A/N: I know, it's been a while. Sorry. But only two chapters left (for real, this time), and they shouldn't take much time.

Once in the car, Callen let Eric have it.

"What's wrong with you? I'm beginning to think I should've left you in LA!"

"Beginning to?" Sam scoffed.

Callen spared only enough time to glance briefly at Sam before continuing. "When Hettie hears about this…"

Eric paled. "Hettie?"

"Do you really think I'm dumb enough to keep this from her?"

"Knowing Hettie, she already knows," Sam pointed out.

"That's true," Callen agreed.

"Now you guys are just trying to scare me," Eric accused.

"It's not us you should be afraid of," Callen pointed out as they pulled up to the hotel.

Needless to say, this did not do much to improve Eric's mood. He got out of the car, slamming the door behind him, and stomped into the hotel.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound of gunshots filled the room. Eric's face glowed in the light of the TV screen as he gripped the video game controller.

Dom had his pillow folded over his head in a failing attempt to block out the noise as he lay on the small cot in their room.

Nate was reading on his bed, flinching every time a shot fired.

"Eric, this isn't healthy." Nate had to shout to be heard over the game.

"It helps me," he argued.

"No, it distracts you; there's a difference."

"Then, tell me, Mr. Psychologist, what would help me?"

"Talking," Nate answered matter-of-factly.

At Eric's snort, Dom resurfaced to add, "No, really. Talking about things has been proven to help. There have been studies."

Eric looked between the two other men, then paused his game. "Fine. Do you want me to tell you what happened? Abby chose McGee."

They winced as he continued. "So I punched him in the face."

Dom looked shocked, but Nate just shook his head. "Eric…"

He kept going as if he hadn't heard him. "Then he pinned me on the ground. Now Callen's mad at me for embarrassing the entire OSP, and I'm dead when Hettie finds out. Okay?"

Dom and Nate looked at each other, and then Nate said. "Okay; we understand. Go back to your video game."

So he did. And, by three in the morning, it had helped. He calmed enough to go to sleep, for which Nate and Dom were thankful.

A few days later, Tony was being released from the hospital. He was in a wheelchair – something he'd tried to protest, without much luck. The doctors gave him an ultimatum: either he left in the wheelchair, or he stayed in the hospital indefinitely. It worked – and had two hours of physical therapy a day, but they allowed him to continue treatment as an outpatient.

A nurse helped him from the bed to the wheelchair – ignoring his grumbling – while Ziva held it steady. It had been decided that she would take care of him until he was back on his feet again, because she had already been given mandatory leave to recover from the emotional stress of the last few weeks. The team – of course – would come over whenever they could to check on him and break up the monotony.

"Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is?" Tony complained as Ziva pushed him to the exit.

She rolled her eyes. "It is necessary, Tony. You can not walk with holes in your legs."

He kept grumbling, but his voice trailed off when they reached the doors. "Ziva, what…?"

She smiled. "They wanted to be here for you, Tony. You said you didn't want them in the hospital when you were released, so they waited outside."

And, in fact, there was the whole team: Gibbs, McGee, Abby, Ducky, and even Palmer were there for him. And, for the moment, he forgot about how embarrassing it was to be seen by his friends in a wheelchair.

The moment the wheelchair touched the sidewalk, Abby rushed over to him – only remembering that Tim's arm was around her after he had already stumbled forward – and gave him a hug.

"Sorry, Tony! I know you didn't want any of us to come, but we're family, and we love you, and we just wanted to be here for you–"

Tony laughed and hugged her back. "Abs, it's okay. I'm actually… glad you all came."

Her face lit up. "I'm happy you said that…"

His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"You'll see," she said, skipping away from him and back to McGee, where he once again put his arm possessively around her shoulders.

Tony had to laugh at the look on Gibbs' face. "You're just going to have to get used to it, Boss. You'll be seeing it a lot."

"I don't have to do anything, DiNozzo. Just because I have to look at something, doesn't mean I have to like it." But he had a slight smile on his face, so Tony knew that he would, in time, get over it.

The party reached the cars, and McGee and Gibbs – very carefully – helped Tony into Ziva's Mini Cooper, all three men complaining the whole time about the limited space, and the problem of having to put the wheelchair in someone else's car. Ziva just rolled her eyes; she didn't care what they said – it was her car, not theirs.

When they reached his apartment, Tony was only slightly surprised to see streamers and a "Welcome Home" banner.

"Thanks, Abs," he said, knowing no one else would have done it. "But how–?"

She grinned slyly. "I know where you keep the spare key."

Everyone laughed, and the sound magnified when Tony announced, "I'm moving it as soon as you all leave."

"Well, you might have to wait. We're not going to leave that quickly!" Abby said as she made her way to the kitchen. She returned a few seconds later holding a cake and gift bags. McGee, always the gentleman, rushed to take the cake off her hands so she didn't drop anything.

"Presents?" Tony asked, his eyes lighting up. Again, laughter filled the room.

"You just got out of the hospital, Anthony. We don't want you dying of boredom," Ducky pointed out as Abby all but threw the bags into Tony's lap.

He reached eagerly for the biggest bag, but Abby stopped him.

"No! Open that one last!"

"But I wanted that one first!"

"Stop whining, DiNozzo, and do what she says," Gibbs intervened.

