Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. With the exception of Dr. Stones, I don't own them, I'm just playing with them a little.

Summary: Tony DiNozzo is mostly known for being early, but he's also been known to be a little late, but this is later than late. If he was going to not show up, he would've called in. This isn't like Tony at all.

Warning: Somewhat descriptive on the actions of pain/torture, use of adult language.

Tony DiNozzo was missing. Everyone else on team Gibbs was accounted for, but him. Gibbs figured he'd give Tony ten more minutes, out of the already thirty minutes they had been waiting, but if he hadn't shown up by then, he be hunting for him. The time limit had come and gone and Gibbs was worried. He wasn't showing it, but he was worried and he wasn't the only one.

"I tried his cell and home phone Boss, but no answer."

"Try his cell one more time McGee."

Gibbs decided to head up to the director's office to see if any word had been sent that way. Before he had a chance to reach the first step, the elevators opened and out stumbled a very disorientated and rough looking DiNozzo.

"Tony! Where on earth have you been? We tried to call your phones several times. Is that blood? What happened to you?"

DiNozzo didn't even spare Kate a glance as he sought out the one person that really mattered.

"DiNozzo?"

There he was, that's who he was looking for, but where was he? Tony looked around for the voice before he felt a firm hand grip onto his upper arm. He winced in pain and slowly headed for the floor, but the firm hand soon turned into two and they gently led him to the ground. As he was still in front of the elevators, the hands gently tugged him out of the way.

"Tony?"

"B-boss."

That one word came out more like a puff of air, but he could only hope it was heard.

"Where does it hurt DiNozzo?"

"Where doesn't… doesn't it…?"

A rattling cough took away the rest of the question and the need to lie down grew greater.

"Somebody get Ducky up here!"

Kate quickly stepped up to the task Gibbs ordered and was soon telling Gibbs that Ducky was on the way.

"Tony? Can you hear me?"

Tony could barely make out what was being asked of him, but he didn't have it in him to reply. His eyes were so heavy and he had made it to where he was trying to get to. Now, all he wanted to do was sleep. Slowly his eyes started to close, but Gibbs would have none of that. Not until Ducky had a look at him.

"My word, what's happened dear boy?"

The ME quickly set to work finding a more comfortable position for Tony to lie in, seeing as they were not going to be able to move him without it causing him some pain. Tony merely started to close his eyes again and was once again pulled back with a quick yell or light smack.

"We've got to get him to the hospital Jethro."

"Call an ambulance McGee."

McGee quickly called and told the group that they'd be there in five minutes. It seemed almost less than five minutes when the paramedics quickly made their way up the elevator and over to the group of people.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"We're not sure." The reply was given.

Confusion set upon each of their faces, but they quickly set to work. Tony could no longer hold onto consciousness no matter how hard Gibbs hit him or yelled in his ear. This frightened Gibbs, but Ducky made sure to explain that it was only natural at this point. Tony was quickly loaded and taken to the nearest hospital. Everyone that had followed, or found a ride, was now sitting in the waiting room. It was unknown to them how long they'd have to wait, but they were going to do it all night if need be.

*****NCIS*****

DiNozzo was angry, again. This was the sixth time he'd had to ask the landlord to fix the problem he was having with the a/c heating unit. It was on the fritz again and he was worried it was going to blow this time. The landlord said he'd get right on it and never did. Six times Tony went down to see if the paper work had even been filed only to find out that someone had said they'd finished the work.

"What kind of stunt are you trying to pull? If you want me out, just say so."

"You've got it all wrong. I'm sure the assistant just misread what was supposed to be filed."

"Once I could see. Six times?! Are you kidding me?"

Tony left the office and went back to his apartment. He figured he'd just call Gibbs and ask to stay at his place until they fixed the problem. He'd gone into his bathroom to calm down a bit when he heard a strange noise. Frowning, he looked into his room and saw nothing, but he'd heard the noise again. He moved out of his room and towards the living room. A high whistling sound soon attacked his ears and he threw his hands up to cover them. Looking past his couch and towards the a/c heating unit, he moved towards it to take a look.

"Oh sh—"

Were the only words he managed before trying to turn and run when the unit exploded. A pipe caught Tony in the back, burning him. Another caught him in the side, piercing through it. He cried out in pain before another burned him in his right leg. He'd managed to be pinned up against the wall by another piece. A final piece knocked him out and left him to wonder where the rest landed. When he finally woke up, he was confused as to where he was and why he hurt so much. Lifting a hand to his head, he cried out as he brushed against the pipe in his side.

"Holy…"

Shock was starting to set in, but he knew he needed help, or at the least, to get himself off the wall. Shakily, he reached down to the pipe in his side and whimpered as he realized what he had to do and how much pain he would be in.

"Suck it up DiNozzo. The sooner this gets done, the faster I can get off this wall."

He tried to take in a deep breath, but there was another pipe too close to his lungs.

Just touching the pipe was too much for him, but he attempted to pull it out anyways.

