This chapter is kind of an emotional roller coaster…hope you're ready for the ride. Thank you all for your continued support of this story! I hope you enjoy the post. A shout out to AZGirl for her amazing beta! For those that I can't personally thank through a private message, thank you for reading and for your kind words—they really mean a lot!

Part 16

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was pissed and he silently dared anyone to stop him as he rounded the corner and sprinted down the hallway to Tony's room. The rage that was consuming him was directed towards himself; he should have listened to his gut and stayed close by, never leaving DiNozzo's side. Things had obviously gone to hell after he had left and although he didn't know the details of what had happened, he had a feeling that Tony was reaping the consequences.

As he neared Tony's room, he saw a couple of nurses escorting another nurse out of the room, who was clearly distraught. Ignoring her sobs, he entered Tony's room to find the young man surrounded by a couple of doctors, neither of which he recognized, a couple of security guards and two orderlies. Gibbs overheard one of the doctors stating that he would write an order for the restraints and sedation so that Tony couldn't hurt anyone else. His anger was quickly encompassing those in the room. Didn't they have any idea what DiNozzo had been through?

"What the hell is going on?" Gibbs demanded to know. He wanted answers and he wanted them sooner than later.

"I assume you are Agent Gibbs? Dr. Neal said that you were to be contacted if there was a problem. I'm Dr. Carter and I…"

"I don't care who you are," he snapped. "I just want to know what's going on."

The doctor gestured for Gibbs to follow him. "Perhaps we should step outside the room."

Gibbs shook his head. "I don't think so. I think you can say what you have to say right here after you take those restraints off of him." Defiance hung on every word that he uttered as he struggled against the urge to literally wipe the floor with the physician and his colleagues.

His harsh glare remained fixed on the doctor as he silently dismissed the other men in the room. Gibbs crossed his arms and remained firmly planted between Dr. Carter and DiNozzo. The team leader knew that the Devil himself couldn't force him from Tony's side right now; he had promised to protect the younger man and once again, he had failed him.

"Agent Gibbs," Carter began. "From what I've been able to gather…"

"The restraints," he tersely reiterated. "Take them off."

"I can't do that," the doctor said. "Right now, he's a danger not only to others but himself."

Gibbs' tenuous control was beginning to slip. "Don't feed me that line of crap, Doctor Carter. He's unconscious and tied down; so don't tell me that he's a danger to anyone."

"If you would just give me a chance to explain, Agent Gibbs…"

"There is no explanation that you could possibly give that would warrant this! Now, you either take them off or I will." Gibbs was not in the mood for games; he could only imagine what this had done to Tony's sanity. DiNozzo was hanging on by a thin thread, and the Marine knew it wouldn't take much for that string to snap.

"Agent Gibbs, I…"

Seeing the doctor was not heeding his words, Gibbs muttered a curse under his breath and then carefully proceeded to undo the restraints securing Tony to his bed, being careful of the myriad of bruises that still covered his friend's body. He was grateful that DiNozzo wasn't awake and hoped that when he did wake up, he wouldn't remember what had happened. "If this happens again, I'll come down on you so hard that you won't know what hit you."

"Then you better be prepared to have someone with him every minute!" Dr. Carter fumed. "I will not place my staff in any unnecessary danger. Nurse Akers was in here doing a vitals check," he continued to explain. "She noticed that Mr. DiNozzo seemed restless and proceeded to try and wake him. He reached up and grabbed her throat. If she hadn't managed to hit the panic button, there's no telling what would have happened. He was choking her!"

"She should have known better!" Gibbs growled, defending the actions of the injured man lying in the bed. "Did she even read his chart? He's been in prison where he's been conditioned to…" The Marine knew that Tony wouldn't appreciate him providing any details to a stranger; Tony deserved his privacy and Gibbs wasn't going to do anything to violate what little trust DiNozzo managed to display towards him.

"I want to talk to Dr. Neal," he insisted.

"He isn't scheduled to come back until…"

"I don't give a damn. You page him. You do whatever you have to do to get him here. I'll be waiting right here."

"Who do you think you are?" Dr. Carter inquired. "You do not run this hospital and you certainly aren't a doctor. This man needs psychiatric help or else be put back in prison! Like I said, he's a danger…"

Gibbs had lost the ability to think rationally. Grabbing the doctor by the lapels of his coat, he shoved him against the nearest wall. "I suggest you get Dr. Neal or you're going to find out that I'm the one you should be worried about."

He couldn't help but feel a miniscule amount of satisfaction at the fear radiating from the doctor. "You haven't heard the l…last of this," Carter stammered.

