A/N: I wanted this to be a short one-shot! But then I realized that it was too long for a one-shot! So, I decided to divide it into two long chapters!:D

I know that I'm supposed to update my other story, but honestly, I couldn't resist writing this one! It really wouldn't leave me alone! :p

Warning: Mention Of Suicide!

But if you're gonna stop reading just because you hate suicide and these kinda stories, please don't! Just know that I don't like those kinda things any more than you do. Give it a try and finish this chapter?

Spoiler Alert: This story happens in season 9 and there will be some major spoilers for episode 15!

I'm not a doctor; please note that this is just a story! Sorry if there are any mistakes.

And finally, all mistakes are mine.

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Hope you enjoy it and share your ideas with me! :)

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. At The Eleventh Hour .

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"He doesn't answer his phone, Boss." McGee announced as he tried Tony's phone for the 10th time. "I located his cell phone; he's still at home."

"Dammit, DiNozzo." Gibbs growled as he grabbed his Sig and walked out of the bullpen, still cursing under his breath.

His gut was churning and that was the only reason why he hadn't sent McGee or Ziva to Tony's apartment to check on him and drag his probably sleepy ass to the office.

He felt something was wrong and if DiNozzo was merely sleeping after a wild night out, he'd kill him there, himself. But it wasn't like Tony. During the whole time that he'd known the younger man, he hadn't once been this late with no good reasons and he knew perfectly well, that he didn't go out on school nights.

Stepping out of his car, Gibbs took the stairs to Tony's apartment. He didn't even bother to knock; picking the lock, he entered the apartment. Everything was in their right places. He walked to Tony's bedroom and froze in his place.

Tony was lying on the ground instead of the bed with an empty bottle of pills by his side. Even in the semi-dark room, it was clear how pale he was. Gibbs grabbed his cell phone and dialed 911 as he slowly knelt beside his agent and reached out to check his pulse.

"I need an ambulance, ... Overdose ... Yes, dammit, you think I'd have asked for an ambulance if he was dead?... Don't know... I don't know. Just hurry up." He slammed his phone shut and carefully turned Tony to his back.

"What the hell is wrong with you, DiNozzo?" He growled and shook Tony gently to rouse him. When it didn't work he slapped the agent over the head.

Nothing. Tony was completely out.

"Why would you do something like this?" Gibbs tried to think of a reason. The last few months hadn't been easy. No, scratch it, the last few years hadn't been easy. But that was the point; they'd had worse days; why would Tony choose now to commit suicide?

He cursed himself; he'd this damn feeling in his gut since last night and once again he'd ignored it.

Again he tried to focus and find a reason why Tony would do something so stupid. Tony hadn't been to his place for a while now, since that thing with Wendy, to be exact. Maybe he had lost his trust in his boss. Gibbs shuddered at that thought. Had he been wrong? Maybe he shouldn't have forced Tony to work with Wendy. He just wanted to help, but he didn't know the whole story and it seemed like it had hurt Tony more than he'd let out.

"Tony?" He tried again to no avail.

Looking around, he thought he might find a note somewhere, that was so cliché and so not like Tony to leave a note, but then again, it wasn't like Tony to try and take his own life either. He might have had a difficult life, but that was how Tony had grown up, usually alone and depending on no one.

Maybe he'd just reached his limits; maybe he'd taken the last few days' jokes to heart. Gibbs couldn't forgive himself if that was the case. He should've realized sooner; should've seen the patterns; should've felt something was wrong when Tony didn't show up at his place after last week's really hard case.

But he'd ignore all the signs, and here he was, holding the unconscious, nearly lifeless, form of his agent in arms; waiting for the damn paramedics to turn up and see if there was a way to save his best agent and friend.

Gibbs couldn't leave Tony's side to drive his own car; so he just left his car in front of Tony's building and rode with him in the ambulance. He called McGee to inform the team of their situation and knew that they would shortly show up at the hospital.

As he'd anticipated, they all showed up in the hospital pretty quickly. None of them could believe that Tony might try and kill himself.

Like himself, Abby was going through the last few days' events to try to remember if there was anything they had missed about Tony's behavior. The only difference was that she was doing it aloud.

"Maybe it's the case; it was really gory and Tony seemed a little too upset. I should've talked to him; I should've asked him if he was alright, I shou-"

"Abs." Gibbs interrupted her. "DiNozzo had lost partners; a case, however gory it gets, can't shake him up that bad. He's a seasoned agent."

"That's true; he's one of the strongest people I know. In my book, you are the only person who's as strong." Abby sighed. "But then why would he do something like that?"

"We must find the reason, but we can't rely just on assumptions. We should talk to Anthony, first."

"What if he doesn't wake up?" McGee asked and got punched in the arm by Abby. "Aww, Abby. I hate that idea as much as you do, I'm just asking."

"Maybe it is not even work related. Maybe it is something about his father." Ziva suggested.

All heads turned towards Gibbs.

"You think I had enough time to check on that poor excuse of a man?" Gibbs growled.

"I don't believe it has anything to do with his father. Anthony has grown up without him; nothing at this stage would affect him like this."

