Tony DiNozzo was not happy with his current predicament, but at the moment, there was very little that he could do about it. After he had arrived at the hospital, the agent had been subjected to a myriad of tests and X-rays, further aggravating his already fowl mood. When the ER physician returned and informed him that he would need to stay overnight for observation, he had immediately started protesting until he was silenced by Gibbs’ infamous glare. Sulking, he laid his head back against the pillow as the doctor continued explaining to him that he was suffering from mild smoke inhalation as well as a slight concussion and he would need to be monitored for complications.
“I’ve had concussions before,” he mumbled.
“Your blood pressure is still a bit higher than it should be,” the physician added. “We just want to make sure everything checks out.”
Tony sighed in frustration, “Whatever. It’s just been rough day.”
“Then a peaceful night’s rest is just what you need.”
He stared at the doctor in disbelief. “Evidently you’ve never tried to rest in a hospital. I’d rest a lot better if I could just…”
“This isn’t up for debate, DiNozzo,” Gibbs warned.
“Yes, Boss,” he reluctantly agreed.
The physician turned to leave. “I’ll check on you after you get settled in your room, but if you need anything before then, just have a nurse page me.”
“Thanks,” Tony grunted.
“My pleasure.”
“I was being sarcastic.”
The MD grinned as he headed towards the door. “So was I.”
Tony rolled his eyes, muttering a curse under his breath. He wished that Gibbs would have just taken him to see Ducky; the good natured Scotsman had a way of putting him at ease while at the same time, making sure that he was receiving the medical care that he needed. Tony had purposefully avoided hospitals ever since waking up in one to discover that Sydney and Sean were dead. Since then, his hospital stays had been few and far between despite his propensity to attract trouble.
The senior agent had already decided that he was going to leave AMA. Once in his room, he would figure out when shift change was and then wait until the nurses were busy and slip out. Tony wasn’t sure where he would go since he no longer had a home, but he would worry about that later. For now, he would go back to the Navy Yard and start trying run down leads in order to find Jason Miller. He just had to bide his time.
“Don’t even think about it,” Gibbs said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Think about what, Boss?” He winced at the sound of his own raspy voice betraying him. Tony gratefully accepted a cup of ice water from the team leader, welcoming the cool relief it provided to his irritated throat.
“Don’t think about skipping out of here later tonight. It won’t work.”
“What makes you think that I would do a thing like that?” Tony inquired. “And just out of curiosity, why wouldn’t it work?”
“Because DiNozzo, I can see it in your eyes; first chance you get, you’re going to rabbit out of here, and it’s not going to work because I’m not going to let you go anywhere.”
“You’re not going to let me?”
“Nope. Because I’m staying right here.”
“Gibbs, I…”
“Tony, Miller tried to kill you today and as long as that bastard is running free, you’re not going to be alone,” Gibbs vowed.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Boss.”
“Didn’t say you did. But, you do need someone to watch your six.”
He knew he couldn’t argue with Gibbs’ logic. The one that he could always count on was that Gibbs had his back. Ever since their first meeting in Baltimore, there had been an unspoken bond between them and somewhere along the way, the team leader had become a surrogate father to him. Gibbs was everything his own father was not and although the silver haired man was not open demonstrative with his feelings, Tony knew that Gibbs truly cared about what happened to him.
“I’m sorry,” Tony apologized. “I just don’t like hospitals.”
“Can’t blame you there, but right now, it’s the best place for you until we figure out our next move.”
“Yeah.”
Tony closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fatigue was beginning to settle deep in his muscles, but he could not give in to the exhaustion just yet. He needed to sort out the jumbled thoughts that were running through his mind, struggling to make sense of everything that had happened today.
“You doing okay?” Gibbs asked.
He opened his eyes and met the team leader’s concern gaze. “I just don’t understand why this is happening now. I had put it all behind me and moved on with my life. Now, it’s happening all over again and I’m not sure I’ve got it in me to go through it one more time. The first time was hard enough.
“When I woke up in the hospital and my buddies told me that Sydney and Sean were dead, I didn’t want to believe them. I even called them liars; actually, I may have used something much more descriptive, but you get the point. But I knew they weren’t lying to me. My memories were a little fuzzy surrounding the details, but I remembered dragging her body out of the burning house; I knew she was already dead. I must have gone crazy or something because the last thing I remember was Steve trying to hold me down as the nurse injected something into my arm. The next time I woke up, I was able to remember more.”
