AN: Hi everyone. I know I usually answer each review personally, but in this case, I decided it was more important to try to get this chapter out tonight because I didn't want to keep you waiting another day. I hope that's okay. I really appreciate the great response to the last chapter more than I can say. Next chapter should be out on the weekend. Thanks so very much. Here's the next part – enjoy :)

xxxxx

His heart beating wildly, Gibbs was at Tony's side in an instant. Tony was writhing on the ground, obviously in severe pain. Gibbs drew the agent into his lap as Ziva and Tim ran over to them, both wearing looks of dismay. "Tim, put pressure on the wound. Ziva, try to find a blanket." Gibbs managed to keep his voice calm and steady, not wanting to cause Tony any further distress. His agent was shivering violently, shock setting in rapidly.

Ziva ran off as Tim knelt beside Tony, shrugging off his jacket as he did so. He folded it up and firmly pressed it against the gushing wounds in Tony's belly. Tony groaned loudly and tried to twist away as the intense pain knifed through him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Tony," Tim said, clearly upset as he and Gibbs exchanged grim looks.

Tony's breathing was irregular, coming in short gasps as he focused his green eyes on Gibbs. "Sor...sorry, boss. Mes...messed up bad."

"Shhh..." Gibbs tightened his grasp on Tony's trembling form, trying desperately to maintain his composure. "Don't try to talk, Tony. Save your strength."

"Ha...have to talk...dying…"

Gibbs shook his head, blinking his eyes several times against threatening tears. "You are not going to die, DiNozzo. You don't have my permission."

Ziva ran back up to them with a blanket and dropped to her knees beside Tony. She gently draped the blanket over Tony's chest and silently took his hand, making no attempt to stop the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

Tony was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. "Sh...should have listened...Can...can't believe he did it. Love you, boss...love all you guys..." With that, his eyes closed and he lost consciousness.

"Love you too, Tony," Gibbs whispered, watching the uneven rise and fall of Tony's chest as if mesmerized. He couldn't believe this had happened. "I never should have left you alone... should have known better..." He looked in the direction where DiNozzo Sr. had fallen. A group of agents surrounded the man so that he wasn't even visible. He had no idea whether Senior was dead or alive. He had known Tony's father was a monster, but he never would have guessed he would take things to such extremes, to actually attempt to murder his own son. Whatever the case, there was no way he wouldn't be going to prison now. He had shot Tony in front of a bunch of witnesses. He hoped he rotted in jail for the rest of his life. "Has the bleeding slowed any?" he asked, briefly turning his attention towards Tim.

"Don't think so, boss," Tim said, shaking his head, his eyes bleak. "It looks pretty bad..."

Just then, Gibbs spotted Abby and Ducky hurrying towards them. "Oh Tony..." Abby whispered, looking devastated as she kneeled down beside Tim. "How could he have done this to you?"

Duck had his medical bag with him and pulled out his blood pressure cuff, quickly fastening it around Tony's arm and pumping up the cuff. "His blood pressure is very low," he said after he had gotten a reading.

"He's bleeding bad, Duck," Gibbs said. "That bastard shot him twice."

"Why?" Ducky asked, a look of shock in his eyes. "Why would he do that?"

Gibbs shrugged. "I don't think he had a reason...just a sick bastard, I guess..." He sighed with relief as he finally heard the sound of approaching sirens. He hoped and prayed that they were in time and something could be done to save Tony. Moments later, the paramedics were there and began furiously working on Tony to try to stabilize him. There were also paramedics over by DiNozzo Sr., but Gibbs didn't pay them any mind. He honestly didn't care if the man lived or died.

"I'm going with him," Gibbs stated as the paramedics prepared to transfer Tony into the ambulance. The paramedics exchanged glances and then the one who Gibbs assumed was the senior paramedic nodded. Gibbs climbed into the ambulance alongside his agent and a few moments later they were on their way to the hospital.

xxxxx

"I feel like we were just here," Abby said solemnly from her seat in the hospital waiting room,

"That's because we were," Tim said, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Trouble is always following Tony," Ziva commented.

"I wonder how long the surgery will take."

"That all depends on how much damage they find, Timothy," Ducky replied. "I would imagine it will take quite some time though.

"I never should have left him," Gibbs said, shaking his head. "I knew he was upset, I knew it, but I left him anyway."

"You're not to blame, Jethro," Ducky said. "If anyone is to blame, its me. I'm the one who gave him the money that enabled him to get out of the hospital."

"You couldn't have known what he wanted the money for," Gibbs said. "It wasn't your fault, besides, he would have found a way to get out of here even if you hadn't given him the money. He would have hoodwinked some woman into giving him a ride or something."

"Gibbs is right, Ducky." Abby got up from her chair and went over to Ducky, giving the older gentleman a hug. "Tony is stubborn. He definitely would have found another way."

"I suppose you're right, Abigail," Ducky admitted reluctantly, "but I still feel badly about it. Now that I think about it, he was all too eager for me to leave. I should have suspected something."

