I own nada zilch nothing! Just borrowing for them for the moment but will give them back safe and sound. (Also borrowing Mr Dmitri Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky, the Russian Opera Singer)

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The light was intense, so intense, that it seemed to overwhelm the entire world, the whole universe.
HIS whole universe.
He was lying there, his eyes strongly shut, sensing the infinite pain, avoiding the outrageous light, letting himself get wrapped by the flames. Maybe it should be his end...
"Man inside! Here, here, he's still alive!"
A fireman came, then, two, three...a crew of proud (but still terrified) enforcers, crossing the flames, risking everything to save...him?
Who could want to save him, if he was already dead since long time ago? A sole thought occupied his mind in that decisive definitive hour ('Tony!'). A sole burning tear went to increase the terrible heat that wrapped his face ('Tony!'), a sole pain hurt his chest, even more than the lack of air that was making it impossible to breathe ('Tony!')
When the firemen reached to transport him to the already waiting ambulance, the only word came to his lips but it couldn't be pronounced.

(3 Weeks later)

He turns his head as he hears footsteps and wishes the bandages could be removed so he can see Tonys smile...the smile which melts his hardened heart.
Tony cringes at the sight of his Lover wrapped up tight and sighs as he sits down in the chair beside the bed "Hey Jethro...we finally caught the Bastard who tried to kill you"
Jethro reaches out with a bandaged hand and nods (I wish I could see your face...). He turns and faces the door as the Doctor walks in.
Doctor Draper smiles as he checks the records "Well, Special Agent Gibbs...I think you are well enough for these to be removed"
His heartrate spikes in excitement and he nods before keeping still as the bandages are finally removed. He keeps his eyes closed as he feels his hands being released before the one wrapped around his head.
Tony hides his look of horror as he gazes into the eyes of his Lover while trying to avoid staring at the sight of the melted skin along the left side of Jethros face. He slowly swallows and gives him a shaky smile "Hey..."
Jethro frowns at the look and turns to the Doctor and croaks "Mir...ror?"
The Doctor sighs "Are you sure?" at the nod, he picks up the mirror "It looks worse than it is" with that he shows him his reflection.

Jethro stares at his own reflection. His features can't show what he is thinking and feeling...he stays still, he doesn't show pain, nor horror...not even a gesture of surprise (The guy almost fried me! What could I expect?). He gives back the mirror to the Doctor's trembling hand.
Tony can't take his eyes off Jethro's face: the aspect of a melted surface where the raw flesh is so thin that it almost reveals the bones...That beautiful mouth, whose lines had been traveled again and again, over and over, by his anxious kisses...was now only a dark stain and is now in a permanent scowl. That nose, so perfect...worthy of a classical profile, was now only a remembrance, a vague remembrance as he stares at the half face of his once beautiful Lover. Tony wanted to cry, to scream, to run away, to kill himself and to break all the mirrors in the whole World...

Tony can't take it, staring at the thing that was his beautiful Lover and lets go of the hand that grabbed his "I-I gotta go...er...there's er...paperwork I have to do"
Jethro stares at his hands and nods as Tony leaves. He doubts Tony will return, as he noticed the look of horror within the green eyes...and after seeing his reflection, he can't blame him.

Once alone, he lets a small tear escapes from the corner of his eye as he runs the fingers of his right hand over the melted skin of his left one. He tries to open his left hand but it's no good, it just stays in its clawed stance (Why couldn't I die in that fire?)

(I should have died..Sometimes I'm wondering what kind of evil I've committed...for to have been always punished by fate. I lost everything I had: family, job, friends...now, even the only person I was confident with, runs away...ands I, really...I don't have the guts to blame him for this!) A soft knock at the door tears Jethro off his own thoughts "C...ome in" (Damn! The simple fact of speaking has become almost...impossible!)
Dr Donald Mallard enters the room. His face, usually impassible, is slightly contorted in a strange smirk of consternation.
This is the sole indicative of any emotion, and it is surely imperceptible for the rest of the world...but Jethro knows his old friend very well...This, plus the ability, his innate ability to read people (because Jethro's mind and capability are still, unfortunately, untouched) give him the exact picture of what Donald 'Ducky' Mallard, the impassible Englishman, actually thinks, feels and fears.

