A/N: I thought this was done. Apparently not. ^^
In the halogen lights of the elevator, DiNozzo looked anything but 'fine,' no matter how hard he was trying. Four years should have told him that Gibbs could easily see through his acts. Besides, all the jokes and excuses in the world couldn't hide the sunken eyes, the hollow cheeks, and loose clothes, the carefully muffled almost-coughs or the way the younger man leaned against the wall because he needed to. And Gibbs had seen the destruction Hannah Lowell's bug had wrecked, had made Ducky tell him exactly what had happened to his agent so he knew how far to push him.
DiNozzo most assuredly was not fine. But he was better.
He didn't have to fight to breathe anymore, could sit up and walk around and come to work without collapsing from a lack of oxygen. Color had started returning to his face and, though his eyes were still somewhat haunted, they'd regained their usual sparkle. Gibbs looked his agent over in satisfaction. Damage had been done, but Hannah Lowell hadn't won.
Still, he felt like he had to say it.
"You sure you're up for this?"
"Never felt better," was the quick response, even as his eyes refused to meet Gibbs'.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"You look like crap," he said as he turned to face the doors again. He didn't see DiNozzo's expression fall, but he felt it as surely as a drop in temperature.
"I missed you, too, Boss." There was a flat sort of quality to the younger agent's voice, same as the expression Gibbs'd seen in his eyes after they'd rescued him from that sewer last year. It tugged at him, pulled forward the flood of emotion he'd felt standing next to that hospital bed in isolation. Just like then, though, he hid from it, covered it with gruffness.
"You got another week of sick leave comin', Tony. You should take it."
"I was goin' crazy at home. Maybe I'm not a hundred percent but you need me." It was a simple statement, not a question, but Gibbs could feel the plea behind it, recognized that the younger man needed to be back among the team, needed to hear something other than his own thoughts, to do more than sit and remember. He turned and glanced at Tony out of the corner of his eye, let the younger man read what he would from that glance, from the half-smile he couldn't suppress. "Okay, what about Kate and McGee? I mean, they're practically lost without me."
"Got more work done in the last two weeks than the whole year," Gibbs mentioned as the elevator chimed and the doors opened. He left the elevator and felt DiNozzo following behind him, desperate questions bubbling below his surface calm.
"But they did miss me, right?"
"Yeah, somethin' like that." He walked briskly and was proud to notice the younger man keeping step with him; despite the exhaustion still painfully obvious in his appearance, Tony was stubborn enough not to show the weakness in his actions.
"I can't wait to see their faces!" he crowed, a little kid in his excitement to see his friends and coworkers again. Gibbs smirked to himself as he went to his desk, letting his agents work out among themselves the return of their colleague.
It was good to have them all back together again.
A/N: I think this is the best place to stop this. It's not done yet, though. :D I'll update soon, I promise. Probably tonight, if the crew cooperates. We'll see.