Note: Abby's funeral; few days after Chapter 26
His hand gripped her's, simply holding it like he had done before. Kate still laid there in an unconscious state, her breath was being pushed by a respirator and her head was tightly wrapped with gauze. It was almost as though the once beautiful agent had been transformed into this mared and sickly creature.
Tony sat in a wheel chair next to her bed, it was the day of Abby's funeral and he had been released into Gibbs' care in order to attend. Though he had wished to make a stop in Kate's room to check on her. He suddenly wished he hadn't, she was far worse then he would have expected. His fingers traced her cheek before Gibbs walked in.
"Come on Tony, we can't be late for the funeral."
"I...just needed to see her Gibbs."
"I know, but we have to go. We'll come back to see her when the funeral is over." Tony nodded and backed the chair up, his arms were still rather weak but he tried and got as far as possible before those dark hues landed on Gibbs' icy ones. Gibbs nodded, his body moving from the doorway to stand behind the wheel chair and slowly push Tony out.
"You know, soon you'll be able to do this on your own and you won't need my help any more."
"Gibbs," Tony looked up, "What has gotten into you? You are...so...protective..." Tony spoke softly his head shaking before lowering to watch the path to the elevator.
Because I let that bastard hurt my son instead of fighting for him. Gibbs sighed and hit the button to the elevator to go down, he slowly wheeled Tony in and faced him towards the door. "Well...your injured Tony. It's only natural that your boss would be worried."
"No...something else is going on. You aren't...yourself." He sighed once more and looked up at him before lowering his gaze.
"Nah, nothings going on just worried about my team."
"Whatever you say Gibbs."
"Tony, would you terribly mind if we went to see your mother? She wants to see you."
"As long as I don't have to see my father, I don't care." Tony's face contorted when he said the word 'father', and it sent a shiver of pain down Gibbs' spine. How could he tell this young man that he was his father? How could he tell him that the pain he went through was meaningless?
"Alright Tony...you don't have to see your father. Though I'm sure your mother may mention it." Gibbs watched Tony as the young man snorted, he was doing everything he could to keep from having that defeated look. "Tony you do know she loves your father, you have to respect her for that."
"Respect her for loving a man that beats her and her children? That killed my sister by shaking her when she was a newborn? No I can't respect that, that is just...foolish."
"And you've never done anything foolish in your life because you loved something involved with it?"
"Yeah, I've done that before. But not at the risk of other's lives, I may be a fool but I'm no idiot like she is..."
"Stop right there Dinozzo, listen to what the hell your saying!" Gibbs growled his fingers going to hit the stop button on the elevator controls. He turned and glared right into Tony's dark hues. "You talk about your mother as if she made the biggest mistake of her life having you and your brothers and sisters, if anything right here right now is the biggest mistake she has ever made. Making you so bitter, your mother is too good of a woman for you to be talking about her like that and I for one won't have it. As for Mike, hell you can talk about him all you want to he has no right to call you son let alone touch you..." Gibbs was beginning to calm down though now his eyes no longer met a surprised Dinozzo, but an angry one.
"Don't even defend her! You don't know her, you don't know what she has done! What she let be done to her children! You don't know anything Gibbs!" He snorted and tried to stand, but his body just collapsed to the floor. He knew better than that, but he was so determined to meet Gibbs' gaze and not have to look up to him.
Gibbs' eyes leveled on him as he fell to the floor, and surprisingly he didn't move towards his agent to help him. He actually turned back around and hit the start button for the elevator. "If you can yell at me like that, you damn well can get back in that chair on your own." Gibbs snorted lightly.
Tony's eyes turned to Gibbs' own, they were pained but understanding. He grunted as his hands grabbed at the chair, pulling it over he tried to pull his body along the floor towards the seat. Tony's body was slow to move, he weighed more than he ever had strength to pull but he was determined to prove Gibbs wrong so he pushed himself. His limp legs dragged against the ground, his chest was barely off it as he slowly edged himself towards the wheelchair seat.
Gibbs watched him, his eyes making sure that there was nothing wrong with his son as he pushed himself to get into that chair. Gibbs was testing him, but he wasn't about to have Dinozzo die on him. He watched as Tony moved himself on his side and slowly began to scoot his body into the seat, he pushed on the upward end until it toppled over onto its wheels nearly pushing him out of it. Gibbs couldn't help but smile, he moved to him but was thrown back by a sharp glare from Tony.
"You didn't think I could do it, you thought I was useless didn't you Gibbs?" Tony asked, angry but at the same time elated that he had done the task and completed the test.
"I thought you could do it, actually I knew you could do it. I was testing to see if you knew you could do it Tony, I care about you believe it or not. And the fact that I see you there paralyzed and there is nothing I can do about it kills me inside. I want so much to help you like I should but I can't." He sighed lightly and moved to the rear of the wheel chair once more as the elevator doors opened up.
Light blinded them, it was white and crisp and flowed evenly into their eyes. It was the light of a bright Washington morning, and the light of a day of rememberance for a dear friend. Though it also seemed to be a light that was guiding the two of these people into something more than boss and employee.
