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Disclaimer: “NCIS” and its characters don’t belong to me they belong to CBS and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.
Author’s Note; This story was written from the quote in Missing that Gibbs says: “Forget about it McGee, he’s still alive.”
I’m Replaceable
I go home after hearing those words from Gibbs. When I get into the elevator I try to ask him if he was worried about me. I want him to care that I was missing. When I was a child I was left alone in a hotel room and my Father did not miss me because he was too busy with a widow. Gibbs was the father figure that I looked up to and I thought that he cared for me better than my own father cared about me. I hear him say that I’m irreplaceable, but then he says those words to McGee. Forget about it McGee. He’s still alive. Meaning that he doesn’t care about me. Maybe he never did. After my report was done I take off not caring if Gibbs doesn’t like my report. I go home and wash the dirt and the smell of the sewers off of me. After I’m done I go look into the refrigerator and find that I’m not hungry. I can’t eat anything after what I smelt and saw down there.
I go to work the next day and wonder why McGee’s there. I find out that he’s supposed to be there. I see Gibbs rub McGee’s head after he just hit mine. I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m not wanted anymore. It’s like McGee took my place. If I were gone than he would take the Senior Field Agent. Maybe that’s what Gibbs wants. He doesn’t want me there anymore, so he’s telling me not in words, but by actions. Gibbs had always leaded by actions and not words.
His mind made up he decided to make sure that he would do anything in his power to make sure that everyone was safe and if he had to die than that was okay. He never wanted to quit working at NCIS because he liked it there. He loved helping people in his job. It was a very hard, but rewarding job.
A week later they were on a case where they needed to be alert. They were trying to find two Marines who had killed two people and had gone on and killed two more people. They had gotten information by someone who had witnessed it and knew the two men. They just got a call that the men had shot four more people.
It took them a while to find them, but when they did they grabbed their bags and left headquarters. Kate and Gibbs made their way one way and Tony and McGee the other way. They had gotten word a while ago that they had gotten one Marine they needed to find the other.
They were done with looking in one part of the place and were going in another when the Marine found them. Tony and McGee had turned around when they heard the man behind them. The blonde haired man was holding a gun on both of them when they turned around.
The man was grinning as he held the gun in his hand. He straightened his arm and pointed his gun to McGee as soon as Tony saw him pull the trigger Tony quickly got in front of McGee and took the bullet. The man who shot Tony heard shouting from the other Agents. He quickly turned and tried to run, but Kate had slapped the handcuffs and took him away.
Gibbs quickly made his way towards Tony who was lying on the ground. “Come on Tony, wake up.” Gibbs gave him a head slap, which was lighter than what he normally gives Tony.
Tony’s eyes finally opened. “Boss.”
“You will not die.” Gibbs replied like he would when he would get The Plague
“I don’t mind, Gibbs. As you said I’m replaceable. I know you said that that I was irreplaceable in the elevator, but you didn’t mean it. You told McGee to forget it that I’m still alive. At least this way you can have McGee as your Senior Field Agent. I know I’m not as good as McGee. He would make a better Senior Field Agent than I will ever be.”
“I didn’t mean it when I told McGee that. It was supposed to be a joke.”
“I wasn’t laughing. A joke is supposed to be funny. You telling McGee that you were sorry that I was alive wasn’t funny.”
Kate had already called the ambulance and they were on their way. They all watched as they loaded Tony into the ambulance. Gibbs wanted to go with Tony, but he knew that he had to get the two Marines back to headquarters. Calling the Director he told what happened to Tony and they would be there soon.
It was only when they locked the two men in jail then Gibbs and the rest of the team made their way towards the hospital. They were told that he was in surgery to get the bullet out. They had been lucky that he was going to be okay. Gibbs sighed in relief. There was no way that he could lose Tony.
When he was finally out of surgery, after recovery and when they put him into his room Gibbs made sure he was there. Gibbs watched as Tony slept in his hospital room. He couldn’t believe that he was responsible for this because of what he said to McGee. He should have seen this coming. He knew what Tony was like. He knew some of what Tony’s childhood was like. He knew being rich wasn’t fun for him as a child. Some people would think that as a child Tony was spoiled and got what he wanted, but he didn’t. Gibbs knew that sometimes Tony was verbally and physically abused. How could he say something like that to Tony when he knew this? He was almost as bad as Tony’s father.
Gibbs watched as Tony woke up again and then turns his eyes towards him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here because you’re hurt.”
“You should be with Kate and McGee not me.”
“I’m so sorry for what I said when you came back when you were missing. I never meant to hurt you with them.”
“Sorry is a sign of weakness.”
“Not between friends which I hope I am.”
Tony looked at him “Then why did you say that?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that I will never say anything like that again. I should have never said it in the first place.” He said as he was thinking of Tony as a child.
“You could never be like him.”
Gibbs looked up at that and raised an eye.
“I knew what you were thinking. You are not like my father. My father never said he was sorry for what he did. You care for me where my father never cared for me.”
Gibbs smiled and nodded.
When Tony was finally healed and allowed to go home he went to Gibbs’s place, so that Gibbs could help him. Gibbs knew that he couldn’t ever put that self-doubt into Tony’s head anymore. He would do better when Tony was allowed to go back to work. He knew what Tony was like and couldn’t allow this to happen again.
With that in mind he turned from the window and made his way to the kitchen to start dinner.
The End