Drowning

Chapter 17

'No!' complained Ziva. 'You cannot be serious about the…campfire! You are not the Team Leader anymore, Tony. You are barely out of your own hospital bed and Gibbs does not want to be laying there listening to us nibbling on the lard!'

'I am so the Team Leader while Gibbs is out of action,' said Tony, with just a touch of petulance. 'Dr. Pitt has signed my release forms. And we'll be chewing the fat, by the way, at my campfire.'

'I LOVE the campfire!' enthused Abby, excitedly.

'Yes, we know you do,' said Ziva. 'But if we MUST have it, surely Gibbs does not want us to have it here while he is so incapacitated.'

'Enough!' barked Gibbs as loudly as he could manage. 'Gibbs is not so incapacitated that he can't say what he does or does not want! Gibbs wants to hear about the case!'

'Oooh! Referring to yourself in the third person!' said Abby. 'Very cool!'

'Kinda disturbing, actually,' said Tony. 'And very un-Gibbs-like. Maybe it's permanent. You hit your head pretty hard you know Boss.'

'Just get on with the damn campfire, Dinozzo, before something hits YOUR head pretty hard,' growled Gibbs, ready to explode.

'Okay, campfire in session,' said Tony, quickly. 'Ab's, you're first. What've you got?'

'I have examined a bullet removed from one Leroy Jethro Gibbs. It was fired from a 22 caliber rifle by someone who deserves to rot in Hell for trying to take the silver fox away from us,' announced Abby.

'Okay, and I agree with the sentiment,' said Tony as he made an entry to his notebook. 'Probester?'

'Shot was fired by someone on foot by the roadside. Ziva found a shell casing beside a large tree near the bend in the road Tony and Gibbs were traveling along. No footprints or other evidence,' said McGee, his face slightly apologetic.

'So we need to ask ourselves whether this sniper waited for you two as specific targets,' said Ducky, 'or was it just a random act of violence. Was it just a coincidence that a federal agent was shot?'

'Yeah, well we all know what the official line is about coincidences is in this team,' said Tony.

'Someone with a grudge,' said Ziva. 'Someone imprisoned by one of you who has been recently released and is out for revenge.'

'Four in the last six months,' said Gibbs from the bed. All eyes turned to him.

'How do you know there are four?' asked McGee in astonishment. 'I mean, I'm not saying there are more or less than four. If you say it's four, then I trust your memory but…'

'I checked yesterday,' Gibbs said, cutting McGee off. 'Vay suggested that the 'accident' at the stream had nothing to do with Partington. I wanted to make sure.'

'Tony!' exclaimed Abby. 'When she was reading your cards, Miranda said that someone from your past would return and that you should be careful!'

'But it was Gibbs who was shot,' said Tony, ignoring the slightly amused looks from Ziva and McGee. He wasn't exactly thrilled that they now knew the psychic had told him his future.

'Yes, but she also said that you had to be careful when you were with Gibbs!' said Abby. 'That's so amazing!'

'You didn't tell me about that,' Gibbs admonished Tony.

'Well you didn't tell me that you were checking out crims out to get us!' objected Tony.

The group fell silent for a few moments to digest the revelations.

'Anthony,' began Ducky, breaking the silence. Where were you and Gibbs going when you were shot at?'

'Driving back from the Partington house,' said Tony, shivering involuntarily as a recent memory came unbidden to his mind. Tony related the details of the letter that had been sent to Partington's parents and the parents' reaction to it.

'It smelt all wrong,' added Tony. 'I mean, normal parents wouldn't just accept that their child had voluntarily gone missing and be relieved about it.' He caught Gibbs sending him a peculiar, sympathetic look his way, and blushed slightly.

'And why are you not investigating the Partington case, regardless of the parents' apparent relief?' asked Ducky. 'If you think things are hinky, to borrow an expression from Abigail, I would have thought you would be stepping up your efforts to find the young woman.'

'Because we've been too busy with what's happened to the team!' exclaimed McGee, his eyes wide. 'Gibbs has been looking into old cases based on what Vay intimated, and we've spent most the rest of the time investigating the new crime scene.'

'Time to check out Madame Vay,' said Tony and Gibbs simultaneously. The two men exchanged a look that spoke of mutual respect before Tony announced the campfire was over.

