Chapter Four

McGee and Ziva looked up as Gibbs walked into the bullpen. He sat at his desk before answering their unspoken questions.

"DiNozzo hurt his back when he brought down Frangos," he said shortly. "He's off today, back tomorrow, desk duty till the end of the week."

McGee looked back at his screen, but Ziva kept her eyes on Gibbs.

"He'll be back tomorrow, Ziva," Gibbs said calmly. "You can see for yourself then."

Finally she turned away.

Time to get them back on the case, he thought. Gibbs had interrogated the suspect, Frangos, the day before. He was a homeless teenage junkie and, while he claimed to know nothing about the murder, did say he'd seen "sailors" in the area previously. And dealers. But when shown a photo of the victim, Private Laurence Koch, he denied having seen him before.

"McGee, I want your report on the interviews with the other members of Koch's squad and his family in an hour. I want to know every detail of his life from birth to when Ducky got him on the slab. Ziva, liaise with the local police about any drug arrests in that area."

They both settled down to work and Gibbs began reviewing the transcript of his interview with Frangos to see if there was anything he had overlooked.

He waited till lunch before going to see Ducky. The ME was unsurprised by Gibbs' account of Tony's condition. Then Gibbs got to the nub of it.

"Realistically Ducky, what are the chances of the transplant working?"

Ducky leaned back in his chair and removed his glasses. He folded the arms in carefully and placed them in his pocket before responding.

"Bone marrow transplants from non-family donors are sometimes the last resort. Around 30% of people who receive them don't survive. Their immune systems are too destroyed by the chemotherapy. They're at risk from pneumonia or other infectious disease, excessive bleeding, organ failure. The transplant may be rejected by the recipient's immune system, or the donor bone marrow may launch an immune-mediated attack against the recipient's tissues. Approximately 25-50% of bone marrow transplant recipients develop long-term serious complications. It depends on whether the recipient has been in remission before and relapsed, but I would give odds of ..." he shrugged helplessly, "... around 30%."

So that was it, Gibbs thought. Thirty percent. He tipped his head back and drew a deep breath.

Ducky looked at him steadily.

"Anthony knows this, Jethro. He has been told. And he has also been told that if it fails it is not due to any deficiency or weakness on his part. But I am sorry I can't give you any better odds than that, I really am." He sighed. "I know how much it means to him. And how he will feel if it fails."

Gibbs nodded. Thirty percent was twice the odds given to Tony himself when he had the plague, but that was different. Then Gibbs could work on Tony, cajoling, encouraging, bullying even, to ensure Tony kept his grip on life. But he couldn't do that now. Whether this child lived or died was out of his hands.

But there was one thing he could do. If the transplant failed, there was no way he would let Tony blame himself. Gibbs would not let this hurt him. He wanted Tony to appreciate that, regardless of the outcome, he had done a brave and generous thing. It would be a blow, a grievous blow, to the young man, if the recipient did not survive, but Gibbs would drag Tony through it one way or another and make him come out the other side proud of what he had done.

But right now the investigation into Private Koch's death took precedence and that seemed to have hit a brick wall. Koch was a stand-out junior marine with a spotless record and glowing recommendations from superiors, liked and admired by his squad mates. He came from a loving and now distraught family who spoke of him with pride as their "golden boy" who worked hard and never gave them a moment's worry. He had no prior criminal record, no juvenile record and no history of drug use.

Frangos gave them vague descriptions of dealers he had seen in the area. The local LEOS on the Drug Squad were less than interested in what they regarded as one more user who came to grief at the hands of his dealer, but they sent over some information about recent arrests in the area.

By the end of the day Gibbs was frustrated with Frangos, with the LEOs, with his team, with himself. He left Ziva and McGee looking over the LEOs' files and headed to Tony's, trying to wind back his exasperation as he drove.

He had checked out his agent's fridge that morning and not been impressed by what he saw, so he made a quick stop at the supermarket. When he arrived at Tony's apartment, he knocked once before letting himself in with his keys and depositing a bag load of groceries on the kitchen table.

