Gibbs stood underneath the Oak Tree at the park in his neighborhood, he'd been coming to the park around midnight every night for the past week; restlessness was eating at him and no amount of bourbon and boat-time seemed to set his stomach or his mind at ease, especially since driving past the park late one night and noticing a young boy who couldn't be more than six sitting on top of the monkey bars caught his eye.
So, every night since then, Gibbs came to the park and watched as the same little boy came to the park at roughly the same hour – Around ten o'clock at night – and would sit on top of the monkey bars, humming a familiar tune and swinging on the bars either from the backs of his knees or from his hands. Tonight, it was no different than any other night, the young boy cut through the woods and went straight over to the monkey bars, except tonight he did not climb up to sit on the monkey bars, tonight he sat on the sand beneath them and stared up at the star-studded sky with a frown on his face.
Gibbs bit back his bottom lip as he observed the small boy, his curiosity getting the better of him, he carefully walked out from underneath the tree and took a seat on the park bench directly in front of the monkey bars, instead of the humming that Gibbs was used too, the young boy was whispering quietly to the dark sky.
"I never meant to make him mad… I don't know what I did wrong! What do I have to do mommy? What can I do to make Senior see me as his son?" the young boy whispered into the darkness, hardly noticing the presence of the older gentlemen sitting on the bench "He's starting to get rougher… I was used to the spankings, but now… Now-now-…" the young boy sniffled and swiped his sleeve across his nose and shook his head, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his head into his kneecaps.
Gibbs had heard enough, he stood up and crossed the sand and sat down beside the boy, the young boy flinched away and looked up at Gibbs with tear-filled eyes "Nobody should have to go through what you're going through." Gibbs said softly to the young boy.
The young boy shook his head as the fat tears that filled his eyes streamed down his small chubby cheeks, staring at him in disbelief at his statement. Gibbs sighed and reached to his belt, he grabbed the badge hooked to it and showed Tony the belt and his NCIS ID card "I'm a federal agent with NCIS… Have you ever heard of NCIS before?" Gibbs asked softly, the young boy shook his head and took the badge, examining it thoroughly, flipping the leather holder around in his hands slowly. Gibbs noticed the boy trembling and shivering, heard his teeth clattering together helplessly, so he shrugged out of his coat and laid it over the boy's shoulders.
The young boy snuggled into the warmth of the coat and smiled sadly as he handed Gibbs back his badge "'M Tony." The young boy mumbled as he looked up into Gibbs' eyes, his emerald green eyes sparkling in the moonlight hanging above their heads.
"Jethro Gibbs." Gibbs said with a smile as he set a warm hand to Tony's back, Tony flinched again from the touch, but quickly settled back into the warmth of Gibbs' hand and sniffled again, swiping his nose on his sleeve again, "Can I ask you a few questions Tony?" Gibbs asked softly, Tony nodded his head and placed his chin between his kneecaps.
Gibbs sighed, knowing he'd have to keep this to either yes or no questions since Tony didn't seem all too comfortable talking right now, "Does your dad hit you, Tony?" Gibbs asked in the same soft tone, Tony nodded again, keeping his eyes downcast and on the sand beneath his feet "Do you want him to stop?" Gibbs asked, Tony nodded emphatically as he let out a stifled sob into his kneecaps "You know that I can help you with that, right?" Gibbs questioned, keeping his eyes on Tony and his hand on Tony's back. Tony nodded and leaned against Gibbs' side, he opened his mouth and then shut it quickly, "It's okay to talk to me Tony, I won't judge you, I promise." Gibbs said as he wrapped a protective arm around the small boy.
Tony sighed noisily and sat up a bit straighter "Nobody has-has-has ever helped me-me-me before… Why-why-why would you want-want-want to help me?" Tony stuttered pathetically, his voice full of sorrow and dread as he shifted a few times, a few painful gasps escaping his lips as he tried to find a comfortable position.
Gibbs gritted his teeth tightly as he felt ribs from the young boy pressing against his side and his hand, "Because, I like helping people. Especially children who are afraid and cannot speak up to defend themselves against adults." Gibbs said softly as he looked over at Tony, his dirty blond hair long and covering his green eyes from full-view.
