Miracle Cure

Trying to appear calm, the agent obeyed, but felt his stomach clench at the sight of Ducky and Brad together.

His first sense of unease had been on the money. This was not good- not good, at all!

Both physicians deliberately sat down in chairs, as well, nodding to Jethro as they did.

Evidently, the visit was no surprise and he had expected the guests.

Gibbs regarded Tony, who focused on the table top the moment he sensed Jethro's inspection of him. "No, Tony, look up here and tell me why you think we have company this afternoon," the team leader ordered.

Keeping panic out of his expression proved a hard task. Trying to quell his internal dread Tony grinned broadly and ventured, "Is it your birthday, Boss?"

"Nope," Jethro answered succinctly, swirling his coffee in the cup, "Try again."

Tony licked his lips, trying to buy time to decide how to keep his nervousness from showing. His boss could smell fear. "Ok, are they selling something, say door to door ice cream, vacuum cleaners, or magazine subscriptions perhaps?"

Not one man responded with the laugh he had hoped would deflate their deliberately unyielding body language. In fact, all three faces adopted even more severe expressions.

Swallowing, Tony ventured uneasily, "Boss, uhm, is this some kind of intervention here?" He steepled his hands to appear calm in his current setting, but the action failed.

He slid his hands into the pockets of his pants instead and clenched his jaw.

Several seconds of an uncomfortable silence followed.

Ducky leaned across the table to address him, bracing himself with his arms on the tabletop. "Anthony, we gather today because all of us need to discuss your health and review the precautions you need to take-"

"But have refused to practice or to follow," Brad interrupted, his irritation evident in his tone and in the way he crossed his arms against his chest. He practically throbbed with disappointment and exasperation.

"Right," Ducky agreed, his own voice deliberately copying the annoyed edge on Brad's. "Though you seem to approach your own personal well being quite casually, indifferently even, that does not prove the case with the three of us."

Licking his lips, Tony attempted to clarify the purpose for the visit. "So, that is why you came today? You drove here because of my fitness and you wanted to rat me out to Gibbs?"

Gibbs addressed that thought, aligning himself once and for all with the other two. "Apparently, instead of tending to business as I believed, as we all thought you capable of doing, and by this I mean your personal health, you have evaded, avoided, and gone off grid instead. So-"

"Boss, that is not fair, I…" Tony sputtered, wounded at the accusation.

"Interrupt me like that again and I assure you that your afternoon and evening will turn more miserable than I already guarantee them to be." Jethro leveled a gaze upon his protégé that demanded instant cooperation.

Tony threw himself back in the chair dramatically, but wisely, remained silent.

Ducky regarded him speculatively.

"Anthony, Brad informed me that he has given you instructions for the last two months to follow up mid month with me so that I can assess you between visits. I may have approached the dusk of my years, but let me assure you that my memory has yet to fail me. You have not only ignored his orders, but have avoided me, as well, in an ill planned attempt to do as you want." The normally good natured Ducky scowled in Tony's direction, clearly upset at the insubordination. "The last few cases have kept me busier than normal and evidently you have taken advantage of my preoccupation to skip out on these necessary wellness checks."

Tony made eye contact with Ducky and had the grace to look embarrassed.

He glanced around the table at the other two men.

Catching Jethro's upraised eyebrows he tried to concoct a wise response. "Actually, the health of one NCIS Agent can not remotely compare to the dedication you practice with our military members, Dr. Mallard. They need you more than I do. I felt it more important for the good of the nation-"

Gibbs slammed his palm down on the table. "Just how angry do you want me to get?" he interrupted, his voice rising with each syllable.

Tony sputtered to a stop, knowing better than to answer the question or to continue with his response to Ducky.

His heart began pounding. Now he had Jethro really angry.

Brad turned to Gibbs, his jaw set. "I gave him chance after chance to take care of himself and did not alert either of you. I trusted him but he abused that trust. He not only ignored my orders, but continued to do what I explicitly told him not to do, and acted as though the breathing treatments and medication were simply an inconvenient whim of mine."

"What was the conclusion of Anthony's most current report from you?" Ducky straightened his glasses and waited for Dr. Pitt.

Almost on cue, Abby innocently bounded down the stairs and peeped into the room. Jiggling her car keys she announced brightly, "I will see all of you handsome men later. I have some afternoon plans and I need to go."

All of the men murmured their good byes, and she shot Tony a genuinely sympathetic look before leaving.

Brad finally responded, turning to face his colleague. "Actually another doctor checked him while I operated on a patient, but he sent me a message to make sure I touched base with him. Sadly, after reviewing his findings, I discovered a further decline in Tony's health from the last time I personally checked him. His lungs just can not continue to function with any degree of normalcy when compromised."

A silence of several seconds followed while the listeners considered Dr. Pitt's words.

