"You're a mess!"

"You need help."

"You've haven't needed me in years."

"You're slipping!"

"Why are you lying down on the job?"

"You're disgusting!"

"You're a pig!"

"You're wrong!"

The words of his visitors resounded in Tony's ears and he closed his eyes against their faces which were swimming in and out of sight. Sometimes it seemed they were leaning over him and laughing or frowning. Other times they huddled together and muttered.

"Go away!" mumbled Tony, "go away! Leave me alone …"

"Anthony," came Ducky's voice. "Calm down. You will hurt yourself."

Tony managed a laugh at that, "Somebody's already taken care of that, Ducky. Everyone's taken care of that! It's all they do. I'm tired of it all. I'm tired of them. Make them go away."

"Make who go away?" asked Ducky.

"Everyone. Them. You."

"I'm trying to help," said Ducky.

"I told you to go," said Tony, "I don't want your pity. I don't want you!"

"I'm not going anywhere," said Ducky firmly. "I will not leave you on your own."

"Then I'll go," insisted Tony as he tried once more to raise himself up.

"DiNozzo!" came a commanding voice.

Tony instinctively stilled as he recognised Gibbs' voice. He heard the crack of Gibbs' knee as he knelt beside him.

"Watch out for the puke," he warned, thinking that the aftermath of Gibbs kneeling in his vomit might be even more catastrophic than the one which followed his coffee being spilled.

Gibbs gave one of his characteristic half-smiles, "I'll be careful," he promised.

Tony stared into Gibbs' blue gaze and struggled to find words. He opened his mouth to speak but his ears suddenly filled once more with the accusations of his visitors and he felt as if he was drowning.

"Tony!" said Gibbs sharply.

Tony's eyes flew open as he felt a sharp tap on the top of his head.

"Tony," said Gibbs firmly, "listen to me. You will not die! Understand?"

The voices fell silent. The cellar seemed almost to be holding its breath as it waited for Tony's reply.

"I don't take orders from you anymore, Gibbs," gasped Tony as he closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.

NCISNCIS

"Wake up, Tony," came a woman's gentle voice. "Come on, open your eyes."

There was something in the tone of voice that suggested that the request had been made more than once and it was a voice that Tony found himself wanting to obey although the darkness had been a comfortable place to retreat to.

"Mom?" he asked. He wasn't sure he could remember his mother's voice but there was something about this voice that he associated with love and care. He hoped he wasn't wrong to link those attributes to his mom.

"No, not your Mom. Why don't you open your eyes?"

This seemed a sensible suggestion but it took a few seconds before Tony was able to follow through.

"Millie?" he said.

"Yes," she smiled.

"Are you going to moan at me too?" he asked groggily.

"No. Why would you think that?"

"Everyone else has. Well, except McGoo and Ducky."

"Who else have you seen?"

"Gibbs."

"I see."

"And Kate. Paula. Oh, and my Dad showed up."

"Tony," said Millie, "where do you think you are?"

"The Pink House," said Tony fixing his eyes on Millie. Almost from the first time he had seen Millie Lacey in her café in Milsom Bay, she had been a source of comfort to him. He realised now that perhaps she had stirred long-dormant memories of his mother. Or, to be honest, perhaps she just embodied his picture of what an ideal mom would be like. "In the cellar," he continued, wanting to be accurate.

"Look again," said Millie with that same smile in her voice.

Tony looked again. And realised that he was no longer laying on the basement floor but was in a hospital bed in a room decorated with balloons and flowers.

"What happened?" he asked. "How did I get out?"

"You were carried out," said Gibbs from a chair in the corner of the room. "Took EMTs a while to get there and then to figure out how to get you out of that cellar."

"Oh," said Tony. "How did they find me?"

"Where's your cell, Tony?" asked Gibbs.

"I didn't call for help, did I?" asked Tony, "I'd remember that."

"Not the question," said Gibbs, "where's your cell?"

"Oh," said Tony as he finally remembered, "I dumped it. In Brotherton's SUV."

