Tony was happily and proudly sipping at his second 'power shake' at lunchtime, every once in a while glancing over at Gibbs to make sure he had seen his progress. Gibbs was pretending not to watch him as he read the newspaper that one of the nurses brought in for him earlier. But he couldn't help the smirk every time he saw Tony look over from the corner of his eye.
A soft knocking on the open door pulled both of their attention toward it. "Hey, Tobias," Gibbs greeted, folding the paper up and setting it to the side as Fornell entered the room with a paper bag.
"Afternoon, Jethro," he replied then turned to look at Tony. "Glad to see you awake, DiNozzo." Tony chewed his lip as he appraised the man.
"What's in the bag?" Gibbs asked.
He turned back to Gibbs, "Lunch, actually. Made ya a couple sandwiches, and Emily insisted I make DiNozzo some soup," he smirked and looked back at Tony, who was suspiciously staring at the bag now. "Chicken noodle is her favorite, so she had me make some for you. I okay'd it with the nurse before I brought it in, if you'd like some." He pulled the clear, round container from the bag and gave the bag and its remaining contents to Gibbs before heading toward the bed. "I think it's cooled enough from the ride over here if you want to eat it now."
Tony glanced nervously from the soup to Tobias, then to Gibbs. Gibbs narrowed his eyes, "Do you want the soup, Tony?" Gibbs asked. Tony nodded.
Fornell gave him a small smile and pulled the rolling dinner tray over the bed and set the soup down, opening the lid. "Oh!" he turned, "There's a spoon in the bag, Jethro," he held his hand out, "Emily insisted I let you use her Mickey spoon," he raised his brow as he fished the spoon from the bag and held it out to Tony.
Tony slowly reached up, eying the stainless steel spoon with the mouse-ear tipped handle. He took it and flipped it around to see Mickey's face on one side, and the corners of his mouth turned up a bit. "I like Emily," he said softly. "Tell her I said 'thank you'." Tobias nodded, and he took a few steps back as he and Gibbs observed the agent studying the gifts.
Tony was nearly lost in the way the steam floated peacefully from the bowl. He set the spoon on the table beside it and carefully cupped his hands around each side of the bowl; eyes closing at the comforting warmth.
When he finally opened them again, he looked over at Gibbs, down to the sandwich in his hand and back to his eyes again. Gibbs picked it up and took a large bite, and as if that was all he'd been waiting for so that he could begin, Tony picked up the spoon and dove into the soup.
"Hey, slow down there, Tony," Gibbs warned. "If you don't want it comin' back up on ya."
Tony looked at him with understanding and nodded before wearily heeding the command.
Tobias turned his body toward the window, "Got the results back on the unknown substance," he told him quietly, and walked over to the window. Gibbs stood from the chair and followed. Quietly, Fornell explained, "Sick bastard put epicac in the biscuits like it was a pad of butter."
"The stuff that induces vomiting," he verified.
"Yeah. We found a bakery nearby Shaun Cullen's home that sold the biscuits. The owner said he recognized Michael when we showed him his picture. Also said they sell those biscuits by the dozen. We found nine, Jethro. Cullen purchased them a week after DiNozzo went missing."
"He starved him and gave him no choice but to eat whatever was in front of him," Gibbs surmised, grimly.
"For three days, apparently," he guessed. "The rest of the time, he was keepin' him alive by givin' him some kinda beef broth in a tin cup. Just enough to keep him alive, Jethro. Found cans of the stuff in Shaun's pantry."
"What else did you find in the house?" Gibbs queried.
"Not much. Interesting phone call log from the house phone, though. The guy actually profiled the hell out of your man. Right down to the place he orders pizza from regularly. In fact, we found a half-eaten pizza in the fridge from that place; looked like extra cheese, pepperoni and sausage."
"That sonofabitch..." Gibbs sighed.
"What?"
"That's Tony's favorite. He must've gotten that intel from whoever he ordered from. Used the pizza to taunt Tony while he was starving."
"Makes sense," Tobias cocked his head.
Gibbs looked over at a suddenly quiet Tony. He'd stopped eating his soup and was now focused somewhere on the table in front of him. Gibbs walked back over toward the bed. "You feelin' okay?"
Tony looked up at him and nodded. "I'm just full," he said as he looked back down at the table. "Stomach hurts a little. But I'm not gonna throw up; promise."
