GONE
CHAPTER 15
BY SARAH
A/n Well here is the next chapter. It's up a lot sooner than the last one. Thank goodness. And thanks again to Crokettsgirl for her help. It is always so much appreciated as she make an okay chapter absolutely wonderful. She actually wrote the wonderful scene between Gibbs and Tony. That part was giving me so much trouble that she was generous enough to give up her time to write it for me. That is why I am dedicating the rest of this story to her. Thanks to everyone for staying with me and for reading and reviewing the last chapter. And thanks to lot 56 for the kind review. I couldn't reply but I still wanted to say thank you. And also for the alerts! I was so pleased with the response to the chapter after the long delay. Well here is a nice long chapter as a reward!
Sarah
The older agent thought that he heard a noise from the younger agent's bed. Gibbs looked over to see a pair of green eyes glaring at him. He could tell that by the look on Tony's face he was clearly ready to let his feelings known. Gibbs readied his thoughts and himself for the confrontation. He knew it wouldn't take long and would allow Tony to get it out. He also knew in Tony's condition that the doctors would eventually come in upset with the disturbance of their patient. Only Gibbs knew Tony had to get his say, especially since they were leaving without him the next day.
Tony's jumbled mind pulled together the thoughts that had raced around in his head since he awoke. His whole body hurt and his head ached, but he needed to get this anger out. He slowly and painfully adjusted himself and then raised the back of the bed to be on more even ground with Gibbs. One thing that Tony knew about was interrogation and, you always made sure to be either at the same height level or taller than the person you questioned. Now he felt on the same level as Gibbs, the rumble of emotions and thoughts swirled together and rapidly exploded.
"It's all your fault Boss!" Tony spat out with hatred that hid the hurt. "You should have stood up to Vance and told him to go to hell and take the fucking mission with him. Damn it Gibbs! Why didn't you try?" Tony's voice was still loud though it cracked a bit. He quickly went on and tried to cover his mistake. He was better than this in an interrogation or confrontation. He always was able to hide his true feelings behind anything. He pulled the emotion of anger up, which he did feel, but also used it to cover the abandonment and hurt he felt. Tony panted and breathed in deeply the oxygen from his nose cannula, he was weak, his body hurt, but just like his emotions he would hide this too, as best as he could.
"You sent me here knowing that this was going to end badly." Tony said with venom in his voice. "You should have stopped me from going. I don't remember you telling me not to go even though I wanted to take this mission."
Tony pulled another deep breath in before he continued, "Damn you! You should have stopped me! Christ, you should have looked out for me." He splayed his finger across his chest, "Me! I'm your senior field agent, the one who goes undercover, sometimes deep cover. Again, why didn't you go to bat for me with Vance and stand up to him, it's not like you haven't before!" Tony shouted loudly with disappointment at his mentor.
Gibbs sat and waited. Sure, he could wait this out before he spoke. DiNozzo needed to get everything out before he could talk to his agent. But first he had to know everything DiNozzo was thinking and everything his memories were missing. That was the only way to know what direction to take with the younger man who had worked under him for so many years. He had to admit that it did hurt to watch and hear what his agent, no, one of his own, who was like a son to him, thought. He took another gulp of coffee to hide his own emotions.
Tony pulled it a huge breath and took a minute to steady him self, emotionally and physically. "You're a damn marine for God sakes! Semper FI, never leave a man behind, always look out for your brothers by always having their six? Alright maybe I'm not your brother in arms, but hell, I am under you, Gunny Sergeant and NCIS Special Agent Jethro Gibbs." He hissed out.
Tony tilted his head to study the man for a moment. His eyes bore into the blue ones that sat across from him. Eyes that tried to show no emotions, but they were there. Tony knew they were. Had it been anyone else that didn't know Gibbs well enough, they wouldn't see the emotions, but Tony did, he saw the hidden emotions. He knew he was cracking his boss, only the stubborn man wouldn't show it. But again, after years of knowing Jethro Gibbs, Tony knew and he recognized that Gibbs understood that Tony knew the emotions the lead agent hid. Tony also realized that the older man could see through him and lay in wait for him to finish. But hey, he had learned from the best, the masters at hiding their feelings. He'd learned from his father and then learned even more from his mentor, his boss.
Tony's head ached from his concussion and now even more, from the anger that poured out of him with such force. All he wanted to do was lay his head down on the soft pillow that called to him, but he couldn't, not yet. He needed to get the rest out of him and then he could lie back, though he doubted that he'd be able to relax. He fought the weariness of his body and took another deep breath as the fire re-heated the resentment and anger.
