Disclaimer: I don’t own NCIS, and I have slightly altered the events in the episode
SPOILERS: Episode 6.17: South by Southwest
Wild Horses
by WCUGirl
The sound of the helicopter blades almost caught them off guard.
Gibbs had spent the last few minutes trying to convince Dina Risi that Agent Patterson had been killed, and that for her own protection, she needed to go with them. However the woman was stubborn and didn’t want to listen"and Gibbs was getting more frustrated by the minute. When they realized the helicopter was flying in their direction, and when Gibbs’ sharp sniper eyes saw that there was a man with a gun just inside the copter, he knew they didn’t have a lot of time.
“We gotta move,” he called, ushering the others towards the woods where they could take better cover. Risi, seeing the copter and the man with the gun inside the copter, realized that these people were serious"and she would die if she stayed where she was.
They all took off for the woods as the shots started firing. Tony was right behind Dina, making sure she had cover, willing to push her in the dirt if needed to keep her alive. Behind him, he heard Sheriff Boyd grunt and yell in pain. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that the sheriff had taken a shot"it looked like to the leg. He turned around to encourage Dina to run faster when he heard what sounded like a stumble behind him.
There was only one other person behind him.
“Gibbs,” he called. When the older man didn’t answer Tony paused and turned around. Gibbs was readying his gun"their killer was going down. Apparently the shooter on the helicopter saw Gibbs taking aim, and quickly raised his own gun ready to take Gibbs out. Tony looked back to make sure Dina was hiding, and let out a slow breath when he saw her ducking under a large tree root where no one would see her.
Shots rang out and Tony felt a sudden, stinging pain in his left side. He hissed in pain, but watched in fascination as the scene unfolded. Gibbs didn’t shoot the man with the gun"no he shot the helicopter pilot. The helicopter was now flying out of control and suddenly crashed in a fiery explosion on the side of the mountain.
Tony turned back to Dina. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s over. You’re safe.”
Gibbs was already back on his feet, the rifle slung casually over his shoulder. He let out a near-silent sigh of relief when he saw Tony and Dina both safe. He helped Boyd up. “Alright gear up. We gotta carry everything back. There’s uranium up here and it’s not safe for us to stay in the cabin. We’ll make it back to town and get a hotel room.”
Gibbs helped the Sheriff up onto his horse and climbed up behind him. Tony was left to pack his horse and put the saddle back on"something he was very unskilled at"something everyone had great fun laughing at.
“Funny,” he mumbled. The stinging pain in his side was getting worse. He wondered if he’d gotten bullet burn from one of the shooter’s stray bullets. Not having time to check it out, Tony decided to leave it for now and he’d look at it later. Besides"he was wearing dark clothing"it’s not like anyone would notice.
xxx
By the time they reached the town it was getting dark. The hotel in town was"of course"booked up for the night, so despite their heroic acts, Tony, Gibbs and the team would have to go somewhere else to sleep. The hotel manager was working the desk and shrugged her apology.
“Nice chain motel in the next town over. Probably have room for ya there,” she said, puffing away on her cigarette and chewing a piece of gum as though her life depended on it.
Gibbs thanked her politely and told Tony to get in the car. Tony was moving slowly, and Gibbs noticed.
“You gotta problem, DiNozzo?” The older man asked his younger agent. Gibbs was concerned; Tony had been very quiet for the duration of the trip back from Risi’s cabin, very uncommon for the man Gibbs thought of as a son.
“No Boss,” Tony said. “No problems.”
“Call up McGee and Ziva and tell ‘em we’re heading to the next town over and for them to meet us there so they can get a room too.”
“Will do Boss,” Tony said, pulling out his phone.
xxx
The night sky was putting on a full display for the agents when they arrived at the hotel in the next town over. Tony smiled briefly when he recognized the name of the establishment, but the smile quickly turned into a grimace.
Gibbs got out of the car and strode into the hotel. Tony followed behind him at a much slower pace, allowing McGee and Ziva to catch up.
Ziva quickly grabbed her nose and let out a dramatic sound. “Oh my gosh Tony you stink like a horse,” she exclaimed, waving her hand frantically in front of her face.
“You really do kind of smell like something out of the barnyard,” McGee snarked. They both knew he’d been with Gibbs and that they’d been riding horses to and from camp while looking for Dina Risi. But they also knew better than to ever pass up an opportunity to poke fun at their senior field agent.
Tony didn’t respond. His side was hurting pretty badly now and he really just wanted to take a long hot shower and then go to bed. He knew it probably wouldn’t work out, but in his head it sounded like a brilliant plan.
Gibbs joined the group and held up two sets of room keys. “We got two rooms. Buddy up and let’s go.”
Gibbs took one of the sets with him and held out the other to Ziva before turning and walking away. Tony noticed that no one said a word to Gibbs about the fact that he smelled just as ripe as Tony did.
McGee turned to Ziva. “Can I room with you? I don’t want to wake up smelling like I’ve slept in the barn,” he snarked.
“Of course Tim I was going to offer that you stay with me. You do not smell like a farm animal. Come, we should get out things.”
Tony took off behind Gibbs and joined him in the elevator. “Looks like we’re bunkmates, Boss,” he said softly.
“You look like hell DiNozzo,” Gibbs commented. “You stink too.”
“Thanks Boss,” Tony said sarcastically. The pain in his side was getting really bad now and he was starting to feel dizzy. He definitely needed to head to bed. “You smell like a pile of roses too y’know,” he grumbled back.
Gibbs cast Tony a sideways glance. Normally the young man took Gibbs’ teasing in stride, but he seemed to have struck a nerve. Mildly concerned, Gibbs tried to make things better.
