Last chapter! Didn't realize this was going to be it, but once I got to the end there, I realized this was a good place to leave off. But I wanted to give fair warning! ;)
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Eventually, Tony ended up falling fast asleep. Gibbs hadn't noticed until he heard a momentary soft snoring and looked over. He regarded him with a smirk, then shifted to push himself up, but the movement caused Tony to shift toward him onto his side and grasp the sleeve of his shirt. He looked at his agent again, noticing the shudder that ran through him as he slept, and decidedly leaned back onto the couch.
As he did so, Tony's forehead rested against his boss's bicep and the furrow in his brow decidedly began to disappear. Gibbs rested his head back on the couch and took a deep breath. Memories of the day...even of the past week, rolled into his mind like a dark mist and he felt a shudder run through his own body.
But he allowed himself to remain calm at the feeling of his agent alive and well at his side, once again affirming that everything was going to be okay. He thought of McGee; what he'd said to Ziva about not wanting to do this without them... He understood that feeling all too well. It was what kept him in that garage. It's what would make him do it again if he had to. He wasn't going to lose his family; not again...
The sudden opening of the front door caused Tony to tense beside him; nearly jumping the lower half of his body up onto the cushion, pulling his knees almost to his chest as he clung for dear life onto his boss. One hand clutched the back of Gibbs' shoulder, and the other clung to the front of Gibbs' shirt as Tony squirmed beside him; his breath becoming more rapid with anxiety.
Gibbs didn't need to ponder what was playing in the agent's mind; he knew what it was the moment the door sounded. He reached his free arm across and laid a comforting hand at the back of Tony's head, "I've got you," he told him close to his ear. "You're okay, I've got you, Tony." He felt him begin to relax a bit and he pulled his hand from its place on Tony's head. Tony's hand re-clenched at Gibbs' shirt, and Gibbs put his own hand over it, trying to reassure him. He pulled his hand free of his shirt and held it as Tony twisted his hand around to grasp onto it.
Ducky quietly entered the living room with a pillow and Gibbs looked up at him. He'd known it was Ducky that had come in when he'd heard the door open. He must have slipped away when he realized Tony's distress. "Let him sleep, Duck," Gibbs told him in barely a whisper. Ducky nodded, his intentions having already been on that road, and he moved to lay the pillow on the far end of the couch. The two of them helped lower Tony down onto it, then Gibbs pulled a throw over him, slowly releasing Tony's hand as the agent seemed to be relaxed for the moment.
Gibbs stood, appraising Tony once more before turning to follow Ducky into the kitchen. "I spoke with the hospital and Anthony's final blood tests came back normal. I think he'll be fine. I'll admit to being a bit alarmed to see him just now when I came in... But only because it reminded me of when we found you in that cell..."
"Only gets like that when he's sleepin'," Gibbs told him.
"Understandably so," he replied. "Tell me, Jethro; does he intend on coming in to work tomorrow?"
Gibbs smirked, "Knowing Tony, he'll probably want to."
"I figured as much," he smiled. "Remarkably enough, there was no major injury to his leg. But he should probably stay out of the field until the swelling goes down, which shouldn't be more than a few days." Gibbs nodded in acknowledgment. "How is he, otherwise?"
Gibbs glanced into the living room at the sleeping agent, "I think he's gonna be okay, Duck."
"I can see that he takes great comfort in your presence."
Gibbs looked back over at the M.E, "That goes both ways, I think." He walked to the fridge and opened it, retrieving a couple bottles of water. "After what happened with Griswald, I keep finding myself needin' to make sure he's okay," he handed one of the bottle to Ducky. "Not just because he might need me around, but..." his eyes darted around somewhere between them for a few moments. "Hell, I dunno, Duck," he wiped a hand down his face.
"You need to see that he's okay, just as much as he takes comfort knowing that you're there with him," Ducky explained for him. "Though I'm sure neither of you want to admit that to one another," he smirked. "You care a great deal for each other, and that's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Care about everyone on the team. So does Tony."
"Yes, that's true. However, I feel it runs a little deeper for the two of you." Gibbs narrowed his eyes in question of what he might be implying. "There is no other person whom Tony trusts as much as he does you. And there are levels of respect and admiration I doubt he has for many other people in his life. You're like the father he should've had. And I don't think that I need to tell you how you feel."
Gibbs took a long drink of his water and decidedly took a seat at the table. Ducky watched him for several long moments as he seemed to be contemplating something, then took a seat across from him. Gibbs met his eyes, "How's McGee seem to you?"
"Besides concerned for the well-being of his colleagues?" Ducky raised a brow.
"I overheard him tellin' Ziva that he would've given up his badge if we hadn't come outta that garage today."
"I see," the doctor glanced down at the table-top in thought for a moment. "Timothy's seen a great deal of both incidents...and probably feels as though he'd somehow let you both down in some way. Though he may know, just as well as the rest of us, that there was little he could've done to prevent those things from happening, he still feels responsible in some way. We almost lost the two of you on two separate occasions in a very short span of time. It's had us all scared, Jethro. Timothy's response was most likely due to the stress of it all. What he said, could have simply been the only way he knew how to express those feelings."
"Maybe..."
"He's a smart lad, Jethro. If it ever comes down to it, he'll make the right choice..."
