Chapter 20

A/N: See profile for full disclaimer.

And they all lived happily ever after. . .

If life was a fairy tale, then Tony would have awakened one morning with his sight miraculously restored. He would have gone back to NCIS and the title of Very Special Agent. He and Gibbs would have solved crimes until time for Gibbs to retire when they would sail off into the sunset (after Gibbs showed him how the boat got out of the basement.)

But life is definitely NOT a fairy tale.

That's not to say that life wasn't good most of the time. In fact, the months after the New Year's concert were pretty close to fairy tale perfect. Tony and Gibbs split their time between Gibbs' house and the farm. They weren't together every night – sometimes cases kept Gibbs at work, plus after the concert, KnightSong was inundated with requests. Their new agent wanted them to go on tour but none of the band members were willing to go on the road for an extended amount of time. They would take an overnight gig occasionally but for the most part, they preferred studio work. Tony, especially, was still uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings, so the band only performed one or two concerts a month (which only served to make them more popular.)

The only time Tony truly felt safe outside of his own home was when he was with Gibbs. It didn't matter where he was, as long as Jethro was with him. Together, they had visited all of the DC tourist spots, Jethro describing everything in detail. Over the long Easter weekend, they had gone to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and sometimes they even took spur-of-the-moment day trips with no particular destination in mind.

They also discovered an unexpected 'benefit' to Tony's blindness – he could hold Jethro's arm in public no matter where they went, and nobody thought anything about it. One memorable evening as they entered a local restaurant, a man made a rude comment about how 'fags' shouldn't be allowed to parade around in front of decent people. Gibbs tensed and was just about to let the man have it when Tony simply unfolded his cane (rarely used when he was with Gibbs.) There was silence until the host asked the man to leave so the 'decent people' in the restaurant didn't have to put up with his bigoted attitude.

There was a rough spot in the road in early January when the doctors began easing Tony off of his anti-seizure meds. They were hoping that he could come off of them completely or at least reduce the dosage. Unfortunately, in the process of adjusting the meds, there was the possibility of seizure. Gibbs thought he was prepared in the event that Tony had a seizure but he was wrong. Thankfully they were at the farm when it occurred and Mary Pat was there, because Gibbs froze at the sight of Tony's body jerking uncontrollably on the floor. Gibbs started to panic until Mary Pat gave him a taste of his own medicine and administered a firm headslap to get him to focus (and did Tony have a field day with that information!) The seizure was fairly mild but to Gibbs it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. But they got through it without a trip to the hospital and eventually Tony was able to manage on a lower dosage. So life was good.

And then it happened.

The case was a bad one – a woman and her six-year-old daughter murdered in their own home. The husband was on a ship when it happened and the grief-stricken man's breakdown when he learned of the tragedy hit Jethro hard. It brought back memories of his own loss, and he attacked the case with his usual single-mindedness and second-B-for-bastard attitude. He shut everyone out, even Tony, staying at the office day and night. Tim had called Tony and told Tony that he had never seen Gibbs this bad. It was only a matter of time before he blew.

Things came to a head late in the evening on day four of the investigation. Tired of having his calls ignored, Tony made Corinne drop him off at NCIS. The security guards warned him that Gibbs was even more of a bastard than usual, but Tony was undeterred. Enough was enough. Getting off the elevator, he moved unerringly to Gibbs' desk and stood in front of it. "Hey," he said softly. "Why don't we go grab a bite to eat and then go back to your place? You need to get some rest, Jethro."

"Go home, DiNozzo," Gibbs growled in response. "I've got a murderer to find. Don't have time for a booty call."

Tony was hurt, both by the use of his surname as well as the implication that he was only interested in dragging Gibbs off for sex. Even though he knew that Gibbs was responding in anger, Tony refused to give in. "It's 9:30. You're not going to get any lab results or information from other agencies before morning. And if something does come up, they'll call. You can't help Petty Officer Cruz if you collapse from exhaustion." Tony hesitated, knowing what he said next would either make Gibbs give in or lose it completely. "I know why this is so hard, Jethro. We all do. But Megan and Jessica aren't Shannon and Kelly."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gibbs shouted. "Are you saying I can't do my job?"

Anyone else would have backed off but Tony was not just anyone. "It means you need to get your head out of your ass! You're running everyone, including yourself, into the ground and when people get tired, they make mistakes. Send the team home to get some rest. You too. Please, Jethro."

Intellectually, Gibbs knew that Tony was right. There was no reason for the team to work through the night. But emotionally, well that was another story. Before Gibbs could respond, however, the phone rang. After listening to the called and hanging up in his usual manner, Gibbs said, "Suspect was just spotted at a c-store near the airport. Police has eyes on him and they'll keep us posted. Let's go."

Before the team left, Tony grabbed Gibbs arm. "Be careful," he said quietly. "Something feels off."

Gibbs pulled away from Tony's grasp. "I know how to do my job. Go home." Turning away, he headed for the elevator, leaving Tony and a furious Corinne behind.