Tony's head was killing him. He was afraid to open his eyes, the smells that surroundeded him, told him he was in the hospital. He knew he was going to get yelled at for something, or Gibbs was going to give him that blank stare that was worse than yelling. He hadn't even done anything wrong, Gibbs was the one who got into trouble.
"I know you're awake, DiNozzo."
Speak of the devil. Tony cracked one eye and squinted up at the senior agent. "Hey," he croaked.
Gibbs stared at him, making Tony shift nervously.
"You did good," Gibbs said, smiling softly.
"What?" Tony tried to sit up, pulling the oxygen off. Gibbs reached over and gently replaced the nasal canula.
"I said," Gibbs replied, "you did good. You kept your cool, you saved one of the perps, and you saved my life."
Tony stared at him for a moment. "Who are you? Did you lose your memory again?"
Gibbs snorted, "I'm only going to say this once, Tony," he said. "I'm sorry for the way I came back. I never meant to make you feel you weren't good enough to lead the team and I didn't mean to make you feel that it was never yours to begin with. I could have handled things better, and I should have made you see that before now."
"Never say you're sorry," Tony began automatically.
"No," interrupted Gibbs, "sometimes you have to apologize. I treated you badly, you didn't deserve that, and I'm sorry."
"Wow, I don't know what to say," Tony said softly.
"I've been confused and angry," Gibbs said, "and I took it out on you. I don't know, maybe because you've always been able to take what I dished out." Gibbs scratched the back of his head. "But it wasn't right and you shouldn't have to put up with that. You're too good an agent for that, too good a man."
Tony's eyes widened in surprise. He cleared his throat nervously, "You've gone through some pretty rough times," he said. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose what you've lost, except," he paused, "I did kind of feel like I'd lost someone I looked up to, respected. That was hard."
"I don't know if I deserve that respect anymore," Gibbs replied. "But I hope I can earn it again. You deserve your own team, Tony, you've earned it. I wouldn't be surprised if the Director offers one to you. Hell, even if she doesn't, I wouldn't blame you if you asked for a transfer. But I'd like you to stay on my team, as my Senior Field Agent. There's no one I trust more to have my back. If I made you feel any other way, I was wrong."
"I still feel like I can learn from you," Tony said. "I know I'll have to move up and on someday, but I can't think of anyone I'd rather work for."
"Work with," corrected Gibbs. "You've shown you can lead a team, you're the one I rely on when things need to get done."
Tony grinned, "So, I'm your go-to guy?"
Gibbs grinned, "Yeah, DiNozzo, you're my go-to guy." He paused, then said softly, "We good?"
Tony nodded, "We're good, Boss."
Gibbs nodded curtly. "Okay. Get some rest."
"On it."
Gibbs left the hospital room, smiling to himself. Tony had called him Boss.
FIN
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story. It's a bit rushed, but I needed to finish and post it before the next new episode. Thank you for reading.