Chapter 22
AN: A special 'thank you' to GothChiq80 for the story/chapter suggestion. I decided I wanted to see how that would work out. Thanks again.
"Tony…take your time. You said you have a month before…." Gibbs pleaded.
Tony shook his head. "It won't change anything." Tony paused. "You know it. I know it."
Gibbs nodded. He opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm tired, Gibbs." Tony said as he shifted in bed trying to find a comfortable position. He then closed his eyes.
"This is not over, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, almost as a threat. "You are not leaving NCIS."
"Not your decision to make, Gibbs." Tony said as sleep began to over take him.
Gibbs said nothing. He just watched as Tony drifted off to sleep. Then he left the room.
Gibbs arrived at work the next morning and Tim and Kate could since that there was something different. They both noticed that Gibbs stared at Tony's desk, after he sat down at his own, for a long time before he spoke to either of them.
"Boss," Tim ventured, speaking up first. "Is Tony alright?"
Gibbs glared at him but didn't speak.
"He's okay, right?" Kate asked after Gibbs didn't answer Tim's question.
Gibbs stood up and muttered something about coffee before leaving the bullpen.
"What's…?" Tim started to ask.
"Call the hospital." Kate said getting up from her desk and coming over to Tim's.
"If something was…wrong…Gibbs would have told us…Right?" Tim asked.
"Something is wrong, McGee. Gibbs wouldn't be acting like this if it wasn't." Kate reasoned.
"He'll tell us." Tim stated.
"Then why didn't he?" Kate asked. "Why didn't he?"
Tim put the phone down and Kate returned to her desk when they saw Gibbs exit the elevator, coffee in hand. They had no idea how or where he got the coffee so fast. They had had no time to make the phone call.
"What's going….?" Tim asked, trying to get answers.
Gibbs glared at him. "What's going on, Agent McGee? What's going on, you ask?" Gibbs paused, his anger building. "Tony is considering leaving NCIS, that is what's going on!"
"But he…why?" Kate stammered.
"Because his two junior field agents think he is an idiot that's why." Gibbs continued. "They think he is an idiot and won't follow his orders." Anger radiated off him.
Gibbs paused to take a breath, to try and calm down.
"He trained you two better than that, because I trained HIM better than that." Gibbs paused. He then lowered his voice, but it was no less menacing. "You two THINK very highly of yourselves as agents, I've noticed. Well, I have a newsflash for the BOTH of you. You wouldn't be half the agents you are now if it had not been for Tony." Gibbs paused. "If he didn't know what the hell he was doing…how did he train you? Think about that."
Gibbs then moved to his desk and sat down. He opened a file and began to look at one of a stack of cold cases they had been working on. Tim and Kate took his lead. They worked the rest of the day in an uncomfortable silence. At 5 p.m. Tim and Kate packed up to leave, Gibbs never said a word.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Leon had a huge grin on his face. He was just placing the phone back on its cradle when Gibbs walked into his office.
Leon Vance shook his head, his smile lingering. "I think that is the first time I have ever heard Fornell speechless." Vance continued. "He called as soon as he found out Tony was a 'free agent' sort of speak. I told him Agent DiNozzo already had a job." Vance smiled broadly. "Then I told him what the job was."
Gibbs sat down in one of the chairs in front of Vance's desk. He could help but smile as he imagined how Fornell would take the news. But he then got serious again. "What if I made a mistake? What if he likes being a doctor full-time?"
Director Vance shook his head. He had had his 'opinions' about Tony DiNozzo. He had had his moments when he didn't particularly care for the agent or his actions. But he had, in time, come to see, just a little, of what Gibbs saw in the man.
"DiNozzo loves this job, Gibbs. He…I'm sure he is an excellent doctor. But he put this job first in the past…."
Gibbs nodded. "But now he's put being a doctor first. He…what if he likes it too much? He may not come back, Leon."
"We all agreed, including him, that he would take a breather. A few months, up to a year…. The time away will help everybody gain a new…perspective."
"A year's a long time." Gibbs sighed.
"Have you chosen your temporary Senior Agent?" Vance asked wanting to change the subject. He referred to the stack of files he had given Gibbs to review. Gibbs had deposited the files on Vance's desk before he sat down.
Gibbs rubbed his hand over his face. "Anderson looks promising."
"Anderson?" Vance asked surprised. "He is not at all like…."
Gibbs nodded. "Exactly."
"Are you punishing them, Gibbs?" Vance asked. He knew a little about Anderson, and he was very no-nonsense.
"No, Leon." Gibbs replied. "I am giving them EXACTLY what they wanted."
TBC
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