Warning: Stomach Flu. It’s gross any way you turn it. LoL! Sick!Tony, PapaBear!Gibbs. Slash.
Spoilers: Minor reference to 7.12 Flesh and Blood.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters from NCIS. Kegan and Gina are mine. Everything else belongs to Bellisario and CBS.
Giving Back
by WCUGirl
“So McTurkey-Bird what are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Tony’s eyes danced merrily as he turned to look in the backseat of the car on the team’s way back to the office.
“I’m going to my parents’ house to spend the holiday weekend with my parents and sister,” McGee replied, not looking up from the laptop carefully balanced on his knees in the back seat.
“What about you Zeeeevah? What are you doing for the holiday?”
Ziva smiled. “I am going to spend the holiday with my neighbor. She has invited me over to spend the day with her and her family.”
“Sounds like fun, is she hot?”
Ziva rolled her eyes good naturedly. “She is very good looking for an eighty year old woman.” Ziva laughed when she saw the expression on Tony’s face.
Tony turned back to face front and glanced over at his boss. “What are you doing for Thanksgiving, Boss?”
“Nothing exciting,” Gibbs mumbled, swerving into the adjacent lane. “Probably eat some turkey, drink some bourbon and work on the boat,” he continued, cutting his eyes at Tony with a knowing expression.
“What about you Tony? What are you going to do for your holiday?”
“I’m going to spend it with someone special,” Tony said, a soft smile crossing his features.
“Will you be able to pry yourself away long enough to cook a meal?” Ziva crossed her arm and looked at Tony with a snarky smile.
“Sure they’re going to help me cook,” Tony said.
“Oh please. Like you can cook, Tony,” McGee joined in.
“Actually McJulia-Child I cook all the time. I cook thanksgiving dinner every year,” Tony snarked.
“He’s a good cook,” Gibbs commented. “Cooked for me before. I didn’t die from it,” he said with a small smile in Tony’s direction.
“Funny boss, you made a joke. Real funny.”
Gibbs smirked again.
xxx
“Ok people, go home.” Gibbs said, shuffling through the papers his team had given him. He wasn’t planning to stay much longer but he wanted to look over the reports before he left.
Tim hurried out, followed closely by Ziva. Gibbs was surprised that Tony hadn’t beat both of them out the door.
Gibbs walked over to Tony’s desk and rested a hand on his lover’s shoulder. “Thought you had big plans, DiNozzo?”
“I do, Boss, but I can’t pick Kegan up until after six. His mom said she wanted to pick him up from school and take him home for a bit before I get him. She’ll take off after we leave. Seems stupid to drive all the way home, when I’m closer to Kegan here. Figured I’d stay here for a bit.”
“It’s a good thing you’re doing for Kegan, DiNozzo. What would he do if you couldn’t take him this weekend?”
“Gina said that if I couldn’t take him she’d just leave him at the house and let their neighbor check up on him when she had time.”
Tony met Kegan through the DC Boys and Girls Club. After his father’s impromptu visit last year, Tony had spent hours thinking about his own childhood, how miserable and lonely he’d been, before finally deciding that he needed to do something to help other kids not feel that way. So, after some encouragement from Gibbs, Tony had joined the DC Boys and Girls club as a volunteer, and spent months bonding with the child he’d been assigned.
Kegan Thomas was six years old. His father had taken off shortly after he was born, leaving Kegan’s teenage mother to raise her son on her own. Kegan’s mother had been kicked out of her parents’ home once they’d learned she was pregnant. Tony was helping Kegan’s mom to finish her GED, but in the meantime, Gina worked two jobs trying to make ends meet, often leaving her son unsupervised for hours at a time, because she couldn’t afford childcare. Gina’s neighbors helped as much as they could, but it wasn’t enough. Gina had enrolled Kegan in the local Boys and Girls club, and shortly after, they met Tony.