Gibbs sighed impatiently. He couldn't stand waiting and he knew it was going to be a long wait. He still couldn't believe that Tony's father had shot him. He knew the man was a whackjob, but to actually have enough hatred or be crazy enough to shoot his own son...he just hadn't really thought he would go that far. He didn't think he would ever be able to forget the shocked look that had been in Tony's eyes when he realized his own father had shot him. It would be ingrained in his memory forever.

"Does anyone want any coffee or something to eat?" Tim asked as he got to his feet. It was going to be a very long wait. He at least wanted to go get himself a drink.

"I'll have some coffee, thanks," Gibbs said. Ziva and Ducky each requested tea.

"I'll go with you, Timmy," Abby said and the two of them went off together to get the drinks. After they had gone, Gibbs got to his feet and started pacing.

"Jethro, you know that isn't going to help anything," Ducky commented as he watched the man pace back and forth.

"It helps me, Duck," Gibbs replied. "I can't just sit still."

"Well then maybe you should go take a walk, get some fresh air, clear your head a little bit."

Gibbs shook his head. "No. I'm not leaving here. I want to be right here when they take him out of surgery." He couldn't even voice the thought that was tormenting him the most, that the surgeon would come out any minute and say that Tony had died on the table. He didn't think he would be able to handle that.

Ducky gave Gibbs a long look. He knew that Jethro was terrified he would lose Tony. He had always known how much he cared about the boy, but these latest episodes had made it even more obvious. Tony was like a son to him. He prayed to God that he would pull through. He turned his eyes toward Ziva who was just sitting silently, lost in her thoughts. "Ziva? Are you alright?"

Ziva nodded. "Yes, Ducky. I am fine."

"Tony is strong." Ducky took Ziva's hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"Yes, I know, but how much more can he take?" she asked. "He already has been through so much...everyone has their limits..." She trailed off and her thoughts went back to the visit earlier that day. He had seemed to be doing quite well. It had been a nice visit and now everything was turned upside down all over again. Her eyes started to follow Gibbs as he paced back and forth. She was starting to realize just how much the man truly cared about Tony. She wondered if Tony understood how much he meant to Gibbs.

"Any word?" Abby asked as she and Tim returned with the beverages.

"No, nothing," Ziva replied, shaking her head. She picked up a magazine and began absently leafing through the pages.

Gibbs finally stopped pacing and sat down again, taking a sip of his coffee. He kept thinking about all the awful things that had happened to Tony since the day Bellingham had grabbed them in front of his house. Every time it seemed like things were taking a turn for the better, something else horrible happened. He wondered if he would ever get the chance to hear Tony's jokes or movie references again. Even if Tony got better physically, he couldn't help but worry about the psychological effects of what had happened. Tony's own father had tried to murder him. He couldn't imagine that would be a very easy thing to get over. He did know one thing though, it didn't matter if Tony tried to push him away one time or one hundred times…he was going to stick with the younger man no matter what.

After what seemed to be an interminable wait, Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Rodriguez, the surgeon, came out into the waiting room.

Gibbs quickly got to his feet and looked at Dr. Kennedy since he really didn't know the other doctor. "Doc?" he asked uncertainly, unable to read anything from the expressions of either doctor.

"He survived the surgery," Dr. Kennedy said, his expression grim as he gazed back at Gibbs. "It was a fight though."

Dr. Rodriguez entered the conversation. "We had a hard time controlling the bleeding. There was a lot of tissue damage. One of the bullets hit his spleen and we had to remove it."

"Given his situation prior to the shooting, that's not a good thing," Dr. Kennedy said.

"So…what are you saying?" Gibbs asked, unable to keep a slight tremor out of his voice.

"I'm saying he has a battle ahead of him," Dr. Kennedy stated. "For right now, once he's out of recovery, we are going to move him to the Surgical ICU and then we'll see how he does…Do you have any word on how his father is doing?"

"His father shot him," Gibbs said, giving the doctor an incredulous look. "I don't really care how he's doing."

Dr. Kennedy shook his head patiently. "I do understand that, Agent Gibbs, but I'm still guessing it isn't going to be a good idea to give any bad news to Tony right now, especially if his father doesn't make it."

Gibbs shrugged. "Like I said, I haven't heard anything."

"Okay…I'm going to get back to him now. I'll keep you updated."

"Doc?" Gibbs lightly placed his hand on Dr. Kennedy's arm. "Can I stay with him?"

The doctor hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, assuming that Gibbs' level of devotion to the young man couldn't hurt and might be of some help. "Yes, I think that will be okay. Follow me, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs turned to the members of his team who had been silently listening to the exchange between Gibbs and the doctor. "You all should go home…get some rest."

They looked back at Gibbs doubtfully, not really wanting to leave. "Go ahead. I'll keep you posted."

"You tell Tony we love him, Gibbs," Abby said throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"I'll tell him, Abs…I promise."

"Agent Gibbs?" Dr. Kennedy beckoned him and Gibbs gave a brief wave to his team before he followed the doctor to go see his ailing agent.