Don’t Leave Me Hanging
Chapter 4
by WCUGirl
The pilot radioed the hangar to alert them that MPs were needed at the plane as soon as it landed. It was another hour before the plane landed. Once on the ground, Gibbs turned Dafelmair and his other stick buddies over to the MPs and went to the man stationed at the radar desk. Each person on a plane was fitted with a locator"in case a jump went bad, they’d be able to find their boys quicker.
“Get a reading on Agent DiNozzo,” Gibbs said, “he was knocked off the plane during the scuffle.”
The man looked up at Gibbs, shock and wonder in his eyes. “Jesus man what the hell happened up there?”
“I just told you, there was a scuffle. Do you have a reading for me or not?”
“It’s scanning hold on…there…there I have him. He’s…oh that isn’t good.”
“WHAT?!” Gibbs yelled, “where the hell is my so"agent?”
“He fell into a ravine…about six miles from here…I’m alerting a helo that they need to get a team out there and get him. Looking at the history of his movement…he hasn’t moved since he landed. I hope he’s okay.”
Gibbs’ gut screamed ‘get to your boy’ but he knew he’d have to wait and do it right"if Tony needed help…well they were with the Marines"help is what they do best. He just hoped that help would arrive in time.
xxx
Tony had never felt so free"well that’s once he escaped the all encompassing fear of being knocked out of a perfectly good plane. He knew once he was on the ground, there’d be some consideration given to the fact that his dad had been the one who’d actually knocked him out of the plane"by accident of course. Once the parachute had opened (and no one told him about all the muscles THAT pulled) Tony breathed a sigh of relief and just let himself relax and enjoy the drop. He knew the landing would be tricky"he’d learned that while jumping off the platform"the only time he’d successfully landed on his feet had been the time (thank God) that Gibbs was watching him.
He saw the trees rushing up suddenly and braced himself. He missed most of them, striking one with his leg, but he didn’t think a lot of damage had been done. The parachute kept him steadily descending and his eyes widened as he saw the ravine. The same leg caught on another tree, harder this time, wedging his ankle and sending him sling-shotting forward. His leg held firm, but he wasn’t prepared for his back to be slapped up against the trunk of the tree, his head connecting solidly with it.
Tony blinked, his vision graying for a moment and he groaned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, which had miraculously remained in his pocket throughout his descent. He couldn’t get it to turn on because his hands were shaking so badly and he groaned in frustration. He was trying not to move too much because every time he moved, he could feel the tree shifting. The cell phone suddenly dropped out of his hand and without thinking, he reflexively scrambled to catch it. The sudden movement snapped the tree branch and before Tony could react any further, the branch holding his ankle snapped and he dropped like a rock"right onto the rocks below him.
Tony cried out in fear for the few seconds it took him to fall from the middle of the tree where he’d gotten stuck, through the branches to the rocky ground below him. He saw the rocks rushing up"smooth looking boulders at least"and then he hit the ground. He screamed in pain, his shoulder had wrenched terribly somewhere during the drop and now it was hurting…he felt like he’d caved in his chest and the headache he had magnified tenfold. The worst was his leg…he wasn’t sure if he’d broken it or not, but he couldn’t remember it hurting this badly since Pitt had tackled him in that doomed football game nearly ten years before. He was covered in cuts and scrapes and the only thing he could think of was how pissed off his dad was going to be at him for not mastering the landing.
It was starting to rain. Perfect. Cold rain at that. He shivered in the cool autumn evening and tried to push himself up, but moving just hurt too much. He moved enough to check that he still had the tracker they’d strapped to him, and satisfied that he had it and that it didn’t look like it was damaged, Tony did the only thing he could do. He closed his eyes and let the stress of the day and the cold of the night wash over him. It wasn’t long until he fell asleep.
xxx
It took another hour to get a helo up in the air, and Gibbs insisted that he was flying out with them. The pilots nodded"they’d heard of this legendary NCIS officer and they were not about to cross him. Not when it was his agent they were going to search for. They flew out to the coordinates that Tony’s tracker gave them, and large lights under the helo lit up the area where they believed Tony had fallen.
The chopper bobbed and rocked with the turbulence in the air from the storm"the trees rocked and swayed under the wind from the copter blades. The added wind only stirred up the rain more, causing it to blow sideways, pelting the men standing inside the copter looking out. Gibbs peered out of the open side door on the helo. Even with the light to help them see down into the ravine, it was still bathed in darkness. You really couldn’t see anything from their position. Gibbs picked up a repel line. “I’m going down there. That’s where Tony’s supposed to be. I have to get to him.”
“Agent Gibbs…do you even know what you’re doing,” one of the younger marines asked him.