The team leader released him and shoved him towards the door. "I think I have." Gibbs closed the door and blew out a frustrated breath. He slowly made his way back to Tony's bedside; his gaze coming to rest on the Tony's pale features. Lines of fatigue and pain were evident on his face, especially around his eyes. Gibbs missed the vital young man and longed for the days when Tony's keen mind and sharp wit was something that he could count on every day; now, that mind was filled with memories of horrors that never should have happened and Tony was expected to simply live with them for the rest of his life.

"Still have…a way with people, don't ya…Bo…Gibbs?"

Gibbs gut tightened at Tony's near slip up of calling him 'Boss'; he would truly give anything to hear the man utter the familiar, "On it, Boss," but the Marine wasn't sure that those words would ever be spoken again. His heart ached to consider the possibility that Tony wouldn't return to NCIS, but Gibbs couldn't blame him if he never wanted to set foot inside the office again.

"Playin' possum again, DiNozzo?"

Tony shook his head, wincing at the pain the slight action caused. "No, I think…I actually passed out this time; came to about the time…you slammed the doctor into the wall."

"Sorry about that. I'll try to be quieter next time," Gibbs teased.

"So, what'd I do this time? Did I hurt someone?"

Gibbs sat down in the chair beside him; the thought that Tony had automatically assumed that everything was his fault deeply troubled the agent. "Why would you think that?"

"Cause it's happened before. I'll…dream and when I…" Tony licked his lips. "Did I hurt anyone?"

That was the second time that Tony had asked that particular question and Gibbs knew that he had to provide DiNozzo with some kind of answer. Was Tony strong enough to handle the truth? "Nothing for you to worry about," he finally replied.

He instantly regretted the words as soon as they flew out of his mouth. The irritated expression that was now evident on Tony's face clearly indicated that he had screwed up again. It wasn't the first time and it probably wouldn't be the last. "Tony, I…"

"Don't," Tony seethed. "Don't lie to me. Don't sugarcoat…the truth. I can take it…I've taken a lot worse crap than you could ever dish out by giving me…a straight answer."

Would he ever get used to the short fuse that DiNozzo now possessed? Would he ever figure out exactly how to handle the changes in his friend? "You're right," Gibbs conceded. "You deserve the truth. Dr. Carter said that a nurse tried to wake you up out of a nightmare and you tried to choke her. She's okay; I saw her walking out of your room."

Gibbs waited patiently for Tony to say something, but the younger man's attention was drawn to the discoloration around his good wrist. "They restrained me."

"Yeah, but I took them off."

The injured man nodded. "Thanks. I don't like being held down…by anything or anyone."

Tony's words were almost a whisper; Gibbs had to strain to hear what he said, but there was no mistaking the deathly tone in which they were spoken. They were meant to be a warning, for him, and for anyone that he came in contact with; Gibbs silently swore to make sure that Tony was never placed in such a predicament again. "I think they figured that out."

"You sure I didn't hurt her?"

Gibbs wasn't sure if he was surprised or concerned by the lack of bitterness in Tony's voice. DiNozzo had every right to be angry about what had just happened, but instead, there seemed to be a hint of concern for the nurse. He wasn't sure how Tony had managed to keep even one ounce of compassion within his soul given what he'd been through, but it was clear that the former agent had held on tight to as much of his humanity as he could. "I'm sure," Gibbs assured him.

DiNozzo seemed satisfied with his answer this time; Gibbs was relieved that Tony believed him. There couldn't be any more half-truths or avoiding the truth; Tony had been lied to and lied about over the past year, and the team leader couldn't begrudge the demand for the truth to be told. He wondered how many times other inmates had lied about Tony just to get him in trouble; judging from the statements and reports he had read, Tony had finally quit trying to counter the lies with the truth.

"Can I get you anything?" Gibbs asked, needing to break the awkward silence.

"I need to get out of here."

That almost sounded like the old Tony DiNozzo. The man had never cared for hospitals or doctors and it was obvious that his time in prison had exacerbated his dislike of them. "You're still recuperating. You've still got a busted knee that they need to…"

"It's fine."

The last thing Gibbs wanted to do was get in an argument with Tony. "No, it's not."

"I've had worse. I know what a messed up knee feels like," Tony tersely informed him. "It'll be fine. I just want out of this freakin' place."

