Title: It'll Be Alright

Author: Prinzessin

E-Mail: robinelizabeth79@yahoo.com

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Bete Noir, Dead Man Talking, Missing, Split Decision, probably more

Disclaimer: See this kind of stuff on CBS every week? Nope. Then they aren't mine.

Feedback: Yes, please!

Archive: Yeah, just let me know where. And I'll probably put this on FanFiction.net sometime soon.

A/N: This is my first attempt at NCIS slash, so please be patient!

Summary: It turns out that Tony isn't handling things as well as everyone thought. (Gibbs POV)



It'll Be Alright
by Prinzessin


Gibbs walked toward the bullpen, coffee in hand. He was late, and not of his own doing. But he knew he wouldn’t need to explain it to anyone. The first thing he noticed was the silence. He could hear low voices, fingers on keyboards. But he didn’t hear Tony and Kate bickering.

He strode in, observing the two agents on his team. Kate was at her desk, looking quite proud of herself. Tony, on the other hand, looked defeated. Gibbs chalked the round up to Kate, although he had no idea of what happened. But as the longer the silence loomed, the more worried he found himself becoming. Tony was never this quiet for this long. Gibbs sat at his desk, opened the first file he got his hands on and began reading. He’d glance at Tony every so often, Kate even less.

Gibbs could be a patient man when he wanted to be, but the silence was getting to him. But before he could say something, his head snapped up when he heard something loud. Tony’s chair was flung back and the younger man was quickly walking away. He turned and glared at Kate, who responded with a ‘who me?’ expression. He shook his head, standing. He was in no mood for their childish antics.

But whatever anger he felt was replaced by a sense of panic when he couldn’t find Tony. The first place he looked was a spot outside, somewhere up high. He’d seen Tony sitting up there, and although he wondered how Tony made it up and down without getting hurt, he never said anything. But that spot was empty, so he tried the breakroom, Abby’s lab…nothing. While he was outside, he did notice that Tony’s car hadn’t moved, so he couldn’t have gone far. As a last resort, he went to ask Ducky. And he was glad he did.

He entered the path lab, seeing Ducky in his scrubs. But when Ducky’s eyes met Gibbs’, the agent knew something was wrong. The ME brought a finger to his lips, then motioned for the other man to follow. Gibbs was silent as Ducky led him to the nearby office, then pointed to the couch. Gibbs peered over Ducky’s shoulder, seeing Tony curled up on the couch, his eyes shut and his face flushed. Was DiNozzo sick and he hadn’t noticed?

Anger flared when he thought the second question. Was Kate teasing him because he was sick? But a gentle hand to the shoulder snapped him from his thoughts. Ducky again motioned for Gibbs to follow, who did so with some reluctance.

"What did I miss?" Gibbs asked when they were a safe distance away.

"The stress of trauma manifests itself differently in everyone," Ducky answered.

Ducky understood what the confused look on Gibbs’ face meant, so he continued.

"I found poor Anthony in the mens’ room, retching. I knew he’d been…off…lately, but didn’t realize how off until that moment."

"Did he say anything?"

"All I could understand was your name and something about Kate’s comments. Everything else was, to me, gibberish."

Gibbs’ lips turned downward into a decisive frown.

"I know something happened upstairs before I came in. I’m going to find out from Kate exactly what that was," Gibbs stated.

"I’ll keep an eye on Anthony."

Gibbs nodded, then headed upstairs. But when he reached Kate’s desk, she wasn’t there. And he wasn’t about to go looking for her, too. But then he realized she was either in the breakroom or with Abby.

And so help her if she was with Abby.

Part 2

Gibbs poked his head into the lab, having already heard the two distinct female voices that belonged to Abby and Kate. He immediately made his presence known, both women looking warily at him.

"Kate."

He jerked his thumb toward the door. And when he didn't hear her immediately following, he poked his head back in.

"Kate. Now."

She came out a second later and Gibbs had his back to her. He turned slowly, his arms crossed on his chest. And if looks could kill.

"Is there some test that she's running for you that I don't know about?"

"Uh.no."

"Then what are you doing down here?"

"I was asking her if she knew where you and Tony were. She said that she hadn't seen either of you."

Although Gibbs wasn't sure about the answer, he accepted it at face value.

"I want to know what happened between you and DiNozzo before I came in this morning," he ordered, leaving no room for misinterpretation or discussion.

Although he could see the wheels in her head spinning furiously, he was growing more and more impatient by the lack of immediate response.

"Did I not make myself clear, Agent Todd?"

"I.we.were just talking."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed. He knew there was more, much more. And he was going to hear it.

"And?"

"I mentioned the case with Voss and how he got himself locked in a sewer."

Gibbs shut his eyes, if only to bite back the growing anger. He didn't know why he was getting *so* angry about it, but that was an issue for later. Seeing Tony curled up on the couch was enough, hearing about some of the circumstances that landed him there did that much more.

"I will deal with you later. For now, you are upstairs, at your desk. I know you have enough paperwork to keep you really busy for the day."

Kate nodded, then turned to head to the elevator. She'd only gotten a few steps when Gibbs called her name sharply again.

"Yeah?" she asked over her shoulder.

"The past is exactly that. The past. Unless we're doing case reviews, there is no need to bring it up. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

While Kate headed back upstairs, Gibbs headed back to the path lab. Making his way through the empty room, he got to the doorway to the office. He leaned heavily against the doorframe, watching as Ducky hovered over Tony.

As he watched, he found himself wondering why he wanted to be the one tending to DiNozzo. And why he was so angry with Kate? From his angle, all he could see of Tony's face was his lips and chin. Those red lips that were slightly parted. What Gibbs wanted to do to those lips.

Gibbs tried to shake that thought from his head. He couldn't have been thinking about DiNozzo like that. Not like that. DiNozzo was brash, sometimes crude, and a definite skirt-chaser. And even if there was a beginning to a relationship, there's no way they could work. They'd kill each other inside of a week. But try as he did, that train of thought refused to meet the quick and painful end he wanted it to. So he just tried to watch as Ducky checked over the young man and waited for some acknowledgment of his presence. After a few moments, Ducky looked up at him unhappily. Gibbs knew there was something seriously wrong with Tony. When Ducky motioned for him to follow, he did so without reservation. He needed to get away from Tony before his imagination went too far. And he also needed to know what was going on.

"So?" he asked impatiently.

"Nightmares, this time. Rather intense ones from what I saw and heard."

Gibbs shut his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Is he ok now?"

"He's sleeping peacefully. Something I fear he hasn't been doing lately."

Gibbs frowned, again. Something he had been doing too much of that day. Although Ducky didn't say anything, Gibbs figured out that whatever Tony's problem was, it wasn't new. He had earlier noticed a slight change in Tony's demeanor. It was like he was trying too hard to act normal. Like he was trying to hide something.

"Did he tell you anything?"

"He didn't need to. I heard enough before I got him to wake."

Gibbs only watched the elder man, who seemed conflicted between telling Gibbs what he wanted to know and keeping secret something which he knew Tony would've wanted to remain so. It was times like these that he was glad he could be cryptic.

"You made the one steady thing in his life falter.again."