NCIS 1. Chapter 1

**I wish I owned NCIS and all the characters but only get to take them out to play.**

**I do not profit in any way from this story except for the joy of writing and sharing.**

**To all who post and read these stories, a heartfelt ****thank you. It is a commitment of time and love to take time to write some of the amazing stories I have read and equal time and commitment to read and review.**

**I hope you enjoy, this is my first chapter story and the longest to date. I have it about 2/3 written so I should be able to post on a regular basis. I know it is a premise that has been written before but I hope you enjoy. Its ok if you don't like, just leave it behind and move on.**

**Thank you, LAG00802**

**Tony and The Red Dog.**

_**Chapter 1**_

The brisk day had turned down right cold, the clouds had moved in and a light snowfall had started to whiten the ground. Tony stood with his hands buried deep in his pockets for warmth. He had on his NCIS jacket, baseball cap and his leather gloves. While he might be comfortable running between the building at the Navy Yard and his car, none of what he had on was sufficient to keep him warm for hours on a cold Virginia day, especially as the first snow of the season fell all about him.

Tony watched the Sheriffs drive away, with a gloved hand he rubbed his face then ran his hand over his hair to brush off the snow before putting his cap back on.

With a deep sigh he turned back to his task. Looking around he felt a lonely ache in his heart. It was a long time since he could say that he loved his job and felt that he was part of the team.

There was a time when he felt appreciated and respected at NCIS. Tony had thought that leaving Baltimore and coming to work with Gibbs was one of the best decisions of his life. Gibbs' way could be harsh and he demanded everything Tony had to give and then more, but Tony thrived and had risen to the challenge. Tony remembered how excited he had been when Gibbs had finally acknowledged him as Senior Field Agent.

It was hard to imagine things had changed so much; that he now found himself standing alone in the middle of a forest with the snow falling about him.

Tony thought back over the past years, his relationship with the team had started to change when Gibbs took off to Mexico and they never seemed to get back in sync when he returned but then Tony had been keeping his undercover op. hidden from the team.

Maybe things would have worked themselves out if he had not, so royally messed up the protection detail for Director Sheppard. Tony knew he would never stop blaming himself for what happened, even if she was looking for a way to die that did not involve a long protracted illness.

Tony had been back from his stint as agent afloat since mid September and it was now early December and he still felt as an outsider on the team.

Tony thought that Gibbs had seemed initially happy to get him back but that did not last long as Gibbs and the team questioned everything he did and relegated him to do all the tasks no one wanted and normally assigned to junior agents.

Tim had gotten a taste of power being the "Boss" in Cybercrimes Unit and he was not willing to go back to Probie status.

After months back in Israel, Ziva had come back with her over confident, "I can kill you with a paper clip" Ninja attitude. She seemed to go out of her way to make him look weak by trying to always do things one better then him.

With a little huff, Tony decided he needed to go back to work if he was ever going to get out of here before it got dark.

The team had been called out shortly after arriving to work this morning to the section of Shenandoah National Park near Harrisonburg, VA, about a 2-hour drive southeast of Washington, D.C. Two young hikers had found the body of a Marine lying, just off the trail in the park.

Tony and Tim had driven in the emergency response van to the crime scene, Gibbs telling Tim to drive, this had been part of the continued punishment, Tony was always relegated to passenger or backseat. If in the van with the team, Gibbs had him ride in the back.

Gibbs and Ziva had driven in the Charger. Ducky and Jimmy arrived well behind the others in the Medical Examiner van.

The body had been identified as that of 35 year old, Marine Warrant Officer Thomas Spencer, station at Quantico, VA. The Marines, Warrant Officer Training School was based in Quantico.

After securing the site, searching the area for any evidence, sketching and photographing the scene, Gibbs and Ziva had left with the black agency charger to go to Quantico to talk to the victim's commanding officer.

Tim had ridden back with Ducky and Jimmy after Ducky had deemed the body ready for transport. Gibbs had wanted Tim to start the background check on the victim. Tim had also taken all the collected evidence that was bagged and tagged and Tony had been left with the van. At least he would get to drive back.

Tony had been ordered to continue searching for the murder weapon and any evidence they may have missed before a blanket of snow covered the area. Even though a white pop up tent had been secured over the site where the body was located, Tony knew that with the impending snow storm the tent would not stay up for long.

Two officers from the County Sheriffs department had remained with Tony, to assist with the search. The area was hilly and heavily wooded. Even though the trees had dropped their leaves, the branches and twigs of the undergrowth impeded their progress. Working in ever growing concentric circles the three of them worked out from the location of the body. The trio was searching for a long sharp object, as it appeared the Warrant Officer had been stabbed several times. The blood splatter, position of the body and blood soaked ground, found under the victim had lead to the conclusion that this was the murder site.

Tony had expected to leave the area with the sheriffs, but within an hour they had been called to a multi vehicle accident on highway, I-81. Tony had contacted Gibbs, as he had not yet reached the outer perimeter set by the Team Leader. Gibbs had instructed him to continue the search to the established perimeter, while there was still a couple of hours of day light, then he could return to the office with the remainder of the collected evidence.

The sheriffs were not happy leaving Tony alone at the site, but as a young police officer he'd on occasion been left alone guarding over a crime scene. He assured them that he would be fine. The Sheriffs indicated they would advise their commander and send a patrol out later to check on him.

Tony had been digging about some deep underbrush when he came upon what appeared to be the murder weapon, already partially covered in snow with the tip imbedded in the ground he found an 6 inch Buck knife with a black phenolic handle.

Tony became engrossed in his job, carefully documenting the location and position of the knife. After he carefully removed it and placed in an evidence bag. Pulling out his cell phone, he was surprised to see it was about 4:00pm and he had less then an hour of daylight.

Hitting 1 on his speed dial Tony called Gibbs. Gibbs answered with, "What you got DiNozzo"

"Boss, I found a knife in some underbrush at the edge of the perimeter, I didn't find anything else in the area and the snow is falling pretty hard now", a strong gust of wind roaring threw the trees drowned out Gibbs response.

Tony now yelled in to the phone, "Boss the weather here is getting bad and there isn't much daylight left, do you want me to come back"

Gibbs not giving much thought to the storm blowing in the background as his SFA struggled to make himself heard over the wind, Gibbs said with an irritated tone to his voice "Wrap it up and get that knife back here," with that Tony heard the click as Gibbs hung up on him.

Tucking the phone in his coat pocket, Tony was glad to put his gloves back on, if he thought it had been cold before, it was freezing out here now. The sun was quickly setting and the wind was gusting fiercely.

Tony looked up at the trees whipped around by the wind he did not want to be here any longer then he had to be. Picking up the evidence bag with the knife in it, he started to work his way back to the van. Opening the back door, he quickly stored the knife, camera and other equipment. Realizing he had forgotten the tent covering the site where the body was found, he slammed the door shut and quickly walked around the van.

Tony saw that the tent had blown over and was lodged against some trees, hurrying over he grabbed it by one leg and pulled it back, hoping he would be able to get it closed as the winds picked up. For a moment he thought of leaving it, but Director Vance would probably make him pay for it. Vance had replaced Jenny Sheppard as Directory of NCIS and he was responsible for Tony spending 4 months as agent afloat. Since coming back Vance had made it pretty clear to Tony that he was not the type of agent he wanted for the agency.

Tony was able to get the tent closed in about 15 minutes but his hands and fingers where now frozen as he had had to remove his gloves to get the damn thing closed.

Tony was shivering and exhausted from the cold, he wanted nothing more then to get back take a warm shower and crawl into a warm bed. He realized he should have started the van before getting the tent so it would have been warm inside. His stomach grumbled with hunger but Tony figured he could eat a power bar from his pack on the way back. Tony doubted he would be going anywhere near a warm bed tonight as he was sure Gibbs would want him to write his report and continue working on the case.

With the folded tent cradled in his arms, Tony headed back to the van for the last time, putting his head down to keep his cap from blowing away, Tony struggled against the increasing wind. About 10 feet from the van, Tony heard a loud cracking sound, before he had chance to react, he was knocked to the ground, his body falling heavily on the folded tent and he found himself pinned under a large branch as the world faded around him.


	2. Part 2

**A/N**: **I am amazed and honored by the number of hits on this story, for all of you who have taken the time to review, add to your list of favorite stories and list of stories you are following. I work in a job that at time can be very stressful, overwhelmingly sad but always rewarding. Reading fanfic and now writing my own stories has become a fun outlet for me. Sometimes you just need to escape real life.**

**I thank my wife for taking the time to proofread, though every time I look over this story I find that I missed one or two, so I apologize of any errors. **

**I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing.**

**LAG**

**Tony and the Red Dog**

_**Chapter 2.**_

Gibbs stood in front of the big windows near the bullpen. Watching the swirling snow as the lights that lit the banks of the Anacostia River flicked on. He looked at his watch with irritation, Tony should be back in about an hour, but he was having a hard time ignoring his gut. Something about Tony alone out in the snow should not feel right to Gibbs, but when he thought of Tony, he still felt a burning rage. He had told Tony that he did not blame him for Jenny's death but since bringing Tony back from his time as Agent Afloat he had not been able to stand the sight of the man and had done everything to drive him away. In reality, Gibbs thought to himself, things between him and Tony had been strained since he had returned from Mexico, but these past several months he had become openly hostile towards the younger man.

As he stared out the window he could see the reflection of Ziva and McGee, his team working diligently, looking for leads in this case. When had he stopped thinking of Tony as part of his team? Behind him, Tony's desk stood empty.

With a deep sigh he turned and headed back into the bullpen.

"Set-rep!" he called out in a gruff voice.

McGee jumped up from his chair and grabbed the control for the plasma as Ziva came around her desk and stood next to him.

On the screen appeared a photo of their murder victim in full dress uniform.

McGee start, " Warrant Officer Thomas Spencer, was born in Portsmith, Maine. His parents Vivian and Henry Spencer still live in Portsmith and he has one brother who is two years older and lives in Norfolk, VA. WO Spencer enlisted in the marines right after graduating from high school in 1991, completed basic training at Paris Island, SC and has spent time at Camp Lejeune, NC and Camp Pendleton in CA. He also has been on a number of deployments of about 6 months each on a number of navel vessels in the pacific. "

McGee paused and looked over at Gibbs, Gibbs with an impatient, "Get on with it."

Ziva took this opportunity to jump in, " Performance reviews are all good and WO Spencer has moved up the stairs in rank."

Under his breath McGee mumbled, "Ladder not stairs."

Ziva, ignoring him continued, "WO Spencer had just completed the 13 week training program at Quantico and received his commission last Tuesday."

McGee jumped back in, "WO Spencer was on leave, following completion of his training and according to his Commanding Officer, he had received orders to go back to Pendleton and was scheduled to report on January 6."

Ziva again took the lead, "WO Spencer does not appear to have much of a personal life, he is single, was staying on base."

With a huff, Gibbs looks at Ziva and McGee, "Come on people, find me something we can use, so our victim was a boy scout, someone out there wanted him dead, dig deeper, think outside of the box!" With last statement he looked over at Tony's desk, Tony who always came up with the unexpected, who knew how to think outside the box, taking a deep breath, he yelled out as he headed to the elevator, "Going for coffee. Find me something we can use!"

Ziva and McGee, looked at each other then headed back to their desks, as they sat down they both glanced over at Tony's desk and then toward the window, when they looked back at each other Ziva mouth to Tim, "Where is he?"

Tim looked back and quietly he said, "any where but out there I hope" and as a deep sense of concern for his absent teammate over took him, he realized that he meant it.

_**Chapter 3.**_

As Tony became aware of his surroundings he found that he was trapped under a large branch. The initial blow had knocked him senseless; he did not think he had been out for very long. Tony tried to move but found that his left arm was pinned under the tent he had been holding. With his weight and the tree pinning him down he was unable to free his arm. Tony discovered that he was able to move his right arm, but had limited range of motion, as he was not able to lift his torso or turn his body as the branch kept him pinned in place.

Tony also tried to move his legs and while he was able to move his left leg, attempting to move his right leg elicited extreme pain from his thigh. As his right arm was free, he tried to reach back to feel his leg and was surprised to find blood on his hand. Feeling back along his leg, he felt for the injury but stopped when he encountered what felt like a piece of branch disappearing into his leg.

Tony put his head down and felt a sense of despair overtake him. So this is how his life would end, freezing to death, pinned under a tree alone in the forest.

Tony wondered if Gibbs and the team would even care or if they would only be upset because he delayed their getting the murder weapon.

A slight vibration near his left hip brought Tony out of his dark thoughts. Tony remembered the cell phone he had slipped into his coat pocket but it did him no good as he it was pinned under him and he could not reach it with his right arm.

Tony hoped that maybe, just maybe they would send someone out to look for him.


	3. Part 3

_A/n:_ Thank you again to all the of you who have taken the time to review and add to fav/follow lists.

I continue to be in awe over the respond to this story, the wonderful reviews and the number of people who added this to fav/follow lists.

To: NCIS fan - Guest review, the picture of the dog in the icon was my beautiful girl, she was a German Shepard, Siberian Husky, St. Bernard mix. We found her at our local Human Society and had 10 amazing years with her, sadly she passed away at the age of 13 to bladder cancer. I always wanted to include her in one of my stories.

_Tony put his head down and felt a sense of despair overtake him. So this is how his life would end, freezing to death, pinned under a tree alone in the forest. _

_Tony wondered if Gibbs and the team would even care or if they would only be upset because he delayed their getting the murder weapon. _

_A slight vibration near his left hip brought Tony out of his dark thoughts. Tony remembered the cell phone he had slipped into his coat pocket but it did him no good as he it was pinned under him and he could not reach it with his right arm. _

_Tony hoped that maybe, just maybe they would send someone out to look for him._

_**Chapter 4**_

Gibbs returned to the bullpen with a large coffee in his hand. Ziva and McGee looked up as he walked over to his seat, but quickly returned to their work.

Looking again Gibbs again looked at Tony's empty desk and the snow now falling heavily outside. "McGee, call Tony, get his ETA"

With an, "On it Boss" McGee hit speed dial #2 on his phone, Gibbs getting the top place of #1. McGee listened as the ring ended and the phone went to voice mail. Speaking into the phone he said, "Tony, Boss wants an ETA" and hung up. "Ha hum, Boss went to voice mail," McGee, told Gibbs.

"Track his phone McGee, I want to know where the hell he is," Gibbs responded.

McGee let his fingers fly in a too familiar pattern as he tracked Tony's cell, when the result came up, McGee looked a the time, it could not be correct as Tony should be half way back to DC by now. "Well, McGee you find him or not!" Gibbs called over.

"Ah, Boss, this says Tony is still at the crime scene, maybe he dropped his phone out there, I can run a trace on the truck, hum, if a, if you," he stumbled on his last words.

Gibbs gut was screaming to loud now to be ignored, "Ya think, McGee, find me DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled.

_**Chapter 5**_

Tony felt the cold now to the core of his being. He had started to shiver and was hoping his leg would go numb as the wood impaled in his leg moved as his body shook with the cold. Tony knew he did not have much hope if he could not get himself back to the truck.

While the sky was still overcast and snow continued to fall, it would soon be pitch black out here, this far into the woods there were no light pollution to brighten the sky and tonight there would also be no moon and stars to reflect on the freshly fallen snow.

Tony wondered if he could reach his gun, not that he had any interest in hurting himself, but because if he was honest with himself, he was scared of what the night would bring.

Tony knew that there might be coyotes and he remembered reading an article in National Geographic on The Eastern Hybrid Coyote – Wolves, while waiting for Dr. Brad Pitt at one of his quarterly check ups, to make sure his lungs continued to function with the scaring that resulted after his bout with the plague. Tony was sure he had read that they could now be found in this area and trapped as he was he would be fair game for them. He knew there were also bears but with the cold they would probably be hibernating now.

Being trapped out here alone with the night approaching also reminded him of all those vampire/slasher movies he had watched over the years. Bad things always happened to people alone in the dark woods. Tony grew up in urban areas and was never really comfortable in the woods, especially now alone, with the snow falling and the wind whipping the trees, making it hard to hear and he could not move to see if something approached.

With his right hand he reached around and was able to touch his gun, he felt some relief. Now to see if he could get it out of the holster, carefully working his frozen fingers, he pulled it out and brought his hand up near his face so he could see it, for now he wanted his weapon as close as possible.

Tony did not remember the last time he had felt such despair and hopelessness, trapped and freezing, he knew that no matter how much it hurt he was going to have to get this large branch off. He counted on the cold weather to keep the blood flow to a minimum if he was able to dislodge himself from the piece in his leg until he could get the first aid kit in the van.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and he tried to bring his right arm and left leg up, trying to lift his body into a "crawling" type position so that he could try to shift the branch and work his way out from under, but the weight was to great and after a few seconds he dropped back down, with frustration he screamed and pounded the ground with his right arm.

A movement and sound coming from his left stopped his tantrum, he held his breath as he looked around wondering what he had heard, the light was so dim now that he could only make out faint shadows and at least the snow provided some contrast with the darkness of the trees. Thinking it was just the wind, he started to relax when he heard footsteps, looking around again he saw what appeared to be a large wolf coming out of the forest toward him. With a reddish orange color the animal looked like a red flame contrasted against the snow and encroaching shadows of the dimming light.

The animal came cautiously but did not seem threatening, the ears were up and it was wagging his tail, as it got closer, Tony could see it was a large dog, not a wolf, but he was still nervous as he wrapped his hand around his gun. A pack of wild dogs could be just as dangerous and he did not want to take any changes. Even one sick dog this size could be dangerous as Tony thought of the St. Bernard in the movie _Cujo_.

The dog stopped about 10 feet from him, and cocking his head from one side to the other it seemed to be studying him. Lifting his nose in the air, the dog took a whiff of a scent that seemed to catch its attention. Walking slowly toward him, the dog continued to sniff the air.

Tony thought of firing his gun into the air to scare it but for now he just watched. The dog was huge; Tony estimated he must weigh close to a hundred pounds. The dog reminded Tony of the Samoyed Husky type dog that was the mascot of the University of CT. Growing up in New England Tony had watched the team play and had even played against UConn when he was at Ohio State in March of 1992, during the 2nd round of the NCAA Southeastern Tournament. Ohio had won that game 78-55. That following fall his sports career was ended when his leg was broken during a football game against the University of Michigan. This dog had the same face, with a broad head and pointed ears, just reddish-orange not white. Tony wondered if maybe the dog was tame and had an owner near by.

As the dog took another step closer, Tony yelled, "stop!", the dog stopped in its tracks, than Tony yelled, "Sit!" and to his surprise the dog sat. Tony knew he could not hope this dog would be like Lassie and pull off some miracle rescue, but it was comforting not to feel so alone.

Tony watched as the dog made a slow circle around him, it looked as if the dog was trying to appraise the situation. After circling twice the dog laid down a few feet from him then slowly crawled to him. Tony lay still not wanting to scare the dog off.

When the dog was within reach, he started to sniff the air again and released a faint whimpering nose. Tony slowly reached out with his only free arm and placed his hand palm up in front of the dog. The dog stretched his head over and sniffed Tony's bloodstained glove covered fingers.

Creeping closer the dog positioned himself as close to Tony as the branch would allow, Tony reached over and ran his fingers through the thick fur. It was at this time that Tony noted that the dog had Amber colored eyes and there was a depth of intelligence in those eyes. If Tony had believed in such things he would say he was looking into the eyes of an old soul.

Closing his eyes again, Tony could feel some of the warmth radiating off the big dog. He wondered if he could somehow get the dog to help him move the branch. With careful movements he withdrew his hand back and as he had before, tried to push the branch off his back. This time he was able to get a few inches off the ground but he did not have the strength to move the branch. Plus the movement has sent a sharp pain down his leg that elicited a loud "argh" as he fell back down.

At the movement the big dog jumped up and moved away. Tony not wanting his only company to leave called out in a quiet voice, "Its ok, come back dog." To his surprise the dog came back and lay down next to him again. This time Tony reached over and was able to feel the dog's neck; looking for a collar he wasn't able to find one.

Tony knew he was running out of time the last bit of light was almost gone, he estimated he had lain there about 15-20 minutes, even though it felt like hours. He was so cold; his left arm stuck under his body and the tent was so numb it had no feeling left. Tony knew he was now in danger of frostbite and hypothermia.

This was all too much for him, if he was going to survive he need to figure a way out of this and whatever he did it would have to be very soon.

Tony thought about Gibbs, all those damn rules: Rule 1 never screw your partner and rule 15 always work as team. "Yeah right," Tony said to himself, if they still held true, then Gibbs would never have left him out here on his own. Maybe this had been Gibbs way of telling him he no longer saw Tony as his partner or even as part of the team.

As the realization of this hit, Tony felt a stabbing pain in his chest, for a short time after meeting Gibbs and coming to work at NCIS, he had felt he could rely on others for the first time in his life. Growing up with an alcoholic mother who died when he was 8 and a father who had no interest in raising a little boy on his own, Tony had learned young, to rely on himself. With Gibbs he had let his walls down, had learned to trust someone, but the result had been a let down. When he got out of this, Tony thought, it would be time, time to walk away.


	4. Part 4

**A/N**: **I am amazed and honored by the number of hits on this story, for all of you who have taken the time to review, add to your list of favorite stories and list of stories you are following. **

**I thank my wife for taking the time to proofread, though every time I look over this story I find that I missed one or two, so I apologize of any errors. **

**I wish I owned NCIS and all the great characters but alas just get to borrow them for a while. **

**My thoughts go out too all affected by the tornados this past week. I can't even imagine the level of loss for those impacted. **

**I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing.**

**LAG**

_As the realization of this hit, Tony felt a stabbing pain in his chest, for a short time after meeting Gibbs and coming to work at NCIS, he had felt he could rely on others for the first time in his life. Growing up with an alcoholic mother who died when he was 8 and a father who had no interest in raising a little boy on his own, Tony had learned young, to rely on himself. With Gibbs he had let his walls down, had learned to trust someone, but the end result had been a let down. When he got out of this, Tony thought, it would be time, time to walk away._

_**Chapter 6**_.

"Boss," McGee said as he stood up and clicked on the plasma to a weather map of the area near Harrisonburg, VA. "The GPS in the van and in Tony's cell both indicate he is still at the crime scene. The weather map shows that it is snowing heavily in that area, with strong wind gusts." Gibbs came around his desk and standing next to Tim pointed at the map about were Tony's location was indicated. "So what the hell is he still doing there, he should have been well on his way back?"

Ziva, from her desk called out, "I have the Sheriffs department on the line, the roads in that area are barely passable due to the storm and they did try to send a patrol back to check on him but a tree has come down at the turn off to the crime scene, if Tony is still there he won't be able to get out in the van."

"McGee!" yelled Gibbs, the case forgotten for now, "Call the park service see if they have anyone who can get to the site, Ziva does the Sheriff Department, have any equipment that can get in?"

Ziva turned back to her phone, while McGee pick up his to call the Park Rangers office.

"Gibbs," Ziva said getting her answers first, "The Sheriff Department does have four wheel drive vehicles but they said you would need snow mobiles and they don't have any available at this time. They have been searching for a couple of missing kids all day and it would take a couple of hours to move the equipment," pausing to take a deep breath she continues as Gibbs glared at her, "The Sheriff also said that the kids are priority as Tony has a warm shelter and we know were he is."

"Yeah, except its DiNozzo were talking about," Gibbs mumbled. "McGee how about the rangers?" he asked turning his attention on his other Agent.

"Hum, Boss, same answer, they have all their available staff looking for the kids," McGee replied as he hung up his phone.

"Find me some snow mobiles, NOW people!" Gibbs demanded.

Previously unnoticed by the team, Jimmy Palmer the ME assistant walked into the bullpen. He had come to give the preliminary report on WO Spencer, but had stopped when he heard that Tony maybe trapped by the snow back at the crime scene.

Noticing him for the first time Gibbs glared at him and said, "Not now Palmer."

With sweating palms, _damn but Gibbs always makes me nervous,_ Palmer thought as he tried to get his words out in a coherent fashion, "I, I think, I think I can help," he stammered.

"You can help by leaving!" Gibbs yelled.

"No!" Jimmy said raising his voice, Tony was his friend and he was not going to let Gibbs intimidate him out of helping, "I can help, I have two snow mobiles," he got out.

"You have what!" Gibbs exclaimed, getting up into Jimmy's face.

"I a, I have two snowmobiles, was going to go this weekend," Jimmy was able to squeak out.

"Where are they and how long will take you to get them ready," Gibbs breathed back in his face.

_**Chapter 7:**_

Night had finally arrived, leaving Tony in almost total darkness and covered now in a layer of snow. Fuego as Tony had come to think of his companion, as he was the color of flame and provided Tony with warmth, remained as close to his side as the branch allowed. Fuego had his face up close to Tony's and the warmth was welcome even if not enough to prevent the constant shivering. Tony knew that the real danger came when the shivering stopped.

Mustering his last reserves of energy Tony began what he knew would be his final attempt to free himself. As with his previous attempt, he was able to get the branch up a couple of inches. This time rather then move away, Fuego, crept in closer to Tony. Then to Tony's surprise Fuego pushed up. Tony felt the weight of the branch lift off his back. Tony took advantage, moving his left arm from out from under the trapped tent, his leg was still impaled and he did not know how much longer Fuego would be able to hold up the branch.

Taking the folded tent and setting it upright under the thick branch, with some difficulty as his left hand and arm were almost useless after having been pinned. Tony hoped it would support the weight of the branch long enough to get his leg free, the pain in his leg should have been unbearable by this point with all the movement, but between the adrenal rush of finally feeling he could get free and the numbing cold he hardly felt it. He knew the pain would come later, but if he was around to feel the pain then he would still be alive and had succeed in freeing himself.

With the branch supported by the tent, and his upper body free, Tony tried to figure out how to get his leg free, feeling for his belt knife, he wondered if it would be big enough to cut through the piece of branch in his leg. In the movies some crazy actor would take his gun and shoot the branch, but Tony knew that he would only end up shooting himself.

Working the knife free with some effort, Tony reached around and started sawing at the piece of wood in his leg, trying to cut where it came off the main trunk of the larger branch. Fuego moved away and now sat watching him. The cutting angle was awkward and Tony was cutting blind, as he could not turn his body enough to see behind him.

Stopping a moment to rest his arm, Tony was not sure how much progress he had made. Fuego stood up and walked over to Tony's leg, sniffing where the branch entered his leg. Suddenly Fuego started to chew on the branch, as there was enough room between Tony's leg and the main branch. After several minutes Tony felt the branch give, his leg was free. Fuego walked back over and nuzzled Tony's face.

Tony overwhelmed with relief grabbed Fuego and hugged him as best as he could. As he rubbed his hands over the big dog whispering, "Good boy, good boy." Working his way out from under the branch and slowly trying to stand, Tony felt dizzy and unsteady on his feet, Fuego stayed by his side offering silent support, "Come on big guy, lets go get warm."

Fortunately for Tony, he was not far from the van so that even in the darkness that surrounded him he was able to stumble his way back to it. Opening the driver side door, he signaled for Fuego to get in. The big dog was in the van with one big leap. Tony painfully pulled himself in to the front seat. The first aide kit was in the back but for now Tony just wanted to start the vehicle and get the heat on. Turning the van on he turned the heat on full, knowing it would take a few minutes to feel the warm air come out. Trying to keep pressure off of the back of his right leg, Tony knew he would not be able to drive himself out. Searching his pockets he pulled out his cell phone, but the storm must have affected reception, as he had no bars.

