Chapter 14 – "The hell you will"

"What happened to you Probie?" Tony asked.

Tony watched as Gibbs entered his hospital room, followed by Ziva and McGee, whose lips were slightly green and he was out of breath. It only took him a moment to figure out that his boss must have driven like a mad man to Bethesda. Gibbs had insisted on coming to see Tony as soon as Ducky called him about the note. Without speaking, he put on his gloves and picked up the paper, reading the haunting words. He quickly put it in an evidence bag and handed it to McGee.

"Take it to Abby."

"Yes Boss," McGee answered, taking the evidence bag from him.

Tony tried to push himself up so he was sitting, but Ducky gently pushed him back down. Ziva opened her mouth to say something, but Gibbs turned to her and spoke first.

"Get the hospital security footage and go with McGee. I wanna know who delivered this note and how he got into Tony's room with no one stopping him."

She nodded, leaving the room with McGee to head back to headquarters.

"I apologize, Jethro. I should not have left Anthony alone for a moment. Doctor Wilson wanted to speak to me in private and we were only down the hall for five minutes," Ducky spoke up.

"It's not your fault, Duck. I shouldn't have left him alone. We've got a killer loose and he's supposed to have an agent with him for protection detail," Gibbs muttered.

Ducky nodded, leaving them alone to give Tony some privacy.

"Boss, it's not your fault."

Finally remembering that Tony was in the room, Gibbs sat down in the chair next to his agent and looked him over to see if he had been harmed. There was a welt on Tony's arm from when he had fallen and he saw that the young man's IV had been moved to his other hand, having been yanked out when he collapsed to the floor. Gibbs glanced up at his stats, seeing that Tony's blood pressure was high and his heart rate was slightly elevated. It was clear by the look on his face that he was in some pain, but refusing to admit it.

"You okay Tony?" Gibbs asked softly.

"I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, whoever he was. I closed my eyes for a minute, but it was getting difficult to sit up in the chair and I was feeling a little dizzy. I got up to move back to the bed and saw the note. I wasn't hurt."

Tony wasn't saying how scared he was that Harold could have gotten that close to him and he had no one to protect him. Though Tony was starting to heal, he wouldn't have been able to put up a fight if someone attacked him or injected him with anything. It hurt to realize that he was helpless to protect himself.

"Until Harold is caught, Ziva, McGee or I will be with you at all times. When you get discharged from the hospital, you'll be staying with me," Gibbs ordered.

"Okay," Tony whispered, trying to keep the fear from his voice and failing.

"I'm sorry I left you."

"Don't apologize… sign of weakness Boss."

"Not in this case. I owe you an apology, take it."

Gibbs gently smacked the back of his head, causing Tony to smile and relax a little. Nothing could happen with his boss watching his six this time. He closed his eyes, focusing on breathing evenly and the dull hum of machines in his room. Tony felt Gibbs take his hand and give it a good squeeze, settling back in his chair to wait for the results from Abby and McGee about what happened. At least Tony seemed to be keeping it together, though he could see right through the young man's lies. He was stressed and Gibbs needed to keep his stress level down. A stressed body and heart wouldn't help him get better. A nurse entered the room, bringing Tony his lunch. Tony smiled at her, trying to flirt and quickly giving up, not having the energy.

"Red jell-O, flavorless mashed potatoes and a chunk of unidentifiable meat. I need some real food, Boss," Tony complained. "I could really go for a pizza right now. I'd even let McGee order it with pineapple."

"I don't think your stomach would be able to handle it yet."

"My gut can handle anything."

"I doubt that DiNozzo," Gibbs laughed. "You've thrown up on me before."

Tony blushed, picking up his jell-O cup to distract himself from looking at Gibbs. The older man smiled and let Tony eat in silence. He was concerned when his agent only ate a few bites of the jell-O, tried a little of the mashed potatoes, and barely touched the peas. Tony didn't even attempt to eat the unknown meat. It wasn't enough food to satisfy a toddler.

"You need to eat more than that."

"I can't Boss. Not hungry."

Gibbs picked up Tony's cup and handed it to him, helping him take a sip of the nutritional shake that the nurse had brought. Tony made a face, gently pushing it away from him.

"Uh, that tastes terrible. It's supposed to be the strawberry flavored one, but it just tastes like powder."

"You need to drink it," Gibbs ordered.

"Maybe later… I'm tired."

"Good ahead and get some sleep, but you will drink it later."

"Okay Boss…"

Gibbs picked up the magazine that he had forgotten a few days before and waited as Tony drifted to sleep. Tony opened his eyes and closed them several times, fighting his exhaustion. Gibbs held his hand, moving his thumb in smooth circles on his hand to calm him. After a while, it appeared that Tony had fallen asleep. He was surprised when he heard Tony's voice.

"I hate this. I'm weak as a kitten and I can't even protect myself."

"It'll get better. It's just gonna take time."

"I don't know how long I can keep doing this."

"You will keep getting better. I promise."

Gibbs waited for Tony to answer, noticing that he had finally fallen asleep. He waited a few minutes until he was sure. His phone rang softly and he checked the caller ID. It was an unknown number. Gibbs flipped open the phone and put it to his ear.

