Rating: FRAO
Warnings: M/M, sex, language, kink, piercings, abusive parent, serial killer, talk about rape/non-con. Violence. Secondary character death (bad guys).
Genre: Slash, romance, first time, angst, h/c, case fic, pre-show AU
Pairing: DiNozzo/Gibbs

A/N: If you enjoy my story, please leave me a comment - I love to hear from you! Thanks to my betas.

Craving Coffee
Chapter 49 - Promise

Gentle fingers wrapped around his hand, and then something soft and a little moist touched his knuckles. Lips…a kiss, Gibbs thought.

"…and when we have a cookout in the back yard…"

The hushed, one-sided conversation had been going on for some time, Gibbs suspected, as he gradually became aware of his surroundings.

"… I'll be finished with classes at the end of May so we'll have all summer…"

He rolled his head on the pillow and opened his eyes, seeking whoever was talking. It sounded like…sounded like…All he could make out was a vague shape in a murky fog. Unable to remain awake, Gibbs closed his eyes and let the darkness envelop him once again.

"…Ducky says they won't let you out 'til tomorrow…"

Was that…was that Tony talking? Holding his hand? Tony. Gibbs moved his lips but only a small sound escaped.

"…so I told him straight out, nobody makes Jethro Gibbs do anything he doesn't want to do…"

Gibbs blinked to clear his vision and tried to raise his right hand – the one not being held by Tony – to rub at his eyes but it seemed to be tied down. Stubbornly, he lifted his arm a few inches off his stomach and a sharp stab of pain made him quickly change his mind. "Shit!" His gasp started him coughing, and that jarred his arm, which made the pain worse in turn.

"Jethro? You're awake!"

A few shallow breaths and the coughing subsided, and Gibbs slowly opened his eyes once again. This time everything was clearer and he could make out that his right arm was in a sling, and that Tony was leaning over his bed, looking pretty worried. Shit, he was in a hospital. Everything came back in a rush: Senator Harding, gunfire at the boathouse, pulling Tony out of the lake, the fight in the bathroom, being stabbed by Harding. The fucker stabbed me twice, dammit. He remembered the rocky ambulance ride, and being wheeled into the ER and fighting with the medical personnel when they took Tony away. Ducky had been there, calming him down, taking care of things.

"Jethro?"

Gibbs cleared his throat and said, "Hey," which was the best he could do at that moment. Damn, his throat was dry.

Without being asked, Tony raised the head of the bed a little and guided a straw to Gibbs' lips. It was water, cool and wonderful and such a relief. When he was finished, Gibbs gave a nod of thanks.

Tony put the cup on a rolling table then returned to his post at Gibbs' bedside. The railing had been lowered on the left side of the bed; Tony sat on the edge of the mattress and took hold of Gibbs' hand again, carefully avoiding a bunch of wires sprouting from beneath Gibbs' hospital gown. Gibbs didn't like the looks of all the equipment, but apart from the two knife wounds there didn't appear to be any significant damage.

A quick look around told Gibbs that he was in a standard hospital room, and the other bed was empty but rumpled as if it had vacated it in a hurry. It was dark outside and he wondered if this was the same night or if he'd lost a day. Gibbs asked, "What's the time?"

"Just after three. Sunday night…well, Monday morning by now."

Gibbs turned his attention to Tony and gave him a once-over. In the low light emanating from a reading lamp above the bed, the purple bruises on the side of Tony's face contrasted vividly with his pale skin. There was a bandage wrapped around his forehead, holding a gauze pad in place above his left ear, and both of his wrists were wrapped in pristine white bandages. The good news was that Tony appeared to have no problem moving around and he wasn't shivering like he had been earlier, though he had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Someone had provided him with gray sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt. Oh yeah, that was Fornell. "You all right, Tony? Still cold?"

"A little." Tony pulled the edges of the blanket tighter around him with one hand but he smiled as if to say it was nothing. He seemed loathe to release Gibbs' hand and squeezed it gently every now and then as if to remind Gibbs that he was still present. "They warmed me up when we first got here."

Gibbs shifted his hips with the intention of sitting up, which wasn't going to be easy with one arm strapped to his chest. Another jolt of pain hit him, this time in his right leg, at a point halfway between his hip and knee, and that plan came to a screeching halt. He fell back, swearing and panting. Tony clutched his hand and looked at him with his brow furrowed with worry, so Gibbs swallowed and said, "It's okay. Just need to move slowly." He looked down at his leg to see how bad it was, but the blanket hid whatever was going on down there.