Looking at Fuego, he said, "Well looks as you and me are going to be stuck here a while longer." Knowing he would need to take care of his leg and get something to eat, he would have to get into the back of the van even if going back outside was the last thing he wanted to do.

Working his way around the van did not take long, but exhaustion and pain were setting in, also Tony could feel the blood running down the back of his leg. His left arm was almost useless and it appeared to be broken.

Fuego followed Tony into the back of the van, and sat watching as Tony grabbed the first aid kit and worked on his leg. Pain now radiated from the wound, infection was a concern but Tony knew he would need to leave the piece of wood in, removing it could cause more damage. Sitting on the floor next to Fuego, he wrapped it as tight as he could. Leaning back, Tony grabbed his pack off the floor, having brought it from the front of the van with him, pulling out a frozen bottle of water he set it aside to thaw. Tony located his power bars; to his surprise he found there were five in his pack. He knew there had only been one in there when they set out this morning. Jimmy, he thought, Jimmy must have snuck some more in. Opening two he ate one and gave one to Fuego who accepted it happily.

Grabbing one of the emergency blankets kept in the back he wrapped himself up and laid down as best he could. There was nothing he could do now about his other injuries and getting warm and resting was what he needed now. Fuego moved around him and lay down next to him placing his big head on Tony's stomach. Tony gave in to his exhaustion and fell asleep.


	5. Part 5

**A/N; A huge heartfelt thanks to everyone, who has read, reviewed, and fav/followed this story. I am in awe at the number of people, in the so many countries who have visited this story. **

**I apologize for any errors, they are all mine. My wife has been kind enough to proofread, but I constantly edit before I post and may have missed a few mistakes.**

**I wish I owned NCIS and all the characters but will have to live with a few borrowed moments here and there. I do not profit in any way from this story, except the joy I get from writing. **

**Again a big Abby hug and Kudos to all those amazing writers on this site, for all the time, energy, dedication and talent it takes to give us some truly wonderful stories and for all the readers, without you writing would not be nearly as much fun. LAG**

_Grabbing one of the emergency blankets kept in the back he wrapped himself up and laid down as best he could. There was nothing he could do now about his other injuries and getting warm and resting was what he needed now. Fuego moved around him and lay down next to him placing his big head on Tony's stomach. Tony gave in to his exhaustion and fell asleep._

_**Chapter 8**_

A caravan of SUV's, moved out of the Navy yard, Palmer had gone home and returned with his cousin's big four-wheel drive Suburban, towing a trailer with the two snowmobiles. Palmer and his cousin had planned on heading out this weekend to his Uncle's farm near New Market, VA, to take advantage of the fresh snow. With everything loaded and packed, ready to leave in the morning it had not taken Palmer long to get back to the Navy Yard. In the borrowed vehicle Gibbs was driving with Palmer and Ducky riding with him.

Ziva and Tim were following behind in an NCIS issued Dodge Durango SUV. Vance had assigned Balboa's team to aid with the current investigation; his team was on the way to Quantico to check out WO Spencer's housing and to complete the interviews on base.

The Northeast Sub-office in Portland, MA had sent out agents to tell Spencer's family of his death and to conduct interviews with his parents. The Norfolk, VA, office was going to inform and interview the brother.

At this time, the only focus of Gibbs team was getting to Tony. The normally two-hour drive was going to take double that time on the snow and ice-covered highways. An hour on the road and they had just passed the signs for Manassas.

Gibbs felt his frustration and guilt grow. When Tony had called to tell him the Sheriffs had to leave, he should have had Tony return to the office or he should have sent another team out to help him. His gut had been trying to tell him Tony was in trouble but he had ignored it, until to late.

His relationship with Tony had gotten out of control. There had been a time when they worked in prefect unison. Tony anticipated his needs and even when they worked as a two-man team in Tony's first two years at NCIS, they had the best closure rate in the agency.

Gibbs had found himself attracted to the younger man. Gibbs did not consider himself gay or bi but he was not opposed to a physical relationship with another man, it had to be the right situation with someone special. There had been a time when he considered Tony to be that special someone and Gibbs had even felt for the first time in his life the possibility of a real relationship with a man.

After the explosion, which resulted in his head injury, fifteen years of his life was erased and along with everything else, he had forgotten his feelings for Tony; had forgotten their special night.

After being framed for murder by Abby's assistant Chip, Tony had been more distraught then he had let on, seeking comfort, he had started to spend more time sitting on Gibbs basement stairs, watching him work on the boat and sharing Cowboy steaks and beer.

Gibbs saw the real Tony emerge, a Tony that was far more intelligent, vulnerable and less self-assured than he let on at work. When Tony and Ziva had been missing all day, at the docks, he had to fight the urge to wrap Tony in his arms and never let him go. But no, in an effort to hide his feelings he had joined with Ziva and McGee, teasing Tony about the missed dinner party. Only after seeing the look on Tony's face did he realize Tony had never been invited.

After the others had left, Gibbs had gone down to talk to Ducky and get an update on Tony's injuries. Ziva said it was just a scratch, but Gibbs had seen the way Tony held his arm, his face when he thought no one was looking and the little show he put on when Abby hugged him. Appearing to play up the injury was Tony's way of hiding how much he was hurting. He knew that drawing attention to it was the best way to conceal how serious it was, as they would all think he was playing it up and not pay too much attention to the injury itself. Sometimes the best way to hide was in plain sight.

Leaving work that night, Gibbs had picked up Tony's favorite Chinese takeout and had gone to Tony's apartment to check on him. Ducky had told him, Tony had been grazed by a bullet and had about 15 stitches in his arm. He wanted Tony on desk duty for the next two weeks and he needed to keep his arm in the sling for at least a week to keep the stress off the stitches. Tony had also been given a broad-spectrum antibiotic to take 2 times a day for 10 days, and he would need to change the bandage daily and keep the wound clean. Ducky was also concerned that Tony had been in the cold metal container all day, as the plague had left his lungs scared and more susceptible to infection. He had heard a slight wheeze, but otherwise his lungs were clear. Ducky had assured Gibbs that the antibiotic would help with that too and in addition Tony was to use his inhaler for the next month. Ducky planned on checking Tony daily for the next few days.

When Gibbs arrived at Tony's apartment with the food, Tony was in an Ohio State t-shirt and sweat pants. His hair was wet from a recent shower. On the counter a box of gauze pads and tape. Motioning for Tony to sit down at the counter stool, Gibbs careful examined the wound, gently running his hand on Tony's arm and then carefully wrapped it. Tony had not said a word.

When he finished, Gibbs had brought his hand to Tony's face. Cupping Tony's face with his hand, he leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. Tony did not pull away instead he reached his uninjured arm behind Gibbs head, gently holding Gibbs close. When the kiss was complete, rather than pull away they both stayed in position, resting their foreheads together. Tony whispered, "I have wanted that for so long."

Gibbs had responded, "Your mine now."

Gibbs had ended up spending the night at Tony's but it had not gone further than a few kisses. Steady cases in the following couple of months had not given Tony and Gibbs much free time, but they would get together as much as work allowed. While they had moved beyond kissing they had not fully consummated their relationship.

Tony had confessed to Gibbs that while working in Peoria, IL, he had been in a relationship with a man, it had ended amicably when Tony had moved to Philly and his lover had moved to San Francisco. Tony had told him that since then he had not been with another man. Not because of a lack of attraction and desire but because of fear of repercussions and discrimination. Police departments were not known as the most, gay friendly places, especially for a young cop starting out in the early 1990's.

All of this ended when Gibbs had lost his memory and left for Mexico. Gibbs memories had returned slowly, though he still has some gaps. Eventually, after his return, he remembered the times spent together, the imitate moments, the quiet nights, waking up together, exploring each other's bodies, the warmth of his kisses and the desire to finally connect with Tony in every way. Gibbs never revealed that these memories had returned, he felt too much time had passed, Tony seemed to have moved on and Gibbs decided not to bring it up; letting Tony think that he did not remember their past relationship.

Tony appeared to be in a new relationship and it seemed serious. Later he would be upset to learn that Tony had been working undercover for Jenny and had kept this information from him.

Gibbs never handled feelings well and as his past desire began to reemerge, he knew that he had begun to behave like a bastard toward Tony. Driving Tony away seemed to have become his goal. He was afraid of what he had felt for Tony before, was feeling for him now. Staying perpetually angry with the younger man was his way of denying his feelings.

Gibbs could only hope that they would find Tony ok, stuck but warm and safe in the van. Gibbs wanted to start fresh with Tony but he didn't know if he had gone to far, if Tony would forgive him and give him another chance.

With this on his mind, he drove through the falling snow, determined to get to Tony.

Ducky and Palmer stayed quiet. Palmer sat silently praying in the back seat. Gibbs driving was scary enough on a good day, but in this weather, towing the trailer, Palmer thought that maybe this was worse than riding the Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion, VA or the Kingda Ka at Six Flags in New Jersey. No one but Palmer knew Tony had a passion for riding roller coasters. He had gone with Tony twice, but after throwing up all over Tony on the Kingda Ka, Tony promised to never, ever let him get on another rollercoaster. Palmer's stomach had a similar feeling now, but he was not going to let anything stop him from getting to his friend.

Ducky had quite out of character remained silent, not because he had nothing to say but because there was too much to say and he knew that now was not the time.

He had watched the team tear Anthony down bit by bit and with Palmer, he had tried to support his young friend. He worried about the impact of the cold weather on Anthony and when they got him back and he was sure his friend was safe, he would then sit down and says his piece to this sham of a team.

In the Durango, McGee was feeling sick, he was not sure if it was from Ziva's driving as she kept up with Gibbs or the thought of Tony stuck by himself in the snow. Thinking back over the last year he wondered when his relationship with Tony had changed. He had been annoyed with Tony when he took over Gibbs position, but if he was honest with himself, Tony had been a good boss. Neither, he or Ziva had really given him a chance. Since then the distance had grown and he had taken a level of pleasure watching Gibbs come down hard on Tony. He knew that he and Ziva had even gleefully participated in putting Tony in his place. Tim hoped he would have a chance to repair his relationship with Tony. Tim was also glad that Abby was away at a forensics conference in San Diego for the week. Even though he did not think Abby and Tony hung out after work any more, Abby would have been a wreck if she knew Tony was stuck in this storm alone.

Ziva taking her eyes off the road for a moment glanced over at Tim. "Your worried about him too?" she asked.

"Yeah, Ziva I am," Tim answered, "I don't think we have been very fair to him lately" he continued.

Sighing deeply Ziva said, "No Tim, we have not."

Turning her attention back to the road, Ziva like Tim wondered if there still was time to repair the damage they had done.

_**Chapter 9**_

Tony woke with a start, for a moment he was confused, forgetting he was in the back of the van. Fuego was standing by the van door growling. Outside Tony heard the wind continue to blow as the gust died down, he heard the barking and yelping noises outside. Tony remembered the sound of coyotes from a trip to Arizona a few years ago. Here trapped in the van it sounded more ominous.

Wrapping the blanket tighter around him, Tony still felt like he was freezing, though the van was still running and heat was blasting. His leg was hurting and he felt feverish. Also his throat was sore and his chest felt tight. He had felt a cold coming on for the past few days but had tried to ignore the symptoms, hoping it would pass. In his bag he had his inhaler since the damage to his lungs, he now carried one with him all the time. Even Ducky kept a spare for him in his bag.

With a few loud barks of warning, Fuego came back to lie down next to Tony. Tony was thankful for the company. "Not sure what happens next," Tony told the big dog, ruffling the fur on the dog's head, he said, "but I'm glad you found me."

Looking at the dog, Tony continued his conversation, "I guess you have your own story of how you ended up out here, ha big guy. Did you get lost or did someone abandon you too?"

Looking up at Tony with sorrowfully eyes, Fuego snuggled in closer, resting his big head on Tony's chest. "Yeah, I know what that feels like, everybody leaves me too." Tony continues with a deep sadness in his voice, "first my mother dies, then my father doesn't want me, fiancé leaves me, partners betray me," feeling his breath hitch as he fought back tears, Tony hugged the big dog closer. "I don't know what is going to happen, but I promise you big guy, I will find your family and if you have none, I won't just leave you," Tony said as he kissed the big dog on the head.

Tony wasn't sure why he felt so connected and comfortable with this dog, in the past he did not seem to get along with them, as if sensing his discomfort most dogs took an instant dislike to him. This dog, coming out of nowhere had saved his life and stayed by him. As he doused off again he held on tight, as the dog had become his lifeline.

Falling into a restless sleep, Tony dreamed the he was still trapped under that branch but instead of Fuego coming out of the forest, it was Gibbs, moving the branch off him, Gibbs pulled him into a hug and gently kissed him, then with strength only found in a dream, Gibbs slipped one hand under his arms and the other under his knees and picked him up, carrying him back to a cabin, set back in the woods. Laying Tony down on a bed covered in warm blankets, he slowly undressed him and tended his wound. Then he crawled in next to Tony and gathered him in his arms and held him. Tony felt warm and safe; he never wanted this feeling to end. Turning to look at Gibbs, Tony whispered, "Don't leave me again."

Gibbs responded, "Never, your mine."

Tony woke up with a cough and struggling to catch his breath. His face wet with tears; he knew he had cried in his sleep. It was all a dream, Gibbs had not come to save him.

Maybe at one time in the past there could have been something between them, for a short time before Gibbs lost his memory and left for Mexico, they had come so close. Tony remembered what it had felt like to be held by Gibbs, the feel of his lips on his. But he also knew what it felt like to have that all torn away, to be left. Since Gibbs had returned he gave no indication of remembering what had occurred between them or maybe he did and regretted it. Tony was not sure; all he knew was that now Gibbs did not want to be near him and was working hard to drive him away.

Feeling sick, weak and vulnerable, his walls stripped away by the cold, pain and intense loneliness. Tony started to wipe the tears from his cheeks; Fuego still by his side, reached over and with a big wet tongue licked Tony's tear streaked face.

Tony moved to get into a sitting position, the movement, caused an explosion of pain in various areas of his tired, beaten body. With a grimace he tried to find a less painful position for his leg. Tony noted that his left wrist had swollen up and it was difficult to move his forearm and hand, it had been so cold and numb when he first got to the van he had not noticed the injury. Tony knew his left shoulder and back would have a number of colorful contusions where the branch had hit him, but he did not think he had any serious injuries beside his leg and wrist.

The movement brought on another bout of coughing, which left Tony feeling short of breath. "Damn!" Tony exclaimed as he reached for his pack, pulling out his albuterol inhaler, he shook it twice, pumped twice in the air to prime it: then inhaled two doses of the medication.

Looking at his watch, Tony was surprised that he had actually slept for about two hours. If he had not gotten stuck here, he should have been back to the Navy Yard by now. He wondered how long it would take them to realize he was missing and if they would even come looking. Pulling his cell out of his pocket, he noted that he still did not have any bars. "Ready for another snack," Tony said to the big dog as he pulled out another power bar, splitting it in half he shared. Finishing his in a matter of seconds the dog just sat and watched Tony eat his. Tony then looked around for something in reach that he could use as water bowl.

_**Chapter 10**_

As Gibbs approached the turn off to the access road leading to the area they had left Tony, he noted the time, it was now going midnight, it had taken them about 5 hours to make the normally 2 hour trip. An accident out of Front Royal had them backed up for a while, then the SUV that Tim and Ziva were in slid off the road on an icy patch. No one was injured and the SUV was not damaged but getting the vehicle back on the road was another delay.

About, 100 feet down the access road, Gibbs stopped the SUV; they would not be able to proceed further, in front of him a large oak tree had come down. The tree must have been very tall as in the headlights, only a part it was visible. To each side of the illuminated area the trunk of the tree extended into the darkness.

Gibbs had hoped to find Tony sitting in the NCIS van on the other side of the downed tree. It worried him that Tony was still at the crime scene, if Tony had left the area shortly after they had last spoken, the accumulation of snow should not have been sufficient to prevent the van from getting to this point. If the tree had come down before Tony had tried to leave, then he would not have been able to maneuver the van around the tree, the forest was too dense on either side of the road but he should have been waiting on the other side. The tree would have to be cut and moved to get the van out. A crew with chain saws would come back at daily light.

Getting out of the SUV into the blowing snow, Gibbs was also grateful that they did not find the van under the tree, he could not help wonder what had happened to keep Tony at that crime scene and why had he made no attempt to get out.

Gibbs looked up as the other's approached. "Jimmy," he called out, "work with McGee, get those snow mobiles ready."

"Ok," McGee and Jimmy said in unison as they turned and headed for the trailer holding the two snowmobiles.

"Ducky, no sense in you getting wet and cold, why don't you wait in the truck." Not waiting for a response, he looked over at Ziva, "Come on, we are going to scout this area and find the best way to get around this damn tree."

The Red Oak was massive, as they maneuvered their way around, the tree had to be close to 90 feet. Gibbs and Ziva had walked to the left of the road, about 40 feet in they reached the base of the tree, the tree had been completely uprooted and the root-ball now stood high in the air, making their way carefully around, Gibbs felt that going this way on the snow mobiles would work just fine, the land here was fairly level and the snow mobiles, agile enough to clear the area around the big hole left by the root-ball by getting around the trees and other obstacles. Gibbs did not think it was worth wasting time going around to the other side of the tree, he had already concluded that with the size of this tree it would probably take them longer to get around the crown. With all the downed branches it would be a more difficult path.

"Let's head back to the truck and see if they got the snow mobiles ready," Gibbs said to Ziva. With the wind whipping the trees around them and snow continuing to fall he started to walk back; neither of them had spoken as they had scouted the area.

"Gibbs," Ziva called out, "Do you think he is Ok?"

"I hope so," Gibbs said with an uncharacteristic sadness to his voice.

"Me too Gibbs, me too." Ziva softly stated as she looked down not able to look Gibbs in the face, as she added, "Tim and I have been hard on him lately, we all have," she said looking up to face Gibbs, "We want the chance to apologize and to make it up to him."

"Yeah, I should have never left him out here like this."

"No, no you shouldn't have Gibbs, but we should not have been so happy to see him in trouble with you."

"No time for guilt, Ziva, let's go bring him home and then we can try to made amends," with that Gibbs walked hurriedly back to the trucks with Ziva keeping up behind.

As he trudged through the snow, Gibbs thought on what Ziva had said, he had let things get out of hand, Ziva and Tim and even Abby had followed his lead. As the Team Leader he set the tone, they had taken his hostility towards Tony to mean that Gibbs thought less of his senior agent, it had given them permission to be mean and petty. When Gibbs did nothing to stop it but continued his own campaign to get Tony to leave, the others had happily joined in, all to ready to move into Tony's spot.

When he came back from Mexico he had not remembered fully his past relationship with Tony, but he had become annoyed with his second in command when he found Tony, giving commands to the team, it did not take long for Gibbs to put him in his place. Then to find out Tony had kept secret his undercover work for the Director, it was no wonder Tony had appeared so tired and always seemed to be running off, Gibbs thought it was a lack of dedication to the job. The last straw was when Tony and Ziva failed to protect Jenny, it didn't matter that she had sent them away and they obeyed her orders, they should have known better. Gibbs had been relieved when the new Director, Leon Vance, had sent Tony away. If they had not had that joint case together Tony might still be out on that ship, as he had done very little to get Tony back.

Gibbs knew that Tim thought that he was smarter and better than Tony because he thought he had more education. Vance had made it clear that Tim was the agent of the future and Tony the agent of the past for NCIS.

Ziva took every opportunity to show Tony up with her advanced training in hand to hand combat and other skills she had learned in Mossad. Gibbs also knew that Ziva felt that he owed her for saving his life when she killed Ari; that she had proved her loyalty to him and that should place her above Tony when he needed someone at his side.

Abby had also played a part in all of this, she would never admit that she was jealous of Tony, but she saw herself as his favorite and had never been happy when he had started to spend time outside of work with Tony. When it appeared that he was upset and angry with Tony, Abby had assumed it was Tony's fault, she did not like to see her Silver Fox upset and had on several occasions confronted Tony, asking what he had done to get Gibbs so angry. Gibbs thought back on the time he had walked into the lab to find Abby yelling at Tony, telling him to "fix it", that she was not happy that Gibbs was upset and Tony must have done something. Tony just stood there, not saying anything, when he saw Gibbs enter, he said to Abby, "Yeah, I'd like to know too." glaring at Gibbs as he said this, then turned and left. Since that incident, Tony only spoke to Abby when he had to and only on work related issues.

Gibbs had been happy to let them treat Tony like he was an incompetent fool. He knew Tony was anything but. Tony may have liked to joke around, bringing some laughter to what was otherwise a difficult job and defecting Gibbs anger from the other team members. Gibbs knew that Tony was good at his job, very good, he made intuitive leaps of logic, seeing connections no else saw. It was this ability to view things differently that had helped keep their case closure rates so high. Gibbs wondered what Tim and Ziva would do when they found out that Tony had dual degrees from the University of Maryland, a Master's degree in Criminal Justice with a Doctor of Jurisprudence. Gibbs remembered how shocked he had been when Tony had shown him his diploma and when he had passed the Bar in D.C and VA. Tony had been halfway though the program when Gibbs had recruited him from Baltimore and had completed his degrees after working with Gibbs for three years. Two of those years they had been a two-man team, with many long days, yet Tony had maintained a 4.0 GPA in all of his classes. Tony had insisted on keeping his advanced degrees private, happy to let the others think he only had a BA in Physical Education from Ohio State. For all their smarts, Tim, Ziva and Abby had never seen the real Tony and even though she had prepared a dossier on the team, Ziva had never uncovered anything Tony had wanted to keep hidden. Tim would be surprised to know just how good Tony was with computers.

So deep in thought it was the sensation of falling that brought Gibbs back to reality, finding himself on his knees in the snow after tripping on something unseen. Ziva rushed to his side. "You all right," she asked as she reached to grab his arm to help him up.

"Back off Ziva!" he exclaimed. "I'm fine," he stated as he got up and brushed the snow off his pants.

They were close to the access road; Gibbs and Ziva heard the roar of the snowmobiles. Picking up the pace, and focused on where he was going this time, they were back to the SUV's quickly.

Jimmy Palmer walked up to Gibbs, out here he seemed more confident, "Snow mobiles are set, I loaded a first aid kit, dry clothes, coat and boots for Tony, we are going to have to get him back here and I know the clothes he had on today are not enough to keep him warm and dry. I am going to drive one snow mobile, Ducky is going to stay here and you decide who is going with me, two of you can ride the other one. I have also attached a sled on the back of my snow mobile, if Tony can't sit for any reason we can strap him in, to get him here."

Reaching into his pocket Palmer pulled out a small yellow Walkie-Talkie, handing it to Gibbs he said, "here take this, I have one and Ducky has one, cell reception out here is not good and this way we can keep in touch."

Gibbs stood speechless, who had replaced the bumbling Jimmy Palmer with this confident, efficient version. "Sounds as if you got this set," he said, "Good job," he added as an after thought as he turned to look at Tim, Ziva and Ducky who waited for his next command.

"We can get around the tree going that way," he pointed to the direction he and Ziva had checked out, "Duck, you stay here with Ziva, Tim you ride with me, Jimmy how long do you think it will take to get there?"

"Ahm, we were about 2 miles down this road, if there are no other downed trees and Tony is where we left him then we should be there in about 20 minutes or maybe less," he said as he looked at Gibbs and remembering the way he drove he quickly added, "Agent Gibbs, I know you are going to want to push the sleds as fast as they will go, but we need to go safely, we don't know what is out there and coming up on a downed tree at a high-speed would be reckless" he said swallowing hard as Gibbs stared back at him.

"Ok Jimmy you take the lead but don't get us lost," Gibbs said, turning to Tim he asked, "You set to go."

"Yeah Boss, I'm ready," the young Agent stated.

"Ziva, take care of Ducky," patting her shoulder he said, "We'll bring him back."


	6. Part 6

_**A/N: Again a huge Abby hug to all of you who have read, reviewed, are following and added to list of **_**_favorites. I am still in awe at the number of hits on this story._**

**_I hope you are all getting nice weather, today warmest day this spring in southern New England, complete with thunder. Great to spend time outside, though working in the yard does take time away from reading and writing._**

**_I wish I owned the show and the characters but I am thankful for the time I get to play with them._**

_**Chapter 11**_

Tony sat huddled with his new friend by his side. He had long ago given up trying to find a comfortable position, his body was in full protest, his head was pounding, his stomach threatening to bring up what little he had eaten over the course of this miserable day, his back and shoulder ached where the branch had hit him, his left arm was swollen and he had done his best to immobilize it, his right leg was on fire and he was pretty sure that infection had set in, and what scared him the most was the cough that was now making a pretty regular appearance, and that hated feeling of having an elephant sitting on his chest every time he wanted to take a breath. The chills that signaled an increasing fever were just the icing on the cake. Normally he avoided hospitals at all costs but now he could not think of any other place he would rather be, even if he were used like a pincushion, it would be nice to be in a warm bed and pain-free. He had used his inhaler as often as he dared, but he knew that at this point he really needed stronger medications and a nebulizer treatment. An oxygen tank would be welcome.

The big dog gave him some warmth and comfort, with his right hand Tony stroked the soft fur, realizing he had never checked for a collar. The dog had so much fur and it was thick enough around his neck to hide a collar. Feeling around, Tony found nothing, "Oh well big guy," Tony said in a breathless, husky voice, with all the coughing his throat now felt raw, "hope you have a microchip so I can find your family." With raspy voice, Tony continued, "Family, I thought I had found a family, but just like my real family they turned on me. I don't know dog, maybe it would have been better if I had stayed stuck under that branch."

Tony hated feeling so weak, Ziva and Tim thought he had grown up a rich spoiled kid, because his father had money, but nothing could be further from the truth. His mother had died when he was 8 years old. He knew she loved him but her drinking and mood swings were difficult for a child to understand. Sometimes she could be so warm and nurturing, and then there were the dark days when she would lock herself in her room for weeks. Tony would have to stay away from her when she was like this because any noise would set her into a rage.

Once, he snuck into her room, excited because he got gold stars on his homework. He just wanted to share this with her. When he entered the room she was lying on her bed, thinking she was asleep, he quietly went to stand by her side, "Mommy, Mommy please wake up, I wanted to show you something," he called out to her in the excited voice of a 6-year-old child.

When she opened her eyes and saw him, she leaped out of bed screaming "What the hell are you doing in here, why are you bothering me, get the hell out, you little bastard, you are just like your father, can't you leave me the hell alone!" Through this Tony stood shocked, he didn't know what to do, but he could feel his heart pounding and his eyes fill with tears. Looking at him with hate in her eyes, she picked up a large ashtray from the bedside table, Tony turned to run out of the room, the ashtray catching him on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Getting up as quickly as he could he ran to his room, crawling under his bed he just wanted to hide forever. His head hurt but not as much as his heart. He wanted to cry but continued to fight the tears, as he knew his father would not be happy to hear he was a "cry baby" because DiNozzo's don't cry was something his father was always telling him.

Tony did not know how long he had remained hidden under his bed, but Cook came to bring him some food as he had not come down to eat, she had found him under the bed. Seeing blood on the floor, she had gotten Carson the Butler and Ana one of the maids, to help her get him out from under the bed.

"Ay, mijito! ¿Que te paso?" Cook, had said in her native Spanish as she hugged him close to her ample bosom. It was from Cook; whose real name was Guadalupe Milagros Del Toro that Tony had learned to speak Spanish. Together the caring staff cleaned him up and bandaged his head. The ashtray had left a long gash where it hit him.