Jethro turns his head to hide the worse of the damage from his old friends eyes "Du...ck go aw...ay"
Ducky sighs at his old friend and internally scolds himself for not hiding his shock better. He straightens himself up and heads over, purposely sitting on the left side so he can look into the upset ice blues "Now Jethro, how long have we known each other? It must be years now" he reaches and takes the clawed hand into his own and softly strokes the melted skin "I will not turn my back on you just because of what this tragic accident has done! You are my friend and always shall be!"
Jethro sniffs as his eyes water and he lets out a sob before breaking down in tears.
Ducky moves forward and comforts him in a tight hug "Shh Jethro...everything shall be ok" with that he gently rocks him while quietly letting his own tears fall. He holds his friend until the body slumps against him in exhaustion. He sighs as he gently strokes the soft patch of silver hair "Jethro...nothing has changed, we all still love you"
Jethro nods, thankful that his face doesn't reveal the fact he is lying (As if...he didn't see Tonys horror and the way he quickly left) he lifts his right hand and gently touches the tight skin of his face, flinching as he touches the left side and can practically feel his cheekbone through the thin skin "OK Du..ck" he sighs "Mou...th doesn't wo...rk"
The Doctor gives him a sad smile as he pats his clawed hand "The muscle on the left side of your face has fused to the bone, causing the...er...well"
He nods "A sco...wl?"
Ducky nods "Yes, I'm afraid that there isn't enough skin and muscle left to fix it"
Jethro goes quiet and nods but snaps his head up as the doors to his room fly open and his heart shatters at the look of fear within Abbys eyes as she stares at him.
Ducky stands and blocks Abbys path "Abigail...please be gentle"
Abby frowns as tears roll down her cheeks "Duckman, I..." at the way he glances at Gibbs, her eyes widen as she notices the tense posture and quickly pushes past before wrapping her arms around the injured man "Gibbs! No! Please! I feared you wouldn't make it!" she pulls back and gently touches the melted scarred skin of his left side before gently strokes the tight skin of his right "I don't care about your appearance" she smiles "You shall always be my silver fox!"
Jethro feels his eyes watering again and he blinks as he tries to stop the tears "I'm hid...eous, Tony r...an and he is...n't going to re...turn"
Abby shakes her head and curls up against his right side while taking his clawed hand and hugging it against his chest "He will come back Gibbs! It's TIBBS Forever"
He nods but turns away (I've lost him...I should have died)
Abby caresses softly Jethro's remaining hair. She hides her own pain as well as she can, but fails, and finishes helplessly sobbing against his chest.
"Ab...by! N-No Ab...By please! D-Don't c...ry! I acc...ept the f-fate! I ac-cept the..." He breaks, and follows Abby's tears (This pain is so burning, so burning! That the fire seems nothing beside it!)