“Including who had killed Sydney and Sean,” Gibbs finished. “You gave the local leos Miller’s name and they brought him in.”
“Yeah. The police had gathered enough evidence and were holding him without bond, that is until he got some unexpected legal help.”
“Guess that explains why you hate lawyers so much.”
Tony tiredly smiled. “Maybe. The man who defended Miller was one of my father’s attorney’s. It turns out that Miller was the son of one of my father’s business associates and as the saying goes, the rest is history. He gets off without so much as a slap on the wrist and flees the country never to be heard from again until now.”
“Why couldn’t the state get a conviction?” Gibbs wanted to know.
“Believe it or not, mishandled evidence, or that’s what they claimed.”
“God, I’m sorry, Tony.”
“Me too.”
He raked his hand through his dark hair. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess, Gibbs.”
“You didn’t drag me, DiNozzo. I came in with my eyes wide open and there is no way in hell I’m going to let you go through this alone. Got it?”
“Got it, Boss.” He studied the older man for a moment, a mixture of determination and anger radiating from those icy blue orbs. “You know something? You and Sydney would have gotten along great; she always seemed to know when I needed a good swift kick in the pants, too.”
Tony noticed a shadow of sadness flicker across the older man’s face. He hoped that he hadn’t said anything to upset Gibbs; the last thing that he wanted to do was to inadvertently hurt the man who was like a father to him. “Gibbs?” he nervously called out. “Something wrong?”
Slipping his stoic mask back on, the ex-Marine assured him that everything was fine. “Nothing’s wrong, DiNozzo. Just…thinking.”
He decided not to push the issue because he believed that a man was entitled to his own thoughts. Tony began to absently finger the edge of his blanket, contemplating what his next step should be. He certainly couldn’t do a lot while he was in the hospital, but he had basically given his word to Gibbs that he would stay over night and he would not go back on his word.
“So, I guess my place is a total loss?”
“We don’t know yet,” Gibbs replied. “Fire department was still there when we left in the ambulance.”
“I’m just glad no one else was hurt.”
“Miller’s targeting you.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t care who gets in the way. Just like today, he wouldn’t have cared if the whole apartment building had burnt to the ground.”
Tony didn’t get a chance to hear Gibbs’ response as the nurse entered the room announcing that they were ready to move him to his room.
“I hope I get a room with a view,” he quipped.
“I’ll see what I can do,” the nurse teasingly promised.
“Thank you, Nurse Carol.”
Puzzled, she asked, “How did you know my name?”
“I’m an investigator, it’s what I do.”
“Really?”
“Actually, I just read your name tag.”
“Well, I’m glad to see you’re in a better mood that you were in earlier.”
His cheeks flushed as he recalled his behavior just a couple of hours ago. “I’m sorry about that. I just um…forgot my manners for while.”
Carol patted him on the leg. “Just don’t let it happen again; those nurses on the third floor aren’t as forgiving as I am.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“Anytime, Agent DiNozzo,” she sweetly replied as she checked his IV and his oxygen levels.
“Wheelchair or gurney?” Carol asked.
Tony’s instinct was to tell the nurse that he would walk, but that had been before he had made the mistake of looking over at Gibbs. The team leader’s stern gaze had given him cause to rethink his decision. “Wheelchair,” he finally conceded.
“I’ll be right back with your ride.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Gibbs rose from his eat and stood at his bedside. “Good choice, DiNozzo.”
“Yeah, well that mental head slap you were sending my way kind of helped make that decision.”
“Glad I could help.”
Within just a few seconds, Carol was back and she and Gibbs helped him sit up and maneuver over into the chair. He waited patiently as Carol hooked his IV to the chair pole and the three of them began their journey down the corridor to the elevators. Once they reached the third floor, Tony found himself face to face with an old friend.
“Steve? What are you doing here?” Tony asked, unsure as to how his frat buddy found out he was in the hospital.
“Trying to find you.”
Tony gripped Steve’s hand in a firm handshake. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too.”
“Boss, this is Steve Adler. You’ve heard me talk about him; he’s the frat brother of mine that Kate dated.”
Gibbs shook Steve’s hand. “Nice to put a face with the name.”
“Likewise, Agent Gibbs.”
“So, what are you trying to find me for?” Tony pressed.
“We need to talk,” Steve insisted.
“What’s going on?” He nodded towards Gibbs. “You can talk in front of him.”
“Kate called me this morning and left a message on my voice mail. She apparently wants to meet somewhere and ask me some questions about our college days.”
