Small spoiler for Season 10 episode 'Damned If You Do'.

Tony opened his eyes and wondered if it was time to get up for work. As he lay there thinking about this, he tried to remember what day it was. He then realised that he wasn't in his own bed and worries about dates and times were replaced by something else. He started to sit up in anxiety but was then stopped by a familiar voice,

"Nice of you to join us, DiNozzo," said Gibbs.

"Uh," said Tony rather incoherently.

Gibbs moved a bit closer to Tony's bed.

"Want some water?" asked Gibbs.

"Ah," said Tony.

Ducky came in as Gibbs helped Tony take a cautious drink.

"Anthony, I see you have returned to us."

Tony wondered where he'd been.

"Eh," he said.

Ducky placed one hand on Tony's forehead while taking his pulse with the other.

"Mr Palmer informs me that is now considered more scientific and accurate to assess a patient's wellbeing with the use of instruments but I still find myself resorting to more old fashioned methods which I believe give me a general indication of a person's health. It may, of course, simply be the novelty of dealing with a body which still has a pulse and a temperature!"

"Just grateful this particular body still has a pulse," said Gibbs.

"Indeed, you are right, Jethro."

"How's he doing?"

"The fever has abated. I really believe that we have finally beaten the infection from that bullet wound. I had thought that the antibiotics had been effective. I did wonder if perhaps Anthony had been less than diligent in taking the prescribed medication but I fear that we were probably remiss in not remembering to continue to administer the antibiotics when he was admitted to the hospital."

Tony began to doze off again as Ducky and Gibbs talked over his head.

"And how are you today, Jethro?" asked Ducky.

"Fine," said Gibbs. He then saw Ducky's measuring stare and added, "knee's a bit stiff."

"I'm not surprised," said Ducky, "Dr Harrison was kind enough to allow me to peruse your medical notes so do not indulge any hope that you will be able to pull the wool over my eyes about your fineness or lack thereof."

A nurse came into the room pushing a wheelchair,

"Agent Gibbs, I've come to take you for an x-ray on that knee," she said, "and don't give me any arguments about how you can walk down. Or use crutches. Or that you don't need an x-ray. In fact, don't give me any arguments. Just sit your ass down in this chair and we'll be on our way."

This spirited way of addressing Gibbs seemed to work for Nurse Spencer and he climbed meekly enough into the chair.

"Anyone tell you you'd have made a good gunnery sergeant?" he said as he was pushed away.

"Every day," she said imperturbably.

Ducky chuckled as he watched them leave. He then looked down at Tony's bed to see that he was awake again.

"What day is it?" asked Tony as he managed to get his voice working again.

In his typical doctor's way, Ducky chose to answer a question with a question,

"What's the last thing you remember, Anthony?"

Tony thought, "We were at a ranch. Looking for Gibbs and McGoo. We rescued them …" he frowned.

"Yes, Anthony?"

"Then something about a pigeon? I told Gibbs to run. I don't remember anything else after that."

"Excellent," said Ducky, "it is a good sign that you remember so much."

"There's nothing wrong?"

"Why? Do you feel unwell, Anthony?"

"I feel … as if I've gone ten rounds with Gibbs in the ring after swimming ten miles."

"Does that indicate that you are a little weary?"

"Could say that, Ducky. What happened? It all makes sense but I can't figure out where the pigeon fits in."

"Ah," said Ducky, "I fear that Abby is inclined to be rather upset about the pigeon's demise."

"I killed a pigeon?" asked Tony.

"Oh no, not you, dear boy. The pigeon was the victim of an unfortunate circumstance. He, or she, must have been the unluckiest pigeon in Maryland that day."

"What?"

"Our feathered friend flew into the shed and, we believe, triggered the motion sensor which caused the shed to go kaboom," he made an expressive gesture with his hands.

"Aah," said Tony.

"It was most fortunate that you realised what was happening," said Ducky, "your warning meant that you and Jethro managed to create some distance between yourselves and the explosion."

"What happened?"

"According to Eleanor and Timothy you both described almost perfect somersaults before reconnection with terra firma … firmly."

"Uh?"

"You both flew up in the air, spun round and then crashed to earth."

"Ouch!"

