“I really liked Megan.” Maya said as she crossed Megan out on the chart she had made of the possible mum’s. “I can’t believe she turned out to be such a…”
“Heartbreaker?”
She shook her head.
“Opportunist? Clingy?” He suggested.
“Uh-uh.”
“Selfish?”
“Bitch!” She exclaimed.
“Maya!”
“How could she do that to you?”
“Some people just can’t let things go.”
“So did she? Did she break it?”
“What?”
She pointed to her heart.
He gently kissed her on the cheek.
She sighed. “So how did you cope? It’s not like you could go and talk to Ziva like you did with Sasha.”
He sighed. “It was hard especially on New Year’s but thankfully instead of being home alone drinking thinking about how crappy that year had been I got to spend it with my teammates”
“You had a staff New Year’s party, that’s so cool.” Maya exclaimed.
“No actually we got to work a case. We had a tip of drugs being smuggled out on a cargo ship and while your Uncle Gibbs was undercover on bored trying to look for our informant I was trying to explain one of my favourite movies to Ziva…
* * *
“So how come you are not spending tonight with Megan?” Ziva asked him as they watched Gibbs boarded a ship in the harbour.
“You know this reminds me of a movie I saw once.” He replied changing the subject. It had only been a week but it was one hell of a week, he’d broken up with Megan and two days later he had arrived home to find she had taken all her stuff and left her key on the kitchen table. Then when he tried to take the engagement ring back the store wouldn’t take it back so he ended up selling it to a pawn shop for half its original value.
To top it all off his partner seemed to sense something was up and kept asking him about it, but when he asked her what had happened that day in interrogation she ignored him. But the one thing he didn’t mind about this week was having to work on New Year’s, it saved him from buying a bottle of wine and drink it alone, instead he was stuck doing surveillance with a trained killer and a Probie.
“Tony, your dying words will be ‘I’ve seen this in a film.’”
“Gibbs even looks a little bit like Gabriel Byrne.”
“Who is Gabriel Byrne?”
“An actor who boards a mysterious ship like this one searching for Keyser Sose.” Tony explained. The Usual Suspects was one of his favourite movies.
“Who is Keyser Sose?”
“A character in the film that may or may not exist.”
Ziva sighed. “I am confused.”
“So am I,” McGee added from his place in the back seat of the car, “and I saw the DVD twice.”
“The Sound of Music confuses you, Probie.” Tony pointed out earning himself a glare.
“I love that movie!” Ziva exclaimed as she began singing.
Before she could finish the first line Tony quickly clasped his hand over her mouth. “One note and I will lock you in a room and make you listen to ‘It’s a Small World’ for twenty-four hours straight! Do we understand each other?”
She nodded and he removed his hand.
“Anyway,” He continued, “There’s this part in the movie where the guy looks from the broken coffee cup on the floor. He looks to the photo on the wall. Then he looks-” He was suddenly cut off by a loud explosion on the ship that they were watching, the ship Gibbs had just boarded.
Maya’s face paled as she sat bolt upright, “It exploded, the ship Uncle Gibbs was on exploded. Was he okay?”
“No, he died and then Abby resurrected him.” Tony replied sarcastically.
Maya glared at him. “You know what I mean, was he hurt, did you have to take him to hospital?”
Tony sighed. “Well when we eventually found him he was in pretty bad shape, he was unconscious with burns to most of his body.”
Maya gasped.
He hugged her tight. “The worst bit was with Gibbs out of action I was in charge which meant that instead of going with him to the hospital Ziva, Uncle Probie and I had to deal with the crime scene…
* * *
Tony sighed as he watched his Boss be taken off in an ambulance, he wished he could be there to see if he was gonna be okay but he knew that with Gibbs gone he was the only one who take control and lead the investigation. His thoughts were interrupted when the Medical examiner walked over and gently tapped him on the shoulder. “Tony, any word on Jethro?” After they had found Gibbs and called the ambulance Tony had called headquarters and let the Director, Abby and Ducky know.
He shook his head. “Not yet. Portsmouth Trauma said to call back in an hour.”
