Well, yesterday, I got fired. Because they didn't want to pay my incredibly high salary of eight dollars an hour for fourteen hours a week. But they can hire a new attorney who gets paid 48,000 a year. So, I'm unemployed, I'm depressed, this cheers me up. Making you happy, makes me happy. So don't mind me being selfish.

It is good when the children aren't yours. The three year old is my goddaughter, and she's gonna be four in August and I'm very upset about that. She's getting way too old, and it's just not nice! She should stay small and cute with her big ears and her even bigger eyes (Seriously, I am mush when she just looks at me, she has the biggest blue eyes I've ever seen. It's evil!).

I have to ask, what did you guys think of last night's episode? I have to admit, I'm annoyed that this is the route they've decided to take for the season finale. I know it's supposed to be Gibbs centric, but really? You couldn't come up with an original idea. Why does Shane Brennan insist on continuosly making Gibbs centric episodes about his dead family? He can't come up with something that hasn't already been done eighteen times on the show? I was also very annoyed by Tony. I mean, I was embarrassed for him. And after last week when he shows himself off as being somebody serious, possibly even growing up, he reverts into a class clown from sixth grade! Overnight! Sorry, I'll stop ranting now. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

Tony was taken away in an ambulance an hour ago. McGee and Ziva were on their way down with Ducky. Jethro had spent the last fifteen minutes going over everything with the locals. Chances were he wasn't going to be done anytime soon.

He and Sherriff Walker were going through his fight with Filliman. They were standing by the fence where the fight had occurred. An ambulance showed up to take him away, and the local coroner was taking Trent and Bernie. Based on initial examinations, Bernie died because of the accident. There was nothing that Jethro could have done to save him. He didn't really care.

"So you bashed a rock into an unarmed man's head?" Sherriff Walker kept trying to turn him into the perp. His voice was accusing, like Jethro just slammed the rock into Filliman's head just for the fun of it.

Jethro glared for the eighteenth time. "He attacked me."

"So you say. But he's the one with the concussion, and you seem just fine."

"I guess that depends on your definition of fine." He hated this guy. Walker looked like he was trying too hard to be Chuck Norris. Before it was funny, now it was just annoying.

"So what happened after you assaulted Mr. Filliman?" Walker leaned against a tree with his hands resting on his belt buckle.

Jethro purposely ignored the 'assualted' comment. He pointed towards the direction of the camp. "I picked up Filliman's gun and started running towards the resort."

"The gay resort." He said that with a hint of disgust in his voice.

"Yeah." It was taking a lot for Jethro to not beat the crap out of the man. He finished telling his story as they walked back to the main strip. The local cops were questioning all of the guests. Most of them had turned defensive, threatening lawsuits and everything else under the sun if newspapers and stations were told about this.

Jethro smiled as he led Walker into the main building. The coroner was already gone, and the locals were handling the crime scene. A newbie stepped in the puddle of blood and Jethro took fifteen minutes away from his story to yell at the guy. He almost wet his pants.

He turned back to Walker. "Where was I?"

"You found Trent's body."

"Yeah." Soon after, he finally finished his account. In total it took him a little over an hour to tell Walker everything that had happened. The team still hadn't shown up but he expected them soon.

"One thing still bothers me, Agent Gibbs," said Walker as he paced around the lobby.

Jethro rolled his eyes. A part of him wanted to ask, 'one thing?' Instead he just said, "Yeah?"

"What did Millworth cut off Agent DiNozzo's body?" He turned to Jethro and gave him a steely gaze, as if Jethro was suddenly gonna melt into a puddle.

But all he did was shrug. "I'll have to ask Agent DiNozzo."

"Oh I think I'd like to hear it for myself."

Jethro smirked. "That's not gonna happen."

"Millworth ain't a sailor."

"No, he's a man who murdered a sailor, a Marine, and attacked an NCIS agent. He's mine." He leveled the wannabe with a glare of his own.

But Walker wasn't easily intimidated. "The attack of Mr. DiNozzo—"

Jethro cut him off. "Agent DiNozzo, is a federal matter and doesn't concern you. You get Trent's body and I told you everything about Bernie and Filliman, but this is a federal case."

"In my town."

"You gave me the case days ago."

