A.N. Sorry for the loooong wait! Here's chapter four! Hope you all enjoy. :)
Four.
Gibbs wanted to head slap himself.
Why had he said all those awful things? McGee had been right. He'd been going too far all day. They weren't gentle barbs or everyday bickering, or even necessary reprimanding. All of his blows had been aimed to kill today.
"Tony?" he stood outside of the mens' bathroom stall, winced when he heard the younger man upchuck anything he'd eaten today. The kid was sick and he hadn't even let him go see Ducky earlier. A pang of guilt resonated in Gibbs' chest. "Tony!" he knocked against the stall.
"Go away!" Tony didn't care that he sounded like a child at that moment. "You've been treating me like shit all day, leave me alone." he demanded miserably, resting his head against one arm over the porcelain bowl.
"I-I know, I want to apolo-"
"No you don't!" Tony yelled from the stall, cutting Jethro off mid-sentence. "You don't want to apologize-you're like everyone else. You just want to make yourself feel better. You always do this, Gibbs.
"You expect me to take all of your shit in stride. And I do. You expect me not to complain when you keep me over the weekends and let everyone else go home. And I don't.
"You expect me to be okay with you leaving for Mexico. And I was. You expect me not to make a fit about you coming back, moving all my shit from your desk without any say so. And I didn't.
"You expect me to bounce back quick from the Jean fiasco, from my car getting blown up, from the plague, from Kates' death, from-Jesus Gibbs, I did! I bounced back.
"You still go too far. Not just today. All the time. After I was kidnapped by that psycho in the sewers, I asked if you'd missed me at all, only to come back and see Tim in my desk! When Ziva and I were trapped in the truck, being shot at, I find out I wasn't invited to a dinner you'd all gone to, knowing I was the odd one out, mocked me about it afterward, too... I'm chained to a sociopath with a tendency to decapitate his victims, neck nearly sliced open, and all the words of comfort you can offer come out as some sick barb at my expense? 'I can see that'?" Tony shook his head, trembling with anger.
"I do every single God damn thing you ask of me. But I can't anymore, Gibbs." Tony was shocked to feel tears running down his face, and leaned back against the stall, his voice breaking. "I can't."
From the other side of the stall Gibbs stood speechless. The only sound in the room was Tonys harsh breathing.
After a pregnant pause, Gibbs spoke again, softly. "Tony, I...I'm so sorr-"
The stall swung open abruptly and Tony pushed passed Gibbs and out the mens room door.
Gibbs caught him by the shoulder. "Tony, please, I'm sorry!"
"Save it!" Tony wrenched his shoulder from under his Boss' grip, and continued to march down the hall, Gibbs at his heels.
"Tony!"
He stopped, turned around, yelled, "Leave me alone!" and felt the world tilt precariously at that moment, and before Tony could steady himself, his knees buckled and as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, just before his consciousness left him, he felt a pair of strong arms holding him up.
"Tony! Tony, what's wrong?"
And then everything went black.
A.N. I keep dishing out REALLY short chapters for this and I apologize severely. :/ I promise I'll try my best to make the next one super long and awesome for you guys! Please review, I'll actually start responding to reviews instead of gushing about all your wonderful feedback and comments and criticize in my head ;D