Everyone is gathered in Tony's hospital room later in the day, not long after he is released from surgery. He has yet to awaken, but everyone wants to be there for him. As much as the room limit allows, that is. At the moment, the occupants are Gibbs, Tony, and Abby. McGee, though he wanted badly to be there for Tony, knew Abby wanted it just as much, so he waits his turn with Ducky and Jimmy.
"My god Gibbs, I still can't believe it.. that werewolf almost killed him.." Abby looks at Tony, who is all stitched up.. even the gashes in his face. He doesn't even look like Tony any more.
"Not a werewolf, Abbs." He pauses. [We're not sure what is was..] "Don't worry, he's resilient. He'll recover quickly."
Ziva remains silent, simply watching Tony sleep, her gaze unwavering as the events from earlier replay through her mind. The shredded corpse, Tony's attack, his moments near death. How can one creature cause so much pain and terror?
Gibbs glances at Ziva, then to Tony, and finally, Abby. In under a minute, his entire team nearly fell apart. He couldn't protect one of his best friends when he was needed most. He looks back at Tony, who won't be awakening for several days.
Two three-person teams take turns staying with Tony, depending on what the current case calls for. Gibbs is there once a day, and when on case, takes McGee with him. He knows better than to take Ziva along, as her head isn't in it right now-she was nearly shot the time he did take her along. Vance visits Tony once in a while, and Ducky, when in the room, tells a story now and again, to lighten the mood with those around him.. as well as himself, which everyone can see he needs.
Alas, after three days of being out of commission-with some miraculously fast healing, I might add-Tony finally awakens, the team consisting of McGee and Ziva, with Gibbs off getting everyone coffee.
Tony's eyes slowly crack open, but all he can see is light. Blinding light. The light slowly focuses, and his ears pick up a steady beeping. Is that a heart monitor? But that means a hospital, right? Wait, what? Everything focuses the rest of the way, and he realizes.. he's the one in the bed. He feels.. pain. Not intense, as luckily, his injuries have been healing very fast, but enough to make him audibly groan and catch the attention of the awake Ziva.
"To..Tony?" She looks at him and her heart leaps. "Tony! You are awake!"
He just groans again, and tries to speak-but notices something is over his mouth, and is making talking awkward. The hell? He reaches up, feeling it-a respirator? Wha? Why? He pulls it off feebly. "Zi..va, what the.. happened?" He notes his breathing is fairly wheezy without the respirator, but he's not sure why.
She quickly places the mask back on his face. "Do not remove the mask, Tony. Your lung is still healing." At the confused look he gives her, she sighs. "How much of the wolf attack do you remember?" At his second expression of confusion-this time mixed with surprise-she explains. "The wolf came after you and attacked you. Tony.. it almost killed you. Please, next time use your brain for something other than movies and think before you worry us to death!"
Tony looks into Ziva's concerned and scolding eyes for a minute before closing his own, the memories of that day slowly returning to him. He takes a deep breath and opens them again, and now sees movement to his left. "Mc.." He looks over better. "Tim?" He's a little bummed that he's too tired even to say McGeek.
"Tony?" McGee, just awakening, looks at Tony, who, though awake, looks awfully tired. "Tony! Hey man, how are you feelin'?"
Tony just gives a grin and waves his hand. "Eh. Been better," he admits, then closes his eyes again. "Hey.. how's.. girl? Kelly?"
"Just fine, Tony, thanks to you," Gibbs says, walking in with three coffees in hand. "Still tired?"
"M-hm." He watches as each agent drinks some coffee, and reaches up a bit for some, a hopeful grin on his face.
Gibbs looks down at Tony, gains a thoughtful look. "Only a sip." He helps Tony drink mouthful of the coffee, which helps him greatly-the good ol' taste of bitter caffeine. He already looks happier and more comfortable. "Doctors said if you keep getting better as fast as you've been doing, you'll be home in a week."
"Week?" Tony grins. "Great." He pauses, a thought coming to his mind. [As I've been doing?] "How.. long've I been here?"
"Three days," McGee answers, Tony's expression changing to surprise. "You were.. hurt pretty bad, Tony."
"Starting to wonder if you're immortal," Gibbs says with a half-grin. "Seems like nothing can kill you." He looks over at Ziva, who is just watching the interaction, seeming to enjoy the fact that Tony is simply alive.
"Hey.. 'f I leave.. who's gonna take care.. 'f you guys?" Tony grins, then closes his eyes and relaxes. "Boss.. permission.. t'nap.."
Gibbs chuckles. "Sure, DiNozzo. Get some rest."
A little over a week later, Tony is back at work, despite Gibbs telling Tony to take a few more days at home to recover. Tony had insisted that he'd rather do desk work with his team than sit alone at home, even with his extensive movie collection.
