As promised the next chapter, I was amazed by the speedy reviews this morning so thanks all.

Chapter 6- The fragility of hope

"B-b-boss…I'm sorry… I f-f-failed…"

The words stuck in his head, not letting him rest, as if taunting him, almost blaming him for the defeat in the voice. But, the blame did belong on his shoulders; he had sent him on his own. No back up, nothing. That was against his own rules; they had partners for a reason, to watch each others backs. He had just watched as his agent isolated himself away from the team more and not done anything. The guilt was back like some rabid dog, gnawing at him, not letting go. Why should it? It was his fault after all. Not even his shouts,…begging? Down the phone would be enough to save his agent, he needed to be there, needed to…apologise? Tell Tony what he meant to him. The whole team did. Did Tony believe he didn't care? Again the voice in his head and gut was telling that it was his fault, his goddamned marine façade destroying the hopes of his best agent.

The guilt and pain made him drive faster; they needed to get there now, they wouldn't survive losing Tony, not in the same year they'd lost Kate. With the crime scene finished, they had been at the hotel when Tony called Gibbs. The silence within the car was in contrast to the emotions of the people within. Thoughts, images, memories swirling in their minds, showing them what they had done. That this was the effect if their ignorance. They pushed away a friend, part of their family.

McGee, having seen Gibbs' panic knew something was wrong, and it had something to do with Tony. Tony was always getting in trouble, getting hurt, but he always bounced back. Didn't he? But… the tone in Gibbs voice, the desperation terrified him. Gibbs was never so desperate, never so scared. Was this the end that they had all been dreading? Could it have been avoid? If they had just taken more notice of Tony. Would he have tried everything to be needed? And that is what it came down to. McGee had been working with Tony long enough to know that he didn't have a family, the team was his family and they had left him out, making him feel excluded and alone. He couldn't imagine being left out of his own family like Tony had been, it was no wonder Tony hadn't been acting normal since that dinner party. McGee's own guilt over the matter increased, he'd acted smugly towards Tony since, happy to have finally got one up on the older agent. He all of a sudden realised that each and every time Tony had teased him it wasn't maliciously done, it was light-hearted banter and sometimes it even helped. He'd been misinterpreting Tony's actions for too long. He could only hope that Tony would bounce back now so they could fix it. If he didn't, how would they tell Abby it had partially been their own fault?

Ziva had been watching her partner closely since that incident in the shipping container; she'd seen some of his hurt looks afterwards. But like McGee she thought that he would get over it, being the care-free agent that he was, she'd thought nothing of not inviting him, thinking that he may talk too much about pointless things and that she just wanted a quiet dinner with friends. But… wasn't he a friend also? She tried figure out why he had reacted like someone who was jealous, then she remembered the dossiers that she had created of the team. He had no family, other than the one he had created at NCIS, there were things in the file that she was sure the others of the team didn't know, but she could understand why he didn't want to tell him. To him it must have looked like she had been taking the only family that cared about him. For that she was sorry, and she realised that she herself was a little jealous that he had that connection to everyone in NCIS while they still saw her as an outsider. But she was still new; Tony had already been there for years, she couldn't expect them to automatically like her, especially under the circumstances that she was hired.

As they passed each house searching for their friend, the tension only increased. The darkness outside creating a sense of stillness and death, no sense of hope, or light to guide them. The distorting fog creeping around them, as if they had only ever seen what they wanted, and not what they needed. The silence was getting suffocating, increasing their breaths as they waited in anticipation for the end. But what end would it be, good or bad?

Arriving at the address he had seen earlier Gibbs rushed out of the car, barely waiting until it had stopped. Ordering McGee and Ziva to clear the area he entered the house, each step getting heavier the closer he got. What was he getting closer to though? The place was a mess. Papers strewn about the floor, drops of crimson upon them, who's blood was it? Was he already too late? Knowing that Ziva and McGee had his back his guilt festered more, where had he been when Tony needed him? There was a coppery smell to the air that could only come from blood, clinging to his nose hairs and to his clothes. As he walked towards the back of the house the more the destruction became evident, maybe the guy had to run and Tony had gone after him. His foot tapped something hard and solid on the ground, it was Tony's weapon so where was Tony? Bigger blood drops were splatter near the weapon, Gibbs followed the trail.

It lead into a back room where he found his agent lying facedown, blood seeping from the side of him, stained the cream carpet. He rushed to his agent, almost falling as he sank to his knees beside his agent. He called out to Ziva and McGee telling them to ring an ambulance.

"Tony?" he asked trying to get a response, when he got nothing he shook him ever so gently.

"Come on Tony, open your eyes." Then he realised that he hadn't even checked for a pulse yet. He almost didn't want to know. Reaching Tony's neck he found a faint beating. Moving his agent a little so he could get a closer look at his wound, he gasped a little at the knife still embedded into his agent's side, just under the right side of his ribcage. Knowing not to remove it as it could quite possibly be saving his life he tried to get Tony's attention again. Lightly tapping his agent's head, know that it was this action that made him feel wanted. He got the response he wanted when Tony's eyes opened a faction, the green the dullest he'd seen, the pain clear. He looked surprised to see his boss there. Why surprise? Did he think that he would just be left alone? His agent's rasped words shocked him, even through the laboured breathing he could hear the utter defeat in them.

"W-w-why…are you… here…i-i- failed…you… shouldn't…care." Tony coughed, a little blood leaked out of the side of his mouth as he winced at the pain. Trying to hold Tony's gaze Gibbs gave up the marine façade, and spoke the words he had been wanting to say for so long. Tony looked away not wanting to see the disappointment. Gibbs grabbed his face gently.

"Please look at me, Tony?" he saw the shock at the use of the word please registered with his agent. The body beneath him trembled with pain, but looked at him with the last remains of all his hope, clinging on to Gibbs' words like a dog to an old bone.

"You're wrong Tony, I do care, you know me well enough to know that I'm bad at telling people I care, you don't exactly make it easy when you're always getting hurt." There it was, the spark behind the eyes, it was dim but it was back. There was still work to do to rid Tony's insecurities, if they could be gotten rid of all together. Tony struggled to speak again.

"S-so…tired" they both knew that it was more complex than just his current situation that he was tired of.

"I know Tony, its okay; just fight it for a little longer. We'll help you. We wouldn't have solved half the things we have if you weren't apart of the team. We need you. You got that?" the last words reminiscent of months ago when he'd had the plague. Tony nodded in shock at the string of nice words from his boss. Gibbs smiled a little at the almost childish glimmer in Tony's eyes, he hadn't said it directly, but in his own way Gibbs had said that he was proud of all Tony had done.

"I-I- gotcha-b-boss." He whispered as Gibbs held the hand that had been searching for something to cling to this life for. Just then the paramedics swarmed the house…

TBC

As the last chapter was a Tony one, I wanted to do a mainly Gibbs one. I do hope you all liked it. Please read and review.