Alright! Second to last chapter here :( This one is mainly some team fluff and what not. I'm going to have the very last chapter be a talk between Gibbs and Tony to end it off, but right now it is going to be Tim and Ziva :P
Remember I do not own NCIS and enjoy the chapter (:
Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. -Albert Einstein
Chapter 11- Talking
"Anthony, we really must try to keep you out of here. It is considered sad when the first thing that happens when I walk in here is get greeted by all the nurses and then told which room you'll be staying in without me saying a word." Ducky sighed as he walked into the hospital room for the second time today.
"I try Ducky..." Tony responded his voice monotone and eyes trained unblinkingly on the glass of water on the table beside him. From the corner of the room Ziva and McGee exchanged worried looks.
"Are you alright my dear boy?" Ducky asked gently. The question seemed to snap the man back into focus as he tore his eyes away from the water and gave a charming smile.
"Of course Duck! In fact, I was already thinking of checking myself ou-"
"Not going to work DiNozzo." Gibbs said entering the room in usual Gibbs fashion. "I have the two assassins in custody. Ziva, McGee, can I trust you to not leave DiNozzo alone until I get back from the interrogation?"
"Sure thing Boss." McGee replied and Tony scowled.
"I don't need a babysitter." he began but was cut off at the look that Gibbs gave him. There was a pause in which Gibbs leaned over so that his agent was merely a couple inches away from him.
"If I found out that you check yourself out- or even moved once from this bed, I will personally make sure you are on desk duty for the rest of your life and I'll break every bone you have just to get you back in here." Tony felt himself pull his face into a pout, even though he was totally accustomed to Gibbs threats in making him stay in the hospital.
"Fine." he muttered and leaned back into the bed with a sulky look. Gibbs gave a nod of approval before exiting the room, knowing there was one more thing he had to deal with. Walking quickly down the hall, he saw with distaste, a man practically drooling over a younger woman a couple feet away.
"...and you have the most gorgeous eyes my dear!" Anthony DiNozzo Senior smiled as the nurse blushed crimson and looked down at the compliment. Gibbs moved his way towards the man and glared at the nurse, sending her scurrying away quickly as Gibbs deliberately stepped between her and DiNozzo senior.
"Gibbs!" he boomed "How is he? Will you allow me to see my son now?" the man said with slight resentment.
"Let me make something clear. You hurt him. I hurt you. Got that?"
"Are you threatening me?" Gibbs shoved the man against the wall for a moment and looked him square in the eyes.
"You tell me." the pause was deafening as the two men looked at each other, finally breaking contact.
"You know." he whispered sounding slightly defeated and Gibbs gave a snort of disgust.
"Yeah. So you don't have to pretend anymore. Go home." he snarled and turned to walk away.
"I...I do care you know. I know I made a lot of mistakes but...I tried to make up for them." Gibbs spun back around and looked at him for a moment before sighing.
"There are some things you can't make up for." he told him quietly and turned to leave the hospital.
"We need to talk." Ziva declared as she took her seat next to Tony. Ducky and McGee had left to grab some food, McGee promising to sneak Tony in something for him as well, despite Ducky's disapproval.
"Well then talk." Tony told her and looked down at his IV, already knowing where this could be heading.
"Tony...I am your partner." Ziva started slowly "I need to know the truth." there was no need to ask about what. Tony just looked wistfully away before answering, knowing the drugs were loosening his tongue.
"Ziva...Why do I need to talk about it? You already know. I...I got knocked around a bit as a kid. My cousin is- was a terrorist. What else is there to really say?"
"You didn't tell us."
"I don't like pity."
"I would not have given you any." Tony looked at her with a doubtful expression before she continued "You are my partner- my...My friend. I care about you. I want to know about this stuff."
"You couldn't have done anything Ziva, it's in the past."
"I want to be there for you." she said gently, squeezing his arm. "If I had known..." she shook her head "It would have been hard for you when your Dad was in town, the way we all adored him."
"You didn't know Zee."
"Exactly." Ziva smiled, knowing she had just hit her point. Tony frowned for a moment before realization dawned on his face.
"I see what you did there." he smiled "Sneaky Ninja, making me agree with you." the Israeli laughed and looked at him warily before shaking her head.
"Promise me that you will come talk to me sometime?" she asked "I do not like sitting in hospitals you know." Tony considered for a moment nodding.
"Promise. Under one condition though." he stated and waited until Ziva nodded before continued "You come and talk to me sometimes too. I'm not the only one with problems you know."
"I...think I can do that." Ziva nodded slowly and then chuckled at her partner's satisfied look. She was pleased that the talk went better then she had thought, Ziva seriously didn't want to spend any more time then necessary in the hospital because of something Tony kept from her. She...cared about him, as completely sad as that sounded. Ziva didn't think she could stand seeing Tony dead, despite the fact something like death was a casual occurrence to her. The thought alone was enough to prove the man was...special to her. It wasn't something easily achieved and she wasn't about to lose it either.
"Shh! Ducky!" McGee muttered as he stalked into the room, looking slightly exasperated "You're going to get us caught!" The two agents looked up to see Ducky loudly lecturing the younger man about sneaking food into the hospital that was not authorized to the patient, causing McGee to look away from all the medical staff guiltily and the doctors to narrow their eyes in suspicion.
Ziva let out a quiet laugh and stretched, giving Tony's arm a final squeeze before turning to the other two members of her team.
