Disclaimer: I don't own this…

A/N: I apologize for the long absence. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that sometimes you just can't get past the writer's block. I'm STILL not happy with what came out, but I think you all deserve something for staying with it. I'm sorry. So much stuff has happened and it's been too long. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue soon, but I guarantee you I will finish this story

After all that is said…Hope you enjoy

Tony stared at Kate. His eyes moved to Probie, then Abs, but someone was missing and he couldn't seem to remember who or why it was important.

It was, though, important. He knew that much. He knew there was something that he should be doing. Someone else should be there. He turned to ask Ziva, but she was nowhere to be found.

DiNozzo didn't like the feeling, being without someone, he remembered it well from when Mom and Kelly died. He could hear a whispered voice in his ear and it was comforting, but he couldn't bring himself to go to it. Not just yet.

He was still missing someone. He wouldn't dare admit it to Kate. He could already see that she was smirking across the room and pointing at the Mossad liaison, telling him to tell her. Yet Tony couldn't figure out for the life of him what his partner would want to tell his…partner.

Something was wrong with that…two partners, a probie, and an Abs. Why did he have two partners again?

He didn't. Kate was dead. Was that the piece that was missing?

No, there was someone missing and they were both here to keep him company.

Palmer and Ducky were standing over his body across the room. Palmer listened as Ducky rambled about the first time he met Tony, while Director Shepherd stood to the side, shaking her head.

The fog started thickening and he could hear their hearts starting slow, or was that his?

Tony called out to the flying dog. McGee had called him something. Jethro?

He felt a light flicker in his head. Was that who he had been missing? The dog?

Or was there a dog? Abby sure would be happy if Dad ever let her have a dog? He did, didn't he? It was around the time Kelly had sat with Kate right?

No, Kate and Kelly never met. They only met in heaven. He assumed at least. A harsh voice slashed into his head.

Tony turned to the harsh voice. How was he here? Why was he here?

One step, two steps forward as he backed up into nothing. Something stopped him from moving back further. He felt his heart begin to race.

Where did Abby go? Where was dad?

"DAD!"

Doctors raced against time, yelling clear while using the paddles to jump-start the young man's heart.

"Clear," the doctor insisted. When nothing happened, the doctor continued, "One more time, charge to three sixty."

The surgeons held their breath, hoping that the boy would breathe again. Some looked out, soon regretting that they had done so, seeing the distraught family just outside in the viewing room. A rather pushy federal agent had insisted that they be allowed to watch.

The nurses' 'we got a pulse' allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief, and they continued to work on the transplant.

Tony watched, unable to pull together a coherent thought. How did he get here, floating above a group of surgeons operating on his body?

His previous dream, confused him, but he chalked it up to the pain meds. McGee always said that pain meds made him very loopy. Okay, so maybe he wasn't the only one. Abby and dad both also said the same thing.

So, Tony continued to watch, knowing that his dad had not "given him permission" to die.

Not that he ever would anyway.

Once again, as Ducky walked up with Jethro's next cup of coffee, the father was pacing frantically. Doctor Mallard had watched the man fret for hours. He'd only left for a short time as a body had needed him to accompany it to his temporary home.

Jimmy Palmer was going to find Abby, Ziva, and McGee who were having a rather important discussion, it seemed.

As a point of fact, Ziva had looked perfectly astonished at the news, which reminded of a time that his mother had donned that same look. She had just returned from having a cup of tea with a truly peculiar man who was attempting to court…

"I don't think I can handle this if he doesn't make it, Duck."

"Jethro, that boy has more lives than any cat I've ever known. He'll make it through. I seem to remember him saying the same thing about you when you were in a coma not too long ago. Dear boy was pacing in between comforting that sister of his."

The worried father once again supped at his coffee, trying to hide the fear. No matter how angry he was at his friend for the way he left, the man needed someone. They all did.

Many times, Ziva and McGee had said things while Tony was leading that made him feel unwanted, but the dear boy and his sister were the heart and soul of this team that mirrored a family so closely.

The doctor stepped out and the father came to a halt, and just as so many other times in Bethesda or some other hospital, the entire team seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Ziva's eyes were red-rimmed, but hard, just as he had seen her at other times when the poor girl was worried.

Abby was holding onto Timothy for dear life, while his protégé stood just behind.

Even the director, who had been making suspicious calls for the past hour had managed to make her way back, and somehow managed to grab hold of Jethro's hand.

Gibbs eyes were focused on the doctor's, worry evident in his eyes. It reminded him of too many times throughout the years: Pocci's death, Kate's death, Tony's bout with plague, and the list goes on. The man had suffered too much.

Dr. Brad Pitt stepped forward, but before he could say a word, Abby spoke in a small voice, "Keep it simple. Is Tony okay?'

"We'll have to monitor his heart and lungs for a while, but it seems that Tony will pull through this. I know of no one who could boast of surviving the Plague twice, but it looks he might."

A new voice came from the back of the room, gruff but gentle, reminding Ducky of his own father, "Thank God."

Abby turned around quickly, and the dear girl ran and jumped into the man's arms, "Grandpa, he's going to be all right."

"He sure is," the older man answered. Ducky turned to see Jethro's face, a mixture of relief and exhaustion.