Left Unsaid by donutsweeper
Title: Left Unsaid
Author:
donutsweeper
Characters: DiNozzo, Gibbs
Genre/Rating/Words: Gen, G, 226 words
Challenge: 'Altered States'
Summary: As long as long as Tony never came out and said anything, Gibbs was willing to pretend he was unaware
Tony would never speak about it willingly, and Gibbs refused to ask.
Oh, Gibbs had his thoughts on the matter, how could he not? There were too many signs for him not to notice: the flinches upon regaining consciousness, the thin white lines of very old scars along his back, and all those nights spent at the hospital bedside when fever had loosened Tony’s tongue.
It was those mumblings that painted the picture for Gibbs. A picture he didn’t like at all. He would sit there, his hands curling into fists as he listened to the quiet whimpers, the pleading “I’m sorry” repeated over and over, and the occasional “please, stop” that cut straight into Gibbs’ heart.
Come morning, in the light of day and when Tony’s mind was clear once more, Gibbs would act like nothing had happened, that there had never been that little window into Tony’s painful past. He’d just grumble about how his senior agent better quit lollygagging in the hospital when he knew Gibbs needed him in the field ASAP. Tony would exclaim, “you do care, Boss,” which Gibbs would deny with a sharp slap to the back of the head, knowing that Tony’s resulting smile meant the smack did its job and the scared, cowering Tony-of-yesterday was gone and the reassured, self-confident Tony-of-today was back.
At least for now.
Author:
donutsweeper
Characters: DiNozzo, Gibbs
Genre/Rating/Words: Gen, G, 226 words
Challenge: 'Altered States'
Summary: As long as long as Tony never came out and said anything, Gibbs was willing to pretend he was unaware
Tony would never speak about it willingly, and Gibbs refused to ask.
Oh, Gibbs had his thoughts on the matter, how could he not? There were too many signs for him not to notice: the flinches upon regaining consciousness, the thin white lines of very old scars along his back, and all those nights spent at the hospital bedside when fever had loosened Tony’s tongue.
It was those mumblings that painted the picture for Gibbs. A picture he didn’t like at all. He would sit there, his hands curling into fists as he listened to the quiet whimpers, the pleading “I’m sorry” repeated over and over, and the occasional “please, stop” that cut straight into Gibbs’ heart.
Come morning, in the light of day and when Tony’s mind was clear once more, Gibbs would act like nothing had happened, that there had never been that little window into Tony’s painful past. He’d just grumble about how his senior agent better quit lollygagging in the hospital when he knew Gibbs needed him in the field ASAP. Tony would exclaim, “you do care, Boss,” which Gibbs would deny with a sharp slap to the back of the head, knowing that Tony’s resulting smile meant the smack did its job and the scared, cowering Tony-of-yesterday was gone and the reassured, self-confident Tony-of-today was back.
At least for now.