"Did you get my message?" a voice hissed.

"Who is this?" Gibbs demanded, raising his voice. He stood up and moved across the room.

"You know my name."

"You son of a bitch, I will find you Harold."

"He was sleeping in the chair. It would have been so easy to end his life, but I wouldn't have been able to escape. I'll find him when you aren't watching. You can't stay with him forever. I will find him and kill him."

"The hell you will!" Gibbs yelled.

Tony opened his eyes at the sound and stared at his boss, confused on what was happening. He tried to sit up, but couldn't.

"Next time I'll kill him… your Special Agent Tony DiNozzo will not survive."

The line clicked and went dead. Gibbs dialed McGee, who answered on the first ring.

"Hey Boss," Tim answered.

"McGee, Harold Kern just called my phone. I want you to find out where he called from and where that bastard is! Do it!"

Gibbs watched as the expression on Tony's face changed and went pale. He started taking shorter breaths. The older man sat down on the edge of Tony's bed, putting a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down as he listened to McGee.

"On it Boss. Abby and I were just about to call you. We searched through the security footage. A man looking like Harold Kern entered the hospital, and changed into scrubs in a utility closet. He then walked to Tony's room, but we can't see him put the note down since there's no camera in the room. Less than a minute later, he walks out."

"Damn, he got too close," Gibbs hissed. "Is Abby finished processing the note?"

"It's Harold's fingerprints Gibbs," Abby added. "The only other prints belong to Tony. There's a sticky substance on the back, but I haven't identified it. Major Mass Spec is still working on it."

"You let me know."

"I'll call the second I know. How's Tony?"

"Not good. You call me when you have something."

Gibbs hung up his phone before Abby could ask another question and distract him from Tony, who was getting even more upset. His heart rate was up and the monitors were beeping. Gibbs gently rubbed his shoulder, touching Tony's cheek with his injured hand.

"You're okay Tony."

"Boss… what did he say?"

Gibbs considered lying to Tony, but he couldn't do that. It would only hurt him more.

"Harold admitted to leaving the note. He threatened to kill you."

Tony gasped as he continued to panic. Doctor Wilson entered the room and pulled out the oxygen mask, placing it on Tony's face to help him breathe. A nurse entered the room, putting something in Tony's IV at the request of the doctor to help him relax. Tony slowly stopped fighting and went limp on the bed, looking over at Gibbs as he breathed deeply. Gibbs moved from the bed to the chair, keeping his eyes on Tony.

"I promise that he won't get near you," Gibbs murmured.

Tony nodded, closing his eyes as the drug that the nurse gave him put him to sleep. Doctor Wilson put the strap behind the Tony's head, making a decision to keep the mask on his face while he was asleep. The nurse cleaned up the uneaten food and removed them from the room. The doctor followed her after checking Tony's stats and determining that he was out of danger from his minor panic attack. Gibbs thanked her and sat silently beside the bed, running his hand across his face. There was no way in hell that Tony was gonna get hurt by that bastard.

His phone rang again; this time it was Ziva calling.

"Yeah Ziva," he answered.

"McGee traced the cell number. It is an unregistered phone, and not transmitting anymore. We cannot find him that way. How's Tony?"

Gibbs thought for a moment before answering. "He's fighting. Someone needs to be with him constantly. I want it to be you or me. I don't think McGee would pull a gun in a hospital room."

"Understood Gibbs. What would you like me to do?"

"Help Abby and McGee, we're gonna find him."

"I will. Call me if you need me to watch Tony."

"He's asleep right now, but I'll let you know."

Gibbs hung up the phone and held it in his hands, contemplating his next move. They had no leads on Harold's location. Peter Bunion wasn't talking and the other person, TJ Kern, was dead. He opened his phone again, dialing the number without hesitation.

"What's up Gibbs?" the voice asked.

"Tobias, I need your help on a case."

"You never ask for help," Agent Fornell stated. "There must be something about this case that you can't shake or threaten."

"We're looking for a man that killed a marine, murdered his own parents as a kid, kidnapped DiNozzo and I, and threatened my team. I could use all the help that you can give."

"Where are you? I'll come to you."

"Bethesda Naval Hospital," Gibbs replied.

"The hospital? Are you okay?" Fornell questioned.

"DiNozzo's having heart problems, but he's getting better."

"Geez Gibbs, when you have problems, you have problems. I'll bring two of my men for protection detail for DiNutso so we can get some work done. This is gonna be a fun one, I can tell. I'll be there in thirty."

Gibbs hung up and gave Tony's hand a squeeze. No one threatened his team and lived to tell about it. Gibbs was gonna catch him and he didn't care if the bastard lived or died.

That was a very long chapter to write, so I hope that you enjoyed it! And you should definitely leave me a nice long review for it. :) It's gonna keep getting interesting. I wasn't intending on adding Agent Fornell, but we might as well add some alphabet soup to the case. Gibbs needs help and that's the only person he would trust.

Pretty please review? Thanks!

Emma