The next time he woke up, his thoughts were still muddled, but much clearer. His senses sharper than before. Tony could hear whispers coming from both sides of his bed, and he tried to give off the impression that he was still asleep, keeping his breathing deep and his body movements still, but relaxed. The whispers were soft and quiet, and he couldn't make out any of the words. All he knew is that there were people surrounding him from every side.

Suddenly the world became more cramped, his muscles tensed and his breathing quickened. When his eyes snapped open, it wasn't the bright, sterile white walls of the hospital that he saw. No, instead he saw the filthy, mold-covered brick walls and very little lighting. He was tied to a chair, bleeding and bruised. He felt blood dribble down the side of his face, and the distinct taste of iron in his mouth. Making a face, Tony spit out the blood onto a leather boot, someone he didn't know the name of. After a while, names and faces all just blurred together and he gave up on trying to remember them.

Suddenly his cheek burned and there was a resounding smack! as a leather glove hit his cheek. His head snapped to the side and he let out a hiss of pain. His breathing heavy and labored, he glared venomously at the gloved man who had hit him. "Talk." The man hissed, slapping Tony's cheek once again, making his head twist to an uncomfortable angle.

Tony panted heavily, his teeth gritted as anger and adrenaline rushed through his veins. "Never!" he spat.

That was when they came. They were all around him, surrounding him and hitting him, shaking him, and yelling at him. He bit his tongue until it started to bleed, the pain making him able to focus on why he was still fighting. Don't let Kate down. Don't let Kate down. He repeated it like a mantra, and a cry of pain tore from his throat when he felt someone shake his shoulders roughly.

His eyes snapped open and the people are gone. They aren't hitting him, yelling at him. Instead he finds himself staring into a pair of concerned blue eyes, which is when he noticed the hands still on his shoulders. "Gibbs?" his gaze flickered to the people surrounding the bed and recognized the teary, broken face of Abby, the concerned face of Ducky, the worried face of McGee, and the guilty face of Ziva. He quickly moved his gaze from Ziva and let his head fall back on the pillow, meeting the eyes of his boss. He gave him a tight smile and rasped, "I didn't tell them a thing, Boss."

Gibbs gave Tony one of those rare smiles he almost never got and the young agent felt a gentle pressure on his hand which is when he realized Gibbs was holding his hand.

Tony let out a deep breath and inhaled through the cannula tube in his nose. He usually hated these things, but with his weak lungs he was grateful. "What happened?" he asked finally, avoiding everyone's gaze and fixing them on the white wall behind everyone.

He didn't notice everyone share tense looks before Ducky spoke up. He felt the man gently place his wrinkled hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about that right now, okay Tony? Just focus on healing."

Tony tore his gaze away from the wall and stared at Ducky. He was silent for a moment before he murmured quietly, "How bad?"

"You have a very nasty cut up your chest; they had to re-break four of your ribs that healed incorrectly so they can heal properly. You had a shallow cut to your throat, but they put stitches on that. Two bruised ribs, and a deep knife wound in your thigh." Ducky stated all of these like they were facts. Then Tony supposed they were, but to him they weren't. Every mark, every scar, every gash was haunted with the memory of how it happened. Ducky's continued rambling brought him out of his thoughts before he went too deep. "You're going to have to get lots of rest, considering you've been electrocuted."

Tony winced slightly when Ducky mentioned that but the old man continued going despite his reaction. "You also broke your collar bone. But the doctors said that you would be fine in a few weeks as long as you rest." He gave Tony a warm smile. "It's good to have you back."

The special agent managed to smile, but it came out more like a grimace and he groaned softly when he tried to sit up. He gave up and sat back, letting his eyes close.

Tony heard someone say something, but he was so tired now, combined with the drugs, he had no idea what they were saying. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Gibbs staring at him. He was saying something, Tony could see his lips moving, but he couldn't understand. It was like his brain wasn't working properly.

So he pretended to hear as he nodded to Gibbs, and struggled to keep his eyes open because his Boss was still talking to him, but he was too exhausted. Quite willingly he fell into the grasp of darkness to sleep, in what he hoped was dreamless. But of course, Tony never did have the best of luck.

Okay hey guys. Sorry this is really crappy, but thanks for reading it. I'm kind of out of ideas, and don't really know how I want this story to continue. So if any of you guys have any ideas of what you want to see, just leave it in a review and I'll probably end up using it :) So anyway, SO SO SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT. I now I shouldn't give any excuses but life hasn't exactly been the best lately :/ So review what you thought of this chapter and ideas for more chapters ~ You guys have been so awesome to follow this story for so long. I promise I'll try and update my other NCIS story soon. Byye lovelies