One of the advantages of not being officially responsible for the 'incident' was that Tim and Ziva did not need to hang around to process the scene but could follow the ambulance that whisked Gibbs, Tony and Archie off to hospital. It was probably as well for Billy Smith that Gibbs left so quickly.

Now Gibbs was sitting in the hospital nursing a mug of coffee and wishing he could forget what he had seen when he had rushed up the stairs in the movie theater.

Archie had been sitting on the ground with Tony pulled across his lap. What had shocked Gibbs was that tears were streaming down Archie's face; he could see a trickle of blood seeping down Tony's face and for a few moments he feared the worst. Part of him wanted to look away, part of him wanted to stand there and delay hearing the bad news but part of him – the marine/agent part – drove him forward immediately to see what he could do.

"Arch?" he said, instinctively using Tony's nickname for the older man, "Arch?"

Archie looked up at him, despair in his eyes,

"He's dead, Agent Gibbs. I can't feel a pulse."

Forcing himself to remain calm, Gibbs reached out a hand to touch Tony's neck. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a strong beat.

"It's OK, Arch, he's still with us. I can feel his pulse."

"Are you sure?" said Archie.

"Yes, here ..." Gibbs took Archie's hand and put it against Tony's neck, "there, feel that?" Archie nodded. "It's OK," said Gibbs gently, "sometimes it's difficult to feel it when you're shaking."

"Old marine like me shouldn't be shaking," said Archie a little tremulously,

"I think you're allowed," said Gibbs drily. He turned round and saw McGee and Fornell standing there. "We need a medic here, Tim".

"On it, Boss," said McGee running back down the stairs to get the help.

Archie continued to hold on to the unconscious Tony. The paramedics tactfully let him stay like that while they did a preliminary examination,

"What's his name?" one asked.

"DiNozzo ... Tony," said Gibbs.

"Tony ..., my name is Mark, I'm here to help you. Tony ... can you open your eyes for me? No, I'm not getting anything. Gordon, I think we're just going to scoop and go. Get ready, will you? Does anyone know if Tony has any allergies, anything we should know?"

"I can give you the medical history," said Gibbs, "I've had a lot of practice."

"Good," said Mark, "you come with us then and tell us as we go. And you, Sir," looking at Archie, "I think you'd better come too". Gordon came running up with the gurney.

"Sir, you need to let go of him now," said Mark firmly, "we're going to put him on the gurney and take him to hospital. You can come too."

Archie nodded, and let them take Tony away. Gibbs helped him up and continued to hold his arm as they walked downstairs. Archie shook his head in bewilderment as he saw the devastation Smith had wrought but said nothing; he climbed meekly into the ambulance and let Gibbs put a blanket round his shoulders.

Archie had been checked out at the hospital and found to be suffering from just some bruises and shock. He had refused to go home, however, but waited with the others for news of Tony. Ziva had phoned Ducky, Jimmy and Abby and they had also to come to wait for news. Shortly after they had arrived, a doctor came out to speak to them.

"I'm Dr Harding, I'm looking after Mr DiNozzo."

"How is he, Doc?" asked Gibbs.

"He's still unconscious, I'm afraid. He seems to have taken quite a blow to the head. We're taking him down for a CT scan to check for hemorrhages."

Abby grabbed Gibbs' hand in anxiety,

"Do you think he's bleeding? Tony's been hit on the head lots of times and he's always been all right. Although I suppose that's not a good thing is it, that he's been hit so often. I mean it's good that he's always got better, but not good that he's needed to ..."

"Abigail," interrupted Ducky, "let Dr Harding continue."

"There's not much else to say at the moment. There's no queue for the scan so he'll be going straight in. You're welcome to stay. I'll be back as soon as I've got some news".

Gibbs, Archie and the team sat back down again and resumed their waiting.

