PROTECTOR'S PROTECTOR

SUMMARY: Mac collapses at work due to not taking care of himself. Can he be persuaded to change his ways or is it to late? WARNING: Contains corporal punishment

DISCLAIMER: I own neither NCIS or CSI: NY…damn! Oh well…a girl can dream!

A/N: If you see OOOOOOOO then it is a show change, meaning if I was talking about CSI:NY then after the mark I am talking about NCIS. HOWEVER, if you see OoOoOoOo then it is a scene change for whatever characters I'm on. I hope it makes more sense once you start reading but if it doesn't you know the drill…drop me a line.

A/N2: Some of you wanted to see another 'dad' get himself upended. (Hence my Hotch crossover Fics and my Rossi Fic) I hope you like!

OoOoOoOo

PROLOGUE:

"How is he?" The man's voice was filled with worry.

"He's going to be fine," His friend soothed, "The doctor say he's over worked."

The man frowned, "You said he'd pulled a triple?"

The woman nodded, "Oh Gunny, he's been awful lately. He's only getting a couple hours of sleep a night if that. He won't eat unless I nag and then he gets upset and…"

"Claire…" The man's voice was stern.

"You know him Gunny," Claire Taylor protested the man's thoughts, "He leaves and then comes back and apologizes, eats some more, and gets a little bit of sleep. I know that case of his has been driving him to distraction…I just never realized…."

"Don't blame yourself," The Gunny stood firm, "You know as well as I do Mac Taylor can hide what he's feeling and thinking better than most. If anything I should have called…"

"Gunny," A hollow voice sounded, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think," Came the 'duh' sounding answer, "You gave your wife quite a scare you know."

"I just need a little sleep," The man replied, "I'll be fine in a couple of hours."

"I don't think so," The response was firm. "You're going to stay in that bed until you're released."

"I just need a little sleep," Was the refute, "And maybe something to eat. Hi sweetheart."

"You scared me," Claire held her husband's hand; "The doctor said you're exhausted and dehydrated. They want to keep you for observation for at least one night."

"I'm fine," Her husband smiled, "I'll sleep better in my own bed. Besides," The man spoke over his wife's protest, "I have to be in work early tomorrow."

"Work is what caused this," His wife hissed, "If you hadn't been…"

"Claire," The Marine spoke from his spot where he'd tried to allow the couple some privacy.

"You know its true Gunny," Claire glared at their friend. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee. I'll grab you some."

The man gave a nod of thanks.

As she left the room her husband called out, "Get me my release forms!"

Claire turned to look back into the room from her spot in the hallway. She glared at her husband before looking over at the man visiting. Seeing a quick shake of the head she gave a short nod before disappearing.

"Gunny," Mac whined, though he'd protest that he'd done so till his death. He did not want to stay in the hospital any longer then he had to.

"Mac Taylor," The Gunnery Sergeants voice sounded and he was pissed. "You are going to stay in that bed until you're released and then you are going to follow your doctor's order to the letter."

"I'm not an invalid," Mac snapped back, "And I'm not in the Marine Corp so you can't order me around; not that you could before." It wasn't until the words were out of his mouth before he realized that he'd just made a fatal error. "I…I didn't…"

"You collapsed in your apartment. You're wife called me scared to death," The man's voice was low, "So you're going to do what you have to do to get better. So help me Taylor, you keep acting like a child or you ever land yourself in the hospital because, like a child, you can't take care of yourself and I will have you over my knee so fast you won't remember your own name; got it?"

"Got it," Mac answered, burrowing down in his hospital bed, knowing, from experience, that the man before him was not joking.

OoOoOoOo

Mac Taylor sat in his office glaring at the twelve case files before him. Twelve…the number never seemed to go down no matter how hard he worked. And he did work hard.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't completely the case files fault. Maybe it was that he just couldn't sleep. Sleep…a word he had no use for. He knew everyone was getting worried about him. He knew it was starting to show. There was nothing he could do though…not since that day.

September 11…the day he, along with the rest of the world, would never forget no matter how he tried. Like many others, he had a deeper connection with that date. It was the day he lost his better half. It was the day his world started to crumble. It was the day he stopped sleeping.