Tony continued with renewed furry. "You knew I wasn't right after the last mission. I thought this would push what happened away and let me continue. Yeah, I was wrong and I can admit it. I still did a damn good job, you have to admit that. The only problem was I needed some good back up besides Jensen and Carlson. This whole mess of Reynolds getting away wouldn't have happened if I had that back up. Where were you Gibbs? Where was the team?" Tony spoke with quiet malice. He then shouted, "Why did you abandon me? If you hadn't Carlson would be alive and we'd have Reynolds and just maybe." His voice calmed as he softly stated, "Just maybe, I'd be fine."
Tony finished, staring into space as the hurt he'd been hiding hit him like the bullet Reynolds had shot him with. The outburst had taken its toll on his weakened body and mind. He collapsed back down on the bed with the pain he had blocked out for the short time of his rant. He panted hard while sweat ran down his face and body.
A nurse quickly came in, panic written all over her face. "What on earth is going on here?" she asked as she checked out her patient.
Gibbs let out a long sigh. "Agent DiNozzo was just getting out some feeling he needed to." Was all he told her.
She ran and wet a cloth. She wiped the sweat off her patient after charting his vitals and turning off the monitor alarm. "Agent DiNozzo you can't do this, you're heart rate and blood pressure are up. You need to rest so you can recover. I'm going to have to give you a sedative that was ordered by the doctor."
.
"No," Tony panted, "No sedative, not right now." He tried to give the nurse a disarming grin.
Gibbs turned to look at the nurse. "Nurse Applegate, please can that sedative wait as Agent DiNozzo asked. I'm leaving tomorrow and it's important that I talk to him."
The nurse looked back and forth between the two men. Her training told her to give the shot yet her gut told her to give them a few more minutes. "Alright, this is against my better judgment. I'll give you both ten minutes, but only if you, Agent DiNozzo stay quiet and calm. After the ten minutes I will make sure you are calm and you will get a sedative. For now I'm going to give you your pain meds, you look like you could use them." She watched as both men nodded in agreement to what she proposed. She then swabbed the I.V. port and inserted the syringe with the pain medication into it, set the drip and closed the door as she walked out.
Gibbs sighed. He knew they didn't have much time. He looked at his agent with compassion and with sorrow for what happened. "DiNozzo," Gibbs didn't see Tony look over at him. He pulled his chair as close at he could to the bed and repeat in a softer voice, "Tony." This time he saw his agent's eye meet his, the anger gone from them, now they held a look that asked for answers. Gibbs placed his hand on Tony's forearm in a comforting manor.
Tony saw that his boss was now allowing his feelings to show, so he stayed calm. He couldn't fight anymore, the nurse was right he had worn himself out. He felt the comforting hand embrace his arm and gazed down at it before he raise his eyes back up to the man. He still wanted, no, needed those answers from the only man who could give them to him.
Gibbs took a moment to get him self together. He saw the unshed tears that Tony would not let fall and beneath them were still the need for those answers. "Tony, I never knew that Vance had put you on this mission. He made sure he didn't tell me until after he made all the arrangements for the mission and with you. He then called me up to his office and we had it out." Gibbs thought back to that time as he filled Tony in.
FLASHBACK
Three months earlier
NCIS Headquarters
Director Vance's Office
The lead agent ran up the stairs as fast as he could after receiving a call from Cynthia that the Director needed to talk to him immediately. Gibbs knew that such an urgent call could mean anything from something going on in MTAC to that of one of his agents being sent undercover, he had a feeling it was the latter. And if it was the latter, that usually meant that the F.B.I. was involved somehow. Gibbs never liked these missions unless he was in it directly and from the beginning. He felt better when he helped coordinate the operation and if this was what was going on, Gibbs gut told him that the operation,) whatever it was, would end very badly. As usual he opened the door and barged into the director's office without waiting for Cynthia to let him in.
"Jethro" Gibbs heard as he flung the door open and forced his way inside "Come on in." Vance said as he looked up from his watch. He had actually timed his agent on how long it took him to barge into the office, "Hmmm, two minutes." Vance shook his head, waiting for the fight to start.
"Damn it Leon!" Gibbs barked out as he stormed in and took a seat opposite the director. He saw he was right the second he threw the door open about his latter thought by what was on ZNN, "What the hell do you think you're doing sending one of my agents on another undercover mission. My team has barely had a chance to recover from the last mission you sent them on."