"Yes, indeed. Gibbs suffered a mild concussion and a twisted knee. You also suffered a concussion and some bumps and bruises."

Tony looked at his arms, "is that I got these marks?" he said, pointing to bruises on his wrists.

"Ah, no. Those arose from some complications."

"Complications?"

"You have been delirious for some time, my boy."

"How much time?" asked Tony.

"Nearly two days. As I was saying to Jethro, we believe the infection from that bullet wound had not yet been defeated and it flared up again whilst you were suffering from the aftereffects of colliding with the ground."

"OK. So how did that lead to me having bruises on my arms?"

"You had to be restrained."

"I did?"

"For a short while. We could see that you were damaging yourself. But then, fortunately, Jethro regained consciousness."

"And how did that help?"

"He told you to calm down."

"And?"

"And you did, Anthony. It was quite remarkable."

Tony tried to make sense of this. As he became more aware he remembered what felt like a long nightmare of noise and confusion, of being pushed and pulled, of feeling lost and alone, of being hot and then cold but he could also vaguely recall that he had been continually called back, anchored to something safe and solid. He reddened as he remembered that the safe harbour had been Gibbs.

Ducky patted his arm understandingly. "I believe the doctors are almost grateful for your delirium," he said.

"Why?" asked Tony suspiciously, anxious that he had done something spectacularly crazy during the fever.

"Jethro should be keeping the weight off his damaged leg. Staying in the hospital, keeping watch over you has meant that he has done so. Now, my boy, your fever really does seem to have gone now. I will be sure to add an annotation to your medical file to ensure that when you are next shot we administer the appropriate antibiotic immediately."

"When I'm shot?" said Tony worriedly.

"Of course," said Ducky smoothly, "I meant to say if. Now, continue to rest for the remainder of the day and you may be able to return to your own abode shortly."

At that moment the door to the room opened with exaggerated care and the heads of Abby, McGee and Bishop poked through the opening.

"Be quiet, guys," said Abby, "we don't want to wake Tony." She looked across to the bed and saw Tony sitting up. "Ton-ee!" she screeched, "you're awake!" and she ran towards the bed. "Where's Gibbs?" she demanded, "oh, my God, where's Gibbs? You can tell me! No, wait, let me sit down first. What's happened? Is it serious? Is it …"

"Abigail!" said Ducky firmly, "Jethro has gone for a routine x-ray."

"Oh. OK. That's cool," said Abby immediately calming down and concentrating on hugging Tony.

"You OK?" asked Tim.

"Fine," said Tony automatically, "are you two all right?"

"Yes," said Bishop, "we got thrown off our feet when the shed exploded but no damage done. We weren't as close as you two."

"Clovis and Simpson certainly knew how to set off a good explosion," said McGee thoughtfully, "if Gibbs hadn't insisted you take those photos we'd have lost a lot of evidence."

"But we'd have been further away from the kaboom," pointed out Tony.

"That was the pigeon's fault," said Ellie.

"Don't you blame Percy," said Abby hotly.

"Percy?" asked Tony.

"Even pigeons deserve names," said Abby. "And it wasn't his fault."

Ellie opened her mouth to argue but Tim shook his head and she closed her mouth again.

"Thanks for showing up, Tony," said McGee.

Tony shrugged, "Gibbs would have got you out of there," he said. "He got himself out of those zip ties."

"May be," said Tim, "but we were running out of time. I for one was glad to see your big smiling face appear. Bishop says you realised that our missing guys were bad guys."

"Old fashioned police work," said Tony.

"Whatever it was," said Tim, "it meant that you knew we might have run into trouble if we'd found the missing sailors."

"And it meant that you checked to see where Gibbs was," said Abby, still holding Tony's hand. "And I'm going to remind Gibbs about the rule about always checking in."

"Not sure that's one of Gibbs' rules," said Tim.

"Then I'll tell him it's one of mine," said Abby fiercely. "If Tony hadn't checked up on you, you could both have ended up like Percy." She glared at each of them in turn but then continued in a happier voice, "but everything's all right now."

"What you mean?" asked Tony.

"Well, you and Gibbs are friends again," said Abby as if it was obvious.

"Abs?"