Tony indicated a monitor near the head of the bed that emitted a gentle beeping sound. "They were worried about your pressure in the ambulance but everything looks okay now," he said knowledgably. Gibbs raised his eyebrows so Tony admitted, "Ducky showed me how to read the monitors. And he made it so it's okay for me to be in here with you." Tony glanced over at the other bed and rubbed one of his eyebrows.

"I'm glad you were here when I woke up." Gibbs freed his hand from Tony's limpet-like hold so he could stroke Tony's hair. The fine strands were soft and silky between his fingers. Tony looked like a kid who'd just woken up, with his hair sticking up, going in all directions above the bandage that was wrapped around his head. "You been causing trouble? What'd you do?"

"Nothing." Tony's attempt to appear nonchalant failed under Gibbs' scrutiny. "Well, they put me in a room way at the end of the hall, Jethro," he complained. "But after they caught me sneaking in here a couple of times, I guess they decided it would be easier if they just let me have that bed." He reached up and took possession of Gibbs' hand, kissing his palm and breathing into it with his eyes closed. "I need to be in here, with you."

Gibbs understood that need to be close, all too well. He'd felt the same way about Tony since the moment they'd met. It felt wrong to be apart, as if he was missing something, something important, a better part of himself. He narrowed his eyes and asked, with mock displeasure, "You been watching over me?"

"Of course," Tony replied with a slight snort. "'Won't you tell him please to put on some speed, follow my lead,'" he said. Then, with a wistful smile he sang softly, "'Oh how I need…someone to watch…over me.'"

Gibbs let his hand slide down Tony's arm, settling on his hand and giving it a loving squeeze. He inspected the bandage, wrapped around Tony's head. He wondered if the laceration he'd seen earlier had been made by the senator's big class ring, when Harding had struck Tony for being out of line. Not that Gibbs was going to ask Tony, or bring up the dead man's name; Tony didn't need to even think about Harding, certainly not tonight. "They shave your head around the cut?"

Tony nodded and lowered his eyes. "Clipped my hair off."

Gibbs guessed that Tony was upset over more than just having a bit of hair removed. Being drugged and hurt by a man you'd hated for years would have left invisible marks on him, in addition to the more obvious cuts and bruises, and it would take a long time for them to heal. "I'm sorry, Tony," said Gibbs, meaning for more than having his hair clipped.

Looking unhappy, Tony said quietly, "It was just a few stitches." He went to touch the place where he'd been injured but apparently thought better of it. "I'll have to cut the other side so it matches." Tony's face lit up all of a sudden. "I can get a Marine haircut, shaved sides and buzzed on top!"

Gibbs snorted and shook his head. "Uh, no you don't. You leave your hair alone, Tony." Their eyes met and Gibbs added, "I like you just as you are." Seeing Tony smile and blush a little had the power to make Gibbs feel better than any amount of medicine could ever do. He ran his fingers lightly over the bandage on one of Tony's wrists, where it covered the tender skin that the Senator's heavy leather cuffs had chafed, and he wished that Harding was still alive so he could have the chance to kill the bastard all over again.

Tony's sweatshirt was loose at the neck, exposing the spot where Gibbs had bitten Tony, marked him during a passionate bout of lovemaking just a couple of nights ago. The evidence of Gibbs' brutality was now covered with a fresh dressing. He could just imagine the ER doctor trying to determine, for the police report, which of Tony's marks and bruises were recent and which Tony had sustained earlier. Apart from Gibbs' love bites there were shadowy bruises on his neck and ribs that had been inflicted by Tony's own father when he'd forced Tony out of his car, and told him to seduce Gibbs.

"I like you, too, Jethro," said Tony, his warm tone suggesting his feelings ran a lot hotter than mere liking.

"You should be in bed," Gibbs said gruffly, swamped with guilt and hating that Tony seemed to be caught in a never-ending cycle of men taking advantage of him, hurting him in both body and spirit.

Tony's expression changed from a bright, expectant smile to something a hell of a lot more fragile. He averted his eyes to stare at Gibbs' bandaged arm as if it were terribly interesting. It only took a few seconds for Tony's features to settle into a mask, unfeeling and cool, but apparently it took too much effort to maintain the stiff, uncaring pose. The vulnerable look returned, with slightly slumped shoulders and eyes that flickered with unspoken pain when they appealed to Gibbs for help.

