Adjusting (part4/?)
Title: Adjusting (part 4/?)
Rating: PG-13 (this chapter)
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo (eventually)
A/N: Same...I decided to cut the chapters in half so instead of just 3, It'll be more like 5 or 6 :)
Characters: Sick!Tony, Concerned!Gibbs
Summary: Tony is determined to not let Gibbs know what's wrong, with the fear that he'll lose his job....and his chance with Gibbs.-crappy summary, please try it anyway :)
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Tony's mind was racing as he took pictures of the crime scene. What the hell did Gibbs mean when he said the conversation wasn't over? Did that mean Gibbs knew something? Tony was snapped out of his thoughts when Gibbs came back into the room.
"They found the security footage at the time he died." Gibbs said, already walking away. He knew Tony would follow quickly, he always did.
Tony snapped one last picture before packing up the camera equipment. Ducky and Gerald had already taken the body back to NCIS headquarters to start the autopsy. It was a pretty clear suicide though, what with the note, the marine's staggering debt on top of divorce, and now the security footage. Unless they saw something on the tapes that seemed suspicious, it was a textbook suicide, which was good. Well not good, Tony thought, the guy still died, but it was less work for them, and Tony really just wanted the day to end.
He yawned as he started down the hallway to find the small, dark security room. He was exhausted and it was only three. That's what not eating anything but coffee, in the morning, for two and a half days will do to you, A little voice in the back of his head said. He shook some sense into himself. He was fine. He could handle it.
He found the security room; it was small and cramped with computer monitors, a desk and filing cabinets. There was a single man in the room talking to Gibbs. Tony slipped in quietly and proceeded to stand on the other side of the guy. Tony yawned again and started to lean on the desk behind him.
"Oh! Don't lean on that!" The guy said quickly, turning to Tony. Tony leapt up from where he was half sitting on the desk. The guy smiled, a little embarrassed. "Sorry man, it's just that thing is really jacked up. It cut my buddy's hand up pretty bad when he tried to move it."
Tony nodded. "No problem."
The man smiled sweetly. "I'm Ben."
""Special Agent Tony DiNozzo." Tony said, flashing his most charming smile. It felt good to flirt; he hadn't done it in a while.
Gibbs was just about growling, unable to keep the scowl off his face. His blood boiled at the sight of the two of them flirting. He cleared his throat.
Ben whipped around. "Right, Here's the footage from last night." He said pressing a few buttons on the keyboard in front of him. A video of their dead marine showed up from two angles.
The first time they watched it, Tony was fine. They second time it played, his gaze became unfocused, and he shook his head to clear his vision. Gibbs glanced at him. Between the second and third, Tony squeezed his eyes shut, willing the light-headedness to go away. He really needed to eat something when he got back to the office. At the thought of food, his stomach flipped. Combined with the light-headedness, it made him grab onto the nearest surface for support.
That's when he felt the sting of a cut. His eyes widened and he mumbled something to Gibbs before practically ripping the door off its hinges. He kept the fingers of his right hand applying pressure to the small cut on his right thumb. He walked quickly down the hallway to where he knew there was a men's bathroom.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs called to him questioningly. Tony glanced back. Gibbs was right there. Gibbs had followed him, had run to keep up with him.
"Nothing Boss! I just cut my hand a little, gonna go clean it up in the bathroom-" Tony was cut off when Gibbs grabbed his right wrist. There was a second where Tony considered how good Gibbs' calloused hand felt on his. It changed in an instant. He wrenched his hand out of Gibbs'.
"I'm. Fine. Boss." He said, somewhat threateningly. He walked quickly the rest of the way to the bathroom. When he glanced back, Gibbs seemed to be frozen, glaring hard at Tony, yet concern and confusion were mixed in. Tony sighed and pushed the door open.
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Tony let out a sigh of relief when he found the restroom empty. He quickly turned the sink on with his left hand. He ran his right hand under it for a few seconds while digging a band-aid out of his back pocket with his left. He got it open with his teeth and looked back at his hand under the water.
There was a tiny river of water trailing down his wrist before it touched the cut on his thumb and mixed with the little blood there. Then it continued its journey along his thumb before joining the swirling water in the sink. He could just make out his bit of blood in the water. The blood that Gibbs had almost touched.
Tony's heart clenched and his breathing sped up at that thought. Gibbs had almost....almost touched....his....oh my god his....
Tony's nausea came back more than full force and he gripped the side of the sink with his left hand. He was hyperventilating.
Gibbs' hand was so close to his..... blood....he almost touched it.....he almost got it on his fingers.......he almost...
Tony spun around and banged a stall door open. He leaned over the toilet, bracing a hand on the wall, dry heaving. Tony coughed and jerked as he dry heaved; his stomach trying to throw up what wasn't there. His eyes started to water and his head pounded.
