Gibbs was lucky he was standing close enough—and could still move quick enough—to get an arm around Tony's waist and pull the limp body against his as they both sank to the floor.

Tony was lucky, too, because otherwise his head would likely have hit either the step or the concrete floor.

Gibbs' blue eyes were pools of worry as he laid the young man out on the dusty floor, his hand under the back of Tony's head as he eased him down. Gibbs frowned tightly as his fingers contacted a hard knot of swelling at the back of his skull, and he grabbed a shirt he kept handy for the cold nights and tucked it under Tony's head. He slid DiNozzo's pullover shirt up his chest and sighed at the livid bruising splattered like spilled red wine over his left side.

Gibbs put gentle hands on Tony's ribs and felt a rush of relief when he felt both lungs inflate with each soft breath. At least he wasn't dealing with a punctured lung.

Which left the head injury—making Gibbs' short-lived relief evaporate immediately, and he reached into his pocket to pull out his cell to call for an ambulance. Gibbs almost jumped when a hand reached up and snaked around his wrist mid-dial.

He looked down to find a pair of tired, slightly unfocused green eyes staring up at him from the floor.

"Don't, please. 'M okay," Tony said as he tried to sit up.

Gibbs heard the slight slur in the words and put a firm hand on DiNozzo's shoulder, holding him down. "Stay put, DiNozzo. You are not okay. You just passed out."

"DiNozzos do not pass out," Tony said, and Gibbs had the feeling it was something the former detective had said many times—or heard many times.

Gibbs snorted. "So you just fell asleep on my basement floor?"

Tony gave him a poor imitation of his usual mega-watt grin. "I'm sure you have before."

Gibbs tried not to smile. "It's my floor."

"Please, Gibbs?" Tony asked again, sounding exhausted.

Gibbs didn't pretend to misunderstand him. "I won't call an ambulance," he said.

"Not Ducky either? Please?"

Gibbs wasn't sure he had ever heard DiNozzo say please this many times at once—or ever.

"Gibbs? He'll just give me a really long lecture about taking better care of myself, and I can't handle that right now," Tony said honestly, and then he seemed to realize it. "My head really hurts."

Gibbs was thinking about the lump he had felt. "I bet it does. How long have you had the headache?"

"Since that guy kicked me in the ribs and slammed my head into the pavement."

Tony blinked in shock at the failure of his usually impeccable brain/mouth barrier, but Gibbs just raised an eyebrow.

"Ducky should give you a lecture. Why didn't you tell one of us he hurt you that bad?"

Tony squirmed, fighting the gentle hold Gibbs had on him. "Can you let me up, please? It isn't fair to have this conversation with me flat on my back. I need every advantage I can get when I'm around you."

Again came the surprise at his own words. Gibbs just frowned as he slid an arm under DiNozzo's shoulders and helped him sit up. Tony's hands went immediately to his temples and he looked like he was going to be sick. He swallowed hard. " 'S jus' a concussion," he slurred weakly.

Gibbs eyed him. "You hit your head a lot, DiNozzo?"

"Yep."

Gibbs wasn't sure if Tony was getting his discretion back or if he was just keeping it short so he wouldn't say something he would regret.

"You gonna puke on me?" Gibbs asked, watching one of Tony's hands move to his belly.

"I'd puke on myself first, Gibbs. You're kinda scary when you get mad."

Gibbs bit down on a smile and figured he had his answer. The smile faded as he took in Tony's pale face and clammy skin. "Come on," he said, getting to his knees and ignoring their crackling protests.

Tony made some sound that was a curious hybrid of whimper and frustrated growl.

Gibbs huffed out a breath. "I won't call Ducky," he said, feeling Tony breathe a sigh of pure relief. "But I am taking you to the hospital. No buts, DiNozzo."

"But—"

"You're going to be a piece of work, aren't you?" Gibbs said wryly.

"Gibbs, I'm fine," Tony protested again, struggling against Gibbs' firm hands.

"You just lost consciousness. You are not fine. You are going to the ER," Gibbs said, his voice as firm as his grip. "Whether it's with me, or Ducky, or I'll call an ambulance and wave while they haul you away, you're going."

Tony fell instantly silent, and it would be a while before Gibbs would understand the unintentional cruelty in that last option.