Gibbs felt a rush of emotion, a need to comfort and protect Tony that was so strong it made his heart ache. He reached out with his good arm and gathered Tony to him, saying in a low, rough voice, "Come here." He pulled Tony close and when Tony clung to him and buried his face in his neck, Gibbs inhaled his scent, soap and antiseptic, a hint of coffee, and the underlying aroma that Gibbs instantly recognized as being pure Tony. "I'm sorry, so sorry," Gibbs apologized, not regretting for one moment that those words passed his lips.

Tony didn't say anything, but his breathing was a little ragged, and Gibbs suspected Tony might be crying, so he murmured, "It's all right. It's all right. I've got you." He kept on offering those words of comfort while he rubbed Tony's back and kissed his hair, and wondered how he could sound so confident when he didn't have a clue as to how they were going to sort things out.

Being a practical man, he was used to organizing and planning, and following a straight line to its conclusion, but Gibbs felt as though he was sailing in uncharted waters in the dark, and without any running lights. Tony would need a few days to recover, and he'd have to give a statement about his part in the operation but there would be support from NCIS during that period. That much was certain, but after that? Under normal circumstances, Tony would go back to college; Gibbs would return to work, on desk duty until he was fit again. Would that mark end of their affair? Would they go their separate ways, divided by geography and the differences in their ages?

But there was little about this situation that was normal.

Gibbs still couldn't fathom how it was that it felt so right to have Tony in his arms. He wanted to have a future with Tony, he expected it, and he swore that he wasn't going to waste any damned time questioning if their relationship was smart or right, or even sane, which he suspected it wasn't. All he knew was that they seemed to be made for each other, despite – or perhaps because of – their differences. His feelings, his love for Tony, and Tony's love for him in return was strong and undeniable. That was never in question; it wasn't the problem. The problem was how were they going to progress from this point forward?

Tony moved a little and at first Gibbs thought that Tony was going to leave his bed, but instead he changed position so he was lying next to Gibbs rather than half on top of him. Tony sighed and Gibbs looked down at him. From that angle he could see Tony's long eyelashes resting on his cheeks, his tongue slipping out to moisten his dry lips. Gibbs carefully brushed a few strands of Tony's hair off his face, careful to avoid touching the bandage that encircled his head. "You okay?"

"Mmmm."

"Headache?"

"Not really. Hurts where they stitched me up."

Gibbs was surprised that a nurse hadn't been in to check on them, but of course they'd be able to monitor the patients' vitals from the nurses' station, and at this time of night would probably be lightly staffed. He wondered about Mike Franks, and how he was getting on, and why Ducky hadn't been around. Maybe he had, when he'd been out of it, earlier. Gibbs remembered Ducky being present when he and Tony had arrived at the hospital, and how he'd asked Ducky to stay with Tony. He didn't remember much more. "Did Dr. Mallard keep an eye on you?"

Tony nodded. "Ducky," he murmured into Gibbs' collarbone, where his skin was exposed above the hospital gown. "I was so scared," Tony admitted, his mouth moving against Gibbs' skin.

"It's all over now," Gibbs assured him.

"I thought he'd killed you, and there was so much blood all over the bathroom floor, and they kept asking me questions and I don't know what I told them but Fornell took me aside and got me some clean clothes. And when we got here they wouldn't let me be with you. They took you away and I was afraid I'd never see you again."

"Easy, easy there. Take a breath." Gibbs hugged Tony and said gently, "You're safe now. I've got ya." It was strange that Tony hadn't mentioned being scared during the time he'd spent in the limo with Harding and Alonzo Torres. Personally, Gibbs' heart raced just thinking about being in close confines with those two men, so he could imagine how frightened Tony must have been. But, Gibbs thought, Tony had been under the influence of the Rohypnol and it was possible that he didn't remember what went on during the limo ride; Tony had been drugged and abused, and forced to give Harding a blow job. Gibbs had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. If only they could both forget the whole damned thing, everything would be so much simpler.

Tony must have felt the change in Gibbs. He raised his head just enough to look Gibbs in the eye. "I was sort of out of it, but I know that he was going to kill that other boy, and if you hadn't come when you did, it would have been bad…really bad."