"Ducky? I have a question for you. Do you think we can go for a walk?" she asked, smiling at McGee's mouthed 'Thank you' as she led the kindly doctor out of the room, him going on about a lad he knew that suffered from food poisoning when he was a teenager. The two boys watched them walk down the hall before Tony thrust his hand out expectantly.
"Cough it up Probie." he grinned and McGee scoffed as he handed over the bag, allowing Tony to open it and smile at the heavenly scent that filled the air. "Thanks" he muttered and pulled out the slice of pizza and stuffed it lovingly into his mouth. Tim paused as he watched his partner devour the food, trying to figure out what exactly he wanted to say.
"I'm glad you're okay." he finally announced, taking Ziva's spot in the chair. Tony glanced up and gave a smile, his mouth still full of pizza.
"I'm always ok." he said through mouthfuls of cheese and various meats. Tim nodded vaguely before allowing his mouth to speak without thinking.
"Why didn't you say anything?" he demanded and Tony froze. There was a pause before Tony took a moment to swallow his pizza thoughtfully before answering in a very solemn tone.
"Ziva asked me the same thing. Tim... Why would I have told you?" McGee blinked at the almost accusation in the statement and began to stumble incoherntly for a moment before getting the words out.
"What do you mean?" he demanded and Tony shrugged, putting his pizza down and looking the younger man straight in his eyes.
"What do I mean?" he repeated "Damn Tim, what do you think? Let's face the facts. After Gibbs left? Our team was shot to hell. I managed to keep us together for a while, but my relationship with you and Ziva? Gone. It wasn't the same as it was before. God, Tim you hated me. You honestly think, that after all the hell you two put me through, after all the biting comments, especially you after Jeanne, that I was going to tell you something that personal?" Tim stared; trying to get a grip on what exactly was being said. The confrontation was a bit overwhelming and he wasn't for sure what to do.
"I..." he swallowed before shaking his head "You were always doing the same thing to me." he answered with a faltering note of uneasiness.
"Sure." he shrugged "I teased you a lot...Still do. But when I was trying to lead you guys you didn't need to remind every five minutes that I wasn't Gibbs. Or question me all the time. Or what about that comment you made about me only leading this team because Gibbs was gone? And if I was really capable I would already have my own team? McGee, that goes slightly beyond teasing."
"You were getting egocentric!" Tim defended "and why didn't you say anything to get me to stop?"
"I was trying to make things easier for you." Tony sighed "I guess it didn't work. I moved the furniture around and made those changes so you guys didn't think about Gibbs so much. I thought that if I acted like Gibbs every so often, along with my usual selfish self, maybe it would kind of give some sense of normality." there was a pause in which Tony ran a hand over his face "Didn't work did it?"
"Why didn't you ask me to stop?" Tim asked quietly, trying to push the guilt that was eating at him away as he listened to his partner's exhausted words.
"You know I have too much pride for that. Plus I'm supposed to be your Senior Field Agent." he shrugged "You're my probie. I set the example for you. What kind of mentor would I be if I came crying to you over a couple comments? I mean, it took me forever to toughen you up." he added with a small smile.
"Toughen me up? I'm not any tougher." snorted McGee.
"Sure you are. You can stand up to me can't you? You can tell Gibbs to back off too every once in a while. Hell, you can interrogate people without shaking. Trust me McGee. You've come a long way from where you started. I might even say you are getting to be a pretty good investigator." redness crept into the man's face at the praise and his eyes softened with guilt and a bit of shame.
"I'm sorry Tony." he sighed and ran a hand over his hair "I...I shouldn't have given you such a hard time."
"Eh, don't apologize probie. Rule six." he then gave him a small smile "Don't worry about it too much. I need someone to keep my head out of my ass every once in a while." Tim gave a weak smile in return before shaking his head warily.
"Your Dad...? I just...How bad was it?"
"I swear it wasn't horrible. I mean... It wasn't all that often and...Well... It was mainly just punches and what not. Once in a while he would get creative and lock me in a wine cellar. Remember when we were joking around and you asked me how old I was when I first got drunk and I said six? I wasn't joking. I was in that damn cellar for three days, and without water, wine was really the only thing to drink..." his voice trailed off and Tony's eyes got a faraway look in them as he gathered lost memories. McGee sat there, slightly sick that anyone could do that to their child. The thought of either one of his parents hitting him or Sarah was laughable- locking them in a wine cellar for three days? It wasn't even thinkable.
"You know. I'm here if you ever want to talk about It." he told the other man, trying not to sound too uncomfortable. "I mean...If you ever just need someone to talk too..." Tony's face instantly became hard and he gave McGee such a stern look, he wondered if his father's soul had suddenly entered his partner's body.
"Tim, we need to be clear. No. Pity. You treat me the same. Got that? No pity. No sympathy. No nothing. I'm still Tony. Understand?" Tim blinked at the vehement answer, and noted that this was at least the third time in a row that Tony had called him by his first name. The thought made him smile.
"Got it." he told him "but I'm going to still be here for you to talk to." he added hastily, daring him to argue. Tony opened his mouth for a second before seeing McGee's expression and snorted.
"Alright, alright." he said and picked up his pizza and took another bite. "You know... This kind of reminds me of a movie..."
And that's it! The next chapter shall be the last one! I had a good time writing this though :P Remember to leave reviews to tell me what you think and all that good stuff. Thanks!