Tie

Ducky smiled sadly when he opened the door, "There you are, young Anthony. We were just going over the latest medical information with Maria's primary physicians."

Tony smiled back, and quickly greeted the doctors with handshakes. Crossing his arms across his chest he finally made eye contact with Jethro, who returned the gaze with an evaluative look. Tony smiled at him in an attempt at reassurance.

A few minutes later the doctors left, after reiterating their belief that the longer Maria remained comatose, the more damage her body endured.

As soon as their figures disappeared down the hall, both older men turned to Tony.

"Lad," Ducky began, but Gibbs interrupted the doctor's forthcoming censure.

"Son, that's it," he ordered decisively, running a hand through his hair.

Tony didn't even have to ask his dad to elaborate- he knew what he meant.

"Dad, no, I got plenty of rest," he defended.

Ducky reached up and tapped under Tony's eye, "Anthony, you have begun to develop dark circles, besides a small beard."

"I slept, though," Tony insisted, trying to assuage them. "I slept very well, in fact."

Gibbs tersely pointed out the obvious, "Son, you are so physically exhausted that not once did you even stir when we came into the room, notice that we moved around the room, or reacted when teams of doctors and nurses moved around you checking Maria."

"Dad, let's not do this, ok?" he begged quietly, biting the inside of his lip. "Please, just drop it."

"Tony, I certainly…" Jethro began to respond, straightening his shoulders.

Ducky interjected, "Don't have this conversation right this second. Head down to the cafeteria and take care of necessity first. Anthony, you need to eat a good hot meal, and Jethro, you could use a fresh cup of coffee, I daresay."

Tony appeared ready to balk, so Ducky promised, "I will take your place at Maria's bedside. Go, both of you, and give me a chance to practice my medical skills on the living, for a change." He smiled encouragingly, and Tony finally grinned.

Jethro nodded affirmatively. "Ok, Duck, you're right. We'll head down."

He turned and walked slowly down the hall. Before following him, Tony looked beseechingly at Ducky, who advised softly, "You know he will stop at nothing to keep you protected. Try to see this from his perspective."

Maria moved to the doorway and looked anxiously at her boy. Could she trust him to look after himself without her supervision?

Often he acted without thinking through the consequences.

Maria thought back to a time when he was around ten. They were visiting Jack, his grandfather, in Stillwater and Tony had spent the entire afternoon playing in his treehouse. Walking into the backyard she told him to come down and wash up for supper. He appeared at the entrance, then grinned, "Watch this exit, Abuela!" He leapt to a branch several feet away and when he grabbed it, a loud crack followed. Maria realized the limb had broken and that Tony would fall two stories to the ground. It never occurred to her to think about it- instead she did it, racing to catch him as he hurtled to the ground. The force of his body slamming into hers knocked them both over, but because she had cushioned him, he had not been seriously hurt. By another miracle, neither had she.

Maria watched Tony's inner struggle as he made the decision to either obey or disobey his father.

Tony turned and followed his father, catching up to him at the elevator. They stayed quiet until they had made their food selections, Jethro had paid, and they actually sat in one of the cafeteria's hard plastic booths. Gibbs leaned his arms on the table, both hands around his coffee cup.

Tony realized how hungry he was when he sat down, and for a few minutes he didn't try to start a conversation. He rehearsed arguments in his mind to counter his dad's worries over his physical and emotional well being instead.

Finally, he leaned back in his seat and picked up his own cup of coffee and smiled at Gibbs. "Daddy, I know that you love me, and I definitely love you. So I understand that you think I am in trouble here, that I am doing too much."

"Anthony," Gibbs shook his head worriedly, "Enough is enough now."

Tony shifted in his seat and didn't answer at once. He drank a little of his coffee and then smiled shyly. "You know, most of the time when I hear you call me Anthony my heart actually skips a beat."

His father looked puzzled. "Why is that, Son?" He took a swallow of his own coffee and raised his eyebrows.

"You have a habit of calling me that right before you announce that you are going to spank me, or ground me, or take something away from me. That's your punishment name for me." He grinned.

"Okay," Gibbs responded, attempting to smile. He took another swallow of his coffee and sorted his thoughts. "Okay."

Tony's confusion increased. "Okay what, Dad? Are you about to punish me?"

"No, that is not what I want to say, Son."

"What then?" Tony looked quizzically at his father.

"I'm proud of you." Gibbs reached over and tapped Tony under his chin. "You need to look right at me."

Tony did. "Yes, sir."

"I said that I am proud of you," Jethro smiled, then turned loose of Tony's chin.

His son blinked and suddenly felt a surge of emotion. He turned his head and gained some control before he grinned back at his dad. Then he looked at his plate sadly, noting that he had eaten everything.

Jethro noticed the look, so took the sausages and eggs from his own plate and moved them to Tony's.

His son began eating again.

Jethro continued. "Ok, you have the lead now, Son. I will stay with you until this evening."

Tony set down his fork and having finished the coffee, took a swallow of his Coke. Setting it down, he started to speak, then regarded the beverage again with a flash of panic. "Dad, please don't tell Abuela I had a Coke at breakfast, ok?"

Jethro laughed out loud at that, cutting the tension. He seemed to relax.

Tony continued, clearly unsure of his dad's motives. "You are not going to make me go home, Dad? Is that what you mean?"

"Correct, I will support whatever you want to do- stay at the hospital, or go back to the house."

Tony blinked quickly, embarrassed that he suddenly felt teary eyed.

"You know that I will back you, Son."

Tony shook his head and brushed at his eyes. "Got it, Dad, and I don't know why I'm suddenly so emotional."

His father smiled sympathetically, "I think Ducky would say that it's a delayed reaction, and that you haven't let yourself grieve over Maria's condition."