"Before you start to bite my head off here you need to listen to me" Vance said calmly while looking into the eyes of the furious team leader that sat in front of him. "I had intended to pull your team off the roster for undercover assignments to give them a chance to have some time off but all of the other teams are working on active cases. There were no other teams available except for yours. And Jethro, you know that yours are the best, DiNozzo is the best in these situations. Besides, Agents Jensen and Carlson of the F.B.I. came to me personally asking for Agent DiNozzo. Agent DiNozzo immediately accepted the assignment after it was explained. To be quite honest with you, I did advise him against it, but he insisted that I allow him to take it. He said something about he needed to get as far away from D.C as possible. So I finally allowed him to go, which of course made the F.B.I. happy." Vance explained and then raised his brow as he waited again for the onslaught.
"Damn it Leon" Gibbs growled back "You should have come to me first. If you had you would have known that Doctor Mallard and I were questioning his state of mind. He's had a tough time since the undercover assignment three months ago and he hasn't been the same since. Did you read the evaluation from the therapist he'd been seeing from the department up until a month ago? Even he sensed the anger DiNozzo had been feeling. But like always, he only told the therapist what he thought the therapist would want to hear. So there was not much else that Collins could do for him. He is stable enough to still work on the team with us around him, to watch and guide him back. Ah hell Leon, he's not stable enough to go half way around the world on a long term op like this and especially not without his team to back him."
"I'm sorry Jethro and I did read the evaluation, talked to Doctor Collins. Well I took what he said under advisement and allowed DiNozzo to go. To me he seemed able." Vance answered defensively
(Vance then continued with another thought, determined Gibbs would listen to him as the director of NCIS,) "Besides, it's too late. DiNozzo ships out tomorrow. His cover is all set up and I couldn't pull him out now even if I wanted to. My hands are tied here so I'd advise you to let this go and get back to work."
Vance started to get up to show the team leader out the door when he felt himself being slammed hard against the back wall of the office. Vance looked up to see the lead agent face alive with fury as he pinned his arms up against the wall.
"Leon" Gibbs yelled as he slowly released the other man and let him slide down the wall. "You are going to let Agent DiNozzo know that he's not going to Iraq. I'm sure that Doctor Collins will see things my way. He already told you he was cautious about DiNozzo going and I'm sure he only said the rest when you told him it was done deal. So I think since) Dr. Mallard being good friends with him can easily have DiNozzo placed on medical leave." Gibbs growled out.
"Don't you dare ever threaten me ever again, Agent Gibbs." Vance growled back, "Like I said it's too late and there is nothing that you can do to stop this from happening. I told you I already spoke to Doctor Collins and after a lengthy discussion where he refused to clear him for the mission. Well, I went to his boss, and two hours later he cleared DiNozzo for active duty just this morning." Vance smugly told Gibbs
"No Leon" Gibbs yelled as he resisted the urge to strangle the other man "You forced the man to clear my agent because his refusal to clear Agent DiNozzo wouldn't fit into your personal agenda. So you forced the man into clearing him because Tony never said that he had problems and was in need of psychological help. What did you do Leon? I figure you went and threatened Doctor Collins to give you what you wanted. So you need to rip up the damn clearance. If you don't I will personally go through every inch of this office. I will go through every file in this office and Cynthia's, every book and any piece of paper that I see until I find it. If I do, I will immediately have it destroyed and Agent DiNozzo will be immediately put on Medical Leave. And Agent DiNozzo will be immediately sent home and out of your reach." Gibbs continued to threaten. He knew he was over the line, but his fury over what the director had done to Tony overruled his rational thinking.)
"You even dare to defy me on this Agent Gibbs and you will be out of this agency so fast your head will spin." Vance answered Gibbs threat with a smile on his face. He knew Gibbs was blowing smoke, after all he was the director and not Gibbs.
Vance walked arrogantly over to his desk and put another toothpick in his mouth. He had won and, then he continued to beat it into Gibbs, "Besides, DiNozzo is probably already gone. He told me that he was planning to try and leave early. Like I told you, he wanted to get out of D.C and this was his way of doing it. So drop this and go back to work now!"
Vance was finished with this conversation. He slammed some files down into one of his desk draw and locked it and then put the key in his suit jacket pocket. He then gave the lead agent a nasty look and proceeded once again to show him out the door. He turned quickly towards Gibbs to address the man, only that man was quicker.