Ana put some cleaner on the bloodstain on the carpet, while Carson called the family doctor who came and put 8 stitches in his head and gave them instructions on caring for his concussion, then he went to check on his mother. The family doctor was well paid to make house calls and put aside any obligation he may have felt to report the numerous questionable injuries sustained by the small boy. It was three days before his mother came out of her room and the incident was never mentioned.

Tony's father had been away on a business trip during this time, then again he was always away. The few times he had taken Tony with him had been a disaster. His father was into Civil War reenactments and Tony remembered how excited he was to spend time with his father, he must have been about 7 yrs old, in retrospect, if was after the incident with the ashtray and Tony figured it was his way of keeping Tony away from his mother when she was in one of her "moods".

Tony had gotten a cool blue uniform, when they got to the camp in Petersburg VA. Tony had been able to run around with a few of the other boys, initially if was fun, the first night he had sat by the campfire with his father and he thought it was the best day in his life. The next day was the big event, some of the boys got drums and flags to carry, when his father handed him a bucket, Tony was not sure what he was supposed to do with it. His father explained that, when one of the men called him, he was to bring the bucket, they would fill it and Tony had to carry it back and dump it. What he neglected to tell Tony was that he was responsible for the "poop' bucket. Tony was horrified when the first man, had filled his bucket, and it had not gotten better from there, after running around all day, with everyone calling him "little Poop boy". He thought he would never get the smell out of his nose or his clothes, by the time they got to a hotel the next night his father made him take an extra long bath.

"See Fuego, guess my job is still to take everybody's shit," he told the dog in a soft voice. "Argh" escaped his lips as he felt every pain as a deep cough ripped through his body. Once he was able to catch his breath again he could hear the wind blowing outside but from his position he could not see out the windows. He hoped the local wildlife he had heard earlier was gone. Fuego was not on alert, lying quietly next to him.

Feeling a familiar discomfort in his lower abdomen, Tony knew as much as he did not want to, he was going to have to go outside to relieve himself. He had ignored the feeling for to long. After remembering the "poop boy" incident, he could not bring himself to go in a bucket. He figured the storm had driven the coyotes away, and with Fuego to alert him he felt safe going outside. Tony struggled to get to his feet, being upright brought with it, waves of coughing that left him breathless and dizzy. He wanted nothing more than to lie down, but the urgency was now to great. Fuego had gotten up with him and was standing by the back double doors of the van. Getting a flashlight, and pulling his coat tighter around himself, Tony limped to the door.

Easing the door open, he shone the flashlight around, the world was now covered in a blanket of white; even the trees had an eerie glow as the heavy wet snow coated everything. He climbed slowly out of the van, next to him Fuego easily leapt out. The cold air hitting his lungs took his breath away; he needed to get back to the warmth of the van as soon as possible. Looking around he noted that all the signs of the crime scene were long gone. Not wanting to go to far as the van provided light and security, Tony worked his way to the nearest stand of trees. Tucking the flashlight under his arm, he leaned against a tree for support. Tony took care of his business as quickly as he could; unzipping and zipping his pants had been difficult with his swollen left hand.

Looking around for Fuego he headed back to the van. Fuego was wandering around sniffing the snow. Watching the big dog squat he realized that the dog he had come to think of has a "he" was really a she. Suddenly her head popped up at attention, her face alert, ears twitching to catch a sound beyond Tony's hearing. Tony's felt as if his heart stopped when she let out a deep growl. Not having any time think about what was out there he started to reach for his gun. Before he could complete the motion, Tony felt something slam hard into him, knocking him face down in the snow. Intense pain flared in the back of his left shoulder as he felt something bite down hard. A scream escaped his lips, as teeth made contact with bone. Tony figured that this was really the end, when suddenly the weight was gone and he heard the awful sound of fighting dogs.

Fuego had come to his defense, attacking the coyote. Rolling over, Tony attempted to get his weapon free, with the pain coursing through his body it seemed like an eternity before he had his gun in his hand. Fuego and the coyote were a tangled mess; he could not risk shooting at the coyote for fear of hitting the big dog. Aiming high into the forest he fire off one round, hoping to scare the animal away. At the loud sound, the animals separated, but stood, with teeth bared growling at each other. Taking aim with his shaking hand, Tony fired again in the direction of the coyote. He missed the animal but it had the desired effect, as the animal turned and ran off.

Tony's knees buckled and he found himself kneeling in the snow. Fuego ran over to him and nuzzled him. Tony knew they had to get back to the truck before the coyote came back, he could also feel the blood from the fresh wound running down his back. He felt on the verge of passing out, even though another of his father's favorite mantras was "DiNozzo's do not pass out." Tony knew he was about to prove his father wrong but if he did not make it back to the van first he would die out here. A sense of self-preservation kicked in and painfully he got back on his feet and made it the short distance to the van, getting in was difficult, Fuego again completing the task with one graceful leap. With the doors safely secured Tony slid down as all the energy left his body. Pulling the blankets around him, he felt the darkness over take him, knowing that Fuego was safe at his side.


	7. Part 7

**A/N**: **I am overwhelmed, amazed and honored by the number of hits on this story, for all of you who have taken the time to review, add to your list of favorite stories and list of stories you are following, a big Abby Hug. I am also thrilled that there are readers worldwide; I love looking at the list of countries.**

**I thank my wife for taking the time to proofread, though I am constantly editing and may have missed few errors, so I apologize for any mistakes. **

**I wish I owned NCIS and all the great characters but alas I just get to borrow them for a while. **

**I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing.**

**LAG**

_**Chapter 12**_

Gibbs felt as time had stood still, the two-mile ride to the crime scene on the snowmobiles seemed to be taking an eternity, maybe it was his growing concern for Tony, his gut was now telling him that they would not find him warm, safe and uninjured in the truck. In reality he was scared of what they would find. Tim was hanging on tight behind him but he did not have to worry about Gibbs driving recklessly, Palmer was leading the way and with the strong lights of the snowmobiles, the access road had been easy to locate even with all the snow, while only about 10 inches had fallen the drifts were significantly deeper and the path had been littered with fallen branches of different sizes. The falling snow had almost stopped but the strong wind blowing the snow around made visibility limited.

Ziva and Ducky had stayed in the SUV; Tim had given them the satellite phone, he had anticipated that the storm would render the cell phones useless and had thought to bring one along. Gibbs had wanted to hold on to it, but Tim and Jimmy had argued that if Tony was injured, with the walkie-talkies, Jimmy could rely the information to Ducky and Ziva. The medical examiner could make a request for medical evacuation, better explaining any medical needs Tony may have and coordinate with emergency services, while waiting for their return. Gibbs had conceded, not wanting to waste time with petty arguments.

As the snowmobiles came over a rise in the road, the NCIS van came in to view, Gibbs could see that the headlights were on and it appeared the engine was running. The van was sitting in the deep snow. Bringing the vehicles to a stop next to the van Gibbs, Tim, and Jimmy dismounted. There was an eerie quiet to the area, even with the sound of the wind and the solitary engine running. Gibbs yelled out as loud as he could, "Tony, we're here, are you in there?"

The three men looked at each other in surprise when they heard a bark and growl from the back of the truck. "Tim go to the front of the van, see if you can look into the back," Gibbs ordered.

The van did not have an access door from the front to back but there was a small sliding window. Jimmy and Gibbs made their way to the back doors. Gibbs did not want to open the doors without knowing what he would find, but an angry dog was definitely one thing he could never have anticipated. Flashing his light around, he noted what appeared to be blood on the door handle; brushing snow off the bumper he found a corresponding red stain. Gibbs and Jimmy gave each other a knowing look, whatever happened out here it appeared that Tony had been hurt.

Hearing a crackle over the walkie-talkie, Gibbs heard Tim calling out, "Boss, boss, can you hear me?"

"What's happening in there?" He responded.

"I can see Tony, Boss but ah, ah, he is lying down on the floor, he hasn't responded to my calls."

"What about that dog we heard?" Gibbs was anxious to get to his senior field agent; the delay was almost unbearable.

"Its ah, ah, a big dog and its standing over Tony looking between me and the backdoor. Boss, it looks as if its guarding Tony."

"Damn, how are we going to get it out of there, can't risk hitting Tony if we try to shoot it."

Listening to the exchange, Palmer was trying to think of how to get the dog and Tony out safely.

"Let me have a look," stated Palmer as he started to walk to the front of the van.

"What do you think you can do?" Gibbs started to say; then he remembered that Palmer had worked as a veterinary assistant.

Following Palmer to the front of the van, he got there just as Tim and Palmer traded places. "Gibbs," Tim said as he took a deep breath, "Tony will be all right won't he."

"Yeah, Tim, I'm sure he will be, Tony is tough, he has a way of getting in trouble but he always bounces back."

"He does, doesn't he," Tim answered, nodding his head in agreement, then look back at Gibbs he added, "Boss you think we can fix things with him, Ziva and I," he stopped, drawing a deep breath before he continued, "Ziva and I, well we, we have not been very nice to Tony for a while, its time we tried to be friends again."

"I know Tim, we all have a lot to make up to him, bout time we all remembered that." Gibbs responded in a soft voice laced with guilt and sadness. "Lets see what Palmer is up to," he said as he turned his attention back to van. Opening the van door, he started to call out to Palmer, but stopped when he saw the young ME assistant, hold up his hand, to silence him. Gibbs watched as he turned his attention back to the window.

Palmer slowly reached in through the open window he spoke softly, in a calm voice to the dog. In his hand he held out a piece of protein bar, and tried to get the dogs attention.

"Its all right, big guy," Palmer said, "Tony is our friend. We just want to help him. Your going to let us get in to help him aren't you big guy." Waving his hand a little he added, "I got some food for you, come on you want this, come on, I'm not going to hurt you or Tony," Palmer said, trying to get the dog to come to him.

The big dog stood his ground and did not move from Tony's side. Putting his head down to reconsider his strategy, Palmer tried to think of all the ways to get the dog's attention. It seemed to him that the dog was protecting Tony. He did not want to see the dog hurt but they needed to get to Tony as soon as possible. Gibbs and Tim were watching from the open van door and Palmer was sure that soon Gibbs' patience would run out and he would want to shoot his way in.

Palmer was not ready to admit defeat; through this Tony had not moved, but now he started to cough, Palmer did not like the sound, as it was a wet cough followed by wheezing. Palmer wanted to check his friend and get him to the nearest hospital as soon as possible. Making another attempt he called out, "come on big guy, you must be hungry, I got a treat for you."

Tony thought he was dreaming, in his head he had heard Gibbs call to him and then Palmers voice, it had to be a dream as he was alone out here in the snow. His mind was fuzzy and he just wanted to curl up and drift back into the darkness but the voice of Jimmy Palmer would not go away. If they had come for him, why was Jimmy calling out for a dog? In his muddled brain he tried to make sense of what the Autopsy Gremlin was saying.

A deep cough brought him back to reality in a harsh way; with his eyes closed he listened to his own wheezy breathing. The voice of Jimmy Palmer sounded again in his ears calling out to the big dog. Tony now remember his savior, opening his eyes, he saw Jimmy looking in the divider window waving something in his hand at Fuego. He heard Jimmy say, "come on big guy, you hungry, I got a treat for you."

Closing his eyes again, Tony said, "He's a she Palmer, she," his voice was so weak that he was not sure Jimmy had heard him, but Fuego reacted instantly, turning back to him, she licked his face and started wagging her tail.

"Tony, Tony can you hear me?" yelled Jimmy from the window.

"Yeah, I can hear you, how did you get here?" Tony responded in a soft breathy voice.

"Tony, we came to find you," Gibbs said pushing Jimmy into the passenger seat.

"What the hell are you doing with a dog?" he asked gruffly.

"She saved me," Tony stated, without opening his eyes, he did not want to see the angry, disappointed face of his boss. Of course he was such a screw up the team had to come back to rescue him in the middle of a case and a snowstorm.

"We need to get in DiNozzo, ya think she will let us get in to help you?"

"She will Boss," he answered looking at Gibbs this time. "I hold her while you go around."

Tony struggled to sit up, God did he hurt, the bite in his shoulder seemed to have stopped bleeding but the pain radiated down his arm and across his back and went all the way through him. Once up he called Fuego to him and wrapped his arms around her, talking gently to her, to keep her calm as the back doors swung open and Gibbs peered in.

"Tony, we need her out here so Palmer has room to check you over," Gibbs said, his voice less gruff this time. Getting a good look at Tony in the van light, Gibbs could see how pale he was, pain etched in his face and his eyes were glassy with fever. Gibbs also took in the sight of the wet blood stained clothes and streaks of blood on the van floor and wall were Tony had been leaning. Gibbs wanted to know what happened to his agent, but questions would have to wait, first they needed to get him some medical attention, there would be time after that to hear the whole story.

Tony continuing to hold on to the dog, painfully he moved himself closer to the back door, and had the dog move between him and the front of the van. Once in position he called out for Jimmy come in. Fuego watched as Palmer entered but did not move. Once at Tony's side, Palmer set down the medical bag he was carrying. Gibbs started to climb in too but Tony held up his hand and said "No, just Jimmy," then started to cough.

Palmer gave Gibbs a knowing look, backing out Gibbs said, "Tim and I will stay up front, we can relay information to Ducky."

"Ducky here too?" Tony asked as he tried to catch his breath.

"Dr. Mallard and Ziva are waiting about two miles down the road, a tree blocked the way, but I can fill you in after I check you over, Tony I want you to honestly tell me where you are hurt," Jimmy said to his injured friend, giving him a knowing look, "I know you are having problems breathing, I heard you coughing before and I don't need the stethoscope to hear you wheezing."

"Branch fell on me, have piece of wood in the back of my thigh," then he held up his left arm, "kind of landed on my arm."

Jimmy maid mental notes of the injuries, he noted the blood on his arm "Where did is this blood from?" he asked as he pointed to Tony's shoulder.

"Got bitten by a coyote," Tony answered with a grimace, "Went outside to go."

"To go?" Jimmy responded with a questioning expression on his face.

"Yeah, you know, I had to go," Tony tried to explain without giving too much detail.

"Oh, ok," Jimmy's face lit up, as he finally understood what Tony was saying, "So what happened to your shoulder?"

"Coyote jumped me, took a chunk out of my shoulder, Fuego here, chased him off." he said as he hugged Fuego as best he could.

Jimmy shook his head in disbelief as he pull out a digital thermometer from his kit, "Don't know how you do it Tony, even in the middle of no where you get into deep shit," he said as he put the thermometer in Tony's mouth, at the same time he picked up Tony's good arm and checked his pulse. Pulling the thermometer, he noted the reading and pulse on a small pad he had with him.

"Well you have a fever 102.4 and your pulse is elevated," Jimmy completed taking Tony's vital signs with quiet efficiency, Tony watched the worried expression pass on his friends face as he took his blood pressure and the worry deepened as he listened to Tony's lungs. Putting on a pair of latex free gloves and pulling out some scissors, Jimmy indicated to Tony that it was time to check his wounds, having Tony sit forward he carefully pulled away and cut the material from the wound.

"Don't say it Tony, coats ruined anyways," Jimmy said in a joking voice when he saw Tony's expression at the sound of the scissors cutting into his expensive jacket and shirt. Getting a good look at the wound, Jimmy noted that the bleeding had stopped; the coyote had bitten hard into Tony's shoulder leaving deep puncture wounds and lacerations. The wounds were carefully cleaned and covered with gauze, Jimmy knew they would need a deeper cleaning but he could not do that here.

Moving next to the injured leg, he had Tony lay on his side as comfortably as he could. Again with care he cut the material away, an index finger size piece of wood was jutting out of a ragged wound in the back of Tony's thigh. Jimmy knew he would not be able to remove it, as it would need to be surgically removed. The red, hot skin around the wound was a concern, as it appeared that the area was getting infected. "Tony, you know I can't get this out." Tony nodded his head in agreement, "but I can wrap it up good, and I have some pain meds I can give you ok," Jimmy continued.

"Just do what you have too, but I don't want any meds." Tony responded, gritting his teeth against the pain of having his wounds cleaned and wrapped.

"Tony, we have a two-mile trip in a snow mobile, nothing I'm going to give you will make you loopy or put you out. With your breathing the way it is, you'll have to wait till you're at the hospital to get the good stuff," he answered giving his friend a small smile.

When Tony gave him a quizzical look, Jimmy said, "Yeah, the van isn't going anywhere tonight and the only way in and out are the snow mobiles, they belong to my cousin. I'll tell you all about when I have you warm and safe, Ok? "

In another ten minutes Jimmy had Tony's leg wrapped, and the left wrist splinted. While he was working he had relayed Tony's vitals and catalog of injuries to Tim, who communicated the information to Ducky via the walkie-talkie.

"Tony, I'm going to get the sled ready for you." Not waiting for a response, he moved to exit the van, the big dog had not left Tony's side but watched Jimmy intently as he examined Tony and wrapped his wounds. The dog seemed to understand they were not here to hurt Tony. Once outside, Jimmy met Gibbs and Tim by the snowmobiles.

Working quickly Jimmy was able to ensure Tony would have a safe ride back, comfort was the one thing he could do nothing about but would do his best to make it the least painful possible.

While Jimmy worked on the sled and McGee was on the walkie-talkie with Ducky, Gibbs went back to check on Tony.

Entering the back of the van he again noted how sick Tony appeared. "What are we going to do with your friend there?" Gibbs asked pointing to the dog.

Before he could get a word out, a bronchial spasm triggered an uncontrollable cough, hugging the dog tight. Tony buried his face in fur around his neck till he stopped.

Gibbs watched with concern until Tony was able to catch his breath. As his memories returned, he had this reoccurring vision of Tony lying in a fishbowl of a room with blue lights struggling to breath. The full memory of Tony fighting for his life after being infected with Y-Pestis by that crazy woman was something he would have been happy to never remember.

Tony's breathy answer brought him out of memory, "Not sure but I can't leave her here."

"She can spend the night in here, its warm enough and we will have a team out in the morning to retrieve the van."

"No!" Tony said trying to make his voice sound more forceful, "I said No! She saved me, more than once, I'm not leaving her." Tony tightened his grip on the dog; she had sensed his agitation and stood protectively next to him.

"All right, DiNozzo, we'll take her, but your going to need make arrangements for her," as he said this Gibbs realized how harsh that must have sounded to the injured man.

"Not a problem, she's my responsibility," Tony angrily responded.

Trying to change the subject Gibbs said, "When you called earlier you said you thought you had found the murder weapon, we can leave the van but I want to take all the evidence you collected back with us."

Tony pointed to the evidence locker, "Everything is the locker, bagged and tagged. The camera I was using is in there too, my sketch pad is my in bag."

Without any verbal response, Gibbs opened the combination lock and withdrew the box full of the items Tony collected, as he started to go through it, he said without looking back at Tony, "Tomorrow I expect a full report, I don't care if you are sick and in the hospital, we need to catch us a murderer."

Not able to come up with a quick retort, Tony just stared at Gibbs back, figures that he only came out here for the evidence, and just when he was starting to hope that maybe Gibbs still cared about him, even just a little. Sure Gibbs would get his damn report, and maybe just maybe it was time to turn in his resignation too. Over the last couple of years he had written them in his head over and over, but he had never been able to bring himself to actually put one on paper, but after this, he knew in his heart that he would never go back to MCRT to work under Gibbs.

As he looked at the knife Tony had found, Gibbs knew he had been an ass. Why did he always have to push Tony away, not wanting to leave things like this, he started to turn around to talk to the younger man, just as Palmer stuck his head back in, feeling the tension in the room, he said, "sleds ready, let's get Tony loaded."

The moment had passed and the need to get Tony out of here and to a hospital took precedence. Gibbs and Tim helped ease Tony out of the back on the van, each man carefully providing support as they slowly made their way through the snow to the sled. Jimmy had it positioned so that they did not have to go far, Jimmy had them lay Tony on his side so that they would not put pressure on his injured back or leg, the rolled up extra blankets were used to keep Tony in position for the duration of the ride back to the SUV. Jimmy had also brought a small oxygen tank, putting on the nasal cannula on a clearly unhappy Tony, Jimmy adjusted the flow, as he did this, Tony seemed to relax a little. Jimmy completed a final check making sure Tony was well covered against the freezing temperatures and chilling wind and secured on the sled.

Once settled in, Tony grabbed Jimmy's arm, "Where's Fuego?" he was afraid that Gibbs would leave her behind.

"Don't worry Tony, I promise I won't leave her, she's going to ride with me, I can take her to my Uncles house once we have you taken care of, OK."

"Ok," Tony whispered the cold outside air had left him feeling breathless even with the help from the O2.

Tim had turned off the van and made sure it was locked up. Gibbs took the evidence box and strapped it to the back of the snow mobile. Gibbs situated himself on the driver seat with Tim behind him. On the vehicle in front of them, Jimmy had the big dog jump up on the back seat the high back providing support, carefully he seated himself in the driver's seat and slowly moved off.

The trip back was slower than the trip in, Jimmy made frequent stops to check on Tony with Tim updating Ducky and Ziva along the way.

When they reached the SUV's Ducky and Ziva had prepared the cargo area, dropping down the middle seats and laying down a sleeping bag.

With care they had transferred Tony. Jimmy and Ducky worked to get him settled in, exhaustion and illness had taken its toll so that Tony did not protest as they fussed about him and even when they switched the O2 nasal cannula for a O2 mask that covered half his face. Once they had him as comfortable as they could get him, he asked, "Where's Fuego?"

"Fuego?" Ducky inquired looking over at Jimmy Palmer. Jimmy mouthed "the dog" and Ducky nodded his head in understanding. "She's outside with the team, Tony."

Ignoring Ducky's response, Tony glance over at Jimmy, "I want her with me."

"Ok, Tony, she can ride in here, we just needed to get you settled first." Jimmy was not going to argue with his friend and if the dog brought him comfort then he'd make sure she was with him. "Ducky is going to ride back here with you and the dog, Gibbs and either Tim or Ziva will be riding in this truck but only till we can get back near the highway, Ducky set it up to have an ambulance waiting for us. Ducky will go with you to the hospital and I am going to take Fuego to a vet to get her checked out."

"Vet, vet? Why does she need to be check out?" he struggled to get out through the mask.

"Just want to make sure she is ok from her fight with the coyote, she doesn't have any obvious injuries but all the fur can be hiding bite wounds. The vet will also check to see if she has a microchip, if she has one we should be able to locate her owner. Don't worry Tony, the vet is a friend of mine and Fuego will be well taken care of," Jimmy assured his friend.

It took the team 15 minutes to get on the road. Jimmy rode with Ziva in the Durango. Gibbs was driving the Suburban, Jimmy had decided to leave the trailer with the snowmobiles behind, his Uncle and Cousins would retrieve them in the morning. Ducky stayed in the back with Tony and the big dog, as she had refused to leave his side. Tim continued in his role, staying in communication with Emergency Medical Services.

It took about an hour to arrive at the designated meeting spot. An ambulance was waiting for them just off the exit to the highway. With ease that comes from experience Tony was quickly transferred by the EMT's, Ducky was allowed to ride with him in the ambulance

The EMT's indicated they would be taking Tony to Level 1 trauma center at the hospital in Harrisonburg. The team watched as the ambulance pulled away. Gibbs turned to McGee and Ziva, "I want you to head back to DC, the weapon and evidence that Tony found needs to be processed as soon as possible, leave Balboa an update and go home, don't worry about coming back until tomorrow."

"Boss, what about Tony?" Tim asked.

"Jimmy and I are headed to the hospital, one of us will call with an update as soon as we know something, now get going you two, and be careful one team member in the hospital is more than enough." Thinking for a moment about the snow-covered roads and the difficult trip down he added, "If the trip back is too dangerous, find a place to spent the night, I don't want to rescue any more agents tonight. Just get in as early as you can in the morning."

As they walked back to their respective vehicles Gibbs turned and said, "Tim, arrange to get the van back tomorrow."

"On it, Boss," Tim responded.

The junior teammates had been reluctant to leave but knew they were of more use in helping to solve the case than sitting in a hospital waiting room.

Jimmy and Gibbs with the big dog comfortable with the back seat to herself drove quietly into Harrisonburg. " Palmer you know where we're going?" Gibbs asked surprised that Jimmy knew his way around here as the young man was well-known for his poor sense of direction.

Not to happy to be alone with Gibbs but knowing there was no other option, Jimmy answered, "I went to James Madison University in Harrisonburg and I spent a lot of time in this area with my family. The Vet I am taking Fuego to is a friend, it's where I worked as an assistant in college."

With that he turned and looked into the back seat and called out, "You doing ok back there, big girl," he asked the dog. Picking up her big head she looked at Jimmy and with a whimper she put her head back down.

"She is a beautiful dog, leave it to Tony to find a girl out here," Jimmy said.

"Think you can track down her owners?" Gibbs inquired.

"I don't know but my friends will take good care of her and a, a, a lot of people," he stuttered, "dump dogs they don't want out here, but I promised Tony we would look."

The reminder of the ride was silent, each man lost in his own thoughts, in the back seat, Fuego rode quietly occasionally shifting positions or sitting up to look out the window. On arrival to the hospital, Jimmy found parking fairly close to the building, locking the doors, they left the dog in the car and entered the building to find Tony and Ducky.


	8. Part 8

**A/N**: _**Again, a big thanks and Abby Hug, to everyone who has taken the time to read, review, follow, and tag as a favorite.**_

_**Writing fiction is new to me, especially dialog. My writing experience has consisted of writing, way to many research papers when I was in graduate school, and as a social worker writing progress notes and psychosocial evaluations. **_

_**Fiction is so different as you have to create what you write. I am truly enjoying writing fan fiction, it is so much fun to take my favorite characters and do with them as I will and I appreciate all of you going on this ride with me.**_

_**I wish I owned rights to NCIS, but alas can only borrow them.**_

_**I thank my wife for taking the time to proofread, though I am constantly editing and any errors are mine, so I apologize of any mistakes. **_

_**I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing**_**.**

**LAG**

**Chapter 13**

The ambulance ride was nothing if not hell for Tony, he was in pain, his leg and shoulder were on fire and it felt as if he had an elephant sitting on his chest. They had given him some pain medication but until all his injuries were fully assessed in the hospital they did not want to give him anything that would suppress his breathing. The supplemental O2 helped a little but he continued to cough. Each cough elicited its own hell as his body felt as if it was being torn apart. Ducky had been unusually quiet leaving the EMT's to do their job, an IV was started, the O2 tank was replaced with one from the ambulance, vital signs taken again and quiet words of encouragement spoken.

A nebulizer treatment was prepared, to open his clogged airways; even without a stethoscope he could hear his own wheezy breath and feel the rattle in his lungs.

He closed his eyes and not realizing he had dosed off, he was startled when the O2 mask was replaced with a mask for the nebulizer, as he did not have had the energy to hold on to the normal mouthpiece that resembled a peace pipe. Lying back all he could do was try to breath and think, he was worried about the dog, that big beast had saved his life and he wanted to make sure she was safe, but he trusted Jimmy to take good care of her.

His thoughts wandered back to the team, he had been surprised that they had come out to "rescue him" he thought they would just have the rangers come looking for him. Then again, Gibbs seemed annoyed with him, but he was always annoyed with him and it seemed he was more worried about the evidence then he had been about him. Tony came to the conclusion that he really did not want to see or speak to any of his teammates, including Gibbs, until he has some time to clearly think about what he wanted to do with his life, he knew he was too hurt and angry and just too damn tired to figure things out. As the medication in the nebulizer sputtered to an end he felt as if the pressure on his chest had lifted a little now instead of elephant on his chest, he had a polar bear sitting on him. Not wanting to even try to speak he let his exhaustion take him.

