Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Right after the bomb went off, Tony felt a thrust of pressure propel him forward into the side of his car. There was a loud 'thump' sound when he hit it, followed by a crack. When he tried lifting up his left arm to reach for the door handle, it didn't move. It hung limp at his side.

Well I guess that's what the crack was from. He thought bitterly as pain shot up his bone.

A heavy sheet of smoke suddenly engulfed him, causing him to choke and cough. It filled his lungs and left him feeling like he was inside a chimney.

I guess this is how Santa Claus feels. Tony's sarcastic mind thought again.

He waited for several minutes for the smoke to clear, then used his good arm to try hoisting himself up. The rest of his body protested, however, and he went crashing back down to the ground. His eyelids suddenly felt very heavy, and his breath came out shorter and more strained. A thick cloud of smoke wafted over and filled Tony's mouth and nose, causing him to go into another coughing fit. Before it even had a chance to die down, Tony passed out cold beside his car. Somewhere in the distance he heard a cell phone ringing, but he was already too far gone.

…

Gibbs snapped his phone shut when Tony's voicemail started. He knew something was wrong, Tony always answered his phone. And he wasn't just being paranoid. He was in the NCIS bullpen sitting at his desk. DiNardo had shown him how to track a phone once, and he thought he remembered. He pulled up a program from an icon on his computer. He typed in his employee access code and the screen turned blue. There was a small rectangle with three separations. In the first part of the rectangle, he typed the area code, then the first three digits of Tony's cell number, then the last four. He clicked search and it came up with a map. There was a big red circle around Tony's location.

"What the hell?" Gibbs said to himself when he saw that Tony was in the middle of a field that was several miles away. Gibbs grabbed his phone and gun and headed out to his car.

…

Tony thought he was dead. He could hear voices calling him. Or was it just one voice, over and over? He couldn't tell. The smell of smoke protruded through his nostrils, causing him to regain slightly more consciousness. One of his eyes struggled to open, but only succeeded in squinting slightly. He saw a figure running towards him. He couldn't tell if he was imagining it or not. When the figure reached him it knelt down and continued calling his name.

"Gibbs…" Tony said, it barely came out as a whisper.

"Tony, an ambulance is coming, hang in there. It's gonna be okay."

"No… no… hospitals…" Tony said faintly.

"Tony-" Gibbs began to say in a stern voice but stopped himself. "Just hang in there, kid."

And with that Tony's head fell to the side, signaling he had again lost his battle with consciousness.

…

Tony's eyes blinked groggily several times before opening fully. He looked around him and saw a heart monitor, an IV drip, and endless white furniture. A hospital room, no doubt. He looked to his left and saw a man sitting in a white chair that matched the décor of the room.

"Gibbs-" Tony started to say and realized how scratchy his voice was.

"Yeah, Tony." Gibbs said, not looking at him.

Tony's mind, still not being completely back to normal, suddenly began filling with random thoughts. One of which he voiced out-loud, "Is Abby okay?"

"Yeah, Tony. We found out all about the bomb thing, Abby is safe and all bombs were disabled. Our house is being swept for cameras as we speak."

"W-Why aren't you looking at me?" Tony said, astounded by how weak he sounded.

Gibbs sighed heavily before answering.

"Because, Tony, this is my fault. I should've never left you alone."

"Dad, you leave me alone all the time for work, it was a freak accident, it isn't your fault. My bloodline is at fault here."

Gibbs chuckled slightly, liking that Tony called him dad again. "I do have an idea, though. I think you'll like it."

"What is it, dad?" Tony asked, also enjoying the word dad.

"I think we should get you a guard dog."

Tony's face lit up beneath the burn marks and bandages. "I'm getting a dog?"

"Yup. As soon as they let you outta here we're going to Ducky's cousin's house. His Siberian Husky just had a litter of puppies and you get first pick."

Tony felt like he was a small child again, in a time where all you needed to feel better was a puppy.

"Thanks, dad."

"Anytime, Tony." Gibbs said, smiling at his son. "Oh, and they caught the guys who did all this, so you don't have to worry about them anymore either."

Tony let his head sink back down into his pillow. He felt better than he had in years, maybe the best he had in his life. Everything was finally the way it should be. Ziva was back, he had a loving father, there was no one left who wanted to hurt him, and on top of it all he was getting a dog. He'd always wanted a dog. Life was good for Anthony DiNozzo. And for once that statement was true. Tony smiled and said, "So what's for lunch? Can you order a pizza or something? The food here always sucks…"

A/N: And it is complete. I know it took FOREVER to update this final chap, but with my parent's divorce, school, and now midterms, life's been hectic. For anyone out there reading my White Collar fic I Didn't Let You Down, I'm almost done with the next chap, hope you check it out. Thank you all and please pretty please review my last chapter. It would mean a lot to me. Thanks for reading!

-AgentDiNozzo13