Tony spent a good bit of his free time with Kegan. He’d gotten his mom enrolled in an online GED program with the promise to take care of Kegan whenever she had class. This weekend Gina was being forced to work nearly round the clock at her job in the department store in the mall. She’d called Tony, nearly in tears when she’d gotten her work schedule. So far she’d never had to leave Kegan on a holiday before, and was hesitant to ask Tony for help. Tony had merely smiled and offered Kegan to come spend the Thanksgiving weekend with him.
Gibbs snorted softly and shook his head. “He’s lucky to have you Tony.”
Gibbs smiled at the way Tony’s ears tinged light pink.
“You coming over, Boss? Kegan loves you. He’d be thrilled if you came.”
That was something Tony hadn’t held back when he met Gina and Kegan. He’d been very open about his bisexuality and about his relationship with Gibbs. Both Kegan and Gina had been accepting of it; Gina was thrilled for Kegan to have two positive men in her son’s life.
Gibbs smiled at Tony and nodded. “What time do you want me?”
Tony smiled. “Anytime you’d like to come. Gina said to tell you Happy Thanksgiving and she was sorry that she wasn’t going to get any of your pumpkin pie.”
Gibbs smirked and walked back to his desk, where he picked up his keys. “I’ll meet you at your place later.”
“Sounds good, Boss.”
xxx
Gibbs glanced at his watch. Nearly eight o’clock. Tony should have Kegan by now. He pulled into the lot outside Tony’s apartment building and grabbed the pizza from the passenger seat. On the night before Thanksgiving, Gibbs knew that Tony would be hard at work preparing Thanksgiving dinner, so he’d picked up pizza to make sure that Tony and Kegan had something to eat. Gibbs frowned and ran a hand over his stomach as he walked in the building. His gut was churning.
He used his key to let himself into Tony’s apartment and was immediately concerned. The smell of burning food filled the air, along with the sound of retching. Gibbs shut the door and went to the kitchen. He set the pizza down on the bar counter and turned off the oven and stove before heading down the hall.
“Tony? Kegan? You guys alright?”
“In here, Jethro,” Tony called from the guest bedroom.
Gibbs pushed open the partially closed door. “Tony? What’s going on?” Gibbs crossed the room, moving to Tony’s side where his lover sat on the edge of the bed. Tony was mopping Kegan’s brow with a damp washcloth, the boy’s blonde hair was sweaty and matted, his eyes closed, his breaths coming in short gasps, the young face contorted in pain and small hands clutched at his stomach.
“I dunno what to do, Jet. He’s sick. Found him in bed when I got to their apartment. He said he’s been sick all day. His mom’s been at work. There was…Jesus Boss there was vomit all over the bed…the floor…he’s so sick. He’s running a fever, shaking…I tried to get him to drink some water and he threw it right back up on me,” Tony said softly, indicating the pungent stain on his designer suit.
Gibbs immediately assumed control in order to reassure his nearly frantic partner. “Okay Tony, okay. Calm down. Go get changed. I’ll sit with Kegan. Just relax. We can handle this.”
“Okay…okay Kegan? Kegan I’m going to go change and check the food…Jethro’s here, he’s going to sit with you.”
“When did you start cooking?”
“Well once I got Kegan back here, he fell asleep. I went ahead and started cooking while he slept. Then he started getting sick again and woke up and I came in here to help him…kinda forgot about the stove.” Tony looked down at his lap sheepishly.
“You were where you needed to be. It’s okay. I’ll help. We’ll get through it.”
“Sorry…ruining…Thankssssgiving…” Kegan mumbled pitifully from the bed.
The tone of the child’s voice reminded Gibbs of his lover and his heart twisted painfully. Gibbs leaned over and ruffled the boy’s hair.
“Didn’t ruin anything kiddo. Not even thanksgiving yet. Besides, you can’t help you’re sick. We’ll figure it out. It’s going to be fine. You just relax for now; Tony and I will take care of everything.”
xxx
By midnight Tony was convinced that Kegan was going to die. Tony paced the floor in the living room, hands clasped around the back of his neck, listening to the sounds of the boy retching again and the sounds of Jethro’s soft baritone murmuring words of comfort and reassurance to the little boy. They’d been taking turns with Kegan, but Tony was nearing the end of his rope; he was tired and scared and just wanted to do something to make this little boy feel better.
