Work Text:
"Now you're making it right.......and me proud. You've done one hell of a job Anthony....."
The words were long overdue. Gibbs new it, Ducky knew it, hell, even Palmer knew it.
Abby sensed she was interrupting a special moment, and it had taken a week for her to be included in their secret. They were seeing each other, and had been since just before Jenny had been killed.
Even though they were in a relationship, Jethro had never said the words. He believed Tony knew how he felt, and that their relationship was testament to those feelings, but he realised that sometimes you needed to say them out loud for them to have real meaning. Especially when you were a man of few words, and of even fewer words of praise.
If he had been proud then, it was nothing compared to his pride now, ten months later. As he waited for the doctor to sign the discharge papers his mind drifted back.
It had been a glorious February day, with hints of the spring to come, they had answered a tip off that a missing marine had been dumped in a derelict warehouse. As they approached the building Gibbs had received a call on his cell, he hung back watching as Tony walked backwards smiling at him, making the most of it just being the two of them before the rest of the team arrived. Gibbs would never forget how his heart skipped a beat at the sight of the sun on his lovers face as Tony mouthed the words "I love you". The older man waved at Tony to get a move on into the building as he talked to Abby on the phone
Tony broke into a jog across the car park towards the building. Had he still been facing Gibbs he would have seen the look of horror on his boss' face as Abby's words registered. Gibbs cry of "Tony - it's a trap" came too late. Tony pushed the stiff door and the building exploded.
It seemed like an eternity before the dust settled enough for him to get anywhere near where Tony might be. Rubble and debris were strewn across the parking lot.. He hadn't registered the arrival of Ziva and McGee, or the emergency rescue teams. Then suddenly his eyes registered a shoe poking out of a pile of rubble. His eyes followed the line of where another should be, relieved to fine another shoe. He continued his scan, an overwhelming wave of nausea came over him as his eyes fell upon Tony lying face down, his legs pinned under a mountain of metal and rubble.
He wasn't the first to register his agent, as rescue teams quickly checked that the area was safe, before calling the paramedics over.
Gibbs lost his battle to keep his stomach contents down, at the words of the rescuers
"he's alive".
As if by magic Ducky was by Gibbs side, urging his friend to give the paramedics room, and the rescuers space to do their job. Gibbs registered Ducky's words in a haze, as a coffee was placed in his hand, and a hand on his elbow guided him to a waiting ambulance. It was a mark of his shocked state that he didn't protest. As he swallowed the last mouthful of coffee his world faded to black as he was gently placed on the gurney.
Ducky sighed as he patted Gibbs shoulder, "trust me Jethro it is for the best" before he headed back to where the rescue teams were preparing to lift the large iron beam off Tony's legs.
Gibbs came round slowly, to find himself in hospital, Abby sitting in a chair by his side.
She looked like hell.
"What the hell happened" he croaked, before his memory came rushing back, "Tony!" he yelled, as Abby pressed the button to call for a nurse.
"Calm down Gibbs, you're okay. Tony's alive - he's here in the hospital," she soothed, in a tone that surprised even her, especially since Tony was still in surgery, and had been for the last five hours. "I'm calling Ducky - he said you'd be coming around about now"
Reality dawned on Gibbs. "Ducky drugged me!"
"Trust me Jethro it was for the best" the elderly ME admitted. "You were hindering rather than helping in Tony's rescue. Once you were out of harms way they were able to move swiftly to get him out. And your body has had time to rest, in preparation for what lies ahead."
Gibbs didn't like the tone of Ducky's voice in the last sentence.
"How is he?" he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
"In surgery - he has been for the last five hours, and is likely to be for several more hours. His legs, " Ducky paused, "his legs were severely crushed. They are doing all they can to avoid having to amputate, but it's highly likely that they will have to."
Gibbs sank back into the bed, defeated and momentarily stunned, before he remembered Tony's smiling face and his last words to Gibbs. Throwing the covers to one side he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Well lying around here isn't going to help is it!" he yelled. Ducky and Abby shared an amused look, before Ducky spoke.
"The OR waiting room is this way" he gestured, leading Gibbs down the corridor.
Twelve hours of surgery later, Gibbs heard the words he so desperately wanted to hear,
"Agent Dinozzo is in the ICU - we haven't amputated."
Abby collapsed into the chair sobbing,
"thank you thank you thank you" she offered to whoever was listening.
The surgeon gestured Ducky and Gibbs to one side.
"Tony is far from out of danger. He has more metal than bone in both his legs. The only reason we didn't amputate was that we think there is a chance of some future mobility, though how much we can't say. The nerves were damaged, it's a matter of time before we'll know the full extent. The best we can expect is that Tony will be able to walk short distances with the aid of sticks and braces. It will be a long haul. I wish I had better news" the doctor finished.
"Tony's a fighter - he'll show you" Gibbs countered.
And he had. It had been a long hard road. Nine months of hospital, physio and rehab. A worrying patch when one of his legs had become infected, and amputation had been mentioned. But powerful antibiotics and sheer determination on the part of Tony had meant he kept his leg.
As he struggled to learn to walk there were times when he thought it would be easier if they had amputated, and Gibbs had been on the receiving end of many a temper tantrum with Tony vocalising those thoughts.
In typical DiNozzo fashion he had defied the doctor's prognosis, and although the majority of his time would be spent in a wheelchair, he was able to walk further than had been anticipated. It was slow, precarious and painful, but there was something about being upright, that made Tony put up with the pain.
The discharge papers signed, Gibbs laughed at the look of sheer delight on his lovers face. Wheeling himself out of the room and down the corridor, Tony let out a "whoop", and Gibbs couldn't help but smile.
The older man brought the car around to the entrance, and went into the lobby. Tony stood and began the slow painful, but triumphant walk out of the hospital.
Back at the home he now shared with his lover, Gibbs pulled Tony into a hug.
"I love you Anthony Dinozzo. I know I've said it before but you make me so proud" he uttered softy as he kissed him gently on the lips.
It wasn't going to be easy, but the future seemed so much brighter with Tony back where he belonged.