Tony nodded and slowly he stood up to his full height of 3'3" and stumbled slightly, Gibbs hand quickly shot out and steadied the boy, "I don't want him to hurt me anymore." Tony whispered sadly as he looked directly into Gibbs' eyes. Gibbs nodded and stood up, holding his hand outward to Tony, who instinctively took it and drew from the protective nature that Gibbs exuded.
Gibbs walked slowly enough for Tony to keep up, each step painstakingly obvious that the boy was suffering from some sort of injury as he limped along beside Gibbs "Would you rather I carry you?" Gibbs asked softly, Tony relented rather quickly and nodded his head, so Gibbs stooped down and carefully lifted Tony up into his arms as he walked towards his own home.
Tony laid his head down against Gibbs' shoulder and within just a few minutes – barely five – Tony was fast asleep and gripping onto Gibbs' polo shirt for dear life as Gibbs continued the short journey back to the house.
When Gibbs woke up the next morning, something felt off, he hopped out of bed and walked into the hallway, noticing that the guest bedroom door was wide open, and Tony was no longer in the bed, he quietly walked downstairs and stopped dead in his tracks at the wide-open front door, his heart dropped to his feet and threatened to sink through the floor boards as his face went pale and his hands trembled with fear as he stepped over the threshold and out onto the front porch.
Tony was nowhere in sight and Gibbs feared that something bad had happened to Tony, he quickly ran back upstairs and changed into a pair of jeans and a fresh white Hanes T-Shirt, collected his keys, wallet and cellphone – Dialing Vance as he ran back down the stairs – he told his boss that he would be taking the day off because of an emergency that popped up, and no question was asked. Gibbs quickly got into his Challenger and then began slowly driving through the neighborhood, around the park and then the other side of the neighborhood where he saw Tony come from numerous times over the past week.
Nothing, he found absolutely no sign of the young boy who had rather quickly took up a place inside of Gibbs' heart, all he knew about the boy was that his name was Tony, and that he was obviously his father's namesake, making him a junior. Gibbs pulled his cellphone out of his pocket as he sat in the Challenger next to the park and dialed up his best friend and agency arch-nemesis, Tobias Fornell of the FBI.
Tobias answered his cellphone on the third ring "Gibbs, what can I do for you at… Six-forty-five in the morning?" Tobias asked tiredly into the phone.
Gibbs shook his head, he hadn't even thought about the hour with the worry plaguing his mind and gut "Tobias – I need your help… I don't have a whole hell of a lot to go on… But there is this kid, his name is Tony Junior… Probably Anthony or Antonio, something like that – He's being physically abused by his father… I've been watching him – the kid – for the past week, coming to the park in my neighborhood, at nearly midnight, every night… and last night I finally decided to trust my gut and ask him if he needed help – He readily accepted the help to get out from underneath his father's thumb, then this morning when I woke up – He was completely gone, left without a trace, I searched the entire neighborhood and the next over, and there is just absolutely no sign of him!" Gibbs practically spilled his guts, taking heavy breaths as he laid his forehead against the steering wheel.
Tobias had to hold back the laughter bubbling in his stomach from the sheer amount of words that just filled his ear – knowing Gibbs hardly ever speaks, and just quite literally talked his ear off – but the situation sounded rather serious so Tobias schooled himself and straightened up in his bed "Okay, relax Jethro – I'm sure there is some sort of trace of the boy at your house… Fingerprints, DNA if he drools… Hair follicles and that such…" Tobias said reasonably, almost seeing Gibbs in his minds' eye nodding his head and the lightbulb flickering on above Gibbs' head "I'll come over there in about twenty minutes with the kit, and we'll comb through your house Jethro…" Tobias stated.
Gibbs grunted his approval and then slapped his phone shut, he revved the Challengers engine and then did a one-eighty in the middle of the road, tearing through the neighborhood and back to his house at his normal breakneck speed. Gibbs ran into the house a few minutes later and up the stairs as he stared into the guest bedroom, and nearly cried out in laughter at the sight before him.
Tony was back in the bed and curled around the jacket that Gibbs gave him last night, Gibbs quietly walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed "Hey… Tony, you awake buddy?" Gibbs asked softly, Tony nodded and mumbled something incoherent against the inside of Gibbs' jacket "Tony, where did you go? I was… I was worried about you!" Gibbs said softly.