Ducky nodded. “Portsmouth. Good, good.”
“Have you put that BOLO out yet?” Ziva asked as she joined them, out of the three of them she seemed the less affected.
“Do we have a suspect?” Ducky asked.
Tony nodded. “Pinpin Pula. What kind of name is Pinpin?”
“Filipino. In Tagalog it means ‘rice paddy dike.’” Ducky translated.
Tony had to cover his mouth to stop himself laughing as he and Ziva left to find McGee.
* * *
They found him crouching hesitantly outside the room where they had found Gibbs. Tony snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder making him jump. “McGee,” He ordered him. “Bomb dog took point on Rice Paddy Dike’s foot locker. Tag and stow it in the truck for Abby, would you?”
“On it, Boss.” McGee replied as he scurried away.
Tony grinned. “I do love it when he calls me Boss.”
“Is that why you are being nice to him?” Ziva asked curiously.
“Nice?! I’m not being nice. Lugging foot lockers is probie work. All right, I cut the probie some slack. It’s a bad day.”
“Yes,” Ziva agreed, “a very bad day.”
Tony ignored her and glanced around the room looking for where the bomb was placed. “What’s the point of origin?” He asked Ziva.
She led him over to a 55-gallon oil drum that had the remains of a person on it. He noticed that the head and torso is intact but the rest of the person reminded him of a slushy.
“Suicide bombers wearing an explosive belt look like this. Except there’s always something left of their lower extremities. You see a foot?” Ziva explained.
He shook his head. “Not even a tootsie.”
Ziva gave him a puzzled look. “A tootsie?”
“A toe.” Ducky explained as he joined them. “Although in my generation, tootsie also referred to one’s sweetie pie.”
“Sweetie pie?” Ziva asked as Tony asked if there was any word from the hospital.
“Jethro’s critical, but stable. He…he wasn’t in here when the bomb detonated, was he?” Ducky replied.
Tony nodded and pointed to where they had found Gibbs. “That corner.”
Ducky couldn’t help but notice how close he had been to the bomb. “How did he survive?”
“The washer and dryer shielded him from the main force of the blast.” Ziva suggested as they looked outside to see it was raining.
“Wait, Ducky said he was critical, what was wrong with him? If you, Uncle Probie, Ziva, and Ducky were at the crime scene, who was with Uncle Gibbs?”
“Abby and the Director were there but Abby was too hysterical to give us updates so when I received a call from the Director I asked her how he was doing…
* * *
“Cynthia told me you stayed at the hospital. Is the boss awake?” Tony asked anxiously.
“Yes I did, Agent DiNozzo.” She answered quickly before changing the subject. “What’s the situation where you are?”
Even with the quick change of subject Tony could hear the concern in her voice. He wanted answers but he knew that if he pushed her he would get nowhere so he just gave her a quick report of what they had discovered.
“Agent DiNozzo.” Director Shepard said when he had finished.
“Director?”
“I was out of line.”
“You are the Director, Ma'am.” Tony reminded her. “You cannot be out of line.”
She laughed for what Tony suspected was the first time that day. “Please. I was bitchy. Let me apologize. I’m sorry.”
“If I may state an opinion, Ma'am.”
“Fire away.”
“Never apologize. It’s a-”
“Sign of weakness.” They both said at the same time.
“I was his partner, too, DiNozzo. I know all the ‘Gibbs-isms.’” Director Shepard reminded him.
“Good to know we’re in safe hands.”
Director Shepard sighed. “Do you think he will be okay?”
“He’s Gibbs, he lives on coffee. He can survive anything.” Tony said though he wasn’t sure if it was supposed to reassure the Director or himself.
“I hope you’re right.”
“Me too.” He sighed. “Look, things are running smoothly here would you mind if I came down to check on him?”
“Sure we could use some help calming Miss Sciuto down. She has worked herself into quite a state.”
“I thought McGee was with her?”
“He is, they are using a lab here but she isn’t focused.”
Tony sighed. “I’ll be there ASAP.”
* * *
Tony forced himself to keep walking, he didn’t want to see Gibbs in hospital but he knew he had to. He stopped at the hospital cafeteria to buy coffee and a Caf-Pow before making his way to the ICU.
