AN – some language, just so you're not shocked. And thank you to everyone who reviewed, your coments are greatly appreciated.
"Hey there," Leaving Kate hovering anxiously in the doorway, one of the EMTs came over and hunkered down beside Tony, "I'm Mike and that ugly dude over there is my partner, Jim. Looks, like you've had an exciting morning, Special Agent ..?"
"Tony."
"Well, Special Agent, Tony, let's take a look at you."
To DiNozzo's blessed relief Mike was as good as he word, looking carefully at the embedded knife from every angle, without attempting to touch it. "Someone did a nice job on this." Mike nodded at the makeshift bandage wound around the knife.
"My boss." Tony tilted his head, in the direction of Gibbs, still crouched on his other side.
"Well, you must be worth your paycheck, Tony, because your boss here just saved your life. If he had tried yanking this baby out you would have bled to death by now."
"Serrated edge." Gibbs murmured.
Mike looked up. "Marine, right?"
"Gee, you can tell that from just looking?" Tony grinned weakly.
"Don't make me regret saving your life, DiNozzo." Gibbs smiled down at him.
"It's the hair, Boss. Told you before. Gotta get yourself a little gel action going on there." Tony managed.
"Problem is," Mike's tone and expression became more serious as he took another look at the exit wound and the inch of blade sticking out underneath Tony's arm. "This thing is designed to do even more damage coming out than going in. We'll fix up a sling and immobilise it for transport. But you're gonna need X-rays before we go poking around in there."
"Great," Tony looked away. "Already looking forward to it."
"Kate," Gibbs raised his head. "Make sure Sergeant Baxter is secure and then fetch Ducky and meet us at the Hospital. I'll want him to look at the X-Rays."
"Right." She nodded sharply, already heading for the elevator, glad for something to do.
"Alright," Mike looked at his partner. "Let'smake this as quick as we can."
The EMTs were deft and professional; even so the way Tony lost all colour and animation as Mike fixed the sling warned Gibbs this was very bad. DiNozzo might whine like hell over a paper cut, but he was as tough as any Marine when it came down to the wire.
"That's great, you're doing fine." Mike patted Tony's good shoulder comfortingly. But the businesslike way he orchestrated the arrival of the gurney and arranged for their route to be cleared spoke volumes to Gibbs. Tony wasn't out of the woods yet. As they loadedTony into the elevator, he caught a glimpse of McGee's chalk white face, hovering on the edge of a small knot of concerned onlookers, several of whom, he realised, were young and female.
"You have pins made for your fan club, DiNozzo?" He tried to lighten the mood.
"Boss," Tony's voice was thin with strain. "About McGee .."
"Not now, Tony."
It was his harshest tone. The one that said obey or else. But as usual, when he got his teeth into something, his Senior Field Agent didn't take the blindest bit of notice of his ire. Tony might admire and respect him, but he sure as hell wasn't afraid to stand up to him when he thought it was warranted. It was one of the many reasons Gibbs had hired him.
"It wasn't his fault."
"The hell it wasn't .."
He made no excuse for the fact that he liked to keep his Agent's on their toes. And if that meant getting in their faces from time to time then they either shaped up or shipped out. Despite his background, he'd taken a chance on promoting McGee to a Field Agent. He sure as hell hoped Tony wasn't about to pay for his mistake with his life.
"C'mon, Gibbs," Tony pressed. "You wouldn't be this mad if I hadn't got hurt."
"That's kinda the point, Tony," He softened his tone. "You did get hurt."
"Yeah, but the way I look at it that was at least as much my fault as McGee's, more really if you think about it."
"I know I'm gonna regret asking this." Gibbs sighed.
He wouldn't even have been having this conversation, except he hadn't missed the way Tony tensed at every small movement, or the thin, hollow plains of his cheeks. If talking about McGee helped him keep his mind off the pain, Gibbs wasn't about to deny him.
"I'm the Senior Field Agent," Tony was arguing. "I've got the experience. If my reactions had been a bit sharper I wouldn't have got cut."
"If Baxter hadn't had a dammed knife in his hand you wouldn't have got cut either." Gibbs retorted sharply.
"You never miss a concealed weapon, Boss?" Tony asked softly.
Gibbs scrubbed at his face; in truth he was already more angry with himself than McGee. Maybe the kid was just too young for the responsibility. By rights he probably shouldn't have even been in that position in the first place. And nor should DiNozzo. Crouching down, he looked the younger man in the eye, daring him to lie.
"You want to tell me why you didn't just let Baxter go?" he asked softly.