"Then what is it?" Abby asked sadly.

"Like I said, my dear girl, we shall wait and ask him about it."

"Agent Gibbs?" A nurse called. "Please come with me. Hurry up."

"What's it?" Gibbs asked as he stopped pacing.

"Agent DiNozzo has regained consciousness. But he seems disoriented; he keeps repeating your name. We need him to calm down to be able to help him. His situation is critical at this moment."

Gibbs looked at Ducky and walked after the nurse.

"DiNozzo?" He squeezed Tony's shoulder to get his attention. "I'm here, you hear me?"

Tony looked even worse than when he'd seen him last. There was blood at the corner of his mouth and the pain was obvious in his eyes.

"Gibbs? Boss?" He sounded hoarse.

"Yes, Tony. I'm here. Calm down."

Tony opened his mouth to say something but Gibbs stopped him.

"Don't talk. Just calm down, you're gonna be fine."

"No-"

Gibbs felt that Tony didn't want to be saved and that scared him. "DiNozzo, listen to me. You're gonna lie still and let the doctors do their job. Am I clear?"

"Boss-" Tony pleaded.

"That's an order."

Tony coughed. He was fading fast.

"Tony, please. Why did you do it? Let them save you." Gibbs tried a different approach, something he knew Tony could never ignore.

"Boss-" he panted. "Fingerprints. My place."

"What?" Gibbs frowned.

"My place. Fingerprints." And with that Tony lost the battle and let the oblivion take him away.

Gibbs stood there dumbfounded. Part of him wanted to yell in frustration, the other part wanted to shout in happiness. Tony hadn't tried to kill himself. Someone had done this to him.

He knew it; Tony was way stronger than that. He smiled broadly and sighed. But then the worry came rushing back. Someone had tried to kill Tony; he wasn't safe here.

He'd to put a guard on his door, in case they wanted to try and finish their job. But what if Tony didn't survive? The nurse had told him that Tony's situation was critical and now he could see that with his own eyes.

No. He couldn't think like that and he'd a job to do. He had to find the bastard who had done this to Tony and then come back and sit with his fallen agent.

Tony would survive; he was strong. Stronger than anyone Gibbs knew. And more stubborn, of course.

He strolled out of the room towards the group of people who were waiting anxiously for his return.

Abby jumped from her seat. "Gibbs. What's it? What's wrong? The nurse said he was awake. That's a good sign, right? He's gonna be fine. He'll be fine and then we will make sure he knows we love him, so he wouldn't do something so stupid again. He can't possibly do-"

"Abs." Gibbs silenced her. "He hasn't tried to kill himself."

"What?" Ziva and McGee asked in unison.

"Go grab your gears and go to DiNozzo's place. Bag and tag everything."

"You mean-"

"Yes, someone did this to him, and we're gonna find out who. Abby, I need you in the lab."

Was that relief he saw in their eyes? Gibbs smiled to himself; he knew that they were just as happy as he was to know Tony wasn't suicidal.

"How's he, Jethro?" Ducky was happy, too. But the fact that Tony hadn't done that to himself didn't mean that he was out of the woods. Someone had tried to kill him and they still could get what they wanted.

Gibbs frowned. "Not good, Ducky." He rubbed his eyes. "But he'll be fine. Stay with him and update me on his situation."

"Of course, Jethro." The old ME nodded.

"I'll send an agent to stay here and make sure nobody tries to finish the job." Gibbs informed. "Call me when you have something, Duck."

"Sure. Find the bastard who did this."

"I will, Duck."

"Jethro? What have you got?" Ducky asked as soon as Gibbs answered his phone.

"Isn't that my line, Duck? How's DiNozzo?"

"He's stable; yet, not completely out of the woods. They're optimist, though."

"Full recovery?"

"It's too soon to tell. His stomach seemed to have been affected the most." He sighed. "Jethro, are you sure about..." He stopped.

"Duck?"

"What makes you think someone else did this to Anthony?"

"What are you saying, Ducky?" Gibbs sounded impatient.

"There's no sign of struggle, Jethro. How can someone make him swallow so many pills without force? There isn't any bruising or scratches on his body. That's-"

"He told me that someone did this and I believe him. We'll find out about hows and whys, later. I've to go, Duck. Keep me posted." And the line went dead.

"Of course." Ducky sighed. "I certainly hope you're right."

"Anthony, can you hear me?"

Oh, he could hear Ducky just fine. He just didn't feel like moving his jaw to talk back; nor did he feel like opening his eyes.

"Come on, my dear boy. Open your eyes."

What the hell was Ducky doing there, anyway?

"Anthony." He urged a little more.

'Fine, fine.' Tony slowly opened his eyes. Damn, it was hard. His eyelids were as heavy as lead.

"That's it, dear boy. How are you feeling? Do you feel any pain?"

Tony pondered before shaking his head slightly.

"Good, that's good." Ducky smiled. "Do you know where you are?"

Tony looked around. Well, he wasn't at his home. And everything looked like he was in a ... Hospital? Shit. He'd been forced pills. He grunted in response and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I take it as you remember what happened."

