Gibbs' body tensed as the door to the house suddenly opened. He raised his gun and took aim at the figure in the shadows. The figure took a few steps, stopped and waited. Then he stepped out into the light, hands held high, yelling, "DON'T SHOOT!" It was Martinez.
Gibbs' heart jumped, when he saw that Martinez' hands were covered in blood. He waited for Tony to follow Martinez out of the house and explain the whole thing, but Tony was nowhere to be seen. Gibbs ran around the police car, quickly followed by McGee and Ziva, guns raised.
Martinez stepped onto the lawn, and was immediately surrounded by the SWAT-team, screaming at him to get down on the ground. He started yelling, trying to explain something and pointing to the house, but his cries were drowned by all the screaming. He was thrown to the ground and handcuffed. He screamed as the brass closed around his wrists, the cops tightening it way too hard.
"Please don't hurt me!" Martinez pleaded. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody!"
He was hauled up and practically dragged away. Gibbs didn't pay much attention to him as he ran by. He only wanted to see what happened to his senior field agent. If something had happened to Tony, he would deal with Carlos Martinez later….And if that happened, all the crying in the world wouldn't do him any good.
Gibbs stopped on the threshold and lowered his gun. McGee was surprised by Gibbs' sudden stop, and tried to stop. Unfortunately Ziva hadn't noticed anything going on in front of her, being too busy looking at Carlos Martinez, so she bumped into McGee, who barely managed to stay on his feet. Trying to stay vertical he grabbed the nearest object to support him; Gibbs' coat. He immediately lowered his head, and stuttered, "I-I'm s-s-sorry, B-Boss". But Gibbs didn't even look at the agents, who were struggling to stand up strait. His focus was on the inside of the house. He stepped in and his eyes scanned the room. They stopped when they found what they were looking for, and Gibbs let out a sigh, barely audible but it meant so much.
Tony was sitting on the floor of the living room, his back resting against the wall. His head was tilted back and his eyes were closed. His left hand was pressing down on his legs and a pool of blood was spreading out on the carpet underneath, a little too fast for Gibbs' liking. He opened his eyes as he heard Gibbs running towards him. Gibbs kneeled beside him, grabbed Tony's shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "Tony, are you okay?" Tony smiled and Gibbs looked down at his leg.
"I'm fine Boss, it's not that bad. It went straight through, and the bleeding's not too bad." Tony lifted his hand and there was a huge surge of blood from the wound, "okay, maybe a little bad".
McGee and Ziva holstered their guns as they entered the house, and ran over to Gibbs and Tony.
"Keep pressure on it", Gibbs said, looking at Tony, "The paramedics will be here in a minute", padding him on the shoulder, "you did good, Tony". He squeezed Tony's shoulder and smiled.
"Thanks Boss" Tony answered and leaned a little forward to adjust himself into a better position. Gibbs' hand came as a bit of a surprise to him, when it connected with the back of his head and he'd gotten the familiar head slap.
"Auch! What was that for?" Tony leaned back and looked at Gibbs with those hurt eyes.
"Gibbs! He's just been shot!" Ziva, who was kneeling on the other side of Tony, looked at Gibbs with accusing eyes
"That's for getting yourself shot!"
Tony looked hurt for about 2 seconds, before he smiled. His eyes told Gibbs that he understood the meaning. It was the Gibbs-way of saying, he'd been worried.
Tony closed his eyes and eased the pressure on his leg for a second, causing a surge of blood to ooze through his finger.
"Tony, you okay?" McGee asked
"I'm fine, Probie" Tony opened his eyes, "Just tired. You, on the other hand, aren't looking so hot right now"
Gibbs and Ziva looked at McGee. His face had turned completely white and he looked more like an albino than anything else.
"I-I'm…. it's just…." McGee stopped and put his hand over his mouth and starred to Tony's leg.
"What's the matter, Probie? Body fluids make you a little nauseous?" Tony couldn't help laughing, when Tim ran out of the room in search of the bathroom. He almost ran into the paramedics in the hall but didn't stop. He just pointed at Tony and continued his search before it was too late.
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McGee was sitting at his desk, catching up on paperwork. It wasn't like him to be behind but work seemed to be going in slow motion these days. McGee looked up and couldn't help but laugh. Whether it was the competition between two men, Tony's teasing or his jokes, he didn't know. But work just went by faster, when Tony was there. "Can't believe I'm even thinking it" Tim thought to himself.
"What's so funny, McGee?" Gibbs' question pulled McGee back to the real world and made him stutter. Ziva looked up from her work and enjoyed seeing McGee squirm under Gibbs' little interrogation.
"Uh uh nothing Boss", McGee managed to form the words, and started to stare intensely at his computer screen.
"Fantasizing about some new computer software, McGee? Or maybe a hot computer geek?"
Everybody looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Tony smiled as he walked into the bullpen. He was still limping and held a cane in his left hand.
"Hey!" Ziva walked around her desk and gave Tony a hug, "if it isn't Humpty Dumpty".
"Ha ha, that's a good one, Miss David", Tony pointed his index finger at her and cocked his head.
"Better that yours, Tony" McGee said walking up to them.
"Probie! I'll bet you missed me"
McGee held back what he'd been thinking, and said, "Like an itch on my back I just can't seem to reach"
"Everyone is a comedian today" Tony answered and gave McGee a head slap.
The slap on the back of Tony's head came within seconds. He hadn't noticed that Gibbs had joined them.
"That's MY job, Dinozzo. You're late!"
"Sorry Boss. I came as soon as I could, but it takes a little longer to get ready in the morning, and the cap was late to pick me up" Tony explained "Didn't even have time to get breakfast". He ducked his head a little, anticipating a head slap for his explanation. But it didn't come.
"Are you coming back today?" McGee asked raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yep" Tony started to limp over to his desk, "Ducky cleared me for desk duty yesterday".
"And your desk is exactly where you will be staying for the next 2 weeks" There was no doubt in Gibbs' tone; that was an order.
"Gotcha, Boss" Tony sat down, as Abby came out of the elevator.
"TONY!" the Goth almost jumped over the desk to hug the guy on the other side, "I've missed you"
"Hey Abs!" Tony caught the young woman in his arms and tried to protect his leg from the impact.
Gibbs' phone rang and he went to answer it.
"I didn't know you were back already. How did you charm Ducky to say yes?"
"It's a trade secret. I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" Tony smiled at Abby who gave him a light nudge on the shoulder.
"Hey, easy, I'm injured"
"Grab your gear, we're going to Norfolk", Gibbs holstered his gun as he was giving the order and started to gather his thing. Without looking up, he said, "don't even thing about it, Dinozzo"
Tony stopped his attempt to get up, and fell back into his chair.
Abby smiled, kissed Tony on the head, and headed for the lab.
McGee and Ziva smiled and waved as they headed for the elevator. Gibbs was the last one to leave. As he was passing Tony's desk, he stopped and placed his coffee in front of Tony along with a bagel. Tony looked up in surprise. Gibbs had already turned his back to him, and was heading for the elevator.
"Welcome back, Tony"
The End
Author's Chapter Notes:
A routine arrest goes wrong...
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry for the wait. Here are my final chapter. Happy New Year to everybody:-)
Hope you like it:-) Sorry for any funny sentences or misspellings.
Hope you like it:-) Sorry for any funny sentences or misspellings.