Needles, thousand of little needles poking him behind his right eye. And thumping that felt like his heart wandered to his brain. The pain was just excruciating. Even a gunshot wound doesn't hurt that much. If you try to move or move into the light it's not needles that poking you behind your eye, it's hot pokers! That was how Tony felt right about now. Even in the dark confines of his bedroom the thumping was excruciating. And he was not sure if it's worth it getting up to search for stronger painkillers. Despite the fact that he took eight or so already and they didn't help shit.

Sleep didn't help, neither did autogenic training. The only thing that could help him, were the Triptan the neurologist gave him. But he wasn't sure if he had any at home. He didn't get migraines this bad that often, but when they hit him, they hit him good. The last time was two month ago. Other than that he gets "normal" migraines, in form from really, really strong right sided headaches with Photophobia, and tension headaches a lot.

Tony just wished that Gibbs was here. His lover was at a conference in Miami for the last week and due back today. Jethro always made him feel better. Whether it's massaging his aching skull, bringing him his meds, a cold washcloth for his forehead or simply him being there, it's always made Tony feel good and loved.

When Gibbs got home the house was dark. He hit the lights, looked at his clock and immediately his gut started churning. Usually at this hour his lover would be curled up on the couch watching his beloved Magnum P.I. reruns on TV. That could mean only one thing. His lover had a migraine. A bad one. Gibbs dumped his bag by the stairs took them two at a time but slowed down when he reached the bedroom. He opened the door and saw his lover lying on the bed in a fetal position, blinds closed.

'Damn, it must be really bad.' he thought to himself. If the blinds were closed that could mean only one thing. He had the migraine all day.

Suddenly Tony started to moan. The light hurt his eyes, even though Gibbs knew that Tony had his eyes closed. Gibbs left the door ajar so he could see where he was walking and rounded the bed so he could sit on the edge. As he predicted Tony had his eyes shut tightly.

Gibbs ran his fingers through Tony's hair lightly. Even touching him hurt Tony like nothing else.

"Hey, how bad is it?" Gibbs whispered. "On a scale from zero to ten. Zero is no pain and ten the worst imaginable pain."

"Fifteen." Tony croaked.

"Did you take anything?"

"Yeah I took eight Excedrin's" Tony didn't need to open his eyes to know what Gibbs face would look like. He knew himself that taking eight Excedrin's was a hell of a lot especially if they're not working.

"Jesus, Tony. Why didn't you take your Triptan like the neurologist told you? Or called me?"

"Forgot them at the office...I think. Dunno, couldn't stand up anyway. I'm dizzy and have a bad photophobia. I try not to move too much. And I couldn't call you because I don't know where my phone is. I'm too scared to move."

"Ah dammit. And your concentration is shot to hell, too. You're rambling, Baby. And you didn't forget them at the office, we have some in the bathroom cabinet in case of Emergency. Remember" Gibbs asked. They stashed some of these pills at home and at work to cover their bases. And at times when Tony had to take them at the office Gibbs usually drove him home straight away. Because the pills need up to forty-five minutes to work and Tony wouldn't be able to drive, because they knock you off your feet.

"Oh...right." Tony could've kicked himself. Why didn't he get the pills when he realized that a migraine was coming? After the third and fourth Excedrin he should've realized that. But he was always scared taking the Triptan. Not just because they knock you out because of all these nasty side effects.

"How long has this been going on?" Gibbs asked further. He was really worried about his lover, he always was when Tony had one of his bad migraines.

"Uhm...since this morning I think. Headache started yesterday around 10 p.m. and got worse this morning and when I was getting the mail the sun came out suddenly...it was very bright and it hit me like a sledgehammer. Barely made it to bed in one piece."

Tony miscalculated. He thought the sun would take longer to come out behind the clouds. By the time he got to the mailbox and the mail out, the sun re-emerged and when the bright light hit his eyes it was over, his "bad" migraine was there in full force.

"I'll get you your Triptan and a glass of water. Sit tight." Gibbs got up and when he reached the door he smiled as Tony whispered his reply "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

Gibbs went into the bathroom and got the Triptan, a straw (because he couldn't lift his head), a glass of water and a cold washcloth. He just hoped that it would help quickly. Because if you wait too long, it might not work properly. That would mean Tony had to wait two hours before he could take the next dose. Gibbs hated feeling useless. There was nothing he could do to ease his lovers pain. He couldn't point a gun at it and shoot it. He couldn't glare it into submission and he certainly couldn't force feed the migraine his coffee even though he knew caffeine could help.

Gibbs sighed and went back to Tony. He handed his hurting lover the Triptan and held the straw to his lips. Tony took a sip and prayed to every god he could think of that the Triptan would help...like NOW. Please. Gibbs put the glass on the nightstand and the washcloth on Tony's forehead. They both prayed that the pill would start it's work soon.

Gibbs and Tony couldn't imagine a life without the Triptan. When Tony made the appointment with the assistant of the best neurologist in DC, she told him that he should write everything down in a journal. What kind of headache he had, how bad, for how long, symptoms and how many painkillers he took. He had to wait five month but it was totally worth it. Dr. McKenzie took his time with Tony and Gibbs, who went with him of course, asked him a lot of questions. He ordered an EEG and did neurology tests, which all came back normal.

Since his "bad" migraines weren't all that often he gave him a Triptan to try it out and suggested he kept writing his "Pain"-journal. He wanted to see Tony again in three month to discuss if the Triptan had worked. That was five month ago and he had the next appointment with Dr. McKenzie in two weeks. Due to work and Dr. McKenzie's busy work schedule they weren't able to make an earlier appointment.

The last two times Tony had a migraine that bad the Triptan was like finding water in the dessert. It was a godsend. After thirty minutes his migraine was up to eighty percent better. If Gibbs weren't too protective of him he would kiss Dr. McKenzie's boots and the guy who invented the Triptan.

Gibbs got rid of his boots and socks and slid behind Tony. He wrapped him in his arms, slid a hand under his lovers T-shirt and stroked his stomach. Tony let out a deep sigh. This was his favorite part. After he took his meds, Gibbs would always lay with him, stroking him, touching him, the occasional kiss on his neck or behind his ear.

"How's the migraine?" Gibbs whispered.

"It's getting a little bit better." Tony took hold of Gibbs's hand on his stomach and gave it a light squeeze.

"Thank you." And Gibbs could hear how grateful Tony really was.

As the pain finally eased he realized that in this moment the pain didn't matter. What mattered the most was, that his partner was here with him and that made him feel insanely loved and safe.

"I love you." Tony whispered and finally drifted off to sleep.

"I love you, too." Gibbs let himself go to sleep when he saw that Tony's face finally relaxed.

Fin