Title: Misconceptions 05/?
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 - Jimmy was pregnant with McGee's baby. Tony was pregnant by Gibbs, but scared to tell him because he knew that Gibbs had had a vasectomy and clearly didn't want kids. Tony finally plucked up the courage to tell Gibbs, but to his shock, Gibbs didn't believe that *he* was the father and reacted angrily in his belief that Tony had been cheating on him. Jimmy heard the fight and tried to intervene.
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Jimmy wasn't the only one who had heard the commotion. Ducky emerged from his office saying, "Mr. Palmer, what have you knocked over *this* time?" He was just in time to see his assistant hurry through the other door.
The sound of raised voices attracted Ducky's attention and he quickly followed Jimmy's path, but by the time he'd reached the door he was too late.
Tony was standing against the wall, his face a mask of fear. Gibbs was standing in the middle of the corridor, the anger on his face being replaced by a look of shock. And Jimmy...Ducky's heart sank as he saw him crumpled in a heap against the wall. "Good God, man, what have you done?" asked Ducky, even as he crouched down beside Jimmy.
Jimmy could hardly breathe. He felt sick and dizzy all at once. His head hurt...his arm hurt from where he'd made contact with the wall...but worst of all was the hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if he'd been punched. He could hear Doctor Mallard beside him, calling his name, but when he opened his mouth to reply, a moan of pain was all that came out.
Ducky sucked in his breath sharply before turning to Gibbs, "Call the paramedics," he ordered, "*Now*! Tell them we've a gravid male, possible concussion."
Gibbs just stared at Ducky open mouthed, "He's pregnant?" he asked, horrified that he might have hurt a pregnant man.
"Just call the damn paramedics," snapped Ducky before turning his attentions back to Jimmy.
"Jimmy my boy, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" he asked in a much gentler tone as Gibbs hurried away.
Jimmy's eyes flickered open and he tried to focus on Ducky. "Doc...Doctor Mallard?" he managed to say. "You...you know?"
"My dear boy, I suspected as much from the very first time you threw up during an autopsy. Really Jimmy, a hangover? Now if you'd thought to pass it off as food poisoning, *that* I might have believed."
Jimmy opened his mouth to respond, but a wave of nausea hit him and he could only mouth the words, "feel sick..." seconds before throwing up.
Ducky held him gently; rubbing his back until he'd finished vomiting. "It's okay my boy," he said softly as Jimmy went limp in his arms. "It's okay." He looked up to see Tony still standing there, frozen with fear. "Don't just stand there, Tony, get Timothy down here immediately."
"I...he...he's not here. He's with Ziva...interviews for a case..."
"Well then phone him and have them meet us at Bethesda."
Tony moved forward, stumbling to a crouch beside Ducky.
"Is he...will he...is he going to lose the baby?" he asked hoarsely.
Ducky's face was grim as he replied softly, "I don't know." He tightened his grip on Jimmy protectively. "I don't know."
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Ziva and McGee were in the middle of an interview when the phone call came. Or rather McGee was conducting the interview and Ziva was trying not to stare with horrific fascination at the interviewee who had the absolute worst set of teeth she'd seen in her life. She made a mental note to make finding a trustworthy dentist for herself a priority.
Seeing the N.C.I.S. number on the caller I.D., Ziva excused herself, hoping it was Gibbs telling them he'd solved the case and they didn't have to listen to this boring man with the hideous teeth any more.
The last thing she expected to hear was a barely coherent Tony, babbling on about an accident and how it hadn't been Gibbs's fault and Ducky wanting McGee to be contacted and Jimmy being brought to Bethesda and how he might lose the baby. It took all of Ziva's training and self-control to keep a carefully neutral expression on her face as she returned to the room and told McGee they had to leave.
"Gibbs wants us over at Bethesda," said Ziva as they returned to the car, her voice as usual betraying no sign that she was lying through her teeth.
"Did he say why?" asked McGee, a note of surprise in his voice.
"No," said Ziva, not lying this time. "You know how Gibbs is. He says 'jump' and we are supposed to jump without even asking 'how high'." Technically true, if a bit misleading in its implication that Gibbs had been the one she'd spoken with.
Fortunately McGee didn't question her any further, and as usual her driving was sufficiently distracting so as to preclude any conversation on the drive to the hospital.
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Ziva waited until she had parked the car before turning to McGee.
