Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS

Chapter Fourteen

Jethro's Reaction

Jethro was staring at him, and Tony really couldn't blame him for the look of annoyance on his face. He'd ultimately decided that waiting to tell Jethro was a big mistake. He loved his partner, and if he wanted their relationship to survive this hurdle, telling Jethro as soon as possible was the way to go. If he waited, Jethro would only be that much more angry that he'd been keeping secrets from him- and his partner certainly didn't like when he kept secrets.

He probably could have waited until morning, he conceded. Jethro had still been working on the boat when he arrived back at his house, which wasn't surprising. He'd been gone three hours, and it hadn't exactly been late when he'd left for Abby's apartment. If anything was true, it was that Jethro was a night owl. When Tony had stormed into the house and demanded that his partner abandon his boat and speak with him immediately, he was pretty sure he'd freaked the man out. Thinking about it now, he'd probably sounded half hysterical.

Now, they were sitting in the living room, and Jethro looked like he wanted to kill him for raising such a ruckus and pulling him away from his project.

"What is it?" Jethro demanded when Tony didn't automatically tell him why exactly he was raising such a fuss. "I thought you were going to spend the evening with Abby."

"I did," Tony nodded, fisting his hands into the bottom of his coat until he lost feeling in his hands.

"Did something happen? Is Abby okay?" Clearly, Jethro was not worried about Abby, or he would not have continued to be annoyed.

"Abby's fine," Tony waved off the question. It wasn't a lie- she wasn't dying or anything.

"Are we just going to sit here and pretend that I know what the hell is going through your head, or are you going to actually tell me at some point?" Jethro demanded.

There really was no reason to make Jethro any angrier by stalling. If his partner was going to kill him, he might as well get it over with, and if he was going to toss him out on his ass and refuse to speak to him ever again, well, Tony figured he might as well get that over with too, before he had to drive home in the rain with a road full of drunks too stupid to call for a ride home.

"Abby has just informed me that…due to our drunken one-night stand before you and I decided to get back together…she is pregnant with my child." Tony chose his words carefully, and then studied Jethro's face for a reaction.

The annoyed look on his partners face did not change, but Tony couldn't be sure if it was because Jethro was frozen with shock, or he'd been that annoyed before Tony had told him the news. In the end, it turned out to be the former.

"What?" Jethro finally asked.

"I accidently got Abby pregnant," Tony replied.

"And…and now, what?" Jethro demanded.

"I don't know," Tony admitted.

Why wasn't Jethro screaming at him? Why wasn't he trying to murder him? He was taking this way too well…

"How could you be so stupid?" Jethro finally asked, rubbing his hands over his face, and staring at the ceiling across the room.

"I was really drunk," Tony decided to point out. "I wasn't thinking. I acted very irresponsibly." He wasn't going to put the blame on anybody but himself. It had been his mistake.

"That's an understatement," Jethro muttered.

Tony bit his lip while he waited for what his partner was going to say next. Could he still call him his partner? Did Jethro still want the title? When it didn't appear that Jethro was going to say anything else, Tony sighed. This could not go anyway but badly.

"This changes things," Jethro decided to break his silence.

"I know," Tony nodded. "Believe me, I know. If I could go back in time and take it back, I would. I really would."

NCIS

He really hadn't wanted to go back to his apartment that night, but he had. Jethro needed time to think, or so the man said, but Tony knew it was the end. How could Jethro still want to be with him after what he'd done? Sure, he hadn't intentionally gotten Abby pregnant, but it had happened, and he couldn't take that back. He couldn't expect Jethro to be happy about his mistake.

Sitting at his desk the next morning, Tony's mind was anywhere but on the case. Jethro had yet to show up, and it was only making him crazier. His mind wouldn't stop spinning, coming up with solutions to the problem. By the time Jethro did show up, right on time as usual (though it seemed like he'd been waiting forever), Tony had already decided upon a course of action. Without Jethro, he couldn't keep working at NCIS. Getting him back, only to lose him again was just too much for Tony. He couldn't imagine that Jethro would be too disappointed- after all, how could he want to deal with him on a daily basis knowing Tony had fucked up so badly?

They worked the case all day, leaving Tony no time at all to dwell on his ruined relationship. Obviously he wouldn't quit until after the case was solved. He couldn't leave McGee and Ziva high and dry. Those two were already annoyed with him enough as it was for keeping secrets about his health from them. While they still had no idea the exact extent of his diagnosis- not being told about the initial time bomb at all- they had been informed that he'd been aware of the possibility of an aneurism. He let them believe that the danger was over when he'd gotten back to work. There really was no need for their pity.

