A\N: Another sad Paula/Tony comfort oneshot, because I need a sad fic right now, enjoy.
Tony DiNozzo sits in the uncomfortable hospital chair, his hand in the patient's hand. His green eyes are on the man in the bed, tears in his eyes. The man isn't the same man he grew up with from birth until he was 12 years old. The man he's currently staring at isn't the man who beat him everyday for no reason at all. The man in the bed who is covered in bruises, cuts, stitches, scrapes and bandages isn't the man isn't the man who threw him into a wall and caused him to have a concussion for spilling a glass of juice when he was 10. This isn't the man who disowned him on his 12th birthday. This isn't the man who constantly blamed his son for Elizabeth DiNozzo's suicide when he was just 8 years old. This isn't the man who literally threw him down the stairs for no reason at all other than to cause the little boy harm on the day of his mothers funeral.
No, the man in this hospital bed isn't Anthony DiNozzo Senior. In this hospital lies a thin and sick old man who he doesn't recognize.
A hand comes down on Tony's shoulder and he relaxes into the firm touch that is his boss, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
"You doin' okay, DiNozzo?" His boss asks as he takes the hand away. Tony sighs, keeping his green fixated on the man in the bed beside him.
"No more okay than I was three weeks ago, Boss." Tony answers honestly, hearing his boss sighing.
"It's been almost a month, Tony. Do you think it's time to let him go?" His boss asks him, Tony hears the slight hesitancy in his voice. Tony shakes his head.
He can't let his father go, not yet, until he knows for certain that the elder DiNozzo won't wake up. He can't let his father go until he hears his fathers voice saying those seven little words to him, the four words he's never heard his father say to him.
"You know I can't do it yet, Boss." Tony says, tearing his eyes away from the man that helped give him life. Tony feels his boss pat his shoulder before walking out of the room. His boss, hell his entire team including Abby, Ducky, Palmer and even the Director, has been trying to convince him to let his so-called father go so the elder DiNozzo isn't causing his son any more permanent damage, to no avail.
He still remembers getting the call from the hospital while he was with Gibbs and Jenny in her office.
He still remembers the office swirling around him as he crashed to the office floor with only Gibbs' quick Marine reflexes catching him before he hit the floor, his cell phone slipping out of his fingers.
He still remembers the voices of his boss' becoming distorted as the nurse's voice echoed in his ears.
He still remembers thinking what his father was doing in DC to begin with.
Flashback: Three weeks ago- Jenny's office.
Tony grins at his boss, impressed with himself when his cell phone rings in his pocket. He grumbles to himself as he wrestles the thing out of his jeans and answers it with a gruff 'DiNozzo', causing Gibbs and Jenny to smirk at one another.
The voice on the other end of the phone is female, unfamiliar to the SFA and her voice is shy as she introduces herself to him.
"Agent DINozzo, this is Nurse Ellis at Washington General Hospital, I'm calling you on behalf of your father Anthony DiNozzo Senior, I hate to be the one to tell you this but your father was involved in a car accident earlier this morning. We need you to come down here now." The nurse says. Tony's voice catches in his throat as he feels Jenny's office starts swirling around him, his phone falling from his hand. He vaguely feels himself being tilted sideways before a set of strong hands catch him and set him back upright, the hands locking around his waist to keep him steady in case he tilts again. Once he's upright, he hears a voice asking a question which sounds a bit like "you okay, DiNozzo?' but he can't be too certain that that question was asked. His mind is like a roaring wave crashing against the rocks at the bottom of a huge cliff. Too loud to hear anything other than the roar of the waves and the spray of the water that comes up from the bottom of the waves.
"Agent DNozzo!" Tony hears being shouted to him by a female voice, but his mind is being asked questions over the roar of the wave.
What happened? Why is he in DC? Was it another shady business deal gone bad? Does he want to acknowledge me after all these years? Was he going to apologize for abusing me? Will he even survive this? What will happen to his precious company if he finally succumbs to the one thing I've wished on him my entire life?
After the questions have stopped, only does the roar of the wave start fading into soft laps of sea hitting the sand of a beach and he can hear and see his two boss' clearly.
Gibbs is looking at him with worry, while Jenny is looking at him with panic.
"DiNozzo, what the hell was that? Me and Jen have been trying to grab your attention for the past 20 minutes. Who was on the phone?" Gibbs asks. Tony's green eyes go wide as three things race through his head.
The hospital! His father! The car accident!
Tony looks at Gibbs and Jen.
"A nurse at WGH called about Senior. He was in a car accident this morning, they need me down there now." The SFA rushes out before getting out of his boss' grip, picks up his fallen cell phone and runs out of the office, letting his feet pound down the catwalk steps, stopping by his desk to grab his jacket, wallet and car keys, ignoring the looks from his team and running to the elevator, thumbing the button that calls the damn box up. Just as the doors close him in the elevator, a hand shoots between the doors and in walks Jenny with Ziva, McGee and Abby followed by Gibbs.
"What are you all doing?" The SFA demands of his colleagues. Abby just hugs him hard, not answering his question. The elevator ride to the parking garage is silent as they all pile into two separate cars: Tony with Gibbs and Jenny and Abby with McGee and Ziva.
Tony throws himself out of the car before Gibbs has even stopped, running through the hospital door, his team and Jenny on his tail.
"Anthony DiNozzo Senior!" Tony barks at the blonde young nurse at the reception desk. The blonde nurse looks up at him and scoffs, muttering something about lawyers. Tony growls before pulling out his badge.
