STILL DON'T OWN THESE SHOWS OR CHARACTERS, UNFORTUNATELY...
Spencer had scrubbed and sanitized in record time. Not bothering to wait or speak with the others, he made his way to the airlock doors. Here he was stopped by a doctor who was just stepping out, removing his mask to show a handsome face.
"Excuse me," the man who was just as tall as his cousin. "You cannot go in there, it is a contaminated area."
"You are?" Spencer asked.
"Dr. Brad Pitt, the doctor to this case, now I suggest you take your tourism elsewhere."
"Tourism?" Spencer echoed, getting worked up. "Doctor Pitt, my name is Doctor Spencer Reid. That man in there, lying on that bed, is my cousin. I am his medical proxy and power of attorney, in my absence that task goes on to Agent Gibbs. I have scrubbed myself completely, I'll wear a mask, but you can be sure that I will go and be with my cousin, doctor. And you try to stop me."
With those words, he slipped past the good doctor and slipped in the air vault. Waiting for the pressure to equalize with the air inside the box, he kept his eyes fixed on Tony. He was scared out of his wits. This was an enemy neither of them could defeat through their normal means.
The door to the inside opened with a hiss, and Spencer could catch the woman and Tony conversing, bantering. This must be Kate Todd.
"Teasing? It was pure torture!" the woman chuckled. "All the Travolta, and Harrison Ford and James Bond."
"James Bond is not an actor, Kate," Tony wheezed. "It's a character, played by Connery, Niven, Lazenby, Moore and Brosnan."
His cousin was overcome by a major coughing fit. To Spencer's horror he could see the blood appear on his lips, and when he cast an analyzing look over the rest of his body, it was clear he was cyanotic not being able to get enough oxygen in his body.
"Wow, you really must be dying if you forget Timothy Dalton, cousin," Spencer announced his presence.
Tony tried to shoot upright when he heard that voice, but was too weak and succumbed once again to the pain in his lungs. He laid in the bed gasping for air, spencer shooting at his side in an instant.
His eyes met Tony's and he could clearly read the panic, fear and worry in their green depths.
"Why are you here?" Tony whispered. "You shouldn't be in here, what if you get infected too?"
"I'm not leaving your side, Tony," Spencer answered his cousin. There was no way Tony was fighting this by himself.
"Kate, please get him out of here," Tony turned his head slowly, trying to convince his partner with his eyes.
"I can't I'm infected too, remember," Kate responded.
"No, you're not," Tony wheezed at the woman. He knew why she had said it at first, but he could not allow her to risk herself any longer. And his cousin, his kid brother, he should not be here. Should not have to witness this, this falling apart of his body.
"I told you, I'm not leaving you," Reid's voice was firm, the way he spoke when he was being head strong to the point of no evasion.
Tony sighed, closing his eyes, trying to swallow another coughing fit. He was feeling so tired, and weak.
"I don't want you to remember me this way. You need to see Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo," he whispered finally, implicating that what he already knew. That what others were trying to deny vehemently. He was dying. And he did not want the way he was now to be the image that would be scorched into his cousin's eyeballs. He needed to be able to recall them laughing and having a beer instead of this.
"I am not leaving, Tone! Get it, I don't care. I will not let you face this alone."
Tony turned to Kate. "You need to leave Kate. I'm ordering you to step out. Now!"
He tried to make his voice as firm as he had it in the field and Kate was being stubborn, but it came out as a shaky plea. To his wonder, Kate obeyed him, petting his hair one last time. He slowly fell into a light slumber, not being able to stay awake for long periods at this point.
"You must be Spencer Reid," Kate spoke softly, hoping her partner would get some most needed rest.
Spencer nodded jerkily, not taking his eyes of his cousin's face. "And you'd be his partner, Kate Todd."
Kate made a confirming noise. The rest of their conversation was put on hold when Dr. Pitt walked back into the box. With a few well-placed words, Kate found herself on the outside looking in. slowly, she removed the mask as she succumbed to the tears she so valiantly kept at bay all day. A shaky hand covered her mouth in a desperate attempt to choke the sobs that were escaping her throat.
A pair of strong hands on her shoulders made her jump. She turned around and saw a dark-skinned man that was built like a footballer and who had warm chocolate eyes.
"Are you okay, ma'am?" he asked her concerned.
