They were nearing the end of the session, so Adam stopped Tony, who was answering trivia questions based on movies.

"Oh, but I'm almost done," said Tony, still concentrating on two questions that he hadn't yet reached.

"I know. But, we have five minutes left in the session, and I want to discuss something with you," said Adam.

Tony looked up, worry clouding his face. "Did I forget something again?" He tried to think back through the exercises he had done since the memory game.

"No. It's got to do with these sessions."

"Okay..."

Adam took the trivia sheet from Tony and peered at it, amazed at how many quotes Tony had been able to write down in less than ten minutes. "Just from this exercise sheet, I can see how much you've improved in the last month. If I had given this to you in one of your first few sessions with me, there would be no way you could have done as much as you have in ten minutes. The game of memory at the start of the session showed me how well you're able to concentrate now. These exercises we've done today, they all show me that you don't need therapy anymore. I want you to tell me how you feel about these sessions. Be honest."

Tony frowned, a little confused. "Uh, okay. Well, at first, I didn't want to do this. I thought it was a waste of time. And then, after a couple of sessions, I started to feel alright about it. Because, truthfully, it was helping me. I think I was a little embarrassed to be quite honest. I've always taken care of myself, and I've always been able to handle any injuries I've had in the past. I couldn't handle this, it was too much. I was scared to ask for help with it. But now that I've been able to start taking care of myself again, I've been feeling like this is a waste of time and resources. Not just for me, but for you and other people that could really use your help too."

"It's not a waste Tony," said Adam, "even though you have improved, you definitely are not back to what you were at before you were hurt."

"I know that. I just don't feel that I really need these sessions anymore."

"Well, I agree with you. I want to talk to your neurologist, see if I can at least cut back on the therapy. Twice a week isn't really needed at this point. Is that something you would be alright with?"

"Definitely."

Adam nodded. "Okay. I'll speak to your doctor and let you know what is decided. Just don't hold your breath, because I'm not a neurologist and I don't know exactly how well you have healed. I can only speak from what I've seen."

"Thank you."

Adam gave him a smile. "Why don't you get changed? Emma left your suit in the locker room for you. When you're done, we'll go get some lunch."

"Don't you have other patients?"

"Not until one. You were my only patient this morning because we've moved your sessions around this week, and we're down to two sessions weekly during the two trials. I wanted to give you a little longer since you will be in court most of the week. Thursday is a little far away."

"Alright." Tony stood and went into the locker room, quickly changing into his suit for court before going to get lunch.

Lunch went by fast. Tony and Adam were enjoying each other's company, at least until they were interrupted, anyway.

"Sorry, but it's twelve thirty, Tony," said Palmer when he finally found them in the hospital's food court. "We should get going."

"Oh, alright," complained Tony. He got up and said goodbye to Adam, then followed Palmer to the car.

The court house was almost forty minutes away from Bethesda, and with traffic, it took them almost fifty minutes to arrive. Harm was waiting on the court house steps when Tony finally made his way up to the entrance.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Harm asked, watching carefully for any signs that Tony was changing his mind.

"Traffic," said Tony simply. "I was at Bethesda this morning."

"With Emma?"

"No. I had a therapy session."

"How did that go?"

"Good, actually. My therapist said he would speak with the neurologist about reducing the sessions if he can't convince them to stop therapy all together."

"That's wonderful, Tony."

"Hopefully, Adam will be able to convince them."

"I hope so."

"Am I late?"

"No. You have five minutes before you get called. Opening statements were made this morning, and we just came back from lunch. Come on."

Tony and Palmer followed Harm into the court room, Palmer taking a seat with everyone in the gallery and Tony heading to the witness box. He was sworn in, and then Bud stood up to ask his questions.

"Mr DiNozzo," Bud began, choosing his words carefully. "Can you please tell the court what happened on the morning of April 2nd?"

Tony took a deep breath. This wasn't the part he would have trouble with, but he knew that it was coming. "I was at work, just like every morning of every week. We had a case that had been going nowhere for days, but we had finally gotten a lead. Our boss came in and told us to grab our work gear, so we did. We all followed him to the elevator, and then to the car. We had been working with the ATF, which is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and their agent on loan to us was the defendant, Zoe Keates. She was coming with us to the scene that we had found out about."

