He was waiting, and he hated it. He was sitting on a plastic chair in the hospital hall, waiting for someone to tell him how Tony was doing.
He was about to go and get another cup of coffee when a nurse came his way. He quickly stood up and walked to her.
"I was about to ask you if you were waiting for Mister DiNozzo, but I guess you are" she joked.
"How is he?"
Her smile disappeared as she understood – a little too late – that it wasn't a good time for jokes.
"He's lost a lot of blood and his shoulder was infected. We transfused him and took him to ICU. He's in a coma for now, but I think he'll be awake in a couple of days"
At least that was good news. Gibbs sighed in relief, allowing himself to smile softly.
"Can I go see him?"
"Of course. I'll take you to him room"
That's how he found himself sitting in another plastic chair. But this time, he was on his senior field agent's bedside, watching him while he was sleeping.
Tony looked a little paler than usual, but his breathing was normal, and the transfusion in his arm made the missing blood run through his veins.
He was peacefully asleep as his dreams turned into a memory.
He hated Monday mornings. Especially when he'd spent a lonely weekend. With a sigh, he stepped out of the elevator, walking towards his desk.
‘I give him ten seconds' he thought. 10…9…'
"DiNozzo!" his boss yelled from the other side of the room.
‘Wow, he's getting better' he thought, smiling to himself.
He slowly made his way to his superior's office. He didn't even care about his co-workers' glances as he was leaving the room.
But he didn't expect the presence of another man in the office.
"Sit down" his boss barked.
Tony did so, preparing himself for the lecture.
"Did you ask this man to come here?" his boss asked, pointing to the third man.
"Well I don't even know who it is" he said, smiling politely to the man.
"Don't lie to me!" his boss yelled, slamming his fist on his desk.
"I am not"
His boss looked confused for a moment. Then he got up and started pacing back and forth behind his desk.
Tony looked back at the man who was about in his mid-forty. The man looked back at him and he felt like he was being analysed for a second.
"Anthony DiNozzo" Tony said, extending a hand in an attempt to break the awkward silence.
"Special agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS" the man said, shaking his hand as he smiled for the first time.
"I knew it" he said, smiling triumphantly.
"Knew what?"
"That you were a fed. I mean, a federal agent, sorry" he added apologetically.
"It's alright" Gibbs chuckled "I'm not the polite type either"
Tony's boss cleared his throat loudly.
"You two done?" they only remained silent "Special Agent Gibbs here wants to work with us"
"And?" Tony asked, not quite sure he'd understood what his boss wanted.
"It's about the Harrison case"
Tony swallowed difficultly. He'd tried so many times to get his boss to accept to work on that case. But he never accepted. "The father's victim is in the Navy. So it's NCIS job" he'd said. Tony was angry at him, but he still couldn't do anything. So he kept on looking for information about the man who'd taken a little girl while she was in the playground of her school.
"Believe me, if I didn't need help for this, and I mean urgently need help, I wouldn't ask" Gibbs said, making Tony get out of his thoughts.
"I don't care about it. It's your job, not ours" the boss said.
"It happened in Baltimore. And she's not the first girl he kidnaps. The other ones had been raped, tortured and killed" Gibbs added and Tony could hear the anger in his voice.
"And their fathers were all Marines"
"Doesn't mean you can sit on your selfish ass doing nothing!"
"Enough!" Tony's boss yelled "I will take no more words from you Gibbs!"
"You're not my boss. I have no order to take from you"
Those last words seemed to have an effect on Tony's superior. He looked around, puzzled and furious.
"DiNozzo, get out of here!" he finally yelled, unable to find something else to do or say.
DiNozzo just shrugged. He stood up and started to walk out of the room.
"Hey, DiNozzo?" his boss called. Tony recognized the sound of his voice. It was never good when he used this tone. "If you try to help this man in any way, you're fired" Tony just nodded and left.
NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS
Gibbs was furious. He couldn't believe this man didn't even care about this case. This little girl was only eight, damn it! She didn't deserve to live that.
Cursing in his mind, he took out his keys and walked to his car, when he heard footsteps from behind him.
"Guess you love my boss as much as I do, huh?" Tony teased after he's caught up on him. Gibbs shrugged.
"Is he always like this?"
"If you mean a selfish-cold-hearted-pain-in-the-ass bastard, then yes" this time Gibbs laughed.
"How can he just stay in that it's-not-my-problem attitude? I mean, if ever there was a bad case, that's the one"
"I know" Tony said "That's why I'm going with you"
Gibbs looked at him, his eyes widened in shock.
"I thought…"
"... I'd be fired if I tried to help you I know" Tony said, lowering his head "But an eight year old girl's life is much more important than my job, right?" he said as he looked up, smiling "I've only worked wit them for 2 years anyway"
"It's dangerous, you know? Harrison is one violent guy. He won't hesitate to shoot whoever's gonna try to arrest him.
"I figured that"
Gibbs took a good look at him for a second. Tony was young, only thirty. He looked strong, and that was a good point.
The young man seemed to understand what Gibbs was thinking.
"You asked for help, didn't you?" he said.
"Yeah, for the research!"
"Done"
With that Tony handed him a file. When Gibbs opened it, he found everything he needed about the case.
"I wanted to go after him, but I couldn't get anyone to come with me. Couldn't do it all by myself"
"Why didn't you call us?" Gibbs asked, puzzled.
"My boss was surveying me 24/7. He knew what I was doing, and he didn't want me to. If I'd called you, I wouldn't have just lost my job, he would've arrested me or something"
"He wouldn't have" that statement made Tony laugh.
"You don't know my boss!"
Gibbs chuckled softly. He didn't know why, but he trusted this young man with this case.
"So, I guess I have no other choice?" he joked, as he opened the passenger door to let him in.
"Well, at least I think it's safe to say that I have no other choice"
"Why is that?"
"Because my badge is already on my boss' desk!" Tony laughed as he got into the car.
Author's Chapter Notes:
While he's in a coma, Tony dreams about the day where he met Gibbs
Chapter End Notes:
Just wanted to do a little flashback, I hope you'll like it!