Hi folks!

Once again, thanks for all the reviews on that last chapter. Y'all are so good to me and it really helps to keep me motivated.

Just a few notes about this chapter, first off a warning for an "f-bomb", because honestly there was no other way that sentence was going to come out (you'll know what I mean when you read it).

Secondly, just a reminder that this story is set all the way back in season six, which is way before Daddy DiNozzo came back into Tony's life. So anything I've said here about him is based on what we knew back then.

Some definitions (in case you forgot, cuz I know I nearly did)

"TFTWNQ" = The Flu That Would Not Quit

"TSTC" = The Storm of The Century

"VF" = Valley Fever

And finally I just wanted to let y'all know that you can now follow me on Facebook! Just go to my profile page and follow the link there, or just type in Facebook (slash) Mokibobolink. If you want to read all the stuff I've been writing - including reviews, entertainment news, misc. articles and more, that's the place to be as I update the page every time something of mine is published.

Okay, now on with the show!

-Moki

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Chapter Fourteen

"Yes, ma'am."

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The crackling of the fire, the rain pouring outside, the quiet movements of the three horses on the other side of the cave, plus Tony's wheezing breaths were all that could be heard for a while. Gibbs would never admit it to anyone but he was tired, bone tired, and the monotony was making his eyes heavy. Just before they closed completely, he heard a noise from Tony and sat up quickly, taking in a deep breath of fresh air to force his body awake.

Gibbs had settled himself not too far away from Tony's head, wanting to keep an eye on the other man while he slept. Hearing the Italian's voice, Gibbs leaned over and put a hand on Tony's arm.

"Hey. Tony, you need something?"

Tony's eyes opened slowly and Gibbs noticed how they shined brightly in the firelight. At the same time he felt the intense warmth radiating from Tony's arm through the damp fabric of his shirt. The material was thick but should have dried already, as Gibbs own clothing was nearly so. The fact that it wasn't, that Gibbs could feel moisture seeping between his fingers, it had to mean that the fever Duck warned him about had started.

"VF is so boring, I'm almost disappointed." Tony rasped softly.

"What?"

"TFTWNQ is a cooler acronym….sounds a lot more interesting… rather get killed by something interesting…..even if it's not that interesting because it's a virus and not an actual disease."

Gibbs frowned in puzzlement. "What are you talking about DiNozzo?"

Tony continued to stare straight ahead into the fire and it was then that Gibbs realized he wasn't even sure if the other man knew he was there. Tony just kept right on talking, his voice raw and his ramblings broken by a few weak coughs.

"Then again….. since TSTC is the one that made us stay here…. I supposed that's not so bad. I could always say I….. was killed by VF because of TSTC, that's a lot more interesting….though I don't know who'd I'd be telling that since I'd be dead…. Maybe angels or all my dead relatives…."

Gibbs may not understand what the hell his agent was talking about, but he definitely caught the tone and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Had this discussion before, DiNozzo. You're not dying on my watch. You hear me?"

Tony's eyes fluttered as he mumbled something Gibbs couldn't hear, then he was silent again. Just as Gibbs was certain Tony had lost consciousness, the sick man's voice came out of the semi-darkness.

"Gotcha….Boss."

After that, Tony's fever slowly continued to get worse, causing him to shiver and sweat alternatively. One minute Gibbs was looking for more wood to throw on the fire to combat the utter cold his agent was feeling, the next he was wiping sweat off the man's forehead with a handkerchief soaked with water from a canteen.

Then there were the ramblings. What started as a bunch of silly acronyms that Gibbs didn't understand, changed as the fever took a stronger hold on the ever weakening man.

"I'm never gonna be like him…never…"

Gibbs had checked their sleeping blankets and found one of them dry after a couple hours in front of the fire. Noting that Tony was trembling again, Gibbs pulled it off the rocks where he'd laid it down and put it over the feverish man. The thing was pretty thin, probably the reason it dried so fast, but it was better than nothing. Moving the second blanket closer to the fire so that it would soon dry too, Gibbs turned back as Tony began speaking again.

"He settles…..wrong women, over and over…I won't do that…..I won't!" Tony's arms flailed and Gibbs gently caught them in midair, putting them back down at his sides.

"Easy. You're not him, Tony," Gibbs said softly, not having to ask to know that Tony was talking about his father. He tried to hold the younger man down as his movements became increasingly desperate.

"S'pposed to be like him…what he wanted….never wanted a cop for a son…not the DiNozzo way…didn't want me…..never wanted me…" Tony's voice trailed off after a while and to Gibbs' relief he settled down, going into a deeper sleep again. Gibbs took advantage of the momentary lull to wipe at Tony's forehead. Holding the cloth against the other man's cheek, he studied his face worriedly before sitting down beside his patient.