Tobias grabbed a small can of gingerale he'd brought for Gibbs, opened it and set it on the table for Tony. "That'll help ya," he told him with a small, reassuring smile. Gibbs nodded in agreement when Tony looked to him, and stuck a straw in the can.
Tony picked up the soda and took a few sips from the straw, then looked to Tobias, "Thanks."
"No problem, kid," he smiled, then looked to Gibbs. "I'm headin' back to the office. Let me know what your team finds out."
"Thanks, Toby," Gibbs nodded as the man left, then looked to Tony. "You probably don't remember him," he surmised.
"I remember," Tony told him, surprisingly. "He's a nice man, but sometimes he made Tony nervous." Gibbs cocked his head, amused but in need of further elaboration. "And sometimes he made him feel jealous 'cause you're friends..." Tony suddenly shied away.
"Hey," Gibbs narrowed his eyes and reached over to tap under his chin. "What's wrong? Told ya you could tell me anything, remember?"
"Tony wouldn't want me to tell you some things," he whispered.
"Well Tony doesn't get to be the boss until he mans up and comes out of wherever he's hidin'," he told him sternly.
They were both silent for a while as Tony absorbed that thought. Then he looked up at Gibbs again, "Can we save the rest of the soup?" he asked. "Can we make it hot again next time I wanna eat it?"
"Yeah, sure," he said as he capped the container and moved the tray away from the bed. "So," he raised his brows and had a hint of a smile on his face, "Ya like Fornell's cooking, then?"
"I like Emily's favorite soup," he said. "She's nice. Do I know her? Are we friends?"
"You know her a little. And I think it's safe to say she likes ya," he smirked. "And that's somethin' to say, really, 'cause Tony doesn't usually have much luck with kids; much as he tries."
"That's probably my fault," he replied.
"Why would you say that?" Gibbs asked. Tony shook his head and then broke into an unexpected yawn. If it were his Tony, Gibbs would've taken that as a clever avoidance of the question. But he did look a bit tired. "You did good with lunch, Tony. I'm proud of ya." Tony smiled, blinking sleepily. "Get some sleep; I'll be here."
The phone rang, just then. Gibbs patted Tony's hand before turning to answer it. "Gibbs."
"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!" Abby panicked on the other line."I haven't heard from Tim and Ziva, and it's like...twenty minutes past their check-in time! I've called like ten times and there's no answer on either of their phones!" Gibbs felt a sudden panic rising in his chest. Then he heard a clicking sound across the line. "Oh wait...hold on, Gibbs...oh thank God! That's Tim calling me on the other line. Hold on a sec, and I'll let you know what happened..."
Gibbs sank into the chair, wiping a hand down his face as he breathed a sigh of relief. The sting of panic from moments ago, however, was still felt in every pore of his body. That same sting he'd felt when they realized Tony was missing...
"Okay, I'm back," Abby's voice came again. "McGee said they lost signal out of nowhere once they left Debra Smith's residence and didn't get it back until they were on the main road. He said they're both fine and they're heading back to D.C now. They both wanna know if it'd be okay to stop by and fill you in in person?"
"That's fine," he replied. "But tell 'em Fornell already brought us lunch. So whatever Ducky planned to have 'em bring here for me, they can skip it."
"Right, Bossman. How's Tony?"
"Doin' good, Abs. Got his feeding tube out today and he's startin' to eat like his old self, already," he smirked as he looked to see Tony was watching him and listening intently to the conversation with a sudden flash of pride.
"That's so good! Okay, I'm gonna go; still got Tim on the other line. I'll convey the message. Tell Tony I'm sending him a hug in my thoughts."
"Bye, Abs," he ended the call and focused on Tony. "You feel up to some visitors?"
"Who?"
"Your team," he told him. "Your friends," he clarified.
"You mean Tony's," he corrected.
Gibbs cocked his head, "Yours, too. If you'll let them."
Tony seemed to consider that for a few moments. "Okay."
11 00 11 00 11
A little over half an hour later, Ziva and McGee quietly entered the room after McGee had lightly tapped on the door.
"You were here before," Tony said when he saw Tim.
"That's right; I was, Tony," he gave a nervous smile. "You look a lot better today. I see you got your feeding tube out."
Tony nodded. A flicker of recognition passed over his face, "Your name is McGee."
"You do remember me," Tim smiled. "I wasn't sure... Do you remember who this is?" he pulled Ziva closer and switched places so that she was more at the head of the bed.
