Tony was in intensive care at a hospital at the nearest Navy facility for five days, fighting off the effects of the infection his wound had developed. He was severely dehydrated and malnourished as well, slowing his recovery. On the sixth day, he woke up to find his teammates and former boss sleeping in various uncomfortable positions in chairs next to his bed.
Gibbs was first to notice that the younger agent was awake. He stood and walked to the side of the bed.
"You back with us, DiNozzo?" he asked gruffly.
Tony nodded, too tired to say anything, a ghost of a smile forming.
"Good. I wouldn't have been too happy if I had to come all this way just to have you die in a nice warm hospital bed once we got you back." Gibbs' smile took the sting out of his words.
Tony cleared his throat. "You came for me?"
Gibbs shrugged. "I couldn't let Ziva have all the fun, could I?"
Tony laughed softly.
"Of course I came for you," Gibbs said, looking his former protégé in the eye. "You didn't believe otherwise, did you?"
"I didn't think you'd even know."
"You didn't think we'd leave you out there, did you?" Ziva came up behind Gibbs, followed by Ducky and McGee.
Tony looked at the three faces, seeing the obvious concern of his teammates. No, not just his teammates. His Team.
Tony looked at McGee. "I was afraid you were dead. It's good to see I was wrong."
Ziva laughed. "Keep that in your memory book, McGee, Tony admitting he's wrong."
McGee laughed. "Yeah, Tony, all your teasing hardened me, the bullet bounced off my skull." He turned serious. "I'm glad you're okay, Tony."
"Enough of the mushy stuff," interrupted Gibbs. "Tony needs his rest, we've got to fly back to DC."
"Do we even have jobs to fly back to?" asked McGee.
"What?" Tony looked from McGee to Ziva to Gibbs in confusion. Gibbs just smiled.
"Tony!" squealed Abby, running to meet the stretcher as it was carried from the airplane. She gave him a careful hug, kissing him on the cheek. "I was so worried about you. Don't you ever do that again!"
"Sorry, Abs," apologized Tony, smiling at her beaming face.
"Gibbs!" she yelled, jumping on the laughing older man. "I'm so happy to see you! I knew you'd get Tony back safe."
"Thanks, Abby," said Ziva, coming up from behind.
Hugging Ziva, Abby started babbling, "Oh, I knew you'd be able to do it too, but I just knew that Gibbs wouldn't be able to sit by and leave Tony's rescue up to you. And then when McGee called and told me everything was okay… who's Eitan?"
"I'll tell you later," Ziva laughed.
"Eitan?" Tony looked at her curiously.
"I might tell you," teased Ziva.
"Did you guys hear?" asked Abby.
"Hear what?" McGee looked at her curiously.
"Director Sheppard resigned!"
"What?"
Abby nodded. "She was taken down several pegs because of her reluctance to help. It lost her a lot in the respect department, and there aren't a lot of agents who trust her now. Even the other directors give her the evil eye. She basically had no choice. She hasn't been replaced yet, but last I heard, they're approaching Director Morrow to see if he'll come back, even if it's just on an interim basis." Abby's tone was gleeful.
"Wow," McGee looked shocked, "that's really… something."
They reached the ambulance that was transporting Tony to Bethesda. Gibbs climbed in with him.
Tony looked at the older man. "Are you glad to be back?" he asked.
"It's good to be back in the States, yes," Gibbs nodded.
"Are you coming back to NCIS?"
"I am."
"You'll be leading the team again?"
Gibbs shook his head. "The team's yours, Tony. I knew you were ready to take over, and from what I've heard, you've done a good job. You deserve it."
"What are you going to do?"
"Well," replied Gibbs, "Tom's asked me to work as a consultant. I'll be working on anti-terrorism cases, and I'll occasionally work with your team… strictly as a consultant, of course, you'll be the boss."
"I'll be your boss?" Tony grinned happily.
"No, you'll be the boss of your team, I'll be your consultant," corrected Gibbs.
"But we'll work together again," Tony said.
"We'll work together again," confirmed Gibbs.
"Good."
Gibbs grinned at the younger man. "Yeah. It's all good."
Fin