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Part 1 of DiNozzo!
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2020-11-04
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DiNozzo! When Death Knocks Ignore It!

Summary:

Taken from ‘SWAK’ ep.. Death knocks upon Tony’s door and then Gibbs has some words to say about that.

Work Text:

 

DiNozzo! When Death Knocks, Ignore It!
by Shawna



He was going to die.

No doubt about it. No need to pretend he was going to get through this and live. Tony accepted this simple fact. Knew it with certainty.

He was not going to live much longer.

~"Are you afraid?"~

Tony recalled Kate's question from a few hours before. Maybe, just maybe, he had lied when he said he wasn't scared. He knew everyone died. Hell, he was going to die, but he honestly believed he would live longer than today.

So, yeah, maybe he had lied.

When told he had the plague, he became scared. Really scared.

Then Kate. Sweet Kate. At one time he would not have put the words 'sweet' and 'Kate' in the same sentence, but now he would. She lied to him. To stay with him. To keep his focus off himself. To allow him to think of something, anything but the mind engulfing fear that clutched at his heart. To make him angry at whoever dared to execute this stunt. To worry about her therefore finding no time to pity himself. He knew exactly why she had lied and, hopefully, why she stayed. Kate acted like she did not care if she put herself in harm's way, even though her act put her in a dangerous situation.

Kate had put Tony's needs before her own. She cared about him. They were friends. She was a friend he trusted. Cared for. Would protect and support. Would take a bullet for. Always see as a sister. He would always be there for her as she would be there for him.

No sense in deceiving himself at this point. He did not have always. Tony had already accepted that truth. Death was going to knock on his door, soon from the manner his body spoke to him.

Kate unselfishly lied to stay as long as possible, with him, so he would not die alone, among strangers.

Strangers that tried to help him, but still, a stranger.

Kate was quite a girl! Um...he meant woman, of course!

The doctor knew. The nurse knew. Hell, he was sure even Ducky knew.

The moment of his death was close, but Kate would not be there. Could not be there at his side when there was a strong chance he could infect her with the plague in his final moments. He understood. He did not want her to die with him. This had to be a solo act. She needed to stay here, with Gibbs and Abby and the rest of the team, not follow him into the great beyond.

Or to feel this pain...this gut retching pain he was in.

Another cough hit him. No time to dwell on other thoughts. Just breathe in ...and out...breath in...The nurse was there instantly, to comfort him, but it did not work. He felt like he was coughing up his lungs. He could feel his heart grow weaker. Breathe in...and out...and in...and out. Tony was so tired from the amount of energy he used to focus on his breathing. It would be so easy to just relax, to let his thoughts drift, to not concentrate and let nature, and death, take its course.

As the nurse wiped his mouth, he saw the dark blood on the white cloth she held trying to keep it out of Tony's view. There was a lot more blood on the cloth this time than the last time.

He never knew his blood tasted like copper or that when he retched it would be like pennies leaving his body. The taste was so thick in his mouth it made him gag.

He felt so weak. Felt so damn awful. Everything hurt. *Everything*.

Soon, though, he knew the pain would evaporate from him, forever.

Death was coming. He could hear Death's mournful footsteps moving towards the door. Tony felt at peace as he heard the knock. It was time to let the Grim Reaper into his room and the end of his life. Once in, there would be no more pain. His hand turned the doorknob. He opened the door happily.

He was not scared anymore. He faced death and was ready to surrender to Death's challenge. Ready to answer his calling.

Tony was prepared. He was eager to move away from the blue lights of the isolation room into the bright, white one that was waiting for him at the end of a long tunnel. Or would it be a stairway? Whatever it was, it would lead him to eternal rest. No more horrid pain.

How nice.

He could not wait.

He was ready.

"Tony, listen to me." He heard a familiar voice whisper softy next to his ear. It sounded like Gibbs...Gibbs? His beloved, his boss could not be here. Must be an illusion or...Death itself. It was starting to make sense. Death shows up as a person he trusts, who Tony loves with every beat of his now slowing heart. A person he would *willingly* follow into hell itself.

"You listening?" Gibbs, or as Tony really knew to be Death, asked him.

Even if he knew this was really the Reaper. Even if he knew he only had moments left on this earth he did not want the illusion to go away. Tony struggled for a breath. He would listen to this being who looked and sounded like the man he loved.

In fact, maybe the Reaper was imitating Gibbs for a reason. Maybe Death put away the black popular robe and sickle to go for a more frightening appearance. Who would, after all, mess with something that looked like Gibbs before he drank his morning coffee?