Tony studied her face for a long moment. Then the corner of his lips curled up, "Ninja."
"You remember my nickname and Jimmy's," she huffed, playfully, "But not McGee's?"
"It is a bit surprising, considering how many there are," Tim added.
"Maybe that's why it took so long to remember which one was right," Gibbs said with a smirk.
"Ziva and Tim," Tony's voice pulled their attention back to him. All of the agents were surprised at his recollection. "You're my friends?"
"Yes," Ziva told him, taking his hand. "We are your friends; all of us."
"You're Tony's friends...but Gibbs said you'd be my friends, too. Will you?" he looked between the two of them with hopeful eyes.
Ziva glanced over at Gibbs before meeting Tony's eyes again. "Of course we will," she smiled.
"Yeah," Tim said. "You didn't even have to ask, ya know."
"But you don't even know me very well," Tony retorted. "How do you know if you like me?"
Gibbs raised his brows at the question, looking back and forth between his agents, curious as to how they'd respond. Ziva seemed to have the answer almost immediately. "Because, you are a part of Tony, and we like Tony; every part of him."
"Every part? Even the annoying ones?" Tony asked, skeptically.
Ziva smiled and let out a small laugh, "Yes. Even the annoying ones."
"Sometimes we even depend on the annoying parts," McGee added. "And the funny parts."
"Yes," Ziva agreed. "We have missed the funny parts very much. The office is not as happy without it."
"I can be funny sometimes," Tony claimed. "I know all the words from Smokey and the Bandit!"
"Smokey and the Bandit?" Ziva narrowed her eyes and looked to Tim. "Is this another movie?"
"Yeah, Ziva. A good one, at that. There's actually talk of a remake in the works."
"Really?" Tony's eyes brightened.
"Yep," Tim smiled. "I'm not sure if they'll do it or not, but it'd be interesting to see what they'd do with it."
"Maybe we can go see it if they do!" Tony suggested.
"Absolutely," Tim smiled. "And when you get to go home, I'm pretty sure you've got the original movie somewhere amongst your collection. I think I saw it once, when I was over."
"I've got a movie collection?"
"Oh yes," Ziva nodded. "Hundreds of them. I am not even certain you have watched them all."
Tony looked over at Gibbs, "When they let me leave, can we bring my movies to your house?"
"Already have some of 'em there, but yeah, Tony. You can bring however many you want," Gibbs told him. "In fact, I think McGee and Ziva might be willing to bring your stuff over sometime this week, when they're not busy," he said looking up at the two.
"I think we could manage that," Ziva said. "Anything else you would like us to bring?" she asked, looking back down at Tony who had suddenly broken into a yawn.
"I...I don't know what stuff I have," he said. "Do I have any other cool stuff?" he asked, breaking into another yawn.
"Alright, I think it's time to get some rest," Gibbs said, standing from the chair.
"Will you come back?" Tony asked the two younger agents.
"If you want," McGee replied.
"I like to talk about movies," he told him. "No one usually ever wants to talk about them with me." Gibbs pressed the button to lower the bed as they talked.
"Well, I'll talk with you about movies all you want," Tim assured him. "For as long as I'm able to be here, anyway. In fact, I'll try and come by around lunchtime tomorrow, if it's okay with Gibbs..."
"Sounds good, Tim," Gibbs nodded.
"And Ziva can come after work, maybe?" Tony asked, yawning again.
Ziva's lips curled up on either side. "I will come, and perhaps bring you something if you promise to keep doing so well," she bent down and kissed his cheek, causing Tony to blush again.
"I promise I'll try," he said.
"I'm gonna step out in the hall with them for a minute, so they can fill me in on what they did today, okay, Tony?" Gibbs pulled the blanket up over him. Tony nodded. "I'll be right outside the door."
Tony's eyes slipped closed and Gibbs moved to follow the agents out.
"Jessica's mother didn't know about her real cause of death," McGee told him. "But she knew Cullen was sick, and she knew Jessica was sick as well."
"Jessica should have been in an institution being treated and cared for properly," Ziva continued. "She had very violent tendencies."
"Killed a family pet and sat down to have tea with it," McGee grimaced.
"She did say that Jessica was everything to Michael; that he would never intentionally cause her harm. But he had been self-medicating for his illness up until a couple of days before what happened with Jessica. The likelihood that he'd been abusing her is very small. She lived solely with her mother. There would be no proof, either way," Ziva said.
