Warning - this chapter comes with a tissue warning.
Title: Misconceptions 15/?
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes to WWOMB, anybody else, please ask first.
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) : Slash, M-PREG, Angst/hurt-comfort
Pairing/Characters: Gibbs/DiNozzo, McGee/Jimmy
Rating: T
Warnings: THIS IS AN M-PREG FIC. If you don't like M-Preg then don't read it. If you read it anyway, then don't go complaining to me that you don't like it *because* it's M-Preg
Later chapters *will* feature minor character death, just so you know.
Disclaimer. I don't own the NCIS characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.
Notes: Thanks to FatCat for her Beta'ing
I was going to go into this whole pseudo-scientific explanation as to how M-Preg works in this universe, but then I thought, Feck it. It works, and that's it.
Previously on NCIS - The team - excluding Tony - was caught in an explosion while taking down a suspected terrorist cell. Cassidy Yates and Ziva were rescued from the scene, but Gibbs and McGee were still missing. NCIS agent in charge of the rescue confirmed that there were going to be fatalities.
----------------------------
[15]
Cassidy had been whisked away for treatment by the time Doctor Wu arrived to check Jimmy over.
He sat on the edge of a gurney, not saying anything as she checked his vital signs.
"Well your B.P. is elevated and your pulse is racing, but under the circumstances, that's hardly surprising." Doctor Wu replaced her stethoscope around her neck. "To be on the safe side, I should admit you overnight for observation."
"No!" said Jimmy firmly. "I need to be *here*...not stuck in a ward somewhere."
"I understand, Jimmy," said Doctor Wu, "But you need to understand that you have to think of yourself and your baby." She saw the look of anguish that crossed Jimmy's face and continued, "But I think that admitting you might cause you even more stress, so I'm not going to do it...not yet anyway. Promise me that you'll stay off your feet, and rest as much as possible for the next few days."
"I can't...I need Tim...I..."
"Jimmy," said Doctor Wu, gently but firmly. "I know that you're worried about Tim, but at the moment, the only thing that *you* can do for him is look after yourself and this little guy."
-------------------------
One minute Gibbs was leading his team through the building. He heard Paula Cassidy's voice breaking radio silence, yelling something about it being a trap, and the next second, all hell had broken loose. There'd been gunfire, followed by an explosion, and the next thing Gibbs knew, he was on his hands and knees in the darkness.
Dust swirled around Gibbs's face and he coughed violently. Spasms of pain shot through his body and he groaned out loud.
His head hurt, his shoulder hurt, his chest hurt, and he could taste blood in his mouth. "McGee," called Gibbs, remembering how the younger agent had been only feet away from him when the blast happened.
"Ziv..." Gibbs started coughing again. He felt around in the darkness and his hand brushed against something metal...a torch. Gibbs grabbed it quickly and flipped the switch, cursing when nothing happened. He shook it furiously, then tried it again. The light beam emitted was barely the strength of a candle, but it was enough for Gibbs to see McGee half buried under rubble a few feet away from him.
"McGee!" Gibbs crawled over to his trapped agent. He felt for a pulse, sighing in relief when he found one. Granted it was weak and thready, but at least it was there.
Gibbs shone the torch around, trying to assess the situation. It wasn't good.
Rubble and boards surround them, balanced precariously. Any attempt to free dig their way out could bring the whole pile crashing down on top of them, judged Gibbs. He had enough space to crawl around a little, maybe sit up, but standing was out of the question.
A large board was stuck solidly across McGee's waist, pinning him to the ground. Gibbs pulled at it, but it was wedged firmly in place. He shone the torch over what he could see of the younger agent, noting the bruises on McGee's face, but to his relief there didn't seem to be any other injuries...not externally at any rate. Gibbs knew that internally was a different matter, but right now there wasn't a hell of a lot he could do about that right now except try and get them both the hell out of there.
Gibbs tried his headset but wasn't surprised to find it inoperative. His phone was equally useless. Whether it was from the impact or just the amount of rubble they were buried under, Gibbs didn't know.
A groan alerted him to the fact that McGee was coming around.
Gibbs was by his side in an instant. "Don't try to move," he ordered.
"I...we...wha...what happened?" McGee blinked furiously. "I...I can't move...Gibbs!"
Gibbs grabbed McGee's flailing hand. "Take it easy, McGee. There's a board pinning you down. I can't move it. Just stay calm. There'll be a rescue team coming soon." Gibbs hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt. That explosion had packed a fair punch in his estimation. It could take a long time before any sort of rescue operation could get them out, and looking at the pallor of McGee's face, Gibbs wasn't sure if they *had* much time.
Even as he watched, McGee's eyes closed.
