Tony’s third birthday with NCIS passed unnoticed, unheralded and, for Tony, almost forgotten. He was too busy sitting beside Abby’s hospital bed, holding her hand and praying to a god he wasn’t even sure he believed in anymore for her to wake up, to remember what day it was.
As Tony continued to sit there, Gibbs walked in. He looked like he’d aged 10 years overnight. He, Kate and McGee had spent the previous night and most of the day processing Abby’s crime scene and talking to witnesses. The Director had tried to assign the case to another team, but none of the other team leaders were willing to go up against Gibbs on this one. As a potential witness, and given the fact he was an emotional wreck, Tony had not been allowed to work the crime scene. Gibbs had told him to go home and get some rest, since he would be questioning Tony as soon as the team had finished processing the scene. He had nodded and then ignored Gibbs and headed to Bethesda to be with his best friend.
“Thought I told you to go home,” Gibbs said, coming up behind Tony. The younger man didn't appear to notice him, so caught up was he in an unending litany of please Abby wake up please don't leave me you promised oh god don't take her from me too please please please. “Hey!” Gibbs said sharply, slapping his senior agent on the back of the head to get his attention. When Tony started and turned towards him, Gibbs was shocked at the sight of his senior agent. Tony's eyes were red-rimmed and the purple shadows underneath them attested to the fact he'd gotten no sleep since being dismissed.
“She won't wake up, Boss,” he said, his voice thin and thready. “I keep telling her to wake up and she won't. You tell her, Boss, she'll listen to you.”
Gibbs swallowed heavily. “Ah, hell, Tony...” he began, then he steeled himself, knowing that his job had to come before comforting the man he had come to regard almost as a son. “DiNozzo, report. I need to know what happened.”
Gibbs' stern voice seemed to snap Tony out of his shock. As he straightened up and started to recount the events of the previous night, his mind flashed back and he could see everything as clearly as if it were happening at that moment.
***FLASHBACK***
It was late, after 10 p.m., and Tony had finally finished the paperwork on the team’s latest case and was packing up to go home. They had managed to close the case just that afternoon, which was a good thing as tomorrow was Tony’s birthday and he had the next two days off. He’d been worried that they wouldn’t close the case and he’d have to cancel his days off. He knew that if that happened Abby would be checking up on him every two minutes and the others would find out what day it was. He didn’t mind Abby and Gibbs knowing about his birthday (because he just knew Gibbs knew, even though his boss had never said anything to him) but he didn’t want anyone else to know. That would cause too many questions, questions that he didn’t really want to answer.
As Tony was putting the paperwork on Gibbs’ desk the night security guard came by on his rounds.
“Late night again tonight, eh Tony?” the guard said, smiling at the agent. He was used to seeing Tony there, as he worked late more nights than not, so the question was purely rhetorical at this point.
Tony laughed. “Well, you know what they say, Tom, no rest for the wicked. Besides I like it here when there’s no one else around • I can get a lot more work done when it’s nice and quiet.”
“Yeah, Ms. Scuito just said the same thing. Although how she can say it’s quiet when she has that music going at full blast…”
Tony frowned. “Abby’s still here? Guess I’d better go down and persuade her it’s time to go. I don’t want her walking to her car alone.” Grabbing his pack, Tony headed downstairs to Abby’s lab. As Tom had said, her music was blaring at full blast when he walked in, and she was furiously typing away on her keyboard. She looked up with a start when he turned the music down.
“Hey, Abbs,” he said. “It’s getting late. You almost finished?”
“Hey, Tony. Yeah, I was just finishing a couple of reports up. You?” In reality, Abby had been waiting for Tony to finish up so she could talk to him with no one around. She knew what tomorrow was, and was worried about her friend.
“Just finished mine and put it on Gibbs’ desk. C’mon, I’ll walk you to your car and make sure you get home safely.” Tony said, offering her his hand. As she got up, her stomach growled rather loudly and Tony glared at her in fond exasperation. “Let me guess, you skipped dinner?” Just then his stomach growled too, almost as loudly as Abby’s had. Before she could say anything he grinned and threw up his hands. “I know, I know • pot meet kettle. C’mon, we’ll grab a bite at Roxie’s on the way home,” he said, naming an all-night diner near both their places that they often went to.
“Sounds good, Tony,” she said, delighted at the way things were falling into place. This way she’d have a chance to work on Tony while they ate. She didn't think she'd be able to get him to agree to her spending the day with him, but it couldn't hurt to try.