His agent was reclining on his sofa watching Charade. He started in surprise when Gibbs let himself in and frowned when he saw the bag of groceries.

"Fridge looked a bit empty this morning," Gibbs said gruffly by way of explanation. "Thought I might make you dinner."

"Boss you don't need to do that," Tony protested. "Really, I can..."

"You can peel these potatoes," Gibbs interrupted, pulling them out of the paper bag, "if you want mash with your veal."

Tony hesitated for a moment and then smiled and shook his head. He came over and started doing as ordered, pulling a bowl from the cupboard and filling it with water.

"How're you feeling?" Gibbs asked bluntly.

"Better. Not so tired, and less sore." Tony started peeling.

"Take those tablets Ducky left for you?"

Tony hesitated and Gibbs stopped unloading the groceries to look at him.

"Some," he admitted. "He said to take them as needed, and I felt alright, so I skipped the lunch time dose."

To Gibbs' eyes Tony was still moving pretty slowly, and he knew another good night's sleep was required before Tony came back to work, even on desk duty.

"You'll take two after dinner," Gibbs directed. "And then hit the sack."

Tony stopped peeling and looked at him in exasperation. "Funny, I remember my Mother being shorter....."

Gibbs snorted. He pulled a pan out of the cupboard and put it on the stovetop. Veal steaks with tomato and rosemary sauce and mashed potatoes. Not exactly haute cuisine, but hearty and tasty.

He was pleased to see Tony had not lost his appetite, demolishing his dinner with commendable speed as Gibbs filled him in on the investigation.

"Maybe Koch had another reason for being there," Tony suggested around a mouthful of veal and potato.

"Like what?"

Tony nodded, swallowing. "Maybe he wasn't there to do a drug deal; maybe he got in the way of one."

Gibbs looked at him.

"Or maybe he went there wanting to get in the way of one," Tony added.

Gibbs pulled out his phone and made a call. "McGee, did Koch have any siblings?" he asked without preamble. Then he nodded at Tony. "I thought so. Check out the siblings for any drug connections. The way the parents spoke about him, it sounded to me as if our dead Private was not the one of their children they expected to end up dead in an alley."

He snapped the phone shut and gave his senior agent a wry smile. Tony was oblivious, happily making mash mountains and demolishing them.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said sharply. The agent looked up, startled. "Good work."

Tony grinned.

Gibbs was as good as his word. After dinner, Tony was allowed to watch the end of his DVD of Charade, but as soon as Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant and Walter Matthau finished trading shots and barbs, Gibbs told him it was time for bed.

"Boss, seriously. I haven't been to bed this early since....".

"Since the plague?" Gibb suggested. "Or the last time you got concussed? Get in bed DiNozzo, and I'll hit the road. I'll be back tomorrow at 0700."

Tony rolled his eyes, but Gibbs did not blink.

"Are you gonna tell me a bedtime story too Boss?" Tony asked cheekily as he lay in bed a few minutes later, teeth brushed and pills taken.

"Yep," Gibbs said shortly. "Now roll over."

Tony did as he was bid, and felt the cool gel against his skin and Gibbs' strong, slightly callused fingers moving in firm, gentle circles over his lower back.

"I'm going to tell you a story about a kid called Cody, who didn't believe that his mother was dead."

Tony turned his head and glanced up at him.

"I think I know how this story ends, Boss," he said quietly.

"You in the classroom with me, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

Tony gave a small shake of his head.

"Okay then, now you're going to hear my side of it." And Gibbs told him how smart Tony was to let him know Cody's mother was dead by referring to Kate, how Gibbs kept trying to keep Cody away from the windows so the snipers wouldn't take him out but trusting Tony to make the right decision, how once he realised Cody was being used he hoped Tony would find a way to get them all out of that classroom alive, how ingenious Tony's plan was to put the video feed on a loop. By the time he finished, Tony was half asleep, but Gibbs could see the small smile playing on his lips.

As he pulled down Tony's t-shirt and pulled up the covers, Gibbs heard a sleepy whisper of "Thanks Boss."

He patted Tony a little awkwardly on the shoulder, said "See you in the morning DiNozzo," and let himself out.