"Gibbs?"
Gibbs opened his eyes and stirred. Abby was standing in front of him but the others were gone.
"Abby?" he asked, rubbing his eyes "Why did you wake me up?"
"You were shaking. What did you dream about?"
"What time is it?" he asked, avoiding the question.
"Two in the morning. Duckman here sent McGee and Ziva home" she said, nodding in Ducky's direction.
"They were hard to convinced, but our young lady was the hardest" Ducky chuckled.
"Yeah, well our young lady is gonna go home" Gibbs said "And so are you Duck"
They both looked at each other in shock.
"But Gibbs, I…"
"Jethro I really think…"
"Hey!" Gibbs rose a hand and they instantly went quiet "I said you'll both go home and get some sleep. There's nothing you can do here"
"Well I could say the same about you" Abby said sharply.
Gibbs let out a deep sigh.
"Abby please, go home. You'll come back in the morning if you want"
It was Abby's turn to sigh.
"Okay but if something happens…"
"I'll call"
"You promise?" she asked, a small smile on her lips.
"I promise"
Once they were both gone, he stood up and went to sit on the end on Tony's bed, right where Abby was sitting just a moment ago.
"God DiNozzo, how many time are you gonna scare me like that?" he whispered to the unconscious man "How many time are you gonna play with death?"
He sighed again, then he went to face the window, staring at the moon.
"How many times are we gonna have to save your life?"
"It's the only thing I found to make people notice me" a weak voice replied from behind him, causing him to jump.
He turned around to see Tony's eyes were open and a smile was playing on his lips.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" he joked, coming closer to the bed.
"Not exactly" the young man replied "Ah, yeah, almost forgot" he added as he lifted his plastered hand.
"How's your shoulder?"
"I can't feel anything, so I guess I'm gonna have to wait until the painkillers wear off"
"Why don't you rest until then?"
"Jeez Gibbs, I just woke up!" he teased, but his voice was still weaker and lower than usual.
Gibbs chuckled, glad that his senior field agent was back.
"What about you?" Tony asked as he tried to shift in a more comfortable position.
"I slept a couple of hours"
"Wouldn't it be more comfy in your bed?"
"Are you telling me to go away, DiNozzo?"
"Of course not" Tony chuckled.
"Then I'm staying"
Gibbs sat back in his chair.
"Do you remember what happened there?" he asked.
"Yeah"
"Everything?"
"Yeah"
"And?"
"What do you want me to say?"
"Anything. Talking could help"
Tony sighed.
"Well, I remember being alone, hungry, cold…" he smiled "Want more?"
"Were you scared?" Gibbs asked, a the serious in his voice erased Tony's smile.
"Yeah, a little bit" he replied honestly "But I knew you were coming"
"Really?" Gibbs asked, surprised – and touched – by the trust Tony had in him "What if I hadn't been able to find you?"
"Wasn't an option, boss"
Gibbs smiled, touched. Tony looked around and saw what he was looking for: a bottle of water and an empty glass on a table next to his bed. Gibbs followed his gaze and before Tony could reach for it, he took them and poured water in the glass and handed it to him. Tony smiled gratefully as he took it and started to drink.
"When you need something, all you have to do is ask" Gibbs said, smiling.
"I'll keep that in mind" Tony said as he put the glass back on the table, yawning.
"See I was right, you need to rest" Gibbs joked.
"Maybe a little" Tony said sleepily.
"Hey, Tony?"
"Yeah?" the young agent asked while closing his eyes.
"Happy birthday"
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony finally wakes up
Chapter End Notes:
A little bit of conversation between two NCIS agents, enjoy!