"You didn't dump it," corrected Gibbs, "you hid it. Along with your badge and your watch."

"I thought you'd track it," said Tony, "they wouldn't be able to explain away my gear being in the car. Did it work?"

"We're here, aren't we?" said Gibbs.

"What happened?"

"McGee tracked the cell once you were late back to the office," said Gibbs.

"And Brotherton crumbled," said McGee as he came into the room, "you'd have enjoyed it. Gibbs did."

"Classic Gibbs?" asked Tony.

"Vintage," agreed Tim, "one for the record. Shortest confession time I've seen."

"No time to waste," said Gibbs modestly.

"How long?" asked Tony.

"We found you after a couple of hours," said Tim, "but it took a while to work out how to get you out."

"It was interesting," said Gibbs.

A sense of horror dawned on Tony.

"What was?" he tried to bluff.

"Are you really worried about neckties in Federation space?" asked Tim.

"And what did you think that Kate would have found out about you?" asked Gibbs.

"And what is your favourite movie?" asked McGee, "I'm guessing it's something embarrassing."

"Indeed, your hallucinations were quite illuminating," said Ducky as he came into Tony's room. "Timothy was rather alarmed to begin with until he realised that you were running a fever. And he would prefer that you don't repeat your advice on how he could enhance his chances of dating Abby … at least not in Delilah's hearing."

Tony resisted an impulse to hide his head beneath the covers and tried to change the subject,

"How soon can I get out of here, Ducky?"

Ducky was the most affable of men but could, on occasion, deliver a glare worthy of Gibbs. This was one of those occasions.

"You have had surgery to repair your leg. Your badly injured leg. You have two cracked ribs and are at risk of developing pneumonia. You have a mild concussion and have been unconscious since you were brought into the hospital fifteen hours ago," he said.

"OK," said Tony, "so when can I leave?"

"I understand that the case is wrapped up," said Ducky, "there is, therefore, no rush for you to leave. Why are you in a hurry?"

"It's hospital," said Tony as if it was obvious, "I mean, no offence, I know you like hospitals but me, I'm not so much of a fan. When can I go?"

"Told you," said Gibbs to Ducky.

Ducky sighed a put-upon sigh. "Possibly tomorrow. If your temperature remains at its current level. And you suffer no more symptoms."

"Great," said Tony.

"And you will need to stay off your feet for some time," Ducky added.

"But …" began Tony.

"And you will find using crutches rather difficult until your ribs have healed," continued Ducky.

"Where's Tali?" asked Tony as he decided to defer discussion on his medical future.

"Mac is bringing her from Raleigh," said Millie. "We thought you'd be better off recuperating in the Bay than in the city.

Tony nodded at this news grateful once again that he had hired Frazer McKenzie as his nanny.

"Doctor Murray and Nurse Ratched are more than willing to provide medical care," announced Ducky. He obviously thought this was good news but Tony's heart faltered a little at the thought of how diligent their care was likely to be. The doctor and nurse ran the Milsom Bay clinic very efficiently but they were not overworked meaning they would have plenty to time to oversee Tony's recovery. He reminded himself, however, that Nurse Ratched did not live up to her unfortunate name and was more than happy to be called by her given name of Rosie. He managed a weak smile,

"Good to know, Ducky," he said.

"And I was already planning to stay for a few days," said Ducky, "so I will be able to lend my expertise as well."

"Great," said Tony with an even weaker smile.

Millie stood to go, "Mac will bring Tali this evening," she said. "And you don't need to worry about food for a while. I'll keep you all supplied."

Tony's smile was more genuine this time. The prospect of being fed by Millie was a bright spot in what promised to be a long recovery.

"Anthony won't be very active for a while, Mrs Lacey," said Ducky, "I will offer some suggestions about diet. He won't want to be putting on too much weight, you know. I will come with you and help draw up a diet sheet. Goodbye, Anthony … and be sure to do what the medical professionals tell you. Don't go with your gut. It is unlikely to be reliable in this instance."