But for right now, he was just glad DiNozzo was suddenly extremely compliant and he didn't spend too much time thinking about the reasons.

Gibbs pulled Tony to his feet, holding him steady as he swayed and feeling his agent's cheek burning with embarrassment against his neck as he gruffly told him to take his time. Getting up the stairs was an interesting endeavor considering Tony was actually slightly bigger than Gibbs. It was something Tony hadn't really noticed until being dragged bodily up narrow stairs by the man who was already larger than life in DiNozzo's eyes.

Gibbs pulled Tony's right arm over his shoulders and watched Tony's left arm cradle his aching ribs as they made their slow, weaving way to Gibbs' car. Gibbs didn't miss that DiNozzo's once-pale cheeks were now fiery red as he lowered the injured agent gently into the passenger seat, but he didn't mention it. He figured Tony was suffering enough already.

They were silent on the ride to the hospital, and Gibbs spent most of the time fighting the urge to use DiNozzo's sudden honesty to pry the answer to the mystery out of him. He found it odd that it had taken a nasty concussion to get straight answers out of DiNozzo, and Gibbs knew that it would be cruel to strip Tony of what appeared to be much-needed defenses. Gibbs knew he would be spending the next few years finding the balance in letting Tony hide and calling him out on his antics. If only there was a way to smack some sense into him when he needed to focus…

Tony spent the ride mostly trying not to throw up in Gibbs' car.

" 'S probably gonna be a long wait," Tony said as they pulled up to the ER waiting room. "You can drop me off and leave if you want."

Gibbs felt a stab of sympathy at the misery in Tony's voice and wondered if the young man knew he hadn't even come close to the nonchalant tone he had likely been striving for. Gibbs shoved the car into park a little harder than necessary and said, "You're an injured federal agent, DiNozzo. We won't be waiting long."

Gibbs helped an increasingly shaky DiNozzo into a wheelchair and glared at the security guard approaching them sheepishly to tell Gibbs he needed to move his car. Gibbs felt Tony's hand tighten unconsciously on his arm and the lead agent flipped his badge out and his keys at the man.

"Move it yourself. And leave my keys at the desk."

The man eyed the badge with contempt but nodded and did as he was told.

Gibbs was right, and they were seen quickly. Tony tried to evade the doctor's first question, but one glare from Gibbs, who was heeding some nagging instinct and had refused to leave his agent's side, had DiNozzo feeling suddenly honest again. Tony answered the questions he was asked directly, and Gibbs said nothing through the physical exam and x-rays, which confirmed Tony's diagnosis of bruised but not broken ribs.

Tony had showed a small sign of his old self as he grinned triumphantly at Gibbs at that, but otherwise he was mostly quiet and subdued. They were separated during the CT scan, and when Tony was brought back into the exam room to await the results, he could stay quiet no longer.

"You don't have to stay, Boss," Tony said, his arm wrapped around his aching side. He had given up the pretense of not being in pain a while back—sitting there in a hospital gown made that a pretty tough sell, even for him.

Before Gibbs could speak, Tony added, "I'm not going to sign myself out and run away."

Gibbs eyed him as if the thought had crossed his mind and he opened his mouth, but the doctor's return interrupted his statement.

DiNozzo indeed had a severe concussion and would be kept overnight—what little was left of it—for observation. That Tony's protests were easily batted down told Gibbs just how weak and exhausted his agent was feeling. Gibbs went on a coffee run, which would have been an odd thing for anyone but him to do in the wee hours of the morning, and then found Tony's room.

The young man was out cold and stayed that way for most of the night. He muttered groggily at the nurses through the concussion checks but got all of the answers right so they left quickly thereafter. Tony awoke once with panic in his eyes at not knowing where he was, and Gibbs didn't miss that his agent settled immediately upon seeing his boss slouched in a chair by his side. Neither of them spoke, but Gibbs felt like a lot was communicated in that moment.

Gibbs smiled in the darkness, both at the trust in Tony's eyes before he closed them and went right back to sleep and the knowledge that their connection would only get stronger the longer they worked together. It had been a while since Gibbs had taken on an agent and not spent most of the days trying to figure out how to get rid of them without drawing the wrath of HR.