"I wish to hell we'd gotten there sooner, Tony." Gibbs cupped his hand to Tony's face and said, "We searched the whole damned place and it wasn't until we figured out what you meant about Sabrina, and saw Briggs coming out of the stables that…The whole team worked really hard to find you, Tony." He didn't want to think what would have happened if they hadn't spotted Briggs and discovered the dungeon hidden underneath the stables.

Tony dropped his cheek to Gibbs' chest and he whispered, "I want to go home."

"I know you do. So do I. We should be out of here tomorrow." After a while Tony grew heavy in his arms and Gibbs' left arm began to ache from trying to prevent Tony from falling off the hospital bed. One of the young man's legs was hanging off the bed and his position seemed a bit precarious. Even though he didn't want to disturb Tony, they had to rearrange themselves if they were to lie in his bed together much longer. God knows what the nurse was going to think if she walked in and found them like this, though Gibbs was almost too spent to care. He prompted, "Tony. Sit up and let's get more comfortable."

"I am comfortable," Tony murmured into Gibbs' chest and settled against him as if he was planning on sleeping there for what remained of the night. Suddenly Tony pushed himself up and looked at Gibbs with a startled expression. "Oh, shit, am I hurting you? What was I thinking? I'm sorry! You should have said something." He disentangled himself from Gibbs and the wires he'd inadvertently been lying on, and slipped off the bed.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You didn't hurt me," Gibbs assured him. One of the machines had started beeping insistently the moment Tony had moved off Gibbs' bed, and just as Gibbs craned his neck to find out what the heck the noise was about, the door opened and a nurse entered.

As soon as she saw that Gibbs was awake and alert, and wasn't in any distress, she muted the alarm. "Bet you a wire's been disconnected. Happens all the time," she assured Gibbs. Discovering a loose wire, which apparently Tony had accidentally dislodged, she reconnected it and then checked Gibbs' bandages. Gibbs briefly caught sight of his right thigh, wrapped in heavy dressing, before the nurse flipped the sheet and blanket back in place.

She asked him how he was doing and if he needed anything for pain. When Gibbs said no, she cast a disbelieving look at him. "Dr. Winter put in an order for pain meds, so you don't have to be all brave with me if you're hurting, Agent Gibbs." She straightened Gibbs' blanket and glanced at Tony, who was standing at the foot of the bed. "And you, young man…you know where you're supposed to be?"

"I was just taking care of Jethro…I mean, Agent Gibbs, ma'am." Tony gave her one of his smiles, the bright, charming kind that was designed to melt even the hardest of hearts.

The nurse shook her head but the corner of her mouth twitched in response. "You know the doctor said you could stay in here only if you remained in bed and if you didn't disturb the other patient. Dr. Winter wouldn't have agreed at all if your Dr. Mallard hadn't vouched for you. I'm sure you don't want Dr. Mallard to find out you've gone back on your word."

"No, ma'am. I'm going. I'm gone." Tony quickly moved to his bed and climbed in. He pulled his blanket high around his shoulders and lay down, keeping an eye on Gibbs.

Gibbs decided it was time to put in a word for Tony. "He wasn't disturbing me…" He peered at the nurse's ID. "…Shauna."

The nurse made sure that the IV in Gibbs' arm was still in place and asked patiently, "Would you like something to ease the pain?"

Hell, Gibbs knew it was going to be a long day, what with answering questions and making a statement, and probably dealing with the FBI, too. He was going to need at least a couple of hours of undisturbed sleep before he met with his superiors and, if he knew Director Morrow at all, he'd be here at the crack of dawn. It was going to be tough to get any rest the way his leg was throbbing. Gibbs gave in with a sigh and said, "Yeah, all right."

"Good idea," Shauna said with a smile.

She turned to Tony and asked, "I thought you had an IV going, Mr. DiNozzo. You want to tell me how you happened to lose it?"

Tony looked at the nurse with an innocent expression. "IV? Um…I'm better now. Don't need it. I'm nice and toasty and feeling fine. And it's Tony." When confronted by the nurse's unrelenting glare he said in a small voice, "I'm fine. Really."

