Just something I wrote in between chapters of my other story Blackout (which I will continue with-I already have another 6 chapters to it written) Started out as a quick conversation fic and ended up being nearly 3000 words long! (sorry if there are any spelling, grammar mistakes in it. I haven't had this beta read and I wrote it quite quickly) Hope you like it and tell me what you think, you never know, I might find the inspiration to take this further,
Leroy Jethro Gibbs frowned as the peace was shattered by a loud incessant beeping noise, followed by the sounds usual found in a hospital. Memories of how he could have ended up unconscious in a hospital came shooting back. He'd lead his team into what they though was a derelict warehouse where two Navy drug runners were operating out of. What they weren't expecting was the welcoming present, C4 explosives on a trip wire that Gibbs' poor eyesight had missed. Gibbs groaned.
"Good morning" A cheerfully voice greeted. Slowly Gibbs opened one eye and once it had got used to the bright light, he opened the other eye. Scanning the small hospital room he easily spotted his second in command, Tony, sitting at a small table by a large window. His forehead sported an inch long gash held together by stitches and his leg had been lifted up onto the spare chair, a pair of crutches leaning against the windowsill. Tony's eyes dropped back down to the folded newspaper in one hand. His other hand held a biro, which hovered with uncertainty over the paper.
"What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked grouchily, pain from whatever was wrong with him had made an appearance. Tony dropped the paper and pen onto the table and turned to Gibbs.
"I know you only just about tolerate my presence and the only reason you hired me was for an extra pair of hands who had a little more experience than a probie but Abby ordered me to sit here for the next eight hours otherwise she'd cut my balls off. I tend to take threats to my groin seriously so I guess you're gonna have to put up with me" Tony answered in one breath. He took in a deep breath and calmly picked the newspaper back up again.
"Tony?"
"What?" Tony replied, keeping his eyes firmly on the paper in front of him. Gibbs opened his mouth to correct him about his assumptions but was forgotten when another thought appeared.
"How's everyone else?"
"McGee has a concussion and a dislocated shoulder and Ziva came out with two cracked ribs and a lot of cuts and bruises. They were lucky"
"What about you?"
"What does it look like to you?" Tony spoke, shifting in his seat to find a more
comfortable position for his plastered leg.
"What about me?"
"Major concussion, you've been in and out of consciousness for the past couple of days, internal bleeding, fractured ankle and a dislocated wrist"
"So that's what that throbbing pain in my side is" Gibbs lifted his hospital shirt up with his good hand and found the surgery scar to add to his collection.
"I thought that was me?"
"Tony, no matter what I say you're a good agent and you wouldn't be on my team if you weren't" For the second time only Tony looked up at Gibbs.
"You mean that?"
"Well it could be the drugs talking" Tony smiled. "You really though I didn't appreciate the work you do?" Gibbs asked. While they were stuck in the room together they might as well use the time wisely.
"It's hard not to think that boss"
"You ever think about quitting because of it?"
"All the time" Tony answered honestly, causing Gibb's eyebrows to raise.
"So what makes you keep coming back?"
"Abby" Tony answered with a smile, Gibbs questioning look prompting him to explain. "On those days where everything goes wrong and I feel like it isn't worth it, Abby turns up at my door with beer and a movie. We watch the movie, drink the beers and just talk. We talk about everything, the movie, her love life, my love life, sometimes even probie's love life" Tony smiled again as the fond memories resurfaced. "When the movies finished and the beer bottles are empty Abs stands up, looks me straight in the eye and asks if she'll see me at work the next day. Ever since I've known her, she's not once failed to get me back on track"
"I never knew"
"Even you don't know everything that goes on around you Gibbs" Tony replied mysteriously. Gibbs watched silently as Tony smiled triumphantly at something on the newspaper and began scribbling with the pen. His curiosity got the better of him.
"What are you doing?" Tony back up at Gibbs and waved the paper at Gibbs.
"Crossword, been at it all day"
"You're not playing some silly game of your cell phone?"
"This is a hospital Boss" Tony answered as if it was obvious. Tony flicked his eyes up at Gibbs and gave a mischievous smile. "Anyway, Nurse Ratchet confiscated it already" Gibbs chuckled softly, to stop himself pulling his stitches.
"Nurse Ratchet?" Tony shrugged
"You're the one getting a sponge bath from her later" Gibbs didn't reply but out of the corner of his eyes, Tony could see Gibbs formulating a plan to get out of the threatened sponge bath. The corner of his mouth twitched in a smirk.
"I didn't know that" Gibbs spoke out of the blue. Tony's eyes furrowed as he tried to figure out what his boss what referring too.
