Leather: chapter 6:
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Abby and Ducky watched the Director leave the hospital, then Abby looked at Gibbs and asked, “Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” Gibbs just stared at her, she nodded then asked, “You sure, Tony won’t be mad?”
Gibbs almost didn’t hear the quiet question, then eyes wide told her fervently, “No! Abs, you did nothing wrong! Tony knows that, and he was just concerned that you were okay.”
“Are you sure? I mean I was the reason he was shot, he stepped in front of me Gibbs!”
“Abigail Scuito!” Gibbs said forcibly, “If it had been you instead of Tony, There would be two basket cases out here! Two men ready to kill because you wouldn’t be coming back. Tony will be all right, this is pretty normal for him now, right?” Gibbs asked.
“Yeah, I guess so, it’s just . . .”
“I know. You love him and you feel guilty, but you shouldn’t.”
“Easier said.” Abby murmured as she saw the doctor approach.
Gibbs, Abby, and Ducky stood up as the doctor came to a stop in front of them. The doctor looked at them and asked, “Mr. DiNozzo’s family?”
“Special Agent DiNozzo, Tony.” Gibbs corrected.
“I’m Doctor Quinn, I performed Tony’s surgery.”
“How is he doctor?” Ducky asked.
“His surgery went surprisingly well, given the amount of blood he lost at the scene, along with the mess the bullet made to his shoulder joint on impact. We repaired the damage as best we could, the rest is up to him, and according to his chart, Tony seems to have quite the capability of overcoming the odds, so I’d say that with some physical therapy his chances are quite good.”
“Thanks Doctor Quinn.” Ducky told him.
“When will we be able to see him?” Gibbs asked as he saw McGee and Ziva come into the waiting room.
“I can only allow a couple of you back at a time, and only for a few minutes. Agent DiNozzo also asked me to see if a Abigail Scuito would wait until he was truly awake before coming to see him.”
“Oh, I knew it! He is angry!” Abby cried.
Dr. Quinn looked a little shocked at her outburst, but said, “No, he wasn’t angry or upset, just said you would be and he wanted to be coherent enough to talk to you. In fact, he asked to see Special Agent Gibbs as soon as he woke up.”
“He was worried about me? That’s why he wants me to wait to see him?” Abby looked at McGee as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Why? How long?”
“Another hour or so I would imagine. You should go home and get some rest, then when you get back he’ll be ready to see you.” Doctor Quinn told her.
“Yes, I think that is an excellent suggestion doctor.” Ducky said, then motioned to the two agents and Abby to follow him. “Come, Abigail I’ll take you home, you can get cleaned up, then we’ll come back and you can see young Anthony. McGee, Ziva, do either of you need a ride?”
“No Ducky, but we’ll walk with you to the parking lot.” McGee said as he and Ziva started toward the doors.
Turning to Gibbs, Ducky told him, “We’ll be back soon, give Anthony our love, Jethro.”
“I will Duck. See you in a bit.” Gibbs leaned over to Abby, placed a kiss on her forehead, and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, you’ll see him soon.”
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Gibbs entered Tony’s room, quietly, knowing the younger man was probably sleeping. He took his seat next to Tony’s bed, picked up the sleeping man’s hand in his and waited for the anesthesia to wear off. As he sat there, his mind wandered back over the past months, and years, all the time he’d known Tony. Of course, his mind settled on his favorite memory, Tony’s last birthday.
FLASHBACK:
The case was hard and had kept them busy until late every night for weeks, but finally it was over and to Gibbs it had felt like years instead of weeks. They’d lost three more victims before finally catching a break that led to the S.O.B., and now he was safely behind bars. He’d sent his team home early for once letting another team handle the booking and transfer of the suspect, giving his team a much needed break. Gibbs had stayed to finish the reports then he drove home. As soon as he opened his front door he knew there was something different, something in the air had changed. his marine instincts going into overdrive as he pulled his weapon and began methodically clearing the house room by room, until he’d reached the door to his basement. He’d eased it open and cautiously peered around the door frame, there on the bottom step, starring at his boat, was Tony. Tony held a beer between his palms, seemingly oblivious to Gibbs presence, until he started to speak.
“Know what today is Boss?” Tony asked quietly.
DiNozzo, it’s late, we’ve been running on fumes for the past two weeks. I’m in no mood to play a guessing game with you.” Gibbs had told him tersely, as his heart began to beat faster as he realized that today was Tony’s birthday. He couldn’t believe that he’d forgotten, even with a killer on the lose, there was no excuse. He knew that Abby and Ducky would rectify the fact that, with the case closing fast, they’d forgotten as well tomorrow.
“It’s my birthday today, Boss. You know what I realized I wanted for my birthday?”
“No what, DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked as he sat on the step next to his senior field agent, his own heart hurting a bit at the sorrowfully voice of the younger man.
“Today, when Peterson had that gun pointed at that little girl, Elsie, then you gave yourself to him in her place, which was incredibly stupid, and something I thought only I did. What if he’d shot you Boss?” DiNozzo scolded the older man, who only grunted.
“Better me than a little girl with so much to live for.”
“Yeah, well, what about the people who care about you, Boss?”