“You alright Tony?”
“’M fine,” the young man responded. “Just want a shower.”
“You can take first shower,” Gibbs offered, still trying to get the boy to relax. Tony nodded his head, keeping his eyes on his shoes.
They stepped off the elevator and Gibbs walked ahead looking for their room. He didn’t notice how Tony stumbled slightly and bumped into the wall as he followed his boss to their hotel room. Gibbs held the door open and watched as Tony made his way inside. Tony looked a little pale, and his eyes didn’t quite look right, but Gibbs chalked it up to him being tired and didn’t ask any questions.
Tony didn’t stop until he got to the bathroom. He carefully peeled off his jacket and hissed and winced when a fire-like pain shot up all the way to his shoulder. Realizing that if he continued to be so noisy Gibbs would hear and start asking questions, Tony turned on the shower. Turning back to the mirror, he carefully unbuttoned his shirt and eased it off.
There was an angry red wound on his left side just below his ribs. It was bleeding pretty steadily and Tony was glad he was wearing black jeans and his black jacket. He stumbled again"it felt like his knees wouldn’t hold him"and he blinked heavily. He was so tired, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stay awake in the shower.
He reached for the button on his pants, and briefly wondered why it suddenly looked like the floor was flying up to meet him. Then everything went dark.
xxx
Gibbs had just sat down on the bed when he heard a terrible crash come from the bathroom. A few moments earlier he’d heard Tony start the shower, but the crash had him back on his feet and heading for the bathroom.
Banging on the door, Gibbs called out to his partner. “DiNozzo! You alright in there? Sounded like you knocked the back half of the hotel down.”
There was no answer. Gibbs knew his voice was loud enough to carry over the sound of the running water.
“Alright I’m comin’ in,” Gibbs called, growing concerned and feeling his gut tighten nervously.
Twisting the knob, Gibbs let out a sigh of relief that his agent had not locked the door. However about eight inches after opening the door, the door stopped moving and Gibbs walked right into it. Frowning in growing concern, Gibbs stuck his head through the opening and looked to see what was blocking his entrance.
Tony was lying in a curled up twisted heap on the floor right beside the bathroom door.
“Jesus!! Tony!!” Gibbs shoved the door again, harder. Tony’s legs were blocking the door, and Gibbs knew if he shoved hard enough it would slide Tony out of the way. Crouching by the young man’s side, Gibbs quickly saw the bloody gash in his side.
“DiNozzo you idiot how come you didn’t mention this before,” Gibbs murmured, thinking back over all the heavy lifting and carrying he’d had the young man do. He was proud of him though; his Second In Command had done everything that had been asked of him"with the others laughing in his face"and he’d not complained once about being in pain.
Gibbs carefully checked Tony’s pulse and frowned when he felt how slow and weak it was. Pulling out his cell phone, Gibbs dialed 911 and told them where he was and what was going on. Hanging up the phone after completing the call, Gibbs carefully scooped Tony up into his lap, hugging his boy close, running his fingers over Tony’s hair and whispering that everything would be alright.
xxx
The first thing Tony noticed was the smell. He didn’t smell the horses anymore. He also noticed that instead of the chill he’d had earlier, he was now warm. He could hear voices speaking, but he couldn’t tell whether they were near or far away.
“"with me Tony?”
That sounded like Gibbs. Tony fought to open his eyes, but it felt like he had weights attached to them.
“"‘s coming around, Boss.”
The second voice…who…McGee. McGee was there too? What had happened?
“"tle hairy butt.”
That was Ziva.
He felt fingers in his hair and a hand on his face. Slowly he forced his eyes open. In reality they barely cracked open, but Tony felt like he was making good progress.
“There you are. Welcome back Tony,” Gibbs said gently. He was sitting on the edge of Tony’s bed, and Tony was in…the hospital?
“H’pn’ed,” he croaked.
Gibbs offered him a cup of water, putting the straw to his lips for him.
“You were grazed by a bullet when we were being shot at. It’s a deep graze and you lost a helluva lot of blood. That’s why you passed out.”
“D’N’zos don’ p’ss out,” Tony slurred. He felt like he was drunk without all the partying fun. He groaned and tried to lift a hand to his head. God he hated blood loss.
“Well ok then you fell asleep getting undressed while you were getting ready to take a shower and no one could wake you up. That work better for ya?” Gibbs’ voice was sharp, but Tony wasn’t worried. He knew the older man was just concerned. Family worries about family.
Tony took a deep breath and could feel the stitches pulling. He moved a sluggish hand over to his side.
“Forty three stitches. Graze was a half inch deep. You’re lucky it didn’t hit anything important. Doc said another inch to the right and you’d have been having major problems.”
Tony blinked and tried to follow what Gibbs was saying, but he was so tired and the older man was just rambling on and on about…something.
He felt Gibbs’ hand on his forehead. “Know you must be tired. Blood loss will do that to ya.”
Tony nodded, his eyes falling shut. He heard Gibbs talking to the others, giving them orders, telling them what his plans were, but he didn’t listen.
“B’sss,” Tony slurred. He was going to sleep soon, but he needed to ask Gibbs a question.
“Yeah Tony? What is it son?”
Tony smiled. He liked it when Gibbs called him son.
“Sssssssssstay?” he whispered.
The hand was back on his forehead and fingers were combing gently through his hair.
“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away Tony.”
The End.
Story Notes:
Tony/Gibbs Father son fic. Not part of With Honors series.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony pushes down the pain after he is injured. After all, there's work to be done.
Chapter End Notes:
Tony/Gibbs Father son fic. Not part of With Honors series.