The drama continues… with no answers in sight. Soon, I promise.
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Tony scrubbed his hands over his face and took one last look at his boss before heading towards the waiting room.
"Tony?" The rest of the team was surrounding him in seconds, hounding him with question after question on both Gibbs and Abby.
As team leader Tony tried to put on a strong face for the team, but the minute he opened his mouth to speak, he felt is defenses crumble and the tears started to roll down his cheek. "It's not good," Tony sniffed. "Abby will be ok, slight swelling in her brain, but no major internal injuries."
"Swelling of the brain is to be expected with a grade three concussion." Ducky explained. "And Jethro?"
"They still haven't gotten him up to surgery. They can't get him stabilized enough to move. Abby…" Tony rubbed the tears from his cheeks. "Abby went in to say goodbye."
Ducky let out a soft gasp and Ziva moved to Tony's side.
"What… what did the doctors say?" McGee wrapped an arm around Ducky.
"Nothing, they were still working on him when I left."
"Gibbs is the strongest person I know, he will not give up fighting. This I know." Ziva hugged Tony a little tighter.
Tony took a few deeps breaths to gain his composure and then stood a little straighter. "McGee, Ziva. You two go stay with Abby. I need to call in Fornell. I want this accident investigated to the fullest extent. Ducky and I will wait here for more news on Gibbs. Call if anything changes with Abby, and we'll do the same when we know more about Gibbs."
"Ok." The others agreed. McGee gave Tony a comforting pat on the shoulder before turning towards the elevators, while Ziva pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and then followed McGee.
"The driver of the other car?" Ducky asked. "Did he survive?"
"No." Tony answered; his voice full of hate. Ducky suspected that the other driver was better off. Ducky moved back to his seat in the waiting area while Tony stepped out to the hallway to call Fornell. He wasn't exactly a huge fan of Tobias, but he was one of Gibbs' longest standing friends, he knew he needed to be called.
The conversation with Fornell had been quick, and as soon as Tobias hung up he dialed his lead Agent, Ron Sacks.
"Agent Sacks."
"Ron, its Tobias." Like Gibbs, he only ever used first names at work when it was important.
"What can I do for you?"
"Meet me at Bethesda in twenty. Call Lisa, tell her the same." Fornell hung up and grabbed his badge. He'd been called all too often to pick up Gibbs from the hospital, but this wasn't the phone call he usually got. In some ways he had been expecting something like this. He figured the bastard would go out in big way, and he had suspected that explosion had been it. But like with anything pertaining to his friend, he didn't ever do things they way you expected.
Tobias met Ron Sacks in the parking lot. "You going to tell me what this is about?"
"Gibbs. He and Miss Sciuto were in a car accident. It doesn't look good."
"I'm sorry to hear that, but why exactly am I here?"
"Let's go find out. DiNozzo called and asked for us."
"DiNozzo? Yeah, right."
Tobias shot Ron a look that would've rivaled one of Gibbs' glares, and Ron followed silently into the waiting room where Ducky and Tony sat quietly. The moment Tony saw them he stood and met them in the center of the room. "Tobias, Ron."
"What happened."
"They were hit head-on by another driver. Something just doesn't sit right; the other drive wasn't under the influence. This needs to be investigated fully, and until I've got my people back, I think you'd be better off taking this case."
"You don't think it was an accident?"
"There was no traffic; there was plenty of room on the road. No, I don't think this was an accident. Here," Tony pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "One of the nurses passed this on to me. The EMT's collected names and numbers of people who witnessed the crash."
"Have you spoken to your director?"
"We spoke briefly over the phone. He agrees that this should be a joint investigation between NCIS and the FBI, but that you should take over until things are settled at NCIS."
"Agreed. How are they?"
"Physically, Abby will be fine. Gibbs… it doesn't look good, and if he doesn't pull through, I don't know that Abby will either."
Tobias nodded. He understood.
Ron was surprised by the lack of verbal jabs Tony had sent in his direction, but was still wary of the agent. "I'm sorry. I know you've got a close team."
"Yeah. We've uh, we've been through a lot." More than you'd ever understand, you brainless jackass. Tony knew this wasn't the time to run his mouth. If Gibbs had tried to teach him something, it certainly had been when to run your mouth and when not to. Oddly enough he couldn't remember a single time where Gibbs had approved of him running his mouth… something he could contemplate later. Maybe he was learning after all.
Agent Lisa Scott ran down the length of the hallway and came to a skidding stop. "Sorry, boss. Traffic."
Tobias looked at his other agent and nodded. "Sacks, take Agent Scott to find about the wreck and fill her in along the way. I'll find as much as I can about the driver. Touch base at 21:00." Fornell turned back to Tony. "Will Dr. Mallard be performing the autopsy, or shall I call in the FBI ME?"
Tony turned back to the MR. "Ducky…"
Ducky had heard the question. "It would be my honor to do the autopsy. I do believe it would be a welcoming distraction. I have already called in Mr. Palmer, and he is arranging to get the body back to NCIS."
"I'll be in touch, DeNutso." Although he irritated Tony with the pronunciation of his last name, Tobias gave him a firm squeeze on the shoulder. "He's a wiry old bastard. He doesn't give up easily."
"I know." Tony turned back to look down the hallway where Gibbs was presumably still being worked on. God I hope you're right, Fornell.
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TBC…
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