agent, wincing at his ragged breathing and fevered looks. "But he'll be okay."

Ziva looked up at him with red, puffy eyes, and a weary look, her expression obviously saying, "How can you be sure?"

"You know he was scared to death, right?" Tony awoke to Abby sitting on his knees, her face solemn. He stretched, but didn't attempt to yawn, and looked at her with an odd look.

"Come again?" his voice was thick and raspy, and the pressure on his lungs was nearly unbearable.

"Gibbs—he was scared to death when you went into a coma," Abby repeated, looking at him in a knowing way.

"Scared to death how?" Tony sat up slightly, suddenly curious. Abby gave a small smirk.

"He nearly cried. And he ran away. Like… he was scared… for you," she looked up, her green eyes dancing with silent laughter.

Tony stared at her in delight. "You've got to be kidding, right?"

"Not in the slightest," Abby replied with an amused smile on her face.

Tony's expression became stoic, "No way."

"Just believe it, Tony!" she punched him playfully in the arm, "He really did!"

"I just can't imagine Gibbs—our fearless, near emotionless leader, caring so much, about me—the lazy, arrogant, cocky bastard of a Senior Field Agent."

Abby held back snickers, her emerald green eyes twinkling like stars, "I'm glad to see your humor's still in tact."

"It always has been, Abs," Tony winked and smiled at the Goth, "I'm actually glad to see the sunrise," he staring longingly out the plain hospital window, his face impassive.

"It is beautiful," Abby agreed as she looked out the window as well, to the beautiful sunrise, the color of fire and gold.

"I want to see the team so bad. I mean, even McGee," Tony quickly changed the subject, meeting Abby's eyes. "I really missed you guys."

"Imagine how we felt."

"Have any new cases I can help on? Since I'm gonna be stuck in this blasted hospital for a while, you might as well use my help," Tony stretched out again, coughing faintly into his hand.

Abby arched her eyebrows, "Are you kidding me? We've all been cooped up in the hospital, waiting for you to get better. I haven't seen my house since last week. What if my goldfish died? Well, I wouldn't know would I?" Abby rambled on, before stopping herself, and pausing, squinting her eyes, "Since when have you said 'blasted'?"

"I'm a changed man, Abs," Tony replied slyly, listening calmly to the energetic girl.

"Really?" Abby snickered, "I hadn't noticed."

"I think it's about time I see the crew, eh? See how well they've fared the night."

"Ziva came in at two in the morning and watched you," Abby replied instantly.

Tony started at the sudden news, "What?"

"She came in and sat in that doorway," Abby pointed, "She probably didn't want to give you her cold, since she wasn't wearing a mask. And then Gibbs came and hugged her, and she started sobbing. And then they both worried about you."

There was a long awkward silence after her words, "And how do you know this?"

"Tony," Abby chuckled harshly, "I didn't sleep a wink last night. You'd think Ziva'd notice I wasn't asleep, but maybe she did, who knows," she shrugged, "Thing is I promised you I wouldn't sleep until you got better. And since you're not better, I'm not allowed to sleep."

"Ah, Abs, it's not good to not sleep," Tony looked guiltily at her with pleading eyes.

"I know. It's also not good to hide the fact you have pneumonia."

Tony snorted, "This is different. You know you aren't sleeping. I had no clue I had pneumonia."

"I highly doubt that Tony. And besides even if you only had a cold, you should've told Gibbs so that you could take a leave or something."

"A simple cold is nothing," Tony sniffed.

"It is too if you're feeling miserable."

It was then that Tony noticed the girl was crying. He swallowed in shame and leaned forward to wipe the tear from her cheek, "Don't cry, Abs, it's gonna be fine."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Her shoulders were shaking and he gently comforted her, "I know, Tony, I know."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm sleep-deprived, of course."

Tony gave a small chuckle, and stroked her long, black hair in a brotherly way.

A/N: Isn't that the most horrible place to end a chapter? I think so, but think whatever you want. And no, this fanfic is not over yet... yes that means you have to read more... Bummer, right? Haha, just kidding, I hope none of you think that! :D Anyways, please review... though you all are incredibly wonderfully fantastic at that... ;)

And guess what? I'm sorry folks, but I don't have a sneak peak for you just quite yet... I might have one in mind later (I hope you realize I make these sneak peek things up on the spot, right?)

Anways... Time for reviews!

DS2010: Haha, thank you, believe it or not, I liked that part too, haha ;) And sorry if I disappoint you with the whole, lame scolding thing, haha :)

BonesCSI: Haha :D They are wonderful, aren't they? I'm a really huge Tiva fan, haha :) No problem, thank you SO much for reading and reviewing... you don't know what it means to me... Sorry for the late update, haha ;)

Long Live BRUCAS: Yes, it was, wasn't it? I enjoying writing that side of her, haha :) Haha, I wish they had killed him (not really)... and speaking of the big long talk, I might write one of those side thingies, having the talk, but I don't know...

luzma: Thank you :D I'm glad you forgive me, haha ;) Thank you so very much, you're incredibly sweet :)

pottyandweezlbe89: Thank you x] P.S. Have I ever told you I love your nickname? XD

NickTonyK: Haha :) Thanks (:

Wahington-Jones: Thank you :) I love you and your review, once again (it's totally full of awesomeness) Haha thanks :)

THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO READ AND REVIEWED! I OWE YOU ALL CAF-POWS AND TOFFEE AND YOU ALL ARE THE BOMB! ;) XD x]