NCISNCIS

Two hours later they were still waiting; the area around them was littered with discarded sandwiches and half drunk cups of tea and coffee. Every few minutes, as a distraction, someone would go and get refreshments but nobody could concentrate enough to finish anything. Occasionally, Jimmy would start to tidy things up but then lose heart and sit down again.

"What's taking so long," asked Gibbs impatiently.

"Now, Jethro," said Ducky soothingly, "these things take time. They have to look at the results and determine what is going on and, I fear, they have other patients."

Archie had said nothing since being checked out and asserting that he was not going home. He felt uncomfortable being with the close knit team who, he guessed, had lots of questions for him but he was determined to stay where he was. At last Dr Harding came back.

"I'm sorry for the long wait. I'm afraid we're very busy back there tonight".

"We understand, Doctor," said Ducky, "I'm a doctor myself and I well remember my first days as a junior houseman in the UK. I think that's the equivalent of a resident in the US. No matter. I well remember that we were so busy that sometimes I fell asleep standing up. It was a miracle so many of our patients survived. Not, of course, that I wish to imply that we were negligent but rather very hard pressed. I hope you are not having to be so busy yourselves ..."

"Duck," interrupted Gibbs with forced calm, "shall we let Dr Harding tell us what's going on with Tony?"

"Of course, Jethro, I do apologise. My reminiscences can wait for another day. Dr Harding, please continue."

"I'm pleased to say that the CT scan did not show any brain damage. That is good news".

"Indeed it is," said Ducky, "and the rest of your news?"

"Mr DiNozzo has not yet recovered consciousness ... but there are no rules around this and we just have to wait and see. He is being moved to a room upstairs and, if you wish, you can go and see him there. An orderly will be along shortly to take you there."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Gibbs. "All right, we'll all go up and see Tony. Tim and Ziva, then I want you to take Ducky, Abby and Archie home. No point us all staying here. You can come back in the morning".

NCISNCIS

As Gibbs sipped his coffee, he reflected that his orders had not been followed to the letter. They had all filed into Tony's room and then left, leaving Gibbs to keep his customary vigil. A few minutes later, Gibbs had looked up to see Archie standing at the door.

"I told you to go home", he said.

"You don't get to tell me what to do, Agent Gibbs," he replied, "Tony's my friend and I'm going to stay".

Gibbs thought about arguing but then he remembered Archie's distress earlier and decided to give in. He indicated a chair on the other side of Tony's bed.

"I'd tell you that there's no point in staying, that Tony won't know the difference but then I realise that you could say the same thing to me, and I'm staying. Must be a marine thing."

"Semper Fi," said Archie, with an attempt at a smile, "I get the impression you've had to do this before, Agent Gibbs."

"A few times," admitted Gibbs, "and call me Jethro ... or Gibbs."

"Jethro," nodded Archie.

"And should I call you Greg ... or Arbuthnot?"

"I've been Archie for a long time now, Jethro. More than half a lifetime. I've sort of got used to it."

"While we were waiting to enter the theater, Agent Fornell told me that the FBI thinks there's no threat left to you. Billy Smith was probably the last one who cared and he won't be causing you any more trouble."

"Was that his name?" asked Archie, "I remember a little boy, William. Cute little thing, big innocent blue eyes. I used to buy him popcorn. He didn't look so cute, or innocent, this afternoon," he sighed, "I guess you've got some questions for me, Jethro?"

Gibbs nodded, "I don't understand, er ... Archie, why did you let Tony buy into the business if you were in witness protection?"

"Have you ever tried to stop Tony doing something he wanted to?"

"That's not the point. You could have said 'No'. Hell, you should have said 'No', his voice rising in anger.

"I wasn't the criminal in this, Jethro," said Archie hotly.

"Hey, can you two keep the noise down," came a slurred voice from the bed, "I think I've probably got a concussion and I seem to remember that loud noises aren't good for it".

"Tony, you're awake," said Archie happily.

"You should have been a detective," mumbled Tony.

