Tony's Demotion
Jethro Gibbs looked out the window of his dining room, and smiled. It had been a long time, it seemed, but he finally could see a light at the end of the tunnel. Literally.
His team had never let him down, Tony had done an excellent job leading them, and Tim had taken some major leaps of progress, just from having Tony to deal with on his own. Kate was another matter, however.
She had stubbornly persisted in bringing him flowers, in spite of his insistence that he didn't like gifts that required work.
Her defense was that, if he couldn't see them, he didn't have to water them. He pointed out that if he couldn't see them, then what was the point of bringing them? She tried to insist that there was more to a flower than the pretty petals, until he finally won the argument by flatly stating that florist flowers had no scent because the smell had been bred right out of them, for the sake of looks. Gibbs grinned to himself, his blue eyes sparkling, as he heard her exasperated, defeated sigh.
Abby had stopped by many times, sometimes with Tim, sometimes without, but always with her effervescent personality, and plenty of hot coffee from his dealer. Gibbs could smell it before she even entered the room, and as a result, she was always met with the most eager of smiles.
When he was finally released from the hospital, it was after many visits from his team, and many visits from his young friend, Sandy. The little girl had taught him much about dealing with blindness. She had given him pointers on how to deal with everyday things. She told him that she knew he wouldn't always be blind, like she was, but in the meantime he was blind, and he'd better suck it up and learn to live with it until he could see again. Not even Abby could get away with calling a spade a bleepin' shovel like that. But Sandy could get away with it, and Gibbs would accept the blunt advice with a warm smile, and the most sincere promise to remember it.
For all of the visits, for all of the gestures of friendship and support, for all of the affection and devotion that his team had displayed, the most priceless gift of all had been the wisdom and companionship of that little girl.
One morning, he had woken up, and realised that he couldn't just feel the sun shining on his face, through his bedroom window - he could see it, as well, when he squinted against the light.
Not long after that, he knew that either Tony or Tim had arrived, not just by the very different scents of the colognes they wore, or the distinctive sounds of their footsteps, but by the shape of their forms, as well. He knew Abby by the movement about her head, as her pigtails swung in unison with her motions. He came to recognize all of them, by his slowly returning sight.
Before he knew it, it seemed, he was back on the job.
It had, in actual fact, been quite some time. But the team still looked up as he entered the bullpen through the elevator doors. He stopped and looked at them, one by one. Tim glanced up from his desk and grinned, like a young boy whose favourite big brother had finally returned home from college. Kate smiled warmly, glad to have Tony deposed as their Boss. Tony's face reflected gratitude, and relief - Kate wasn't the only one who was eager to see him demoted back to his previous position.
Tony stood up. "Boss," he said, sounding official, "I hereby return custody of this motley crew of NCIS Special Agents back to their sole and rightful Leader. They are gently used, with just a few bumps and scrapes, and I think McGee has a small dent, but I think you'll find them all in satisfactory shape."
Gibbs looked at him, trying to frown, but his crystal blue eyes betrayed his emotions. He smiled, finally, and shook his head, chuckling softly. "Get back to work, DiNozzo," he said, heading back to his desk.