A Gibbs clone that was actually the Grim Reaper...that was more terrifying than any plague!

Huh...too bad he did not have time to tell his boss that he needed to copyright himself.

But he did not have time.

He was dying.

Still, Tony would let the Reaper think he was fooled.

"I'm lis--listening, boss."

He simply had to close his eyes.

It hurt so damn much. Struggle to talk. Struggle to breathe. Struggle to live. He could not bear it anymore. He was ready to give up the ghost. Ready to walk into the light like Patrick Swayze did in "Ghost". He could feel his own sickly sweat running down his forehead. He felt something thick in his lungs. He continued to taste his own blood. His chest ached and felt heavy from the severe coughing. He swallowed hard hoping that he would not start to cough violently or throw up yet again. It was too much! This was agony! True agony. The pain, the horrid torturous sickness used his body as its' personal playground. Thankfully, soon, the pain would stop. Forever.

Please let it stop!

Soon he would be at rest. There would be peace from this torment, this killing plague. He would welcome death with open arms.

"You will not die. You got that?" Gibbs told him. Demanded of him.

'Oh? Wouldn't you know it',' thought Tony, 'the Grim Reaper actually has a sense of humor.' Not funny at all to the suffering agent. 'Come on, funny guy, Gibbs clone, show me the light so we can hit the road!'

Death may not be showing him the light personally, but it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Concentration was fleeting, at best. Breath in..and...and.. He could actually feel the darkness moving him away from everything. There was no doubt, Death was indeed here. With him now. It was time. He was willingly taking Death's hand within his own. Odd, Death's hand was not bony at all. It was not the way all those movies that he knew so well depicted .It was actually comforting. Nice.

'I love you, Jethro. Always,' Tony's heart, mind and soul whispered, knowing it was truly time. The last words he would ever think. 'Goodbye, my love...'

Suddenly, he felt a sharp smack to the back of his head. A very familiar smack. Only one person could smack him like that. He instantly jerked his eyes open.

This was not the Grim Reaper pretending to be Gibbs. No grand illusion. This was his wonderfully mighty 'I've never been sick -- what bug would attack me?' Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Yet he could still feel death's touch. Its' presence was still in the room. That was no illusion.

"I said...You. Will. Not. Die," Gibbs ordered softy but with great certainty. The former marine spoke like an officer giving a direct order to one of his men, with the real aspiration that order would be followed exactly. This was an order that had to be obeyed. Must be obeyed! Will be obeyed and followed to the letter! More than the words had to be obeyed, *Gibbs* himself spoke the words, making it doubly important to follow that order.

Tony was stunned as he actually felt Death let go of his other hand, as it scurried away. The real Reaper ran as fast as it could and slammed the supernatural door shut. A heavy weight was lifted off his chest; the copper taste in his mouth was no longer so thick or strong. And air...he could take a breath without too much of a struggle.

He still hurt but he would survive.

A determined, 'don't mess with me', gunny sergeant dead bolted the door. Death was not coming back in.

"I got you, Boss," Tony replied tiredly. He felt himself nod in agreement to Gibbs' order. He was truly exhausted, but he meant every word.

He understood, without a doubt. He would live because his love, *his* Gibbs, commanded it.

"Good." Gibbs said with a slight nod as he stood up straight. "Now..."

The senior agent pressed something hard and solid into Tony's hand. Gibbs' hand wrapped around both the object and Tony's cold clammy one instantly. His boss' hand lingered around it. Giving him a sweet tender pat before he continued, "It's your new cell and get your number changed. Women keep calling asking for ‘Spanky'."

Luckily none of his male lovers, not that he had many, had called him while Gibbs carried and answered his phone. That would have been embarrassing. How would he have explained himself? What would Gibbs have done? Anything? Was it too much to ask to see a hint of jealousy or possessiveness? Perhaps the simple act that Gibbs told him to get his number changed demonstrated the possessiveness Tony secretly craved from his boss. The man he loved. Well, he could always hope.

Tony held the phone like a lifeline as tight as he could. He held it close to his chest, over his beating heart.

Okay, he was not going to die.

Not now.

Death could come another day.

If Gibbs had anything to say about it, Death would take a very long vacation.

Now Tony accepted this fact. Knew all about it with great certainty. It was a true, simple, bare fact. No doubt about it.

He was going to live.

Of course, all along he had planned to do just that.

(The End)

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