Awareness returned as he was being transferred from the ambulance gurney to a bed in the hospital emergency room, around him medical staff awaited his arrival; from his numerous visits to emergency rooms he recognized that he was being treated in a trauma level room. As he was settled in the bed, the staff moved with what appeared to be chaos to an outsider, was really a well-choreographed routine. The medical staff asked questions about medical history, allergies as they efficiently removed all of his clothing and covered him with a warm blanket. Their words became jumbled as he faded in and out of awareness; he was relieved when Ducky stepped up to answer the questions.

After being poked, prodded and x-rayed, by a horde of faceless people in blue scrubs, a tall blonde haired man, pulled himself out of the pack and identified himself as a doctor. In a calm quiet voice he introduced himself, "Agent DiNozzo I'm Dr. Miller, one of the ED doctors, we are going to have to take you to surgery to remove that piece of wood in your leg and to clean the bite wound on your shoulder. You have a fever and are showing signs of infection in both wounds, the chest x-rays are indicative of early pneumonia so we do not want to use general anesthesia, especially with the scaring on your lungs from your bout with the plague. You have some bruised ribs, but none appear broken. You also have some pretty extensive bruising on your back and hip that is going to make moving very uncomfortable for a few days, but we did not find any indication of internal bleeding. I'm sure you already know your wrist is broken, looks like a simple break so we are going to put a splint on it for now, it will need to be evaluated by an orthopedist and once the swelling has gone down they will put a cast on. The nurses are going to move you up to the surgical ward and get your ready. The surgeon will get your consents. Do you have next of kin or a healthcare proxy, if we need to speak with anyone?"

Looking up at the doctor and feeling very overwhelmed at the list of injuries, he pointed at Ducky and said, "No family, Dr. Mallard and my friend Jimmy are my proxies, you can talk to them, but only them, OK."

Ducky nodded in acknowledgement and said, "Anthony, my dear boy, I have copies of the signed forms here with me, but only if we needed them."

"Can you give a copy to the nurse, we should have a copy in the chart," Dr. Miller told Ducky, turning back to his patient, "Now Agent DiNozzo, I don't expect that we will need them, the surgeon will get consent from you as I mentioned earlier, we are not going to put you under general anesthesia but use a combination of conscious sedation and nerve blocks, this will allow us to get that piece of wood out and get those wounds cleaned out without causing you additional pain. Once the procedure is over you should recover pretty quickly from the sedation."

"Will you be using propofol?" Ducky asked.

"Yes," answered Dr. Miller, "as you are aware it is an effective anesthesia and it has a quick recovery time, so Agent DiNozzo should wake quickly after the procedure."

"Wait, wait," Tony struggled to get out between coughs, as both Doctors turned to look at him, he said, "isn't that what Michael Jackson died from?"

"True, Agent DiNozzo, but that was not in a hospital setting, a board certified Anesthesiologist will be administering the drug and we will be monitoring your vitals very carefully, also we always keep medication in the room that quickly reverses the effects of the propofol, if a patient experiences problems. Also we will be using a light dose so that you will not need to be intubated. OK."

Tony and Ducky both nodded in understanding.

"There is one other thing," the Doctor added, "You said the wound on your shoulder was a coyote bite?"

Tony nodded his head, "Yes, it think it was,"

"Well, since we can not test the animal for rabies and the risk is to great, you are going to need a series of rabies vaccines." Seeing the look of horror on his patient's face, he quickly added, "Its not as bad as it used to be, its not 21 shots in the stomach, you will need to get immune globulin, these shots need to go in a big muscle such as the gluteus maximus you will require several shots as these are based on your weight, we will also give you the first rabies vaccine today, with 4 more to follow, given on days 3, 7, 14 and 28. The side effects for most people are minimal with most having redness and soreness at injection site and possible low-grade fever. Don't worry these can be given in the upper arm. I'll set it up to give you the immune globulin and first vaccine while you are under. Do you have any other questions?"

"No." Ducky and Tony responded together.

As they prepared to take Tony up to surgery, Ducky took the younger man's hand, "Anthony, I will be here waiting. Remember that Jimmy and I are here for you my dear lad. If you do not want to see Jethro, Timothy or Ziva we will do all we can to keep them away until you are ready."

"Thank you Ducky, I'm going to need a little time to think." Tony said as they wheeled him away, leaving Ducky looking at an empty corridor as his young friend disappeared around the corner. Putting his head down, Ducky let out a big sigh, he knew it would be a battle to keep Jethro away, but he would do what he needed to do to protect Tony. He just wished that Jethro would stop fighting his feelings, stop pushing Tony away and open his eyes to what was before him. Turning he headed to the waiting room for another long vigil waiting for an update on the young man he had come to think of as family.

_**Chapter 14**_

Ducky walked into the waiting room to see Jimmy and Gibbs anxiously waiting.

The three men sat quietly in a corner, as far away from the few other family members sitting in the room. Ducky gave them an update on Tony's condition and explained that he was on his way to surgery to remove the piece of branch in his leg and to properly clean and close the bite on his shoulder. He also explained the need for rabies vaccines and how they would be administered.

Getting up, Jimmy said, "Since it is going to be a while before we can see Tony, I'm going to take the dog to my friends, I already called her and she agreed to meet me at her clinic. I should be back in about a hour, the clinic is not far from here."

"Mr. Palmer, take good care of her, it seems our Anthony has gotten very attached to that big dog."

"I will Ducky, Gibbs. Be back soon," he said as he gathered his coat and left.

The two older men sat quietly for a time, "Ducky, is he really going to be OK?" Gibbs asked.

"Physically, yes. The pneumonia is the greatest concern, but if there are no complications he should be back on desk duty in about 4 weeks and in the field in about 6-8 weeks."

Both men stood, when a young nurse walked up to them, "Dr Mallard?" she asked.

"Yes, is there news on Agent DiNozzo already?" he replied.

"No, it's to soon, but Dr. Miller said you had copies of the healthcare proxy paper work, he would like to have a copy in the chart, before they start the surgery."

Jumping in Gibbs asked, "They haven't started yet, are there problems?"

Looking at Ducky for approval, she responded as he gave a nod, "Agent DiNozzo is in the pre-op area now, they are getting him prepared for the surgery as we speak, and the surgical team is scrubbing, Dr. Miller was concerned that if there are any complications he wants to be clear about who has decision making capacity for Agent DiNozzo."

"I understand my dear," reaching in to the inside pocket of jacket he withdrew and envelope and handed it to the young nurse.

"This is a copy of the documents, Agent DiNozzo has approved for myself or James Palmer to act on his behalf. While Agent DiNozzo is hospitalized one of us will be available at all times. I provided our contact information to the nice young woman who registered Agent DiNozzo when we arrived, and in that envelope you will find a copy of the complete list of our telephone numbers with the best time to call each number. Mr. Palmer and myself will also carry copies of these documents, I am very familiar with hospitals and I know that sometimes such information is misplaced."

"Don't worry Dr. Mallard, I will personally see that the information is placed in Agent DiNozzo's chart," smiling at both men she turned and headed down the hall.

Gibbs sat back down, leaning forward, with his hands dangling between his knees, with his head hung, he said without looking up, "Ducky, how did this get so messed up?" Looking up a his friend he added, "How do I fix this?"

Sitting next to his long-time friend Ducky said, "My dear Jethro, first you need to acknowledge what you feel for that young man, then you have to stop pushing him away. When I was in University there was a young man, who attended one of my classes, he was enamored of an other young man in our class. Oh, at that time it was not acceptable for him to act on his feelings. Rather than try to befriend the young man he was attracted to, he behaved very poorly toward him."

"Ducky, I don't have time for your stories," Gibbs interrupted, not really in the mood to listen to Ducky's ramblings.

"Well my boy, I ran into my classmate recently as he retired from his law practice here in D.C. I was one of the few people he had confided in years ago. I asked him if he had ever saw the other man and he told me that they had seen each other a few years back. My friend said that they talked, my friend is still alone, never having found anyone else to give his heart to, but the other man has been living with his male partner for over thirty years and they are planning on wedding in June as it is now legal in Washington, D. C. My friend drove the love of his life away because of fear, maybe they would have gotten together, maybe not, but my friend will never know what could have been. Jethro, you still have a chance to set this right, but you have to stop pushing this boy away. Do you even realize how hard all of you have been on him, it's a wonder he has not moved on already."

"I don't know Duck, I think I went to far, I left him out there today, I didn't care if he was alone, I didn't care if it was cold and snowing. Damn it Ducky, I didn't even remember that he had, had the plaque and what staying out there could do to him and the worst part is that I don't think knowing would have made a difference. God, what kind of bastard am, I."

"Jethro, you did not remember but the others did and they did not make an effort to remind you. If Mr. Palmer or myself had been aware he was still out there, you can be sure you would have heard it from us."

"Ziva and Tim both told me today that they have realized how bad they have been treating Tony, they hope to be able to make it up to him. I think Tony being trapped out there scared us all, I just hope it is not to late."

"Jethro, he is still alive and he will recover from this, I am not saying he will quickly forgive you, Ziva and Timothy. Unlike the movies Anthony likes to quote from, life does not always have a happy ending, but you will never know what could be if you do not try. I have never known you to give up Jethro. The real question you must ask you self is what do you want?"

"Oh Ducky, I wish I knew. The short time Tony and I were together felt right, but do I want a real relationship with him, do I want to spend the rest of my life with him? I don't know, I just don't know. Then there is the big IF. Will he let me in, let me make it up to him, I am not sure I would be very forgiving if I was him."

"Well Jethro, before you speak with him, you need be clear about what you want. It would not be fair to lead him on. Regardless of what you desire your personal relationship to be, you must stop treating him like an incompetent fool at work. He is a very capable young man, and deserves better. Ziva, Timothy and even Abby will follow your lead. You have allowed this behavior to continue and you can change it."

"Have a lot to work out Ducky," Gibbs said as he stood, "I need to find coffee, I'll bring you back a cup of tea if I can find anything in this place."

"That would be wonderful and if you can not find anything, I can contact Mr. Palmer to pick something up on his way back from the vet." Ducky added.

_NCIS_

Palmer walked into the waiting room carrying a tea for Ducky, regular coffee for himself and a black, no sugar extra dark roast for Gibbs. After leaving the dog in the capable hands of his friend he knew they would need something, it would be sunrise before they would have an opportunity to sleep.

Gibbs and Ducky were sitting quietly; each man had a cup in his hand. Palmer knew they would appreciate the fresh drinks as he knew from experience hospital coffee or tea would not be up to the standard of either man.

Seeing, Palmer, Gibbs stood up, he gladly accepted the cup that was offered to him. Once Ducky had his fresh tea, Jimmy sat down. Holding out the bag he still held in his hand he said, "picked us up some egg and cheese sandwiches, donuts, and bagels. Any word on Tony?"

Accepting the offered food, Ducky informed him that they had not been updated yet, but he was hopeful that they would not have to wait much longer.

"How's the dog?" Gibbs interjected when Ducky was finished speaking.

"A hum… she's ok, some minor bite wounds, but nothing serious. She does have a microchip, my friend Maria Fernandez; she's the veterinarian, was able to check the information and will try to locate the owners. If Maria can't confirm that Fuego has an updated rabies vaccine, then she is going to need to be quarantined and she may have to be put down."

Gibbs and Ducky looked at him as he said this, "Why?" they asked in unison.

"Well, if they can't confirm she had her rabies vaccines, the risk that she may have contracted the disease in a case like this is too great, normal practice would be to put the dog down or she would need to be quarantined for 6 months.

"If they can give Tony the rabies vaccine now, why can't they do the same for the dog?" Gibbs asked with a puzzled look on his face. He knew Tony had grown attached to the dog and with everything else he had gone through, it would it hit him hard to know the dog that saved him had to be put down.

"That's a good question, I really don't know but I will give Maria a call in the morning to ask." Jimmy said as he looked at his watch. It was now about 3:00am and he was starting to feel the lack of sleep. The food had helped bring his blood sugar up, as with his diabetes it was dangerous to let it get low.

Pulling out his phone he looked at Ducky and Gibbs, "I'm going to get us a motel rooms, there is a nice place just down the street, my mother used to stay there when she came to visit me in college. Once we get an update on Tony, I'm going to need to get some sleep."

Pulling out his wallet, Gibbs handed him a credit card, "here, use this one, put this on NCIS."

A young female doctor that looked as she just left the operating room, still wearing the shoe and hair cover, walked up to waiting men just as Jimmy finished confirming the two rooms. All three men stood, "You are with Agent DiNozzo?" she asked as she took her hair cover off.

Gibbs anxious to hear how Tony was jumped right in, "How is he, can we see him?"

Ducky also stood and introduced himself and the other men, "I am Dr. Mallard, this is Jimmy Palmer we are friends of Agent DiNozzo and we are also his healthcare proxies. This is Agent Gibbs, also a friend and Agent DiNozzo's supervisor. We are all very concerned about him and anxious to hear how he is doing."

"Lets sit down gentlemen," she said as she sat across from them. " I'm Dr. Harriet Mason, I just completed the surgery on Agent DiNozzo. The surgery went well, we were able to remove the piece of wood from his leg, appears to be a piece of a branch. The wound is deep, it has been cleaned and because it is a deep puncture wound, it was closed with a drain left in." While she was sure that Dr. Mallard understood the significance of this she was not sure about the grey haired man with intense blue eyes or their younger companion, she explained further, "With a deep wound, if we close it, fluid will continue to build up inside, increasing the risk of infection. For a shallow wound we would leave it open with packing, but in this case the drain will allow it to heal from the inside out. The drain is pulled out in a few days, the shoulder wound was cleaned out and closed. While we had him under the initial rabies vaccines were administered. The first set can be uncomfortable. Agent DiNozzo should be out of the PACU soon and we will keep him in the ICU for about 24 hours due to his history with the plaque and the early onset of pneumonia."

Ducky had not interrupted the Doctor, as it was important for Gibbs to understand what was happening; now he asked the young Doctor, "How long do you think he will have to be here?"

"I can't give you a specific number of days but I would want him here a minimum of three days, if his lungs clear and we can control the infections with oral medication. If the pneumonia does not start to resolve or if we have trouble controlling his infection then he could be here a week or longer."

"When can we see him," Gibbs asked again.

"For tonight I am only going to allow one of you in," glancing at Ducky, "since you are his healthcare proxy, you may see him tonight for a brief visit. He is on a CPAP machine to help with his breathing, I don't want him trying to talk as he is too short of breath and rest now is what he really needs."

"CPAP, what's that for, how does it help his breathing," Gibbs asked, even thought he had been with Tony through the plaque, he had been busy with the investigation and he had no recollections of the CPAP.

"Dr. Mallard, I can explain to Agent Gibbs if you want to go with the Doctor to see Tony," Jimmy said, glancing nervously at both men.

"That is a wonderful idea Mr. Palmer, I will go check on our young friend and be back shortly," he said as he walked away with the pretty young doctor.

Gibbs was not happy to be left behind and Jimmy was a bit nervous to be left with an unhappy Gibbs.

"Well, Jimmy what is a CPAP?"

Sitting down to wait for Dr. Mallards return, Jimmy explained the medical terminology to Agent Gibbs, then both men sat, sipping their coffees in silence.

_NCIS_

Dr. Mallard followed the young doctor through the twist and turns to the intensive care unit. The Doctor swiped her badge to gain entrance and pointed to an intercom on the wall, explaining that this was a restricted access unit and all visitors needed to call in to gain access. Entering the unit Dr. Mallard noted that in the center of the room was large nurses station that was active even at this time of night, rooms lined up on either side of the station with large movable glass doors that allowed staff to keep on eye on their patients. Dr. Mallard was led to a room on the far right, standing outside he could see that the staff were still getting Tony settled in.

The young man was pale, his left arm was splinted, his right leg was visible and he had a thick bandage on his thigh and shoulder. The nurse was checking the EKG leads, CPAP, O2, and IV's. Tony's lower legs were wrapped in plastic sleeves that attached to a pump at the end of the bed. The sleeves would inflate and deflate to assist in moving the blood in his legs and help to prevent blood clots while he was bedridden, they would be removed when Tony was able to get up and move around.

Tony's eyes were closed and he did not seem aware of the activity around him. This was a relief to Dr. Mallard as he was sure Tony would be embarrassed by the fuss and also the fact that he was naked on the bed, with just a thin sheet covering his private area with the plastic tubing from the catheter snaking its way out to end in the large urine collection bag.

"Give them a moment then you can enter," the young doctor said as she entered the room to talk to the nurses and check on her patient. After completing their tasks the nurses left the room. Tony would be carefully monitored from the nurse's station, with staff always close by. Signaling to Ducky, Dr. Mason motioned for him to enter the room.

"He is asleep. He did wake up after the surgery but with the pain medication and level of exhaustion he was asleep before we got him settled in here. I would expect him to sleep for several hours at this point. As you can see we have him on IV antibiotics, and he is closely monitored. The ICU team will be assessing him every 3 hours and we will move him to a step-down unit in about 24 hours if he is stable and responding to treatment. You can have a little time alone with him now, then I recommend that you and your friends get some rest, you can't help him if you don't take care of yourselves and he is in good hands now, but he will need you more when he is awake and alert. If you have any questions, ask his nurse and she will get a hold of me or one of the covering physicians." Looking at the concerned look on the older mans face she padded his shoulder and said, "he is going to be alright, may take a little time to recover but he will get through this."

Leaving Tony in the capable hands of the medical staff, Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy left the hospital and headed to the hotel. It was still dark outside, but they would not get much sleep this night.


	9. Part 9

_**A/n: Almost to the end of what I had already written, so you may find that time between posts is a little longer, I will try my best to post at least once a week, more if possible. This is the longest story I have ever written and I have been working on it since Oct. Weather has been nice in Southern New England this past week and my wife and I just completed building a 8x16 floating deck in our backyard. Not bad for two middle aged women who are closer to "elderly" then "young adult", but the yard work takes time away from writing, can I wish for a little rain. At least after a few more weekends of work, I can spend my weekends sitting on my deck and just writing, hope to finish this by end of June.**_

_**As always I don't own any part of NCIS but it is fun to take them out to play.**_

_**A big thanks to my wife for proofreading but all errors are mine as I am constantly revising my work.**_

_**And a huge Abby Hug, to all of you who have taken time to read, review, follow and fav. I am incredibly humbled and honored by the comments you have left me. So again, **__**Thank You**__** all so very much. LAG**_

_**Chapter 15**_

Tony awoke to the constant beeping of the monitors in the ICU. He was warm and relatively pain-free at the moment, though his head had that floaty feeling that came from narcotic pain medications. A mask that he recognized as belonging to a CPAP machine covered his face. It was disturbing to have air pushed into his lungs but he was too tired and weak to try to remove it. A nurse came into check on him, giving him a smile as she made notes on a clipboard, noting the readings on the monitor. From experience he knew that his blood pressure, heart rate, respirations, temperature and O2 stats were being carefully monitored. He wondered what had happened to the dog, but Jimmy had assured him he would get her to a vet in the area. He trusted Jimmy and knew he would take good care of her.

He was glad to be alone at this time or as alone as he could be in the hospital, he knew he would have to talk to Gibbs but not yet, he was feeling too weak, too vulnerable. When he spoke with Gibbs he needed to have his act together. Gibbs was a force to be reckoned with and he was used to getting his own way. Thinking of what he would say to Gibbs, he drifted back to sleep.

Unfortunately for Tony it was three days before he was moved out of the ICU into a step-down unit. It had taken several changes in medication to get the pneumonia under control and while he still had a fever, he was no longer spiking temps over 104. Much to his delight he was now wearing a hospital gown and he was given a urinal to use, no more catheter. The CPAP machine was gone, but not the smaller oxygen mask, without it his O2 levels still dropped below 90% and as the respiratory therapist clearly informed him while doing his too numerous breathing treatments, he would need to remain on oxygen until his O2 levels stayed about 95% on room air.

Jimmy and Ducky had been in to see him in the ICU, per his instructions, Gibbs had not been allowed in. He would need to remind himself to ask Ducky how he had accomplished that feat, but he knew today he would at last have to face Gibbs.

Ducky had also told him that Gibbs had secured his service weapon and would return it when Tony was ready for it. Jimmy was holding on to his badge, wallet and other personnel items. Tony wondered if he would ever need his weapon again, as he prepared himself for the confrontation to come.

_NCIS_

Gibbs, Jimmy and Ducky sat in the hotel restaurant eating breakfast. Ducky and Gibbs had packed their bags and needed to return to Washington after their visit to Tony today. Over the last three days, the NCIS van had been recovered. Jimmy's Uncle and cousins had retrieved the trailer with the snowmobiles. Ziva and Tim were working on the case with Balbo and his team. Jimmy was staying behind in Harrisonburg with Tony until he was well enough to return home, his friend Maria, who was the veterinarian taking care of the dog, had offered them a room in her home.

Maria and her domestic partner Lilly had a large house with lots of extra rooms and a huge fenced in yard. Fuego as Tony had named the dog had been brought to their home when it was established that she was up to date on her vaccinations. She only had to receive a rabies vaccine booster and was recovering nicely from her tangle with the coyote.

Tim had assisted in finding the previous owners, who had been tracked down through the microchip. An elderly couple that had lived near Ashville, North Carolina had owned Fuego. When the husband had passed away and the elderly wife moved with her adult son to Wheeling, West Virginia. The family had decided to go up I-81 in VA, rather then going I-77 through West Virginia as the elderly woman wanted to visit her equally, elderly brother in Strasburg, VA. They had lost the dog in Strasburg when the elderly woman had accidentally let her out, in her confusion she thought she was still at home and had just opened the door as she did at home to let her out. The family thought that Ruby, as they called her was trying to get back home to Asheville. They had contacted animal control, but did not spend time looking for her.

Tim located the family in Wheeling and was informed that the elderly woman had been diagnosed with dementia and her son and daughter-in-law were overwhelmed by having to care for her, they requested that Maria find a new home for "Ruby". Tim had passed this information on to Gibbs and Jimmy. No one wanted to make a decision about the dog without input from Tony, so that was how she had ended up at Maria's home.

Maria and Lilly were thrilled to care for Fuego; they kept the name Tony had chosen for her as it fit with her beautiful orange red coat and amber colored eyes. She was a beautiful dog and even more so after she was bathed and groomed. A month of living in the forest had made for a very dirty dog. Maria and Lilly arranged it, so that Fuego would be allowed to visit Tony in the hospital, once he was moved to a regular room. Lilly was a social worker at the hospital and was able to get the necessary permission.

Without breaking any confidences Jimmy let his friend know that Tony had been going through a difficult time and being away from Washington might give him an opportunity to work out some personal issues.

The two women were warm and caring, they had a habit of taking in strays both the 2 and 4-legged type. Jimmy assured Tony that he would be welcomed and he would be with Fuego. Tony was not ready to be parted from Fuego. When they told him about her previous owners, he wanted to hold off finding her a new home until he decided what he was going to do with his future, maybe with some adjustments he would be able to keep her. Tony agreed to stay with Jimmy and his friends on discharge, as he would be able to spend time with his new friend.

_**Chapter 16**_

Tony lay in his hospital bed in the step-down unit, today was the day he would have to speak with Gibbs; he could not avoid it any longer. Jimmy and Ducky had informed him that Gibbs and Ducky would be leaving for Washington after visiting with him, as they needed to get back to work. He was saddened to know that Ducky would be leaving too but glad that Jimmy would be staying with him and that Jimmy's friends had taken Fuego in and he would be able to stay with her.

Dr. Mason and Dr. Miller assured him that he was improving, but he still faced a long convalescence. Tomorrow, if he continued to improve he would be moved to a regular room. After discharge he would need to keep up with his breathing treatments, the nurse case coordinator for the hospital had been in to see him and was going to order a nebulizer that he would use at home 2 times a day. He would also need to go for physical therapy for his shoulder and arm, once they were healed, to ensure he regained full range of motion and his strength back. The leg injury was healing nicely and despite some discomfort they had him up and walking a short distance with assistance. Normally he would have been trying to get out of the hospital sooner and he would have been in a hurry to get back to Washington and his desk, but now he was thankful for the break this was giving him. He needed the time to think and to decide what to do with his future.

Out there alone in the cold, hurt and sick, thinking no one would come, had him evaluating his place on the team and in Gibbs' life. He did not shy away from danger; he had been in law enforcement since he graduated from college and knew the dangers that came with the job. That he could take, but to be injured and hurt because his partners no longer had his back, because he had purposely been left behind, without regard for his safety, that he could no longer tolerate, he no longer trusted his teammates and the job was too dangerous to work with people you did not trust with your life because shit like this could kill you and he was not ready to die.

This left him with several choices, he could ask for a transfer to another team and stay in Washington or he could look for a position outside of Washington, he could take a position with another federal agency or he could use his law degree to do something completely different. He would put the time he had off to good use and explore his options, he knew this was a decision he could not make lightly and right now, with all the hurt and anger he was feeling he knew that he would make a decision he would later regret if he did not give himself time to let the rational side of his brain take over.

_NCIS_

Gibbs sat alone in the waiting room, Jimmy and Ducky had gone on ahead to check on Tony and to see if he was ready and willing to meet with him. If he had, had his way he would have been in that room three days ago, when Tony had first been brought in here, but Ducky had played his role of guardian of The Keep well, making it very clear that he would not be allowed in to see Tony until it was ok with Tony. He went as far as threatening to get a restraining on Tony's behalf if Gibbs did not honor his wishes.

At Tony's request Ducky had held back from saying anything to Gibbs over the past year but he had watched as Gibbs has systematically pushed Tony away and he knew the pain that was in Tony's heart. Ducky now made it clear to Gibbs that he was about to get what he wished for, it appeared he had succeed in his mission of driving Tony away, as Ducky was convinced that Tony would never return to the MCRT under Gibbs' leadership.

Gibbs knew that he had only one small opportunity to make things right with Tony. He had been struggling with his feelings for the younger man, but over the last few days he had time to really think about his actions and his motivation for his poor behavior. He was not comfortable with emotions; he always tried to bury his feelings. Dealing with the uglier side of life as a Marine and a Special Agent, had taught him to compartmentalize and detach to a certain level or he would not be able to do his job as he witnessed humanity at its cruelest and having to deal with all the raw emotions of victims and their families.

Once in his life, he had truly loved, totally, completely, with every once of his being, but it had been ripped away when his girls had been killed. He had not let anyone else get close, building a fortress around himself, oh he had gone though the motions getting married again three times, but that was about companionship and sex, not really about love. He had no intention of falling for Tony, but in a job that required them to spend so much time together, too trust each other explicitly, Gibbs had started to find some holes in his walls. The months they were together before the explosion had shown him that sometimes you find love in the most unexpected places, occasional sex with a man was something he had done because in the past there had been no feelings attached. With Tony he found someone he could love. Their relationship was still in its infancy, but Tony made him smile, made him laugh, and gave him joy.

After the explosion, the amnesia, the time apart, he had initially forgotten their time together. When he came back from his retirement, he was annoyed with Tony, the young man had held his team together, but when he found his 2nd in command continue to give orders and directions to the team, he made it his mission to teach him were he belonged. Six months had passed before he remember what he had with Tony, but by then he had made Tony the teams scapegoat and it was also clear that Tony had moved on and was involved with someone, he did not give any indication that his memories had returned, but it hurt to see Tony, sneaking off to be with someone else. When he found out Tony had been uncover he was angry and felt betrayed that Tony had not trusted him enough to tell him about the operation. He had not considered how his treatment of Tony at that time had made it impossible for Tony to come to him. Watching Tony's car blow up over and over had been heart wrenching, but as he always did he hid his feeling and only let his anger be seen.

