One by One, by Tweeter
Once again, I want to thank everyone for their comments and for sticking with me through this. I forgot how much I love writing and how starved I was for stories, especially stories that read like episodes since I will not pair my guys up with anyone! AndyCake: I appreciate your comments and respect your views. I already have another story in mind, and am laying out the plot and events before I write willy-nilly. I respectfully disagree with your opinion that Ari throwing away the gun is a plot hole, though I do think it's awkward. I think for a macho, arrogant man such as Ari, fighting an enemy hand to hand is very characteristic of him. But I do see your point of view. As usual, loads of thanks to Rinne for catching punctuation problems and offering comments, and for thinking up the titles for the last two chapters. I may not name chapters anymore, it's too hard!
Chapter 6 – Family
The waiting room was filled with an assortment of humanity, all in various stages of distress, except for the four very healthy, very anxious people, one of whom was pacing and muttering to himself.
"Jethro," Ducky called, "please, sit down. They'll come out and tell us Tony's condition as soon as they can."
"I need to know now!" At that, Gibbs headed for the door to the Emergency treatment rooms, only to be stopped by Ducky, moving faster than a man at his age should be able to move.
"Let the medical staff do their jobs, Jethro," admonished the older man. "You won't be doing Tony any good by getting in their way or distracting them."
The uncertainty and fear shone plainly on Gibbs' face. "You saw him, Ducky. He was so still and so cold. I could barely feel a pulse, I had to put my ear directly over his heart to make sure it was still beating."
Ducky's nodded. "Yes, yes, I saw that. He's suffering from hypothermia, but it looked like it could be a mild case. His vital signs were steady when they brought him in, and he's a healthy young man. Please, stay calm, if not for his sake, then for Abby's. She's terrified of losing him."
"I am, too."
Ducky smiled softly. "I know how much you care about your people, and I know that you blame yourself for Caitlin's death and Tony's kidnapping, but it's not your fault. It's all on that madman's head."
"He was going after my people, Ducky. To get to me. If they weren't on my team they wouldn't have been targeted at all."
"So what does that mean, you stop caring about your people? You stop interacting with anyone at all, in case they're targeted by your enemies?" challenged Ducky. "You may project a hard-nosed image, and you are a bull-headed, forceful man, but I know you have a caring side. Your people respect and admire you. Tony practically imitates you, he tries so hard to make you proud. Do you think he's wishing he'd never accepted your offer to leave Baltimore and join NCIS?"
Ducky paused, as if waiting for an answer, but continued before Gibbs could even open his mouth.
"No, he would not. He's learned so much from you and that's why he respects you. He knows what kind of a man you are, what kind of investigator, and he tries to soak in everything he can from you."
"And Kate?" whispered Gibbs.
"Kate respected you as well. She willingly took a bullet for you. She probably would have thrown herself in front of the second bullet if it was heading for you and she had seen it." His eyes misted. "We all love you, too, Jethro, whether you want to believe it or not. We're a family."
Before Gibbs could say anything the nurse at the nursing station called out, "DiNozzo family?"
Ducky looked meaningfully at Gibbs, who replied, "That's us."
Abby and McGee joined them and the group was ushered back through the double doors. A young man with a white coat over surgical greens met them, carrying a chart. He checked it briefly and looked up. "Special Agent Gibbs?"
"I'm Gibbs."
"You're listed as Agent DiNozzo's emergency contact and next-of-kin." He looked inquiringly at the other three people who were watching him anxiously.
"These are the rest of our team members. We're family," Gibbs' tone brooked no argument.
The doctor nodded. "I'm Doctor Eddington. Agent DiNozzo is resting comfortably, we'll be moving up to a floor when a bed is ready, that shouldn't be long now."
"How serious are his injuries?" Gibbs couldn't help sounding anxious.
"Let's see," Eddington referred to the chart in his hand, "The most serious thing is the hypothermia. His temperature was 90 degrees, well below normal but not low enough to cause permanent damage, plus it appears he wasn't exposed to the cool air for very long. We've got him on oxygen with a humidifier, to bring his temperature up slowly. There was a deep laceration on the right side of his head, it took about 25 stitches. We'll have to keep a close eye on him for signs of a concussion and there's a risk of bleeding in the skull once his blood is circulating normally. He's a bit dehydrated, but we're taking care of that with an IV... that's being warmed slightly to help with the hypothermia, as well. Other than some minor cuts and contusions, he appears to be relatively unharmed."
"From what Ari said, I thought he'd be in bad shape. It sounded as if they were torturing him, or worse," McGee said in surprise.
"To get to me, imagining what he was doing to Tony," replied Gibbs grimly. "I'm still surprised that he didn't do more damage to him."
"But why was he naked?" McGee asked.
"Psychological torture for Tony, perhaps?" postulated Ducky. "Being blindfolded and naked, he could have thought he was going to be sexually violated."
Gibbs turned to the doctor. "May we see him?"
"Sure, he's over there in bed three. You can go with him, when they take him up to his room." The doctor pointed them toward a cubicle to the right.
Drawing the curtain aside, the group approached the gurney quietly, not wanting to disturb the sleeping figure. Tony's face was pale, the lips still bluish, his eyes moving restlessly under the closed lids. There was a large, white bandage taped over the side of his head.
Abby approached the side of the gurney and took his hand in her own. "He's so cold," she whispered.
Tony's eyelids fluttered, then opened. He blinked slowly, trying to focus.
"Hey, Tony," Abby said softly. "How ya feeling?"
Tony blinked sleepily at her, a small smile forming on his lips. His voice was weak and she had to bend closely to hear him through the oxygen mask,
Abby looked up at the rest of the group. "He's his normal, crazy self. He's 'never better'."
Gibbs laughed for the first time in what seemed like days. "You look like crap, DiNozzo."
Tony turned toward his boss, and said something. Gibbs moved closer and lowered his head so he could hear what he was saying.
"I knew you'd find me, Boss," he whispered. Gibbs was touched by the trust in the young man's eyes.
"I had my doubts, Tony."
"I didn't."
Gibbs smiled and took Tony's free hand, squeezing it gently. "Then it's good one of us kept the faith." He looked at the bandage on Tony's head. "You're going to have quite a scar."
Tony pulled his hand free and reached up to feel the side of his head. His eyes widened in shock. "They shaved my head?"
Ducky began chuckling softly, while Gibbs shook his head in disbelief. Abby stroked Tony's hair. "You're still beautiful, Tony," she said consolingly. McGee just rolled his eyes.
An orderly came up to the cubicle. "Agent DiNozzo's room is ready, are you all coming up with him?"
"Yes," replied Gibbs firmly. "We're staying with him for as long as he needs us." The others nodded in agreement.
The nurse on the 5th floor was surprised by the number of people following the gurney. The orderly handed her the chart and reported:
"This is Agent Anthony DiNozzo and family."
FIN
Thank you for sticking with this. You didn't really think I'd kill my Tony off, did you? Okay, I did kill my favorite character off in a Due South story, but that story was one of those that wrote itself and dragged me kicking and screaming into it. I do, however, tend to hurt people, it's so nice to comfort them. Perhaps I should seek help for that little proclivity.