Walker was about to argue again, but he stopped at the last minute. Apparently he realized that Jethro had a point. With a final glare, he turned around and stalked out of the building. "Alright, you heard the fed, this is a federal case." He said federal with a hint of disgust in his voice.

The local cops dropped what they were doing and followed their boss out the door.

Jethro was the only one left in the room. He looked around at the mess that Millworth caused. Guilt coursed through his body. He should have caught this sooner, before there was more bloodshed.

He leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed to the pool of blood where Trent had fallen. Trent had only been a kid, and he was killed because Jethro managed to convince him to help them. He didn't deserve to die.

He wanted to find a way to excuse his actions. He wanted to believe that this wasn't his fault, but it was. He should have listened to Tony from the start and worked this case like an agent. Instead, two men were dead, two more were critical, and Tony… Tony was tortured.

He wiped a hand across his face. He was wrong before. The worst thing that could happen to them wasn't getting fired. It was this. Jethro let his emotions control his actions this morning, and in response, Tony was in the hospital on high doses of morphine, getting a skin graft. It was going to break his heart, actually it was going to kill his heart, but Jethro had to walk away. As much as he wanted to just say 'screw it,' he couldn't risk Tony's life. They would work together, but that was all they would do.

He didn't know how long he was sitting there, but it must have been a while, because he saw the NCIS crime scene truck pulling into the parking lot. McGee and Ziva stepped out, dressed in their standard issue jackets and caps. Jethro stood up to meet them at the door.

It took hours for them to finally finish up. But everything from the car accident, Millworth's cabin, Tony and Jethro's cabin, the lobby and Filliman's drop spot was bagged and tagged. Photos were taken and the few witness statements they could get, they took. By the time they wrapped up the sun was down and the three of them were exhausted. But they still hadn't gone home.

Jethro sat and stared at the too white door set into the too white wall. McGee and Ziva were passed out, leaning against each other for support across from him. Ziva was snoring loudly in McGee's ear, but he didn't seem to notice. Palmer was sprawled out on a small uncomfortable love seat in the corner. His long limbs dangled over the sides.

Ducky had disappeared to speak to different doctors. Jethro knew that he was checking on Filliman. That was over an hour ago.

The lead agent was the only one left in the room still awake. He couldn't sleep, no matter how much he desperately wanted it, needed it even, he couldn't force his eyes shut. He couldn't relax until he knew for sure that Tony was going to be ok. The white color hurt his eyes, but he couldn't pull them away. He needed to see somebody walk out to talk to him. He didn't know what was taking so long, but he tried to think that it wasn't something bad.

Finally, Jethro saw the door open. He immediately jumped to attention. A younger looking doctor came out, followed closely by Ducky. Neither one of them looked happy.

Jethro gripped his chair to stop himself from falling over as the two slowly made their way towards him. He took in a deep breath and held it. He waited. Waited for them to say that Tony lost too much blood, or the shock had eventually got to him. He coded. They couldn't revive him.

"Agent Gibbs?" The young doctor asked. Jethro found himself unable to speak as his thoughts turned dark, so instead he just nodded. "I'm Dr. Hamlin."

"How's Tony?" Even to his own ears his voice sounded broken.

"Agent DiNozzo lost a lot of blood, both to the lacerations on his wrist as well as—"

"Will he be ok?" Jethro didn't need to hear the details. He already saw them.

Dr. Hamlin nodded with a warm grin on his face. "He's going to be fine."

Jethro released his breath. His knees gave out and he sank down into his chair. His hands were shaking in relief. He didn't know what he would do if Tony didn't make it. Losing Shannon and Kelly almost killed him, he couldn't go through that again. He couldn't lose somebody else that he loved.

Ducky sat down next to him. He gave a heavy sigh. "Jethro, I just spoke to Tobias Filliman's doctor."

Jethro barely lifted his head. "Did I kill him?" He wasn't all that shocked to find that thought didn't really bother him.

Ducky shook his head. "He was taken up to surgery."

"How bad did I hit him?"

Ducky sighed. "It wasn't your doing, Jethro. It was the tumor."

"Ducky was right boss," said McGee from his desk. They finally made it back to the office. A part of Jethro had missed the place. He had been out of his element for too long. His chair felt good. They had a great view of the city. How could he not have noticed that view before?