"What happened at the scene?"

"We split into two groups. I had the defendant and my boss with me, so I felt comfortable, even though Agent Keates and I hadn't been on speaking terms for a number of days."

"Why weren't you talking?"

"At the time, I didn't know. I do now. She had been cheating on me, and was pretending she was angry at me so she couldn't slip up and tell me."

"So you were dating?"

"Yes. For roughly six months."

"Okay, please continue."

"Agent Keates was ahead of me when I spotted something on the ground. I had bent down to see what it was, and I noticed a trip wire running across the ground, right in front of her. I wasn't going to let anything happen, so I called out, and when she didn't respond, I pushed her out of the way. Agent Keates glared at me and asked what I was doing, so I pointed out the wire. She didn't thank me or anything, just walked off. I went back to what had originally caught my attention, and then when I realised it was only a piece of plastic, I stood up. I couldn't see Agent Keates anymore, and I was about to call her name, just to make sure she was alright, when I saw a man step in front of me. He was holding a gun, and before I could pull my own gun out, he had pulled the trigger and I was laying on the ground in pain."

"Where was Agent Keates at the time?"

"Standing behind the man that had shot me."

"Did she have her gun out?"

"No. She was smirking, and the man didn't even bother to turn around and do anything to her."

"What happened after that? Who was the person that shot you?"

"I don't know who he was. I never found out. My boss, Agent Gibbs, came running over from where he had been looking at something. He had his gun out, and the guy had raised his gun. His finger was resting on the trigger, so Agent Gibbs shot him. The bullet only hit his arm, but it was effective. Agent McGee arrested him only a couple of minutes later."

"You said you were on the ground. Why?"

"The bullet from his gun hit my stomach. I was lucky enough that it only hit the bulletproof vest I was wearing, but I still had ended up with broken ribs."

"Did you go to the hospital?"

"I did. I had two broken ribs, but they hadn't moved out of place. The doctor kept me overnight, and then I went home the next day."

"Did you go back to work?"

"No."

"So you were at home. How long were you home for?"

"A day. On the morning of the second day, Agent Gibbs had asked our forensic tech, Abby, to come and stay with me while he was at work."

"But that didn't work out, did it?"

"No. Before Abby arrived, Agent Keates did. I was already in pain because of my ribs, but I still got up so I could defend myself. That was how I found out she was cheating on me. I confronted her after I had been told that my neighbour, Max, with whom Agent Keates was cheating, had spoken with my colleagues and told them the truth. I wanted answers, which I had been expecting to get over an iPad screen, not in person."

"What made you feel unsafe?"

"I thought that Abby was the one coming into the house, so I called out to let her know I was in the living room. Anyone that knows Abby, knows that she announces herself straight away, and always answers when someone speaks to her. Nobody answered, which rang alarm bells for me. I grabbed the gun my boss had left for me and got up. I pretended that I thought it was Abby still, but I was creeping to the living room doorway. I couldn't stand up straight because of the pain I was in, and I couldn't hold the gun straight either. When I saw Agent Keates, she was pointing a gun at me. I tried to stall until Abby arrived, but it didn't work. Agent Keates was already going for the trigger. If she had shot me then, I would have died, and I knew that at the time. I raised my own weapon as high up as I could, and pulled the trigger. I had been aiming for her stomach at the very least, but my aim was off. I hit her in the leg. She dropped the gun and fell, but so did I. I couldn't breathe anymore, and the pain had become so intense that I almost blacked out. The only thing that stopped me from passing out was Abby. I heard footsteps, so I looked to the door. Abby was moving over to Agent Keates, and I called out to her. Abby came and sat with me, called for help, and then tried to keep me awake by talking to me."

"How long did you stay conscious for?"

"I don't know. I didn't hear the ambulance sirens coming, and I was told they only took a few minutes to get there."

"You woke up in hospital?"

"For a couple of minutes, yes. I heard my boss mention surgery to me, but I passed out again. I woke up around half an hour after surgery."

"Why did you have surgery?"

"My broken ribs had moved out of place, and one of them had punctured my right lung, which was why I couldn't breathe."

"How long did you spend in the hospital?"

"Three days. Then I was discharged into my boss' care. It was supposed to be for a week, but it ended up being a week and a half by the time I had healed enough to go back to work on desk duty."