Drowning

Chapter 32

Gibbs watched and waited for an answer to his question. He knew that Tony was unwell, but the cocktail of drugs that was being fed into him was obviously keeping the edge off his physical pain. Gibbs wanted to address the thing that had been bothering him about Dinozzo for a long while, and as much as he could probably be accused of taking advantage of Tony when his defense mechanisms were not at full power, he didn't care.

Tony knew that Gibbs was not going to give up his line of questioning until he had extracted an answer from him. He suddenly felt some empathy for the suspects Gibbs interrogated.

'Boss, it made sense to let Brogan take me and leave Dianne with her parents,' he began, his voice sounding even more fragile.

'Why?' demanded Gibbs, his tone neutral and his face impassive.

'Her parents had gone through hell,' said Tony. 'They'd gone through all that, and they had got the money together, and then the bastard tells them he isn't going to hand her over. I couldn't let that happen.'

'And what about what happened in the river?' continued Gibbs, inwardly shuddering at the memory of Tony telling him to leave him wedged under the tree. 'That didn't make any sense.'

Tony sighed and the sigh morphed into a cough. Gibbs intuitively helped his agent sit up and kept his arm across Tony's shoulders until the coughing had subsided. He then resumed his position as if nothing had happened.

'Exactly how did telling me to leave you to drown in that river make sense, Dinozzo?' he persisted.

'Man, you don't give up, do you Boss?' protested Tony, looking up at the ceiling. 'I reckon if I was suddenly rushed into the operating theatre right now, you'd be gowned up and firing the questions at me during the surgery.'

Gibbs leaned closer to Tony and lowered his voice.

'Tell me.' It was somewhere between an invitation and a command, and it had the desired effect. Tony turned his head on the pillow and looked Gibbs squarely in the eye.

'You're the team leader, Boss,' he told him, his voice reduced to a whisper. 'Without you, the team would be devastated. It made no sense for you to drown alongside me. If Brogan had taken Dianne and killed her, it would have broken her family.'

Gibbs mouth tightened into a thin line and he frowned.

'What about your family, Tony?' he asked.

'Come on, Boss. You know I haven't got a wife and kids hidden anywhere. And you know as well as I do that the team can function fine without me.'

Gibbs said nothing for a few moments; saddened that Tony had not understood him.

'I want you to listen to me, Dinozzo. And I want you to listen carefully. The team could probably function without you, but it'd be a team that I wouldn't want to lead.'

Tony heard the sincerity in Gibbs' voice. He swallowed and felt pressure building in the corners of his eyes. He could not draw his eyes away from Gibbs'.

'And as for not having a family, Tony, open your eyes. Abby's been beside herself, and McGee's chin has been practically scraping the floor since Brogan took you. And Brogan's lucky that Ziva didn't take his head off with that knife. If you haven't realized by now that people care about whether you live or die, it's about time you did.'

Tony felt his throat tighten as Gibbs' words washed over him. It more than he had ever hoped to hear Gibbs say, and that was back before the whole Jeanne disaster had seemed to shove a wall between Tony and the team, especially Gibbs. And now he found he had no voice to tell Gibbs how much the words meant.

Gibbs watched as realization dawned across Tony's blue-tinged features. He gave Tony no indication that he was noticing the tear trickling from his left eye down towards the pillow, but he did decide it was time to give Tony a little space.

'I'm gonna see if I can find something resembling coffee,' he told Tony as he stood up. 'But I'll back with the doc. When he comes to give you a list of do's and don'ts, I want to witness it.'

Tony nodded and watched Gibbs walk towards the door. At the last minute, however, his boss turned to address him again.

'And Tony? If ithad turned out that the only way we could get you back was to pay a ransom, it would have been paid.'

'Boss, he wanted a million dollars,' Tony managed to say. 'Paying five bucks is against policy.'

'I would have found a way, Tony – even if I had to pay it personally,' said Gibbs in his most sincere tone. 'Whatever he was demanding, it could never have been too high.'

Gibbs left the room, but not before he had seen Tony's jaw drop. Hopefully he'd got his point about Tony being important across, but he suspected it was a topic that would have to be revisited. Dinozzo had spent thirty-odd years playing Russian roulette with his life. It would take more than one conversation to reverse that tendency.