“And?”
“I haven’t called her back.”
Carol wheeled Tony into his private room where another nurse was waiting. “Could you both give us a few minutes to get Agent DiNozzo settled in?” she asked Gibbs and Steve.
Tony glanced back over his shoulder. “Don’t go anywhere. This won’t take long.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steve nod. As the two nurses helped him to a standing position and transferred him to the bed, he was forced to close his eyes against the waves of dizziness that were assaulting him. He permitted them to lay him back against the pillow, where he remained still until the dizziness had ceased.
As Carol and the other nurse, whose name he learned was Sue, made him comfortable, he found himself wondering about Kate and McGee. Surely by now, they had learned that he had been married, but what else did they know? Steve had said that Kate had some questions about their college years; was she doing this on her own or as part of the investigation?
Steve had been there with him through the entire ordeal and out of all his frat brothers, he truly understood the pain that had been consuming him. Kate more than likely wanted Steve to share those details with her. Part of him wanted to tell her to keep her nose out of his business, but the other part felt an odd sense of relief that it would all be out in the open.
He figured by the time this whole ordeal was over, the entire team, including Ducky, Abby, and Palmer, would know every detail about his life. Tony had never intended them to find out about Sydney and Sean, not because he was ashamed of his past, but because it was too painful to face.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Gibbs leaned against the wall opposite of Tony’s door, waiting patiently to see him. Steve Adler was pacing a small path between the wall and the door, indicating that he anxious to talk to his friend.
“You and DiNozzo have been friends a long time, huh?” Gibbs asked the younger man.
“Yeah. Since college.”
“So you knew his wife?”
“Yeah. She was great. The best thing that ever happened to Tony.”
“She seems like she was an incredible young woman.”
Steve nodded in agreement. “She was. After she died, Tony was devastated. I wasn’t sure that he would be able to pick up the pieces and go on, but somehow he did.”
“He’s a fighter.”
“He’s had to be. Tony’s had to fight for everything he has.”
“Yeah.” Gibbs had seen this firsthand when he and DiNozzo had first met; Tony was always trying to prove himself not only to the team leader but to those who did everything they could to crush his spirit.
His phone rang, bringing him out of his reverie. Glancing at his caller ID, he saw it was Abby. She was probably going to ream him out for not calling and telling her that DiNozzo was all right. She and Tony were closer than most siblings and the Goth had always been protective of his senior agent. “I need to take this,” he told Steve. “Do you mind hanging with DiNozzo until I get done?”
“It would be my pleasure, Agent Gibbs,” Steve assured him.
Nodding his thanks, Gibbs walked towards the end of the hallway where there was a small waiting room. “Gibbs,” he gruffly answered.
“Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! It was him! It was Miller! He called here and told us to give Tony a message and then he hung up!” she excitedly exclaimed. “Please tell me that you’re still there with Tony and he’s not by himself because if that psycho knows that he’s in the hospital and no one is with him, there’s no telling what he would do!”
“Abby!” Gibbs barked, hoping that his gruff tone would get her attention. Judging by the silence that now was on the other end of the line, he had been successful. “Calm down. Was McGee able to get a trace?”
“No, but he told me to tell you that he and Kate are still working on digging up everything they can find on Jason Miller,” she replied in a more relaxed manner.
“Good. Tell them not to stay later than 2000 hours. I want them home at a reasonable hour; I need them fresh and focused in the morning.”
“Yes sir!”
“Abby…”
“Sorry. So, how is Tony?”
“They’re keeping him overnight for observation; if everything checks out, he’ll be released in the morning.”
“You know that as soon as you leave, he’ll sneak out,” she reminded him.
“That’s why I’m not leaving.”
“Aw, Gibbs, that’s so sweet. I just love it when you get all Papa Bear and…”
The team leader rolled his eyes. “Abs.”
“What? I’m just saying that whenever one of us needs…never mind.”
“Thank you.”
“Can I come see him after work? I promise I won’t stay too long.”
“All right, bring him an extra change of clothes from work so he’ll have something to wear tomorrow.”
“Okay and I’ll bring him a pizza,” she decided. “That’ll make him feel better.”
“All right, I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Okay. Do you want to talk to Kate or McGee? They’re both standing right here listening in on our conversation,” she stated.