Tony grumbled again as he slowly sat up and stared at Gibbs with red-rimmed eyes, "I got scared… at first… I thought maybe Senior had found me… the front door, it opened on its own… and I was scared to go down the stairs… so I came back and hid in the bathroom under the cabinets… Until I heard the front door shut and I saw you leave…" Tony whispered as he looked down at his feet, Gibbs chuckled quietly as he reached up and brushed a gentle hand through Tony's surprisingly soft dirty blonde hair.
"I guess I didn't shut the door tight enough last night, the wind must have blown it open." Gibbs explained quietly, Tony nodded and sniffled as he rested his chin between his kneecaps "Tony, I have a friend who is going to be coming over soon – He's a federal agent like me… Is it okay if he helps us figure out how to protect you from your father?" Gibbs asked quietly, Tony nodded as he shifted closer to Gibbs and snuggled comfortably into his side, whispering 'S okay' into Gibbs' side.
If there was one thing Tobias Fornell hated, child abuse cases were the one thing he hated the most – Being a father of a little girl, he could not imagine nor fathom ever striking her intentionally. Even with a clear guided purpose, he could not bring himself to punishing Emily with spankings or physical punishment and easily resorted to Time-Outs and groundings when Emily got old enough. Now, sitting at the coffee table with Gibbs and Five-Year old Tony who could hardly look up at the two men and continually fiddled with his fingers, Tobias was ready to tear through whatever man had destroyed this young boy's life so early on.
"Anthony Dante DiNozzo Senior, that's his full name." Tony whispered hoarsely as he picked at the chipped epoxy on Gibbs' dining table, his bottom lip quivering slightly.
Tobias gritted his teeth tightly as he stared at the low-hung head of dirty blonde, and then over at Gibbs who was tense and his knuckles were stress-white as he gripped onto the top of the chair Tony was occupying "Gibbs, could we speak in the other room?" Tobias asked tersely, nodding towards the kitchen, Gibbs nodded and turned towards Tony.
"We'll just be in the other room, you going to be okay?" Gibbs asked softly, Tony nodded as he glanced up at Gibbs and smiled, it wasn't a genuine smile but it was enough for Gibbs to know that Tony would be fine for a few minutes.
Tobias and Gibbs stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and looking at Tony who sat dejectedly in the dining chair across the room "His father's name is highly familiar… Something to either do with Espionage and Racketeering. Think he is a member of the Gambino Mafioso faction here. If Tony knows anything about his father's dealings, Gibbs, we could potentially shut down a very notorious and dangerous family on the East Coast." Tobias whispered, forcefully keeping his tone even and low so it did not carry to Tony in the other room.
Gibbs grunted and shook his head tiredly "And you expect me to willingly let you subject Tony to reliving his days back with his father? As short as they may have been, he is only five Tobias, how much do you really think he knows?" Gibbs asked just as quietly, Tobias shrugged his shoulders and turned to his friend briefly.
"Only one way to find out." Tobias stated as he turned back into the dining room and sat down across from Tony once more, Gibbs followed Tobias back into the room and sat down beside Tony, setting a reassuring hand on Tony's shoulder, Tony looked up at Gibbs questioningly then over at Tobias with a frown on his face.
Tony furrowed his brows and went back to plucking at the epoxy coating "You want to know about Senior's friends… and the bad stuff that they do?" Tony asked dejectedly, as if he has been through this before, on numerous occasions. Gibbs tensed at Tony's tone and watched as Tobias tensed slightly as well.
Tobias cleared his throat and nodded "Do you know anything about what Senior does, Tony?" Tobias asked softly, Tony nodded his head and looked up at Tobias with a serious expression on his face.
"I've seen, and heard a lot of things – My da-… father, is not a good man Mr. Fornell. He ignores me a lot, so whenever he has friends over, I can easily slip into a room where he is, and go unnoticed for hours… Sometimes da-… father, catches me and he creates these scenarios… where I need to pretend… that I'm being questioned by guys like you and Mr. Gibbs… and Senior tells me what to say if I'm ever questioned…" Tony said quietly as he shifted uncomfortably in the hard wooden chair, and with an expressionless tone and features, Tony went on to tell Gibbs and Tobias all the things he had heard and seen – from his father extorting business men and politician's to breaking and removing digits from people's hands who went against 'The Family Rules' "And that's why I stayed quiet… and out of the way most of the time… because I didn't want to lose any fingers! I just listened to what Senior told me to do, and I did it to the best of my abilities!" Tony proclaimed as he shifted again on the chair.