Gibbs turned to him with a smirk. “I was a marine before you were even born,” he said, “I know how to slide down a damn rope,” Gibbs retorted, securing the hooks to his belt and picking up the slack. “That’s my agent down there. If I know him like I think I do, he won’t let any of you see if he’s really hurt or not. Now, I have a radio. If I need help, I’ll radio up.”
The others nodded and Gibbs slowly descended out of the helo. It didn’t take him long to get on the slippery, unlevel ground and immediately he noticed several things. He noticed that there were uncharacteristic leaves on the ground"the leaves hadn’t really started falling yet, and these leaves were still green. He saw the parachute"ripped to shreds, parts of it still hanging in the tree. Moving over to the chute, Gibbs then noticed the tree branch. Underneath the tree branch, Gibbs saw"his breath caught in his throat"there was the hunched up figure of his son.
Immediately kneeling at his son’s side, Gibbs checked him over carefully. Supporting his head and neck carefully, Gibbs turned Tony over on his back. He could feel a knot forming on the back of Tony’s head, right at the base of his skull where head and neck met. Tony’s eyes were closed and he was shivering in the chilly night air, but he didn’t appear to be unconscious, instead looking to be asleep.
“Tony, can you hear me,” Gibbs yelled over the sound of the helo, some fifty feet up.
Tony’s eyelids fluttered a bit. “That’s it Tony, c’mon, wake up. You can do it son, snap out of it. Wake up DiNozzo,” Gibbs tried again. This time he shook his shoulder a bit. He was rewarded with a groan. Gibbs couldn’t tell if it was a groan of protest or one of pain. The rain fell harder, pelting Gibbs on the back of his head and neck, pelting Tony in the face.
“Tony wake up. Wake up son, come on.” Gibbs was getting desperate and trying not to show it.
Tony groaned again and this time his eyes flickered open. Gibbs couldn’t immediately see his eyes open, nor could he see if his pupils were sluggish or uneven in the partial darkness. Gibbs did see Tony’s eyes start to slide shut again.
“No, no, no you stay awake,” Gibbs barked. He picked up his radio. “I need a basket down here,” he called to the helo, “he’s not going to be able to hold onto the rope to get into the helo.” Immediately the cord he’d descended on began to recede into the helo. Gibbs turned back to Tony.
“Can you hear me Tony? Come on son you need to wake up. You’re on the ground now; your jump is over, snap out of it. C’mon wake up.”
“D…Dad…” Tony stuttered. He let out a deep yawn. Gibbs’ eyes narrowed a bit. He was concerned that Tony had been sleeping on the ground here after obviously taking a knock to the head. Gibbs couldn’t tell if he was in shock…he couldn’t tell how badly Tony was hurt and that really bothered him. He needed to get them out of there, and he needed to do it quickly. Tony needed medical attention.
“Right here Tony. Wake up, c’mon I don’t pay you to sleep on the job, stay with me.”
Tony’s eyes blinked slowly and he tried to focus them on his dad. “Dad,” he said again softly. He moved like he was going to sit up, then collapsed back onto the ground with a groan.
“Yeah. Hey Tony, come on, we gotta get you out of that chute. Are you dizzy? Can you sit up?”
With some help, Tony finally raised himself into a seated position. Gibbs inserted himself behind Tony so that his son could prop against him if he needed to. He set to work on unfastening the chute pack from Tony’s shoulders. Tony whimpered in pain.
“I know, I know it hurts, but you’re ok, yeah? Gonna be alright. We’re gonna get you out of here, just hang on.”
“Dad…There was a ravine…tried to keep out of it…tree wedged my ankle…got my cell phone out to call you…think it’s busted,” Tony murmured. He looked around, trying to find his phone, but in the darkness he couldn’t see it. “Lost my phone,” he continued, “I need to find my phone, Dad,” he sounded so scared and desperate and, Gibbs swallowed, young.
Gibbs heard a noise above them and looked up. There was a basket descending for them, just like he’d requested. “Will we both fit in that,” he called into his radio.
10-4 Agent Gibbs. You are a go for loading both of you into the basket.
“Alright Tony, it’s alright now, don’t worry about your phone. Right now we gotta get in the basket,” he said.
“My phone,” Tony said, looking around more frantically now. He needed to find it, he couldn’t be without a phone!
Gibbs sighed. “Just leave it Tony. We’ll get you a new one. It’s okay. For now we have to go"the storm is getting worse.” Gibbs scooped his son up from behind, under his arms. Tony cried out in pain when he was jostled but Gibbs didn’t stop. It was time to move. “I know,” he chanted, “I know it hurts, I know and I’m sorry…just a little bit more…a little bit more and you can rest…c’mon Tony,” he said softly, right into Tony’s ear.