"Huh?"
"You and Abs"
"We've already established that"
"I meant your friendship"
"Ah sure"
"You kept that quiet"
"It's not a secret Boss, we just keep everything strictly business at work"
"What about you and McGee?"
"What's with all the questions boss?" Gibbs shrugged and instantly winced as he pulled at his stitches. "You okay?"
"It'll pass" Gibbs answered, keeping his eyes closed until the pain faded.
"Hell of a scar you'll have"
"It's not my first, probably won't be my last"
"I hear ya" Tony spoke absently as he dug inside his trouser pockets for something. A second later he let a triumphant "ah-ha!" and pulled out a cell phone. He flipped it open and it began making beeping sounds as Tony started a new game of Tetris.
"I thought you cell was confiscated?"
"It was" Tony answered, concentrating fully on the game.
"So what is that?"
"You told me never to be unreachable Boss"
"So you have two cell phones?" Gibbs asked incredulously.
"Yep" Tony stuck his tongue out in concentration. Occasionally making a variety of sounds depending on whether he was doing well or failing miserably. Being ignored by his subordinate and irritated from the noises he was making, Gibbs decided to do something about it. He pressed the call button by his bed and less than thirty seconds later a stern looking matron entered the room. He pointed to Tony and she shook her head. Gibbs could easily see why Tony had failed to charm the middle aged woman who looked more like a football player than a nurse. "Nurse Ratchet" slowly strolled towards a distracted Tony until she was standing over him. The shadow she cast finally caught Tony's attention. He flipped the phone shut and lifted his head up to see the large woman place her hands on her hips and raised an un-plucked eyebrow.
"Hey" he spoke, giving her his most disarming smile. His smile fell when she snatched the phone out of his hands, pulled the battery out of the back and handed the phone back to him, slipping the battery into her pocket. "Hey! That was keeping me entertained! I finished my crossword, I can barely move from this seat and I have my boss in a drug induced high for company, give me a friggin' break!" His was obvious his mini rant failed to elicit any sympathy from the nurse.
"What did I say?" The nurse asked.
"I don't remember" Tony lied.
"What did I say?" The nurse asked again.
"I can sit here instead of at home, where I am supposed to be resting, if I don't make a nuisance of myself" Tony recited.
"And?"
"And I'm not allowed my cell phone on"
"And?"
"I'm not allowed to hit on any of the junior nurses" Gibbs chuckled at the spectacle happening in front of him. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one who could keep Tony in line.
"And?"
"Jeez! You want me to recite the declaration of independence while we're at it?"
"You will eat what I put in front of you and you will take your pain meds" The nurse answered for him, ignoring his previous comment. Tony gave the nurse a sloppy salute.
"Yes Ma'am" She checked Gibbs' IV quickly before exiting the room. "What?" Tony asked at Gibbs amused smile.
"Just enjoying the drug induced high" He teased.
"Well enjoy it while it lasts, mine wore off a couple of hours ago"
"Why didn't you tell the nurse?"
"And have her jab a needle in me?"
"You're an idiot sometimes you know that?"
"In my defence I did know that" Gibbs laughed. "You know I've never seen you laugh so much in the space of half an hour, I gotta slip some of these drugs into your coffee at work"
"You do and I'll kick your ass" Tony didn't reply. He was used to Gibbs' threats and apart from the slaps to the head, Gibbs had never gone any further. Tony quickly realised it was almost like Gibbs was afraid to push Tony too far.
"You know I'm not going to just up and quit one day" Tony spoke after his insight.
"Well seeing as you've never stayed in one job any longer than two years you can see why I'm concerned"
"I've been at NCIS over three years, you'd think you can trust me to stay by now"
"I don't know what made you leave you other jobs, until I do, I can't trust you to stay" Tony stayed silent. "You going to tell me why you left Peoria, Philly and Baltimore?" Tony's eyes fixed onto the dull linoleum floor as he spoke.
"You're not the only to break a few rules" Gibbs eyes softened at Tony's cryptic confession.
"Yeah, but I still have a job at the end of it" Tony reply. His upbeat personality had vanished in the space of seconds. "You remember when we first me?" Gibbs asked. Tony replied with a subdued nod. "I wanted the case and you wouldn't give it to me"
"You were on my turf!" Tony defended.
"It was the murder of a petty officer," Gibbs countered. "Of course you gave me the wrong directions to the crime scene, invented fake witnesses for me to interview and wasted my time on fictional evidence leads" Tony snorted at the memory. "I was an hour late to the crime scene, nearly shot a 89 year old woman and spent more than one afternoon dumpster diving" Tony smiled proudly, those distractions were some of his best work. "You weren't fired for breaking the rules Tony" Tony's head snapped up.