Tony watched sourly as Ducky ushered Millie out.

"I'm going to head out too," said McGee. "Need to watch some Star Trek episodes. Check out your theory about neckties."

Tony grimaced, "Sorry, Tim. Didn't mean to screw with your head."

"I'm used to it," said Tim calmly, "and I think I got off lightly."

"What you mean?" asked Tony.

"You didn't give me a hard time. Not like you did your Dad and Gibbs."

"Dad wasn't there, was he?" asked Tony in alarm.

"No," said Tim, "I can let him know if you want?"

"No," said Tony hastily, "that can wait."

"OK," said Tim agreeably, "and hey, I'm glad you're OK."

"Me too," said Tony.

He watched Tim leave the room although he didn't seem to get far as he heard him talking to Millie and Ducky who seemed to have paused in the corridor outside. Tony turned anxiously to Gibbs who was still sitting silently in his corner.

"Gibbs?" he asked, "did I give you a hard time? In the cellar?"

"What?" asked Gibbs blandly.

"I seem to remember I might have got mad at you."

"What do you remember?"

"I can't remember what I said," said Tony, "just feeling angry."

Gibbs gazed at him, "the only thing you said was that you don't take orders from me anymore. Which you don't. Nothing to worry about."

"It felt like when I had the plague," said Tony, "when you told me not to die."

"You didn't need me to tell you that this time," said Gibbs, "you sorted it out for yourself when you planted your cell."

"You sure?" said Tony.

"You ever know me say something I didn't mean?" asked Gibbs.

"Guess not," said Tony. He yawned and became aware that his eyes were becoming heavy as sleep beckoned.

"Go to sleep, Tony," said Gibbs.

"On it, Boss," said Tony drowsily.

Gibbs slipped out of the room quietly. Somehow he wasn't surprised to find Ducky waiting.

"Why did you lie to him, Jethro?"

"Duck?"

"You said that he hadn't given you a hard time."

"So?"

"I was there, Jethro. I saw the expression on your face when he accused you of slipping away from him. When he said that you only kept him on the team instead of Ziva because she made a tactical error."

"And so you heard him say that everyone hurts him, that it's what we do. You heard him talking to Kate and Paula … and his Dad. So much pain there. I'm not going to add to it … not anymore."

"And what are you going to do, Jethro?"

"Start being a better friend to him, I guess," said Gibbs.

NCISNCIS

"Gibbs," said Tony the next day as he was being driven back to his cabin.

"Hmm?" said Gibbs as he concentrated on not breaking the speed limit.

"I was thinking about when I was lying on the floor in the cellar."

"You don't want to risk another injury," said Gibbs.

"Ha ha. You know, I was pretty confused and out of it."

"Yeah," agreed Gibbs, "you were seeing people who weren't there and having long conversations with them. It was kinda interesting."

"Yeah?" asked Tony.

"And I think you might have been on to something about McGee's weight loss. Perhaps he did do something to your metabolism."

"You better watch out then," said Tony, "now I'm not around. He might do something to yours. Not that you're looking fat, of course," he added hastily.

Gibbs took his eyes off the road long enough to deliver a glare.

"Not what I was thinking of," said Tony deciding to change the subject. "I remembered something."

"What?" asked Gibbs uneasily, hoping Tony hadn't remembered his conversation with him in too much detail.

"There was a bee," said Tony unexpectedly.

"Yeah," said Gibbs.

"It was sort of comforting. Gave me something to focus on when I thought I was alone."

Gibbs nodded. It had been strange that Tony had seen the bee but had thought everyone else was imaginary.

"Did it get out?" Tony asked.

Gibbs remembered the annoyed yelp from the EMT and his energetic swat when the bee got too close and was relieved that he could answer honestly,

"That bee's like you, DiNozzo. Nine lives. Yeah, it got out."

The characters are back in their boxes … perhaps the bee isn't! Thank you to those who have taken an interest in the story.