"Fine. Which one can I open, Abs?"

Ziva answered instead. "Open this one," she told him as she handed him a bag.

He ripped the tissue paper out of the way, and made a face. "Gee, thanks, Ziva," he said sarcastically as he pulled the DVD out of its wrapping.

"What?" she asked innocently. "You love movies, and we will have plenty of time to watch it while you recover. I noticed you didn't have it on your shelves."

"That's because it's Sound of Music!"

"But it is one of my favorite things!" Ziva joked. "And if I keep the remote out of your reach, there's nothing you can do about it."

"That was a low blow, Ziva," Tony muttered.

She ignored him, and asked, "Who's next?"

"He can open mine," Jimmy offered.

"Am I going to like this one?" Tony asked, a little less anxious to open it.

"Stop being such a baby, and open it!" Abby said.

He opened it, and saw a few packages of his favorite Jamaican-blend coffee grounds, and a few boxes of microwave popcorn. "Thanks, Palmer!"

"Yes, thanks, Jimmy. Now we have something to eat while we watch Sound of Music!"

Tony glared at her and went onto the next present, Ducky's this time. He pulled out the book and smiled. "A History of Film. Thanks, Ducky. You might have just given me a reason to open a book."

McGee gasped. "Good job, Ducky. I guess there really is a first time for everything! Oof!" he exclaimed as a package of coffee hit him in the gut.

"You're welcome, Anthony. I've had it for a while; I was waiting for your birthday, actually."

"Okay, Timmy! Your turn!" Abby was all but bouncing with excitement.

"Tony, before you open it, I want you to know that if you break it, I am not buying you another one."

That just made Tony want to open it faster.

"A video game? I should have known," he teased, already trying to get the Wii out of the box.

"Hand it over and I'll set it up for you before I leave. I figured you wouldn't want to just sit around all the time, and this way you can keep up your arm strength, too."

"Thanks, McGee…but isn't it a little expensive?"

"I owed you." His response was curt; Tony made a mental note to ask him later, when no one else was around.

"Okay, Abby. May I have your present now?"

"Did everyone else give you one?" she asked, matching presents to people, and coming up one short. "Gibbs, where's yours?"

"I'll give it to him later, Abs. Go ahead and give it to him."

She did, and the response was two surprised and somewhat unhappy faces.

"More books? How bored do you think I'm going to be?"

"Not just any books," Tim said. "My books. A complete set."

Abby shrugged off their remarks. "They're good books. It's about time some paper made it onto those bookshelves," she said with a gesture to the shelves on his wall filled with movies.

Everyone lingered for a while, passing the Wii remotes around and eating cake. Tony loved the feeling that he belonged to a family, and tried to pretend that he wasn't tired so they would stay longer.

Jimmy and Ducky had places to be, so they left early. Then Abby noticed how tired Tony was, and made up an excuse for why she and McGee should leave.

"Wait. Abs, can I speak to McGee for a minute?" Tony asked.

"I'll meet you in the car," Tim promised.

Gibbs and Ziva were cleaning up in the kitchen, so when Abby left, it was just the two men in the living room.

"If you're going to try to say that the Wii is too expensive again, Tony, I might have to hit you."

Tony chuckled. "No, but can you tell me what you owe me for?"

"You saved my life, Tony. Not just this time, but so many times. Plus, for the first time in my life, I got the girl. The girl, not a girl, Tony."

"I can't take full credit for that, Tim."

"That's fine with me. But I want you to take the Wii. And call me if you need anything."

"That's actually what I had you stay for…"

"What?" Tim asked.

Tony looked to make sure Gibbs and Ziva were out of hearing range. "I need you to take me to therapy."
Tim looked puzzled. "I thought Ziva was doing that."

"She can't, man. I don't want her there."

"Why not, Tony? She was there for you when you were in your coma; she doesn't think you're weak."
"I know that," he said, frustrated. "But put yourself in my shoes. Would you want Abby seeing just how much it hurts to do things you could do without any effort last week? Would you want to see that look of guilt on her face because she blames herself for every bit of strain she sees on your face?"

Tim nodded solemnly. "What time do you need me to be here tomorrow?"

About an hour after Tim left, Gibbs was still there, and Tony was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Hey, DiNozzo? Did you hear me?"

"What, Boss?" Tony asked, clearly exhausted.

"I said, take these. I'm tired of holding your crap for you."

"My badge and gun? How'd you get those?"

"We found them at Ziva's. I thought you'd want them back, as motivation to get back to work."
"Thanks, Boss. I'm looking forward to it." He'd barely finished the sentence before he was asleep. Gibbs wheeled him to the bedroom, where he and Ziva got him into bed.

"Thank you for staying, Gibbs," Ziva whispered as they walked back into the living room.

"Anytime. Call me if you need anything, okay? I'll be here in ten minutes."

She almost protested that even for her, it was a fifteen minute drive from Gibbs' house to Tony's apartment, but she knew that he would do whatever it took to get there as fast as he could.

"I will, Gibbs. Good night."

"Night, Ziver."

She looked in on Tony once before making her way to the guest room, and fell asleep thinking about how it felt to have family for the first time in a very long time.

A/N: Well? Did you like it? Sorry I kind of left the LA team hanging, but I'll pick it up next chapter! I just thought this chapter was getting kind of long, and I had more to do with the DC team.