That last bit Tony had said - that his father never wanted him - Gibbs wondered if Tony truly thought that way and if so, Gibbs also wondered how a man could make his child feel like that. The lead agent swore to himself that if he ever met the man he was going to have a long talk with him.

What could make a father ignore his son for so long? Especially a son that did nothing but good things in the world, hell by some standards DiNozzo was considered a damn hero. It wasn't like he deserved to be disowned. What could he possibly have done?

Gibbs had been curious and surprised when Tony contracted the plague and no one from his family had come to visit in the hospital, not even his father. It had been the first time his SFA had come so close to dying and Gibbs had expected his father to show up, worried and brooding like any parent should. Tony never mentioned it and Gibbs never asked, but after that Gibbs always made sure that he was on hand if the younger man was seriously injured. If his father couldn't care enough to make sure his son was okay, Gibbs was more than happy to do it for him. It was the least he could do for a man who had saved his own life on a number of occasions, let alone saved the lives of many others.

"Gibbs?"

Gibbs looked quickly over at the man lying beside him.

"Right here, DiNozzo."

Tony looked like he was about to say something else when suddenly he began breathing faster, in and out through his nose, the exhalations coming out in short blasts so hard Gibbs was convinced he would blow the fire out.

"Tony? You hurting?"

"No!" The denial was strong, swift, and it shocked Gibbs.

"Easy Tony, nothing wrong with….."

"No! Not hurting. Never. Don't worry…..didn't raise a weak son…DiNozzo men don't show pain…..never…..ever…." Tony's eyes were unfocused again, looking at Gibbs and yet not, staring at a point somewhere beyond his head.

"Not your dad, DiNozzo. I don't care…," but Tony continued, not hearing his mentor through his feverish haze.

"Don't let'em see ya sweat…..don't let'em see ya bleed…..never let'em see ya suffer…..all weaknesses. DiNozzos are NOT weak! You hear me boy?...Don't you dare start crying!...I won't have a crybaby living under my roof…"

"Aw, dammit DiNozzo," Gibbs said softly, hearing in Tony's voice the orders subjected to a child too young to understand them, from a man who should have been protecting his only son, not making his life harder.

Gibbs finally understood something then. Why Tony only showed pain when it wasn't real, when it was only a scratch, a paper cut, a joke. When everyone knew he was fine and they could only roll their eyes and complain about his obvious attempt to get attention. Crying wolf was Tony's way of keeping people from knowing when it really hurt. If people were always annoyed at your for trying to get attention, they'd ignore you when you the pain was real and harder to hide. Young Tony had been taught that when you were really hurting, that's when you said nothing, that's when you denied it to your last breath.

It also made Gibbs understand now why no hospital ever had contact information for Tony's father, despite the fact that the man was the agent's only family. Tony never called his dad any other time, to call him when he was sick or injured would be quite literally adding insult to injury. It would be providing proof that his father had been right to abandon him, to give up on a son who disobeyed his many rules. It made sense now why, when Tony lay dying in a glowing blue hospital bed, the only people at his side were his teammates.

Showing pain was weakness to DiNozzo Sr? Well, Gibbs would show his son that the old man wasn't always right.

"Hey Tony," Gibbs leaned down, swiping back sweat-soaked hair away from the other man's ear to make sure he heard him. "Pain is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong. Hiding that is dangerous. So I don't care if you're hurting, you tell me all about it, hell you scream if you want. Only way to fix it is to know where it is."

"No….can't…not right," Even as he protested, Tony's breathing became even more labored, each exhalation ending in shivering bursts through his nose.

"C'mon DiNozzo, don't pull that crap with me, not anymore."

Gibbs knew it was probably pointless, but he really wanted Tony to drop the act. The younger man was fighting two battles as it was – the pain itself and a deeply buried injunction not to let it show. If Tony would just let go and admit he was in pain - for once in his life ignore the orders of an overbearing father - maybe he'd be a little better off.

What Tony couldn't see, not having the luxury of looking at the situation from the outside like Gbbs could, was that he was losing strength, and fast. Gibbs hoped that by getting him to give up one fight, he'd have enough in him to take on the other opponent. Fighting a person who wasn't there was useless, saving your strength to fight off the effects of a disease currently kicking your ass, that made more sense.

"C'mon Tony, you know you can trust me. You know that I would never…,"

"Yes! It hurts! Okay? Are you happy now? It really fucking hurts!" Tony said in frustration, his eyes snapping open with sudden clarity and staring straight into the depths of Gibbs' blue orbs. In them Gibbs saw a heat not just from the fire or fever.

"That's all you had to say, Tony."