Theirs was after all, a secure building. It was staffed with Federal Agents. Well armed and highly trained Federal Agents. And the interrogation area had extra security. As soon as Baxter had tried to use the elevator the alarms would have gone off and it would have been imobilised. He would never have got out of that corridor.
Tony hesitated.
"Yeah," Gibbs said softly, as the elevator doors opened. "That's kinda what I figured."
Kate pressed her foot hard onto the gas pedal, for once, not caring that she was exceeding thelimit, as she urged the car to go just that little bit faster. To her right, Ducky, was murmured quietly to himself as he reviewed some hastily gathered articles on relevant medical procedures. In the back, McGee and Abby sat, their fingers entwined, wearing twin expressions of worry.
"I shouldn't be here," McGee blurted. "I should have stayed back at the office."
"Of course, you should be here," Abby looked closely at him. "In fact, when we get to the Hospital, you should probably get yourself checked out. You know, the whole shock thing."
"I'm not in shock."
Kate glanced up in the rear view mirror. He did look unnaturally pale and his hands were still shaking. "Is that why you were throwing up in the ladies room?" she asked, not unkindly.
"Tony was the one who got stabbed." McGee briefly closed his eyes against a metal image of DiNozzo, his eyes wide, as he struggled with a snarling Baxter, pleading with him to help. While he just stood there.
"Ducky, tell him." Abby insisted.
The MD twisted around in his seat to give the younger man a steady look. "The witnesses are all too often the forgotten victims in such a crime. Just because you weren't stabbed doesn't mean that you can emerge from such an encounter unscathed. I would look you over myself, but I have to get to those X-Rays. I imagine they will want to schedule surgery as soon as possible."
"Surgery?" McGee's head snapped up.
"They're probably just being ultra careful," Abby soothed. "With a knife like Kate saw you can't just yank it out. For one thing it hurts like a bitch."
"Tell Gibbs I'll contact Tony's next of kin, his parents live in Long Island, don't they?" Kate looked over at Ducky. Hearing McGee's horrified gasp, she glanced up to meet his eyes in the rear view mirror. "What?"
"Next of kin?" McGee looked like she had just passed a death sentence. "You don't think .. I mean, I didn't realise …"
"McGee," Kate shook her head. "Its SOP in these situations. It doesn't mean Tony's going to die."
"Right," McGee nodded weakly. "I knew that."
"I wouldn't concern yourself with contacting Anthony's parents, my dear," Ducky shook his head sadly. "His mother died some time ago and I fear his father ..
"Wait," Kate's hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, as she remembered what she had said just that morning about calling his Mom. "His mother is dead?"
"You didn't know?" Abby sounded genuinely surprised. "I mean I know Tony doesn't actually come out and say stuff like that or anything. With him it's all kinda between the lines. But you gotta have noticed all his stories about his Mom stop when he's about ten."
"He was only ten?" Kate was mortified.
"As I was saying," Ducky continued in a slightly affronted tone. "I'm afraid his father devotes rather more time to the care and nurturing of his, already not inconsiderable, fortune than he does to the well being of his only son. The first time young Anthony was injured here at NCIS, he needed emergency surgery. It was all most unfortunate. Not even Jethro could get past his minons to speak to the 'great man' in person, to authorise the procedure. Tony almost died."
"I've never seen Gibbs so angry," Abby's tone was awed. "I mean, he does a great mad, but he almost never totally loses it. This was the real deal. You know that dint in the wall in my lab? Gibbs put his fist straight through the plaster. Broke two fingers. I swear, if it wasn't for the whole 'race against time' thing he would have flown right out there and beaten that bastard to a pulp."
"So, what happened?"
"Bossman faked Daddy DiNozzo's signature," Abby supplied. "Tony had the surgery and after that Gibbs got all Poppa Bear and had Tony make him his next of kin."
"Gibbs' is Tony's next of kin?"
"Cute, isn't it?" Abby bounced.
"I didn't realise they were that close." Kate floundered, looking over at Ducky.
"You've only known them for a short time, my dear," he soothed. "After a while, you will realise that they are actually very much alike. Which unfortunately means that neither of them is very good at putting their feelings into words. I'm afraid that means Jethro is going to be rather difficult to live with until Tony is back on his feet."
"What about Tony?"
"Perversely, I think getting stabbed might actually have made his day take a turn for the better." Ducky mused.
"I haven't thought of that," Abby brightened. "That is so cool. This way we all get to show him how much we love him. And he'll be too weak to resist."
"Oh, my God," Kate paled. "Please tell me today isn't the anniversary of his mother's death?"
"I don't think it is," Abby wrinkled her nose. "That would be too weird."
"My dear Caitlin, I thought you knew," Ducky looked at her in mild surprise. "Today is Anthony's birthday."