Gibbs swore and moved Tony out of the way, replacing the younger man's hands with his own.
Shit, she was burning up.
"What's wrong, Abbs?"
Abby nuzzled her head into his chest, and her mumbled answer came out muffled.
"Hmm?" he asked again, leaning down to hear her respond this time.
"Just tired. I'll be fine."
"Abby..."
She groaned and shook her head, whirling around and heading towards the staircase, unhappy that she had to give up her cozy spot, but she'd prefer moving to having the noise in the room make her headache worse.
Tony stepped up to her, halting her with an arm that he wrapped around her middle. She sighed and looked at them, slightly annoyed.
"Maybe my head hurts. And my stomach," she confessed shrugging. Gibbs nodded silently, assessing the situation. He grabbed the cordless phone from the end table and tossed it to DiNozzo.
"Get Ducky on that."
"Got it, boss."
Leading Abby up the stairs, the older man dropped her off in his room, stopping to hand her an old t-shirt of his. She was still in her clothes from the night before, and he was sure that she'd want to be in something lighter.
He left her alone to change and went to her room to straighten the bed clothes that Abby had left half on the floor in a state of disarray. Rolling his eyes, he remembered that DiNozzo's had been just as bad and reminded himself that they needed a lesson on keeping their quarters clean before they left.
Abby soon joined him and he helped her into bed, chuckling as she huffed when he took out her pigtails.
"Al- Alright, Duck. I'll- I remember, Ducky, but I really have to- Yeah. Uh huh."
It really was difficult to get a man who like to talk so much off the phone politely, especially when he was busy triple checking that his instructions regarding the health of someone that he cared for deeply were understood. Tony sighed in relief when the doctor finally hung up and came to stand by Gibbs.
"Ducky says it's probably just a bug, but if her temperature's over 104 it's worth a trip to Bethesda. That's our best bet, it's closest."
Gibbs nodded and strode out of the room softly, leaving a confused agent, and a slightly out-of-it lab tech wondering where he was going.
He returned soon enough, thermometer in hand, unsure why he even had the thing, but glad that he did. Sitting on the edge of her bed, he held it near Abby's mouth.
"Open, Abby."
Abby frowned. There was no doubt in her mind that if her temperature was even close to Ducky's warning, Gibbs would have her in Bethesda faster than she could suck down a Caf-Pow. It wasn't worth the risk on these roads. Making up her mind and gathering all the stubbornness that she had, she pursed her lips and rolled to her other side, away from the men.
"You can sleep later, Abbs. We just need to check your temperature first."
Every instinct that Tony had was screaming fo him to avoid the conflict and get the hell out of there, but he couldn't just leave his friend to make things worse for herself.
"Please Abby?"
She pulled the covers up over herself.
Well, he tried. That was what mattered.
Tony made a break for the door. Abby was a big girl. She could take care of herself.
Gibbs sighed. She'd better hope that her fever was high enough for her to blame her behavior on delirium.
"I can find other places to put this, Abbs."
Her eyes widened, underneath her tent of blankets. Gibbs didn't make idle threats.
He smirked and shook his head as he watched her head pop out from under the covers.
Worked every time.
"She alright, boss?"
Gibbs nodded and sank into one of his kitchen chairs.
"Fever wasn't too bad. Medicine made her tired, though. She's asleep."
It had been an odd feeling, when he'd plucked the bottle of cold medicine down from the cabinet. He remembered being unsure of why he'd had the urge to buy it, only to have the answer hit him like a tidal wave when he arrived home that night.
He hadn't seen a reason to keep it around the house after Kelly and Shannon died. What was the point, he wasn't a parent anymore?
It had been almost an ambivalent experience, to realize that he was still a parent. Granted, his so called "children" were fully grown adults, but it was hardly as if they acted like it.
His thoughts were jolted to a screeching halt as he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.
"DiNozzo!"
"Yeah?"
"Who gave you permission to burn down my house?"
Tony jumped and slammed a lid down on the mess that he'd created on the stove, which had predictably, if you were familiar with his cooking skills at least, caught flame.
"Sorry, boss. I'm more of a microwave guy."
"Really, DiNozzo?"
"Well, um," he hesitated and paused to extinguish a wayward flame with the metal lid. "Yeah. Good news, though. Should the heat happen to go out, or we're in the mood for a campfire, I'm pretty sure I've got us covered."
Gibbs shook his head, and cautiously moved the lid back to stare into the pot.
"What the hell were you making? Crystal meth?"
_=_=_=_=_=_=_
This wasn't as humourous as I normally like to write, but I guarantee that the next couple chapters will make up for it. Abby will be back on her feet soon, and Tony does tend to come up with his best, well more interesting at least, ideas when he's bored.
Tony's Team will be out really soon. I think that it's in character, but I'd like to have someone look over it to be sure.