“Want…want my…my mommy,” Tony heard Kegan whimper softly. A moment later, Gibbs appeared in the hallway carrying Kegan with him. The little boy’s legs were wrapped around Gibbs’ waist and his arms were wrapped around the older man’s neck with his head resting on Gibbs’ shoulder. It would have been adorable if Kegan weren’t so sick. Jethro ran a soothing hand up the boy’s trembling back.
“Gonna be alright kiddo,” he murmured. “Here, you wanna sit with Tony on the couch? I’ll get you some ice chips. How’s that sound?”
Kegan nodded slightly and Jethro carefully passed the little boy over to Tony, who settled down on the couch with Kegan in his lap. Tony had just turned on the television when Kegan retched, coating Tony’s shirt with his mess. Kegan recoiled, apologizing profusely, unable to help himself. Suddenly the boy was struggling off of Tony’s lap. “N-need th’bathroom,” he muttered, running for the room down the hall.
Gibbs came back just as Kegan ran down the hall. Moments later a new sound filled the apartment and Tony cringed. “I’m so glad he got off my lap before he did that,” Tony mumbled, running his hands over his forehead. Gibbs patted his shoulder lightly. So far each of them had changed clothes several times; and Tony found himself doing a load of laundry at midnight.
Tony wearily rose from the couch and went to the kitchen. He’d all but given up on finishing Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey was thankfully finished, but everything else was on hold. Tony opened the pizza box and pulled out a cold slice of pizza. He shoved half of it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, trying to figure out what the best course of action for Kegan would be. Tony pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. He keyed down to Gina’s cell phone and hit the button to make the call.
We’re sorry; the number you have dialed has been disconnected.
“Figures,” Tony muttered. He took another bite of pizza and pulled out the phone book. Finding the number for Macy’s, he quickly dialed again. It took several minutes, but finally an out of breath Gina answered the phone.
“This is Gina, can I help you?”
“Hey Gina, it’s Tony.”
“Tony! Hey! What’s up? It’s late…”
“Yeah, I just thought I’d let you know that Kegan’s sick. Been throwing up"did you know he stayed home from school today?”
“Yeah, he told me this morning he had a stomach ache, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt him to stay home. He’s not causing you any trouble, is he?”
Tony glanced down at his shirt with a sad smirk. He knew her reasons were different from his father’s, but Tony also knew that Gina wasn’t going to come get her son anytime soon.
“He’s not causing any problem at all. I just feel bad for him; he’s pretty sick. Running a low grade temp, lots of throwing up, and I think he just started having some diarrhea too.”
In the background, Tony could hear a man’s voice speaking loudly to Gina. “If you don’t get off that phone and get back out on the floor, you may as well clock off and hit the streets because you won’t have a job,” the man sneered.
“I have to go,” Gina whispered. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“It’s fine Gina. It’s under control. Do what you have to do,” Tony replied kindly.
Tony closed his phone and rubbed his forehead again. Gibbs leaned against the doorway, one foot crossed over the other with his arms crossed in front of him, a knowing look on his face.
“She can’t get off work?”
Tony shook his head. “Heard her boss threaten to fire her if she didn’t get off the phone,” he said quietly. “Told her we have it under control,” the sound of retching met his ears again and Tony grimaced, “but honestly I’m not sure we do,” he finished.
“We could call Ducky. He can’t give Kegan any medicines, but he could maybe offer some suggestions,” Gibbs suggested.
Tony nodded. “It’s late though…”
“He won’t mind. Go tend to Kegan; I’ll call Ducky.”
Tony nodded and stopped beside Jethro on his way out of the kitchen. He pressed a sweet kiss to the corner of Gibbs’ mouth and smiled. “You’re wonderful, you know that?”
Gibbs smiled. “You should tell that to all my ex-wives and see what they say.”
Tony shook his head and laughed softly. “Idiot,” he murmured. “Why would I want to talk to any of them?”
“Good question,” Gibbs retorted. “I know I don’t want to talk to any of them.”