On his way to the lounge, Gibbs came across Abby who was hovering in the hallway.

'Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!' she gushed by way of greeting. 'Is he okay? Tell me he's okay!'

'Ab's he's okay,' Gibbs reassured her. 'He's weak but he's talking. Did Ducky call you last night?'

'He went into a lot of detail,' said Abby, nodding her head vigorously, 'but after I heard him say Tony was alive, I didn't really take anything else in. Gibbs, I still don't understand why Tony let Brogan kidnap him.'

'We were just discussing that,' Gibbs told her.

'You didn't give him the mother of all ear bashings and slap his head did you?' Abby demanded, her face aghast. 'Ducky told me Tony shouldn't be exposed to unnecessary stress.'

'Abby,' said Gibbs. 'Why don't you go visit him and see if he's stressed or not. I'm going for coffee.'

Gibbs accepted the grateful, pleased hug Abby gave him and watched the young woman skip down the corridor in the direction of Tony's room. He then continued his search for coffee with a knowing smile gracing his features.

…………………………………………………………..

Abby knocked tentatively on the door before she entered. Tony was sitting propped up in the bed, his eyes closed. He looked washed out. Bruises were evident on his face and his lip was cut, but to Abby he was as handsome as ever. Her usual greeting at a time like this was for her to throw herself onto the bed and deliver a bone-crushing hug, but she felt as though something had changed between them. When she had been told that he had been kidnapped, she had been more than worried. The realization that the death of Tony would devastate her more than Kate's murder had shaken Abby, and she had spent some time examining what it all meant.

As she watched from the doorway, Abby saw Tony open his eyes and smile slightly at her. Perhaps he had sensed she was there. She walked towards the bed and returned the smile. She stood a little awkwardly by his bedside until he held out his hand and entwined his fingers in hers. After a few moments during which Abby barely took a breath, she sat on the edge of the bed, their hands still joined.

'Miranda told me that the cards and the scarf you bought were for me,' she said quietly.

'They are,' whispered Tony, rubbing his thumb gently over the back of her hand. And then he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Abby looked into Tony's eyes and saw something that made her heart skip a beat.

Silence enveloped the pair until Abby spoke, her voice earnest and hushed.

'Tony, we don't share the same taste in music, and I don't dress like any of the girls I've seen you date, and I don't know if I can cope with you going out and nearly getting yourself killed, or going undercover with female agents, and then there's Rule 12, which may or may not technically apply to us because I'm like an adjunct to the team rather than a, actual part of the team, and….'

'Adjunct,' said Tony, furrowing his brow. 'Now there's a word I wouldn't use to describe you. It's actually more of a McGeek word, don't you think?'

'Tony!' Abby scolded him. 'Was that the only thing you heard me say?'

'No,' said Tony, smiling widely. 'But none of that stuff matters, Abs. Technically, on paper, we may not be a match, but maybe there's something else between us that means we'll work.'

'You mean Gibbs?' asked Abby, a little shocked. Had Tony already spoken to Gibbs about them?

'No!' hissed Tony, wryly. 'Gibbs could quite possibly have a meltdown. Chemistry, Abby. Chemistry.'

'Ah!' said Abby, approvingly as she swung her legs up onto the bed and snuggled down beside Tony. 'That's a very good word. That might work.'

Tony kissed Abby's forehead and smiled as he rested his head back on the pillow. The words of Gibbs and Vay, and the woman beside him all made his heart feel light – as though he had been struggling to reach the surface for years and was finally able to breathe freely, which was ironic given his respiratory condition! The hurt and disappointments of the past were always going to be a part of who he was, but he didn't have to allow himself to be swallowed up by them. They didn't have to define who he was.

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Hi! One more chapter to come after this. I promise that there will be a bit more Gibbs/Tony, and they'll also be one last appearance of Miranda Vay.

This was never going to be a 'Tabby' fic, but I couldn't help where the muse took me, LOL! I doubt they'll be a sequel to this story, so it doesn't really matter. Zan XXXXXX