"Tim," she said, carefully. "We were not called here to investigate a case." She hesitated before continuing, "There was an...incident at N.C.I.S. I do not know the details, but it appears that Jimmy was involved."
The color drained from McGee's face, but before Ziva could say anything, he was out of the car and stumbling towards the hospital entrance.
Ziva caught up with him in the entrance hall as he spun around looking for directions.
"I...what...where have they taken him?" asked McGee, frantically.
"The E.R. is this way," said Ziva, indicating the signs. "We'll find him."
She flashed her badge at a security guard who was manning the metal detectors and he waved them through.
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Tony was huddled on a chair in the relative's area, trying to stop himself from shaking. Jimmy had looked so pale as they'd loaded him onto the gurney back at N.C.I.S. Ducky had insisted on traveling with him in the ambulance, talking to him and reassuring him all the while.
Gibbs and Tony had followed in Gibbs's car, neither of them saying a word.
It wasn't just the memory of how Jimmy had looked that was upsetting Tony, but also the memory of how Gibbs had looked at him, just before he'd raised his fist. He'd raised his fist to him...something Tony had never ever thought Gibbs would do. And it didn't matter that he'd been aiming for the wall beside him, what mattered to Tony was that *he* had made Gibbs angry enough to get violent...Jimmy had only been trying to help and now he was in the ER and might lose the baby he wanted so much and it would be all Tony's fault.
Gibbs was pacing the floor in front of him. He hadn't said a word to Tony since Jimmy had gotten hurt. He hadn't even looked at him. Tony didn't know if he'd ever speak to him again.
The sound of running footsteps made him look up just as McGee burst through the door, followed closely by Ziva.
"Boss!" said McGee, his voice shaky, "Where...where's Jimmy? How is he? What happened? Was it another terrorist attack?"
Gibbs swallowed hard before responding, "Jimmy's inside in the E.R.," he said carefully. "Ducky's with him, I don't know how he is, the doc's haven't told us yet."
Ziva guided McGee to a chair, "Sit," she ordered. "I will see if I can find out what's going on?"
"But what *happened*?" asked McGee again. Ziva waited by the door, she too wanted to know what was going on.
"There was...an incident," said Gibbs. "Jimmy tripped. He hit his head on the wall."
"Tripped? How? On the stairs? Oh God, no...not down the stairs."
"Tony and I," said Gibbs, "We were having a bit of an argu...a heated discussion. Jimmy got in the middle...McGee; I swear it was an accident. One minute he'd grabbed my arm...I shook him off...and he just fell..."
"You pushed him?"
Gibbs started to say something but McGee didn't let him get a word in.
"You *pushed* him...and he fell?" McGee was moving towards Gibbs now. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled as he lunged towards Gibbs, slamming him up against the wall. "You pushed him into a wall so hard he had to be brought to hospital and you're calling it an *accident*?"
Gibbs tried to push McGee away but couldn't.
"What the hell sort of 'heated discussion' were you having anyway that Jimmy had to get in the way?" McGee had a firm grip on Gibbs's jacket. "Were you pushing Tony into a wall? Was that it? Did Jimmy walk in on you beating up Tony, is that why you shoved him into a wall?"
Gibbs finally managed to break McGee's grip and push him away. "I am *not* in the habit of beating up my boyfriend," he snapped.
"No, you just beat up mine instead." McGee pushed Gibbs back into the wall again. "He's pregnant, you bastard...and if you've hurt him...or the baby..." His voice trailed off into a sob and he made no resistance as Ziva pulled him away and led him to a chair.
Throughout all this, Tony had remained seated, his face pale. "It...it was my fault," he said softly, looking at the floor. "I...I was the one who got Gibbs all riled up...Jimmy...he...he was just trying to help me..." Tony looked over to where Ziva and McGee were sitting. "Gibbs would never have laid a finger on me, Tim...but Jimmy...he didn't know that. God I'm so sorry, Tim. I...I'd give anything to go back and make it right..."
"You're not the one who pushed Jimmy into a wall," said McGee, his voice cold.
"Dammit, it was an accident," said Gibbs. "I..."
The door opened before he could say anything and they all turned around to see Ducky standing there, a doctor beside him.
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To be continued
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs's reaction to Tony's news was not what he expected, but will Jimmy be the one to pay the price?
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.