NCIS

"Jethro isn't talking to me," Tony complained that evening as he sat on Abby's purple couch, her head resting against his shoulder, and their feet propped up on the coffee table.

"Me, neither," Abby sighed. "He didn't even bring me a caf-pow when he came down for the ballistics report this morning."

"You really shouldn't be drinking caf-pows anymore," Tony pointed out. "All that caffeine can't be good for the baby."

"Stupid baby," Abby muttered, setting a hand against her flat stomach.

"You really can't blame the baby," Tony reasoned with her. "It's not its fault we're idiots."

"I know," Abby sighed. "I'm just…frustrated. I haven't had caffeine in days! Not since I thought I might be…it's really wearing me down. I have no energy."

"Get some sleep than," Tony suggested.

"Hahaha," she responded. "Easy for you to say. I can't sleep! I'm too anxious. I want everything to go back to how it was."

"Perhaps we can entice McGee to make a time machine? He's pretty smart," Tony joked.

"Oh my god!" Abby bolted upright, her hand clapped over her mouth, and her eyes wide. For a second, Tony thought she was going to be sick, but then she turned to face him. "McGee! What are we going to tell McGee? He is going to be so…so…so…"

Tony hadn't thought about McGee and his dying love for all things Abby. He was definitely going to be hassle once he found out about the baby. Really though, could McGee be any worse than Gibbs? The most McGee could do was make him feel guilty and piss him off, which was nothing compared to the heartbreak of losing Jethro.

NCIS

Abby was nervous, and not just because the caffeine withdrawal was taking its toll on her body. She'd called Gibbs down to talk, he was due any moment, and he expected her to have something on their case. Granted, she did have something on the case, but it wasn't anything big, and he was not going to like it…she was so focused on taking deep, relaxing breaths that she didn't notice him come in.

"You have something Abs?" His voice startled her so much she jumped about a foot in the air.

"Gibbs!" She cried. "You scared me!"

"You called me down here," Gibbs reminded her.

"Right," Abby nodded. "I did. I called you to tell you about Petty Officer Riley's finger print match."

"And?" Gibbs prodded.

"And I think you need to forgive Tony," Abby changed the subject.

She saw him visibly retract, taking a step back from her as if she'd hit him. He clearly did not want to talk about the situation with Tony, but she wasn't going to let it go that easily. When did she ever?

"He made a mistake, and he feels really, really bad," Abby tried.

"This is between me and Tony," Gibbs refused.

"Yeah, and if you were handling it, I wouldn't have to say anything at all," Abby pointed out. "He's really upset, Gibbs. He wants to talk to you, but you won't give him the time of day."

"What do you have on the case, Abby?" Gibbs demanded.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Abby refused to budge. She'd called Gibbs down here to talk about Tony, and she was going to get him to talk.

"He's thinking about quitting," Abby announced. "He wants to quit his job because he thinks you hate him."

"He's being ridiculous," Gibbs muttered.

"Tell him that then," Abby said fiercely. "Gibbs, he's freaking out."

"I will handle Tony when I decide to, Abby," Gibbs growled at her.

"You're upset," Abby held up a hand, "I get it. I'd be upset too, but he loves you. He didn't even want to live without you when he thought you'd left him in the hospital. If you just talk to him, you can work things out."

"It's none of your business Abby," Gibbs persisted.

"I don't want to be the reason you and Tony aren't together," Abby shook her head. "He's been crying over you for years, Gibbs, wishing you were together, and now that you've gotten together, I don't want to be the reason that his heart is broken. I don't want me or this baby to be the reason you don't want him. He needs you. He won't say it, but he does."

She had to force herself to breathe again. She was getting too upset.

"Do the fingerprints match or not, Abby?" Gibbs asked, his voice no longer angry.

"No. They don't," Abby sighed. "Riley's prints weren't a match to the one on the murder weapon."

"Dammit!" Gibbs cursed, turning on his heel and leaving the lab.

Abby watched him go hoping he'd take her words to heart. While a part of her wanted all of Tony's attention focused on her and this baby, a bigger part of her wanted him to be happy, and only Gibbs could make him happy.

A/N: Any thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think!