'Probie, Ziva, Abs, get back to the bullpen and start checking out Vay. See if we've got any hits on the BOLO that we put out on the picture of the woman from Vay's vision,' said Tony.

'What about you, Tony?' asked Abby. 'You didn't exactly drive here yourself yesterday, Mister. Your car's at your place still.'

'Ducky will drive Dinozzo back to the office later,' Gibbs told her. 'Now go!'

Abby gave Gibbs one more peck on the cheek before following the other two out, leaving Gibbs with Ducky and Tony. Tony sat down in the chair that had been vacated by McGee. Gibbs had shut his eyes the moment the trio had left. Apparently the visit had over-taxed him. Tony immediately felt concern rise within him and dropped his guard.

'He is gonna be fine, isn't he?' he asked Ducky, quietly.

'Relax, Dinozzo. I'm just taking a breather,' mumbled Gibbs, without opening his eyes.

'Clearly his hearing is fine,' said Ducky as he patted Tony's arm reassuringly. 'And the rest of him will be too. I believe the surgeon is happy to let him go in a day or two, all going as he expects.'

'A day or two!' exclaimed Tony, despite his delight that Gibbs would soon be back with the team. 'He's been shot! Talk about double standards! If I'd been shot, the Boss would be making me stay here at least a week.'

'I suppose it's a bit like a nicotine-dependent father telling you not to smoke when you're dead keen on lighting up,' chuckled Ducky.

'My father wouldn't give a damn what I did,' said Tony, missing Ducky's point altogether. The ME wondered whether Tony had the remotest idea that the way Gibbs treated the younger agent was paternal. Probably not if Tony's own father had not acted the way a father should.

'Quit whining about double standards,' said Gibbs, opening his eyes and licking his dry lips. 'I'm still not convinced that you should even be out of bed.'

'Jethro,' said Ducky as Tony sent an exasperated look his way. 'Anthony's doctor is happy to let him go as long as he takes his antibiotics, keeps warm and gets some decent sleep. Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'm off to track down your doctor. Anthony, perhaps you can give Gibbs some water. He's been talking far too much for someone who is post-surgery.'

Tony stood, picked up the glass and held the straw to Gibbs' mouth. It had been a tricky thing during the previous night to work out the best way to angle the straw, but now he felt like an expert. Gibbs took a few sips and nodded his thanks.

'Help me sit up a bit, will you,' Gibbs asked Tony as the younger man was about to return to the chair.

'Maybe you should wait for your doctor,' ventured Tony.

'Maybe I should turn the suggestion into an order,' was Gibbs' terse reply.

Rolling his eyes, Tony removed a couple of pillows that were at the foot of the bed and put them within easy reach. After hesitating for a moment, he snaked an arm gently beneath Gibbs' shoulders.

'Don't try to move,' he told Gibbs quietly, worried that the older man would do himself damage. 'Just let me lift you up.'

Gibbs grunted in reply and allowed Tony to gently raise his head and shoulders slightly and put the pillows in their place. Gibbs was in better shape than he had been during the night, but his current fragility unnerved Tony. It reminded him of Gibbs' mortality. If neither agent died before their time, Gibbs would most likely die before Tony. It was a thought that shook him. There had been very few people in Tony's life whose possible demise had disturbed him quite as much as Gibbs'.

Gibbs glanced sideways and took in Tony's face close up. He could easily see the fatigue, but it was the flash of boyish fear that caught his attention. Less than 24 hours ago he had heard the panic in Tony's voice when he thought Gibbs was dead or dying. Now Gibbs was definitely alive and the younger man still seemed desperately anxious. And then the flash had gone and Tony's face morphed back from the frightened boy to the self-assured man.

'Geez, Boss,' Tony complained dramatically, 'you can't even sit up by yourself, and Ducky's okay about you getting out ASAP. If it was me, you'd have me admitted indefinitely.'

'Damn straight,' said Gibbs, gruffly, as Tony eased his arm out from underneath his shoulders. 'Because I can't trust you to look after yourself. But I know I can trust you to look after the investigation until I get out of here. Get back there. Get whatever you can on Vay, but check out the four I came up with yesterday.'

Nodding his head, and buoyed by Gibbs' confidence in him, Tony gave a cheeky salute and left to wait for Ducky.