They drove to the diner in separate cars, parking in a public lot just down the street. As they made their way to the diner, they were so involved in their conversation that they didn't notice what was going on inside. Tony, ever the gentleman, held the door for Abby and allowed her to enter the restaurant first, setting off the event that would be etched in Tony's mind for as long as he lived.
As she entered the diner Abby gasped in shock. A thin, dishevelled man was holding a gun on the terrified cashier. When he heard Abby's gasp he spun around to face her and as he did the gun went off. Tony screamed “No!!!” as the bullet hit Abby and she fell back against him. The cashier screamed in terror and the thief dropped the gun and ran out the back door.
The next few minutes were a blur as Tony pressed his hands to the wound in Abby's shoulder while yelling at the cashier to call an ambulance. She nodded, white-faced and did as he asked, telling the 911 operator that the victim was an NCIS employee. The next thing Tony knew the paramedics were trying to pry him away from Abby, who was unconcious at that point. They weren't having much success until Gibbs showed up, took his arm and pulled him away gently saying “Tony, let them do their work.”
Tony allowed himself to be led away, his eyes never leaving Abby as the paramedics worked frantically to stabilise her. “I'm sorry boss, it's all my fault. I should have been watching better, I should have walked in ahead of her, I should have...” his voice trailed off as he watched the paramedics load Abby onto a strtcher and rush her into the waiting ambulance. He was about to say something else when he felt a slap to the back of his head.
“Enough, Tony. None of this is your fault, so stop it. You want to blame someone, blame the perp.” Gibbs said, forcing himself to focus on the scene, where Kate and Tim were already working in a shell-shocked silence. His gut was churning, and he couldn't afford to worry about Tony as well as Abby right now. He hated what he was about to do, but he couldn't let Tony remain at the scene • he was a witness, and he was in no emotional shape to be there. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, he thought. “DiNozzo, you're no good to me right now. You're too close to this. Go home, get some rest. We'll be around to question you once we're done here.”
It was a testament to how upset Tony was and how anxious he was to get to the hospital that Gibbs' words didn't even faze him. He just nodded and headed out of the diner, grabbing a taxi as somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was in no shape to drive himself to the hospital.
***END FLASHBACK***
Tony sighed as he finished his account. He couldn’t believe it, but somehow relating what had happened to Gibbs had made him feel a bit better. “I think the perp was a hopped-up junkie desperate to get fix money, Gibbs,” he said, running a hand across his face. “Send a sketch artist down and I'll give them a description. Hell, contact Metro PD and get their mug books • dollars to doughnuts our guy's in one of them.”
“Tony, you need to go home and get some sleep, and then you can look at books and talk to the sketch artist.” Gibbs knew it was a forlorn hope that he could get Tony to leave, but he was going to try anyway.
“I'm not leaving her, Gibbs.” Flat, no emotion. Tony turned away from Gibbs and took Abby's hand again. Gibbs put his hand on Tony's shoulder only to have it shaken off. “I. Am. Not. Leaving.” he said again, dong a very creditable Gibbs imitation.
Gibbs studied Tony and came to a decision. Tony seemed calmer than before, and more alert, and Gibbs knew he had little or no chance of prying him away from Abby’s bedside. He also knew that there were times you had to choose the battles you wanted to fight. “Fine, Tony, you stay with her. Just try to get some rest, okay? I’ve gotta get back to the office so we can catch this guy.” Gibbs’ tone promised retribution against the punk who had hurt Abby. “I’ll get in touch with Metro and the sketch artist and have them come here.” Tony just nodded, and Gibbs sent one more worried glare his way before leaving.
“Hey, Abbs, come on and wake up for me,” Tony said softly, stroking her forehead. When she didn’t respond, he sighed. “Hey, I know I told you last year that you reminded me of my mother, but don’t remind me of her this way too. Abby, I can’t lose you, especially not today, not on my birthday. You promised, Abby • I don’t think I could take it if…” Tony’s voice broke as the tears he’d been holding back finally started to fall.
Suddenly he felt Abby’s hand tighten around his and her voice came to him, soft and weak. “Don’t cry, baby, it’s going to be okay,” she said, her grip strong and sure. And as Tony looked into Abby’s eyes, and saw the strength and love there, he knew she was right.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony's third birthday at NCIS.