With Gibbs’ help, Tony managed to seat himself successfully inside the basket. Gibbs climbed in behind him and inserted himself behind his son as he’d been on the ground. Tony leaned weakly on him. Gibbs wrapped his arms around his shivering boy, holding him close and trying to keep him warm, and called out the ready signal into the radio. The helo began to ascend, as the basket was drawn back up into the bay area. Tony whimpered in fear and pressed back more against Gibbs as the basket was drawn farther up.
“I don’t wanna…I don’t wanna fly anymore…don’t wanna hang anymore…please don’t leave me hanging like this,” Tony whispered. “Please…no more please…”
Gibbs held his son as tightly as he dared, trusting the marines to draw them up safely. He knew there was a medic on board to help them as soon as they made it into the helo. “It’s alright now Tony…you’re safe…gonna be alright now.”
“Can’t believe…you knocked me…out of the plane,” Tony said softly, yawning again and fighting sleep. Gibbs froze. He didn’t remember it at first, but as soon as Tony said the words, he most certainly remembered that Brinkman and Dafelmair had slammed into him, and in the ensuing stumble, he’d slammed into Tony, apparently knocking him out of the plane.
Before Gibbs could respond, they were back up inside the helicopter. A cot had been laid out for Tony and Gibbs helped him to stretch out slowly onto it. They covered him with a thermal blanket and Gibbs sat by Tony’s head. He watched as they checked him for severe injuries. Tony eventually closed his eyes and appeared to fall asleep. Gibbs kept a close watch on him, making sure he was just sleeping. He recalled the night Tony had been attacked by the drug dealers"they thought Tony was only sleeping on the ambulance, but he’d gone into cardiac arrest. It didn’t take them long before they were landing back at the base.
The medic from the helo stayed by Tony’s side as crew members slowly lowered Tony down onto firm land again. Gibbs heard Tony murmur a quiet “thank God,” as he was escorted away to the infirmary. Gibbs took a moment to thank the pilot and crew for their help, before heading down after Tony.
On his way to see about Tony, Gibbs ran into Kate. She was looking decidedly anxious and Gibbs assured her that they’d found Tony and that he would be alright. “You’ve had a big day, Kate,” he added softly, “why don’t you head on back to the office. Finish your report and I will see you in after lunch tomorrow. We’re all taking the morning off,” Gibbs said. “You did good, kid,” he added.
Kate nodded her thanks and then began making her way out. “Agent Gibbs,” she called back to him, just before he stepped through the doors to the infirmary.
“Yeah Kate?”
“Don’t…uh that is…would you mind not making a big deal of it to Tony that I was um…that I was concerned? I mean I just met you guys; I’d hate for him to think I’m some kind of a sap or something.”
Gibbs chuckled. “Oh he already does, Agent Todd,” he said. He laughed out loud when he saw the look on Kate’s face. She turned without another word and left.
Gibbs entered the infirmary and glanced around until he saw Tony. Tony was laid back on a gurney, head resting on an ice pack, while they tended to his ankle. He frowned a bit when he saw the condition his boy was in.
“Is he okay,” Gibbs asked as he drew up next to the gurney beside his son.
“He’s doing just fine Agent Gibbs. He’s conscious, coherent, with no double vision or nausea. He bruised some ribs, strained his shoulder a bit and he fractured his ankle, but other than that, he seems to be no worse for wear. He’ll be on a crutch for a bit, but other than that he should be fit for full duty again in no time.”
Gibbs took in the look on Tony’s face. Tony’s eyes were at half mast and he appeared to be focusing very hard on some faraway point on the wall.
“DiNozzo, you with me?”
“BOSS!” Tony’s smile nearly split his face in two as his gaze slid over to his dad. It seemed Tony was just noticing Gibbs’ presence for the first time since his arrival. “Heeeeeeeeey Boss! I’m so glad you’re here! Can we go home yet?”
Gibbs took a deep breath and turned back to the medic who was now finished patching Tony up and washing his hands. “You didn’t give him any painkillers, did you?”
“Gave him a pretty good shot of them, why,” the medic asked.
“Oh no reason,” Gibbs said smiling. “He’s just kind of a handful when you give him painkillers.”
“He’d be in a lot of pain, otherwise,” the medic stated.
“Yeah Boss I’d be in a lot of pain otherwise,” Tony snarked. “As it is, right now I’m not feeling a thing!”
Gibbs smiled. God help him. “That’s good Tony,” he said softly, “I’m glad you’re not hurting.”
There was a few moments of silence while the medic was finishing up and Tony was resting on the gurney with Gibbs close by his side. The medic backed up from the table and gave Tony a firm pat on his good leg. “Can we go home now, Dad,” Tony asked.
The medic raised an eyebrow. Gibbs shook his head. “Do you feel like going by the office first Tony?”
Tony nodded and sat up too fast and swooned on the table. “Thought you said he didn’t have a concussion,” Gibbs growled at the medic.