He turned back to McGee. "Filliman has a brain tumor?"

The young agent nodded. "It was pressing on all the right spots. Apparently, Tony questioned him in a murder investigation years ago, that's how Filliman recognized his name. The tumor destroyed his inhibitions and signaled the feeling of love."

"So, Filliman was obsessed with Tony because he was sick." Jethro couldn't tell if Ziva's comment was a question or a statement, so he didn't bother saying anything.

McGee chuckled. "Really says something about Tony, huh?"

Jethro glared at him. McGee covered his chuckle by clearing his throat. "Sorry boss."

"What about Millworth?"

"He is tumor free." McGee clicked a few buttons on his remote, pulling up Millworth's file. "There is no physical evidence for why he'd be so obsessed with Tony. But his doctors want him released into their custody."

Jethro shook his head. "That's not gonna happen."

Ziva rose from her desk and stood in front of him. "Gibbs, Millworth is obviously disturbed. A hospital is the best place for him."

Jethro jumped to his feet and leaned over his desk. He kept his voice low, even though inside he felt like screaming. "Robert Millworth murdered six people and tortured a federal agent." He deserves to die. And if Tony hadn't knocked his sorry ass out before I got there, I would have gladly put a bullet in his head. Those were things he couldn't say to them, regardless of how badly he wanted to. "I don't give a damn what's best for him."

With a quick nod, Ziva moved back to her desk. Jethro sat back down and sighed heavily. He looked across the bull pen. Tony had been moved to a closer hospital, but he still couldn't come home. So now, his desk was empty, his area was relatively clean and quiet. Jethro hated it.

He stood up. McGee and Ziva caught his eye. "You both did good this week." He nodded. "Go home. Rest." He grabbed his things and headed for the elevator. He was going to go home and sleep for the next three days. But he had to make one quick stop first.

He got off on the next floor and headed straight for the director's office. He didn't bother knocking. Vance was leaning back in his chair, his fingertips touching while his elbows rested on his armrests.

"Not bad, Gibbs."

Jethro wasted no time. He crossed the room till he was towering over Vance's desk. "You want me to trust you? Prove to me that you deserve it. You got a problem with how I handle a case, you come to me, you don't ask one of my agents to act as a go between. And don't think you can take a case from me." He had harbored so much anger in the last few days, and he was finally letting it go. It made him feel at least a little better.

Vance stood up and buttoned up his suit jacket. "Did you and DiNozzo have sex while you were undercover?"

Jethro forcefully held back the stiffness that threatened to take hold of his body. "That's none of your business, Leon."

"Normally I'd agree, but when ten different high powered men tell me that the two of you were all over each other in a bar before leaving together, attached by the lips, during an undercover op, I feel inclined to ask."

Jethro turned away with a smug grin on his face. That was actually a pretty accurate account of how he and Tony hooked up. After a moment of reminiscing, he turned back to Vance with a shrug. "How about this, you ignore what you heard, and I won't tell your wife that you were a visitor to the farm six months ago."

Vance tried to hide his shock, but his body noticeably hardened. "Agent McGee tell you that?"

Jethro quirked an eyebrow. "McGee knows?" He had to laugh at that. "No, McGee didn't tell me."

Vance pulled out a toothpick and started chomping on it. He was angry. He always pulled a toothpick when he was mad. The fact that he was so mad that he needed to chomp on a little piece of wood actually defused Jethro's temper.

Finally, the director sighed. He sat back down with his head bent towards his desk. Jethro took that to mean he was keeping his mouth shut. He turned on his heel and made for the door.

Vance's voice stopped him just as he was about to reach for the handle. "Is whatever may or may not have happened gonna be a problem for you, Gibbs?"

Jethro felt the smile slide from his face. It already was a problem. Tony was in the hospital, and some twenty something kid got shot in the head. Still, he swallowed the lump in his throat and turned in the director's general direction. "No."

He turned the handle and walked out the door.

Before you all freak out, no it is not over. Not yet anyways. There's another chapter, and an epilogue coming. Only one thing really has to be wrapped up now, and that's Tony and Gibbs' relationship. Will they fix it? Will Gibbs finally get his head out of his ass? Will Tony be able to convince him that he's worth the risk?

Stay tuned and find out.

Bob