December 23rd
It was around 1 AM when Tony thought the factory was silent enough to sneak into Gibbs' room. He had tried the evening before but the small elf, Amilia was her name, stopped him. Now she was sleeping soundly and amused he thought Gibbs would kick her ass for sleeping on the job. When he opened the door he was greeted by a rastling that he identified as Gibbs' unsteady breath. In a heart beat he was next to his lover.
"Jethro..."
His hand was squeezed as a coughing fit hit the older man and Tony helped him to sit up.
"Breathe with me, Jethro. In and out. In and out. Slowly..."
After a few minutes the coughing faded but his breath was still uneven.
"God, Jethro, what are you doing to me?"
The door opened harshly and Ducky stormed in.
"Go out, Tony."
"Duck, I just wanted to check..."
"GO TONY! You're making it worse! Go!"
Gaping he stared at Ducky and was pulled out by at least three elves but not without a fight.
It took several hours before Ducky came into his room. Tony had rolled up on his bed.
"Tony, I'm sorry that I was that harsh. I'm just very worried about Jethro."
"Was it really my fault that it went worse?"
"You have to understand that Jethro has a really special condition. It is nothing we can compare to any illness. It's not really your fault, more his."
Tony sat up with a sudden anger.
"His fault? HIS FAULT?"
"Tony, calm down. At every time of the year he wouldn't have gotten sick but...he's Santa Clause and what he did...bringing you here...he didn't do that because of Nick or you. He did it because he wanted you to be with him. It was all selfish what he did in the last three weeks even if it didn't seem so. But Santa Clause cannot be selfish."
"But Gibbs always was selfish."
"But not as Santa. December is a special time as you might have noticed."
Tony nodded slowly.
"How is he doing?"
"Not good. To be honest...worse than when you had the plague...I don't know if he's gonna make it."
"Don't say that, Duck. He's...He's Gibbs."
Ducky clapped him on the shoulder and left. When the door closed Tony heard a sniff just behind the bed and when he checked he saw Nick sitting there.
"Honey, since when are you here?"
"Around one...you weren't there...and when you came back...he can't die, Dad!"
He took her into a tight hug.
"I know, Sweety. I know..."
The whole day Tony and Nick stayed in his room waiting for news on Gibbs but nobody came. After Ducky's lecture Tony didn't thought it was a good idea to go to his lover and so he stayed holding his daughter, or maybe it was her holding him, he couldn't really tell.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony tries to see Gibbs but is that really good?
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry for the delay. The information from the northpole took longer than usually to reach me. You'll understand, the boys were busy and all...but now, finally, they had gotten time to give me the intel *g*