"Leon" Gibbs said with a smile "You do realize that me or Officer David could easily pick the lock and get a hold of the files that you put in there."
"Damn you, Jethro. I'll grant you the ability to monitor the operation and then help from here and that's all you and your team will be doing, under my direction of course." Jethro was a thorn in his side but Vance gave in to a compromise. He knew that this operation needed a team working from D.C. and what better than the best, so he figured he made out just fine.
"Fine!" Gibbs snapped before he slammed the door behind him which left only the smell of coffee and sawdust which soon started to fade away.
Gibbs stormed out of Director Vance's office furious at Vance for allowing his agent to take on a mission that he wasn't fit to take on. The first thing he needed to do was to get over to Tony's place, see if he was still there and if he was, try and talk him into not going. The second thing he needed to do was get Ducky to put Tony on medical leave. This way Tony would be forced to stay until he was in the right frame of mind. And right now Tony was in now way in the right frame of mind to be on this operation. He ran down the steps as quickly as he could and caught the eyes of his two other younger agents.
"McGee" Gibbs barked as he grabbed his weapon and coffee "I need you to try and call DiNozzo. Get him how ever you can, cell or landline. Tell him not to leave until I get there. I'm going over to his place right now. Ziva go down to Abby's and have her check DiNozzo's phone records now!"
Ziva and McGee just stood there in shock. They didn't move until Gibbs turned around to see them not working on what he had told them to do.
"Did you not understand what I just said?" Gibbs growled as he made his way to the elevator, "Get to work and call me as soon as you know something." The elevator closed and the two immediately sunk into their seats and got to work.
Gibbs drove at breakneck speed during rush hour traffic. He remembered Vance had said that Tony already left. He hoped that wasn't true and was determined to stop his agent if he hadn't left. He knew from experience that if you took on a difficult mission when you were not in the right frame of mind it could lead to disastrous results. Gibbs pulled up in front of Tony's apartment building and immediately went straight to the elevator. He glanced at the desk to realize that Jim the day manager was not there. Once inside the elevator he called McGee to see if he'd gotten hold of Tony yet. The cell rang several times before he heard a familiar voice answer on the other end.
"McGee." The voice answered.
"McGee" Gibbs growled over the phone, "Any word from DiNozzo yet?"
"No Boss" McGee answered "He's not answering his cell or landline. I even asked Abby and Ducky if they have spoken to him. Neither of them have, boss. Ah, Ziva said that Abby had been trying to get a hold of Tony too and was about to call him again when Ziva got to the lab. Abby did check his phone records and there was nothing. I'm sorry boss."
"Don't worry about it." Gibbs answered back "I'm at Tony's place right now. I'm sure he's okay and tell Abby that if Tony is still here I'll have him call her."
"Okay Boss." McGee answered as (he heard the Gibbs cell click off.)
Gibbs pulled out his key and started to open the door when Tony's neighbor came out.
"Hi Mr. Thompson" Gibbs greeted the man.
"Agent Gibbs" Mr. Thompson said "Tony isn't here. He came and asked me to take care of his plants and gave me the rest of his groceries. He said that he was going to be gone for a few months and hoped that I could keep an eye on his place for him. He seemed a bit upset, you know, not like him. I heard his door shut when he left. I tried to catch up with him to make sure he was alright, but the elevator door had already closed. I became very concerned and was just going to call you when I heard his door open." Mr. Thompson rattled on to Tony's boss.
"Thank you. So he didn't leave too long ago?" Gibbs asked.
"No, I'd say about thirty minutes ago. Like I said I heard…" Mr. Thompson was cut off in the middle of his sentence.
"I'm sure that he's okay. And thanks for telling to me." Gibbs quickly answered as he turned the door knob.
The older man grabbed hold of his cane and turned around and went back inside. Gibbs opened the door half expecting his Senior Agent to be inside. He walked in and saw all the furniture covered and his blinds closed. He checked the kitchen and Tony had indeed cleared everything out. And a check of the bedroom showed that his agent was indeed gone.
"Damn it!" Was all Gibbs said as he stood in the empty bedroom.
END OF FLASHBACK
"So you see there was nothing else I could do to stop you from going. I tried damn it, I did." Gibbs voice was low, quiet with an underlying note of sadness and frustration for what had happened.
"Tony I would never abandon you, never. I've always had your six and I tried to get to you as fast as I could. We all tried Abby, Tim, Ziva and even Ducky tried to help. That's when I made Vance listen to me and let us come here to find you. Only every time we thought we had you, you weren't there or we had just missed you. I'm sorry we didn't get to you fast enough to keep you safe and Carlson alive." Gibbs swallowed as he stared at the younger man.
