Chapter 12

He woke up to the smell of pancakes lingering in the air. Looking up at the clock on the night stand, it was already seven in the morning. Tony vaguely remembered Gibbs waking him up last night and assisting him to the guest room. He got up from the bed and head to the toilet to freshen up. Looking at the mirror he doesn't look as worse as he did a couple of days ago. It turns out that Beth and Ian were hundred percent correct. Sharing the pain with his little family does make it seemed lighter.

Finding his duffel bag at the end of the bed, he picked out a button down shirt and a pair of jeans and put them on. He made his way down right after ensuring that he looks presentable enough to be facing his boss.

"About time you come down here, DiNozzo." Gibbs put the plate with pancakes at the counter and motioned Tony to sit there. He then took a sit in front of Tony with a plate of his own.

"Hey, Boss. Gotta take extra effort to make myself presentable now." he told Gibbs and picked up the fork jabbing at the pancakes. Truth is, he was hungry. But his appetite just can't seem to agree with him. As tempting as the pancake looked, he only managed to munch half of it down.

"Not hungry?" Gibbs asked him when he stopped eating and started playing with the foods instead. Tony shook his head.

"Not really. Still adapting to this mess up system in my body." Gibbs just nodded quietly. He knew Tony was still adjusting to the fact that he's not as healthy as before.

"Think you're up to face Abby?" Oh shit! How could I forget about Abby? Tony thought to himself, half his blood already draining from his face.

"Um… On the scale of Nice Abby to Killing Abby, how Abby is she?" Tony's question was met by a slight chuckle from Gibbs.

"Let's say it's between Concern Abby and How-Could-You-Leave-Us Abby." Okay that wasn't so bad. Tony could deal with that level of Abby. He okayed Gibbs and in half an hour they're both on their way heading to the Navy Yard.

The ding of the elevator indicates the arrival of the long awaited figure. Abby was already jumping up and down waiting excitedly for her Tony. Gibbs had texted her earlier telling that he's sending Tony down to the lab so Abby could take a good look at him.

Upon seeing Tony entering the door, she was already running towards him and ready to crush him in her hug. Realizing that Abby is going to give him her infamous Abby-hug, Tony braced himself for the grip he's about to feel.

"Tony! Oh my god! I miss you so much! Please don't ever do that ever again! Don't you dare disappear from us, mister!" her words were muffled as she buried her face in Tony's chest and started to sob silently. She hated to admit the fact that she's not gonna have much longer with Tony.

"Hey Abs. I'm sorry, okay. I was stupid for pulling that stunt. Please don't cry. I promise I won't go MIA again." Tony hugged Abby tighter and kissed the top of her head while uttering those words to her. He felt guilty for making Abby cried but at the same time, instead of feeling smothered, he was finding comfort in the hugs she gave him.

"Starting from now on, I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to make sure that you have your pills on time and that you're eating healthy meals. No more junk foods for you, Anthony DiNozzo Jr.!" Tony gasped exaggeratedly at Abby's statements. The joker in him still wanted to humor Abby and pretended to be upset that he won't be eating his kind of 'meal' anymore.

"But I love those junk stuffs…" he said with a hurt voice trying to act dejected. His wounded look turned into a small grin and later into a burst of laughter upon seeing the look on Abby's face trying to cheer him up.

"Tony…!" She shrieked before hitting Tony's arm for pulling her leg. They ended up laughing together sitting on the floor of the lab. He closed his eyes and smiled as he pulled Abby into his arm and rested his head on hers. I can totally die in peace now…

"Hey Duck. You wanted to see me?" Tony said upon entering the morgue. He fell asleep at Abby's lab for an hour and saw Ducky's message on his cell when he woke up.

"Oh yes I do, my boy. Come here and have a seat so we can talk properly." Ducky gestured him to seat on the couch in his small office before heading to the small pantry to pour a cup of tea. "Earl Grey or Green Tea?"

"I'll have Earl Grey please." Tony took the cup from Ducky's hand and placed it on the coffee table. "So what is it, Ducky? Is everything alright?" Tony asked curiously. He knew there's something important that Ducky wanted to discuss with him and somehow he had this feeling in his gut that that something is about his health.

"Truth is dear boy; it has something to do with your illness. Right after we found out about the cancer, I did some research while Jethro and Timothy went looking for you. I later found out about this clinical trial that shows promising results in Milford, Massachusetts. There's this guy diagnosed with stage four gliobastoma and was given less than a year to live. Apparently, he found this clinical trial and was living years longer than what the doctor estimated." Ducky was full with enthusiasm telling the story of the clinical trial to Tony. He was having so much hope after reading about the research.

"But why wouldn't my doctor say anything about it?" Tony wondered and started to consider about the trials.

"It appears that because you refused any treatment especially the chemotherapy, it eliminates the possibility of the trials. But Tony, this could be one. I've already made contact with the person in charge and right now I'm just waiting for you to decide whether you wanted to give it a shot or not."

"Will it work, Ducky? Will it prolong my possibility?" Ducky shifted in his seat and took a deep breath before answering.

"If nothing goes wrong, it will definitely help stabilize the tumor and delay it from progressing further."

"Can I think about it first and let you know later?" said Tony as he ponders about the options of the clinical trials.

"It won't be a problem, my dear boy. Let me know once you've made up your mind." Ducky told him as he patted Tony on the back. Tony made his way to his desk and started doing the research about the clinical trial on his own. He massaged his head lightly and buried his face in his elbow. What should I do?

Ducky was startled by the ringing of his phone indicating that he received a text message. He opened up the message and smiled to himself.

'Hey Duckman. I still haven't finish learning from Gibbs, still haven't listen to all of your tales, still haven't teach McGee enough, still haven't receive enough Abby-hug and still haven't see Palmer's baby growing up. I've made up my mind to do the trials. Please help arrange everything for me.

Tony. D.'

With that, Ducky quickly dialed the number he wrote a few days earlier.

A/N: Sorry if there's any mistake in the medical terms. I tried my best to do some research on Google when I wrote that part.