Gibbs shifted in the uncomfortable chair, knowing he could be angry with his agent for not fully disclosing all of his injuries and ending up in the hospital. But Gibbs had broken his own rule and assumed the visible damage was the only damage, and he hadn't even bothered to ask DiNozzo if he was okay. Gibbs knew it was hypocritical to expect straight answers when he hadn't asked a direct question. It was something he would work on. Gibbs knew it took time to learn a new partner and he hoped he would have plenty of it to do just that with the young, full-of-potential DiNozzo.

Tony awoke to sunlight streaming through the windows later that morning, and Gibbs wasn't surprised that while he still looked tired, his eyes were clearer and brighter.

Gibbs was surprised slightly by the first words of his mouth.

"It was the notification."

Gibbs took a moment to think and then raised his eyebrows questioningly as he sipped the debauchery masquerading as coffee.

"You wanted to know what has been bothering me?" Tony said.

Gibbs couldn't blame him for making it sound like a question. Gibbs figured it was a testament to DiNozzo's skills as an investigator that he had figured that much out because it wasn't like Gibbs had been exactly direct.

Gibbs nodded, frowning. "The kid killed at Parris Island? It was an accident."

"I know," Tony said, raising his eyes from his knotted hands to Gibbs' face. "It was more his father's reaction to his death. Or I guess his non-reaction."

"It was like his life didn't matter," Gibbs said, repeating Tony's words from the night before. No wonder the notification had been quick. There had been no disbelief, no questions, no denials, no comforting a crying relative.

"Or his death," Tony said, biting his lip. He knew Gibbs could have—should have—left him last night and Tony had never woken up in a hospital to someone watching over him so he felt like he needed to give Gibbs something in return. "I was reading the recruit's file on the way over. He didn't even want to be in the military, but his father was a career officer and wouldn't even consider any other options for his kid. No matter what his son wanted."

Tony paused, closing his eyes for a moment and then shaking his head as if to clear it. He met Gibbs' patient blue gaze and continued. "I got sent to military school when I was twelve," he said, knowing Gibbs already knew that. He was feeling suddenly exhausted and exposed, and he hoped he wouldn't have to spell out the rest for Gibbs.

He should have known better.

Gibbs nodded, leaning forward and laying a gentle hand on the back of Tony's for just a second before leaning back and smiling slightly. "No wonder you beat the crap out of that dirtbag carjacker when he resisted."

Tony frowned, took a deep breath and winced at the stab of pain in his ribs. His voice was low when he said, "You never asked me about that. If he resisted."

Gibbs lifted a shoulder, returning Tony's gaze steadily. "Didn't need to."

Gibbs' eyes were speaking volumes about why that was—about the trust he had in his agent—even if he couldn't say the actual words, and DiNozzo unsurprisingly got the message loud and clear.

He smiled wryly. "I was also pissed about him being rough with a pregnant woman and trying to take off with her kid in the back."

Gibbs grinned back. "Hell, DiNozzo. I'd have kicked the shit out of him too for that, even if I wasn't pissed about sorry excuses for fathers." He let that sink in a bit before huffing a soft laugh. "If I could have caught him. I bet you were hell on wheels on the football field."

Tony's smile was the shyest Gibbs had ever seen from him—but it was also genuine. "I was all right."

Gibbs let the deflection go, deciding there was a time for straight questions and honest answers, but there was also value in allowing the minor misdirections his partner needed to feel safe. And there would be time later for firmly covering the need to be upfront about physical limitations on the job.

But right now, Tony needed to rest.

And Gibbs needed more coffee.

Gibbs got up and headed for the door, a look all that was needed to tell Tony he would be right back. He waited until Tony nodded sleepily and closed his eyes, settling in to get the rest he needed to heal.

Gibbs started to leave the room, wondering if he could sign off on the mystery that was Anthony DiNozzo and stamp "case closed" on the file.

"Boss?" Tony said, making Gibbs turn back. There was none of his earlier insecurity and the spark was back in his green eyes. "You should go find better coffee if you plan on hanging out with me all day. I doubt even you can keep choking that crap down, and you get kinda cranky without your caffeine."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, mentally putting away the "case closed" stamp.

He figured it would be more of an ongoing investigation.

A/N: The end. Thanks for reading and reviewing!