“Abby and Ducky would understand. I do what I do because it’s who I am, they understand that, as should you, especially after working with me for so many years. You’re the same way.” Gibbs had stated. Then because he hadn’t been able to help himself he asked, “What is it that you realized you wanted Tony?”
The younger man looked up surprise flickering in his green eyes at Gibbs’ use of his first name, before answering quietly, “You, Boss, just you. And I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t just hand yourself over to murderers.” Tony finished as he leaned closer to Gibbs, giving him time to react or pull back. Then as Gibbs had finished closing the distance between them, his emerald eyes registered desire and satisfaction as their mouths met.
The kiss was slow and gentle at first. Just the barest of touches, a soft brush of lips against lips, neither wanting to spook the other. One moment they were barely touching then the next their mouths were crushing together, trying to get as close as they could. Tony groaned then opened his mouth as he felt Gibbs’ tongue run along the seam of his lips. Gibbs took the invitation to explore Tony’s mouth, running his tongue lightly along Tony’s teeth, his inner lip before skittering away teasingly as Tony’s tongue came up to meet his. The younger man groaned again in frustration as Gibbs repeated this process twice more before finally meeting Tony’s tongue in a battle for dominance. The need to breathe became pressing and they leaned back, pressing tiny moist kisses to each others lips, before Gibbs muttered, “Christ Tony.”
Tony smiled slightly at the breathless quality of Gibbs’ voice and the dark blue steel of his eyes as they met his. “WOW!” was all Tony said for a moment then he grinned cheekily at Gibbs and in a singsong voice said, “Happy birthday to me!”
Gibbs laughed at that, then cupped the younger man’s face in his hands, bringing him closer for another kiss as he murmured against his lips enticingly, “Yeah, Tony, happy birthday to you.” and just as he’d wanted Tony’s eyes darkened to a deep dark jade as Gibbs covered the younger man’s mouth with his own again. Somehow, later, though neither knew how, they’d ended up in Gibbs’ bed.
END FLASHBACK
Lost in thought Gibbs didn’t realize that the object of his thoughts had awakened and was watching him, somewhat groggily, with interest. “Jet? Jet, come back to me.” Tony whispered as he squeezed Jethro’s hand. It took only a minute, but Gibbs blinked, shaking his head slightly to clear it as he turned to smile into the green eyes of the man he loved.
“Hey, you’re awake.”
“Yeah. Where were you a second ago.”
“Just thinking” then at Tony’s puzzled look, elaborated, “about birthdays, your last one to be exact.”
“Ahh, yeah, that one’s my favorite so far.” Tony murmured, “Not really sure if you’re going to be able to top it next year though.” he finished with a laugh.
Gibbs smiled at that then became serious. “Uhhohh,” Tony said at the look on his lover’s face. “What did I do?”
“Nothing, not really, it’s just that Abby thinks you’re mad at her and don’t really want to see her.”
“What?!” Tony exclaimed. “I want to see her! I just asked the doctor to tell you that I wanted to be fully awake before I saw her.”
“Well, the doc told me in front of her and she took it to mean that you were angry with her because she thinks she the reason you got shot.” Gibbs told him quietly.
“Oh, hell!!” Tony swore. “Where is she?”
“With Ducky, they’ll be back soon. She was covered in blood. . .”
“What?! She’s okay isn’t she? I could have sworn the bastard hadn’t gotten off a second shot!” Tony began to struggle to sit up, trying to get out of bed.
“Hey, stop.” Gibbs told him as he put his hand on his arm to stop him.
“Can’t, I’ve go to check on Abby.”
“She’s not here Tony, Ducky . . .”
“You said she was covered in blood! She has to be here!” Tony nearly yelled as he interrupted Gibbs.
“Tony! She was covered in your blood. She’s fine, I swear to you, just upset.” Gibbs told him solemnly.
“You’re sure?” Tony asked calmer now.
“Yes. Now settle back down.” Gibbs ordered him firmly. “As I was saying, Ducky took her to get changed and cleaned up, they’ll be back shortly.”
“Okay.” Tony said, then, “Did the nurse or doc bring anything in to you?”
“No, why?” Gibbs asked, just as a nurse walked in smiling brightly, carrying a small jar.
Setting the jar down, she nodded a greeting to Gibbs, then said to Tony, “Doctor Quinn said that you wanted this Mr. DiNozzo.”
“It’s Tony and thanks.”
“All right, Tony then, I need to check your vitals and then I’ll be out of your hair.” She told them as she went about her duties, then asked, “Any pain?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” Tony replied.
“Well if that changes you just let me know and we can get you fixed up. My name is Susie.” She smiled prettily before turning to leave.
“Thanks Susie,” Tony called to her with a cheeky grin, Gibbs simply nodded and rolled his eyes at Tony’s antics.
Settling his body more comfortably in the bed, Tony’s fingers tightened on Gibbs’ a moment then relaxed as he breathed through the pain in his shoulder. Gibbs settled back, preparing to get some sleep while Tony did, he was surprised when he heard Tony speak, “Wake me when Abby gets here.”
“Promise.” Gibbs told him as he leaned down, brushing a gentle, loving kiss over Tony’s mouth, “Get some rest, love.”
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