They shared a quiet laugh as Tony went back down the hall to tend to Kegan.
xxx
“Tony I don’t know how to thank you enough for all you and Jethro did. We’ve ruined your thanksgiving, haven’t we?” Gina showed up late the next morning to pick Kegan up. Once she’d gotten off work from Macy’s she’d had to go straight to Walmart to pick up her next shift.
“You haven’t ruined anything. I’m just glad Kegan’s alright.”
Ducky had come by the night before. The old doctor had taken one look at Kegan and asked to speak to Gina on the phone. She’d given her consent to allow Ducky to give Kegan something to help him stop throwing up. It was only then that the boy had managed to get some sleep, leaving Tony and Gibbs up all night watching over him and drinking coffee.
“I can’t thank you both enough. My boss is angry, but told me not to worry about losing my job"especially since I didn’t leave in the middle of my shift last night. I hated to be away from him though…especially when he was so sick…”
Gibbs patted Gina’s shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up, Gina. You’re doing the best that you can, and you’re trying to do right by your son. No one can fault you for that. You have the ability to look at the bigger picture and see that, while it might have been inconvenient last night for you to have to work, it would be more inconvenient in the long run if you had lost your job, right?”
Gina nodded, her eyes downcast, clinging to the sleeping child she held. Gibbs reached out and lightly tapped two fingers under her chin. “Keep your chin up, kiddo,” Gibbs said quietly. “It’ll work out for the best. You know you can call either of us if you need anything.”
Gina offered Jethro and Tony a watery smile. “I don’t know how to thank you for all you do for us,” she said.
“Thank us by succeeding,” Tony said. “We only want what’s best for the two of you.”
Gina’s smile grew a little bigger. “Thanks. You two are amazing. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.”
“I think that blessing goes both ways; what do you think, Tony?”
Tony nodded. “Absolutely. I joined BGC to try to give back to the community…I’ve learned so much though…don’t honestly know that what I do is all that helpful really, but it makes me feel good to try.”
Gina stepped right up to Tony. “You do more good than you realize. Kegan loves you and I don’t know what we’d do without you. You’re the closest thing to a father figure he has. You should be proud of the wonderful thing you are doing for him; for both of us.”
Tony smiled. “I’m glad to help,” he said quietly. “My own father…well he didn’t really give me a good example to go by.”
“Well somewhere along the way you’ve learned how to do it. I can only hope that Kegan grows up to be half the man you are. Don’t underestimate yourself.” Gina smiled when Tony blushed. “Now we’re going to get out of your hair. Enjoy your weekend off boys. I told my boss I needed a few days off to take care of Kegan while he’s sick, so you get a break, Tony. We’ll see you next week alright?”
Tony smiled. “Sounds good.”
He shut the door behind them as Gina walked out of the apartment and he leaned against it, exhausted.
“Go lay down Tony. You’re exhausted.”
“So are you. You were up all night too.”
“I’m used to not sleeping. You, on the other hand, will get sick if you get too run down. Go take a nap. I’ll work on lunch.”
Tony nodded and wrapped his arms around Gibbs’ waist from behind for a brief moment. Gibbs turned in the embrace and pulled Tony close to him.
“You were really great with Kegan, Tony,” the older man said softly. “Gina was right. Everything she said about you was exactly right. Kegan’s so lucky to have you.”
Tony smiled. “Thanks Jet,” he said, kissing his partner’s jaw softly. “Wake me when it’s time to eat or if you need help?”
“Go on, get some rest. I’ll come get you in a bit.”
Twenty minutes later, Gibbs poked his head into Tony’s room and found him sprawled across the bed, sound asleep. Gibbs smiled to himself and pulled the door silently shut.
xxx
Gibbs knew that Tony was exhausted, so he slowed down dinner to let Tony sleep for several hours. It was late in the afternoon when Gibbs poked his head into Tony’s room again, frowning this time when he saw that Tony was tightly wrapped up in several blankets. The sound of shivering filled the room, and Gibbs’ eyes narrowed with concern.