"I made a couple of calls and got you fired"
"But why?"
"No-one else has pissed me off like you have Tony. I wanted you on my team to piss other people off"
"Really?" Tony didn't believe the older man.
"Have you ever known me to say something I didn't mean?"
"But I thought it was your life's ambition to piss everyone off?" Toy's question was quickly interrupted by the nurse re-entering with a lunch tray for Tony. She placed it in front of him unceremoniously.
"All of it" She ordered firmly. Tony nodded as he picked up the knife and fork and began picking at the indistinguishable mushy goop.
"Looks delicious" He fibbed unconvincingly with a half smile, half grimace. The nurse rolled her eyes before walking over and fixing another bag to Gibbs' IV.
"Lunch" She explain. "You can't ingest solid food for a week so you'll be on liquids until then" Gibbs nodded. Once she had left again Gibbs answered Tony's question.
"We both have different techniques when it comes to pissing people off"
"We do?" Tony asked with his mouth full.
"I like to ignore orders, intimidate, do the opposite of what someone wants me to do, drive like I'm in the middle of a car chase, you get the idea"
"What about me?"
"You just irritate people, you get under their skin and frustrate them to no end"
"But we both piss them off further by enjoying every minute of it" Gibbs laughed.
"Yeah we do" Gibbs' laughed faded to take ona more srious note. "The point is, everyone on the team has strengths, everyone is good at different things. You are irreplaceable Tony because there is no way I could find someone who can do undercover work like you, can aim as well as you can and can piss people off just like you can"
"Well thanks Boss, now I feel all warm and fuzzy" Tony joked.
"Well enjoy it while it lasts, don't expect me to be nice when I get out of here, in fact I'm gonna ride your ass harder" Tony stopped bid bite and widened his eyes at the thought.
"Harder?"
"One of these day's I'm going to get myself killed"
"You really are a glass half empty kinda guy aren't you?" Gibbs ignored Tony
"I'm grooming you" Tony's eyebrows shot up.
"Come again?"
"I'm grooming you"
"That's what I thought you said"
"I'm training you so that one day you can take over from me"
"Me?"
"Do I stutter?"
"I just assumed if that day came then someone else would take over"
"What do I say about assuming DiNozzo?"
"Never assume, always double check"
"You have the potential to be a great agent Tony, if you'd only focus" Tony smiled.
"A great agent huh?"
"Ah geez, I better shut up before you're ego outgrows this room"
"But you haven't said anything about my good looks and sparkling personality yet?"
"Don't hold your breath" Tony smiled, he didn't take Gibbs' comments to heart, he never did. Finishing his meal he pushed the tray to one side.
"You gonna get some sleep?" Tony asked.
"Who are you, my mom?" Tony didn't reply. He lifted up his plastered leg and set it back down on the floor. He pushed his chair away from the table with a loud screech and stood up, resting all his weight on his good leg. "Where're you going?" Tony reached across to the windowsill and grabbed his crutches. "I thought you had to stay here until Abby relieved you of duty?"
"I do" Tony replied, sticking his arms through the slots and grabbing the plastic handles. "There's a hospital library the floor below, if I'm going to be stuck here without either cell phone then I'm going to need some entertainment"
"I don't think the library stocks back issues of Playboy Tony"
"Funny Gibbs but I do read actual books"
"Harry Potter doesn't count" Tony frowned.
"I leave the geeky books to McGee, I prefer thrillers, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy ooh Dan Brown!"
"I don't believe it" Tony waggled his eyebrows
"Just wait till you actually see me reading" Gibbs laughed. Tony limped across the room to Gibbs' bed.
"You going to read out loud?"
"You want me to?" Gibbs thought about it for a second.
"Sure, just choose something boring, I need my sleep" Tony pouted.
"I don't put people to sleep with my voice" Gibbs smirked.
"We'll see" Tony's eyes met Gibbs'
"So"
"Yeah?"
"Focused?" Gibbs smiled.
"Yeah, keep your eyes on the prize, don't get distracted by trivial games with Ziva and McGee and think before you act, you remember that and you'll have a good career ahead of you" Tony nodded.
"Good to know" Tony limped past the bed and towards the door.
"Tony?" He turned to face Gibbs.
"Yeah Boss?"
"Thanks"
"For what?"
"Having my back" Tony smiled, knowing that was as much affection that he would get of his mentor.
"Thanks for having my back too" Gibbs nodded. Tony turned back round and left the room. "I always thought my voice was rather excitable" Tony muttered to himself resulting in loud chuckling emanating from Gibbs room.