"Who are you?" she demanded and saw the blonde woman behind him. "Both of you?"
"SSA Derek Morgan and Jeniffer Jereau, we work with Spencer and drove him here," JJ answered as she stepped closer.
"He's really sick, isn't he?" she nodded to the glass walls in front of them.
"He's dying," she could no longer suppress the tears and sobs, and Morgan quickly brought her into a hug.
"I know it's scary," he whispered. "But looks to me he isn't ready to die yet. He's fighting."
"You're right. You're right," she tried to calm herself. "I'm Special Agent Caitlin Todd. Tony is my partner at NCIS."
She curled into the warmth Derek's embrace gave her. "It's just, he's Tony DiNozzo, he survives everything and laughs in the face of danger, all the while annoying us all. For crying out loud, he has been chained to a serial killer and managed to get the upper hand."
Morgan brought the dark-haired NCIS agent closer to him in an effort to give her support. He couldn't bear to think how he would feel if one of his team was lying there. Especially since it seems the guy was one of those invincible and ever-present guys.
Being powerless isn't something law enforcement officers encounter all that often. There was always a course of action open to them. If they couldn't prevent a crime, they could hunt the one who committed the crime, in order to give a sense of justice to those hurt or left behind. They could find vindication in the scouring of a crime scene to find the piece of evidence that would break the case open. Or to be the listening ear that a victim needed to belief that people were batting for them.
To stand outside of a transparent box without any course of action open to them to make the situation any better for those involved was a paralyzing feeling. And as tears appeared on JJ's face, she realized that it was a feeling she didn't care for, not one bit.
Inside the box, Tony had awoken from his twenty minutes of reprieve the slumber had given him. He saw Spencer still at his bedside, watching the monitors like a hawk. As he breathed shallowly, he realized that his mouth and nose were now covered by a plastic mask that gave him pure oxygen, in an attempt to battle the progressing cyanosis, to have him attain as much oxygen as possible.
"You need … you need to call Aunt Dianne, Spence," Tony managed to speak. "I'd like to talk to her."
Spencer looked at his watch. 'She'll be sleeping now, Tone. You know the institution won't wake her, it would mess with her medication."
Tony nodded, taking Spencer on his word. He had lost any sense of time in this place, the only way he knew it passed was his shallow breathings and the heavy blood-choking coughing fits.
"Hey Spence," Tony coughed.
"Yeah?"
"You remember that summer when my car broke in the middle of the desert?" this was followed by a weak smirk, that pained Spencer in how it differed from the normal DiNozzo smirk.
"Of course I do, Tony. You had the brilliant idea to look for cacti to get something to drink and managed to slash open both of your arms on the needles," Spencer replied automatically, his memory never faltering. He then chuckled, he could clearly see in his mind how Tony had dances around trying to get the needles out of his wrist during his prompt rumba.
Tony' eyes softened as he looked upon his smiled cousin. He knew he was weakening fast, and his only concern was how the people he left behind would be coping. Spencer was his number one, closely followed by Gibbs and Abby and Ducky. His family.
"Spencer, please take Kate to get her some hot tea. She has been in this place for more than a day and I know she'll feel better by it."
Spencer looked at him, ready to protest, but the steely DiNozzo stare hadn't lost its power over his cousin yet.
"I'll hurry back, Tone," Spencer promised, before leaving isolation and taking Kate from Morgan.
Tony waited a few heartbeats, until he was absolutely sure that Spence and Kate had left for the cafeteria. He then turned to the nurse's desk. With some exertion he managed to signal Emma that she turned the intercom on. With a nod and a smile the sweet nurse did as he asked.
With another power struggle, he managed to turn his head to the two Fibs standing guard over him.
"Watch," Tony had to stop to let loose another bout of coughing. "Watch over the squirt, all of your team, okay? Or I'll swear I'll be haunting your ass until even Jennifer Love Hewitt would be committed to an institution."
He saw the two agents nod a promise, solemn looks on his face. He smiled, glad to know that his cousin's team had his back. Some relief flowed through his veins, Spencer would not remain alone after he was gone. His team would step up, he was sure.
He laid back, not noticing the steep decline his monitors were showing, or the way he seemed to flow away from his body as he was staring up at the blue UV-lights. He was vaguely aware of an alarm sounding around him as darkness swept over.