Work Text:
Title: Kissing It Better
Author: Angel Negra
Rating: FRT
Spoilers: 'The Good Wives Club'
Summary: Set directly after 'The Good Wives Club'. Someone has to take Tony to the hospital, McGee volunteers.
Pairing: Tony/McGee
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own NCIS.
Archiving: My site ( http://www.redkrowe.com/~sgm/ ), WWoMB, anywhere else - ask first.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Drae for the beta.
Between himself and Agent Malinkavitch, they were able to get Tony sitting up, although he groaned pitifully and leaned on Tim heavily. Gibbs glanced over at them, still keeping an eye on Petty Officer Swain.
"Someone needs to take DiNozzo to the hospital," said Gibbs.
Tim saw Malinkavitch open her mouth to volunteer and he spoke up. "I'll do it, Boss."
Gibbs nodded and returned his full attention to Swain.
Tim shifted his grip on Tony and started to get up. When Malinkavitch moved to help, Tim barely managed to suppress the urge to clutch Tony closer and tell her to leave his man alone. He managed to keep his mouth shut, however, and soon all three of them were slowly heading out of the bunker. It helped ease Tim's possessive feelings that anytime Tony stumbled, he would lean on Tim instead of Malinkavitch.
Malinkavitch helped settle Tony in the car, then, to Tim's joy, she was called back by Gibbs.
Pulling away from the bunkers, Tim glanced over at Tony. Tony had curled in on himself as much as he could, his eyes shut, mouth tight with pain. Tim felt himself soften a little in sympathy. Tony may have been acting like a class A jerk these past few days, but he really was hurt.
Bringing his eyes back to the road, Tim reached over and rubbed Tony's thigh soothingly. Tony shifted slightly and sighed.
"Tim?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
Tim nodded and risked a quick glance. "You really were a jerk."
Tony winced. "I know."
"I told you before, I'm not after your job."
Tony sighed and shifted so he could look at Tim. "Look, it's not about you wanting my job. It's about Gibbs finally realizing that I'm not good enough for the job."
Tim almost missed the turn for the hospital. Once he had the car going in the right direction, he looked over at Tony incredulously. "What?"
Tony sighed his 'you moron' sigh. "I'm not exactly an MIT grad or a super profiler here. If I'm not a step behind everyone else, I'm fucking something up. Why else would Gibbs need a fourth team member?"
Tim has this fantasy. It involves a full weekend off and Tim managing to get his hands on a large supply of coffee and a Slurpee machine. He would sit Abby down for a long talk on the Friday right after work, and then the two of them would spend the entire weekend on their computers, utterly destroying anyone who had ever hurt Tony. It's Tim's favorite fantasy that doesn't involve having sex with Tony.
"Tony..." Tim wasn't sure what he could say to make Tony feel better. He opened his mouth to try - something, but then he spotted the hospital. He used the time it took to park to mull it over in his head. As he was turning off the car, it came to him. Tim unbuckled his seat belt and turned to Tony. He ran his hand softly across Tony's cheek.
"Hey." When Tony opened those wonderful green eyes slightly to stare at Tim, Tim said, "Did you ever think that maybe Gibbs brought me in because it's Kate who can't hack it properly?"
Tony blinked at that, then smiled faintly. Tim smiled back, enjoying the moment.
"Or," said Tony, smile widening, "maybe Gibbs decided to save us the travel expenses from DC to Norfolk."
Tim laughed at that, pecked Tony on the lips and then got out of the car. He was still smiling as he helped Tony out and they headed into the hospital.
***
It hadn't taken them long to get Tony in. As much as Tim hated how he came off like an innocent puppy, it was that and Tony's pitiful 'love me, I'm hurt' look that won over the two admittance nurses and a Dr. Sara Jones. They'd even gotten to wait in the private exam room.
Now Tim was standing beside the exam table. Tony was sitting on it, but he'd leaned over so that Tim was really the only thing holding him up. Tony nestled his head softly into Tim's shoulder and let out a shaky breath. For his part, Tim wrapped his arms around Tony and rubbed Tony's back.
Something Tony had said the day before came back to Tim. "Did you really put the tickets on eBay?"
