A Case Close to Home

by tiny-turtle-7

When the team's main suspect's twelve-year-old son comes to NCIS with information about his father's dealings, Tony takes over the questioning of the boy, Asher Hunter. During the ensuing talk, the boy won't talk for fear of his abusive father. Tony has to reveal what his own father did to him in order to get the boy to talk, shocking the team.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled at his SFA.

"Yes boss!" Tony answered.

"We got any leads?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes," Ziva said. "John Hunter's son is at NCIS. He wants to talk."

"Bring him in," Gibbs ordered.

"On it, boss," Tony said.

"Who's handling the questioning?" McGee asked.

Gibbs paused. "DiNozzo," he decided.

Tony sat in the interrogation room across from twelve-year-old Asher Hunter. Asher's eyes darted around the room.

"Okay," Tony began. "What's up?"

"You won't tell my dad, right?"

Tony blinked. "Tell him what?"

"That I'm talking to you," Asher mumbled fearfully. "He'll get mad and he's scary when he's mad."

Tony shifted. His own father had exhibited the same characteristics that Asher described in John Hunter.

"Tell me something, Asher. And answer honestly for me, okay?" Tony said.

"O-Okay…" Asher said.

"Does your dad ever… hit you?"

Asher's eyes went wide. "N-No!"

Tony's green eyes met the fearful dark brown eyes of the shivering boy. "Really?"

"He'll be mad if I tell you!"

On the other side of the mirror, Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva watched thoughtfully. Gibbs had an inkling of where the conversation was going, but Ziva and McGee were thoroughly confused.

"Boss," McGee began, but a glare from Gibbs stopped him mid-sentence.

Tony grinned. "I promise he won't. We're NCIS. It's our job to make sure people like your dad can't hurt you."

Asher looked at Tony. "Yeah, maybe. But how do I know I can trust you?"

Tony sighed. He didn't want to tell the boy, especially since he knew his team was watching on the other side of the mirror. It's the only way to crack the case, he told himself. He swallowed.

"Because my dad hit me too. When he'd get angry like your dad does. He'd take his anger our on me."

Asher's eyes widened. "Someone else does it?" Tears welled in his eyes. "I thought it was just me! Dad used to tell me that… no one else was as bad as me and so he had… to punish me for that. I thought it was me!"

"No, no, no!" Tony said. "No, it's not you. I promise it's not you. My dad said the same things to me when he came home drunk. He told me I was worthless, that I was bringing shame to the DiNozzo name, and then he'd hit me, or, or belt me. It's not you, Asher, I promise. It's your dad, okay? You're not bad. You're the bravest person I know. Understand?"

"Yeah! I understand. Thank you!"

"But we need your help, yeah? You need to tell me some things. Your dad shouldn't be able to hurt you like that. We need your help to find out what your dad's been doing so we can put him away for good. He'll never be able to hurt you again, okay? Just tell me a few things."

"Okay," Asher smiled. "I can do that."

Once again, McGee and Ziva were speechless.

"Boss, what?" McGee sputtered.

Gibbs sighed. "Yeah, he doesn't talk about it. And he doesn't want to, so don't press it."

"You got it, boss," McGee said.

"Of course," Ziva replied.

Back in the interrogation room, Tony was almost done questioning Asher.

"Asher, did your dad ever talk about certain people in an angry way?"

"Sure," Asher said. "Me, sometimes, but also this guy named Carl Thorpe."

Tony slid a picture of a fierce looking man in front of Asher. "This him?"

"Yeah," Asher sighed. "He's… not nice. He tells Dad that he'll kill him if Dad didn't 'get' a man named Dawson Coker. Dad won't get killed, right? I mean, he hurts me an all, but he's still my dad and I don't want him to die!"

"He won't die," Tony reassured. "You did great, Asher. How about you and I can beat the vending machine out of a Coke, yeah?"

"Awesome!" Asher cheered as they walked out of the room.

"Boss, Carl Thorpe's our guy. Last known residence 409 Pryor Avenue South. Asher and I are going to assault the vending machine. Catch ya later."

After Asher had been placed safely in the care of his aunt and uncle with Tony's phone number and a Coke, Tony returned to the bullpen to find Ziva and McGee staring at him.

"Zee-vah, McProbicus," Tony greeted.

"Tony…" Ziva began.

"I don't want to talk about it," Tony said. "It's over now and it doesn't matter."

"No, that's not it," Ziva laughed. "We just wanted to say that we're here for you if you ever want to talk about it. But we won't press it. We all have those secrets."

"Thanks, Ziva, McGee," Tony smiled. "You guys are the best."

END