Finally his stomach calmed down and now it just hurt. He just stayed there, trying to catch his breath. When he had regained a semblance of regular breathing, he straightened out slowly and swiped a hand at his eyes angrily. When he turned back to the sink, he quickly found the band-aid and put it over the cut. He turned the water on again, this time to cold, and splashed some on his face. He grabbed some paper towel and dried off. He checked his reflection in the mirror, making sure he didn't look like someone who just had a breakdown/panic attack. He didn't.
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Tony avoided Gibbs the rest of the day. He did everything he could to not be in the same room as him. And if he couldn't get out of being in the same room, he didn't look at him, didn't speak to him unless it was a "Yeah Boss" or "No Boss". So, when it was seven and Tony started packing up without so much as a glance in his direction, Gibbs started to really get worried.
Well, Gibbs was worried after the whole little scene at the crime scene. Tony had, as Abby would put it, totally fucking freaked out....over a small cut. He couldn't understand it. Tony couldn't be afraid of blood; he saw it practically everyday, whether from photos or real crime scenes. And that glance back at him before he went into the bathroom, gave Gibbs a weird feeling.
Tony always sent him those little glances. It didn't matter whether Tony was happy or angry or nervous; he always looked to Gibbs for...something. Gibbs had gotten used to them and, if he were completely honest, he found them a bit...sweet. So when Tony walked out of the bullpen with a hurried "Night Boss" and not even a look over his shoulder, Gibbs just watched him.
He watched him walk to elevator. Watched as he seemed to relax when no one was there, when Gibbs hadn't followed his lead. Watched as he pressed the button to go down. Watched as the doors slid open and then closed as Tony got on. And he watched as the little light over the elevator, that told the person outside what floor the elevator was on, it pass over the main floor without hesitation.
Gibbs frowned. He continued to watch as the light passed the first "basement" floor (Abby's lab) and continued to the second. Autopsy. What was Tony doing in Autopsy? They had already basically closed the case, so he couldn't be talking to Ducky about that. And Ducky didn't stay late unless someone needed him to, so why did Tony need him?
Gibbs stared at the elevator, having an internal debate, before getting out of his chair and walking quickly to the elevator.
He was going to find out what was wrong with Tony, whether Tony liked it or not.
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Tony sat on Ducky's cold metal table looking away a bit ashamed. The ME was glaring at him after he had told him what had happened in the bathroom.
"Anthony, you really should have told me as soon as the side effects persisted. And to this degree! You must have lost at least 10 pounds from not eating!" Ducky said, getting a syringe ready.
"I know. I'm sorry Ducky." Tony said, still looking ashamed, "It's just.....these side effects were easier to ignore." Tony said, and with a harsh look from the ME, continued, "but that shouldn't have mattered. I should have told you." Tony said. He did feel bad about it. He felt like he had let down Ducky.
"Yes, well good." Ducky said, fighting the slight smile that wanted to surface at the young man's genuine expression of despair. Tony didn't know it, but he actually pouted when he was upset. "Hold out your arm."
Tony did what he was told and Ducky proceeded to find a vein and start taking blood.
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Gibbs stepped out of the elevator and looked through the glass window into Autopsy. Tony was sitting on one of the metal tables. He seemed really relaxed, despite the fact that his shirtsleeve was rolled up and he was having blood taken. He was talking to Ducky.
What the hell was going on?
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"I think Gibbs thinks something's up,” Tony said quietly.
Ducky perked up slightly at that. "That wouldn't be unusual. He cares about you." Ducky said, glancing up to gauge Tony's reaction.
"Well, yeah Ducky. We work together. He has my six and I have his." Tony said plainly.
"I think," Ducky said, taking the needle out of Tony's arm and replacing the full vial will an empty one, "that it may be a bit more than that." Ducky said.
Tony didn't even flinch when the needle was pressed into him again. "What, you mean like we're friends? Yeah, I guess so." Tony said, completely oblivious.
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Gibbs' eyebrows rose when Ducky began taking a second vial of Tony's blood. This could not, in any way, shape, or form, be anything even resembling good. The thing that worried him the most was the way Tony acted like it was completely normal for someone to take blood from him.
He could barely stand to watch anymore of this. He needed to know what was going on. He needed to.
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"Actually," The ME said to Tony, beginning to understand why the two weren't together yet, "I think his...feelings about you go a bit beyond friends." Ducky said casually.
Tony stared at him blankly as he took the needle out of his arm.
"More than friends? But that would mean, like, romantically Duckman." Tony said slowly, his brain wasn't even going to try and process the information.
"Precisely.” Ducky said, turning away from Tony to mark and label each of the blood vials, and so Tony couldn't see the tiny smile on his face. For such a smart young man, he really was quite illiterate when it came to relationships and love.
"But that would mean Gibbs was-" Tony began to say before he was interrupted by the doors of Autopsy sliding open.
"DiNozzo! What the fuck is going on?" Gibbs asked angrily.
Uh-oh
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End Part 4
I know, I'm evil! I'm sorry!
Any thoughts?