Leaving Tony alone at the crime scene in the snow was stupid and careless. His reaction was despicable, he was scared and feeling overwhelming guilt that Tony had been seriously hurt because of his actions, that Tony could have died because of him. Instead of giving the younger man some comfort, he had acted like a total bastard, as he always said that was what the 2nd B in Gibbs stood for, didn't mean he really had to act like one.

That first night at the hospital, waiting for an update on Tony, Ducky had told him he needed to figure out what he wanted, he made it clear that he was on the verge of loosing Tony forever, not that death would take him but that this time he would finally walk away. After three days of some serious self reflection and pushing from Ducky, he reached the conclusion that not having Tony in his life, was not an option, he had come to depend on Tony, to trust him, to desire him and to love him, now he just had to convince him to give him a second change, to believe that he had really changed and that he was no longer going to push the him away. Gibbs knew it was a lot to ask for and this was not one of the movies Tony so loved to quote from.

Real life was messy and complicated and people did not get over hurt feelings after a well-scripted apology. In real life some people never got over the hurt, never forgave and happiness ever after was only a fantasy.

Gibbs was in for the fight of his life, he was not going to let Tony go easily and he knew he had only himself to blame for everything that had happened. He could not have prevented the explosion or the following amnesia, but he had control of his behavior when he returned and his behavior was deplorable. He was a man that lived by a strong set of rules and with Tony he had broken several of his cardinal rules: _Never screw your partner_, _Never leave a man behind_, and _Don't waste good_.

He had broken all of these. He had screwed Tony over by not supporting him and leaving him out on his own without back up. By not respecting him or his place on the team, he wasted the talents the young man had brought to the job. Once he had treated Tony as a valuable member of the team, now he had tried to make Tony feel like he was an incompetent fool, finding fault with everything Tony did.

It was the time for him to break the one rule he should throw away Rule 6: _Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness_, Gibbs knew that he had been so wrong that groveling on his hands and knees would not even come close to cutting it. Gibbs was not a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve, but he was going to have to show Tony just how truly sorry he was, how much he cared about him and the depth of his love for the young man.

The other rule that he should throw out in this case was number 12: _Never date a co-worker_, because if Tony would have him, he planned on showing the younger man, that buried under a gruff exterior was the heart of a romantic.

Jimmy and Ducky disrupted his chain of thought when they came out and advised him that Tony was ready to see him, while he was in with Tony they were going to get an update from the doctors. Tony had been moved to step-down this morning after spending three days in the ICU. Gibbs watched as they walked away, then taking a deep breath he braced himself for what was to come.

**A/N: I told Xenascully I would pass on this information. She is working very hard on planning the 3****rd**** Annual Fanfic Convention**

**in Roanoke, Virginia July 20, 2014.**

**If you are interested in attending send her a PM for details. Wish I could attend but already had summer vacation planned. LAG**


	10. Part 10

_**A/n: **_

_**Have been working on new chapters, even took my Ipad to work so I could write a paragraph or two during lunch. For those that did a rain dance, it worked, raining right now. This one is short but moment we have been waiting for. **_

_**As always I don't own any part of NCIS but it is fun to take them out to play.**_

_**Thank you to my wife for proofreading but all errors are mine as I am constantly revising my work.**_

_**And another huge Abby Hug, to all of you who have taken time to read, review, follow and fav. I am incredibly humbled and honored by the comments you have left me. So again, **__**Thank You**__** all so very much. LAG**_

_Jimmy and Ducky disrupted his chain of thought when they came out and advised him that Tony was ready to see him, while he was in with Tony they were going to get an update from the doctors. Tony had been moved to step-down this morning after spending three days in the ICU. Gibbs watched as they walked away, then taking a deep breath he braced himself for what was to come._

In his room, Tony watched his friends leave and mentally prepared himself to face Gibbs, he was still very angry and knew he would need to keep his emotions under control, he decided that the best way to deal with this was just to be as professional as possible, give his report as he would if he was up dating a co-worker on a case. He did not want to address the underlying issues, as he did not feel he would have the energy for such a heated conversation.

Gibbs was shocked at the appearance of his SFA. Tony was sitting upright in bed, he was pale, and his green eyes had that glassy fevered look. Gibbs knew that Tony was still very sick and the fever still lingered. Tony's breathing had a wheezy sound that Gibbs could hear from across the room and all of this reminded him of the time Tony was in the hospital with the plaque, except this time, he had his left arm the white cast that had replaced the splint, his injured leg was propped on some pillows and under the neck of the hospital gown he could see the edge of the bandages that covered the coyote bite. If this was an improvement he could only imagine how bad Tony had looked over the past 3 days.

Not known for his way with words, Gibbs knew this was one time where he could not hide behind his functional mute facade. "Hey Tony, you feeling better." Gibbs asked, thinking to himself how lame that had sounded.

"My name is Agent DiNozzo to you, Agent Gibbs," Tony responded in a weak breathy voice. The anger he was feeling resonating through his whole being. He did not remove the oxygen mask to speak, as he would have during past hospital admissions.

Gibbs was taken back by Tony's request to be formally addressed but he would comply, now was not the time to get irritated.

"Agent DiNozzo," Gibbs started even thought it felt strange to him, "I want to start this by apologizing for my behavior and my blatant disregard for your safety. I should have never left you alone out there. I also want to apologize for my abhorrent behavior toward you over the past year, I have undermined your position on the team, I have belittled you in front of others, I have disregarded your contributions to the team and I have put you in danger with my actions."

Instead of appeasing Tony, this string of apologies had him seeing red. He figured it he kept this up, before long he would set off the monitors for his heart rate and blood pressure. "You think, Agent Gibbs, that a few apologies will erase years of ill treatment, then you are sorely mistaken. I will give you my statement but that is all you are going to get today. I don't care about what you remember or not, what you feel sorry about, I just want to get this done so you can leave my room as soon as possible." Tony laid his head back on the pillow, trying to calm his breathing and get more oxygen into his lungs.

Looking down, Gibbs said in a whisper, "I really am so very sorry Tony." Glancing up, he saw Tony with his head back and eyes closed, Gibbs was not sure if he had heard.

Tony lay with his eyes closed for a moment; he had heard Gibbs speak and that quiet heartfelt apology at the end had reached deep inside of him. It reminded him of the Gibbs that had loved and cared for him, but he was not ready to forgive and he was not ready to open his heart to that level of hurt again. He felt so tired and sick that, all he wanted was to give his statement; have Gibbs go and medicate himself into obliteration for a few hours.

Opening his eyes, he saw Gibbs still standing there quietly and looking surprisingly contrite. "Sit, Agent Gibbs," Tony said motioning to the chair next to him. He did not want Gibbs this close, but he did not have the energy to project his voice across the room.

Not wanting to upset Tony again, Gibbs, sat where instructed, "Agent DiNozzo, you may start when you are ready."

"You know the first part, after I called you to tell you I located the knife, I marked the area, took photos and bagged and tagged the knife. The snow had started to come down real heavy and it wasn't possible to keep checking the area. Also I knew that it would be dark soon, and I had wanted to be on the way back before nightfall. The wind had also started to blow." Stopping to cough and take a sip of water, Tony rested a moment before continuing. "I went back to the van and stowed away the possible murder weapon, camera and other items I had bagged and tagged. I went to retrieve the tent as it had been blown over in the wind. It took me a few minutes to get it closed and as I was heading back to the van, a falling branch hit me." Looking down at his arm in its white cast and rubbing his leg, he shuttered as the memories of being trapped out their returned.

Gibbs watched with concern as Tony appeared to have a more difficult time breathing, the wheezing was getting more pronounced and his voice was so weak it was hard to hear what he was saying. "Agent DiNozzo, I think I have enough for now, when you are up to it you can write up the rest of your statement and send it to the office." Getting up from the chair he headed for the door.

Tony was too exhausted to disagree, just nodding in agreement.

Gibbs was torn, he wanted to respect Tony's wishes but having come close to loosing him, a strong drive to protect the young man had arisen in him. Risking Tony's wrath, he said, "Tony, I know this is not the time to talk, but when you are ready, I really want to make this up to you if you will let me. What I did was inexcusable but I do hope someday you will forgive me." With that said he turned to leave.

"Maybe someday Gibbs, but not today," came the whispered reply.

Stepping into the hall, Gibbs found Ducky and Jimmy waiting. Not wanting to display how unbalanced he felt at this moment, he said, "You need to check on him, he was sounding really wheezy." Then turned away to find a quiet place to think while he waited for Ducky to head back to Washington.

Upon entering the room, Ducky and Jimmy found that Tony's heart rate was elevated and his breathing was labored even with the oxygen, they had the nurse come in to evaluate their friend. She increased the rate of the oxygen Tony was receiving, advised him not to try to speak and went to call the Doctor.

After a nebulizer treatment, Tony's breathing improved. After his confrontation with Gibbs, he was left physically and emotionally exhaustion and needed time alone. Ducky said his good-byes and promised to contact the younger man tomorrow.

Jimmy walked Ducky out, their shared concern for their friend heavy on their minds. Ducky said, "Mr. Palmer you will let me know if there are any changes in his condition."

"Of course, Dr. Mallard, and don't worry I will keep an eye on him, we just need to make sure he has the time he needs to decided on his future without pressure from the team."

"Oh my boy, I do not think we will have to worry about Agent Gibbs trying to contact Tony. I think Tony made it very clear that he does not want any contact unless he initiates it. The one I am most worried about is Abby. I think she will try to contact Tony unless Agent Gibbs gives her a direct order not too. I am also not sure how she will react to all this, I know she cares about Tony, but she is very protective of Agent Gibbs and does not always see him as we do."

Leaving Jimmy at the hospital entrance, Ducky and Gibbs headed back to D.C. Before leaving Gibbs handed Jimmy a sealed envelope and asked that he pass it on to Tony. Gibbs hated leaving with things so unsettled between them, but he knew that if he was ever going to repair their relationship, he had to start by treating Tony with the respect and dignity he deserved. Respecting Tony's wishes and waiting until he was ready to talk without pushing his own agenda was a start. He would wait, no matter how impatiently, no matter how long, for Tony to contact him.

**A****/N: I told Xenascully I would pass on this information. She is working very hard on planning the 3****rd**** Annual Fanfic Convention ****in ****Roanoke, ****Virginia July 20, 2014.**

**If you are interested in attending send her a PM for details. ****Wish I could attend but already had summer vacation planned. LAG**


	11. Part 11

6

_**A/n: Blame the beautiful sunny Southern New England weekend for the delay in posting. Finished our new deck but now have to do some landscaping, gardening and for those of you who live where it snows you know that each fall we put away all our outdoor stuff, only to have to take it all back out in the spring. Couple more weekends of hard work then summer is all mine or should I say ours. **_

_**As always I don't own any part of NCIS but it is fun to take them out to play.**_

_**Thank you to my wife for proofreading but all errors are mine as I am constantly revising my work.**_

_**And another huge Abby Hug, to all of you who have taken time to read, review, follow and fav. I won't ask, beg or hold a story hostage for reviews but I want you to know that I read and respond to all, sorry guests, can't respond but still enjoy reading. My wife will ask why I am smiling and I have to read her your comments. So again, **__**Thank You**__** all so very much. LAG**_

_**Chapter 17**_

Tony sat on the bed dressed in sweats that Jimmy had brought him yesterday in anticipation of his discharge. Today at last he would be released from the hospital. Jimmy should be here any minute to get him. He was anxious to get out, as he hated hospitals and had been here too long. Also he really wanted to see Fuego, Jimmy and his friends had been able to get the dog in to see him once during his stay. Fuego had gotten so excited, hopping around and wagging her tail, Tony was so pleased that she had not forgotten him, and now he would be able to spend time with her. Maria had found some bites on her but overall she was in good health, as her rabies shots had been up to date, she did not have to be quarantined or worse put down.

It had been ten days since he had been brought in, spending three days in ICU and two days in the step-down unit. Finally, his fever broke yesterday; he had awoken about three in the morning soaked in sweat, the night nurse helped him clean up and change his hospital gown. He was beyond being embarrassed at this time, as the nurses had seen all there was to see of him on a number of occasions. The cast on his left arm and his injured shoulder made it difficult for him to take care of all his own basic needs and the staff had been helping to clean him up.

The doctor had told him he had to remain afebrile for at least 24 hours before they would consider discharging him, fortunately for him, his fever had not returned and he had finished the full course of IV antibiotics, the IV site in his arm had been removed, though it had left an impressive bruise, matching the bruises on his hip and back.

The nurse had gone over all of his discharge instructions, he was given several prescriptions that needed filling and the nebulizer had been delivered directly to the home of Maria and Lilly. He would continue on oral antibiotics for another 14 days, and the respiratory therapist had explained the use of the nebulizer. He was not pleased about the prednisone. They had started him on it to reduce the inflammation in his airway and he would need to taper off it. He hated being on prednisone as it made him moody and restless, but would be completely off in two weeks. He would also have to use an inhaled medication 2x a day and carry a rescue inhaler on him at all times. The rescue inhaler was not new but using an inhaler everyday was. The paper work had also included a list of follow up appointments with the doctors at least the physical therapist would be coming to the house.

He was just so glad to be getting out; the first week had been hell, always feeling as if he could not get enough air even with the CPAP and oxygen. At one point they had considered putting him on a ventilator but fortunately that had not happened.

It would be another 4 weeks at least before he would be cast free. It had been a clean break that had not required surgery but the cast was bulky and uncomfortable. The bite wound on his left shoulder was healing, he had some residual stiffness and limited range of motion. The stitches had been removed this morning and the Doctor had assured him there would be minimal scaring on his back, his leg, well while it was healing would have an impressive scar were the drains had been in left in for about 2 days following surgery. Due to the muscle damage he was walking with a limp and had been given a cane to use until he regained some strength in his right leg.

The rabies vaccine had not been as bad as he thought it would be, having grown up hearing stories of 21 injections in the stomach, he was assured that it had not been done that way for years. He had already had the first 3 rounds of the vaccine while in the hospital and only had 2 left, as he had to get them on a set schedule, he would come back for the next one in 4 days and the last one 2 weeks after that. He hated needles but the thought of rabies scared him more as there was no cure and he was still having nightmares of being attacked by the coyote.

Jimmy's friends, Maria and Lilly had assure him that it would be no trouble to have him stay in their home. He was not sure how long he would be staying but it would be at least a month. Jimmy had gone back to Washington and had been able to get clothes and personal items from his apartment. He contemplated going back to D.C. when he was discharged, but he really wanted to spend time with Fuego, the dog had saved his life and also it would be nice to be away from all the craziness. Plus he really needed time to think about what he was going to do with his future and right now he did not want to see Gibbs and the rest of the team except for Ducky and Jimmy.

He had talked to Abby yesterday for the second time since he was in the hospital, she had been away at a conference when this incident had occurred. During their first conversation she seemed upset with him, blaming him for getting Gibbs bad mood and it seemed as if she did not believe that Gibbs would have left him alone at the crime scene in the middle of a snowstorm. Surprisingly it had been Tim and Ziva, who had set her straight.

Ducky told him that Abby had been ranting about how Tony blamed her Sliver Fox for leaving him out there. Abby had said he was just acting like a spoiled child who did not take responsibility for his actions. Per Ducky, Tim and Ziva made it very clear to her that Tony was in no way responsible, that they in fact had let their partner down. Abby had continued to insist that Gibbs would never do that to someone he cared about. Tim and Ziva told her they all had a part in what happened to Tony, because they had been treating him as if he no longer mattered to the team.

The next day, Abby talked to Ducky, who made it clear that Tim and Ziva were correct, that her behavior, blaming Tony for Gibbs bad mood, just emphasized how poor the team had been treating Tony and how that behavior had led to Tony almost getting killed. As Ducky scolded her, Abby got paler then her normally pale complexion, ran to the bathroom and got sick, when she came out she was contrite and apologetic. Ducky told her that he was not the person whom she needed to apologize to.

When Abby called yesterday she was remorseful, but Tony did not feel up to dealing with her drama as even when apologizing Abby could make it all about her, wanting everyone to comfort her and he was not sure yet that he was willing to forgive her and told her so. The conversation was uncomfortable and ended with the issues unresolved between them, but he it was nice to hear that Tim and Ziva had defended him, even accepting some responsibility for what happened, regardless he still did not feel he could trust them.

Gibbs did not try to contact him after their interaction in the hospital. He did send a note with Jimmy, which was very uncharacteristic for the man; actually his whole demeanor in the hospital room had been uncharacteristic. Tony had expected a firestorm of a confrontation; Gibbs was not one to apologize, he usually just bulldozed his way into any situation. When he spoke with Ducky the next day, Ducky had told him not to spend time analyzing Gibbs' behavior. Ducky could not speak for the Senior Agent, but he did feel that seeing Tony injured and ill had scared him and that he knew he was ultimately responsible. Gibbs did not admit to making mistakes but he was not perfect and sometimes he was just wrong. Tony read the note, written in Gibbs' precise handwriting,

Tony, I accept full responsibility for what happened, I should have had your six. There are no excuses for my actions. Will be waiting to talk when you are ready,

Gibbs

It was brief, and left future contact up to Tony. He did not know that to think of this, but he knew he needed time. He was going to be out of work for at least another 6 weeks, money would not be a problem as he had been injured on the job. Since his injuries happened on the job he would have workman's compensation, his medical bills would be covered and he would be paid 80% of his salary, with the balance made up by his sick and vacation time. Normally he would go back on light duty as soon as he was medically able to do so, but this time he would not go back just to sit at his desk surrounded by people he did not want to be around. His broken arm and injured should precluded him from doing the needed computer work and filing required of desk duty. He still had not made up his mind about the job. He would not even consider going back until the issues with his team were addressed and he felt he would not be put in danger because of a lack of concern for his safety, in reality he was not sure he wanted to go back.

Thinking about this was just making him anxious and he could feel his chest getting tight, he took a few deep breaths and wished Jimmy would hurry up and get here.

Tony thought of Christmas, he was going to be spending it with Jimmy and his friend's as it was only a week away. Tony had never been big on Christmas or any other holiday. With his mother there had been some joy, watching, _It's a Wonderful Life_ and eating caramel popcorn when she was not in one of her "moods". After she died when he was 8, it had been the staff that kept up the tradition, as his father was too busy to spend time with his young son. Guadalupe the Cook and the other house staff tried to give the small boy in their care some joy on Christmas and throughout the year. He would sit in the kitchen and watch Cook prepare families meals, and she would talk to him, teach him Spanish and make special treats just for him, but in a cold, formal household, where everything was about appearances, the needs of the child were frequently overlooked by selfish parents.

Christmas morning, Tony would wake to find a perfectly store wrapped gift under the perfectly decorated tree, in the perfectly decorated house, but there was no thought put into buying his gift and it was usually something Tony hated. Tony was sure it was his father's secretary who had made the purchase.

At the of age twelve he was disowned by his father and sent to the Rhode Island Military Academy in Rhode Island, while he was at boarding school he would just stay through the holidays with a handful of other boys. The staff made sure that the kids had no place to go had a Christmas meal. The professionally wrapped gifts continued to arrive.

In College, avoiding the holidays was not an issue as he was so busy with his studies, sports and the part-time jobs he had to work to supplement his scholarships. Once he started working as a police officer he would just volunteer to work, as a single, rookie cop, it was expected that he would work the holidays and would need to put in his time to earn those days off. Tony was elated as now he did not have to make up excuses as to why he had no place to go.

The only real Christmas he had known was in Peoria, when he had been living with Gunther. Günter was a 6'5" blond, Nordic god. He came from a big family who loved the holidays. He had brought home a Christmas tree that was so large it was hard to fit in their apartment and they had to cut two feet off the top to make it fit even with the 10 foot ceilings in their apartment. They had spent the day stringing lights on the tree but never finished decorating it. Making love for hours under the branches with the lights flashing brightly in an array of colors became their favorite pastime. When Tony was offered the job in Philly, Günter accepted a job in California. The relationship ended without drama or heartache. They made promises to keep in touch, but after a year the calls and letters dropped off. Tony did not have another male lover until Gibbs.

While working in Peoria it had been difficult to keep his relationship with Günter secret, having to constantly censor what he said, referring to Günter as his roommate, not being able to share, when his co-workers talked about their families, what they did on their time off and with whom, not being able to have a real date for fear someone would see them. While making a routine arrest, he had been injured when the suspect's girlfriend stabbed him in the side. In the ensuing struggle Tony was knocked unconscious, lucky for him his partner and back up arrived in time. His partner made a call to Günter letting him know Tony had been injured and was in the hospital. When Günter arrived to see him, Tony was in surgery, as he was not "family", he was given no information on Tony's condition and spent a miserable night in the waiting room worrying, until Tony was awake and alert enough to give permission for him to enter. The worst part was that as a "brotherhood" of police officers, Tony's partner and Sergeant had been treated as family, given medical updates and had been allowed in to see him, while Günter was kept out. Günter was upset he could not disclose their relationship but he had kept his promise to Tony and did not say anything.

Tony hated living this way but after witnessing what happened to a fellow officer who was just suspected of being gay, Tony concluded that he did not want to find himself in that position. The rude comments, the harassment, fear that if you got into trouble backup would be slow in coming. Mostly Tony had spent too much of his life as an outsider and he just wanted to fit in for once, so he created the façade of a over-sex frat boy, if anyone had bothered to look behind the mask they would have known that most of his "dates" did not end up in anybody's bed.

Tony nearly fell off the bed when the door opened and Jimmy walked in. Seeing the started looking on his face Jimmy said, "Oh God, Tony I didn't mean to scare you, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Jimmy, was just thinking you were never going to come, thought you were going to be here a half hour ago."

"I'm sorry, I was getting your room set up, the medical supply company delivered a nebulizer this morning."

"It's Ok Jimmy, let get out of here," Tony said getting up off the bed.

"Do you have everything?" Jimmy asked, "Did the nurse give you all your discharge papers?"

"Yeah, I have everything, we need to stop at a pharmacy on the way home, I'm sure you will make sure I take all these meds," Tony smiled at his friend as he said this.

"Your bet Tony, Ducky will kill me if I don't take care of you. There is a pharmacy on the way to Maria and Lilly's house, I think they have a drive through window, we can drop them off and I'll pick them up later, after I get you settled at the house."

Grabbing the small bag of personal items for Tony, they made their way out to the car. Tony was using a cane to help his injured leg, though with his broken arm and injured shoulder it was a bit awkward.


	12. Part 12

_**A/n: **_

_**Blame the delay in posting on the beautiful weekend we had, lot and lots of sun, just perfect, of course spent all my time working in the yard, so no time to write . On the positive side, my house is clean, my yard looks great, and more free time to write this week. **_

_**As always I don't own any part of NCIS but it is fun to take them out to play.**_

_**Thank you to my wife for proofreading but all errors are mine as I am constantly revising my work.**_

_**And another huge Abby Hug, to all of you who have taken time to read, review, follow and fav. I am incredibly humbled and honored by the comments you have left me. So again, **__**Thank You**__** all so very much. LAG**_

_**Chapter 18**_

About a half hour later Jimmy pulled into the driveway of a rather large house set back about 150 feet from the road. The two-story white stucco, red tile roofed, Spanish Colonial was an unusually architectural style for this area. About five acres of land surrounded the house. The front of the house was flat with a veranda that ran the full length; the second floor balcony covered the veranda. The windows he could see appeared to be floor to ceiling. A beautiful pine wreath with a large red bow, adorned the large double doors of the main entrance. A two-car garage was attached to the left side of the house. Parked on a paved area next to the garage sat a very muddy, slightly beat up pick-up truck. Between the house and the garage was a side entrance into the home.

As Jimmy and Tony approached the side door, the sound of laughter could be heard. Entering through the mudroom the two men stopped in shock at the sight in front of them. Maria dressed in a one-piece coveralls, like the ones they used at crime scenes, was covered from head to toe in a thick mud, emitting the strong odor of manure.

Lilly held on to Fuego who seemed very interested in the smelly muck. The two women emitted sounds of pure joy as they laughed, Maria holding her side as she got a stitch from laughing so hard; an occasional snorting sound accompanied the sound of Lilly's laughter. Seeing the two men enter, the women struggled to compose themselves, Lilly let go of Fuego who went immediately to Tony, with barely contained excitement, the dog made a sound that was part bark and part whine, she also did a little dance, hopping up and down, body wiggling and tail wagging with joy.

Lilly finding her voice first said, "OMG, that hurt, Maria was at the Harmon farm taking care of a sick horse, the horse got a little ornery and in trying to avoid a hoof, Maria slipped and landed in the mud." Noting how pale Tony appeared and the way he leaned heavily on his cane, Lilly headed for the door, beckoning the guys to follow. "Come on guys let's get you settled. Tony, you and Jimmy will have the guest rooms on the first floor; there is a shared bathroom between the rooms. Honey," she said turning to Maria, "you going to get cleaned up and take care of this mess." pointing to the muddy tracks on the floor, "while I get the guys settled."

Maria did not respond but gave her a look that said, of course what else do you think I would, stand around covered in mud and cow poop all day.

Blowing Maria a kiss, as no way, did she want to touch her muddy wife, Lilly lead Tony and Jimmy into the main house. Maria finally finding her voice called after them, "Tony, Jimmy welcome to our home, I'll catch up with you guys later."

"That's a normal occurrence around here," Lilly explained, "most of Maria's practice consists of horses, cows and other farm animals, though she does treat dogs, cats other pets in the office. My wife does not mind the mud but I do, so as a compromise we added the mudroom. The other door off the mudroom is a full bathroom with its own washer and dryer. She leaves all work clothes in there."

The trio followed by the big dog made their way through a well-appointed kitchen, the walls yellow-gold, Dark granite counter tops with cherry glass faced cabinets. One wall was all glass with floor length window and French doors leading out to a courtyard. A large kitchen table filled the rest of the space.

"Hope you like to eat," Lilly said as they walked through the kitchen, "Maria is a great cook, hence, the twenty pounds I put on," patting her belly for emphasis, "since we have been together."

Tony was quiet as they walked taking in the large home and getting familiar with the layout. Too many years as a police officer had left him with the need to always be aware of his surroundings.

Jimmy and Lilly continued talking, as Lilly lead then through the arched doorway at the far end of the kitchen, then left down a corridor lined with several large oak panel doors. Jimmy was asking her about their marriage as it was only legal in a few states and Virginia was not one of them. Tony paid attention to this part of the conversation, as he was interested in the progression of legal and social acceptance of marriage for same-sex couples. While Tony did not identify as "Gay" he was a bi-sexual man who on the Kinsey scale was probably closer to homosexual then heterosexual. Listening to the conversation, he heard Lilly say, "You know, Maria and I have been together for about 15 yrs, but we just got married this past November 12th, in Hartford, Connecticut. The law there went into effect on that day and we wanted to be part of history. I lived in CT for a few years and Maria lived in Massachusetts, our friends in Hartford actually introduced us, so it was fitting we held our wedding there. Our friends have an old Victorian house with lots of room and it was a really cool place for a small wedding, I told Maria I just wanted to get married outside in my jeans and forgo a big wedding but November in Connecticut is just too damn cold to do anything outside. In May, we plan on having a big celebration here. If only the rest of the country would catch up with New England." She said shaking her head.

Lilly and Jimmy stopped when they reached the last door at the end of the corridor. Opening one of the beautiful oak paneled doors, Lilly step in and motioned for them to follow. The large bedroom was a pale sage green, to the left of the entrance on the same wall Lilly pointed out the door to the shared bathroom. He would not have to go out in the hall but would just needed to lock the door on the other side if he did not want Jimmy to walk in on him, though for now Jimmy suggested he leave it unlocked incase he needed some assistance.

