So. I'm not dead. So to all those who were starting to wonder. I'm still alive. Yay.

I just have been without internet for the past three weeks as I moved once more and haven't been able to update. But now I have a kind of stable internet connection (yay!) and should be able to get back into the swing of things. Right now I'm camped out in my apartment. I've been here three days and I'm already concerned about my living standards, the chain on my front door snapped in half the other day (I'm now a bit worried about my personal safety. I should probably call maintenance) my stove nearly set itself aflame (reestablished fire is very hot) and my towel rack tried to commit suicide by leaping off my bathroom wall and forcing me to fix it at midnight. All in all it's been an interesting time.

Anyway. Chapter 12! Or 13... Yay!?

Have fun!

Renee

"What the hell do you mean you can't do it?!"

"Sir I understand you're upset, but without his permission of that of his next of kin we are unable to-"

Tobias crashed his fist on the counter, startling the nurse and making her take a step back.

"So you're just going to let the boy die?"

The woman pulled her shoulders back. "I intend to follow protocol."

She then stood and disappeared into an office behind the shiny countertop. Tobias closed his eyes tightly and took a shaky breath. This wasn't happening. This wasn't actually happening.

"Sir?"

He squinted his eyes open at the quiet voice. A young woman in blue scrubs stood in front of him, brown hair pulled away from her face though curling strands escaped the messy bun. Her eyebrows furrowed together and green eyes were wide with worry as she leaned close to him.

She looked kind.

"Sir?" her eyes darted back and forth before returning to him, "if you tell me who you're here for, I can look up his power of attorney. Maybe you can find them?"

He paused for a moment and studied her face. She was earnest. Honestly wanting to help.

"DiNozzo. Anthony DiNozzo."

She nodded and she turned the computer screen so it was facing her and Tobias instead of hiding its information behind the counter.

"Let's see… last known next of kin was… it's been a while since this has been updated… a L.J. Gibbs. Ring any bells?"

Tobias looked up at the ceiling. "Of course. Excuse me please."

She nodded and he walked back towards the double doors.

He didn't think Gibbs would be much longer. Considering the look on the other man's face when Tony lay unconscious and injured across his legs, he had almost expected him to beat the ambulance here.

Tobias paced back and forth in front of the doors. Of course once Gibbs got here they would have entirely new issues.

Would the older man even remember being Tony's next of kin? Would the memory loss veto his consent? Should they just hide that little tidbit from the medical professionals and hope they don't notice an amnesiac making medical decisions for someone he didn't know anymore?

Fornell winced and rubbed his forehead.

DiNozzo was certainly living up to his reputation of making things complicated.

He covered his face and leaned against a wall.

Now he just had to hope he continued to do so.

xxx

"It was just different."

The house was still flaming behind them, igniting the sky against a creeping sunrise, and Tim's voice seemed to echo in the car.

"Different. You all staged a coup because he was 'different'. Do you know DiNozzo at all?"

Gibbs tightened his fingers around the wheel, anger coloring his words.

"Do you?" McGee shot back, "It was only yesterday that you were telling him it was mistake bringing him on your team to begin with. Do you have any right to judge us our attitude when you come back with that one?"

"I was blown up!" Gibbs yelled, nearly causing the car to swerve off the road when he slammed his hands against the wheel.

Tim didn't say anything, but his silence was telling.

Gibbs sighed and stared forward. "But that is no excuse. I know better than to assume. I should have looked at every angle before I decided he was at fault."

McGee looked away, staring out the window.

"We kept expecting him to handle things like you did. But he didn't. He had new ideas and different techniques. He was… more involved than you. Checked on us when we didn't expect it. Ziva said he was being nosy. Overbearing. He still joked and made those stupid movie references. He just didn't grow up. He was professional when he had to be, yes, and I knew he wanted to keep things light, stop everything from weighing us down as much as it should but Ziva said it meant he didn't care. She started letting things slide, said it would teach him how to act like an adult. He got serious after that, but then it felt like he was trying too hard to be like you. It still wasn't right. And by then it was just easy. Habit. To not finish a case report. To show up late. Put some things on a back burner. Things kept getting done, solve rate didn't drop, I figured it didn't matter. And then he just got quiet. Spending a lot of time talking with the director. He didn't call us at crime scenes as much, or give us as much to do. He spent most of his time alone."

"You didn't wonder how everything was getting finished?"

Tim shrugged, regret lingering on his face.
"Ziva said if Tony wanted our help, he'd ask for it."

"And you think he didn't? Did you listen to him McGee? Or did you save that particular talent for Ziva alone?"

Tim tapped his finger against his leg and looked blankly into the middle distance. Gibbs glanced at him from the corner of his eye and waited. There was something coming.