"Gibbs was there for you when you were sick, Tony. And you let him help you. That shows that everything's back to normal with you."

"What makes you think that?" asked Tony.

"I think it's time that Anthony got some more rest," said Ducky, intervening before Abby could argue the point and become upset. "Come on, everyone, let's leave our patient in peace," and he shuffled the visitors out.

NCISNCIS

Two days later, Tony visited Gibbs at home. Gibbs was sitting glumly in his kitchen,

"Hey, Boss. Ducky still got the key to the basement?"

"Yep. Won't let me down there until my knee is stronger."

"That sucks. I brought Chinese. Want some?"

"Sure. Get the plates and silverware, will you?"

They ate for a few minutes and then Gibbs said, "You did good, Tony. Working out that Clancy wasn't working alone."

"Fornell kicked it off," said Tony.

"You followed through," said Gibbs, "did the legwork."

"I might have only done it because I was pissed," admitted Tony.

"Whatever it takes," said Gibbs.

"I'm still pissed," said Tony, "Abby thinks I shouldn't be. But I am."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I know I should be grateful that you were there in the hospital."

Gibbs shrugged.

"Even if I am a bit embarrassed that you seemed to quieten me down. Like some sort of DiNozzo whisperer."

Gibbs snorted at that image.

"And I am grateful, Boss. You know that. I know you've always got my six."

"Then why are you pissed?"

"I know you've always got my six in the field. Bishop was surprised you and me managed to communicate so well when we were in that shed."

"We've worked together a long time," said Gibbs, "get to know people when you work closely."

"I know that, Boss. Like I said, in the field I would never doubt you. Hey, I wouldn't have been surprised if we'd turned up at that ranch and found that you and McGee had trussed the bad guys up like Thanksgiving turkeys."

Gibbs smiled in acknowledgement, "we didn't get that far, DiNozzo. You did well."

"Thanks, Boss. That means a lot."

"So, we good?"

"Not really."

"This still about Clancy? Why are you so pissed about him?" asked Gibbs.

"It's not Clancy," said Tony, "it's Delaney."

"DiNo …"

"Don't get me wrong. I know Clancy was a loser; even if it does turn out that he was under Simpson's thumb. And that he might even have been on his way to give himself up. He made choices and he killed people."

"He might have ended up dead in that alley even if Jonty hadn't shown up."

"I know, Boss. But doesn't it worry you?"

"What? That Clancy is dead? Not particularly. It would have been better if he hadn't been killed because it turns out that he had useful information he could have given us. You sure that the real problem isn't that you got shot?"

"I don't know," said Tony honestly, "it just feels so random. It could have been me lying there dead."

"You know that we would have cared, don't you? That's no what's bugging you, is it?" said Gibbs as he thought back to what had seemed one of Tony's original annoyances.

"No, Boss. I didn't really think none of you would have cared. Although McOpportunist might have been trying out my chair for size by now … no, OK, I'm just kidding. He'd have been weeping and wailing like the rest of you. But yes, I'm angry that I was shot."

"That's OK," said Gibbs, "no rule against that."

"And there's no rule against letting people get away with shooting a member of your team?"

"DiNozzo!"

"That's what if feels like, Gibbs."

"So this is about you being shot?"

"I don't know! Who knows? If Clancy hadn't looked like Kate lying there on the floor, perhaps it would have been different, wouldn't have got to me. But I remembered that day, and I remembered how much we cared. And it all felt so different. Nobody cared about Clancy, he was like so much garbage. But he was a real person, not so much trash."

"It's not your fault, Tony. You couldn't have been there for him."

"I know that, Gibbs. But he got tidied away so quick. I came to work the next day and it had all been sorted."

"Jonty's just a kid," said Gibbs wearily, "I thought about it but there was nothing to gain by dragging him into court."

"And how long did it take you to decide?" asked Tony, "Were you awake all night thinking about it?"

"No. It was obvious."

"How was it obvious?"

"Jonty's a good kid. Hell, you could see that when he and his Dad turned up."

"I'm not saying he isn't a good kid, Gibbs. But you blurred the lines when you and the State Police cooked things up."

"Tony …"

"Do you remember Parsons?"