"So...what he did with his victims," Gibbs said as his eyes focused elsewhere, "Was really more him acting out the part of his daughter. Or some twisted combination of the both of them..."
"Since he was targeting specific people," McGee said, "I'd have to say that's probably right. But it's strange how he hadn't acted out on any of those urges before now."
"Maybe he was relapsing when he saw the ghosts of the past," Gibbs said. "Might be that he had a psychotic break once he crossed paths with that first victim. 'Crazy' comes in all shapes an' sizes."
"What now, Gibbs," Ziva asked. "What happens to Tony?"
"What do you mean?"
"He is not himself," she said. "Will he get better?"
"He's still Tony, Ziva. Just, part of him's not ready to come out yet. But no matter how long that takes, we don't leave a man behind..."
11 00 11 00 11
Catherine Akers ducked into the hospital gift shop with only a minute to spare before they were going to close for the day. She had to grab something quickly for her niece up in ICU. Amongst all of the stuffed animals, she felt lost. She had no idea what the girl would prefer.
Desperate, she closed her eyes and reached forward, grabbing onto the first thing her hand came into contact with. She opened her eyes to see what she'd gotten; a fluffy, pink bear. She rolled her eyes and sighed, but decided to get it anyway. After all, it wasn't for her and she'd never have to see it again.
"Oh a fine choice, dear," the elderly lady at the checkout counter said as she typed into the register. "You know it plays music? There's a wind up on its back; they don't make many things like that anymore..."
"Yeah, thanks," Catherine sighed. "How much? I'm kind of in a hurry."
"Ten dollars, young lady," she told her. "Sick loved one in the hospital?" she asked as she took the woman's credit card to scan.
"My niece is in ICU."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
"She'll be okay," Catherine smiled. "Thanks," she took her card back and grabbed the bear. "I don't need the receipt..."
11 00 11 00 11
Tony woke in time for his dinner tray, consisting of the re-heated soup and another shake; chocolate, the one flavor he hadn't had yet. He looked over at Gibbs, "What're you gonna eat for dinner, Gibbs?"
"Your soup, if you don't eat it pretty soon," he smirked, quirking a brow.
"You can't have my soup!" Tony giggled. "Fornell brought it for me!"
"I can't?" Gibbs couldn't help grinning at Tony's giggles. "Who's gonna stop me?" he stood up as if he were going to try and take it.
"No!" Tony laughed and started drinking the soup as fast as he could manage.
"Hey hey hey! Slow down or you'll make yourself sick," Gibbs said with amusement in his face as he sank down on the edge of the bed. "I'm not gonna take your soup."
"It's too late, Gibbs!" he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's already gone," he grinned, proudly.
"If you throw up, I'll be sure to let Tobias and Emily know," he smirked, ruffling Tony's hair.
"I'm not gonna throw up. That first time was 'cause their was somethin' gaggin' me."
"You haven't thrown up since, so maybe you're right."
"I'm right usually a lot," he smiled and Gibbs let out a small laugh. "I am! Just, people don't usually listen."
"What about when you're not right?" Gibbs cocked his head.
"That's when people not listening comes in handy," he replied. Gibbs threw he head back and laughed. Tony wasn't exactly sure why it was that funny, but seeing Gibbs laugh like that made it impossible not to join in, himself.
In the hall, a little girl sat in a wheelchair with her pink bear and began winding the key on its back...
Tony's smile slowly faded as the sound reached his ears. He looked over at the door, but could see no one. His heart began pounding in his chest and he felt cold all over...
Gibbs looked down at Tony after having laughed harder than he had in months...possibly longer. And quite quickly, the joy turned sour at the sight of his suddenly panic-stricken agent. Tony was near hyperventilating and had a look of fear in his eyes. "Tony? Tony, what's wrong?"
The pink bear began to play a familiar tune...one Tony had heard every day for the past month before Gibbs had found him...
"No...no no no...no, Gibbs..."
"What's wrong, Tony?" he asked again.
"He's coming back..." tears began to pour down his cheeks as he shook his head. "I can hear him. He's coming back..." his pulled his hands up to cover his ears and he began to rock back and forth.
"Tony, I told you he can't hurt you anymore. And I'm right here. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you. Tony?" he grabbed his shoulders, stilling his rocking. But Tony stared ahead as if he was no longer aware of his surroundings...
11 00 11 00 11
Tbc...