Chapter 1

Abby put the first tape on the screen, the one from the office. Her hands were shaking slightly, and McGee didn't feel any better, too. They had work to do, they had to solve a case, professionally. But knowing that the case was their friend and partner fighting for his life was something they had both wished to never have to do again. It had been too often that Tony was their "case", too many times they had been close to loosing him. It didn't get any easier. The unspoken question that plagued both of them was: Could it end well every time?

Abby forwarded the tape until the point were the elevator doors suddenly opened, 6.10 am.

"Oh Tony, why did you have to come here so early." Abby sighed, not really wanting to see what would happen next. Their attention was suddenly drawn to another figure on the scene, stepping behind Tony and pressing a gun into his back.

"What the hell..." mumbled McGee and tried to get a better look at the man, who didn't seem to be masked or hooded at all.

They were unprepared for how fast everything happened, and before they could brace themselves a jolt went through Tony's body and he fell to the floor, face forward.

Abby gasped, almost feeling the shot herself, and tears filled her eyes. McGee quietly took her hand into his. They watched as the unknown man crouched down next to Tony and then nonchalantly left the picture, disappearing in the elevator.

They both held their breath, as if waiting for something in the picture to change; Tony getting up or at least making a move, but nothing happened. Abby's heart seemed to be torn apart, as she watched her friend lying there so still and helpless. McGee couldn't bear it any longer, hastily he pressed the forward button. Nothing happened in the picture for a long time. Only the city behind the window changed, as it quickly came to life and the sun laid its golden light on the buildings.

Tim had never been one of the so called tough guys, every victim was hard to look at, but this was Tony, and the look was almost unbearable. They were supposed to look after each other, to protect the others back, that's how it always worked when they were in danger. And now there was his partner lying in his own blood, with no one having watched his six.

The timer showed 7.15 and Gibbs and Ducky entered the picture.

"Damn you Gibbs-man, why couldn't you come sooner!" Abby exclaimed.

She paused the tape and for a second they both stood there quietly, until she took a deep breath and with a steadier voice said: „Let's analyze."

Five hours. Ducky had been right. Surgeries like this one took long. Gibbs' mind had been a mixture of blankness, exhaustion and fury in these hours.

Blank, because all he did was stare at the sliding doors through which he knew a surgeon would eventually come with the bad or the good news. Good news would be that Tony was gonna make it. Bad news would be that he wasn't. It was that simple. He wanted Tony alive, he couldn't lose him, there was just no way he could.

Then the exhaustion. He was tired of it. He didn't have the strength anymore to fear for Tony's life. He'd already had this; he had been there, in the blue light, inwardly shaking with fear, on the outside acting calm and confident, giving Tony the order not to die. And Tony, in this unbelievable way of looking up at him, had followed his order; had taken the tiny rest of life still existing in his system and worked his way out of the awaiting darkness; stubbornly, proudly. And yet here he, his boss, stood again, waiting. Fearing that this time Tony wouldn't fight, or that this time he had come too late.

That was the thing that made him furious. He hadn't been there to protect Tony, and when he had finally arrived, Tony had been lying there for a long time, bleeding, alone. He had given him the order, again, but... had he been too late this time?

And then there was the bastard who had done this to Tony, walking around freely, probably already on the run. Alive. Gibbs was filled with a hatred he hadn't experienced since Ari.

Movement. The sliding doors opening. Gibbs standing, waiting, staring at the doctor walking right in his direction.

Ducky who had sat beside him raised hastily from his chair.

The doctor introduced himself as Paxton, shaking both their hands. Gibbs just stared at him, not in the mood for any formalities and friendliness.

"Why don't we sit down and I fill you in about Agent DiNozzo?" Paxton suggested kindly.

"I don't want to sit down, I wanna know if he's gonna make it." Gibbs barked.

Ducky cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Dr. Paxton, we have been very worried and I'm afraid the six hours of waiting have made our nerves slightly. ... anxious." He glared insistently at Gibbs, silently pleading him to give the doctor a break.

"I understand that, of course." Paxton smiled with an uncertain glance at Gibbs, who looked as if he was going to explode any second. "To get right to the point then, I can tell you that Agent DiNozzo's stable at the moment, although in critical condition. If that doesn't change for the worse within the next twelve hours, he should be out of the woods." He paused, taking in their reactions: A little sigh of relief from Ducky, a barely visible shifting in Gibbs' face.

"It was a complicated surgery", Paxton then continued. "The bullet grazed a lung and we had to stop the bleeding first before we could remove the bullet - here it is, by the way" – he handed Gibbs a small plastic bag – "and stabilize his spine. He's on a ventilator right now, to help his lungs. If things develop well, we'll be able to take him off the vent in about twenty-four hours."

"Are you sedating him for this time?" Ducky asked.

"Actually we put him into a coma to save his body energy. But I'm pretty confident we can wake him up tomorrow."

Gibbs was hurting.

"What about the spinal cord?" Ducky asked.

"The bullet went right into the spine, crushing the ninth thoracic vertebrae. The damage to the spinal cord is extensive, and even though we were able to stabilize the spot and stop the bleeding in surgery ... -"

He was cut off impatiently by Gibbs, whose heart was racing. "Is he gonna walk or not?"

Paxton was slightly taken aback, but quickly regained his composure and so he firmly said what every surgeon feared most to say.

To be continued

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