"McGee," barked Gibbs, "Stay awake...that's an order!" He could see McGee force his eyes open. "Stay with me, McGee...stay focused." Gibbs wracked his brain, trying to think of something to keep McGee conscious. "Talk to me, McGee."
-------------------------
"Come on, McGee, stay with me," Gibbs ordered for what seemed like the hundredth time. His watch had stopped and he had no idea how long they'd been trapped. All he knew was that McGee's condition seemed to be getting worse. He was drifting in and out of consciousness and even though he wasn't complaining, Gibbs could tell that he was in a lot of pain. He'd done his best to keep McGee focused, asking him questions, getting him concentrating on anything other than the situation they'd found themselves in, but not being one for small talk, Gibbs was rapidly running out of sources of conversation.
"Talk to me, McGee, tell me...tell me about the baby. You found out the sex yet?"
"No...we...we want it...surprise...wait and see," said McGee. "So happy...love Jimmy..." He coughed and groaned in pain, "Gibbs...if...if I don't make it...tell...tell Jimmy..." His eyes closed, and Gibbs thought he'd passed out again, but then he rallied and opened his eyes, "Tell Jimmy...tell him I love him...tell him I know he's gonna be...gonna be a great parent...tell him...tell him I wish I could have been there for him...for our child...but I know...I know he'll raise him or her right...tell him..." McGee coughed again. "Promise me Gibbs...promise me you'll look after Jimmy...he...he needs somebody...I don't...I don't want to leave him alone..."
Gibbs squeezed his hand, "I promise...but it's not going to come to that, you hear? You are going to stay alive for Jimmy and your baby...and that is an order."
McGee managed to smile through his pain, "I don't...I don't know if I can..."
"Don't sell yourself short, Tim." Gibbs rubbed his head, which was throbbing more and more as the time passed. "You've always been a good agent...and you're going to make a great father."
"Scared...scared I'll screw up...bad enough to mess up on the job...but with a child...sometimes I wish we'd never decided to have a kid...what if I mess things up? What if I'm a terrible father? I've never done anything...anything like this before..."
"Everybody messes up," said Gibbs. He blinked, and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision, but it was all looking a bit blurry. "There's no such thing as a perfect parent...you just do the best you can...read all the books, try your best to do everything right. And you make mistakes...everybody does, but you learn from them...try not to make the same mistake twice." Gibbs's head was pounding furiously now, as if somebody was hitting him with a baseball bat again. He thought he could hear noises, metal striking against stone, and muffled voices, but he wasn't sure if it was real or just in his head. "And sometimes no matter what you do, it's not enough and you try to protect them and then one day some freak with a grudge decides it's time for a little payback and your little girl is dead at your feet and you know you're a failure as a parent because all you had to do was protect her and you couldn't even do that..." Gibbs could feel tears running down his cheeks but he couldn't stop them. He could hear somebody calling his name, but it didn't sound like McGee's voice.
And then the pounding in his head was getting worse and it was like a spike being driven into his skull. Gibbs opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. A gust of fresh air blew into his face, and his last conscious thought before he collapsed was "About time they got here."
---------------------------
As the hours passed, Jimmy wished that he hadn't promised Doctor Wu he'd stay off his feet. He sat in the wheelchair she'd ordered him into, and fidgeted uncontrollably, wishing he could at least pace up and down the corridor to work off his tension.
The rest of the group weren't much better. Tony was huddled in a corner, having finally worn himself out with all of *his* pacing. He'd refused all efforts by Ducky and Abby to get him to eat, telling them that he'd eat when Gibbs got there and not before.
Jimmy had forced himself to have some soup that Abby had commandeered from the canteen. He hadn't wanted to, but Abby had threatened to call back Doctor Wu if Jimmy wouldn't eat anything.
"Doctor Mallard, might I have a word?" An ER doctor was standing there, looking uncomfortable.
"Why...yes, of course." Ducky followed the doctor down the corridor. There were gone a few minutes before he returned alone, a somber expression on his face.
"No," breathed Tony, his face paling. He knew in his heart that something bad was going to happen. The doctor would have told them directly if it had been good news, but for him to be telling Ducky, he had to be wanting Ducky to break the bad news. He pushed himself to his feet.
"No no no...please Ducky, please Ducky, don't let it be Gibbs...Ducky!"
"Tony, sit down...please," said Ducky, taking him by the arm. "I have something to say to both you and Jimmy..."
---------------------------
To be continued
Author's Chapter Notes:
McGee and Gibbs are still missing. Will they be found in time?
Chapter End Notes:
I wrote a fic called Reality Check, which featured an M-Preg dream. Feedback was so positive that I decided to do the real thing.