"Hmmm. Let me take a quick look at you, Tony, and then you get some shut-eye." Shauna checked Tony out and reinserted an IV into his arm, despite Tony's insistence that he didn't need it. The nurse said sternly, "The Rohypnol is pretty much eliminated from your system by now, but when you came in your core temperature was still pretty low. Dr. Winter gave orders for you keep this in until he sees you in the morning. I'm surprised you haven't fallen asleep by now. If you need anything, you press that call button, okay?" Tony agreed without enthusiasm and Shauna said she'd be right back.

The nurse returned, not with the medication for Gibbs, but with Dr. Mallard. "They're all yours, doctor, but watch out for the little one." She winked at Tony and left them alone.

"Hey, who's she calling little?" Tony asked.

"Good evening, or should I say good morning, gentlemen." Ducky looked from one man to the other, and then approached Gibbs, a syringe in hand. "I believe this has your name on it, Jethro."

"Since when do you give out shots, Duck?"

"I have privileges at more than one hospital, Jethro, and Dr. Winter and I go a good way back. May I?" Only after Gibbs nodded did Ducky administer the medication into Gibbs' IV. "When we first met at a symposium on zoonotic diseases to discuss infections such as the plague…" The ME then turned to observe Tony, who propped himself up one elbow to observe, and said mildly, "You appear to be feeling much better than the last time I saw you, Anthony."

"I'm doing good," was Tony's reply.

Gibbs noticed that Tony didn't correct Ducky when he called him Anthony, although he kept telling everyone to call him Tony. In an undertone, Gibbs asked, "Is he really all right?"

"You know I can't discuss–"

Tony cut in, saying, "It's okay, Dr. Mallard. Jethro's the closest thing I have to family right now. Guess both of you are."

Ducky quickly hid his surprise but Gibbs could see the ME was both touched and concerned about Tony's admission. "I must say that it is an honor," Ducky said. "But you have only known me for a couple of days, Anthony, and trust is something to be earned over a period of time. 'Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.' Emerson, a wise man."

Tony lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I trusted Jethro from the first moment I met him. And he trusts you. I just know what I feel."

"Then I shall just say that I am most pleased to be part of your family," Ducky said with a slight inclination of his head. To Gibbs, he said, "I believe that, with a goodly amount of rest, Anthony should recover without any repercussions. However," he said, turning towards Tony to include him in the conversation. "As I discussed with him earlier, Anthony could benefit with some counseling. Just someone to talk things over with, a neutral party. I find it is often easier to talk over one's troubles with a stranger, which is why I love long train trips."

It was obvious that Tony had already discussed the subject with the ME, and though he wore a slightly stubborn expression, Gibbs was pretty sure that Tony had given in and had agreed to seek counseling. Talking to shrinks wasn't Gibbs' kind of thing, but he was relieved that Tony was taking Ducky's advice to heart.

Gibbs asked Ducky, "How's Franks?"

"Ah, well, Special Agent Franks had the bullet wound to his leg attended to, and his son came to take him home. You were sleeping at the time so he asked me to tell you he will return in the morning to protect you from the ravaging wolves. I find it quite extraordinary that he was able to walk on it at all, but Mike Franks possesses a considerable amount of what my first CO liked to call 'grit.' Apparently, having grit is a requirement of all NCIS special agents." Ducky looked pointedly at Gibbs' leg and said, "And as for you, my dear boy, it appears that the medic did a fine job in the field patching up that nicked artery in your leg. You're lucky, in that you only needed a local anesthetic for the suturing of your wounds. It seems as though the pain medication they administered in the ER knocked you out – well, that and the loss of blood. Are you feeling any pain at present?"

With Ducky peering at him as if he was expecting Gibbs to lie about how much he was hurting, Gibbs told him the truth. "Arm was hurting like a bitch, but it's already better," he said, feeling sleepy from the shot that Ducky had given him. A glance towards Tony's bed told Gibbs that the young man was lying down but listening intently to his every word. "My thigh aches when I move it, but I've had worse."

Ducky nodded. "Ah yes, your knee."

A knife wound was nothing compared to having his knee torn apart by shrapnel during Desert Storm. That still hurt at times, but at least he still had his leg. Gibbs was going to make a wry comment but he started coughing, and by the time the bout had subsided, both Ducky and Tony were at his bedside, Tony dragging his IV pole with him. Ducky raised the head of the bed a more few inches, which offered Gibbs some relief. Tony was there, offering Gibbs comfort by holding his hand and Ducky, God bless him, didn't even raise an eyebrow.

