Gibbs was pacing the living room.
Maura and Samuel watched him, while Ducky left the guest room door only ajar, in case Tony woke up and needed something.
Ducky came in and sat on the chair.
"Jethro," he said patiently, "perhaps you could...sit down."
Gibbs grunted, slowing down but not stopping.
Gibbs had finished telling them what happened with Tony earlier in the day, and, they were understandably horrified. He kept his voice down, not wanting to be overheard, though Tony looked beyond worn out after Abby and McGee left.
"Oh my Gods," Maura whispered sadly, "Tony…"
"That's pretty wrong, dude," Samuel said, cringing when Gibbs shot him a look.
But now he had to relay the experience he had with Apollyon. And just thinking of it made him sick with fear and anger.
"That…so-called Angel came here tonight."
Maura's eyes widened, "Apollyon? You saw Apollyon?"
"Yes. And so did you, and so did Samuel."
They passed surprised looked between each other.
Gibbs wanted to get to the point. "The old man with the groceries, Maura. And - the guy who sold you the book we needed, Samuel. And…he's appeared to me a few times."
Suddenly Gibbs sat on the edge of the coffee table. He leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees, looking at them intently.
"He…he said that Tony was infected. Contaminated, actually, with evil. The demon blood. And…" he clenched his fists, "the only way to…fix it, is basically, to…kill Tony with the sword."
They all gasped.
Ducky put his head in his hands.
"No," Maura said, "how can that be the only answer?'
"He said that…Tony is going to get worse, maybe hurt people. Like he…almost did today. And…go insane." He ran a shaky hand through his hair.
"I need to know," Gibbs was looking at Samuel. "what you know about this, and what we can do to get it out of him."
Samuel nervously licked his lips, shaking his head. "Honestly? I don't know. The only possessions I know of, or have even been involved with, were actual spirit or demonic possessions. Not from…drinking their blood. I mean," he opened one of his books, "I can look, but…I can't promise, Agent Gibbs," he looked up carefully, "that I can find an answer for you."
Maura was shaking, closing her eyes.
Gibbs leaned back.
"We could try a ritual…" she said. "A kind of exorcism…but- I don't know how we could do it. You would use a name or symbol, for the spirit or demon, to cast them out with. We have none of those."
Gibbs' cell rang.
"Gibbs." He stood up and walked into the kitchen.
"It's Abby."
She was silent. His gut twisted again.
"What have you got?"
He heard her stuttering sigh.
"Abs! Today!"
"There is definitely an unknown strain of cells in Tony's blood. I can't exactly make heads or tails of them."
"And?"
"They…they're..m-multiplying. Slowly eating up Tony's normal cells."
Gibbs closed his eyes. "God," he breathed.
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Abby, we're working on it."
She was still silent.
"I want you to go to McGee's. I don't want you guys alone tonight."
"He's here with me, Gibbs…call us…if you know anything…I'm gonna' stay a while, just test and see if I can kill this with anything."
"Okay. But make sure you're using quarantine protocols, just in case."
"Gibbs."
He wanted to break down, right then and there. The darkness kept hitting him, like relentless waves on the shore.
"Yeah?"
"I…love you. Tell Tony, I love him too. And Ducky."
He smiled a little, and whispered, "Okay Abs." And then hung up.
He pressed shaking hands to his eyes. And took several deep breaths.
He went back into the living room, to hear Maura and Samuel arguing about how to try and get rid of the evil in Tony.
Tony was awake. He felt cold, and was still occasionally shivering, in spite of the five layers of blankets Ducky put on him.
He could hear them talking. About him. They spoke in hushed tones, but he could hear them as if he was standing right there.
He could hear the strain in Gibbs' voice, talking about what Apollyon wanted him to do.
The Angel wanted Gibbs to take the sword... and kill him with it.
He covered his mouth to stop the crazy giggle from coming out. Even though it had struck him tremendously ridiculous, that Gibbs should need to kill him with a mythological sword, tears sprang once again from his eyes. He wondered how he could have any left.
He slowly sat up, hearing the rest of what was said, about him possibly hurting someone, and remembered what he'd done with Abby and McGee. He stifled a sob.
Then he heard the prognosis. He would eventually be overtaken, and go mad.
He was still so angry with Gibbs. But, the thought that he could truly hurt Gibbs, as well as the others, was worse to him than being in the clutches of the demons themselves. He couldn't allow it.
"I'm not." He said to the empty room. "I'm not gonna'…let it happen. You fucking bastards…"
He slowly stood up on shaking legs, and stumbled in the darkness, to the bathroom.
He closed the door, and leaned against it, turning on the light.
Gibbs had been in and out of the hospital a hundred times, like Tony. Getting hurt on the job was a usual thing, and they always sent the agents home with strong painkillers. Which he and Gibbs both usually ignored, being stubborn.
He opened the medicine cabinet, trying to ignore the hellish reflection staring back at him.
His eyes scanned the shelves. There were some nine full bottles.
"Aha," Tony said, grabbing the full bottle of oxycodone. It was full. The bottle count was seventy-five pills.
Tony closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of his mother. "M'sorry," he whispered. There was no time. He had to do this, and do it quickly.
He ran the tap, and started taking them, several at a time, washing them down with a sip from the stream.