Tony squirmed a bit. "Nah. I was just being a prick."
Tim gave Tony a slight squeeze. "Good. I've been looking forward to that concert since you got the tickets."
Tony chuckled a bit. "Told you they'd grow on you."
Tim smiled and was about to reply when there was a knock on the door. Tim shifted his hold on Tony quickly, trying to look like a buddy holding another buddy up rather than a guy holding his boyfriend up. "Come in."
The door opened and Dr. Jones walked in. "Hello again, gentlemen. Sorry about the wait." She walked over to the exam table, pulling a pen light out of her pocket. "So, Tony, feel like telling me how you got that head injury?"
Tony flinched when the doctor shone the light in his right eye. He opened his mouth to reply, but flinched again as she shone the light in his other eye. With slightly teary eyes, he closed his mouth and looked up at Tim instead.
Tim smiled at Tony, then looked up at the doctor. "Agent DiNozzo had recovered the missing victim of a case we're working on. He turned his back on her to inform our boss. She hit him on the back of the head with a lamp. He was out for maybe five to ten minutes."
Dr. Jones winced in sympathy. "Ow," she said. "Think you can lean forward a bit, Tony? I'd like to check the point of impact."
With Tim and Dr. Jones helping, Tony managed to lean forward slightly, though Tim had to stand in front of him and hold Tony's weight. The doctor leaned around, gently pulling Tony's collar away from his neck. She shone her penlight around the area, peering closely.
After a moment, she straightened up. Tim eased Tony back up to sitting position, and looked expectantly at the doctor. She smiled reassuringly at both of them.
"You're going to be fine," she said, sliding her light back into her pocket. "There are a couple of minor lacerations on the back of your neck, which have already scabbed over. I think you have a concussion, so we need a CAT scan to make sure. We just had a cancellation, so we can fit that in roughly ten minutes from now."
Tony nodded. Then he blinked and looked up at Tim. "Plane?"
Oh, right. "Dr. Jones? We're actually from DC, and now that the case is wrapped up, we need to fly home. Would Agent DiNozzo be all right to fly?"
The doctor though it over for a few seconds. "Do you have a place to stay here in Jacksonville?"
Tim nodded. "Yes, ma'am. A hotel."
"Then I recommend he stay at the hotel overnight, just to be on the safe side. If Tony's feeling better, you can fly back tomorrow afternoon at the earliest." She looked at Tony. "You should have someone stay with you, wake you up every few hours, just to be sure."
"I'll do it," said Tim, nodding decisively.
Dr. Jones nodded as well. "Alright then, I'll go set up the CAT scan." She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Tim sighed softly and hugged Tony. Tony snuggled into the hug willingly. "I'm sorry," said Tony.
Tim started rubbing Tony's back softly. "I could quit."
Tony stiffened. "What?"
"I-if Gibbs tried to give me your job. I could quit."
Tony shook his head before nuzzling his face into Tim's neck. "I told you, it's not that you'd get my job. It's that Gibbs realizes how much I suck at this."
"You don't suck at this!"
Tony just shrugged a shoulder and pressed his face more firmly into Tim's neck.
Tim suppressed a sigh and rested his cheek on Tony's head. How the hell could he fix this? Then he remembered what happened at the chaplain's residence. Tim smiled.
"Hey," Tim said softly, jostling Tony gently to get his attention. When Tony grunted, Tim continued. "Since we're stuck here overnight anyway, we should get the chaplain's 'Ozzie and Harriet' tapes from Jane to look over. You know, for background on the case."
For a second, Tony didn't really react. Then he leaned back, looking up at Tim's face, eyes searching. Tim wasn't sure what Tony was looking for, but he seemed to find it. Tony smiled softly and said, "I love you."
Tim smiled back, a warm feeling spreading through him. "I love you, too."
There was a knock on the door. Tim shifted his hold on Tony, helping him down off the table. "Come in!"
As Dr. Jones came in with a wheelchair, Tim made a couple of mental notes. The first one was to call Abby once Tony fell asleep. If she pulled Ducky in on it too, those two could yell some sense into Gibbs. And secondly, he needed to check into the costs of actually buying a Slurpee machine.
End