He met the Director at the door watching the medical team work on Gibbs, he handed her one of the coffee’s as he drank his own.
“I didn’t know you drank coffee, Agent DiNozzo.” She commented as she took the cup he offered her.
“I don’t, it’s for Gibbs I figure if he smells coffee and sees me drinking his he’ll wake up and slap me.”
She laughed but when she turned back to look at Gibbs her smile quickly faded. “Does he look like he’s in pain?”
Tony shrugged. “I wouldn’t know I have never seen him in pain.”
She sighed and quickly changed the subject. “How does it feel to be running the team?”
“I can’t decide. On the one hand I like being the boss but on the other Gibbs is the Boss and he always will be.”
“That might change.”
Tony went and gently placed his arm around her shoulders. “You know you don’t have to be the strong Director all the time. You are only human after all.”
“You sound like him.”
“A younger version I hope.” He joked.
“Yes,” She said as she looked him up and down, “You are the younger version, aren’t you?”
“Excuse me,” One of the doctors said interrupting them. “Was this man a Marine?”
Tony and the Director both nodded.
“Did he happen to be wounded in Desert Storm?”
While Tony shrugged Director Shepard cocked her head. “He has a Purple Heart.”
“That’s it!” The Doctor exclaimed. “I treated him in Kuwait!”
“Gibbs never told me he was wounded in Desert Storm.” Tony said as he realised how little he knew about his Boss.
The Director shrugged. “Me either. I saw his Purple Heart.”
“When I treated him in Kuwait he was in a coma as well.” The Doctor told them.
Tony finally plucked up the courage to ask the question that had been on his mind since he arrived. “Is he in pain?”
He shook his head. “Certainly not extreme pain. He may hurt, but the only way to know is for him to tell us.”
“Why not give him painkillers just in case?” Tony asked.
“If we give him anything before he wakes up it would only deepen his coma.” The Doctor explained.
“I’ve just never seen Jethro look like this.” The Director said and Tony had to agree with her.
“I have. That’s why I remembered him.” The Doctor explained. “That’s the expression he had in ninety-one. It’s more anguish than pain.”
Tony couldn’t take it anymore he disentangled his arm from around the Director’s shoulders and excused himself saying he needed to go find Abby.
He found the Goth and McGee in a small medical lab just down the hall. As soon as she saw him Abby ran straight into his arms. “Tony!” She exclaimed. “How is he? Is he awake?”
Tony shook his head glumly.
Abby released him and began pacing the room. “I knew something wasn’t right as soon as you guys left, I wanted to say something but I wasn’t sure I should. Oh why didn’t I? Maybe if I had you guys wouldn’t have gone and Gibbs wouldn’t be in there! This is all my fault!”
Before she could start ranting again Tony grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently. “No, Abby it’s not. It’s not anybody’s fault it just happened.”
She nodded and collapsed into his arms. “I know but what if he never wakes up or dies?”
For the second time since Gibbs had been injured Tony found himself reassuring someone when he didn’t know what would happen. “Don’t worry; Abs. Gibbs will be fine you really think one bomb can kill him?”
She grinned. “You’re right, Tony.”
“Of course I am. Now McGee,” Tony called out and the youngest agent walked over to join them. “Ziva has just packed up the crime scene and gone home with Ducky, I want you and Abs to do the same. No arguing.” He added as Abby began to protest.
* * *
Once Tony had made sure that Gibbs was okay and the crime scene was secure he went home but he found he couldn’t sleep or concentrate on anything so he did the one thing he knew Gibbs would do other than build a boat in his basement " go back to work.
As soon as he arrived he went straight to autopsy to see if Ducky had anything for him.
“What yah got for me Duck?” Tony asked as he joined the medical examiner who was examining x-rays.
“His skull was shattered when the explosive blew him against the overhead, as if he were fired from a cannon.” Ducky replied.
“The oil drum.” Tony realised.
Ducky nodded and patted him on the back. “Precisely, don’t ask me what our guest was doing in an oil drum, sitting on a bomb because I haven’t the foggiest.”