Tony slowly opened his eyes again and frowned. He really really didn't feel like talking, so he just nodded.

"Anthony! I need you to talk." Ducky sounded worried.

Why? For once he didn't want to talk and Ducky was insisting. Why wouldn't they just make up their minds and decide what they wanted?

"I need to know if there's anything wrong. Those pills could have different effects on your body and your brain. Your own doctor will be here shortly, but please, humor me and answer my question with more than gestures."

Tony sighed. Who knew moving the tongue could be so much harder than moving arms? What was he supposed to say, anyway? "What-" he rasped.

"Oh." Ducky smiled. "Let me get you some water." He grabbed the glass and helped Tony. "Small sips."

"Better?" He asked when Tony moved his head back.

"Much." Tony forced the answer out.

"Well, it's definitely good to hear your voice."

Tony smiled.

"Talking is hard, isn't it?"

You've got no idea. He sighed.

"I know, painkillers can have that effect, especially with the heavy dose that you took." He deliberately talked like Tony had tried to kill himself to see how he'd react.

Tony frowned. "Not me." He coughed. "I'd never do that."

"Anthony, we understand if-"

"Dammit, Ducky, No." He growled. Talking was hard, but he couldn't let the others think he was that broken. "It wasn't me. I didn't see his face, but I know someone was there and he made me take those pills. I'd never do something like that." His words were jumbled, but he'd delivered what he wanted to.

"Alright, Alright. Calm down. I believe you." Ducky patted his shoulder.

Tony frowned. "No, you don't. Why?"

"I do, Anthony. You say you haven't taken those pills, that's good enough for me. I believe you."

"What's it?" Tony insisted.

Ducky remained silent.

"Ducky?"

"How did he force you? There's no bruising on your body."

Tony stared at him and blinked. The drugs had slowed his reactions, but digesting what he'd just heard was even harder. Why would he have bruises? He's been drugged, not beaten.

"I-.. huh?" He frowned.

"There must be some bruising on your body, anywhere, if he'd held you down and forced the pills down your throat. Let's not think about how he'd even managed to hold you down."

That actually was a good question. Tony knew he hadn't taken those pills on free will, but maybe that was only because he'd kept repeating it to himself. What if he'd actually taken those pills? What if he'd regretted it later and had tried to deny it subconsciously?

No. No. He hadn't. He could remember a man with a mask. He... Something was missing.

Tony grabbed his head as pain ran through it.

"Anthony? Anthony, you must calm down. It doesn't matter now. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will come back to you at the right time."

"No." Tony grunted. Something was missing and Tony could say that it was important. How had someone managed to force him a bottle of pills? How-

He jolted up and groaned. All color left his face and the room began to spin around his head. He felt Ducky's hand grabbing his shoulder and pushing him down.

"Anthony. You'll hurt yourself more. Calm down." Ducky chastised.

"A girl." Tony gritted out.

"A girl?"

"Yes, there was this little girl. Ducky, why does it hurt so damn much? You'd think I must be numb after taking so many pills." He was in extreme pain.

"I'm sorry. We can't give you any painkillers. They had to perform gastric lavage and the drug in your system should wear off. And about your pain, it's not true, your stomach lining has been hurt because of the heavy dose of painkillers, it's like having an ulcer or Gastritis."

Tony paled even more, if that was possible. "Gastritis? Now I've got Gastritis? What else?"

"It's too soon to tell, but fortunately, the test results are fairly good considering what your body has gone through. You were talking about a girl." He reminded him, distracting Tony's mind from his pain and his situation.

"Oh." his eyes widened. "Oh yes. There was this little girl. The guy had a gun to her head, saying he'd kill her if I didn't take those pills. I... I couldn't let him. It was in the middle of the night, I don't know, half past 3, maybe. I don't even know how they'd entered my apartment. I just know that there was this guy with a girl and before I could reach for my gun, he pushed the bottle into my hands and made me take them. I took them and he sat there the whole time until I lost consciousness. I can't remember anything after that. But dammit. It's... I couldn't even save that little girl. What kind of agent am I?"

"Anthony, stop. You can't think like that. It won't help anyone."

"No, it won't. But-"

"No buts. You were in your home. Somewhere that's supposed to be safe. You were sleeping, not in fighting mode."

Tony just closed his eyes; he couldn't help but feel responsible.

"Anthony! Do not blame yourself. You sacrificed your life the best way you could."

"That girl could be dead."

"I don't think so. It seems like the intruder had something against you. There's no reason for him to kill the girl."

"We can never know."

"You're Federal Agents! Of course you can. Now rest; I should inform Jethro and I'm sure that things will be better next time you wake up."

"Thanks."

"No problem, my boy. And Anthony?"

Tony opened his eyes.

"I am truly sorry for doubting you while you're actually a hero."

"Am not." Tony frowned. "And you had every right to doubt me. Not that I'd do anything like that, but the evidences-" He trailed off.

"I know you're strong. I've never doubted that." He patted Tony's arm and left him to get some sleep before his doctor arrived to check up on him.

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... TBC ...

A/N: Please let me know what you think! :)

There will be more angst in the next chapter! ;D

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