— I own only this story and any original characters. —

"Bullseye, boss". That's what this story started with. With those words in my mind.

Leo

...

Tony kept squirming on the passenger seat. The radio was on, the song was Bruce Springsteen's Wreck on the highway and Gibbs was driving the car. These were the ingredients for a disaster waiting to happen. Lucky for McGee and Ziva who were left behind and only he had been foolishly fast enough and unwilling to let his boss go off on his own. Now he kind of regretted his decision. If Gibbs truly wanted to kill himself in some car accident, then he would much rather stay out of it.

"Look, boss. I know we're in a hurry and you want to catch this guy, we all do, but we're not in that much hurry. I really would like to live through another day without some accident happening."

His stupid big mouth... Gibbs' answer was to only drive faster. "Just keep looking for his car, DiNozzo, and be quiet for once!"

Tony snapped his mouth shut and didn't let his hurt show on his face. Instead he took a deep calming breath and looked outside, trying to see their suspect's car. It was easier said than done with the way Gibbs was speeding. "Boss, on our right. I think we got him."

"Hold on," Gibbs growled.

Tony had barely time to even understand what Gibbs was saying, or what he was going to do, when the older man made a sharp turn toward the other car. With widening eyes, Tony realized what was about to happen. Was Gibbs really going to do this? Who was he kidding...

Gibbs gritted his teeth as he cut in front of their suspect and the car smashed into theirs. In his mind he was chuckling at all the extra paperwork this one would cause. He'd just 'let' DiNozzo do it for him as usual.

He knew he should first make sure he wasn't hurt or worse, but Gibbs didn't waste any time and left the car. With the gun in his hand, he approached the other car slowly. Seeing their suspect passed out behind the wheel, he opened the door to check the pulse. "Well, he ain't gonna get anywhere for a while. DiNozzo, call the—" Gibbs' words died in his mouth when he realized his second-in-command, who had never failed to watch his six, wasn't there. "DiNozzo! Get your ass in here!"

When he received no answer, Gibbs' gut started to churn and he finally turned to look at their car. For a second the world around him went black and he had to steady himself against the suspect's car. When he decided to cut in front of the suspect, he hadn't given it much thought, but now that he saw it... While the driver's side looked okay, the side where DiNozzo was sitting... What had he been thinking? With the kind of speed both cars had been driving, the impact on the passenger's side was frightening.

"Oh, God... Tony." Gibbs found himself running. When he climbed in the car, he sucked in his breath at the sight. He'd known it couldn't be pretty, but to see it was so much worse. With trembling fingers he felt for a pulse, which he was relieved to find. "Hold on, Tony... Hold on... We'll get you out of here. It'll be fine... You'll be fine," Gibbs mumbled out words in near panic. After calling 911, he called Ducky to inform him of the situation. He never mentioned the reason the 'accident' happened. He would leave that to Tony, once he woke up. He had to wake up.

In the end all three ended up visiting the hospital. Gibbs himself only had minor injuries from the impact. Their bad guy had a concussion and some other injuries, but he was soon declared healthy enough to begin his very long time in jail, which he wasn't too happy about. As for Tony... It took weeks before he woke up. Each passing day was only making Gibbs' guilt worse. No one understood why he was behaving the way he did, but he had a bad feeling Ducky was at least suspecting something. His friend never said anything, but he was frowning whenever they saw each other.

On that day when he finally woke up, Tony stared at his boss for a while with confusion in his eyes, clearly studying his situation and then trying to remember the last thing that happened. Gibbs knew the exact moment when the memories finally came to him. There was a sharp intake of breath and eyes widening, before the look on Tony's face became indescribable.

"Well, boss." Tony looked calm and his voice sounded raspy, but he shook his head when Gibbs offered him water.

"What do you want me to say?" Gibbs asked quietly when Tony kept staring at him and clearly waiting for something to happen. A voice in his head, which sounded like Ducky, kept telling him to just say how sorry he was. To apologize. Explain how he had never meant for anything like this to happen.

Tony narrowed his eyes. He was unsurprised, but still hurt that even now the man couldn't learn from his mistakes and do the right thing. Was it really so bad to admit you did something wrong and apologize? The boss did know he was a pretty forgiving type of person, didn't he? You'd think after all these years it was mighty obvious. "Well... How about... bullseye, boss?"

Gibbs visibly flinched. "Tony..."

"Just go home... Send a nurse... or someone."

"DiNozzo..."

"I'm tired... Please, leave."

Gibbs stood up and hesitated for a moment, but since he still couldn't get those words out of his mouth, he left.

— The End —