"You, my dear boy," said Ducky, "may be developing aspiration pneumonia. We'll do some more tests in the morning."

"Just swallowed some of the lake, is all," Gibbs said, brushing it off.

"You may very well make out that these injuries are nothing, but together they may be enough to confine you to this hospital bed for several days." Before Gibbs could complain, Ducky said, "You lost a great deal of blood, Jethro, and until both Dr. Winter and I are satisfied that you are no longer in danger, you shall remain hospitalized. You are going to remain here through tomorrow, at the very least."

Gibbs sighed and looked up at Tony. He brought Tony's hand up to his chest and smiled at him. He figured it was the meds that made him care less what anyone thought. "What about Tony? You keeping him here, too?"

"I'll stay with you for as long as you need me," Tony assured him.

Ducky smiled and said, "Anthony's injuries are less severe, though he suffered from mild hypothermia as well as some cuts and bruises. I hear that you lost your intravenous line again." He arched an eyebrow and Tony appeared a little guilty.

"Disconnects real easily, Doc."

"Hmmm. Fancy that."

Gibbs made a motion with his chin and said, "Bed," and Tony did as he was directed, rolling his eyes. Turning back to Ducky, Gibbs asked, "He really okay?"

"Mostly abrasions and small lacerations. No concussion from the head wound. There were some small circular burns as well," he said, his anger tempered yet apparent. "Probably an automobile lighter."

"Damn that fucker," Gibbs swore.

Ducky hesitated for a second and then said, "Anthony refused to be examined as thoroughly as the emergency room physician would have liked. I was there to calm him down; at first I thought that Anthony's agitation was because of the trauma of being held captive and drugged against his will. But I believe that there is another factor at play. Perhaps there is something that you feel you can tell me, that might assist us in determining the course of his care?"

Shit, they thought he'd been raped and Tony wouldn't let them examine him. Gibbs rubbed his hand over his face, and before he could figure out what to tell Ducky, Tony said, "I'll explain, Dr. Mallard."

Ducky went to Tony's side and in a matter-of-fact voice, Tony explained to the ME about his father's practice of having him wear a chastity belt as a device to protect him from being used. "It was my idea to wear it during that meeting at the hotel. Better safe than sorry, I guess. You see, I knew what the senator was like." He looked Ducky in the eye and said, "What he was really like. My father knew, too, and I know that he's not the best dad in the world–"

Gibbs snorted so Tony amended, "Okay, he's the worst dad in the world, but he wouldn't want me to get hurt. Not really." He looked from Ducky to Gibbs and said, "Dad thought that Harding and Torres were going to show up at the hotel. He didn't know that I decided, on my own, to call Harding to come pick me up." Tony threw himself back down on his bed and rubbed his face. "I know it was stupid but…I had my reasons, good reasons."

Gibbs shook his head, wishing he had the energy to continue the discussion, but he could feel that he was about to crash at any moment. "Not worth the risk, Tony."

"You will always be worth the risk, Jethro," Tony insisted.

Ducky held up his hands to prevent both men from continuing their quarrel. "I suggest that you both sleep, and tomorrow I will return and we can talk some more, if you feel up to it." He turned to Gibbs and said, "As Anthony is most likely to be released prior to you, perhaps he would consider staying at my house until you are fit to leave, Jethro. Mother and I have a young medical student rooming with us, a fine young man named Gerald Jackson. So Anthony would have company when I am at work." He patted Gibbs' arm and said, "You sleep and I'll be back in a few hours."

After Ducky left, Gibbs lay there in a state of near-sleep, feeling completely out of it. He had no idea how much time passed, though it couldn't have been very long, before he felt the railing of his bed being lowered and a warm, solid body sidling up to him. Gibbs grunted and shifted a little, turning slightly on his side, giving Tony some more room. With a sigh, Tony settled against him, and Gibbs turned his head so their mouths met; he lost himself in the soft exchange of a kiss that was languid and sweet and so full of promise that, for a moment, he truly believed that everything would be all right.

As he drifted off to sleep, Gibbs remembered what he'd heard when he'd awoken in the hospital bed. He mumbled, "Hey. Who says we're having a cookout at my place?" He opened his eyes to look at Tony, only to find that Tony was already asleep with a small smile on his face.

*** end chapter 49 ***