There’s no other explanation?” Tony asked.
Ducky shook his head. “None that would explain these remains.”
“I need a positive I.D. on this body, Duck.”
“Well, DNA tissue is in Abby’s capable hands. How’s Jethro?”
“Still out. The Director’s with him.”
“Are you going back to see him later tonight?”
“I was planning to, why? Did you want a lift?”
Ducky nodded.
“Let me know when you finish the autopsy then we’ll leave. While you’re at it, why don’t you ask your guest what he was doing sitting on an oil drum on a bomb.” Tony said as he headed for the door.
* * *
Tony was waiting for the elevator as McGee came barrelling out of it, knocking them both down. Tony could smell blood and then noticed that his nose was bleeding.
“Hate the sight of blood, Probie? Too bad.” Tony asked as he removed his hand and showed him his bloody nose making him wince. “Do you have a handkerchief?”
McGee shook his head so Tony used McGee’s tie to stop the bleeding.
“Whatever you came to say better be pretty damn important.” Tony warned him still holding the tie to his nose.
“Abby slapped Ziva, and Ziva slapped her back.” McGee explained.
“Damn! I missed it!” Tony said as they got off the elevator, Tony ordered McGee to assemble the entire team, including Abby. When McGee seemed reluctant to go back to Abby's lab, Tony turned back to him and deliberately showed him his bloody nose again which made McGee scurry off.
Maya who had been silently listening until then laughed. “Auntie Abby and Ziva slapped each other. That would have been funny to watch.”
Tony nodded. “That’s why I was slightly jealous of McGee because he witnessed it.”
“But there’s one thing I don’t get,” Maya pondered. “I thought Auntie and Ziva were friends why were they slapping each other?”
“Well the stress of what happened was starting to get to all of us that’s all but I knew that if I didn’t help them sort it out they would stay mad at each other so I decided to call them, as well as McGee, together to see if I could help…
* * *
When Tony walked back into the bullpen later that day he found the Goth asleep on the squad room floor with Bert under her head and McGee and Ziva asleep at their desks. Tony let out a whistle and all three woke up with a start.
As they noticed the coffee cup in his hand McGee handed Ziva some money which Tony snatched out of her hand as he went past reminding her that if they bet on him he gets to collect. She scowled at him but he ignored her and turned to the Goth who was getting off the floor. “Abby! Front and centre. You too, Ziva. Let’s go! I know what happened.”
Both Abby and Ziva started talking at once, each blaming the other for what happened but Tony interrupted them.
“Hey! If there’s going to be any bitch-slapping on this team, I’ll do it. Clear? Good. Now shake hands. Shake. There we go. That wasn’t so tough, was it? And how about a little hug. Big buddy hug. Come on. There we go. Come on. Now a deep tongue kiss.” They both reluctantly shook hands and while Abby complied and gave Ziva a hug while Ziva still seemed a bit reluctant but when Tony asked them to kiss they turned, grinned at each other and punched him in the chest. "Now we feel better" Tony told them, before asking McGee for a report.
“We’ve got Singapore’s surveillance photos on the Bakir Kamir crew.”
Ziva turned to McGee. “Make me hard copies. Captain Mahir will identify Pinpin Pula for the BOLO.” She said as she was interviewing the captain later that day.
McGee nodded as Tony turned to the Goth. “Abby.”
“Um… the taggant traces on the metal fragments were Semtex from the Czech Republic. Khadafi, before we bombed him, was handing out Semtex like taffy to any terrorist with a sweet tooth.” She reported.
Tony sighed. “That eliminates my washing-machine malfunction theory. DNA results?”
“They should be in by now.” She replied.
“What are you doing here?” He asked her.
“Um… somebody called a conference.” She reminded him as she went over to McGee’s computer to check the DNA results.
“I’ve asked Tel Aviv if Captain Mahir is a blimp on their radar.” Ziva reported.
“Blip.” Tony corrected.
“DNA confirms the body in autopsy is NCIS Agent Abog Galib.” Abby told them.
Tony sighed as another theory went down the drain. “Any hits on the BOLO?”