"Tony, I…"

Gibbs was momentarily taken back by Tony's hate filled gaze. He had seen many emotions reflected in those expressive orbs, but rarely pure hatred, and never before had it been directed at him. "I want to leave," Tony growled. "I can't stay…here anymore. "

DiNozzo didn't sound like himself; his words were dripping with venom and his voice was laced with malice. Gibbs could feel the waves of anger and frustration crashing against him, and it was taking all of his strength to stand up to the onslaught of emotions that DiNozzo was hurling at him. The Marine knew that fear was at the basis of all the feelings that the younger man was experiencing; Tony was afraid, but Gibbs had no idea why.

"Why?" the team leader pressed. "Why can't you stay here anymore, Tony?"

Tony clenched his fist until his nails dug into his flesh, bringing forth droplets of blood. Gibbs stood up and staying in DiNozzo's line of sight, gently took the injured man's hand and began to pry his fingers one by one so that he couldn't do any further damage to an already broken body and spirit. "No, Tony" he gently urged. "Don't do this."

"Let me out of here!" DiNozzo cried out in frustration.

"Not till you tell me why."

"Bastard," Tony fumed. "Don't you see? I tried to kill…someone! I'll be sent back to prison! I'm not going back! You promised I didn't have to go back, but since I…"

Gibbs cupped Tony's face in his calloused hands; it probably wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, but at the moment, it was the only way to get DiNozzo to listen to him. "Look at me, Tony!" he insisted, his tone quietly daring the struggling man to defy him.

"I'm not going back. I'd rather die first."

His heart ached at Tony's proclamation. The thought of DiNozzo taking his own life in order to stay out of prison was too much to bear. "I gave you my word, and I'm not about to break it. You're in my custody and you're not going to back to jail," he vowed.

Tony closed his eyes and Gibbs knew that DiNozzo was embarrassed by what he perceived to be a loss of control. There wasn't a doubt in the agent's mind that he needed to do something; as badly as he wanted to give in to Tony's demands to leave the hospital, Gibbs wasn't sure that it was in the best interest of his health. He brushed a few stray locks of hair off of Tony's forehead and patiently waited for his friend to make the next move.

"I hate this fu…this place," Tony mumbled to himself.

DiNozzo physically pulled away from him, his attention was now directed towards the window and the darkness of the night. Tony was shutting down once again and there wasn't anything Gibbs could do; he despised being so helpless when the need to do something to help the younger man was so overwhelming. "I know you do. I'll go and talk to Dr. Neal; maybe he can come up with a solution."

Still staring out into the night, Tony said, "When he finds out…what I did, he'll want to send me back. He'll say I'm not stable enough to…"

"How many different ways do I have to say it? You are not going back." He desperately wished that Tony still trusted him; there was a time that his word was all that DiNozzo had ever needed, but Tony's time in prison had made him wary of everyone, even his closest friends. "Tony, I know that you don't have any reason to believe me, but I swear to you that you're not going back to prison. You're in my custody and…"

"I'm in your custody, but I'm still not free."

"Not technically, but you're a lot closer than you were."

Tony still refused to look at him. Gibbs wasn't sure what else he could say at the moment; every word that came out of his mouth seemed to be the wrong one. "I'm going to see if I can find Dr. Neal; I'll be right back."

DiNozzo didn't answer him, but then again, Gibbs really didn't expect one. Tony's frame of mind wasn't the best right at the moment, and truthfully, he wasn't so sure about his own. It was amazing how everything had spiraled out of control in such a short amount of time; if only he had been here, perhaps this whole nightmare could have been avoided.

Leaving Tony alone, he stepped outside and looked up and down the corridor, hoping to see Dr. Neal. He didn't want to speak to anyone else, but he also didn't want to go back and face Tony. DiNozzo needed a little space and Gibbs needed a little direction on what his next step should be. Fortunately, as Gibbs started walking towards the nurses' station to call Dr. Neal, the physician stepped off the elevator.

"Agent Gibbs," the doctor called out. "Dr. Carter called me and told me what happened. Is Mr. DiNozzo all right?"

The team leader shook his head. "No. No, he's not. He's convinced that he's going back to prison because of what happened."

The doctor stared at him in disbelief. "That's ridiculous. I've spoken with Nurse Akers and she admitted that it was her fault; she had just come on and hadn't read his history yet. His monitor at the nurses' station was indicating that his vitals were elevated and she went in to check on him; when she saw that he was having a nightmare, she did what came naturally and tried to wake him up. The rest is history, so to speak. Miss Akers has no intentions of pressing charges, and neither does Dr. Carter, even though you shoved him against the wall," Carter said, with a hint of a smile on his lips.

"He deserved it," Gibbs declared.

"Probably so. Dr. Carter likes to throw his weight around a little, but overall, he's fairly reasonable, especially since I'm his boss."