Walking quietly over to the bed, Gibbs sat down beside Tony and laid a gentle hand on Tony’s forehead. Tony’s response was instantaneous; he flinched back, groaning and whimpering quietly, all the while trying to get away from the offending cold hand on his forehead.
“Hey, hey easy, shhhh…” Gibbs murmured softly. Tony’s eyes slowly fluttered open.
“You okay?” Gibbs kept his voice quiet, but he was very concerned. Tony rarely got sick, and when he did it was usually when a cold or allergy became more serious because of his plague-weakened lungs.
“Mmmh,” Tony moaned softly, eyes sliding shut again.
“You’re burning up, Tony. C’mon let’s get you in the bathtub. C’mon it’ll cool you down,” Gibbs said softly.
Tony shook his head pitifully, and burrowed deeper into the blankets. “C-can’t-t g-get w-warmmmm,” Tony moaned softly, his teeth chattering hard as chills racked his body. Gibbs flinched slightly.
“Okay…okay sit tight, I’ll be right back,” Gibbs murmured, running his hand over Tony’s forehead one last time before leaving the room. He went down the hall to the kitchen and turned off the stove"they were still trying to get the scent of burned food out of Tony’s apartment from the night before. Gibbs turned the heat up a little bit and started a bath in Tony’s garden tub.
As he was returning to the room, his ears picked up a familiar sound. Tony was throwing up. Gibbs ran a hand over his face. Tony must have caught the same bug that Kegan had. He walked back into the room to see Tony lying on his side, halfway hanging off the bed, a puddle of vomit on the floor. Tony was nearly sobbing; he was so upset by throwing up, and still so dreadfully cold…
Gibbs eased him up gently, sitting behind Tony so the younger man could lean on him. “Shhhh I got you, I got you…gonna be alright. Got your six, Tony. Gonna be alright. C’mon let’s get you up, gotta get you into the bathroom…c’mon.”
Gibbs moved the two of them off the bed with sure, careful movements. Tony’s legs held his weight, but his knees felt weak, and he wasn’t sure he’d make it all the way into the bathroom. Gibbs wrapped an arm around his waist and held his elbow securely. Together they made the slow walk into the bathroom, where Tony immediately dropped to his knees and was sick again.
Gibbs remained calm. He’d dealt with vomit before, with Shannon when she’d been pregnant, marines when they’d had too much to drink, and Tony himself when he’d had his multiple concussions. He wet a wash cloth, murmuring soft words to Tony the whole time. Returning to his lover’s side, Gibbs wrapped an arm across Tony’s chest to support him as his body heaved and revolted against him. Once Tony finished and leaned limply against Gibb’s arm, Jethro gently eased him back and wiped his face with the cool cloth.
“You alright?”
“Stomach hurts,” Tony forced out softly, trying to get his body under control.
“Bet you caught what Kegan had. Wouldn’t surprise me; you seemed to keep getting puked on last night.”
“He needed me,” Tony whispered.
“You did the right thing, Tony. Sometimes it bites you in the ass though.”
Tony smiled faintly. Gibbs rose to his feet. “C’mon. Let’s get in the tub. It’ll help you relax.”
Tony didn’t fight as Jethro made quick work of the sweatpants and t-shirt that Tony was wearing. Quickly shedding his own clothes, Gibbs eased Tony into the tub slowly, careful hands supporting him until he was sitting in the tub, Gibbs slowly eased in behind him.
“Lean on me,” Gibbs whispered into Tony’s ear, brushing a soft kiss against the side of his neck.
Tony didn’t say anything, but turned his body a bit, so he could lean on Jethro easier. Jethro cupped water in his hands and spilled it over his lover’s body.
“’m sorry,” Tony finally mumbled.
“What are you sorry for? You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“Ruined thanksgiving…you cooked…I just…oh hell…Jet I’m gonna…”
Tony struggled weakly to get out of the tub, making it back to the toilet with Gibbs’ help just in the nick of time.