Gibbs smiled. “Yeah, let me talk to Kate.” He could envision the horrified look on her face as Abby handed her the phone. Kate had only been with them a year and a half and she still had a lot to learn. He had hinted in the past that she could learn a lot from Tony, but she didn’t listen. DiNozzo had told her that she needed to learn how to work smarter, not harder, and he had been right.
“Yes, Gibbs,” she nervously answered.
“Steve Adler,” he said, wanting an explanation as to why she had called him.
“What about him?”
“Why’d you call him?’
“I thought he could answer some questions about Tony’s time in college,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“He’s one of Tony’s friends,” she explained. “I thought that maybe he could offer us some insight on…”
“On what?”
“On Tony’s past.”
“You will be told what you need to know by either myself or DiNozzo; you don’t need to interrogate his friends. Your job right now is to find Jason Miller. Have I made myself clear, Agent Todd?”
“Perfectly clear, Gibbs.”
“Good. I’ll tell Steve Adler that he doesn’t need to call you back.”
“He’s there?”
Looking down the hall, he saw Steve enter Tony’s room. “Yeah, he’s with DiNozzo.”
“Oh,” was all she managed to say.
“I’ll see you in the morning and you and McGee better have something for me,” he snapped.
Gibbs shut his phone and slipped it in his pocket. He glanced around the small room to see if there was any coffee, but his search proved to be futile. Cursing under his breath, he headed towards the nurse’s station, hoping that they could point him in the direction of the nearest coffee pot. As he walked by Tony’s room, he saw the friends chatting amiably and decided that they could use some time to catch up.
He was glad that DiNozzo was still in touch with his friends from college; Steve had obviously stood by Tony’s side through thick and thin, something that his senior agent would never forget. His friends stood by him when his father didn’t. Gibbs still couldn’t believe that Tony’s own father would appoint one of his lawyers to serve as legal representation for the man that had killed his daughter-in-law and unborn grandson. The team leader was amazed that the events of Tony’s youth had not turned the agent into a bitter and resentful man.
Standing at the nurse’s desk, he waited for Sue, Tony’s nurse, to acknowledge him.
“Can I help you, Agent Gibbs?”
“Yes, you can. You can tell me where I can find an endless supply of coffee.”
“We have a Starbuck’s next to the cafeteria or you can just have some of ours. It’s the best in the hospital.”
“I’ll take you up on that.”
He nodded his thanks as the nurse handed him a large Styrofoam cup. “Black, right?”
“Yep, how’d you guess?”
“Actually, Agent DiNozzo told me. He said that he’d appreciate it greatly if we could find you some coffee.”
“He did?”
“Yes,” she answered. “He said something about making his life a lot easier.”
Gibbs smiled and took a sip of the coffee. He had to admit that it tasted as good as it smelled. “Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome.”
Leave it to Tony to be looking out for him, even when he was in the hospital. He was always paying attention to the details that others missed. That’s why he was his senior field agent and that’s why other team leaders were always trying to woo DiNozzo away; he wondered what Kate and McGee would say to that bit of information.
As he turned to head back down the hall, Sue called out to him. “Agent Gibbs, I almost forgot.” She handed him a vase containing a dozen yellow roses. “These arrived for Agent DiNozzo about a half hour ago.”
A knot formed in his stomach. “A half hour ago? Who brought them?”
“One of the volunteers brought them up from the main desk.”
Setting his coffee down, he pulled out his handkerchief and grabbed the attached card. Taking out his knife, he opened the end of the envelope. He then carefully pulled out the card and read it.
Wishing you a speedy recovery so that we can continue our game. By the way, do you want yellow roses on your grave as well? They were absolutely beautiful on Sydney’s.
Gibbs had to fight against the urge to shred the card into a hundred pieces. The words ‘mishandled evidence’ echoed in his mind; Tony had watched Miller walk away a free man because of it and he vowed to make sure it didn’t happen again.
He motioned for Sue to join him. “Do me a favor and put those flowers somewhere out of the way until later tonight. I also need a plastic bag to put this card in.”
“All right,” she said, suspiciously eyeing both him and the flowers.
Within a few seconds, she had produced a plastic bag and had set the flowers aside. He would have to remind Abby to eliminate Sue’s fingerprints when she processed the evidence. Sticking the plastic bag inside his jacket pocket, he nodded his thanks, picked up his coffee, and headed towards Tony’s room.
He was not going to let Miller get away with tormenting his agent. No one deserved to go through what DiNozzo was being forced to endure. Gibbs would make sure that Jason Miller paid with his life. “You’re going down, you bastard…”
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