"I can't do this."

He cried as he pulled the pipe free and then blacked out for a moment, but he slowly returned to his senses.

"One down…"

The one semi near his lungs was the next to go and Tony did pass out after that. He didn't know how long he was out for, but the sun was up and he was pretty sure he was late for work. Getting his bearings, he noted how cold it was and how much blood he was sure he'd lost. The pipe in his leg seemed like cake after the first two. Shaking, Tony got to his feet and managed to get into his bedroom. He heard his phone ringing, but he wasn't sure he could focus enough to answer it. Grabbing his keys and wallet, he managed to get to the door of his apartment and tumbled down the stairs to get to his car. He coughed a moment to clear his lungs. It hurt so much to move. He wanted to just lay there and hope someone would find him, but he knew he could be dead by then.

Get up. You gotta get to Gibbs.

Telling himself that, he got up and stumbled over towards his car. Once inside, he leaned against the door for a while before, somehow, making his way to the naval yard.

"Tony? Are you ok?"

One of the guards at the desk was asking him, but Tony paid no attention. Next thing he knew, Kate was talking to him, Gibbs was helping him to sit down and not be in the way of the elevator, and Ducky had shown up with medical supplies. All he really wanted to do was rest his eyes for a moment, but Gibbs wouldn't let him. Paramedics showed up and Tony found himself no longer able to keep his eyes open. No matter how much Gibbs wanted them open.

*****NCIS*****

"What the hell is taking so long?"

"Come now Jethro. They will send someone out to speak with us once they've gotten young Anthony taken care of. You must have patience."

"Duck, I had patience the first two hours. It's been almost eight hours! When is someone going to come out and tell us anything? Whether... if Tony's... alright. Jeez Duck, you saw for yourself. All that blood..."

"Yes." Ducky said quietly. "I'm sure they'll send someone out shortly."

As if hearing him, someone in scrubs finally came out of the doors that lead to the operating rooms and approached the waiting area.

"Family for Anthony DiNozzo Jr."

"Here!" Gibbs called standing up quickly and then making his way towards the person he hoped was a doctor.

"My apologies that no one was able to get out here and speak with you until now. I'm Dr. Stones. Mr. DiNozzo suffered from blood loss from what appeared to be several puncture wounds. We also found burns on his person and we're not entirely sure how they came about. We're keeping him on a respirator as one of the puncture wounds came fairly close to his lungs. The surgery was long going as we nearly lost him a quite a few times, but it would seem that Mr. DiNozzo is a fighter."

"You're damn right he's a fighter. Thank you doctor. May I see him?" Gibbs asked.

"We're moving him to a room in the ICU. We're taking precautions as we know his medical history. I'll have a nurse send for you when we get him into his room."

"Thank you Dr. Stones." Ducky said and frowned. "What on earth could've caused so much blood loss if it were something that punctured Anthony?"

"I don't know Duck, but I intend to find out. McGee! Kate! As soon as I get a chance to see that Tony's alright, we'll need to back track the last place he was before this happened."

"Yes Boss." Both McGee and Kate said.

When Gibbs was finally able to see Tony, he was shocked at how pale and almost dead the younger man looked.

"Oh my gosh!" Kate said with a gasp before turning and leaving the room.

"Oh man…Tony…" McGee began but couldn't finish.

Gibbs merely looked at Tony.

"Dear heavens. No wonder we almost lost the poor lad." Ducky exclaimed as he looked through Tony's chart.

"You hear that DiNozzo? Almost. You still don't have permission to die." Gibbs remarked.

It took a few days for Tony to get off the respirator. It took a few more for him to tell what exactly had happened. About six weeks after that and Tony was allowed to go home, but for him that meant Gibbs' home. Gibbs had been so furious with Tony's apartment complex that he went personally to the building and told the manager that he was shutting them down. Gibbs had McGee make a few calls and the other attendees were found places to stay. The building owner was fined and told to get his place up to code or they were tearing it down. Knowing that was going to take a while to get done, Gibbs decided to help Tony through his healing process before turning him over to his new apartment complex. Gibbs personally made sure that everything was okay before allowing Tony to rent out a place. Tony had to admit it felt like a father being overly protective of his child, but he had the scars to remind him how much his last apartment choice screwed him over.

"Thanks for really looking out for me Boss." Tony said over cowboy steaks and beer.

"Of course. You know I'll do whatever I can for my team. Not gonna loose you Tony. You mean too much to this team. Heck, to this agency and to me."

Tony gave a bit of a shy smile before finishing his meal. He sighed and took both his and Gibbs plates to wash up.

"Thanks again Boss." Tony said and turned to leave.

"Take care Tony. You let me know if you need anything."

Tony just nodded and left.

"Whether you realize it or not DiNozzo, you really do mean a lot to a lot of us." Gibbs spoke out loud, but there wasn't anyone to hear it.

That said, he closed his front door, turned off all the lights, and went to bed.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time...