The whole left wall was covered with floor to ceiling windows and French doors leading out to the courtyard, though it was too cold to utilize at this time of year. Heavy dark green drapes hung on either side and could be closed to provide privacy or block out the light. On the walls were beautiful photographs, Lilly pointed out that she had taken the photos on a trip to visit family in Mexico. She had captured the beauty in the weathered faces of the elders in the pueblo her grandmother was from. Each face told a story of a life hard lived, but the twinkle in the eyes spoke of a joy for living. On the far wall there was a gas fireplace with a big comfortable looking chair placed to take optimal advantage of the fire and the view out the windows. The mantel held pieces of beautiful Navajo pottery. The antique mahogany four-poster queen size bed was on the right wall facing out toward the patio. There were a number of pillows and what appeared to be a handmade quilt in earth tones on the bed. To his tired body the bed looked so inviting. On either side of the bed were matching nightstands, with matching lamps. There was also a large dresser and with his nebulizer sat on it. On one side of the bed was a large dog bed for Fuego.

Lilly pointed out an armor to the right of the entrance, it held a flat screen TV no where as big as the one Tony had in his apartment and cable box, the remote on the nightstand by the bed. The drawers on the lower half filled with clean linens, an extra blanket if he was cold and towels. Getting ready to exit the room, knowing Tony would need time to get settled and rest she said, "I'll be out in the kitchen if you need anything, is there anything special you would like to eat?" Lilly asked as she headed for the door.

Tony shook his head, "No I'm all set for now, thank you again for letting me stay, but right now I just want to try out the bed.

"Tony, its our pleasure to have you here and don't be shy about letting us know what you need, we want you to feel comfortable in our home. Jimmy anything you want?"

Jimmy thought about it for a moment and said, "If its not to much trouble I would love some of the Ropa Vieja, Maria makes." Looking at Tony, he added, "Tony you have to try this dish it's amazing, Maria's grandmother taught her to make it the real Cuban way, it's this flank steak, with onions and peppers and it is so delicious."

Tony had to smile as his friend almost had an orgasm describing this food, he was not feeling very hungry but knew he would have to eat something. "Sounds great, just not sure if I'm up for it, but I can try a little."

"Don't worry, Maria can put that together in no time, and if it's too much for you we have plenty of food and you can have something lighter. Just let me know what I can get for you. If you don't feeling like leaving the room, I put one of the walkie-talkies we use to communicate when one of us is out in the barn or in the fields on the nightstand, I will keep the other one on me and you can just call whenever you needed me. Hope you don't mind a dog in the bed, she has been sleeping with us, though with the three of us it got a little crowded," she said with a giggle, "I have our own dog in barn for now but you'll meet him later and the cats may or may not come out to greet you, they can be a little standoffish. Remember to call if you need anything," she said as she closed the door behind her.

Jimmy turned to his friend and said, "why don't you nap a while, I'll go back to the pharmacy to pick up your meds and anything else you might need."

Tony laid back on the bed and Fuego jumped up beside him. Luckily with a queen size bed there was enough room for both of them. "Ohhh, this bed is so much more comfortable then a hospital bed, can't believe how tired I am already and I haven't really done anything."

"Give your self time Tony, you just got out and you need time to recover."

"I know, but you know how hard it is for me to feel this way, I walk to the bathroom and have to rest, I get dressed and need a nap. God," he said as he started to yawn, "guess I will take a nap."

Jimmy walked over to his friend and helped him get his shoes off and get comfortable, with his casted arm and other injuries. Tony did not want to get under the sheets so Jimmy just covered him with the quilt, the room was warm enough that he did not worry about Tony getting chilled. By the time he was done, Tony was more almost asleep.

Reaching for the door to leave Jimmy looked back and had to chuckle too himself, his best friend had turned over and had draped his casted left arm over the big dog who was tucked in tight next to Tony, their heads side by side on the pillow. For a moment he thought taking a picture on his cell phone, but he knew Tony would be upset and he did would not do anything that would cause his friend pain or embarrassment. Leaving the two sleeping he went to find Maria to beg her into making Ropa Vieja, and may just maybe if he begged hard enough she would make one of her famous cheese flans for desert, he knew Tony would love it, as it was just the perfect blend of creamy sweetness.

**Note:** _**Ropa Vieja is a great Cuban dish, not difficult to make, you can find great recipes online but its flank steak, boiled and shredded, (can boil in beer for a nice flavor), after shredding place in large skillet, with onions, garlic, green peppers and little tomato sauce, serve over white rice, and if you are adventuresome can try to fry plantain bananas. (Green ones Tostones, ripe Maduros) all great yummy food.**_

_**Same-sex marriage was legal on Nov. 12, 2008 in CT, now up to about 17 or 18 states, court in PA recently overturned ban and it is now legal on the East Coast from Maine to Washington DC, Virginia is still not there. Never thought we would get so far in my lifetime. Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to read.**_

_**Next chapter should be up by the weekend.**_


	13. Part 13

_**A/n: **_

_**Another beautiful weekend in Southern New England, bright sun, clear skies, warm and no humidity. Finished writing this chapter on my new deck. **_

_**As always I don't own any part of NCIS but it is fun to take them out to play, rough them up, fix them up and eventually put them back. LOL**_

_**Thank you to my wife for proofreading but all errors are mine as I am constantly revising my work.**_

_**A huge Abby Hug, to all of you who have taken time to read, review, follow and fav. I am incredibly humbled and honored by the comments you have left me. So again, **__**Thank You**__** all so very much. LAG**_

_**Chapter 19**_

_Tony worked the crime scene, systematically photographing the area, the team stood a short distance away he could see them but could not hear what they were saying. He turned away when movement in some nearby trees caught his attention, turning back to alert the team, Tony found himself alone with the body; the team was nowhere to be seen. Looking frantically around and calling for Gibbs, he found that he was alone. Turning again he was now standing in a dark forest, everywhere he looked it appeared that there were eyes watching him. He was totally alone and exposed. A pack of wolves came slowly out of the trees, circling around him. He was surrounded with no cover. He could not watch them all, as they were everywhere. Reaching for his weapon he found that his holster was empty. He felt them closing in but he had nothing to defend himself with, the camera he had been holding was gone. Suddenly a huge male stood in front of him, snarling, he seemed ready to attack. Tony's heart was pounding and as the big wolf leaped, Tony felt a scream leave his throat. _

Tony woke with a start, sitting up quickly, his heart racing and sweat running down his neck. His breathing was labored as he used his stomach muscles to draw in large gasps of air. Disoriented he looked around the strange room, struggling to remember where he was; his body ached from the rapid movement. A wet nose poked at his side as Fuego looked at him with what appeared to be concern, in her eyes. Lying back down, he drew in deep breaths as he tried to calm his racing heart. Fuego laid her head on his stomach and he gently stroked her big head. Tony knew it was a dream but it had felt so real, he could feel the big teeth sinking into him again.

As he settled down he looked around the room again, Jimmy must have come in while he was asleep as it was dark outside and the light that sat on the dresser cast a soft glow. Turning toward the nightstand he noted a glass of water and his medications. He had been so tired he had not heard his friend come and go. It also appeared that Fuego had not left his side, feeling the pressure on his bladder, he sat up slowly to avoid the dizziness that accompanied a rapid shift in position, once he felt stable enough he worked his way to the bathroom but did not bother to shut the door while he took care of business and rinsed his face as best he could with one arm. Fuego watched him carefully from her position on the bed. Taking the medication left out for him, he felt a rumble in his stomach, his nose picked up the scent of something cooking in the kitchen and it smelled delicious. Grabbing his cane he made his way to the door, Fuego leaped off the bed and followed him out, staying close to him but careful not to trip him up.

As he neared the kitchen he could hear the voices of quiet conversation with an occasional stifled giggle. Entering he took in the sight before him. Jimmy sat at the kitchen table, his books from medical school spread out around him. Maria was standing at the large commercial stove, stirring something in a large skillet, the wonderful smells filling the room. Lily stood behind Maria and with her arms wrapped around her wife, kissing her neck and whispering something in her ear that made Maria smile and turn to kiss her gently on the lips.

"Ahem…Ladies we have company," Jimmy said as he spotted Tony and Fuego standing in the doorway.

Pulling away from her wife, Lilly blushed, "Sorry, Maria and I are pretty touchy feelly with each other, come on in sit down, dinner is almost ready." She said indicating to a chair around the table. "Fuego's welcome too, since she has been here we found that she will just lie at your feet but does not beg, that is if that is ok with you."

Tony smiled down at the big dog, "Yeah, that fine, I like her close." He said as he sat next to Jimmy.

"Jimmy, if you want to put your books away, I'll get the table set as dinner is almost ready."

"No worries, Lilly, ahm, Maria thanks for making the Ropa Vieja," gathering his books he said, "Tony you are going to love it, hey did you take your meds I left them on the nightstand."

"Yes Mama Jim, I took them," he said smiling at his friend, "I took them, guess I was pretty tired, never heard you come in."

"You were pretty zonked out, Fuego watched me but she never left your side, when do you need to do your nebulizer treatment?"

"I can do it after we eat, I had one in the hospital this morning and have to do them twice a day." Making a face as he said this.

"I know, not the most pleasant thing to do, but its not that bad."

"Easy for you to say, your not the one who has to do them," Tony responded, punching Jimmy lightly on the arm.

Both men laughed which made Tony cough but he recovered quickly.

From the stove, Maria called out, "Not sure what you wanted to do tonight Tony, but Jimmy mentioned that you like movies, in the family room we have a nice wide screen TV, Blue ray player and a small selection of movies. Since we can just get pretty much what we want from the cable company or one of the other services we just don't usually buy them."

After quickly clearing the table of his books, Jimmy helped Lilly set the table. Tony noted how different this house was from his and Gibbs' homes. In his apartment he had in many ways reproduced the environment he grew up in, it looked like something from a magazine setup, but there was nothing personal about it. Gibbs' home was functional utilitarian, shabby without the chic. From what he had seen so far of this home it was a clear reflection of the two women who lived here, it was warm, inviting and not decorated to impress or be functional and utilitarian but an expression of who they were. There was wide use of color, as he had not seen one white wall yet. The artwork looked original but was more handcrafted folk art that fit with the warm of the home. As the plates were placed on the table, he noted that even these did not match.

Giving him a gentle smile, Lilly noticed Tony looking at the plates, "You won't find much that matches here, we have eclectic taste, the folk art we picked up on different trips, especially from New Mexico, Mexico and Cuba, Maria went back a few years ago to visit family, she came back with some nice pieces."

"Clear the way, food is on,' Maria called out as she walked to the table with the large skillet, "I can hold this while you serve yourself," she said to Tony, "the rest of you can serve yourselves at the stove."

"Hey, how come he gets served at the table," Jimmy said, with a pretend, indignant sound to his voice.

"Because, Jimmy, my sweet," Maria said, "Tony has a bum wing and needs a little TLC right now and you are a strapping young man who can get his own food from the stove." Sticking her tongue out at Jimmy and laughing as she went back to the stove. Grabbing his plate, Jimmy followed.

Tony served himself a small amount of the meat dish and rice, "Just eat what you can," Maria said, turning away she grabbed a metal bowl off the floor, waving it around she said, "dinner time for Fuego too." And after putting in two cups of dry food she set it back down. Fuego was instantly on her feet. Tony smiled as she ate her food with gusto and it was amazing how quickly it was all gone.

Jimmy and Lilly sat down with their plates, Maria joined them placing a plate with what appeared to be round chips. "Oh, Maria I love you," Jimmy said, "Tostones, Tony do you know what these are?"

"Yeah, actually I do, fried plantains, I used to get them at a Chinese restaurant." Tony responded.

"You know I always find it a little strange that they serve these at some Chinese restaurants but these look delicious," picking up two he placed them on his plate.

Tony was able to eat about half the food on his plate the Ropa Vieja he discovered was made of boiled flank steak that was shredded and then cooked with onions, peppers and tomato sauce, usually served with white rice, the tostones as Maria had explained were plantains cut to disks, fried once, smashed flat and refried, with a little salt and served with a mojito, a sauce made of lemon juice garlic and olive oil, they were delicious and he found himself eating several more. Maria told him that there was always individual variety on how the dish was prepared but she did it her grandmother's way.

As Lilly started to pick up the dishes, Maria said, "are you up to seeing the rest of the house, I don't think you got much of tour earlier. We can wait to show you the yard and barn tomorrow."

"Would be nice to know the rest of the lay out," he said.

"Ok, its not that big a house, Honey, you got the kitchen," Maria said as she gave her wife a peck on the cheek, leading them out of the kitchen they walked in a hall way that lead to a foyer with a staircase leading to the upper level. "This is the main entrance that we rarely use, the our bedroom is upstairs and we have an other guest room upstairs, guess we can forego that part of the house of now."

Five minutes later they found themselves in a large family room with some comfortable recliners and a large sectional sofa. The walls painted a soft grey. The room also had French doors that opened out into the courtyard and was situated across from Tony's room as the house formed a horseshoe around the central courtyard. Heavy curtains in a dark grey could be used to darken the room. A large wall mounted flat screen TV was located opposite of the seating area. The other rooms on this floor had consisted of a dinning room and more formal living that Maria indicated was a waste of space as they hardly used them and a small office. Fuego had remained silent by Tony's side during the tour, it was clear that she did not want to be far from him.

"This is a beautiful house, Maria," Tony said.

"Thank you, we love it. We were lucky to find this property, it had been on the market for a while, was a little run down, but we fell in love with it as soon as we saw it, took us about a year to get it fixed up. There is a small guesthouse out back but we have not even tackled that."

The trio made themselves comfortable, and waited for Lilly to finish in the kitchen, "So what will it be tonight." She said as she entered the room.

"Tony are you in the mood for a comedy, drama, whatever you pick, Jimmy told us you are quite the move aficionado," Maria said.

"I think that I've had enough drama for now how about a comedy," Tony responded.

"Lilly before you sit, can you put the movie in, we have a copy of _Some Like it Hot_, would that suite you Tony."

"God yes, I love that movie, I don't think I've seen it in years. Released 1959, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon, its such a classic."

"See what I mean, this man is a walking moviepedia," Jimmy said as he gave his friend a huge grin.

At about 9:20 the credits rolled on the screen, Tony had fallen asleep on the sectional sofa with his head on Jimmy's lap and Fuego on the floor by his side. Jimmy looked down at his friend, he knew that theirs was an unlikely friendship, but they had become as close as brothers. Jimmy knew that Tony had few close friends, for as friendly and out-going, as he appeared he was really very introverted. Gently shaking his friend awake, Jimmy said, "Tony come on wake up, you fell asleep."

Pushing himself into a sitting position while yawning, he looked at Jimmy with sleep heavy eyes, "Damn I missed the end, I always love that scene in the boat where Osgood, asks Jerry to marry him. Jerry pulls off his wig and says '_But you don't understand Osgood! I'm a man!_' and Osgood says '_Well nobody's perfect'_."

From across the room, Lilly said, "that's always been my favorite part too, I remember watching this as a kid and wondering why two men could not get married, in this movie the two just seemed to fit, nice we can now get married in some states," smiling at Maria she reached out and kissed her wife's hand.

Maria getting up from the recliner said, "Guys if you want to go do your treatment and get ready for bed, I can take Fuego out for her last pee, since I want to get our dog Max, the Mutt Man from the barn."

Jimmy helped Tony get ready for bed and set up the nebulizer. "You really should use this earlier in the evening Tony, it can interfere with your sleep."

"I'm so tired Jimmy, I don't think anything will keep me from falling asleep, though I had a nightmare when I took a nap earlier," he confided in his friend.

"What was it about?"

"I don't really remember all the details, some of it is just a big blur, but I working a crime scene with the team, then I found myself alone in the woods, you know how you jump from place to another in dreams. There were some wolves, then I was attacked, I'm surprised you didn't hear me scream in the kitchen, but my heart was racing when I woke up."

"I know dreams can seem so real, Tony it sounds like a pretty normal reaction for what you went through, your mind is still trying to process everything and it was pretty traumatic."

"I'm kind of afraid to go to sleep, I'm worried I'll have another nightmare."

"Did you have them in the hospital?"

"A few, but I was on so many meds, that I don't remember half my time in there."

"Would it help to keep the bathroom doors open, we can shut them when we need the bathroom but if I hear you I can come in and wake you up."

"Not sure if will help, but we can try and Fuego will be here with me," Tony said as he looked down at the big dog, Maria had let her into his room after she had finished outside.

"Tony, have you thought about speaking to a therapist," Jimmy asked with concern for his friend in his voice.

"No, I don't need that," Tony responded irritated at thought of going to speak with someone.

"I'm not going to push Tony, but I was thinking with everything that has happened in the past couple of years, it might be good for you to have someone to talk to, hash out your feelings."

"I don't Jimmy, going to have to sleep on that."

"Well, if you decide to meet with someone, I can ask Lilly if she knows someone, I know she doesn't do therapy but she may know someone.

Jimmy headed back to his room; Tony lay back against the pillows, Fuego curled up in her spot next to him. Tomorrow he wanted to check-in with Ducky, get an update on the scuttlebutt at the navy yard and he was going to call Director Vance, he wasn't surprised that the Toothpick had not called to check in on him, but he wanted to request an extended leave of absence, he would be on medical leave until he was cleared to return to work but he wanted more time to explore his options, decide on his future. Tony knew the law and what he was entitled to and he was sure going to get it.

**Note: **_**Some Like It Hot;**_** I have not seen it in years, but on my list of favorites. Directed by Oscar Wilde, released in 1959, Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, Tony Curtis as Joe/Josephine, Jack Lemon as Jerry/Daphne, Joe E. Brown as Osgood Fielding III. If you ever get a chance worth watching. LAG**


	14. Chapter 14

_So sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, busy at work with some long 10-12 hour days, and seems as if we have had company every weekend for the last month. _

_Thank you all for your continued support and to my wife for proofreading. I apologize for any errors that slipped by._

_Hope you enjoy this next chapter. LAG._

_Chapter 20_

Tony awoke with a headache and his broken arm in an awkward position. Looking over at Fuego, she had taken over most of the bed and left him with a sliver of mattress. Feeling him move, the big dog lifted her head, "gonna give me some room, you bed hog," he said as he moved over to claim more space. Fuego adjusted herself to his new position.

Looking out the window he could see that it was still early, the sky was starting to lighten but the sun was not up yet. He had enjoyed himself last night, even if he fell asleep on Jimmy watching the movie. Chuckling to himself as he remembered using Jimmy's lap as a pillow. He was lucky to have a friend like Jimmy. Jimmy did not have the best social skills, but as Tony had found he was a bright, caring person but whenever he got near Gibbs he was a bumbling fool, always tripping over himself and saying the wrong thing.

Their unlikely friendship developed when following his head injury, Gibbs went to Mexico. Tony always thought he would inherit the team when Gibbs retired, but not in this way, not with just a "you'll do" as his boss, his mentor, his friend, his lover just walked away leaving him in charge of a team that would not accept him as the lead, questioned his methods, slow to follow his orders and just made his life miserable.

In many ways Gibbs return was worse than his leaving. Without warning Tony came to work to find all his things moved to his old desk, just like that, without a word, without a thank you, without nothing he was demoted. Gibbs acted as if he had never left, except that there was no acknowledgement of their past relationship, if anything Tony felt that Gibbs resented him and seemed to go out of his way to demean him in front of the team. If he thought Tim and Ziva were difficult to work with while Gibbs was gone, Gibbs returning this way just seemed to fuel their insubordinate behavior toward him.

During Gibbs absence dealing with a grieving Abby was harder then dealing with Tim and Ziva, she wanted Gibbs back and was so absorbed by her own feelings she could not stop to see what he was going through and it was emotionally exhausting to provide her with the level of support she needed. As much as he cared for her but she was an emotional parasite sucking you dry. When Gibbs came back, she was so ecstatic that she was oblivious to anything else, never noticing the tension in the team.

Ducky provided as much support as he could while Gibbs was gone, but between caring for his mother very confused but charming elderly mother and struggling with his own feelings of anger and loss over Gibbs' sudden departure. Tony understood and appreciated the support Ducky was able to provide. Ducky had apologized to him several times as he felt he was not there as fully as he had wanted too be for his young friend. Tony really did appreciate the quiet refuge the older man provided, whenever Tony needed an escape from the Bullpen or Abby, Ducky would offer him a space for quiet contemplation, a cup of hot tea, brewed as it should be, never from a tea bag, that had sat in a store shelf for years. Tony found that if he just listened as Ducky unwound his most recent tale, hidden within was a gem of knowledge. Tony sometimes felt like Luke Skywalker to Ducky's Yoda. Tony giggled at the thought of Ducky as Yoda, he created a mental picture of Ducky with green skin, in a robe with large pointed ears. Shifting positions he could hear Jimmy's quiet snores coming from the open doors of the shared bathroom.

Thinking of Jimmy, Tony smiled at their unlikely friendship. Jimmy had been a surprise; before Gibbs left he knew almost nothing about Gerald's replacement. Gerald had worked with Ducky for years and left when Ari had shot him in the shoulder, the injury had caused permanent damage and Gerald was not able to return to work.

For the first few years Jimmy, just fumbled his way around largely ignored by the team. With Gibbs gone and Ducky having limited time, he found himself spending more and more time with Jimmy. Ducky had told Tony how pleased he was to see his apprentice step up to fill the gap and in short time the two young men had formed a solid friendship. Thinking back on it now, Tony realized that this had been part of Ducky's plan.

Tony found Jimmy easy to talk to and very supportive. Unlike the team who thought they knew him so well, Jimmy looked beyond the façade Tony presented; with Jimmy's easy acceptance Tony was able to just be himself. Jimmy became his sounding board, when he ran cases past him, Tony was pleasantly surprised that Jimmy brought a different perspective that gave them a unique way of looking at situation, and without taking any credit he had been instrumental in solving a few cases. Tony understood that while he hid behind his frat boy persona, Jimmy would hide behind his naive, fumbling idiot persona, allowing him to be easily overlooked and dismissed, but the Jimmy that Tony came to know was astute and much more eloquent then he led on.

Jimmy was also privy to Tony's advanced degrees, having guessed for himself after observing his friend in action, he had been involved with Agent Lee while she was on Tony's team and she mentioned to Jimmy on several occasions that she was impressed that Tony had more then a working knowledge of the law. She had just assumed it came from his years in law enforcement, but Jimmy suspected that while that was in part true, he felt that Tony had more formal education in that area.

Jimmy kept his secrets and Tony was relieved to have someone he could let his guard down with, stop pretending. Sometimes he got so lost in the persona he created that he did not know who the real Tony DiNozzo was, Jimmy kept him grounded. Tony knew he could walk away from NCIS, Gibbs, the Team and Abby but at least his time at NICS was not a total waste of time, when it was time to leave he would have two wonderful friends to support him.

Reaching over with his good arm he stoked Fuego's big head, her beautiful orange red fur was so soft and thick. Taking a breath he rolled over and tried to get into a more comfortable position. Fuego, sensing his distress rolled on her side and pushed his hand with her head. He was still amazed he found such comfort with this beautiful creature, for some unknown reason she made him feel safe, historically dogs hated him, as a child he had watched _Lassie_ and reruns of _Rin Tin Tin_. He had wanted a dog like that, the kids in these shows always seemed to be the only child in an adult world and that was how he always felt, the loyal dog was always the child's best friend and he had wanted a best friend growing up. He asked his father for a dog once, but his father told him that maybe when he grew up and stopped being such an irresponsible child he could get a dog, that put a final end to the discussion with his father though he asked his mother hoping she would intervene on his behalf.

When he asked her for a dog, she just laughed, telling him that she had enough to do taking care of him she was not going to add to her burden by taking care of dog. He had gone and hid in his room, wondering if she really felt he was a burden, he had carried this thought with him since that moment and it had affected his relationships, if he was a burden to his mother then he was sure others saw him as such. He had learned to care for himself and not ask for help, that is why he hated feeling like he did now, dependent on others.

Overtime he had been able see his mother through the lens of an adult, on an intellectual level he knew that his mother was not perfect, sometimes abusive and neglectful, often indifferent to her young son, but he loved her and she had given him the gift of music and love of movies. Teaching him to play the piano. He was about 5 years old when she would have him sit at the piano with her. Her favorites were dark melancholic pieces, Beethovans "_Pathetique_"sonata no.8 in A flat, Chopins _Nocturines _and _Raindrop's_ prelude no. 5 in D flat. A trip to the movies signified she was in a good mood and during those times he had her attention. Thinking of his mother he had realized years ago that she was an alcoholic like his father and he often wondered if she was bipolar. In his heart he still carried the deep hurt of an unwanted and neglected child. He found that he was rubbing his head where his hair covered the small scar left by the incident with the ashtray.

A knock on the door from the shared bathroom brought Tony to wakefulness, he must have dosed off again and looking outside it appeared that he had slept for a couple more hours. Looking out the window bright with the morning sun.

"Tony are you a wake," Jimmy's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Come in Jimmy," Tony responded as struggled to get into a sitting position.

"You ready to get up soon, Maria got called out on an emergency and Lilly wanted to know if you were getting hungry yet."

Before Tony could respond both men were startled by the loud grumble coming from Tony's stomach.

"Guess that answers that question," Jimmy said with a chuckle, "come on, get up, I'll get the nebulizer set up while you use the bathroom. Did you want a shower?"

"Na, I think I wait till after breakfast, not as fast as I normally am and I think food first and shower second, but I do have to use the bathroom."

"That works for me Tony but I have never known you to be fast in the bathroom. Your slower then most of women I know getting ready for a date," Jimmy said with a laugh, "but you have to use nebulizer before we eat."

"Ok, Ducky Junior," Tony said as he slowly headed to the bathroom.

Tony sat at the table with a full stomach, Fuego at his side. Lilly had made Tony a breakfast of fried eggs, bacon served with homemade bread. Lilly said the extent of her cooking was eggs and bacon as Maria was the Chef in the family. Maria had set up the bread maker before she left.

While he ate, Jimmy took Fuego out to do her business. "It is so cold out there today," Jimmy said shaking the light snow out of his hair as he set Fuego's food on the floor, as with dinner last night she ate her food with gusto.

"It's a good thing we have nowhere to go today Tony, that cold air is not good for your lungs."

"You are such a weenie Jimmy, I grew up on Long Island and went to school in Rhode Island, this is practically shorts weather up there." Tony gave Lilly a wink as he watched his friend get riled up.

"Hey Tony, I don't care if you grew up in Alaska, you are not going out in this cold unless it is to see the doctor." Jimmy said trying to sound forceful.

"Oh, I love it when you go all Alpha on me," Tony said trying not to laugh. As a few coughs slipped out, Jimmy looked at him with an: I told you so expression on his face.

Putting his hands up in surrender Tony smiled at his friend. "You win Jimmy, I promise no going out unless its to a doctor's appointment, but you better be prepared to entertain me, I get pretty restless when I'm stuck home."

"I think that will be pretty easy for now Tony, I bet you'll want a nap by the time you finish with your shower."

"Are you saying I'm a weakling, you know I can whip your ass any day."

Pulling up his shirt and patting his six-pack, Jimmy said, "hey remember I spend all my time picking up dead weight, I may not be an agent but I am mean and lean."

Tony and Lilly watched Jimmy with amusement.

"Can't believe you just went there." Tony responded, shaking his head, "Ya know Jimmy if you ever decide to play for the other team, I think I can set you up with a few friends of mine."

