"Alright," Kate decided. "I'm going to be the one to say it. I'm worried about him."

It was several days since Tony's surgery and Kate and Abby were in the elevator, making their way up to Tony's floor, so they could visit with him.

"Who? Tony?" Abby asked.

"No, not Tony. Well no, obviously I'm worried about Tony. But that's not what I meant."

"McGee?"

"No, McGee just needs to suck it up and talk this thing through with Tony. He'll be fine. Its Gibbs. He doesn't eat properly. He's barely sleeping. If he isn't at the office, he's here. I don't think he's been home since Tony was injured."

"O-kay," Abby frowned at her. "Still waiting for the worrying part?"

"Abby that is not normal behaviour." Kate replied, as the elevator doors opened and they made their way along the hallway.

"In Gibbsworld it is. You know, Bossman, he just gets a little hyper focused sometimes. As soon as Tony is all better .."

"That's just it," Kate paused at the entrance to Tony's room. "Gibbs is acting like its inevitable that DiNozzo is going to make a full recovery and be straight back on the team. He's not seeing this from Tony's point of view. He must be terrified that he's going to have to leave NCIS. All I'm saying is it might be healthier to encourage him to at least think about other options."

"But Tony's a cop," Abby protested. "Its not just what he does. Its what he is. Like being a priest or something."

"Somehow, I just don't see Tony with a vocation." Kate shook her head as she pushed open the door.

Tony was sitting in a chair picking left-handedly at his dinner. It looked more like something Abby should be testing with her lab kit, rather than food designed to make sick people feel better. Gibbs had threatened him with severe bodily him if he didn't eat. He threw down his fork, like that actually mattered now.

"Hey, Tony, Abby bounced up and caught him in a hug, careful of his bandaged arm. "That's a good look on you."

"You like?" Tony spared her a brief smile for her appreciation of his navy sweat pants and a faded grey NCIS T-shirt.

"Yeah, very Gibbsesque. Except your hair is way cooler."

The comparism with Gibbs sliced unexpectedly through his soul. It took all of Tony's undercover skills to muster the required trademark grin and dredge up the expected quip. It probably wasn't up to his usual standards, and he wasn't even sure what he had said. But it was enough to give him a moment to recover his equilibrium. God, how much he'd wanted to be like Gibbs. To make him proud. Never going to happen now.

"Hey," Gibbs strode in. Honing in on DiNozzo, he deftly swapped the Hospital lunch tray for the Pizza Box he held in his other hand, flipping open the lid and pulling out a slice for himself, before fixing Tony was a stern look. "You, eat."

"How did you get that past the nurses?" Kate wondered.

"Easy, I didn't get caught." Gibbs was smug.

"You know Jethro," Ducky frowned, as he appeared in the doorway, Tony's most recent set of X-rays in his hand. "That really isn't the most nutritionally balanced meal for a convalescent."

"You ever actually try any of this, Duck?" Gibbs nodded at the tray of Hospital food, he was still holding.

"Hmm," Ducky picked up a fork and took a mouthful, his face immediately twisting in distaste. "Ah."

"Thought you'd see it my way." Gibbs flashed him a grin.

"Is that chocolate pudding?" Abby ventured. Gibbs gave her an incredulous look, but slid her the tray without comment, only raising one brow slightly, as she dug enthusiastically into the mound of brown mush. She just grinned unrepentantly. "Gotta love those addatives."

"How were the X-Rays?" Kate asked.

"Things are much the same, I'm afraid. Still, we must not loose hope."

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence as everyone waited for Tony to say something. But he seemed to be utterly absorbed in picking the individual pieces of sausage off his slice of Pizza.

"You know, " Kate began cautiously. "Field Agents are only a minor percentage of the work force at NCIS. With your police background there has to be lots of openings you could fill."

"Kate." Gibbs warned.

"No, let's hear it," Tony looked up. "What do you think I should be when I grow up, Katie?"

"Well," Kate spoke brightly "I was talking to Saunders in ."

"Saunders?" Tony almost snarled. "You want to turn me into some desk bound geek?" It was too much. All the anger and fear and despair that he had kept bottled up over the last several days came bubbling up to the surface. "No way. No fucking way."

"Tony, you have to .."

"Kate, step out." Gibbs' voice commanded.

"Gibbs, I was just trying .."

"Agent Todd, I said step out!" Gibbs' voice cracked like a whip.

Reluctantly she rose to her feet and stepped out into the corridor to square off against her furious Boss. She knew she was opening a can of worms, but she owed it to Tony and her boss.

"Gibbs, we are going to have to be realistic about this."

"By 'we' I take it you mean me?"

"Things aren't looking good. It isn't fair to give Tony false hope. If he's going to adjust to his new life he's going to need to know that you will still be there for him. All I'm asking you to do is .."

"All you're asking me to do, is to give up on him," Gibbs' tone was low and fierce. "And I'm not ready to do that. Not now. And not ever."

Gibbs strode down the hall, his expression set and furious. He needed coffee. After haunting the hallways for the last few days he knew that the only decent supply was in the Doctor's Lounge. Thankfully, it was empty and the coffee pot was almost full. Picking out a large mug he filled it to the brim and took a long swallow.

"Jethro," Ducky opened the door. "I thought I should advise you, that your conversation with Agent Todd was clearly audible to those of us in the other room."

"Do I look like I care ..?" Gibbs paused. "How did Tony take it?"

"Its rather curious I'm afraid. He seemed to find your endorsement rather dis-heartening."

"There's something going on with him, Duck," Gibbs mused. "I just can't figure it out. Its like he's trying too hard to act like there's nothing wrong."

"Some might say that was a natural reaction to a rather stressful situation."

"Tony's been injured before," Gibbs dismissed that. "Worse than this."

"Differently to this, perhaps," Ducky corrected. "Before, he has always known that when he recovers the job will be waiting for him. I fear that facing an uncertain future may be more of a burden to him than the injury itself."

"He's going to be fine."

"I admire your conviction, Jethro. But what if he isn't?"

"You too, Ducky?" Gibbs said softly.

"That lad worships you, Jethro. He needs to know that, whatever happens; you aren't going to abandon him. He's already started to withdraw from us. That ridiculous excuse for not celebrating his birthday for example."

"I know."

In truth Gibbs had seen more than even Ducky realised. Tony was dammed good at dissembling. But he had never been able to lie to Gibbs. And right now there was deceit in every word and gesture. Whatever Tony was feeling he was doing his dammdest to keep it hidden from them.

"It's a great pity," Ducky mused. "The most important attribute for a law enforcement officer isn't their shooting ability, its their instincts and their intellect and Anthony has those in abundance. You know, the vast majority of British Policeman manage to solve crimes perfectly well without carrying a gun."

Gibbs stilled, as it all suddenly fell into place. He slammed his coffee cup down so hard that the hot liquid sloshed over the edge of the ceramic and the handle came off in his hand.

"I'm going to kill him." He vowed softly.

"Jethro? What is it?" Ducky frowned as Gibbs tipped the remaining coffee into another mug and hurled the broken one into the trash, before striding towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"To fix this."