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Tony woke up to the smell of coffee. As he pushed himself up to sit, he yelped and groaned at the soreness that seemed to radiate through his entire body. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and face as he stretched.
"Mornin'," Gibbs said as he walked in from the kitchen with a cup of coffee.
"Mornin', Boss," Tony said, taking the cup Gibbs was handing him. "Thanks. What time is it?"
"0530," he replied. "Ya passed out pretty early last night."
"Yeah, I guess this is most sleep I've gotten in a while. You sleep well?" he asked before taking a long drink from his mug.
"Not bad," he said as he retrieved his own mug from the kitchen and returned to sit in the chair across from the couch. "Duck came by last night; said your tests all came back fine. You can come in to work, but on desk duty only, for the next few days."
"I think I can live with that," he said as he uncomfortably rolled his shoulders. "Mind if I grab a shower before we head in?" Gibbs shrugged.
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"Tony!" Abby ran up toward him and Gibbs as they made their way from the elevator to the bullpen.
"Abs!" Gibbs warned and she froze. "Be gentle," he told her with raised brows. She grinned and gave Tony a hug, as gently as she was capable of.
"Good to see you, too, Abby," Tony said. "What are you doing here so early?" he gave a quick glance to Gibbs, conveying with his eyes, his gratitude for stopping the assault.
"Oh I didn't go home last night," she said as she pulled away from him and followed them into the bullpen. "McGee and I have been going through the servers from Varicon, but we had to do a lot of repairs before we could even start."
"Find anything?" Gibbs asked as he sat at his desk.
"We found the server that contains the Pinciardi info, but there's like ten years worth of documentation in there we've gotta go through."
"So what are ya doin' up here?"
"I'm going on a breakfast run, Gibbs," she grinned. "Want anything?"
"You coulda sent the Probie," Tony said as he slowly sank into his chair.
Abby turned to face him, "He can barely keep his eyes open as it is and he refuses to take a nap. I'm happily jacked up on Caf-Pow! So, I'm gonna go get him some of the good stuff so he's actually useful for the next couple hours. You should go down and make sure he stays awake! Or force him to go take a nap...either way..."
Tony pushed up from his chair, glancing at Gibbs briefly. "Yeah, I need to have a chat with him, anyway."
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McGee was in the middle of an exaggerated stretch in front of Abby's computer when he felt a smack to the back of the head and spun around. "What the hell was that for, Tony?" he asked as he stood.
"Tryin' to smack some sense into you," he said with a furrowed brow.
"What?"
"I happen to know for a fact that you love being an agent, McGoo."
Tim's eyes widened, then squinted within seconds, "Does everyone on this team have ESP except me?"
Tony took a breath through his nose, steadying himself somewhere between anger and disappointment. "I swear if you ever do that, I'll team up with Gibbs and haunt you from beyond the grave."
McGee pouted for a long moment. "I'm way too tired to have this conversation right now."
"Tough shit, McGee. If word ever got out that this team could be completely wiped out by getting rid of two of us, how much faster do you think we're gonna end up on cold tables?"
"That...that's not fair, Tony..." he flinched.
"You're damn right, it's not fair!" he said with anger, but an almost possessed smile. "None of us wants to die, obviously. But to think that it would ruin the rest of your life, too...I dunno what to say to that."
"Well, you weren't really supposed to know what the hell I planned to do in the worst-case-scenario. And to be honest, it's not fair for you to tell me to just move on if that ever happened. You have no idea..." his sentence drifted of as his gaze drifted lower and he shook his head.
It was Tony's turn to flinch in sudden realization. "Yeah, I do," he said, and Tim met his eyes again. "We've got a lot more in common than we think, Probie. Which is why I know it'd be a huge mistake for you to ever stop doing your job."
McGee swallowed as his eyes darted around in thought. "Alright, listen...I'll make you a deal," he began, meeting his eyes again. "You give a little more time in between your near-death experiences, and I'll stop having mini nervous breakdowns and coming to certain conclusions about my future."
Tony narrowed his eyes, slightly in amusement. "I'll do my best."
"And stop with the head-slaps."
"You know you like it," he smirked.
"I mean it!"
"It's not gonna happen, Probie! It's part of the training. Askin' me to stop would be like askin' Gibbs to stop. In fact, I should heal-slap you right now for even suggesting it, but I know you're over-tired, so I'm gonna cut you some slack." McGee pursed his lips. "Now go take a nap on Abby's futon. We're not on a time-crunch."
After a moment, Tim nodded and walked past him toward Abby's office. Tony turned and started out of the lab. "Hey, Tony?" Tim's voice caused him to turn back around to face him in question. "You're a good brother, too." It took Tony a moment to recall that he'd said that to him the night before, but by the time his eyes went to meet his again, McGee had resumed course into the office.
As Tony made his way to the elevator, he couldn't help but to smirk at what he'd just been told. Everything seemed right again, though it'd been such a short time away from the chaos. Things were on the mend; his family was together. All was well with the world...
And...he'd beat Ziva to work today...
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Fin
A/N: Didn't want this to turn into a drone of 'recovery' nonsense from here on out, and that's all I could foresee it being from this point. Hope it was satisfying enough for you all :)