Gibbs wet the washcloth again and sighed. It was going to be a long weekend if everyone ended up sick.
xxx
About three in the morning, Tony’s fever finally broke. Gibbs woke to find Tony bathed in sweat, his t-shirt clinging to him and all of the covers tossed haphazardly off the bed. Gibbs got up and moved Tony to the couch so he could change the sheets on the bed. Once that was finished, Gibbs got a new t-shirt and shorts for Tony. Gibbs helped Tony back to the bedroom and helped him change. The older man wasn’t sure his lover ever actually woke up. Settling Tony back in bed, Gibbs glanced around, wearily.
He collected the dirty clothes and sheets from the hamper and took them out to the kitchen where he started yet another load of laundry. Seeing that it was still early, Gibbs returned to bed. He was surprised when he saw Tony’s eyes open.
“Hey…you okay?”
Tony smiled softly in the dimly lit room. “Can’t believe…got sick,” he whispered. Tony’s voice was scratchy and hoarse, a direct result of all the heaving he’d done earlier. For the moment, though, it seemed that Tony’s illness was under control.
“It happens,” Gibbs said gently, smoothing the blankets over his lover.
“What are you doing? Still early,” Tony mumbled, starting to doze back off again.
“Your fever broke, needed to change the bed before we both caught pneumonia from sleeping on damp sheets,” Gibbs replied.
“Sorry,” Tony murmured. “Sleepy.”
“Get some sleep babe. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Gibbs placed a gentle hand on Tony’s forehead. Satisfied that the fever was (at least temporarily) gone, Gibbs covered himself up and within minutes was sleeping soundly next to his partner.
xxx
On Monday morning, Tony entered the bullpen with a full scowl on his face.
“Good morning Tony,” Ziva said from behind her desk.
Tony grunted but didn’t answer.
“Who wished in your fruit loops this morning?”
“Pissed in my corn flakes, Zeeevah, and nobody. Just a lousy weekend is all.”
“What happened?”
“Got sick.”
“You? I thought you said DiNozzos do not get sick.”
“They don’t,” Gibbs said, rounding the corner, “unless they spend the night covered in puke. Then DiNozzos get sick. How you feeling, DiNozzo?”
“Better, Boss, thanks for asking,” Tony said softly.
Tony was bummed about thanksgiving. He hadn’t gotten to eat any stuffing, sweet potatoes or pumpkin pie. There had been no relish tray, devilled eggs or fruit salad. No…the only thing slightly resembling thanksgiving that Tony had gotten to eat over their long weekend was a bowl of turkey soup that he’d finally managed to successfully keep down on Saturday, and a dinner roll.
Gibbs had stayed by his side the whole weekend, tending to him and making sure Tony had everything he needed. Gibbs had done laundry, fixed Tony things that they hoped would be easy on his stomach, wiped his face when he threw up and offered him the comfort of his arms when he was restless. All in all, it really had been an amazing weekend, but Tony wished they could have had more…intimate time together. And turkey. Dammit he wanted thanksgiving dinner.
Tony’s eyes narrowed later that morning when he noticed Gibbs working at his desk looking decidedly pale, one hand over his stomach.
“You alright Boss?” Tony knew that it was potential suicide to voice such a question, but he decided to take the chance"especially after everything that happened the weekend before.
Gibbs looked over to Tony, preparing to bark out a snide remark, when he suddenly stood and rushed out of the bullpen to the men’s room. Tony ran a hand over his forehead.
“Talk about the gift that keeps on giving,” he mumbled to himself. “I’d like to give this one back…and I don’t even want to think about Christmas.” Tony slowly rose from his desk and headed toward the men’s room, hoping that Gibbs had only gotten a bad cup of coffee, and not that dreaded stomach flu.
Tony didn’t think he’d survive another round of it.
End
Story Notes:
Warning: Disturbing Imagery = Vomit and lots of it! Thanksgiving story. One shot.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony and Gibbs share in a gift that keeps on giving. All they wanted was to be able to eat their thanksgiving dinner! Is that too much to ask?
Chapter End Notes:
Warning: Disturbing Imagery = Vomit and lots of it! Thanksgiving story. One shot.