Tony kept that stare and knew Gibbs had told him the truth. He understood to a point, but he needed time to think about all of what he was just told. He nodded his head that he knew Gibbs had told him the truth and also knew the Gibbs concept of the apology between friends. Yet he still felt hurt. That moment the nurse walked in on them.
"I'm sorry; I did give you fifteen minute but now I have to give Agent DiNozzo his sedative." She told them as she emptied the syringe in to the I.V. port, "This works fast so I suggest you men say good-night." With that the nurse left.
"Boss, I understand to a point, but I need some time to think and figure things out. It's hard right now and I know you can tell me more later, we only had fifteen minutes after all. But you told me most of it." Tony was feeling the affects of the drug that pumped through his veins. He was feeling drowsy and his thinking became worse than before the drug. He fought to keep awake, but he was slowly losing.
"I think I'm gonna sleep." Tony slurred as his eyes closed. He then slurred out something else that made Gibbs have to quickly get close in order to understand, "I wasss a gooood ma-riiinne. 'ake ya…prooouud." He drawled in a whisper before he passed out into sleep.
Gibbs knew that Tony couldn't hear or feel him. But just in case he patted Tony's shoulder and spoke with the care and pride he felt. "Yes, you were a very good marine, the best. You did make me proud. Now you sleep, Tony and rest." He left his hand there for a while and just watched as his agent slept.
He then got up from his chair to stretch his legs. He walked over to the window and looked out. Damn you Leon, I told you this would happen and I would be left cleaning up your mess. He then went back over and slumped down in the chair. He felt totally spent, but happy that they had finally talked through most things. He also knew, as Tony had said, that they'd speak again after Tony had thought about all he had told him.
Gibbs had to admit that he felt better about leaving Tony in Iraq now that they had finally started to work through things. The older man knew that everything couldn't be resolved overnight, but at least it was a start. They would sift through more later on and it would get straightened out.
Agent Gibbs stretched his legs and restlessly stood up again to walk around. His knees protested after sitting for nearly two hours and only getting up for a few minutes. He really needed a good cup of coffee. He headed down the hall to the small cafeteria to find what he hoped was coffee and not the swill he'd been drinking for the last week. He had just turned down the hallway were the cafeteria was when his phone vibrated. He slipped into an empty room so he could use the cell phone he wasn't supposed to have turned on.
"Gibbs" he whispered.
"Boss" McGee answered "I know it's late but Ziva and I are on our way to the hospital with some things for Tony. Agent Jensen also asked to give you an update. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Oh and we also have a thermos of coffee for you. I thought after the swill that they have at the hospital you might want some real coffee."
"Thanks McGee" Gibbs said as shut his cell and he rubbed his eyes.
He hoped that tonight he might actually get a few hours of sleep. He stopped by the cafeteria and grabbed a quick sandwich before he headed back to check on Tony again. Gibbs stood in the room grateful that Tony was still alive. He took a minute to watch the relaxed rise and fall of his agent's chest as he slept. He then grabbed his jacket and went to sit outside to relax for a while in the cool evening air
Gibbs finished the sandwich and sat back on the bench with his eyes closed just to rest a little before Ziva and McGee got to the hospital. He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew he felt a warm hand touch his shoulder. Gibbs instantly jumped up disoriented from sleep and started to pull his weapon out. He became fully aware that he was outside the hospital when he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Sorry for waking you up, Boss" McGee stammered as he sat a large duffle bag down next to the park bench along with a large thermos of coffee. "But Ziva and I brought you some coffee and Tony's bag. The rest of his things are going back with us to D.C tomorrow. And also Agent Jensen is out following up on what sounds like a solid lead. We may have been able to track down some of his associates. He was going to come and talk to you and see DiNozzo but they left before we were on the way here."
The lead agent stretched his legs again and cringed as he heard his knee pop and his other crack. He then poured a cup of his coffee and drank it down in three swallows. He filled up another fresh cup. He felt revitalized from what actually tasted like coffee. He took a huge gulp and then motioned for the two younger agents to come and sit at the picnic table. The table was close enough to the hospital doors for the nurses to come and get him in case there was any trouble.
"What have you got for me?" Gibbs asked as he poured his third cup of coffee.
