"You're late." Ziva declared when Gibbs finally arrived at the office. "And Tony is still not here."
"Good observation, David; some might think you investigate for a living." Gibbs said sarcastically as he walked up the stairs to the Director's office.
"And somebody has slept on the wrong side of the bed." Ziva murmured under her breath, but it was loud enough for McGee to hear her.
"He got up on the wrong side of the bed." Tim rolled his eyes. "And seriously, Ziva, telling Gibbs that he's late? What did you expect? He must've a good reason for that."
"He was not surprised when I told him that Tony was not here." She looked up the stairs, as if she could realized what was going on in the Director's office if she looked that way.
"And that, Ziva, was not really nice. Gibbs could see Tony isn't here himself. There was no reason for you to sell him out as soon as you see the Boss."
"It is not my fault that Tony cannot be on time."
"I'm sure Tony has a good reason."
"Hmm," She narrowed her eyes. "Maybe he is doing another undercover job, yes?"
McGee's head snapped up from the report he was typing.
"What? Is there anything that you know and I don't?"
"I do not know anything for sure." Ziva shook her head. "I am just saying that Gibbs was late, Tony is late and Gibbs was not surprised and where did he go? To the Director's office. I bet Tony has been involved in another secret operation and they have left us out of the circle again."
"Out of the loop. You tend to butcher the American expressions more often when you're stressed, you know that?"
"I am not stressed." Ziva looked at him sharply. "I am annoyed and that is not my fault that your expressions are ridiculous."
"Just because you can't learn them doesn't mean our language is ridiculous." McGee sounded offended.
"That was not the point, Tim."
"Yes, you were saying that Tony was involved in another operation and we haven't been told. Tough. What can we do about it? Nothing. Let's get back to the work that we can do and we'll talk to Tony later."
"Do you think he is hurt again?"
"Tony? God, I hope not." Tim suddenly sounded annoyed. "He gets even more annoying when he's hurt on those missions. Maybe he should stay wherever he is."
The slap on the back of his head almost gave him a heart attack.
"If you think that highly of your Superior Agent, maybe you should change your team."
"I... I didn't really mean it, Boss. I swear." McGee rubbed the back of his head; just how had Gibbs reappeared back in the bullpen without them noticing?
"Where is Tony?" Ziva asked.
"In the hospital." Gibbs answered curtly.
"Oh." McGee's eyes widened. And he'd just said that he wished Tony'd stay there. 'Nice, Tim. Very nice.' He mentally gave himself another head slap. "I didn't-... Oh, why?"
Ziva looked at Gibbs, waiting for him to answer.
"You'll find out later."
Ziva frowned. "It is because of another secret mission, yes?"
"No."
"Then why can we not know, now? What is going on?"
"He was mugged." Gibbs didn't know where that lie had suddenly come from, but he knew that he hadn't told it for DiNozzo Senior's sake; that man didn't deserve it. But Tony did and he'd lie for Tony anytime.
"What? When? Where? What happened?" Tim asked frantically.
"Still waiting for him to wake up to answer those questions. Now get back to work." Gibbs' face was completely emotionless.
"But-"
"No buts. There's nothing you can do, so get back to work." He threw his empty coffee cup in the trashcan and stood up from his chair.
"Where are you going?"
"Hospital."
"Can we-"
"No. Not now. I'll have Ducky call you when Tony's ready to have visitors. Till then, you finish your report and then work on cold cases."
...
Before getting back to the Hospital, Gibbs stopped by Abby's lab and told her the same thing that he'd said to Tim and Ziva. He knew that Abby was closer to Tony than the others, but it still was Tony's call whether he wanted to tell her about his father or not.
He'd told Vance the truth, though and they'd agreed to keep it quiet and leave it to Tony to tell his teammate about it if he wanted to.
Gibbs knew that Vance was probably the last person that Tony wanted to be privy to his personal life, but it was better if he knew the truth. That way he wouldn't keep pushing them and wouldn't hurt Tony more while doing so.
Abby had insisted on going to the hospital, but Gibbs had managed to convince her to at least wait till night.
.
"Any news?" He asked when he entered Tony's room, seeing Ducky standing by the window.
Ducky turned around and smiled ruefully. "I would've called you if there was anything. What did you tell the team?"
"That he was mugged. Told Vance the truth, though." He glanced at Tony, almost expecting him to complain.
"I'm sure Anthony will understand."
Gibbs shrugged as he sat down in the plastic chair. "Yeah, well, he can wake up and do the hard work himself if he doesn't like it this way."
"Are you staying?"
"Yes, we don't have an active case. I'll get back to the office if we get a call, but till then I'll be here. You can get back to the Yard."
"I believe we don't have any important thing to do either, but I'd better go and check for myself. However, I can stay if you want to get back to your place and check on Anthony's father."
Gibbs growled. He'd forgotten about Senior, but in an instant he decided that the older DiNozzo could wait. He could check on him at night.
"Jethro, you can't leave him there till Anthony wakes up. He probably needs to use the restroom at the very least."
"I'm pretty sure he's already puked on my floor." Gibbs wrinkled his nose. "I'll check on him in a few hours."
"It's your call. I just hope you don't find him covered in anything more than his vomit."
"That's gross enough." Gibbs growled. "Fine, I'll go home sooner. But he's not going anywhere."
"Good to know." Ducky smiled slightly and patted his friend's shoulder. "Give me a call when Anthony wakes up, will you?"
"Sure."
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... TBC ...
A/N: I'd love to know what you think.
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There will be more Tony from the next chapter! ;)
Sorry for any mistakes and thanks again everyone for your support. :)
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