AN: Hey, guys. So much thanks to you for the reviews and story favorites. I couldn't love you more for this kind of support. I'm really sorry that I didn't make it earlier. The second part of the chapter is long overdue but lack of time due to my exams set me back and when I finally had the time to write the weather was just way too good for me to stay in that heated up room of mine staring at a blank computer screen and trying to find the right words.

However, I finally took the time to complete the chapter and even though it's not finished I'm planning on writing the last chapter as soon as possible. I hope you haven't given up on me, yet (:


Chapter Three, Part Two

It was in the hospital, two full hours after surgery that Kelly was finally allowed to visit her friend. Her father's protectiveness towards Anthony DiNozzo from the moment they had found him had been nice, she had to admit. But even though she'd been proud of her dad the constant shielding of his sight from her was getting on her nerves quickly.

She had been the one to notice, that something with Tony and his behavior was wrong. It was hard for her not to be able to have at least one glance at him, when he needed help the most. She had to be the one to help him. Not her father. Not some paramedics. Not some doctors fixing him in the hospital. And sure as hell not some nurses checking on him every now and then. She wanted to stay with him the whole time. She felt responsible for him and didn't want to understand, why she wasn't granted to see Tony.

"You did everything in your power to save him, Kelly. Without you he would be far from okay right now, even farther than he is. But at the moment there is nothing you can do for him except wait." Gibbs had told her that earlier, when she desperately tried to get a closer look at the form on the carpet in the DiNozzo mansion while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Calming her down with soothing words, telling her, that without her help Tony would have never been able to escape his father the Gunny finally got through her thick skull. Even though she still didn't like to be unable to help at the moment, she accepted it, nodded in understanding. Coming after her father, though, patience wasn't one of her strengths and waiting was pretty hard.

Now, however, she was granted access to the hospital room in pediatric ward, where Tony lay. She sat down next to the bed smiling down at the still drowsy boy, happy to see that he was finally alert enough to talk. Though, he didn't want to talk. He looked haunted, distraught, sad… There were so many other adjectives she could use to describe his facial expression, but they were the three fitting best.

"I'm thankful you called, you know… I almost gave up on you calling. I thought you'd forgotten", she said after a while of simply watching him. Everything she'd said up to now had been hanging in the air uncommented. It seemed like talking to someone was something he'd stopped doing early in his life, probably stilled by his father all the time when he tried to say something that wasn't required. Kelly, however, didn't like the quietness that always seemed to surround him in a cloud so thick that no-one was able to get through it. She had to do something about it, she had to try and break the bubble he was in.

"Why don't you talk to someone? Why don't you talk to me, dammit?" she burst out. Her tone wasn't angry, just bitter and the choice of words seemed inappropriate, but it was obviously enough for Tony to flinch. He seemed to shrink even more, if that was even possible, clutching the blanket tightly with the hand that wasn't plastered in a cast, looking at Kelly, obviously scared. He looked as vulnerable as he could be, as if he could break into a million of pieces any moment.

"I'm sorry…"

The voice was so small and grave that Kelly almost couldn't hear, but her ears were above average and when the sound reached them she was shocked. She didn't mean to sound so grumpy. Not at all. She should have thought about it before. She should have known, that Tony wouldn't react well to that kind of tone. "You don't have to be… I didn't mean to sound so… harsh. You didn't deserve that…" She looked at him and recognized that his fear hadn't vanished in the least. She could kick herself for it. "It's just, I hoped you'd say anything to me, that's all…"

It was in the exact moment that Jethro Gibbs decided to make his presence known. He'd been standing in the door for a few minutes already, listening to the one sided exchange between his daughter and the kid. Thoroughly looking Tony up from head to toe he didn't miss the signs of fatigue, distress and anxiety on in his body language. But there was something else in it. A desperate call for help. The boy seemed to be craving for someone to care, maybe even love him.

"Hey", he said softly, slowly approaching the hospital bed. Four eyes turned on him and a lopsided grin appeared tucked on the corner of his eyes. "Could you please wait outside for a few minutes, Kelly?" The girl opened her mouth in protest, but one raised eyebrow was enough for her to shut up and do as she was told. Nobody dared complaining about Gibbs' words. "Thank you, sweetheart."