Gibbs and Archie exchanged a smile at the lame joke. Gibbs pressed the bell to alert the medical staff that their patient was awake.

"What do you remember, Tony?" he asked.

Tony closed his eyes to concentrate. "Someone came after Arch ... we hid; somewhere, can't remember."

"Yeah, and you should both have stayed hidden instead of playing the hero. You both watch too many movies," said Gibbs. Further discussion was interrupted by the arrival of a nurse to do some checks.

"OK, Honey, my name is Suzanne and I'm on duty the rest of the night. I'm guessing you've got a headache and you're feeling a bit nauseous?"

"That's about right, hope you've got the barf bag standing by," quipped Tony.

"All right, Sugar. I'm going to get you something for that headache but you know the drill. I can't give you anything too strong and I'll be coming by every so often to wake you up."

"Looking forward to it already but I should warn you that I can't remember the name of the president on a normal day!"

"We'll think of something, Darlin'; I'm sure one of your friends here will be able to tell if you're behaving normally."

"I wouldn't bank on it," said Gibbs, "'normal' isn't a word that many people use to describe Tony."

"Hey, wounded person here, Boss. No need to make it worse".

"I'm just going to get you those pills, Sweetness. You just rest there quietly".

Tony waited till she had left the room and then said, "I think I feel sick ..."

Gibbs and Archie both looked round for something for him to throw up into, and then saw him grinning '... all that sugar!" They both relaxed a little after that although they could see that he was in pain and probably was feeling nauseous. Tony took the pills that Suzanne brought him and then said, "OK, bring me up to date on what happened".

"What do you remember, Tony?" asked Gibbs.

"Not much. Did the door get bashed in or was that a dream?"

Gibbs and Archie each supplied their own side of the story and Tony tried not to nod his head as he listened. "It must have been kinda funny when Smith fell down the stairs but we were lucky. Arch, I think you and I had better stick to the movie business. I don't think we're cut to be a crime fighting duo."

"If you still want to be in it with me," said Archie, "and I'm not sure how much of it is left."

"We're partners," said Tony, "and we'll think about Tara tomorrow," and he closed his eyes and seemed to drift off to sleep.

"Tara?" queried Gibbs.

"Movie reference," explained Archie, "'Gone with the Wind'"

Gibbs nodded and wondered whether the world could cope with two movie buffs like Tony and Archie coming together. He settled back in his chair, Archie dozed off and the rest of the night passed quietly except for the two hourly concussion checks.

NCISNCIS

With the arrival of morning came also Ducky, Jimmy, Abby, the rest of Gibbs' team and Radhika. Gibbs was especially pleased to see Radhika who had brought coffee and some of the brew which had seemed to settle Tony's stomach before.

"Toneee," squealed Abby happily when she saw Tony was awake. She rushed towards his bed with arms outstretched but stopped when she saw him wince at the noise. She moved forward more slowly and placed a feather light kiss on his cheek,

"Head still hurts, eh?" she said sympathetically.

"Yep, those beatniks with their bongos are back. And I've got a free carousel going on in my head too".

"I fear that may linger for a while, my boy," said Ducky as he helped himself to Tony's medical file from the end of the bed, "that's a nasty concussion you've got. I think you may need to stay in bed until that dizziness fades."

"No arguments here, Duckman," said Tony, "if I got up now I think I'd be face-planting the floor. And though the DiNozzo nose is large, it's perfectly formed and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Well, Honey-bunch", said Suzanne coming in at that moment, "I think that's an excellent idea. Now I'm going to give you a lovely bed-bath to freshen you up. I think your friends could go and get some breakfast while we do that, don't you?" And although she said this in the gentlest, sweetest tone possible, the others found themselves of the room as quickly as if she had pulled a shotgun on them.

"Could have done with her in the corps," mused Gibbs, "OK. Let's go get something to eat".