"Yeah, Jimmy," Lilly jumped in, "I have just the perfect guy for you, he's a doctor, likes to work out, yah, I think you two would look real cute together."

"Very funny, I happened to be dating a hot, blonde mortician, but if I ever changed sides you two are the last people on earth I would ever let set me up." Enjoying the light-hearted banter, he added, "Besides as you both know I have never had an issue getting a hot date."

Laughing to herself, Lilly looked over at Tony and Jimmy, "Well Jimmy, I hope one of these days Maria and I get to meet this young woman."

"Hey you guys are worse than my mother, if I decided to marry her, I'll let you meet her."

"Whoa, is there something we should know?" Tony asked.

"No, not yet but Breena will be the first to know if I decide to ask her to marry me and I promise you will be second."

"Hey, don't you need me to help pick out a ring." Tony asked waving his hand in the air.

"No, figure I can do that all by myself." Jimmy said chuckling at his friend. It was nice to see Tony relaxed after everything he had been through.

"Sorry to break up this conversation, but I have to run some errands today, is there anything you need me to pick up for you," Lilly asked as she finished washing the breakfast dishes.

"No, can't think of anything and if I need something Jimmy can get it for me."

"Ok, if you think of something just text me." She said as she gathered her things to leave.

"Guess its time for a shower Jimmy, can you give me a hand," Tony asked holding up his cast.

"Sure, let me get that wrapped up so it doesn't get wet." Jimmy said grabbing a plastic bag to slip over the casted arm; with medical tape he sealed the bag to Tony's arm.

"The physical therapist is going to be here at 1:00 to do an assessment and anything you want to do before they get here."

"Well, I really don't want to do it but I feel I need to call Vance today, I don't expect that to go well, The Toothpick has made it clear I'm not his type agent, but I need to get it out of the way so."

"Why don't you let him call you, Tony?"

"Part of me hoped he would have called me by now. You know when I was out with the plaque, Morrow, called several times to see how I was doing. I guess, I just hoped that Vance would have the decency to check up on an Agent, injured on the job."

"Yeah, regardless of what he thinks of you, I would expect him to at least check in. I know Ducky submitted a report on your injuries to make sure you were covered under workman's comp."

"I don't care about that so much, but it would be nice to think your superiors cared a little about your welfare, especially in a job like ours."

"Well let's get you cleaned up, then you can make that call."

An hour later Tony sat in the chair in his room, staring at his phone. Jimmy had turned the gas fireplace on for him and Fuego was lying at his feet, outside a light snow continued to fall. Jimmy was in the kitchen, with his medical books spread out around him, studying.

Bracing himself, Tony dialed the number for Nancy, Director Vance's current secretary.

As Nancy answered in her professional voice, "Director Vance's office, may I help you?"

"Hi Nancy, this is Agent DiNozzo, can I speak with the Director."

"Oh Tony, how are you doing, I heard what happened and I was worried about you, when will you be back?"

"I'm getting better Nancy, but it will be a while yet, is the Director in?"

"Yes, he is here and I will put you through to him, take care of yourself Tony."

"Thank you Nancy," he said as she put him on hold.

"Agent DiNozzo," came the Director's voice over the phone. "Its about time I heard from you."

Tony could hear the aggravation in his voice, and took a deep breath before responding.

"Yes sir, but I was just released from the hospital yesterday."

"What no phone in the hospital," Vance responded sarcastically.

"Well Sir, I'm sure Agent Gibbs and Dr. Mallard informed you of what happened."

"I have their reports on my desk, do you know how much money and inconvenience, you have cost this agency Agent DiNozzo."

Tony was not surprised that Director Vance would blame him, though it still hurt that he had so little support from his superiors. Tony was done taking this abuse.

"Sir, the only thing I am to blame for is following Agent Gibbs order to remain at the crime scene. I just called to inform you that after my medical leave is over I will be taking an extended leave of absence." Tony responded with a force he did not usually display with the Director.

"Agent DiNozzo, I do not appreciate your tone of voice and If you do not return after your medical leave, you will find yourself without a job."

"Sir, I almost lost my life for this agency and I so appreciate the concern you are showing me, but I am within my legal rights to request leave, and if you do not grant it then we will see how the agency holds up in court for blatantly disregarding regulations that led to the serious injury of an Agent." Tony was angry now and he was done playing the frat boy.

"Agent DiNozzo, are you threatening me."

"No Director Vance, I am just stating the facts, would you like me to recite the policies regarding leave."

Agent DiNozzo, if you take leave, I will not hold your position on the MCRT," Director Vance, was surprised by this confident and forceful DiNozzo, he had thought Tony would have backed down, everyone knew how loyal he was to Gibbs.

"Sir, I understand that my current position cannot be held, you are free to fill that position at anytime. After what happened I do not plan to return to work with Agent Gibbs." Tony had not planned on saying that but now that it was out it felt right.

"I will be filling the necessary leave paper work today, Sir." Tony felt a cough building and his strength leaving him, he wanted to wrap this up while he still sounded strong.

"I will expect all the paper work Agent DiNozzo. Is Agent Gibbs aware of your decision." Vance said.

"No Sir, I have not spoke to him yet but I expect that I will be have a discussion about this with him soon."

"I expect you will Agent DiNozzo, I want that paper work today," Vance hung up without giving Tony time to respond.

Tony just stared at the phone, the cough that was building exploded and he doubled over coughing so hard he felt like vomiting. Fuego stood up and moved to his side with concern and before he knew it, Jimmy was at his side rubbing his back and handing him a glass of water.

"I take it that did not go well," Jimmy said once Tony had stopped coughing.

"Arrogant prick, knew he would try to blame me for everything," Tony said his voice weak from the coughing, and wondering just how much time he had before Vance talked to Gibbs. This was a confrontation he would do anything to avoid, but it was inevitable that he would have to speak with Gibbs sooner or later no matter what he decided to do. All he could do is brace himself for the coming storm.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I apologize for the long gap between chapters. I struggled with this chapter, seems as if I have been writing it for a month then in the past two days it just seemed to come together, not in the direction I had originally planned but as you know stories have a way of taking on a life of their own and lead you in unknown directions.**

**I want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and listed this story as a favorite. Writing is a labor of love and it's nice to know others have enjoyed reading this.**

**Again I want to thank my wife for proofreading, and I apologize for any mistakes that I failed to pick up on.**

**Wish I owned NCIS and the great characters, but sadly I don't, just glad I get to take them out to play sometimes.**

**Thank you again, LAG**

**Chapter 21**

Tony thanked whatever powers there might be in the universe for the delay in the confrontation with Gibbs. After speaking with Vance, Tony had called Ducky but had not reached him till late afternoon as he had taken his mother to a production of the Nutcracker. Tony was so angry and hurt by the lack of concern Vance had exhibited for his welfare, trying to shift the blame on him that it had taken Jimmy most of the day to calm him down as his blood pressure and respirations increased, Jimmy had even threatened him with a trip to hospital.

Tony explained to Ducky what had transpired with Vance. Tony admitted he did not feel ready to meet with Gibbs yet, but it would be better if he told Gibbs what he had decided before the director informed him of their conversation.

Ducky reassured him that he would have until after Christmas. It appeared that the Director had suspended Gibbs for a week, after reading all the incident reports and the complaints filed by the Sheriff's department. The Sheriff's had not been happy about leaving Tony alone, they had overheard his conversation with Gibbs, telling him to keep searching the site alone, they felt Gibbs had some responsibility for Tony's injuries, maybe not directly, but he was responsible for Tony being left alone at the crime scene with an impending storm. He had shown no concern for the wellbeing of his agent. Ducky said that initially Vance was not going to suspend Gibbs, just give him a warning but Gibbs had asked for the punishment, stating he had failed in his responsibilities as team leader, that he was solely responsible and Vance better not blame Tony for any of this as he was only following Gibbs orders.

Ducky did not want to break any confidences but he did tell Tony that he had time to talk to Gibbs at length after the suspension. Gibbs had left for Mexico early this morning to spend the week with Mike Franks. Gibbs confided in Ducky that getting away was the only way he could respect Tony's wish too be left alone until he initiated contact. As Christmas was on Thursday, just six days away, Gibbs planned to be back from Mexico on Saturday night and return to work that Monday. Vance had already made it clear that Gibbs and his remaining team members would be working the New Years Holiday. Tim and Ziva had been assigned to other teams until Gibbs returned and they would be on for Christmas also. Vance had told them that giving them time off now would seem like a reward at the holidays, as other Agents more deserving of getting Christmas off would have to work. Ducky said that Tim and Ziva seemed relieved to get away from Gibbs who had been riding them hard since Tony was injured.

Tony told Ducky that Vance had not mentioned any of this during their conversation that morning and that he even blamed Tony for what happened. It pissed Tony off more to think that Vance could not show him any support or concern even after knowing exactly what happened. Vance had led him to believe that he would need to speak to Gibbs right away, never mentioning the suspension or that Gibbs had gone to Mexico and that he was leaving for a two-week vacation as he took Jackie and the kids to Florida to visit Disney World.

Ducky had been sympatric and agreed with his decision to take an extended leave, but he really wanted Tony to think about the consequences of his decision to leave the team, Ducky expressed his concern that Tony was still reacting to the pain of being betrayed and he wanted Tony to be sure that this was what he really wanted. Ducky did assure him, that he would support any decision he made, but he asked that Tony really think this through.

Tony told Ducky that he had thought about this since he had found himself pinned under a tree in the snow, actually he had been thinking about this since Gibbs had come back from Mexico and started treating him like a pariah. He could understand Gibbs leaving after getting blown up, getting thrown back 15 years had to be disconcerting especially to have to relive the death of your wife and daughter. What Tony found difficult to accept was not that Gibbs continued to act as if did not remember what had transpired between the two of them, but that since coming back he had done everything to push Tony away. As hard as it would have been to accept, all Gibbs would have had to do was talk to him, let him know he did not want to continue the relationship and if Gibbs had treated him halfway decently they could have continued their professional relationship as before. But no, of course that would never have happen because the functional mute would never sit down to talk something out, no matter how important, no wonder he was divorced three times. Tony now had some empathy for the ex.'s.

After his conversation with Ducky he had been so tired, he just curled up on the bed and fell asleep, Jimmy brought him some food, helped him with his meds and nebulizer and generally worried that his friend was having a relapse, but Tony had thrown him out of the room when he tried to take his temp and blood pressure again.

The next few days passed slowly for Tony, he was used to being active but Jimmy had been right with his injuries and recovering from pneumonia he found that he had tired easily and found himself taking naps daily. He had been to a couple of follow-up medical appointments which included his next rabies shot and he was pleased that the Doctor reduced the use of the nebulizer to once a day but would continue with his other inhalers and medications.

The weather cleared a little and Maria took him and Fuego on a tour of the property at least what was easily accessible from the house. Following a little behind them was Mutt Man, Maria and Lilly's dog; Mutt Man was medium size hound looking dog, with a short reddish-brown coat and black snout and ears. Unlike Fuego who had almond shape amber eyes, that had a wolfish look, Mutt Man had rounder big dark brown eyes that made him look more like a little boy. Maria said that it was the eyes that had gotten to them, they had adopted Mutt Man when his previous owner had gotten ill and gone into the hospital, his elderly father had been left to care for the dog but was not able to manage a young active dog. Lilly had stopped by the clinic as Maria had promised to post signs in the office as the owner was hoping someone would adopt him and he would not have to take him to the pound. Lilly had fallen instantly in love with those big eyes and that day they found themselves with a new dog that had been about two years ago.

The barn housed three beautiful horses. Hidalgo, a Grullo Mustang gelding and two mares Buttercup, a Palomino and Fausta, a Paint. Maria explained that the Mustang came from a Wild horse rescue, he was saddle trained but required an experienced rider, the Palomino was a large horse but very gentle, and the Paint was young and mischievous.

"Do you ride, Tony?" Maria asked as she ran her hands over the Mustang's flanks.

"No, unless you count a pony ride for my sixth birthday."

"Not sure that counts, but if your are interested we could teach you, not really that hard if you have the right horse, this one is a little too pig-headed for a beginner but Buttercup here," she said as she moved over to the big Palomino will give you a smooth ride and she is very gentle."

"Buttercup, not from _The Princess Bride_." Tony responded with a snicker.

"One and the same, Lilly's favorite movie, but really once you are able too we can take you riding."

"I'm not sure Maria, animals and I usually don't got on to well," Fuego at his side pushed her snout in his hand and rubbed against him. "Well at least there is one animal that likes me." He moved his hand to scratch behind Fuego's ears.

"Like! I think its more like loves you, that dog does not leave your side and she has claimed you as her own."

"Well, I've kind of fallen in love with her too, now just need to work on what to do with the rest of life, like find a new place for us to live and probably a new job."

"I've found that once you put your mind and heart to something it usually works out, not sure how but it does, you are welcome to stay with us as long as you need to find a way. I have a feeling everything will work out for you in the end."

"How can you sound so sure?"

"I don't know it's a mystery." Maria said with a straight face.

Tony looked at her for a moment and started laughing, "You didn't," holding his side and laughing more, "You didn't just quote Philip Henslowe in _Shakespeare in Love_ did you?"

Laughing too, Maria said, "Great line, great movie. Come on lets finish the tour, and I'll get us some fresh eggs while we are here."

The rest of the barn tour included a few goats and in a separate section a chicken coop with about a dozen chickens. Maria gathered about a dozen fresh eggs.

Tony also started physical therapy, the therapist came out twice and started him working on regaining some strength in his injured leg, while it was healing well he still walked with a limp and when he stood or walked for too long he found that his leg would start to shake with fatigue forcing him to lean heavily on the cane. The Therapist, also started him on stretching and range of motion exercises for his injured shoulder, his arm would wait till the cast was off but he did not need a frozen shoulder on top of all his other injuries. Fortunately he had been in good physical shape when he was injured, his time as Agent Afloat had left him with plenty of time to work out in the well equipped gym on the ships as he did not have much else to do with his free time.

Tony also spent time thinking about what to do about Gibbs. Gibbs would be back soon and it would be better to get this over as soon as possible, he hated the anxiety it caused him worrying about how to approach this reticent and volatile man. Tony knew the setting of the meeting would be important and he was trying to decide on the best place to meet with him. He did not want to meet Gibbs at his house, as it would give him the home field advantage and meeting at the NCIS office was not an option as they had too many personal things to workout. He could ask Gibbs to meet in his apartment but that had always been his safe haven, and he did not want to have such a potentially negative conversation in what he considered his refuge, but then since he was keeping Fuego, he was going to have to find a new place as he could not have a dog in that apartment; so he thought, maybe after all meeting Gibbs there would work, plus he really wanted to get some more clothes and Jimmy could drop him off, do what he needed to do and pick him up later in the day. Having made up his mind about a meeting place he just needed to check with Jimmy to see what day would be good for him. He was pretty sure at this point that Gibbs would meet with him wherever and whenever he said as Ducky had told him Gibbs was showing unusually restraint but if Tony did not initiate contact soon, he knew Gibbs would eventually show up on his own. Tony wanted some control over the situation.

Tony found himself dreading the coming week and what he knew would be a difficult meeting. Lilly and Maria were supportive giving him space, which he appreciated, but he could not have survived this without Fuego and Jimmy. Sometimes he would sit in his room with Fuego and think about what he was going to do with his life, and more importantly what he would tell Gibbs. There was a war raging inside him, while he knew he could not go back to Gibbs' team, he was now pretty sure he would not stay with NCIS, maybe if Vance had treated him differently, shown some concern he could find a way to work with the man, but even though he had acted on the break in protocol and negligence that had led to Tony's injury by suspending Gibbs, even if reluctantly, he clearly blamed Tony for what happened.

In the evenings the four of them would pick a movie to watch. Tony enjoyed having someone around to share his favorite pastime. The women had a wide collection, or they would pick something on cable. In an effort to keep it light they had seen _Shrek_, _The Princess Bride, _and after explaining that he and his mother would watch _It's A Wonderful Life _while eating caramel popcorn they decided to watch it together on Christmas Night.

Lilly had picked tonight's movie, telling Tony he was going to love it. She had been right, Tony considered himself a movie aficionado but tonight's choice had blown his mind, Lilly had picked a 1928 silent movie, _The Passion of Joan of Arc_, directed by Carl Th. Dreyer and stared Renée Falconetti, this version of the movie was paired with Richard Einhorn's oratorio, _Voices of The Light_, Lilly explained that in 1994 Einhorn composed the music after seeing the movie. The movie was based on historical documents that still exist of her trial, and it was hard to imagine what this young woman had achieved in her short life as she was just 19 when she was burned at the stake. He had seen other movies based on the life of Joan of Arc but this was by far the most powerful movie he had seen. The movie left him a little shaken, it was like the feeling you get after waking up from an intense dream, where the feelings haunt you for the rest of the day. Whether you believed that the voices she heard where a result of a mental illness or that God really spoke to her, Tony thought, you had to admire her unshakable faith, her drive to do what she thought was right. Tony went to bed that night but was not able to sleep, the movie had him thinking of his future, what he wanted to do, he had been a cop for so long it was part of his identity, even with the law degree he did not see himself a lawyer spending his time behind a desk or in court, but he knew that there was so much more he could do. Well he did not need to figure this out just yet, that was what the additional time off was for.

Christmas Eve day found Tony sitting in the kitchen listening as the plans for tonight were finalized, it had been a long time since he had done anything but work or sit in his apartment alone on Christmas Eve.

Maria and Lilly always followed Maria's family's tradition on the holidays. Maria explained, that Christmas Eve was known as Noche Buena and her family always served a large meal on this night. Lilly had sadly told him as she grew up away from extended family many her families traditions had been lost, but it was fun celebrating with Maria.

Maria had been busy preparing food for the past two days, as she cooked she explained to him she was making a traditional Cuban dinner, Maria's grandmother had taught her to cook and as a child Maria would assist her in the kitchen. Tony was reminded of his childhood sitting in the kitchen with Guadalupe Milagros Del Toro or as he fondly called her Cook, as she would prepare meals for his family. Maybe that was why he felt so comfortable with these women, the warm feel of the kitchen, the quiet conversations flowing in both English and Spanish, the rich smells that emitted by whatever was cooking on the stove or in the oven, took him back to the one place in his childhood were he felt safe, accepted and even loved.

Tony's mouth watered, as he breathed in the smell of the 23lb, leg of pork that had marinated in citrus juice and garlic for the past two days and now was slow cooking in the oven, filling the house with its rich aroma. Maria said she would traditionally use bitter oranges but they were impossible to find in this part of the country, so she used a combination of orange, lemon/lime and grapefruit juice, after she pushed garlic cloves into the little slits she had made in the meat. Along with this a large pot of black beans was cooking on the stove and Lilly was peeling a long brown tuber she called yucca. Maria told him it would be boiled then she would pour a mix of heated olive oil, garlic and bitter orange juice over it. The beans would be served with white rice and fried plantains would round out the meal. Tony worried a little that he would put on 20 pound or more staying here if he could not get enough exercise, as he had not eaten so well in years.

For dessert tonight, Maria would make one of her famous cheese Flans. Lilly told him that Maria made the best, Tony was very familiar with Flan as he had enjoyed it as a child, Cook would make it on the holidays. Jimmy seemed overly excited about this as he had been trying to get Maria to make one all week. Tony chuckled as Jimmy was practically drooling.

"So Jimmy, I didn't know you had such a thing for Flan. You know I could have made you one." Tony said teasingly to his friend.

"You, you what do you know about making Flan Tony, its, it's a…"

"I know what it is Jimmy it's a custard like dessert, that is hard to master… the texture needs to be smooth, o just so smooth and you need the right ratio of milk and vanilla to caramel.** Cook would make it for me sometimes when I was a kid, I always liked hers better than the custard dish, I had in England when I visited my Uncle Clive and as for where I learned to make it, I had a roommate in college from Colombia who was a great cook, he showed me how, but since I don't really cook for anyone, it's not worth making it just for myself."

"Oh Tony if I had only known, I would have had you baking for me years ago."

"See I told you, you could use a nice house husband."

"Oh, shut up, Tony," Jimmy said laughing and swings a dishtowel at his friend.

"Hey, Hey, stop, you know I can't move fast."

"OK, boys, no rough play in the house," Maria said standing with one hand on her hip and a wood spoon in the other.

Jimmy looked at her, shrugged his shoulders and said, "sorry," as he scurried over to her taking her in an embrace and kissing her cheek.

Turn back to her stove, shaking her head she said, "Boys!"

Jimmy and Tony looked at each other and giggled and Lilly who had witnessed this whole scene was trying not to laugh but let out a squeal. Maria looked over at her shaking the wood spoon and said, "Not you too."

"Sorry, but it was kind of cute."

"Cute, I'll give you cute" as she walked over to her wife and swatted her on the behind.

Lilly grabbed her wife, pulling her into her arms and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Struggling out of Lilly's arms, Maria turned to the group, "Already, playtime over, if your are not helping in here, out of my kitchen." The amused look on her face told of her real feelings.

That evening the house was full of people. Maya and Zenaida flew in yesterday from California, but had stayed last evening in Richmond with other friends. Maya and Maria had met in medical school, Maya was an Infectious Disease doctor in San Francisco working with persons with HIV/AIDS and her partner Zenaida was a freelance journalist. Hector and Marcus, lived in Charlottesville and arrived in the late afternoon. They were not a couple but close friends and currently roommates, Hector was a social worker like Lilly but he worked with the state child protective services. He and Lilly had been in graduate school together and had worked together at CPS before Lilly had accepted the position here in Harrisonburg and moved in with Maria. Marcus was an attorney and had become friends with Lilly and Hector while representing families involved with CPS, he now did wills and conservatorship but would donate time each week at a GLBT center working with same-sex couples who were concerned about legal protections for their families. Andy and Bethany were neighbors, Andy was a teacher of math at the local high school and Bethany was a detective on the Harrisonburg police department. Some of Maria's staff and Lilly's co-workers had also been invited, the group sat down to eat at seven and Lilly had explained to him that they had an open house after dinner with friends popping in throughout the course of the evening for coffee and dessert.

Tony had to admit he enjoyed the evening. It had been a while since he had felt so comfortable with a group of people. Jimmy kept reminding him that if he got too tired he could go lie down but he had gotten caught up in the fun of the night and was reluctant to leave. At dinner the table was full of lively, intelligent, witty conversation, Bethany the detective was a tall African-American woman, she could have been a stand up comic, her timing was perfect and several times she had him laughing so hard he had started to cough which had Jimmy and Maya at his side checking up on him. After dinner the group crowded into the family room and Maria and Lilly handed out traditional Cuban and Puerto Rican instruments, claves, maracas, tambourines. Marcus had a set of bongo drums, Maria a guitar and Hector a Cuatro, it looked like a small guitar with 4 strings and Zenaida had a guiro. The guiro was a brightly painted gourd that had ridges cut into and played with what appeared to be a mental comb. Hector and Zenaida, who where Puerto Rican explained to him that they would be singing songs traditionally sung during a Parranda. What he understood a Parranda to be was similar to Christmas Caroling as a group would go to friends and family, sing songs and be offered food, it was very festive and the group would grow as the night went one. As it was too cold here to be outside, Maria reversed the tradition, snacks, desserts, coffee and hot chocolate was laid out on big table in dinning room, after they finished dinner and friends started to drop by. Everyone who came in was welcome and atmosphere was relaxed and informal. Tony had grown up in a family that followed strict rules of etiquette and as child his mother would dress him for dinner and it would be a stuffy formal affair. After his mother died, he was just left on his own, while his father would make sure he as invited to the best parties.

While he was enjoying the night, Tony still felt like an outsider, an observer, not really a participant in what was happening around him, he enjoyed the conversations, the laughter and the music. He understood why Jimmy had wanted him to stay here, to be a part of this. This was Jimmy's gift to him, a peek at what life could be like with people who cared and accepted you.

As the evening processed Tony found he was getting tired and retreated to his room with Fuego, the fire in fireplace cast a warm glow around the room. Marcus, Jimmy and Hector had joined him for quiet conversation, the sounds of music and laughter, filtered in. Tony found himself enjoying the company of these men. Hector was a small muscular man, who still had slight accent; he was born in Puerto Rico and had moved to Virginia to go to college. Marcus was bi-racial; his mother was white and his father African American. He was a tall man, at 6'5" he had three inches on Tony. As they spent time together, Tony found he enjoyed the company of this quiet man. They had totally opposite childhoods, while Tony was born to rich family who neglected their young son, Marcus was born to a poor family in Washington, DC, his family struggled to provide for their children but his home had been full of love and caring parents. They had done everything to ensure their children had a good education. While Tony had little contact with his father, Marcus spoke with his parents every week. They knew Marcus was gay and continued to love and support him. Marcus told Tony that tomorrow he would Skype with them as his parents had decided to visit his sister and her family in Florida for the holidays.

Christmas morning Maria made breakfast for everyone, Tony sat with Marcus on one side and Jimmy on the other, Maya, Zenaida, and Hector sat across from them and Lilly and Maria each had an end. The conversation was more subdued than last night, as everyone had gone to bed early. Tony had been worried earlier in the week about gifts as he did not want to be the only one who did not have a gift for anyone, but Jimmy had assured him that would not be an issue, Maya and Lilly had a list of favorite charities and asked that anyone that was so inclined to give a gift, make a donation on their behalf to a charity.

Coffee in hand the group moved to the family room, Marcus picked up the guitar and Hector the quarto and the two began to play some Christmas music, the music quickly changed to more popular tunes and some oldies. Marcus was singing a rendition of the Moody Blues, Nights in White Satin. Hector traded the quarto for the bongos and the music and fun continued. Marcus asked if Tony would sing a song with him but Tony declined as he still did found himself short of breath on occasion after the pneumonia, he knew he would not be able to sing just yet.

Taking a break from the music, the group exchanged some gifts. Lilly and Maria gave Maya and Zenaida a card that indicated a donation had been made in their honor to an HIV/AIDS outreach program in San Francisco. For Hector a donation was made for a program that supported children in foster care and for Marcus a donation to the LGBT center he worked at one day a week. Jimmy received a gift card for books for his next semester at Medical School. For Lilly and Maria the group including Tony had made a donation to an organization that was working on same-sex marriage rights. Tony watched as each person received their gift and he was not sure what they would get him, handing him a box rather than a card, Tony shook the box back and forth and heard a rattle inside. Carefully opening the box he was happily surprised to find beautiful leather woven collar and matching leash for Fuego. Picking up the collar he found a tag in the shape of a police shield engraved with Fuego, then Tony D. with his phone and on the back Maria's vet clinic and phone. Tony smiled and asked Jimmy to help him put the collar on Fuego, as he could not do it with his broken arm.

After the gift exchange and a fresh round of coffee, Marcus set up a small key board, when the group was back, he sang a set of Sinatra songs, starting off with I Get a Kick Out of You, followed by Strangers in the Night and I Got You Under My Skin, Fly Me To The Moon with the finale New York New York. Marcus's voice was a rich baritone, and Tony felt as he sang each song just for him. The rest of the day was relaxed, as some of the group decided the day was nice enough to go for a short winter hike, Tony for obvious reasons could not participate in this activity. Hector went with Maria, Lilly, Maya and Zenaida on the hike, Mutt Man joined them and they offered to take Fuego too, but as the group got ready to depart, the big dog refused to leave Tony's side. Jimmy opted to stay behind to study and this left Tony with Marcus. As the day went on Tony found himself drawn more and more to Marcus and he found himself telling him a little of what had happened in the last year. Marcus was attentive listener. Tony worried that he was too open and the other man would find him too needy, but he really was not ready to start a relationship beyond friendship and as they exchanged contact information Tony felt honored to have made a new friend.