+NCIS+

Tony walks to his Office, passing the Bullpen in a rush, slightly bowing everyone...he isn't in the mood for jokes. Someone knocks at the door "Come in"
"Agent DiNozzo, the Suspect is ready in the Interrogation room" Dorneget's concerned voice announces.
"Yes ok, tell Ziva that I shall be there in a minute" Once alone, he dials a long distance number.
A lightened voice replies, in its usual joyful style "Tony DiNozzo is here! Who is there?"
"Hello, Dad?"
"Junior? What's the matter? I'm still in bed..."
(And surely you're not alone) Tony thinks, but, after a short pause, he asks "May I go visit you for one week?...I..I've kept some time...I mean...I have accrued holidays...can spend a week with you, in New York...?"
Senior remains silent, astonished, and then he replies, after a while "Are you ill? Or this is a joke...or maybe a wager you made with Ziva, or McGee or...?"
"No, Dad. I'm serious. We had a very hard case. Jethro is seriously...was seriously injured"
"Please...what happened to Agent Gibbs?" For the first time in a long while, Senior's voice expresses authentic concern.
(Perhaps did he know about us?) Tony mentally asks to himself.
Senior can't believe what he has heard. "So...your...best friend has been severely injured...and you run away, leaving him in his own, Junior? Is this what I've taught you, Son?"
Tony sighs "When you left me abandoned in a solitary room, and went to party with your friends and women...then...did you think the same, Dad?"
There is a thick silence.
Tony breaks it again, with an annoyed, almost deadly tired voice "It's okay...If you don't want to host me...then...I shall go elsewhere...maybe Florida...or maybe Mexico..." the sole mention of the word 'Mexico' brings Tony the feeling of his most horrible remembrances.
"No! No, Junior...Of course you can come...I'm currently alone at home...so, there shall be plenty of room" Senior pauses, and he continues, asking "Is Gibbs...really...hmm...Junior, please...how bad is he?"
Tony's voice becomes almost a whisper "Very, Dad, Very. His face...is nothing but a bloody mask, a sad bloody mask! His ability to speak has been damaged...his left hand is useless...his left leg shall be hurt forever, making him limp as one that is much more older than he is really...his visage is scaring, Dad...I can't stand it! I can't!" Tony feels the tears fll down his cheeks. So desperately, that he himself can't believe the intensity...and the immensity...of his own pain.
Deeply touched (in spite of the popular belief,he is a very sensitive man!), Senior asks "Is...it...permanent?"
Tony's voice has become almost inaudible "Yes"
Senior insists "I think you should remain with him...he shall need comfort, and what more comfort than to have you at his side"
It was a bolt, a sudden enlightenment, his Father knew! "H-How did you...know?"
"I knew it since forever. Notwithstanding all the mistakes I've committed when raising you, and I take the blame!, I'm still your Father...and there is no Father who couldn't foresee what is going with their children..."

+NCIS+

Ziva looks through the glass, after to have finished her talk on the phone "Abba (father) says they have no records about this individual..."
She has her fists so clenched, that Tim fears she could break the glass with her own hands, easily. "I'm tracing the calls...the guy seems to work alone"
"A mad rogue?"
Tim is about to reply, when Tony enters the watching room.
"Please, Tony!" Ziva blocks his path "Let me enter and make him pay!"
Tony throws her at one side. No. This isn't Tony DiNozzo anymore. This is a saddened man who seeks for a furious carnage: he, himself, wants to interrogate the guy. And there shall be blood.

Tim watches in horror as Tony storms into the room before suddenly attacking the smirking cuffed man "TONY! STOP!"
Tony growls as he continues to lay into the man, snarling as Ziva and Tim both drag him off "Let me go! That Bastard! He stole Jethro from me!"
Ziva frowns and once they have gotten Tony out of the room, she asks "Tony? I thought Gibbs was alive?"
He growls as he paces the floor "He is alive...but he might aswell be dead!"
They both step back in shock
Tim's the first to shake himself out of it "TONY! How can you say something like that!?"
Tony stops and turns to look at them both "You haven't seen him Tim...his face...he doesn't even have a face! The skin on the right is so tight and looks like plastic! The left side...the one with the most damage? It's a cross between Two Face from Batman and The Phantom from The Opera!" he runs a hand down his face "He isn't my Jethro...the one who I love anymore

Ziva stares at Tony in disbelief "You can't say that, Tony! Love has nothing to do with physical aspect!"
"For one like you...who are engaged with that post radiative Soldier! But for me...beauty is everything! EVERYTHING! I can't love a monster anymore!" Saying this, he runs away, disappearing in the shadows of the dark corridor.

