AN: Just a little comic relief before it gets really dramatic...
Thanatopsis
Chapter Two
To Tony, the next few hours felt like a dream. For almost ten minutes after the ambulance disappeared nobody said a word. They all just stared at each other, unsure of what would happen.
Gibbs called Ziva, who immediately cancelled her vacation plans, plans which she had been talking about for the past three weeks straight. She said she would go to the hospital and wait for news. Tony, Gibbs, and Palmer collected as much evidence as they could, while also handing over the previous investigation to another team.
When Gibbs called Abby, a stream of furious shrieks could be heard twenty feet away. Tony watched Gibbs hold the phone away from his ear and figured it would have been funny in another situation.
She demanded all the evidence as soon as possible and ordered Gibbs to figure out what happened. Any other day he would not have tolerated such a thing, but he merely said, "Sure," and snapped the phone shut.
Tony hadn't seen the man so docile since Kate had been killed. Memories threatened to overwhelm him as he fought not to relate the two situations. No use getting distracted when McGee needed him to solve this crime.
Gibbs seemed lost in his own thoughts as well. So much so, that, after they helped Palmer load the bodies into his van, he let Tony drive back to base.
Tony offered to take the evidence to Abby, not completely certain if Gibbs could handle so many questions at the moment. Or talking at all, for that matter.
Abby's eye make-up was running badly as she sat at her desk in the inner lab. She looked lost, terrified, angry, and sad, all at the same time.
He sat the box, stuffed full of anything that even kind of seemed relevant, on her table just as she saw him. Surprisingly, she stood up slowly and walked almost calmly through the door. She was three steps from him when her eyes started overflowing and she practically jumped into his arms.
"Ha—have you heard anything?" she asked into his neck.
"No," he held her tightly. "Ziva says that he's in surgery. Will be for a while."
"Huh huh. Ziva." Abby half-giggled. "I bet she's got half the hospital fearing for their lives right about now."
Tony let himself smile slightly at the image playing out behind his eyelids.
Abby pulled back and looked into Tony's eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked him soberly.
"Yeah, I—"
Palmer walked in. "Abby, I brought—" he stopped. "Sorry, I didn't mean to barge in." He held up some paper bags he had placed cardboard box. "I put my clothes in evidence bags, figured you'd need them to reconstruct the crime scene."
"Thanks, Jimmy." She looked at Tony's clothes. "You should probably do the same thing, Tony."
He finally looked down at himself. His hands and the sleeves of his agency-issued jacket were stained red with blood. There were red handprints on his pants where he had attempted to wipe some of it off. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Here," Palmer said, producing some scrubs that perfectly matched his own from the box. "Figured you'd be needing something until you could get your own clothes."
He was right. Tony had used his spare clothes last week when he fell into a quarry and had forgotten to replace them. "Good call, Palmer. Thanks." He took the green scrubs and the evidence paper bags that Abby handed him and left for the bathroom outside the lab.
He came back a few minutes later. "These are just the right size. Nothing like that one time I had to wear Ducky's jumpsuit. That was—" Abby had Palmer in a constrictor hug in front of the computer terminal. He gave Tony a pleading look. "Abbs, I think Palmer needs to come up for air."
She gave him one last squeeze before letting go.
"You know, I'm really proud of you, Palmer. You stepped up to the plate big time today," Tony said. He slapped him on the back.
He smiled sheepishly.
"What did he do?" Abby asked.
"He totally saved McGee's life. Went all doctor on us."
Palmer said, "I wouldn't say saved his—" but was suddenly cut off by the brick wall that was Abby going in for a second hug. Tony actually saw the assistant M.E.'s lips turn a scary shade of blue.
Tony's phone broke through Palmer's desperate gasps of air, prompting Abby to finally let go. He looked at the screen. "Ziva," he said.
"I thought Timmy wouldn't be out of surgery for a while?" she said. She clapped her hands over her mouth.
"Don't jump to conclusions, Abbs," he said, while trying to calm his own heartbeat. He flipped the phone open. "Ziva, you're on speaker."
"Tony!" came Ziva's excited voice on the other end of the line. "McGee is out of surgery. They got him stitched up and the doctor said he is asking for you."
Tony nearly dropped the phone in relief. Abby noticed and the grabbed it from him. "Ziva, that's amazing. Tell him I'm sending Tony right now. I'd come too, but I've got to get started on cracking the case." She said goodbye and hung up.
Tony hadn't moved. He was too stunned. Abby, looking happier than ever, shooed him out of her lab.
This time, Gibbs drove. He seemed more focused now that he knew McGee was going to be okay.
Tony held onto the door handle with a death grip as Gibbs went almost forty miles over the speed limit, swerving just in time to avoid a blue impala attempting a death defying stunt of pulling out into the street
Gibbs honked his horn and pressed the accelerator harder.
"Ya know," Tony said, trying to close his eyes but finding himself unable of taking his eyes off the road for even a second. It was like a train wreck. Except in a car. "McGee wouldn't be too happy if I came to see him in a body bag."
Gibbs didn't say anything. Only went faster. When they arrived with a screeching of tires, both Gibbs and Tony jumped out and jogged to the entrance-way.
"Timothy McGee," Gibbs said at the admitting desk.
"Are you family?" the woman asked indifferently.
"No, I'm his boss." Gibbs flashed his badge.
She looked back down at her paper work. "I'm sorry, but—"
Gibbs growled, causing the woman's head to snap back up.
"I'd do what he says if I were you." Tony chimed in with a slight smile on his face. "The last receptionist that denied him information— well, you don't want to know."
She glanced at Tony and then at her computer. "He's on the third floor. Three thirty-two."
Gibbs stalked off, leaving Tony to flash the nurse a charming smile. "You got off lucky. He's usually a lot more aggressive."
AN: Currently working on chapter five. As soon as I'm done with that I'll have chapter three up. I should be done tomorrow. I also fixed a few minor errors from the first chapter. I'm sure all authors would agree that reviews help with the inspiration. The more you review, the faster I write. All of you who have reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. Thank you all for reading!