Tony squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

"Ok, Brad, what do you want to happen now?" Gibbs rubbed his chin.

"I want," Brad answered emphatically, his voice rising with each sentence, "Tony on breathing treatments every single day until I assess him again at his next check up. I want him home more and out less until his physical health makes a dramatic, turned around improvement. I want the prescriptions I give him taken when I have ordered them taken each and every time. I want that."

"His checkups should take place every two weeks now, instead of once a month," Ducky contributed.

"Right," Brad nodded.

Gibbs drummed his fingers on the table and studied Tony appraisingly as he listened to the medical advice. "Done," he announced decisively, his voice firm.

"Done what, Boss?" Tony stammered, not sure what Gibbs had in mind.

"I meant done as in a wish granted, done, Tony. You will comply with everything Brad and Ducky want," Gibbs directed, "because I do not plan to revisit this issue again."

"Thank you," Brad responded, smiling jubilantly at Ducky. Gibbs had backed them as they knew he would. "Both of his doctors genuinely appreciate the unity here."

"Not a problem," Gibbs assured him, "not a problem at all."

Tony scrambled to translate the implications to practical life. "Wait, Boss, what does that mean?"

Jethro leaned back in his chair. "Immediately after supper each evening you will sit by me for half an hour and complete your breathing treatment. I will accompany you to each and every future medical visit, thus guaranteeing you meet twice a month with Dr. Pitt. Effective right now, you are benched and will spend your time at NCIS on desk duty and not in the field. Whatever extra curricular activities you planned will need rescheduling to the time between getting off work and suppertime, because you will not leave this house from the time we eat dinner until we leave for NCIS in the mornings. That, Anthony, is what that means."

Ducky and Brad clapped, and Doctor Pitt could not hide a smirk.

Crushed, Tony opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. Arguing would not work, and refusing to follow instructions would infuriate his mentor further.

No, the fault belonged with him, and in truth, he had known that gambling with his health meant he could possibly lose.

Tony paled as he considered the ramifications.

He had created a personal fiasco, a crisis that his boss now planned to fix.

"Any questions?" Gibbs raised his eyebrows, clearly not expecting any but daring Tony to respond.

Tony did. He licked his lips and ventured, "Boss, I think-"

In the tone of voice Abby and Tony knew meant Gibbs had reached his boiling point, Jethro interrupted. "I asked if you had a question. I certainly did not invite your opinion."

Sighing loudly, Tony glanced appealingly from Ducky to Brad, then settled his gaze upon his boss. "How long, Boss- how long do you have in mind for me to do all of what you just said?"

"Until Brad and Ducky say so," Jethro snapped, evidently finished with the details and minutiae of the powwow.

Still hoping for some hint of a reprieve, Tony ventured, "Boss, please-"

"No, whatever you want to ask, the answer is no. This new schedule starts right now." Dismissing Tony with a nod he turned to the other two men and invited, "Do you need to add anything? Will this take care of the problem?"

"Nope," Brad grinned, "you said it all, and yes, indeed, it will solve the problem."

"Absolutely," Ducky agreed, "and though I realize you consider us tattletales, now, Anthony, the truth remains that you could have avoided all of this by simply listening and following directions. Really, the fault lies upon you."

Without a brilliant comeback, Tony puffed out his lip in a pout instead, accepting that he had suffered a defeat in the hands of the wily physicians.

Jethro stood up and stretched leisurely before moving behind Tony's chair. Placing a hand on Tony's shoulder he patted him, then reached up and tousled his hair. "The option of playing with your life affects people concerned about you, and you have got to understand that you have an obligation to us to take care of yourself. You brought this one on yourself, Tony, but I will definitely finish it for you."

With the conversation concluded from his point of view, Jethro walked out of the room and jogged downstairs to the basement.

Ducky and Brad stood together, and but not before bestowing sympathetic glances towards their patient.

"One day you will accept that you matter to us," Ducky predicted, smiling at his colleague. "That day will be none too soon for me, Anthony."

"Which is why we had to tattle," Brad explained, "because that man downstairs is the only one capable of controlling you."

That certainly was the truth.

Tony nodded.

Both men turned to go, and opening the front door, Ducky soothed, "Anyway, with the proper care you should be back to good physical form in a few weeks. Jethro will loosen the reins then, once you approach all of this responsibly."

After they left Tony remained at the table several minutes, reviewing the turn of events in an afternoon which hours before, had held such promise. Clearly now he pretty much would function for the next few weeks under a house and work arrest as defined by Gibbs. Taking away his free time and the opportunities to both socialize and enjoy some entertainment would prove a bitter way to pay for the negligence towards his well being.

He closed his eyes.

Bad as the consequences appeared, the fact remained that Jethro had reacted out of his own fear, and because he cared.

Perhaps the tattletales had realized he needed to understand that.