+NCIS+

Jethro lies in bed, while Ducky rambles about almost everything, attempting to distract him. He has obtained from the Doctor permission to remain there all night if necessary. Gibbs can't sleep: not even the powerful sedatives the Doctors have given him can slow down the desperate race of his thoughts.
"And as I was saying before, Jethro...I know a physician in England, an Aesthetic Surgeon with more than thirty years of experience, that can make almost miracles! I shall be able to call him in the early morning...I could even make him come here. He owes me a favour from when we were in the RAF together...he surely shall respond to my behest...He is an extraordinary person...and..."
Jethro doesn't pay attention anymore. His mind is travelling miles away, to the moment when he discovered his mother's dead body...to the moment when he was notified about Shannon and Kelly's deaths...to the moment when Lt Cameron died in his arms...to that moment, in Mexico, when he pulled the trigger, and Pedro Hernández became only a sad, a furiously bitter remembrance...

Ducky sighs as he watches the usually bright eyes cloud over with depression and turns to glance at the sleeping Goth. A smile crosses his face as an idea comes to mind "Do you want me to remove Abigail from your person?"
Jethro snaps to the present and glances down before shaking his head "No Ab...by stays!"
He raises an eyebrow "You seem to want to sink into a depression and I don't want to upset the poor girl, she has been fretting over you ever since she had heard your screams over the radio"
He tightens his hold around her "Why di...dn't she st...op listen...ing?"
Ducky sighs "She felt guilty, it was her evidence which sent Tony there and in turn sent you there aswell!"
Jethro uses his right hand to gently stroke the long black hair "Not her fa...ult! I se...nt Tony to ch...eck other ware...house, it was on...ly myself to bl...ame!"
He shakes his head "Abigail always blame herself when one of her Family is injured" he moves around the bed and goes to take a sleeping Abby away.
Jethro growls and tightens his hold "NO!"
Ducky narrows his eyes "Then, Marine, snap out of your depressed thoughts!"

+NCIS+

There is a small Hotel 'Hotel for poor people' around the block.
A solitary young man crosses the threshold carrying a little bag. He has a humble aspect, he looks like a beggar...more or less. He works, however, straight, like proud in his strange humility.
'A former military kid', the woman thinks.
"Good morning, Ma'am. Please...I-I would need a room for one week...I shall pay in advance"
"Good morning, young lad...Of course, of course...follow me, please..." The old woman looks at the young lad's eyes, they are deeply turquoise, but also they look desperately lost, absolutely sad. She guides him through a shadowy corridor, with doors on both sides. The floor is so old that the wood is broken in many places.
(The Gunny could take care of all this wood), the young man thinks, and his face looks slightly enlightened with this sole thought.
The old lady opens one of the doors placed in the left wing, and says: "There are clean towels in the Bathroom, and we have hot water in the early morning, if you want to take a shower"
"Thanks, Ma'am"
The old woman smiles "You're welcome, young man...May I ask if you have just come from the Middle East War?"
"No...I went to the war, but...some years ago"
"Well, let's go to the counter, so I shall book you taking your data, young man" with that they head back to the reservation desk.

Once there, the woman opens a big old book, takes a fountain pen, and asks "Where do you come from?"
"Cleveland, Ohio, Ma'am"
"And do you work as..."
"Truck driver, Ma'am"
"Former soldier...Ranger, maybe?"
"Navy Infantry, Ma'am" the boy replies, this time almost showing a brilliant pride in all his features.
"Age?"
"Twenty nine, M'am"
"Name?"
"Werth, W-E-R-T-H...Damon Paul Werth, Ma'am..."

+NCIS+

Tony hides in the shadows as he watches the creature who once was his Lover sleep. He lets his tears silently fall down his cheeks as he silently moves closer, a quiet sob escapes his chest as he hesitantly reaches out to touch the clawed hand (Oh Jet...why you? Why...?). He starts slightly as the hand jerks and he watches the way Jethro twitches in his sleep while making soft sounds of distress. He quickly wipes away his own tears before raising a trembling hand and softly runs his fingers through the singed silver hair.
Jethro quietens and relaxes at the gentle touch. He drifts off deeper into the darkness of sleep and whispers "To...ny"
Tony stiffens and quickly removes his hand before placing the 'Dear John' letter before sneaking out of the room