He doesn't look much different, considering the attack; his face has healed fully, leaving no trace of the horrible claw marks that at first rendered him irrecognizable. There are five faint dots on his chest, marking the spots of impalement. Other than that, he's no worse for the wear, save his now-lingering fear of wolves.
"Hey, Tony, welcome back," McGee says as he walks in and spots Tony's desk once again occupied. It had been a quiet week.
Tony, leaning back in his chair, grins. "Good to be back, Timothy. What did I miss while I was out?"
McGee raises an eyebrow at the name usage, but moves on to their current case. Within a minute, he has the face up on the board. "Seargent Mac Tulows, he's been missing for a few days. He was scheduled to board a plane to Iraq, but he never showed up for the flight. There's suspicions that one of his friends may be involved, but everybody we've interviewed has an alibi, and our leads are just about gone. The only thing we have left is a pin that we believe was ripped from the Tulows' uniform, it had powder on it; Abby's running it right now."
Tony nods, absorbing everything. "Abby.. I think I'll go visit." As he stands, McGee hears a little crack. "Oooh. Feels so much better."
"..Tony?"
"What? I've been in a hospital bed for over a week. I'm gonna be stiff all day." He grins and heads out of the room, toward Abby's lab. He won't admit it, but he's not just stiff, he's sore too. His entire body feels like he's been working construction all day, though he's not sure why. ..Ooh, perfect! Abby's music is playing, her back is to him, and she's reading something on a screen. As he sneaks up, he imagines scaring her from behind.. but instead, he finds his heart thumping, and he instead grabs her around the middle, pressing himself against her-causing her to jump and let out a shriek.
"TONY! Tony what the hell!" She whips around, face red and frightened. "Don't DO that! I'm glad to see you back but geez! Warn a girl!"
Tony looks at Abby, then gives a grin, going with it while he tries to decide himself just what happened. "Sorry, lost my balance. McGee filled me in on the case; anything turn up about the pin?"
Abby turns to face the screen of her computer. "Something did, yeah. There was some powdery residue on the fabric and the pin, and the powder is made up of several trace elements." She motions to the list on the screen in front of her. "See?"
Tony reads the list in front of him, but isn't really sure what they all add up to. "..I don't see it."
"All ingredients in baby powder! Now I don't know if it was from a factory or from a nursery or what, but it's a new clue."
Tony rubs his nose as the smell of baby powder penetrates his nostrils. "Where's the bottle?"
"..The bottle?"
"Of baby podwer. That you compared the ingredients to your findings. I can smell the powder."
She looks at him in confusion. "It must be your imagination. The only baby powder in the room is on the pin, inside the evidence bag."
Tony sniffs at the air, turns to the table, picks up the bag, and sniffs again. He can smell the powder clear as day. "Damn. Did I catch something? I can smell this stuff really good."
"Um.." Abby shrugs a little. "You did just get out of the hospital.. an.. infection, maybe..?"
Another sniff before he speaks again. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just sensitive right now." He rubs at his nose. "I'm headed back upstairs. Thanks Abbs."
"No problem. It's good to have you back!" Abby calls after Tony as he leaves.
Once back upstairs, Tony sits at his desk, leaning back. All of a sudden, the smell of coffee clouds his nose, and he puts his hand over it. "Dude, who spilled the coffee?"
Ziva and McGee look over at Tony. "There was no coffee spilled here," Ziva comments, holding her cup in her hand. McGee has none, instead choosing some soda for his caffeine fix.
"..Really? Because this place really smells like coffee."
"Yes, Tony. I am sure."
"Weird." He pauses, and sniffs the air for a moment. "..I smell.. wood." Moments later, Gibbs walks out of the elevator, carrying his coffee with him.
"How'd you do that, Tony?" McGee asks, and Tony can only manage a confused shake of his head.
"Morning, DiNozzo. Thought I told you to take a few days off."
"Well, you know me Boss, can't leave all of you to flail around without me." He grins, and Gibbs just gives Tony a look.
"So, what've we got?"
"Well, I went down to Abby," Tony pipes up. "The powder found on the pin was baby powder. She's working on retracing its source right now."
"That it?"
"For now, yeah. Unless we find anything new," McGee answers.
Gibbs leans back in his chair and sips his coffee, glancing at Tony, who's sniffing various things on his desk. He raises a brow, and when Tony notices Gibbs, stops mid-sniff, setting the stapler back down nervously. Just as Gibbs is about to speak, his the phone rings. "Yeah, Gibbs here." After a minute, he closes his eyes in a 'what, more?' expression. "Got it." Hanging up, he stands, grabbing the essentials. "Dead marine. Let's go." He heads for the elevator, all three in tow.