Not completely, not at first. He'd awoken with nightmares of Claire calling out to him for help, pleading with him to save her. Slowly the nightmares diminished and when Claire was finally declared dead he'd mourned, allowing his sleep to once again become interrupted.

Somewhere in the course of time his pile of four files had raised…first to five, then six, then nine, and now finally twelve.

The final case, a dead child, who no one had come to claim, had been the final straw. His sleep was now close to none existent. He started t consider himself lucky if he managed a full twelve hours of sleep a week; his average was only seven hours a week.

He knew Claire would be disappointed that he wasn't taking care of himself. Hell, she would have whacked him upside the head by now…or demanded a vacation…or called the Gunny.

That thought caused him to shiver. 'Maybe I should lie down,' He thought to himself as he started for autopsy. Realizing that he was in fact, ready to drop, he finally agreed to himself to catch a nap on the ME's cot after dropping whatever he got from the man off where it needed to be.

"Hey Mac," A woman's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Stella," Mac gave her a questioning look.

"Just got a call about body in an apartment on 42nd," She explained, eyeing the man before her, "I thought I'd catch it. Danny's about done with the current case."

"I can get it," The man started to wave her off.

"I got it Mac. Besides," Stella put a steady hand out, "You don't look so good. Are you alright?"

"Fine," He answered.

"You should lie down," She suggested, a friendly smile on her face.

"I will," Mac promised. As Stella nodded her head and left he took a deep breath. He only had to make it a couple more days and then he'd be able to go home for a day off...and sleep…maybe.

OOOOOOOO

Leroy Jethro Gibbs woke sitting straight up. There was something wrong but he didn't know what. A glance at his clock let him know it was late in the morning or at least late for him as it was only 6 o'clock.

He took a quick shower and made a cup of coffee before the over whelming sense of something being off forced him to pick up his phone and dial an all too familiar number.

"'Ello," A drowsy voice picked up the phone.

"It's me," Gibbs never had reason to identify himself.

"Gibbs," Abby whined, "It's too early. I just went to bed."

"It's six-thirty Abby," Gibbs admonished gently, "Why didn't you go to bed sooner?"

"I stayed up watching movies," The female Goth yawned wide, "I started to fall asleep a couple hours ago but I wanted to finish the movie that was on." Another yawn followed the explanation. "Is everything ok boss man?"

"Yeah Abs," Gibbs calmed himself, "Just wanted to check in; good night."

"Night Gibbs," Abby hung up.

Gibbs hung up on his end and frowned. If Abby was ok, then why was he still feeling that something was off. He dialed a second number.

"I thought we had the day off," The whine greeted him.

"We do," Gibbs replied with a roll of the eyes, "I just wanted to check in."

"I'm fine Gibbs," Tony replied, having been through this once before. "I fell asleep around two which is when Abby finally let me hang up after she got scared by some movie. She watched it while I watched a Bond movie." Tony yawned and tried to keep himself awake. "I'm assuming you called her already. Did you try Ducky Boss?"

"Go back to bed DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered.

"On it Boss," Tony managed to get out before the phone slipped out of his relaxed hand.

Gibbs chuckled and hung up. He'd been expecting it to be Tony that was in some sort of trouble. The first time he'd had a bad feeling had been the first time Tony had gotten sick. The man hadn't wanted to bother anyone and when Gibbs had found out he'd brought Ducky over and then stayed with him for the three days it took for him to get better.

Speaking of which, Gibbs didn't feel bad dialing the third number he knew by heart. It only took two short rings for the man to pick up.

"Hello, my dear boy," Ducky grinned knowing of only one person who would call him that early in the morning. "What can I do for you?"

"Hi Duck," Gibbs grinned, "Just wanted to check in."

"Oh well," Ducky started, "Everything's fine here Jethro. I'm assuming you've called the other two?"

"Just got off the phone with DiNozzo," The lead agent agreed. "Abby stayed up all night again."

"To be young again," The ME sighed, "Would you like to come over for a cup of tea? Mother should be in bed for at least another hour."

"Give me ten," Gibbs agreed before hanging up.

As he grabbed his keys he couldn't help but stop and look around. While he was glad his team was alright he still couldn't shake the thought that something was wrong. Only time would tell what, Gibbs could only hope whatever it was, he wasn't too late.

TBC…