"He's gonna get thrown on his ass if he tries to restrain Tony again," the Marine warned.

"I was just going to check on Tony. Anything I should know?" the doctor asked.

"He wants out of here. Today," Gibbs emphasized. One thing that hadn't changed about DiNozzo was his stubborn streak; once he set his mind to something, he didn't waver from his goal. Right now, Tony's main objective was to be away from the prying eyes and the prodding hands that were supposed to be helping him; he had been betrayed when he had been placed in restraints and DiNozzo was not ready to forgive and forget.

Dr. Neal shook his head and he picked up Tony's chart. "I don't think that's going to happen. I know he's upset about what happened, but he's still got some healing to do."

"You're going to have to come up with a better reason than that to keep him here. He's ready to bolt."

"Maybe we can reach a compromise."

Neither he nor Tony believed in compromising; sometimes it was a necessary evil, but they didn't like to do it. "Good luck with that, Doc," Gibbs muttered.

"You're not helping matters any, Agent Gibbs," the physician pointed out.

"Tony's not…Tony's not listening to me right now," the team leader reluctantly disclosed. "He's got a lot going on and right now, he doesn't know who to turn to; the only one he can trust is himself and even that's kind of iffy right now."

Dr. Neal gestured towards Tony's room. "Let's go see what we can do."

As the two men entered the room, both the agent and the doctor were greeted by the site of Tony sitting up and preparing to swing his legs over the side of the bed. Dr. Neal seemed genuinely surprised, but Gibbs admired the young man's determination. Tony was pushing himself too hard, but then again, the former agent had always set the bar high for himself. The older man grabbed DiNozzo by the shoulders and gently urged him to lie down. "Where ya goin', DiNozzo?"

A sheen of perspiration dotted DiNozzo's forehead as exhaustion seemed to pour from his soul. "I told you I wanted…out of here," Tony rasped.

"I know what you told me. Dr. Neal is here; let's see what he has to say."

Gibbs remained planted by Tony's side as he watched the doctor examine Tony. He wished that he had the ability to ramble incessantly so that he could take DiNozzo's mind off the examination; Gibbs knew he wasn't a storyteller and would fail miserably at any attempt. Tony probably didn't want to hear war stories or anything about the cases they had worked on; maybe he was just trying to convince himself that he couldn't do it so he wouldn't have to talk at all. It seemed like every conversation they had always took a turn for the worse.

He found himself watching Dr. Neal as he examined Tony. DiNozzo was wound tight; Gibbs had a feeling that if the physician didn't hurry up and finish, that they were heading for another confrontation. Finally, the doctor made a few notes before simultaneously addressing them both. "How about I authorize a move to a regular private room? There'll be less commotion and you'll actually have more privacy.

"Your knee doesn't need surgery, but I'd like you to stay off of it for a couple more days; when you're released, I'd like you to be on crutches for a couple more weeks. I also want you to take in some solid food the next couple of days as well; if you can do that and we can get rid of your IV's, then you can be out of here by the end of the week."

"I want out now." Gibbs held his breath as he listened to the tight and controlled tone coming from Tony. DiNozzo was like a keg of dynamite, waiting for a match to light the fuse; Gibbs hoped Dr. Neal had better sense than to strike the match.

"I can't authorize that, Mr. DiNozzo," the doctor said.

"I'll leave AMA," Tony threatened.

"You can't do that. You're in Agent Gibbs' custody and I don't think he's going to agree to letting you walk out of here. Am I right, Agent Gibbs?"

Once again, Gibbs could feel Tony's eyes bore into him. He wanted nothing more than to give DiNozzo the freedom that he craved, but the young man was still in copious amounts of pain both physically and emotionally; and clearly, he wasn't ready to walk out of the hospital. Tony was in the team leader's custody, so therefore, he made the decisions regarding DiNozzo's well-being. He hated being forced between a rock and hard place and that was exactly where he was.

Steeling himself for the explosion that was sure to come his way, he took a deep a breath and said, "Tony, I think…"

DiNozzo already knew what he was going to say and refused to listen to any rationale. "Go to hell," Tony snarled.

For the second time in one day, Gibbs felt pure hatred radiating off of the man known as Tony DiNozzo. He was beginning to wonder if he had done the right thing by insisting that Tony be placed in his custody. Could he work past his own guilt and uncertainty to help the man who was like a son to him? Gibbs knew that things between them would be different because of Tony's time in prison, but he hadn't considered the possibility that Tony would actually hate him. There had been a handful of times in his life when he truly did not know what to do-this moment would definitely rank number one.