The medic checked again, just to be sure. “Nope, he’s fine, just sat up too fast I’d imagine,” he said.
“Alright Jumper,” Gibbs said, wrapping Tony’s good arm around his shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”
xxx
Tony fell asleep again in the car, which made Gibbs breathe a sigh of relief because it gave him a break from the earful of near constant chattering about absolutely nothing that his son was giving him. Gibbs thought back over the case, the events of it, how he’d nearly lost Tony"by his own fault"and how relieved he’d felt when he found him mostly alright at the bottom of the ravine. He slowed down a bit as he drove"driving the speed limit for a change. He decided it would be best for Tony if he had a chance to get some rest without being slung all over the passenger seat of the car. Despite the painkillers and the wraps and bandages, Tony’s face still held lines of pain that weren’t going away. Gibbs didn’t want to do anything to make them worse.
It was nearly ten in the evening when Gibbs pulled into the parking lot at the Navy Yard. He glanced over at Tony, slumped heavily forward in his seat, head resting on the seatbelt, and he was reminded of the birthday when he’d gone to visit Tony who had been undercover the weekend before, who had been too tired to do anything other than ride back to his dad’s house and sleep for three days. Gibbs called his son’s name softly and reached out a hand to touch his shoulder.
Tony immediately shot awake and jerked back from the touch, resulting in his face contorting in pain and the lines around his eyes getting even deeper, a soft moan escaping his lips before he could stop it.
“Hey, you okay,” Gibbs asked softly.
Tony blinked blearily at his surroundings, trying to place where he was. “Time is it,” he asked, rubbing his good hand into his eyes like a sleepy toddler.
“Nearly eleven. You sure you’re up to this? Won’t take long, just a few minutes. Then we’ll head home and get you to bed.”
Tony nodded. “It’s fine Dad. Slowly he opened the car door and moved even slower getting to his feet. He had a crutch to use under his good arm to help support the walking boot he had on his fractured ankle.
“Damn crutch,” Tony grumbled. He hated being on painkillers. They made him feel weird, act weird, and they really screwed with his perception. He stumbled over the curb stepping up onto the sidewalk and would have fallen if Gibbs hadn’t been there to catch him.
“Hope Kate’s gone,” Tony commented as they finally made their way into the elevator. The elevator lurched to life and Tony pressed his good hand to his stomach and groaned softly.
“I’m going to give Ducky a call and see if he’s still here,” Gibbs commented. “I’d like him to take a look at you and reaffirm what the medic at the hangar already told me. Are you sure you’re alright?”
Tony spoke softly in the dimly lit elevator. “I kinda feel like crap to be honest.”
Gibbs knew it had to be true if Tony was actually admitting it out loud. He never complained or commented at all about how he was feeling unless he really felt terrible. Gibbs had to watch his boy constantly or he’d really just let himself go. Arriving at his desk, Gibbs picked up the phone and called Ducky. Ducky had already gone home for the evening, but he assured Gibbs that if Tony needed him during the night all he needed to do was call.
Tony settled down at his desk and started to write his report but nodded off in the middle of it. Gibbs watched with a smile as Tony’s head bobbed forward"he’d catch himself then sit back up, only to nod off again. Finally his head dipped, and Tony nodded off and stayed asleep. Gibbs continued working, more determined than ever to get his paperwork finished so he could get Tony home quickly. The sound of the late news starting pulled Tony from his slumber, and he keyed the news up on the big screen to watch the report of their big drug bust. He frowned at the end of the report, pissed that NCIS hadn’t even been mentioned"“apprehended by the authorities,” Tony snorted, shaking his head.
He stood up and clicked the television off and limped over to Gibbs’ desk. Every inch of him was screaming in pain and he knew the best thing for him to do was to just go lie down somewhere soft for a night or three.
“Gibbs?”
“Yeah Tony?”
“How come we never make the late news?”
Gibbs smirked. “We might have tonight if you had broken your neck when you fell.”
Tony chuckled and shook his head. “You ready to go home, son,” Gibbs asked him.
Tony nodded. “Yeah. I’m thinking sleeping for a year sounds like an awesome plan right now, Boss.”
“Alright, let’s call it a night then,” Gibbs said. He stood up from his desk and grabbed his keys and his cell phone. Just as he picked up the phone it began to ring.
“Seriously,” Tony whined. “Can’t we please have one night off?”
Gibbs looked at the caller ID. Lauren. He almost answered it"considered answering it. This woman felt it necessary to vent to him, the least he could do was listen right? Gibbs thought back over the events of the evening. He’d put Lauren before Tony when Shannon had been killed and had nearly lost his son in the process as a result. He wouldn’t put the woman before Tony again. He silenced the phone and put it in his pocket and followed Tony to the elevator.
He had better things to worry about tonight.
TBC…
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