Chapter 8- Is it…the end?

"He's given up." Gibbs' quiet voice whispered over the phone, the emotion in the voice speaking far more than any words would.

Abby, McGee, Ziva, and Ducky, all drifted towards the hospital to go see Tony, hoping that it wasn't going to be the last time they would see him. They had all been trying to console each other since the phone call from Gibbs. The words echoed in their heads, they didn't want to hear them, couldn't believe them, but Gibbs wouldn't lie, not something like that. It had taken them longer to get Tony back than they would of liked. They had no idea was he had suffered, he hadn't woken up, unresponsive the doctors had said when they visited the first night. It was hard to see Tony so defeated, so lost, so frail. They needed to do something to help, but what could they do? When they had found him he was so scared of them, like he didn't even recognise them. It tore at their souls; they were a team, weren't they? If McGee and Ziva were honest, they hadn't been very friendly with Tony recently. Especially when it came to light that Tony had put an innocent person away, it hadn't just been Tony though, it had been them as well, yet here Tony was taking the blame himself when they should have taken the blame as a team.

Again the words repeated in their heads. 'He's given up'.

To Abby all of this wasn't fair, everything always happened to Tony. He was a nice guy and things still happened. But, the fact that Tony had given up fighting he didn't want to believe. However, the look in his eyes when she had visited told her it was true. She couldn't stand loosing Tony; she would miss his movie references, not that there had been any recently. She would miss his easy humour; miss how much he made her laugh. She knew that something hadn't been right with the team; she had been hoping to fix it, now she may never get the chance. Her thoughts stopped her and she silently cried in the hallway out side Tony's room. She hadn't even realised then they had got there, just moving on auto pilot.

Ducky embraced her, offering the young lab tech some comfort. Words wouldn't be able to cure the hurt they were all going through, if the worse came, he feared that the team would be forever fractured. Ducky, having known Jethro the longest, feared what the ex-marine would do if they lost young Anthony. He knew that Gibbs would never forgive himself for his actions, even before the kidnapping. He had spoken to Jethro many a time about the way he treated Tony sometimes, it couldn't have been good for the boy. The younger agent saw Gibbs as a father figure; it wasn't lost on anyone that Tony hadn't had a good relationship with his own father. Tony didn't actually speak much about it, but the bits he had let slip gave them some insight.

It scared Ziva that her strong partner had just given up, and she wasn't easily scared. She had seen him, happy, sad, angry but never defeated. She had noticed a change in him since coming back, she thought that her English had been getting better, but noticed that Tony just hadn't been correcting her as much, sure he would once in a while but his heart hadn't been in it. If Tony could fall then who else would. All of this because Tony had been the one to find the women called Swain. He had saved her from her prison, yet she punished him for it. Ziva didn't understand how someone could do that. Not that she would admit to him, but she cared for him, hated to see him hurting, wanted to protect him. She would get the women who had destroyed one of her good friends.

McGee was at a loss for what to do; he wanted to be strong for everyone. With Gibbs staying in the hospital watching over Tony, he was in charge, he had missed the way him and Tony spoke to each other. Granted, that had been his fault. He had been very short with Tony; it unnerved him that Tony seemed to be taking his comments more to heart recently. Even Gibbs' comments seemed harsh towards Tony, this lead him to think that even if Tony hadn't been kidnapped would Tony still be in the same condition anyway. He had seen the pain each comment had caused Tony, could see it in Tony's eyes. He hoped that he got a chance to apologise to Tony. Now, it seemed he wouldn't get the chance and it almost ripped him apart.

Here they stood in the on the precipice to Tony's room, if they made one wrong move in trying to help, they would lose their friend, Tony would fall. They hesitated, could that stand to see their friend, part of their own family die? Could they watch as he practically wasted away in front of them? Could they even help? Abby had stopped her heart breaking crying, she would be strong for Tony. They all would.

They shuffled into the still room, hoping what they had been told wasn't inevitable. Gibbs merely nodded at them, they knew that this was killing him; he had been the hardest on Tony. They knew that deep down that Gibbs did care about them, he just didn't show it. Maybe, this was a bad thing Gibbs thought silently. Gibbs' hand rested upon Tony's arm, as if trying to anchor the younger agent, not a word was said between the team within the room. There was nothing that could be said, not now. They would all get their chance to say their final words to Tony, but they weren't there yet, were they?

Beep…Beep…Beep…

The monitors sped up, they all watched in hope. Was he waking up?

Beep…Beep…Beep…

Come on Tony, they all begged in their heads.

Beep…Beep…Beep…

Tony's eyes fluttered open, unseeing. He didn't see them, didn't want to see their hate, they scared him, all surrounding his bed. He was trapped again. There was a purer white light now, one signifying the end, was this the end now? Would it finally be over? He saw a familiar shadow in the light, though couldn't see their face. He needed to let go.

Over the silence of the room and the monitors beeping one horse whisper was heard.

"Kate"

Tony's eyes closed.

One steady beep was heard.

Alarms screeched.

Abby was hysterical, the rest were shedding silent tears as the Doctors rushed in. The shocks to Tony's body jolted them all, they felt each one. They couldn't lose, not now, they had been so close. Gibbs' words hadn't been enough…

TBC

I know you will hate me for this cliff hanger but not to worry they next chapter will be with you tomorrow or Monday.