Chapter Ten

Breaking Free

Tony wasn't that comfortable with being in the hospital, there was something about them that reminded him of horrible times, it might have been the smell, it might have been the doctors but whatever it was Tony wasn't hoping to stay there much longer. He had already been there for three day and that was longer than was really possible for him.

He pressed the buzzer near the side of his bed, wincing as it pulled the skin surrounding his wound. He made sure to manage his expression so that the pain wouldn't show when the nurse came in, she would never let him go if he was still in pain.

To be completely fair Tony had never managed to stay in the hospital for the recommended amount of time, there was no way that this was going to stay this time. He put on his most charming smile when the door opened, it dropped when he saw that it was Gibbs. He didn't know how he was going to do this with Gibbs in the room, he was just going to have to ignore him when the nurse came in.

"How you doing DiNozzo?" Gibbs took a sip of his coffee, sitting down on the chair next to the bed.

"Better." Tony smiled, stomach growling loudly. He wished he had some pizza instead of the terrible hospital food. A knock at the door caught both mens attention and as the nurse came in, Tonys plan went into action. He brought back his charming smile and glanced at her name tag.

"So Kathy. How am I doing?" Kathy blushed as she went about changing his IV and took the clipboard from the front of his bed.

"It looks like you're doing just fine." She said shyly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she replaced the clipboard.

Tony smiled once more. "Well that's great, so does that mean I can leave?"

Kathy blushed once more as the damn DiNozzo smile was directed her way once more, why was it every time Tony was in hospital she was his nurse? Secretly she loved the attention, but he could make her do crazy things. Like right now, both of them knew that she was going to let him sign himself out early. She had a soft spot for the handsome cop and didn't even bother to hide it.

"I'll go get your forms." Gibbs jaw dropped at how quickly DiNozzo got his way, there wasn't even a fight from the young nurse. Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the celebrating DiNozzo and smirked. He didn't know what was in store for him.

"Speaking of forms." Gibbs stood up and took some paperwork out of his jacket, he placed them on Tony's bedside table and almost smiled at the bewildered look on the young mans face.

"What's this?" Tony asked, propping himself up a bit more so that he could reach over and grab the file. He realised that Gibbs wasn't going to tell him so he decided to read it for himself, opening the file his mouth dropped open a bit when he realised what it was.

"Gibbs?" He looked up but the older man had disappeared. Looking back down at the file he couldn't help but smile and when Kathy came back in with the forms he signed happily, not wanting to waste anymore of his time stuck in a bed. Getting up gingerly, he tried not to wince at the slight pain he could feel from his injury, he knew that Kathy would quite happily keep him longer so he gathered his things and walked out of the room.

Catching a cab was easy and he had soon reached his destination. Walking into the precinct he headed towards the captains office, he didn't want to know where Danny was and why he hadn't helped him out in that warehouse so he kept his eyes forward. Knocking on the door softly he entered as soon as he heard the okay to do so.

"DiNozzo! Out of hospital already? I knew they wouldn't be able to keep you long, but you know that you're still on sick leave right? There's no way you're gonna be allowed back this early." Captain stroked his chin as he looked at the younger man.

"I know." Tony smiled. "I'm not here for that, I'm here to resign effective immediately." The captains legs dropped from where they had been crossed on the desk in front of him. His best man had just resigned, he almost wanted to cry. Almost.

"Are you sure Tony? Where will you go from here?" He asked, all smiles gone from his voice.

"I've been offered another position." Tony didn't want to elaborate, he just handed over his gun and badge smiled at the Captain once more and left the office. He spent the rest of the day going around to everyone he had ever talked to and some that he hadn't and said his goodbyes.

"You know you're always welcome back here right DiNozzo?" The captain had come to say his final goodbye, Danny was standing close behind. The frown on his face telling Tony all he needed to know.

"Thanks Cap, I'll keep that in mind." The captain dropped his hand on Tony's shoulder and squeezed it in a farewell fashion, thankfully not his bad one. As soon as he left Danny approached.

"Tony? You're leaving? Just like that. Some naval cop comes in and just steals you from us?" Danny was hurt, he had known Tony for so long and now they were being separated.

Tony wasn't surprised that Danny had figured out where he was headed, if anyone would it was him. They were close but Tony had lost some trust in his partner, they hadn't been running as smoothly as they had a year ago and Tony knew that it was time for him to move on, he had been here for eighteen months already and it was time to try something new.

Becoming a Fed was definitely something new.

"It's not like that." Tony said. "It's time man, we knew it was coming. I'm sorry I couldn't have given you more warning but I got the offer earlier this morning and I couldn't say no. I'm gonna be Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Sounds good doesn't it?"

Danny had to smile. "Yeah, special alright. Special Ed." Tony laughed and punched his shoulder, forgetting that his own was a bit worse for wear. The two embraced like brothers saying their final goodbyes, and Tony knew that it would be a long time before he saw his former partner again.

"Goodbye." Tony smiled once more and headed out.

Danny went back to his desk, he sighed as he saw that Tony had cleaned his out. When he had done so, Danny didn't know but it saddened him that he just lost his partner, his friend. His eyebrows furrowed as he saw something on his desk that wasn't his, it was wrapped up and his name was on the tag so he ripped open the paper and his eyebrows shot up as he saw what was inside.

Tube socks.

Tony had made it back to his apartment, the door was ajar when he arrived so he dropped into a neutral position so that he could defend himself from any attacks, pushing the door open a little more he stood up properly when he noticed that it was only Gibbs. Wait a sec-

"How did you get in here?" He asked, shutting the door behind him and examining the locks.

"You should really get better ones. The crime in DC isn't as bad as here but still." Gibbs smirked as he noticed the look of complete confusion on DiNozzos face. "I want you at the navy yard at 0700 Monday morning reporting for duty, your paperwork will be cleared by then." Gibbs snatched the file out of Tony's hand put it back in his jacket, not even bothering to check if Tony had filled it out, he knew he had.

"On it boss." The two shook hands as Gibbs walked out, got in his car that had appeared out of nowhere and drove back to Washington, leaving Tony with a smile on his face as he put on a movie. Magnum PI.

THE END