"Listen to me blondie, if you don't tell me what's going on with my father and what room he's in, I'm going to use my pretty little handcuffs and arrest you for ignoring me." Tony threatens to the surprise of his team, Jenny and the nurse. The nurse looks at him again, her eyes landing on his badge before typing something into the computer.
Tony rolls his eyes and feels his boss putting his hand on his shoulder to prevent Tony from leaping over the desk and throttling the nurse, or worse, shooting her.
"Anthony DiNozzo Senior was brought in this morning after his car was hit by a drunk driver, he's in critical condition, in a coma. Room 307." The nurse rattles off before Tony runs in the direction of the third floor, his colleagues once again following him, Jen commenting on how fast he is as Jethro grabs her hand and leads her after his SFA. Gibbs, Jenny, Ziva, McGee and Abby all find Tony standing outside the assigned room, a blank look on his face as he looks at the unconscious form of DiNozzo Senior laying in the hospital, tears running down his face as he steps into the room and throws himself down in the chair beside the bed and gently taking Seniors hand in his own. He expects his father to wake up and hit him for crying and holding his hand like a child. But he doesn't.
Tony comes out of the flashback feeling a familiar set of arms wrap around his neck, hugging him from behind.
Abby.
"Gibbs wants you to go home and get some rest and something to eat that isn't cafeteria crap and hospital coffee." His favourite lab rat Goth says softly. Tony shakes his head at his friend. He's hardly left this hospital room for the past three weeks, only leaving for food and coffee. He can't leave his father without hearing seven words. He won't leave.
"DiNozzo, that wasn't a request, that was an order!" Comes his boss's stern bark of a voice as the silver haired man walks into the hospital room with Jenny beside him, their hands intertwined. Tony scoffs as he glares at his two bosses.
"I'm not going anywhere." Tony argues. Gibbs sighs in frustration and opens his mouth to tell him differently but Jen beats him to it.
"Agent DiNozzo, if you don't leave with me and Agent Gibbs, I will have you suspended." Jen threatens, knowing threatening him with suspension will get him to comply with Gibbs. Tony gaps at the redheaded Director before nodding, deciding it's best to listen to her rather than face suspension. Tony squeezes his fathers hand once before getting out of the chair and walking out of the hospital room, Gibbs, Jenny and Abby following him.
After devouring two Cowboy-style steaks and being forced to sleep for several hours, Tony stands in the hospital room doorway, frozen in shock as the team, Jenny, Abby, Ducky and Palmer surround him. He's not said a word since he came running into the hospital.
It's only the sound of her voice travelling down the hospital corridor, her heels clacking against the hospital tiled floor that makes him look away from the bed and into the blue eyes of her.
Paula Cassidy.
What is she doing here? Tony thought she was still on assignment on some ship and wouldn't be stateside for six months.
Suddenly Paula is in his arms, her arms around his waist and her head on his shoulder. The two agents stand there for several minutes, until Tony pulls away from the blonde agent and simply looks at her.
"I tried to get here as soon as Gibbs called me but the stupid ship was in the middle of a damn ocean, I thought I'd never get here until Jenny used her Director card on my C.O and got me flown out of there." The blonde explains. Giving his boss' boss a small, grateful smile over Paula's shoulder, Tony hugs her again, burying his face in her hair.
He's glad Paula's here.
Tears drip from his green eyes as he lays down on his couch with his head in Paula's lap as she cards her fingers through his hair soothingly, Gibbs, the team, Jenny, Abby, Ducky and Palmer are cleaning the kitchen.
"How long are you stateside for this time?" Tony as the blonde who's scratching his scalp. His voice is quiet even by his standards.
"I'm stateside for however long you need me to be stateside." Paula replies gently. Tony burrows himself deeper into Paula's lap.
"I don't know how long I'll need you." Tony says softly before getting lost in his thoughts, his eyes slipping closed.
His father died without saying the seven words that Tony had been waiting to hear fall from his fathers lips. He was wishing before his father finally died that he'd tell his son that he was sorry and that he's proud of him but he never did and that leaves a hole in his chest.
If his own father wasn't proud of him, who was proud of him?
"I'm proud of you, Tony. and so are Gibbs, Jenny, Ziva, Tim, Abby, Ducky and Palmer. God, we're all so proud of you." Paula tells him, Tony's eyes snap open, locking on Paula's blue ones.
"Really?" The only remaining DiNozzo questions his friend. Paula nods her head as Tony sits up and rests his head on her shoulder. Tony feels a kiss being pressed against his temple.
"Really, Tony. I'm so proud of you and you need to know that." Paula says firmly. Tony sighs as he lifts his head and kisses Paula deeply. He pulls away from her and smiles his first smile in three weeks.
"As long as you and my family are proud of me, I can make peace with the fact that the bastard never told me that he was sorry he abused me or that he was proud of me. Because, Paula, as long as I have you being proud of me, I can make peace with everything and everyone." Tony tells the agent sitting on his couch. Paula laughs as she grabs the remote to the TV and leans against Tony, both young agents forgetting about the Gibbs, the team, Jenny, Abby, Ducky and Palmer are still in the apartment, all happy that the green eyed agent is finally happy for the first time in three weeks and it's all thanks to an agent by the name of Paula Cassidy.
A\N: Another Tony/Paula oneshot, this couple along with Jen/Jethro, are my favorite NCIS ship to write, enjoy Angels.