"The company commander didn't know much." McGee answered "He said that he had no idea that Captain Reynolds was selling guns let alone doing anything illegal. But what the commanding officer could tell me was that the captain's men didn't like him. He was known to send his men out on false leads that would intentionally place his men in danger. He would then disappear until after the danger was eliminated. The commander also said that DiNozzo placed Reynolds on report after he almost lost his entire platoon. After that he seemed to have it in for Tony. Then all of a sudden Tony and Reynolds seemed to be buddies. For a few weeks after that they were seen going somewhere together late at night. No one ever questioned them since Tony was thought so highly of."
"Why didn't the commander report Reynolds and why didn't we know any of this?" Gibbs questioned as he tried to rub all the weariness from his eyes.
"Well the commander did but there was no investigation into it. The commander gave up and Reynolds got away with a lot more. Also like I told Agent Jensen" McGee answered "I think that Tony tried to keep things from us. I mean after all he went through with the other undercover mission he wasn't in the most trusting of moods. I also think he wanted us to believe that everything was okay," McGee stopped for a brief moment before he began once again.
"He never said much to Abby except that he really wanted this to be over so he could come home. When he called again it was after him and his platoon rescued some U.N. civilians that we trapped after an ambush. Well, that's when he told Abby he thought his cover may have been blown. He felt that he was sent there under the captain's orders, to die along with his platoon. Abby also said that he was scared and was ready to blow his cover to get out of there. She came crying to me when she couldn't reach him later. I just told her that he probably was tied up for the night and would probably talk to her in the morning, umm Iraqi time." McGee hung his head.
"Damn it McGee! Why didn't you come to me?" Gibbs growled out in frustration.
"Director Vance happened to come down to the lab and heard what happened, he told Abby and me not to say a word to you. He said that he would tell you himself. Umm, I'm really sorry, boss." McGee suddenly realized he had been played and this had left Tony in worse trouble at the time.
Gibbs sat there fuming, "Not your fault, you were given a direct order and you were told the director was going to tell me." Gibbs tried to keep his temper down when he spoke to McGee. His temper rose and he barked with what he said next, "That bastard! Vance never told me and also left this out of his reports to me. We could have gotten DiNozzo out in time, if we just would have known," Gibbs hit his fist hard against the table and then calmed down a little as he thought, "Tony would never let Abby worry. No, he'd try and make thing out to look better than they were, but to cover things in a way that Abby wouldn't know. That was until that conversation you just told me about. DiNozzo must have known something was seriously wrong if he aloud Abby to see him like that. Damn." Gibbs sat for another long moment lost in thought.
His eyes then went to Ziva. "So Ziva did you find anything that might help us in DiNozzo's things?" Gibbs waited for her answer.
Ziva looked up startled as she realized that Gibbs had just said her name. She quickly gathered herself to answer his question.
"I did not find anything, Gibbs" Ziva answered "I only found his personal items and his collection of pictures that he had taken with his platoon and some from home. Oh and I also brought his watch that Abby had given him. But I could not find any information anywhere. I guess this will be like Jensen said. We will have to ask Tony when he is ready to talk. I just hope that he remembers before Reynolds can send someone after him." She finished what she had to say, only her voice could not hide the trepidation she felt about Reynolds going after Tony.
"I do too. Jensen spoke to me about security detail on Tony, I'll check with him again tomorrow about it." Gibbs answered as he checked the time. "I need to get back to Tony before he wakes up. I need you both to come by tomorrow afternoon to say goodbye to him before we leave in the evening. I think that our going home will be a little easier on him if he sees us before we go." Gibbs then stood up.
"Boss?" McGee asked "I know that Agent Jensen said that there will be a protection detail left for Tony. But will he be okay alone? Ziva or I could stay here for a few days until he's okay enough to be alone." McGee couldn't help but say what he did. He was worried about Tony's safety. He knew that Gibbs would make sure that Jensen's security detail was top notch, but he just couldn't stop the feeling in his gut that something might happen.
"No" Gibbs answered back gruffly "Tony will be fine alone. He'll have good security from the F.B.I., I've seen to that and I'm going to recheck it like I just said. Now Tony's doctor said that he's doing well enough that he could be released in about a week. Plus, we need you back home to help out in the search for Reynolds or any of his associates," Gibbs paused, his eyes locked with McGee's and Ziva's, " You both will be here by 1300 to give yourselves a chance to say goodbye. Now get back and get some rest!"
Gibbs grabbed the duffle bag and waved his two agents off. He grabbed the large thermos and prepared himself for another night of watching over Tony and to keep him safe.