"That's all over now, DiNozzo. Why you bringing that up now?"

"Richard Parsons dragged up all the times you've blurred/crossed/erased the lines in the past. McGee, Ziva and me, we all resigned to take responsibility for all that history. And even that wasn't enough. You had to go off on some sort of suicide mission to wipe things clean."

"What you getting at?"

"All the Gibbs version of justice came home to roost. We were compromised from doing our job because of that."

"Like I said, it's over now."

"It was," agreed Tony, "slate wiped clean. I don't want it to be written on again."

Gibbs sighed.

"But you really don't see it, do you, Boss?" asked Tony.

"DiNozzo. What was the point of prosecuting Jonty? You saw his Dad. He's going to hire a fancy lawyer. He'll have you in court; tying you in knots about what Clancy was about to do. How will you answer that?"

"I don't know. I don't know what Clancy was going to do but I'm damn sure that Delaney didn't bring anything good to the party."

"There's no jury on earth which would find Jonty guilty of murder," said Gibbs.

"Agreed. But one might find him guilty of manslaughter. Or gun theft. Or carrying a weapon without a permit."

"You're determined he should be prosecuted for something?" demanded Gibbs.

"No. I'm not determined," sighed Tony, "I'm not sure what I want."

"Then it's just as well that Maryland State Police and I have decided," said Gibbs with an air of finality.

"I'm not sure what I want," agreed Tony, "I don't know what I want Delaney charged with or if I want him found guilty. But I don't want to be the person making the decision."

"You're not," said Gibbs.

"And I don't want you or the State Police to be the ones either."

"It's our job," said Gibbs.

"No, Boss. With respect, it's not. It's our job to find the criminals, get the evidence, catch them. It's not our job to sentence them as well. That's what the courts do."

"With our input," said Gibbs.

"Agreed. With our influence and after discussion but it shouldn't be our call."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't want to go against you, Boss."

"Then don't."

"That's what's made this hard. You know I respect you. Look up to you, but this thing with Delany doesn't feel right."

"OK."

"If I make a complaint. Ask the prosecutor's office to look again, will that make a difference to you? Will we still be able to work together?"

"What if I say it will?" asked Gibbs stony-faced.

"Then I'll be sad. Disappointed."

"And?"

"And I'll do it anyway."

"Good," said Gibbs, "Stand up for what you believe."

"Thanks, Boss."

"Sometimes," said Gibbs.

"Yes, Boss."

"And even though you're probably wrong."

"Maybe," said Tony, "but I can live with that."

"Me too," said Gibbs.

EPILOGUE

A week later, Tony stood by Otis Clancy's graveside with Mary Gordon.

"Poor boy," said Mary sadly, "poor lost boy."

"I guess," said Tony who was still unsure about what he felt about Clancy.

"Did you know him?" asked Mary.

"No," said Tony.

"Do you always come to funerals for people like Otis?"

"No."

"Then why did you come today? If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm not sure. It just felt right to remember that he was a human being. He didn't deserve to be forgotten."

"Is anything going to happen about the boy who shot him?"

"There's going to be an inquest after all. There may be charges after that."

"It was just a young boy who shot him, wasn't it?"

"Yes. He's 18."

"And it was an accident?"

"Yes."

"Oh dear. I wouldn't want to be the one to be deciding what to do about him."

"Nor me."

They looked at the grave for a moment or two longer and then nodded to the funeral service director that they had finished.

"Can I take you anywhere?" asked Tony.

"No, dear. That's quite all right. My husband is waiting for me. Thank you for letting me know about Clance. I'm glad that someone who cared for him was here. It's important to have someone, you know. Not to be alone."

She surprised Tony by giving him a quick hug and kiss before she walked off without looking back. Tony walked to his car and smiled. Gibbs was there.

AN: thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited or followed this story: it has been fascinating to see all your opinions. I know lots of you will be disappointed that Jonathan Delaney and/or his Dad didn't turn out to be criminal masterminds but it was always my intention that this should be a case of, in Mari83's words, a normal person doing a stupid thing. Gibbs' gut was right in some ways but was his decision the right one? There wouldn't have been a story if he'd made a different one!

As always, I don't own the NCIS characters.