NCISNCIS

Tony did feel a lot better after Suzanne's ministrations but felt grateful that she was in her fifties so he was not obliged to flirt too seriously. He was lying quietly, experimenting with raising the bed head slightly and rejoicing that it didn't exacerbate the dizziness, when he heard raised voices coming down the corridor.

"I can't believe you would think that, Gibbs!" Archie was shouting.

"What else was I supposed to think?" came Gibbs' loud reply, "when you'd gone all quiet and broody on us."

"Oh, I should never have told you," wailed Abby.

"I don't understand why Anthony didn't consult me," said Ducky crossly.

"I suppose you'll be accusing me next," complained Radhika.

"Guys, we shouldn't be upsetting Tony," came Jimmy's attempt at a calming voice. Tony guessed that at least two people had turned glares on him because the next stuttering words came, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that ... but, but ... but, I'll be quiet now."

"Jimmy has a point," said Ziva, "we should wait until Tony is feeling better before discussing this."

"Too late, Ninja, I think the whole hospital knows about it now. Why do the two quietest people I know choose the day I have a concussion to have a shouting match?"

A chorus of whispered apologies wafted across the room.

"OK, you'd better tell me what's going on. But could you keep it down, guys – please?"

"Of course, Anthony. I was just expressing my regret that you had been ill and failed to consult me or some other medical person," said Ducky.

"And I was being furious", sorry," Archie lowered his voice, "furious, that Agent Gibbs had thought that I'd poisoned you".

"And I was hoping that I wasn't going to be accused of putting something in your tea," said Radhika a little tearfully.

"Bit lost here," said Tony plaintively, "McGee can you translate, please?"

"The Boss thought that perhaps you'd been poisoned when you were ill the other day."

"OK – but how did you tie that in with Arch?" asked Tony.

"Because I'd apparently been pumping Abby for information about how to slip you some untraceable poison," said Archie bitterly.

"Why were you talking to Abby about poison?" enquired Tony.

Archie looked a little sheepish, "I didn't mean to. I think I mentioned a poisoning in a movie and she was off. I didn't understand one word in a hundred but she's real fascinating when she gets going."

"See," said Abby triumphantly as she punched Gibbs on the arm, "I knew he didn't understand what I was talking about. You owe me a CafPow and you owe Archie an apology".

Archie didn't know about Gibbs' rule about apologies so didn't quite understand why everyone else in the room turned to gaze at Gibbs to see what would happen next. Gibbs opened his mouth to speak,

"No, that's OK, Jethro. I understand how it happened. We'll just chalk it up to experience. I was just mad that any of you would think I'd want to hurt Tony. He's the best thing that's happened to me in years ..." Archie's voice broke and tears came to his eyes.

The others averted their eyes tactfully while Archie composed himself – except for Abby who hugged him, and surreptitiously wiped her own eyes on his shoulder.

"That's right, Arch," said Tony cheerfully, "it must have been so boring in the days before people broke your door down, ripped your place apart and tried to shoot you ..."

"Guess that's the DiNozzo effect," said Jimmy meditatively. Everyone laughed. Unfortunately the noise brought another nurse into Tony's room.

"I'm Bruce, just taken over from Suzanne ..."

"... hmmm, nurses often have to go off duty after giving me a bed bath, they're just overwhelmed by all that DiNozzo goodness," said Tony.

"Yeah, that's right, that's exactly what she said as handed over to me. What she didn't say was this number of visitors was allowed in here. Some of you are going to have to leave."

As several of them raised their voices to protest their right to stay, Ziva looked across at Tony and then touched Gibbs' arm to get his attention and nodded towards Tony whose eyes were slipping shut.

"Listen up everyone," said Gibbs, "let's give Tony some space. He looks like he wants to go back to sleep. We'll come back later. Off you go."

"Thanks guys, " said Tony wearily, "just give me a couple of hours and I'll be good to go."

"Visiting time for Mr DiNozzo will begin at 3.00pm," said Bruce firmly, "and not a minute before."

AN: more conversations to come ... and decisions to be made.