“Too many without photos. LEOs are calling in reports on every Filipino sailor in the area.” McGee replied.
“Did you run them down?” Tony asked.
“Tony, there’s two hundred and fifty thousand Filipino sailors. It’s more than any nationality in the world.” McGee started to point out. “The way the reports are coming in you would think that they’re-”
“Hey!” Tony snapped at him, he really didn’t need excuses right now. “I don’t want to hear how tough it is, McGee. I want you to run them down!”
McGee had finally had enough. “Stop playing Gibbs! There! You’re doing it right now! Ziva, will you help me out here?” He snapped back finally standing up for himself.
“It is true, Tony. You’re even getting a little grey around the… around the temples.” Ziva agreed pointed at where she thought his grey hair was.
Abby walked up to him and patted him on the shoulders. “You’re not Gibbs, Tony.”
“You’re right.” Tony agreed. “Acting like Gibbs doesn’t make me the boss. Being senior agent does. So if drinking coffee, staring or whacking the back of your head helps me lead this team, live with it! I’m going to see Gibbs now with Ducky. I will let you all know if there is any change.” And with that he grabbed his gear and headed for the elevator where Ducky was waiting for him.
“They were right you know you’re not Uncle Gibbs.” Maya told him.
“I realise that now but back then I had to be part Gibbs to get stuff done and eventually it did.” Tony explained.
“Yeah I know, but when? Did acting like Gibbs help you meet my mom? When did Gibbs wake up and take charge?”
“Well that was the complicated part…
* * *
The first thing Tony noticed when he and Ducky arrived at ICU was there was no sign of the Director and the second thing was the nurse cheerfully talking to Gibbs as she checked his vitals.
Tony grinned; if she was talking to him then he must be awake. He rushed into the room and started telling him all about their latest case and how they all missed him and then he realised that he wasn’t awake at all he was still sound asleep.
The nurse smiled at him. “Sorry I always talk to my patients it helps them.”
Ducky entered the room and took the chair on the other side of the bed. “I do too.” He told her.
“Are you a neurologist, Doctor?” The nurse asked him.
“Medical examiner.” Tony and Ducky both answered in unison before Ducky added sadly: “Mine never wake up, but still I talk to them.”
The nurse gasped and rushed out of the room.
Tony laughed as he watched her go. “Wow, Duck you sure know how to clear a room.
Ducky chuckled before turning to Gibbs. “Well, Jethro, I’d have been here sooner only DiNozzo insisted I finish the autopsy on Agent Galib before we left. It’s fascinating. I mean, the poor man was literally blown out of a barrel. It reminded me of when my-”
“Ducky!” Tony interrupted him.
“You really are a lot like he was when we first met, you know.”
“I am?”
“Yes.”
“Were you aware that he was in a coma for nineteen days during Desert Storm?” Tony asked him.
Ducky shook his head.
“He never told you?”
“Well, Jethro doesn’t talk much about the past. I consider us to be close friends, but I know very little about his life before we met.”
The doctor who Tony met the last time he visited when he visited with Director Shepard entered the room, greeted them with and went to check his patient. Suddenly as he began to walk out of the room Gibbs woke up screaming.
The Doctor rushed back over to him and began to reassure him before introducing himself and the nurse who had suddenly appeared. “Of course you remember Agent DiNozzo and Doctor Mallard.”
Tony and Ducky were standing over grinning at him. “Well it’s normally ‘DiNozzo or Tony!” Tony joked.
“He calls me Ducky. Welcome back, Jethro. Yeah, we’ve all been a bit concerned. You shouldn’t frighten us like this.” Ducky added.
Gibbs looked around and then turned back to the Doctor. “Where am I?”
The Doctor told him where he was but Gibbs still looked anxious and confused. He looked up at the grinning faces of his teammates. “I don’t know them.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
While working on an assignment, Gibbs is seriously injured in an explosion, and taken to a hospital, where he recalls his painful past, which he has always hidden from others. The rest of the team must proceed with the investigation and put their feelings towards Gibbs's injury aside. Tony is left in charge, which may cause a bit of trouble.