Christmas night was topped off with a viewing of _It's A Wonderful Life, _Tony instructed Maria on how to make the caramel popcorn and hot cider. The group settled in to watch the movie. Tony sat next to Marcus on the sofa and Fuego, laid at his feet. Tony felt a bit shy as explained to he would do this with his Mother and it was something he had tried to continue. The group had been more then happy to take part, Tony felt safe and supported.

A gentle hand on his shoulder woke Tony and he was embarrassed to find he had fallen asleep on Marcus, as he sat up he looked at Marcus and said, "Sorry, guess the long day got to me, is the movie over." Looking around he found the room empty. "Were is everyone?"

"Hey, Its ok, you can use me as a pillow anytime, as for the others the movie ended about a half hour ago and since the sky is clear tonight they decided to take a walk to see the stars, Maria is going to make some hot chocolate when they get back," Marcus responded as he smiled at Tony.

Tony felt himself blush and for the first time in years felt that little flutter in his stomach you get when someone you like flirts with you.

"I seem to be falling asleep on friends a lot lately." Tony tried to say through a yawn.

"It really is Ok Tony, you are still healing, come on I can help you get ready for bed if you don't want to wait for the others to come back in, that is unless you mind."

"Oh, I don't mind but it might be better if Jimmy helps me."

"Don't you trust me, I promise to be a perfect gentleman."

"It's not you I don't trust, it just that, that, Oh God I sound like a school girl don't I." with a giggle Tony continues, "It just that I really like you and once I can get around a little better I might like to ask for a proper date."

Letting out an excited yelp, Marcus took Tony's hand in his, "I am so very happy you said that, I was worried I was the only one feeling that way, I don't know were this will go, but I would love to take you on a date. If you let me help you to bed, I promise to keep it chaste and not peek no matter how much I really want to."

"Ok, I guess you can help me, come on help me up."

The two worked their way to Tony's room, Marcus helped Tony get ready and as promised did not peek. As they both sat on the edge of Tony's bed, Marcus asked,"

Do you have any ideas yet about what you want to do with your future?"

"Oh, I so wish I did, I know its time to leave NCIS but where do I go from here I really don't know."

"I was thinking after we talked yesterday but I am an adjunct law professor at a College in Richmond, since I only teach one class, its not too much to commute, I know they had an opening in the Criminal Justice division, if your interested I can get you some information on the position and bring it back next week when we come back for New Years. Hector and I are heading back on Saturday but we plan on coming back on Wednesday. Are you licensed to practice law in Virginia?"

"Hum, I have thought of teaching, I would appreciate the information and I've kept my license in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. up to date. I just never really wanted to sit behind a desk all day."

"The GLBT center I work one day a week is looking for another Attorney to work a couple of days. I know its not as exciting as being an Agent, but is rewarding and has its own level of danger, sometimes you have to work your way through some crazy antigay activists that harass our clients and staff. I'm sure they could use someone with your experience. You know it doesn't have to be for the long-term, just till you figure out want you want to do."

"I appreciate the information and at least now I have sometime to think about, since I'm out on workman's compensation now, I have until I am medically cleared to go back to really decide what to do, and I planned on taking extended leave after that, you would not believe the amount of accumulated time off I've got. I can't even remember the last time I was off for any significant time. You've given me some options I never thought of."

The two men sat for a moment in silence, just enjoying their time together. When they heard the rest of the group return, Marcus got up, "Guess I'll join them, and let you get some rest."

"Ok, sounds like they are having fun, but I am tired."

Reaching out, Marcus cupped Tony's face in his hand, and rubbed his cheek with his thumb, the act was soft and intimate, "You do look a little tired." Then without further thought he leaned in and kissed Tony on the lips. The men leaned their foreheads into each other and held that position each breathing in the others essence.

"I'd better go before I break my promise." Marcus said.

"Ok, but I look forward to that day," Tony responded as he lied down, watching Marcus walk to the door.

Turning as he reached the door way, Marcus looked back at Tony smiling, "Oh so do I, so do I, sleep well I'll see you in the morning," then he was gone, leaving Tony alone with Fuego, deep in thought about what had transpired.

"Well girl," he talked to the big dog next to him on the bed, "I guess I just complicated my life a little more."

**A/N:**

I'm sorry if you were waiting for big confrontation with Gibbs, I had every intention of writing that into this chapter but as you can see, plot bunnies, jumped in and took in a different direction. I promise it is coming soon. I think I'm as anxious as Tony about facing Gibbs.

** In the episode Patriot Down 7.23, Tony has this conversation about Flan, this line taken from this scene.

The Criterion Collection has the version of the movie _The Passion of Joan of Arc_, with the music from Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light. I had the honor of seeing the movie with a live production of the music with Anonymous Four, singing, in 1999 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Again sorry for the delay in posting, real life always interferes but at least for me in a good way. Friends visited for 13 days from California, we went on vacation to Maine and NYC, visited 9/11 Museum, very emotional and intense._

_To top things off we adopted a 2__nd__ dog, one month out and he is getting along well with our other dog, but cats not to fond of him as he chases them wanting to play and they want no part of him._

_Looking forward to new season of NCIS, wish I owned part of the show and characters but as always only get to take them out to play, no profit made from this story other than the joy of writing. _

_A huge thank you to all who have read, reviewed, followed, and listed story as favorite. I have read and responded to all the reviews and to all the "Guest" reviewers I also extend a big thank you, sorry not able to send you a personal message. I have been humbled by all your comments. I have also appreciated the constructive feedback. I do not profess to be a professional writer, have struggled with dialog and this is the first time I have a have ever written a story of this kind. So thank you again for taking this journey with me. _

_LAG_

_**Chapter 22**_

On Saturday afternoon Tony found himself saying good-bye to Marcus. Marcus and Hector would be back later in the week to spend New Years Eve, but they both had work on Monday. Tony and Marcus had been inseparable, Marcus was easy to talk to and they had shared some of their pasts, besides a common love of the law, they shared a love for sports, Marcus had played basketball in college and would shoot hoops every few weeks at the local community center. He invited to Tony to play once he was better. As it came time to leave, Tony and Marcus found themselves alone as everyone had left them to have a private moment.

"You know Tony, I'm going to hold you to that date, Hector and I will be back on Wednesday and we had planned on staying through Saturday. I'm asking you now if you will go out to dinner with me on Friday, just you and me without a house full friends, trying to figure out what is going on." Looking around as he spoke, glad for the time alone.

"I would love too, and not just because it would be wonderful to get out of the house, it will also be nice to have something to look forward too after meeting with Gibbs." During their quiet conversations Tony had told Marcus some of what had happened at NCIS. He had not gone into detail about his relationship with Gibbs, but Marcus was astute enough to know it was more than just a work relationship. Tony assured Marcus that anything between him and Gibbs was long over, but they had some unfinished business to deal with. Tony was ready too once and for all put this behind him and move on with his life.

Marcus pulled Tony into an embrace, taking care with his injuries and they kissed goodbye, unlike their previous kiss, this one was full of passion and promises of more too come.

Breathless, Marcus pulled back, "whew, I better leave before it gets too hard to leave."

Looking at each other, the two men started laughing, "I can't believe you just said that," Tony said.

"I know it was pretty bad." Marcus replied, still smiling with a twinkle in his eye.

Giving Marcus a gentle push toward the door, Tony said "Go, I will see you on Wednesday."

After sharing another quick kiss, Marcus grabbed his stuff and walked out backwards to the car, not taking his eyes off Tony who stood in the doorway.

"Call you later," Marcus yelled as he got in the car.

Later that afternoon, Tony sat at the kitchen table with Jimmy, Fuego at his feet.

"Guess I better call Gibbs to see when he can meet, Ducky said he was flying back today."

"You nervous?"

"Yeah, he can be pretty scary and I don't know how he will react."

"Scary isn't the word for it, I don't know how you have managed to stand up to him all these years."

"He wasn't always so scary, there was a time when we worked well together, just seemed to know what the other was thinking and it just flowed, but you know what happened."

"Yeah, yeah I do and I have to admit it has been hard, watching him and the rest of team treat you like shit."

"Has been pretty shitty for me too," Tony rubbing his face said, "I don't know why I put up with it so long."

"Well in my psychology class they would say you are playing out a script, crappy childhood with indifferent, abusive parents, you have found a place that recreates your childhood experience. My Professor would say you are doing what you know but that if you can fix this 'Family" you will find what you missed as a child, problem is that the stakes are too high with this job and their behavior could get you killed, it already has gotten you hurt."

"So do I see Gibbs as a lover or father figure?"

"Honestly I think it a little of both, he is older, emotionally stunted, sets unachievable expectations and gives limited praise. He gives you intermittent reinforcement, if you do what he wants you to do, you may or may not get a reward, you just never know when its coming so you keep trying; hoping for the one moment when he gives you what you need. Tony does that sound familiar?"

With a deep sigh, Tony put his head down on the table, "yeah, sounds like my father."

"It does Tony, just like some people who marry someone who is similar to a parent, you are just repeating patterns with Gibbs. We do what we know. "

"Oh God," Tony exclaimed as he put his lifted his head from the table, "What the fuck do I do now?"

"Tony, what do you want?"

"I just want to start over, I am so tired, and being away…I don't think I can go back to that Jimmy, I don't want to be that Tony DiNozzo again." Taking a deep sigh, "first I have to get through talking to Gibb."

"Ducky said Gibbs would be back today, why don't you call him, see if he can meet you tomorrow. Its Sunday so it won't interfere with work, if you wait to do it during the week, there is always a chance he will be called out on a case and you won't find a time to talk."

"Yeah, that would work, you can drop me off at my place, go do what you have to do and pick me up later, if it gets to late we could just stay at my apartment, and drive back in the morning."

"That, works for me, call Gibbs and see what he says."

"Shit, Jimmy when did you get so smart?"

"You know I've had years to silently observe all of you. Now just get this call out-of-the-way and we can get the ladies and go out for dinner, great Pizza place on the other side of town."

"And you've kept that from me."

"Yes, wanted it to be a surprise for when you were well enough to really go out, and now you are," handing Tony his cell phone, "quit stalling and make the call, I will be right here for you."

Taking a deep breath Tony accepted the phone and hit the speed dial for Gibbs' cell, he was surprised to see his hand was shaking.

The phone was answered on the first ring, "Gibbs."

"Agent Gibbs, this is Agent DiNozzo, I was wondering if you would be available to meet with me tomorrow at my apartment."

"Are we going to keep playing this game Tony, you going to keep calling me Agent Gibbs?"

"Yes, we have no relationship outside of work and I would appreciate it if you called me Agent DiNozzo, Agent Gibbs."

Ignoring Tony's comment, Gibbs went on, "What time, and why don't you just come by my house."

"1400 hours at my apartment Agent Gibbs."

"Ok." Click was all Tony heard as Gibbs hung up the phone.

Gripping the phone tightly in his hand it took all his control not to throw the damn thing across the room.

"So, I gather the meeting is on." Jimmy inquired as he reached out to put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. He was not surprised to feel the vibrations under his hand as Tony fought for regain his composure.

"Bastard, he'll meet with me, but I don't think he is happy having to come to my place."

_NCIS NCIS NCIS_

Sunday morning Tony was back at his apartment for the first time in weeks. The ride back to D.C. had been uneventful, Tony wanted a couple of hours home to get settled before Gibbs arrived.

Looking around his apartment, Tony realized for the first time how sterile his home was, everything perfect and in its place but it reflected nothing of the man who lived here. It was like his home growing up, but unlike his parents who used that pretense to try to impress, Tony had allowed very few people in to his space, but it help maintain the illusion of the Tony DiNozzo he showed the world.

Fuego roamed around the apartment, sniffing everything before she claimed a spot on the floor. The room was missing the only other living occupant of the apartment, Kate the Goldfish. Jimmy had made arrangements with the neighbor down the hall to care for her. Jimmy had gone to retrieve the glass bowl bound pet, she would be returning to Harrisonburg with them.

At about 13:00, Jimmy left to check his own apartment, and run errands as he needed to prepare to go back to school, and return to work the following week, Ducky had been generous in helping him get the time off to assist Tony these past several weeks. Jimmy was not happy leaving Tony, but he knew this was something Tony needed to do alone, plus Fuego would be there, not that he thought Gibbs would get physical, but the dog would give Tony silent support.

Sitting, staring at his cold cup of coffee, the knock at the door brought Tony out of his ruminations, Fuego who was sleeping at his feet, jumped up and stood at attention. Glancing at the clock Tony was not surprised to see it was exactly 14:00, as Gibbs was very punctual. Bracing himself for what was to come, he opened the door to his ex-lover, and soon to be former Boss. The two men stood assessing each other, Tony stepped aside and pointed toward the kitchen, as Gibbs sat down, Tony poured him a cup of coffee, sitting down with a fresh cup and Fuego at his side.

"So are you keeping her?" Gibbs asked, uttering the first words spoken between the two men.

"Yeah, her name is Fuego and she already is mine." Tony responded not looking up as he stroked the big dogs head.

"Thought you couldn't have pets here and who's going to take care of her when you go back to work?"

Tony's head snapped up as he glared at Gibbs, "Not your concern Agent Gibbs."

"Hey I came to talk Tony not fight, Ok," seeing the pissed off look, he corrected himself, "Agent DiNozzo." Wanting to continue before things got heated, Gibbs added, "before we start, I want you to know that I have thought about what happened, the way I've treated you and I am deeply sorry, I know I always say apology is a sign of weakness, but not between friends."

"I'm pretty sure friends is not a word I would use to describe our relationship."

"No, guess not, but I would like to try to be friends if you'd let me and maybe more."

Ignoring this statement, Tony decided it was time to just jump in and say what he wanted to say; he did not want to prolong this any longer. "Agent Gibbs, I asked you here today because I have made a decision about my future that impacts you and the team, regardless of what has happened in the past few years, you deserve to hear this directly from me."

"Your not coming back, are you?" Gibbs jumped in.

"No, no I'm not. I will not be returning to your team, actually I am not coming back to NCIS."

"I don't accept that DiNozzo, you don't get to just walk away because things got a little hard," Gibbs yelled barely controlling his anger.

Jumping out of his seat as fast as his still healing body allowed, Tony responded in a tight and controlled voice, "Who the fuck do you think you are? Its my life and my future, I am the only one who gets to decide and I am not the one who walked away."

Sensing the increasing tension, Fuego stood and moved to position herself between Tony and Gibbs.

"Crap Tony, you going to keep throwing that in my face, shit I've been back over two years."

"That's right Agent Gibbs you have been back over two years and what a Fucking Two Years!" Gibbs tried to interject, but Tony pointed a finger at him, "Shut up, you don't get to say anything yet, I'm going to say what I wanted to say for a long time. You left me with those two A-holes, that believed they were better than me with nothing more then a 'you'll do', your return did nothing to dispel that belief. How do you let us know you're back to stay, you reclaim your throne by dumping my shit on my desk without a fucking word. That was a pretty clear 'Fuck You Tony', sure put me in place fast, if that wasn't bad enough, you have continually given me every crappy assignment, undermined my position as 2nd in command and made me the butt of all your jokes." Ha, "Director Shepard was right, I would come to regret not taking the position in Rota, she may have used me but at least she had some respect for my ability. You're an investigator just open your eyes and you'll see for yourself."

Gripping his coffee cup, Gibbs realized he was not going to win Tony back if he did not back off, too many years of working as an investigator had taught him to read people, but too many times in his personal relationships he had chosen to ignore it which caused him to come across as cold and overbearing, no wonder his wives left him.

"Ok maybe some of that is true, Director Shepard said you had done a good job as Team Lead and I was still feeling vulnerable, I had gaps in my memory I was tying to cover up, I wanted my job back and you stood in my way because I saw how well you did the job, kept the closure rate high, I realize now that you were never a threat to me, that you would have stepped back to SFA if I had just talked to you. As the gaps filled in I decided to just keep on pretending I didn't remember us, it seemed you had become involved with someone, and I didn't like how close you and Jen had gotten, I would have clocked you over the head if Mike had not done it first when you referred to her as Jenny that time and I asked just how close the two of you got, I was mean and petty and you did not deserve that but it doesn't mean you have to leave. I get it now and I think this has also opened Tim and Ziva's eyes, they also realize just how bad we have treated you."

"It's too late, I can't go back, it a question of trust, I DON'T TRUST ANY OF YOU!" Turning away Tony slammed his hand on the counter, "Damn it! I am not going to lose my life because of any of you, Your blatant disregard for my life has shown me just where I stand with you and the rest of the team, hell even Vance thinks this whole thing is my fault." Looking at Gibbs and speaking in barely a whisper Tony continued, "I'm done Gibbs, it's over, time to walk away."

Standing Gibbs moved toward Tony, Fuego who had maintained her place between the two men, let out a deep growl, stopping the man in his tracks.

Looking from the dog to the man Tony said, "It's nice to finally know what means to have someone watch my six."

"Didn't you hear what I just said, Tim, Ziva and I get it, we want to make amends, we want you on the team and if you give us a chance we can make it work."

"That ship has sailed Agent Gibbs, I'm done, there is no going back and nothing you say or do at this time can change my mind. I have options, I plan to explore, its time to for me to move on."

Sitting back down, Gibbs said, "what about us, where does this leave us, even if you find a new job, "

Tony said. "There is no us and there has not been in a long time, you made that very clear."

Gibbs answered. "Look can we drop the Agent shit and just go back to Tony and Jethro, It's just too awkward to say what I want calling you Agent DiNozzo." Tony nodded in agreement and Gibbs continued, "Over the past few weeks I have had time to think about what happened and what I wanted, Ducky has been coming down pretty hard on me and I realize I don't want you out of my life. Ah... Tony, we can make it work if you want me and I want you. What's keeping us apart."

Looking at Gibbs, Tony took a deep breath, "All my life I have tried to please people, and I had parents that really didn't want me. They would give me attention when it suited them and then take it away when it didn't. With you it has felt the same way, a relationship based on abuse Gibbs I can't go back to that. When you want me your nice and your attentive and then suddenly you can't stand me, where does that leave me? Begging for your approval, praying for your attention, I can't do that anymore. Living with Lilly and Maria, for the first time in my life, I have seen what a good relationship looks like I know that relationships don't have to be so difficult, there is always work to do but when two people just seem to fit together it works; I didn't think you and I could be this way. I watched those two women in the hospital and at home, their life is filled with laughter, they have fun and yeah you know they don't always agree but it works out and they don't belittle each other and they don't fight dirty and mean. That's what I want. I want a relationship like theirs. I can't have that with you, not before, not now, not ever we just don't fit together that way. Our relationship was about passion, about fire but when that burns down there is nothing left, nothing. I hope you understand I still care about you and a part of me will always love you. I just cannot be with you. God Gibbs, do you know how much you hurt me, how hard it has been to go to work every pretending everything was OK, the constant put-down, getting all the shitty assignments, while Ziva and Tim followed your lead and don't get me started on Abby, she just blames me for everything, if you are grumpy, if there is tension on the team she blames me, Gibbs, I miss what we had, not just as a lover but as my partner and friend. We were good together but I can't go back now. I want you in my life in some capacity, I want to be friends, I want to spend time together but I can't be your lover, I can't be your whipping boy anymore, but maybe in time we can be friends."

Gibbs knew when it was time to fold, Tony held all the cards and he was right, they had violated his trust and in a job where trust was paramount they had committed a major sin.

Fuego stood as a guardian at Tony's side, "Tony, I want to fight you on this, force you to stay on the team, take you into that bedroom, ripe your clothes off and make love to you, but first and foremost I need to earn your trust back. I am sorry I have made you feel this way and your right if someone described their relationship to me like that I would tell them to leave the bastard. Tony I only wish the best for you," Walking slowly toward Tony so as not to upset the dog, Gibbs put his hand out, Tony looked at the outstretched hand then grasped it firmly with his good hand and the two men made a silent promise of friendship.

_NCIS NCIS NCIS_

Tony and Lilly sat at the kitchen table, Fuego at his feet. It had been over a month since his meeting with Gibbs, New Years Eve had been a night filled with song and laughter, Maya and Zenaida had returned to California and Jimmy was back to work. Tony had his first of many dates with Marcus and when not together they would speak everyday. Tony had a doctor's appointment this morning and Lilly was his ride. Tony hoped that today he would finally get his cast off.

"Tony, so have you thought about what you are going to do?" Lilly asked.

Over the past month they had several conversations about Tony's future. Tony found the women easy to talk to. They would listen, provide support, never judged him or pushed him for an answer.

Playing with his coffee cup, Tony said, "It's pretty much all I've thought of, I just don't know what I want."

"Tony, I know you gave been in law enforcement for many years, it's more than a job, it's who you are." Looking at her he nodded in acknowledgement, continuing Lilly said, "I've always felt that way about social work, for me it's more of a vocation then a profession. I am a social worker whether I am working or not. It tells people something about how I see the world. I think being a police officer or federal Agent is the same. This isn't just about a job, it's about who you are, how you identify yourself. Changing jobs requires a major internal change. Tony while you think about what you want to do I want you to ask your self a couple of questions."

Tony stared at Lilly, she had identified a huge part of his problem, who was he if he was not a police officer, a cop. Even in all his time as a federal agent, he was a cop at heart; it was the core of his being, so how did he move on from this.

Giving him a gentle smile, Lilly said, "ask your self, what do I want my life to say about me when I am 80 and what steps do I have to take to get there."

"That's it" Tony asked a little skeptical," how does that work."

"Tony, I know it may sound simplistic but it's really not, not if you really look deep within yourself. We could take this in smaller steps asking yourself were you want to be in 5 years or 10 years. You have control of your destiny, there is so much you can do, you know you can stay with us as long as you want, take your time, think it through, you've become like a little brother to us, its time you put yourself first and do what makes you happy."

_**Chapter 23**_

Tony put his hand on the knob, he paused before opening the door, the last 6 months had been hard, physically he was recovered from his injuries, Lilly and Maria had remodeled the carriage house for him and he knew they were giving him a break on the rent, Fuego was his constant companion, always by his side. With Marcus he found all he had wanted in a relationship, love, respect and incredible sex. Tony was happy for the first time in a long time, he had even forgiven his former co-workers, Tim, Ziva and Abby but the events of the past couple of years had taken their toll, he would never trust them again and after one meeting were he disclosed his level of education to the shocked trio he said good-bye and asked that they respect his privacy and make no attempt to contact him. Gibbs had stood by him on this, making it clear that he would reprimand anyone who went against Tony's wishes.

Once Director Vance became aware that Tony was better educated then he had first thought, he asked Tony to stay on and offered to find a new position for him. Tony was insulted by the offer, as the degrees did not change the quality of his work and if Vance couldn't see that then he could shove the job, where the sun does not shine.

A pleasant surprise was his meeting with Tobias Fornell, the gruff FBI agent had invited Tony to his home for a great home cooked Italian dinner, initially Tony was leery but after talking into the small hours of the night they had agreed on position that would suit Tony. It was a boost to his battered ego and in the end, Tony had agreed to work as a consultant, it gave Tony the flexibility to explore other career opportunities and still be able to do what he loved.

His relationship with Gibbs was still evolving, initially Gibbs, thought Tony would change his mind and come back to him and the team, now he was starting to accept the reality of the situation and they had started on building a friendship. Tony had seriously contemplated walking away from Gibbs as he had with the rest of the team, but Tony thought back on their early years together, when they worked in perfect unison and he was thankful that Gibbs had taken a chance on brash young detective from Baltimore and offered him a job, Tony did not expect that they would ever go beyond the kind of friends who spoke 4 or 5 times a year and saw each other even less often, but this was all Tony was willing to give and Gibbs had accepted.

Thankful for the new friends in his life, for Fuego, the big red dog, for Marcus and for the start of a new adventure, Tony took a deep breath pushing the door open walking confidently in to his future, looking around the room he saw the young eager faces of his students, working his way to the front of the room he set his papers down on his desk, leaning his long lean frame against the desk he said, "Hi I'm Anthony DiNozzo, you can call me Tony, over the next semester you will learn how to work a crime scene, for those of you who think this is going to be just like those shows on TV, think again. On TV everything is neatly laid out, in real life you will work long days, in the heat, the rain, the snow, you will go home with your back hurting from being hunched over for hours looking for the smallest piece of evidence, you will be covered in grime, garbage and things so gross you can't even imagine yet, you will see and smell things that will make you puke, and even if you think you have a strong stomach you will puke. Not every case will be closed but in those cases where a suspect is apprehended one minor slip up in handling the evidence could lead to the perp walking.

Smiling at his students he stood up and walked around to the blackboard and began the first lesson.

_NCIS NCIS NCIS_

Tim watched his new Probie collecting evidence at crime scene, there was something familiar about the way he went about it. Gibbs walked up to his senior field agent and joined him in watching the Probie work. "He's pretty good, ha," Gibbs said.

"Yeah, does he remind you of someone, Boss?"

Watching a few more seconds Gibbs walked over to the Probie with Tim in tow, "Gomez," Gibbs called out.

"Yes, Boss," Miguel Gomez the new Probie on team Gibbs' responded.

"Where'd you learn to bag and tag like that, I know they don't teach that technique at FLETC?"

"From my professor in college, he had been a police officer and I think a federal agent before he started teaching, best professor I ever had. I even signed up for several of his classes, Criminal Law and Police Procedures. He would take us out in the woods and set up a scene, didn't matter what the weather, he always said crime doesn't wait for the sun to shine and to pass his class you had to perfectly clear a scene."

"What was this professors name," Tim asked looking at Gibbs, "maybe we can get him here to do a refresher for some of our agents?"

"Professor Anthony DiNozzo, but we called him Tony," Gomez said proudly.

Tim stood with his mouth hanging open, he had not kept track of Tony after he left, and was clearly shocked to hear he was teaching.

Next to him Gibbs chuckled "Tim shut your mouth before you catch some flies, Probie back to work."

As probationary Agent Gomez went back to his task, Tim looked at Gibbs and said, "you knew Boss"

"Ya think."

"Of course you knew," watching the Probie, return to his task, McGee whispered, "You know Boss I still miss him"

"Me too Tim, me too. Too bad we didn't appreciate him when we had him." Walking away Gibbs went to talk with Ducky.

_NCIS NCIS NCIS_

The two men snuggled up on the king size bed, the big red dog sleeping on the floor next to them as they quietly discussed the final arrangements for they're up coming wedding. They had decided to get married in D.C., as same-sex marriage was still not legal in Virginia. Jimmy would stand with him as his Best Man, Ducky and Fornell his Grooms Men. Hector was going to stand with Marcus and Lilly and Maria his Grooms Women. It would be a small intimate event and no one laughed when he requested that Fuego be by his side during the ceremony. Even though Tony kept in occasional contact with Gibbs, he had decided not to invite him. This was about his future and Gibbs was his past. While pinned under the tree on that snowy December day, Tony could not have dreamed of the direction his life would take. Laying his head on the shoulder of his husband to be, he took a deep breath, breathing in Marcus's scent, feeling his warm and his love; sometimes he still missed being a special agent, but what he had now was more than he thought he would have. It had been a year of firsts and tomorrow, tomorrow he would be a husband.

**A/N:** _Hi sorry if I disappointed some of you. I love TIBBS and initially that is the direction I was going in, but stories take a life of there own and the way I wrote Gibbs here, I don't see Tony going back. Thank you for staying with me, this story has been so much fun to write, I appreciate all the feed back and I am overwhelmed by the response. Thank you all again. LAG._


End file.
