On Monday morning, Tony found himself surrounded by his team. Gibbs had been there all night, having spoken to Brad about the note Tony had found. But everyone else had arrived shortly before nine o'clock to spend time with Tony before they went to work.
"We wanted to give you this," said Palmer. "It's from Breena and I. She said sorry for not being here by the way, but she's been sick all week and didn't want to get you sick." Palmer handed over a small hamper.
Tony nodded. "Tell her to not worry." He grinned when he opened the hamper and found movies and the final season of Magnum PI in the basket. "Where did you get Magnum? I've been searching forever."
"Bree found it for you. I don't know where."
"Tell her I love it."
Palmer nodded with a smile. He was glad he had been able to give Tony something useful. Then he moved away to let Ducky hug Tony.
"Good to see you smile," said Ducky.
Tony thanked his friends. He was happy that they had all come to visit.
Lunch came quickly for Tony once his friends had left. He was enjoying the quiet when Brad came in.
"Hey Tony," said Brad. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah. I was just thinking about watching some Magnum episodes."
"Leave them until later. Time to go outside for a while."
Tony smiled. "Do you mean that?"
"I do." Brad helped Tony up and handed him a dressing gown. "It's nice outside, but the air is cold."
"Okay." Tony put the dressing gown on and followed Brad to the elevator. "There's a nice courtyard outside. You might even make a few friends down there."
"Thank you for letting me do this Brad."
"I was going to let you out of here at some point, Tony. I just wanted to be sure that you were well enough to do so."
Tony nodded. He understood that very well, and he knew that Brad was only looking out for him.
Once he was outside, Tony felt relieved. The air was crisp and refreshing. He wandered around the courtyard for a few minutes, then found a seat that was in the sun. Within minutes, he had spotted a pretty woman looking his way. He gave her a smile, then looked away.
Ten minutes passed before Tony realised something: his kidnappers were still on the loose. He was out in the open, and they could be anywhere. Suddenly, Tony was finding it hard to breathe. He felt like his chest was on fire as he tried to suck in as much air as he could. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew he was panicking and he knew that was not going to help him in the long run.
"Tony?!"
He heard his name, but he didn't respond. He couldn't place the voice as he continued to panic. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the panic stopped and he could breathe again. He looked up to find Emma in front of him, her hand on his shoulder and the other one holding his hand.
"Hey, are you alright?" she asked as the second nurse left them alone.
"What happened?" Tony asked, feeling frightened.
"You just had a panic attack, that's all. You're okay."
"Why?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
Tony shook his head, his face having gone red sometime ago.
"How about we take you back upstairs? You can rest for a while."
"Okay…" Tony let Emma lead him up to his room.
"Don't be embarrassed, Tony. Panic attacks happen. You've been through a lot in the past week. You don't have anything to be ashamed about."
"Yes I do. I can't go outside."
"You can go outside. You just have to remember that you are safe. Panic happens to everyone. Just don't let it take control. Now, what happened?"
"I remembered that their still out there somewhere, that they could be anywhere."
"They aren't here Tony. The both of them are wanted by several law enforcement agencies. The minute they step foot into the hospital, security will be on them. Trust me, nobody is going to let them near you."
Tony looked up into Emma's eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Definitely sure."
A smile finally lit up Tony's face. "Okay. Thank you, Emma."
Emma smiled back. "Anytime. But next time you start feeling scared, come and get me or Brad. Okay?"
Tony nodded and settled back against the pillows. Emma passed Bert to him, then left, letting Tony calm down a little more.
Gibbs jumped up in shock when he saw who was being led to the interrogation rooms. He spun on his heel to follow them, but was stopped by Muller.
"Gibbs, we got them," said Muller. "They were caught on camera trying to steal a car. The apartment complex had security, who held them until we got there. It's over. They aren't getting away with this."
"Tony will be relieved," said Gibbs. "Has anyone told him?"
"I called the hospital, but he was asleep. Dr Pitt said he would pass the message on."
"Good." Gibbs felt the tension in his body disappear. "We have Tony's statement. Can we use that against them?"
"Definitely. They are wanted for kidnapping and assaulting a federal agent. Tony's statement is perfect and will be enough to lock them away for a very long time."
"Good," Gibbs said again. "I want in on the interrogation."
"I know. Why do you think I brought them here?" Muller turned. "Are you coming?"
The interrogation had taken a long time, but both of the Barn brothers had finally admitted what they had done to Tony. Everyone, except for Gibbs, was shocked at what they had done, having not read Tony's statement yet.
"You are both going to prison for the rest of your lives," said Gibbs angrily as he stormed out of the room.
Tony woke up feeling like something was up. He looked around and found Brad and Gibbs in the corner of the room, talking.
"Boss?" Tony asked.
Gibbs turned and gave Tony a smile. "Hi. Are you feeling any better?"
"Yes. What's going on?"
"We got them, Tony. Both of them."
"Really?"
"Really. We just finished interrogating them."
"Good." Tony felt himself relax. He felt much better now.
"I have some good news for you too," said Brad as he came over and sat with Tony.
"I can go home?" Tony asked with hope.
"You can. Were you planning on asking me that every time I said I had good news?"
Tony nodded. "Yes, I was planning on that."
Brad shook his head and laughed. "I thought so. Yes, you can go home tomorrow morning. Agent Bishop has agreed to pick you up and let you stay with her."
Tony smiled at that thought. Bishop had always been good to him. He would have to find a way to repay her kindness.
"I'll let you two talk for a while." Brad walked out and Gibbs took his spot.
"Everyone heard what they did to you, Tony," said Gibbs carefully.
"I figured they would at some point." Tony sighed. "Doesn't matter. As long as they are in jail, I don't care."
"No-one is ever going to bring it up or use it against you. If they do, they'll have me to deal with."
"Thank you boss."
"Anytime. Now, I want you to take some time off work. As much as you need."
"I think I only need a couple of days. But I would like to meet those two boys before I go back to work, if that's still okay."
"I'll call their parents and find out. Maybe Bishop can take you there on the way home tomorrow."
"That would be nice." Tony changed the subject. "How many cases have I missed out on at work?"
"None. We spent this last week and a half looking for you. All other cases went on the back burner for a while. When you come back, we can look at other cases."
Tony nodded. He felt so much better now.