"I didn't know Kate like you all did. I had less than a year with her. A real year. By then she and Tony had… something. They knew each other, understood each other. Not like you and Tony do…did. But something else. I wanted that. I wanted a partner who I could trust and understand and have that give and take relationship with. I guess I thought Ziva could be my Kate. I didn't… I didn't want to push her. And Tony's easy to push. He just keeps coming back." McGee paused again and swiveled in his seat to face Gibbs. "But… with the way everything happened. With the director and Agent Fornell and this entire stupid mission. I don't know if he's going to come back this time."

The hospital loomed into sight and Gibbs let the quiet settle over the car, leaving both men to their thoughts.

Gibbs pulled into the lot and was out of the car before it came to a complete stop. He hurried into the ER, looking around the room for a familiar face.

"Sign this."

Tobias appeared out of nowhere and shoved a paper against Gibbs' chest. The man blinked and looked at the paper in confusion. Random words stuck out at him skin graft and lung biopsy and endotracheal intubation.

"Tobias?"

"Sign the paper damn it!" He slammed a pen into the man's hand.

Gibbs put the paper against the wall and signed his name quickly, handing it back to Tobias who dashed across the room and disappeared between swinging double doors.

Gibbs looked at McGee, not asking but not understanding either.

Tim sighed, wishing once more that none of this had ever happened.

"You're Tony's next of kin."

Gibbs blinked, a moment of remembrance settling in. "His father's a bastard."

Tim wrinkled his eyebrows. "Oh-kay…He's never said as much. He doesn't really talk about close family, we all just assume he has none."

Gibbs pursed his lips and followed where Tobias had disappeared. "He was supposed to have us."

xxx

It was hot.

No it wasn't.

It was cold?

His legs felt tight, but too loose. Like the skin was squeezing too harsh against the bone, but the muscles were stretched too far.

And his chest hurt. He couldn't get air in. He needed… he needed help.

Help.

Gibbs. Plague and blue and tightness and he couldn't breathe and where was Gibbs?

Mexico?

No. He was here.

He gave him his phone.

Told him he wouldn't die.

Gave him orders.

His head pulsed.

He was tired of taking orders.

He was tired.

xxx

The doctor looked tired. Lines were edging along the creases of his eyes. Grey was creeping up the sides of his ink black hair.

But his eyes were light. Humorous. Sad but hopeful.

Gibbs clung to the hope.

"Agent DiNozzo has second and third degree burns traveling up his right leg and on his hip. Fortunately the damage missed his groin area so things could have been much worse. We're lining up skin grafts as we speak to handle the worst of it and the rest should heal fine with proper treatment. Unfortunately there's going to be some pretty heavy scarring."

Gibbs shifted in his seat. He was nervous. For obvious reasons yes, but it felt like there was something else there. Something nibbling on the edge of his mind. He could remember the plague incident in crystal detail and he knew, he knew, it mattered here, but it wasn't clicking why. What happened afterwards? After the blue lights went back to yellow and Tony moved into a normal hospital room and went home? There was something missing there. Something that mattered now.

The doctor pushed a hand through messy hair and dropped into the seat across from the waiting agents.

"His lungs are what concern us the most." Gibbs felt his heart stutter in his chest. "He has the beginnings of pneumonia and it's gaining ground much faster than it would in a normal healthy set of lungs. That coupled with the extreme exhaustion and his compromised health, we have been forced to intubate him to ensure he receives enough oxygen."

Gibbs swallowed tightly and Tobias spoke up before he had the chance. "So what are we looking at here? Is he going to be all right? Is he…" Fornell trailed off, his eyes darting away from the doctor.

"It's very serious, I'm not going to lie to you. But with proper treatment and careful consideration once he leaves, he should make a full recovery. However, with the placement of the burns and the current state of his lungs, he's going to need to take some time to consider with work situation. He won't be back to normal for quite some time."

Tobias nodded and McGee thanked the doctor quietly.

Gibbs buried his face in his hands and tried to keep himself on track. Tony would be fine. The doctor assured him with proper treatment he would be fine.

But Tony doesn't take care of himself.

Gibbs stiffened as the edge of a memory flickered by.

Then I'll take care of him.

The voice in his head snorted and sounded vaguely familiar.

Oh please. It would be a miracle if he doesn't throw you out the second you walk into his room.

"We need to talk."

"Then I'll make it up to him."

Tobias started. "Excuse me?"

Gibbs opened his eyes. "What?

"I said we need to talk."

Gibbs nodded and stood. "McGee, wait here. Come find us if anything changes."

"Yes boss." The younger man shifted in his seat and pulled out his phone. He was going to have to call Abby. Damn it.

Tobias rolled his eyes at the man's response. and led Gibbs into a family waiting room just down the hall.

"What's going on Tobias?" Gibbs asked as he pushed the door shut behind him.

Fornell leaned against a table and studied Gibbs with weary but determined eyes.

"We need to talk about Tony."