And though it felt better in his mind to say the words, though it quieted a voice Tony hadn't wanted to acknowledge roaming around inside his head, it didn't really do much for the physical sensations.

Unfortunately for Tony, admitting he hurt hadn't done a whole heck of a lot towards making it go away.

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Tony had relaxed a little bit after Gibbs had forced him to admit the truth. Still feverish, he'd drifted into a fitful sleep, thrashing weakly every once in a while. Seeing how much the other man had been sweating, Gibbs had been trying to get him to drink a little water and stave off dehydration. So far he hadn't had much luck.

Vowing to himself that he would make it work this time, Gibbs pulled Tony's head into his lap and tried once again to get some water down the other man's throat. The younger man was barely conscious but every time Gibbs set the canteen to his lips he still managed to close them tight, turning his head away and moaning in protest.

Gibbs decided he'd had enough. "DiNozzo, drink this water and drink it now. I've had enough of these games. I don't care if you don't want it, you're drinking it and that's an order…..NOW!"

Despite putting on his best Drill Sergeant voice, he got much the same response as before. Holding the canteen steady to keep the water from spilling, Gibbs kept the opening at his agent's mouth. When it was obvious Tony still wasn't going to take the liquid, Gibbs sighed and put the canteen down, leaving Tony's head in his lap.

Gibbs didn't know what else to do and not for the first time that night, he wished that Ducky were there with them. Ducky would know what to do. In fact, the need to have his old friend around was so strong that soon Gibbs felt like he could hear the older man's pleasant voice drifting across the fire, as if he were sitting on the other side of it.

"You have to get some water into him, Jethro. I'm afraid Anthony doesn't look good, not good at all. The illness is doing enough damage, don't let things like hypothermia and dehydration step in for the final blow and kill him. You can prevent those at least."

Absently brushing a strand of sweaty hair from DiNozzo's face, Gibbs whispered back sadly to the empty cave.

"He won't take it, Duck."

"Jethro, you have to stop thinking like a Marine. You can't order him to drink. Perhaps Tony will follow your orders but for the moment you have to realize that, for all intents and purposes, Tony isn't the only one there. You're also dealing with his body and his body is what is fighting you."

"Then how am I supposed to think Duck?"

"You're treating him like a soldier. Perhaps you should try a different tack. You know how stubborn he is. Stubborn people don't always respond to orders. Haven't you ever had to deal with someone more stubborn that you?"

Ducky wasn't really there but Gibbs still found himself pondering the question anyway. As he did so, he realized that he had in fact dealt with someone much more stubborn than him. Someone who had never followed "orders".

Kelly.

"Precisely my friend, maybe you need to stop thinking like a marine and start thinking like a father."

Gibbs remembered many nights with a colicky baby, Kelly crying her heart out and refusing the bottle, despite the fact that she needed it. She had been tired and sick and hungry but too fussy to eat. Dealing with her had taught him something though - a person's body often knew what it needed more than they did. You just had to give them a chance to listen to it.

Pulling up the memories of dealing with a sick child rather than a soldier, Gibbs followed "Ducky's" advice and tried a different tack.

Holding the canteen to Tony's mouth, Gibbs tipped it slightly, just enough to allow some water to dribble on his lips. As before, Tony instantly thrashed, mumbling incoherently. But this time Gibbs didn't fight back, he just waited, pulling the canteen away so that the other man's actions wouldn't spill it. When it was over, Gibbs repeated the drill, just as he had with a tiny baby in his arms so many years ago.

After a few more tries, Tony's body responded of its own accord. The water touched parched skin and soon it took over, not allowing Tony to respond with flailing. Tony didn't feel like drinking, but now that his body had gotten a taste, it knew that he needed it and forced the issue, causing him to finally gulp down the much needed liquid.

"That's a good job, Tony," Gibbs said quietly, lowering Tony's head back to the ground. The effort of taking in just a few precious drops of liquid proved to be too much and this time Tony passed out completely, with no signs of ramblings or thrashing.

Gibbs walked to the mouth of the cave while Tony slept, looking outside for any signs of the rain letting up. Still many hours to go before sunrise, the rain poured just as it had earlier and Gibbs didn't have to look at the phone in his pocket to know that it still didn't have service. Turning back, he walked over to the horses and stood with them quietly for a few moments. Comanche walked forward, the mare already having taken on the role of leader in the spontaneously formed herd in just the short time since they'd been there.

Allowing Gibbs to scratch her neck and giving him a little break from worrying about Tony, she seemed to understand what he needed. Soon though, she had enough and shoved him with her nose, making it clear where his place was. Not about to disobey her very direct order, Gibbs gave her a final pat before heading back to his charge.

"Yes, ma'am."