He smiled in her direction when she reached for the door and carefully closed it, then turned to the kid. Gibbs knelt next to the bed so he wouldn't scare him any further and studied him for a while. "How are you doing?" The boy turned his head away, avoiding eye contact. His lips didn't move, but Jethro knew better than to push him. The kid needed his space, needed to be able to make his own decisions whether or not he could trust him. If Tony decided he didn't trust Gibbs, it would be sad, but he still wouldn't push him. "Okay. You can talk if you want. It's your choice."

It seemed like hours until a small voice reached his ears. The same insecure voice he'd heard earlier on the phone. "Where is my father?" The question was not much of a surprise to Gibbs, it was rather the feelings shining through between the lines. It didn't sound as if the kid wanted to see his dad. The tone was neutral, mostly repressed curiosity and maybe a little bit of hope, relief.

"He's at the police department answering a few questions." Gibbs answered.

"What's going to happen to him? Will he be in jail?" Hope, once again.

"Unless he has a mysterious twin he can charge he has to prepare himself for a few years in jail. There are plenty of charges we can nail him for. Start with the obvious like child abuse, assault or rather malicious injury. And there will probably be things like drunk driving, verbal abuse and god knows what else." Gibbs sighed, a tight smile playing around the edges of his eyes. "You are save now. And once he gets out of prison he won't be allowed to see you. Youth welfare will take care of that."

Tony nodded, relieved that he was finally free from the man who had made his life hell for the last year. But there his comfort was mixed with a new fear. He didn't want to go to protectory. He was too old to be adopted by a couple who wished to have kids, but he didn't want to be left there until he turned eighteen, which meant he would stay there for almost ten years. He lowered his head and sniffed quietly.

"What's bothering you, Tony?" Gibbs tapped the kid under the chin. Lightly, not to scare the boy. Just enough to be able to look him in the eyes. And he saw the question already, before Tony had the chance to say it. If he even wanted to say it.

"There's no way avoiding a visit with someone from youth welfare. I know the chance of you being adopted is pretty small, but I promise you I'll do everything in my power to find someone who will take care of you." Gibbs sighed inwardly. The kid was so broken. He would never be able to have a careless childhood like every kid should. Scarred for life, so to say. He wouldn't survive in protectory.

"Why…", Tony started but had to stop, when pain shot through his broken arm. One wrong move. He bit his lip, sucked it up like his father would say and continued. "Why can't I stay with you and Kelly?" His voice was small, just like always. The question caught Gibbs off guard but for some reason they filled him with pride. The kid barely knew him but obviously he trusted him more than enough.

"Is that really, what you want?" Gibbs asked seriously. "I'm not sure if I am who you see in me. I may have saved you from your father, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm the one you're looking for, kid." What if the kid expected too much and only realized when it was too late? He could be some high criminal, saving him only to make things worse. The kid couldn't know for sure.

He saw the sadness and sudden neglect in Tony's eyes and soon regretted having said the words. He didn't want to disappoint the kid. But he didn't want to make false promises either. Gosh, why was everything so complicated since the little DiNozzo appeared in his life?

"So, you don't want me then?" It was more of a statement than a question. Tony didn't want anything else but a life far from the beatings he usually had to bear. That was all he could imagine, everything he wished for. But he wasn't even granted that little bit of normality in his life. "Sorry that I bothered you, Mister Gibbs."

It was heart-breaking to hear the words and Gibbs wasn't sure if he wanted to know what it would feel like to be denied a decent home. Or have the feeling to be denied that. He sighed, rubbed his hands over his face and remained silent for a while. He didn't know what to do. The situation wasn't easy and Gibbs simply wasn't used to what he was being asked for. To ask a question like the one Tony had certainly wasn't easy, but the answer was a million times harder. Every decision brought changes along. This one, however, would not only change Tony's life, but that of a whole family.

"Look, Tony… It's not that I wouldn't like to keep a close eye on you…" Gibbs didn't have a chance to finish, when Tony interrupted him with his small voice. It was evident that the boy had started crying. "It's okay. If you could leave now, Mister Gibbs…"

"Tony…" For once Gibbs didn't know what to say. He could promise the kid that he would think about it or he could fall for him and tell him that of course he adopted him. But neither decision was a confirmation that it would end this way. He would need time to find a solution to the problem. And even though he would willingly sign the papers, Shannon and Kelly had a word to say in this too. As did youth welfare.

Still, Gibbs needed to find a way to fix this. Retreating was the most effective thing to do, for now. No need to shoo the kid even further away. Not now, not at any given time. Besides, he needed time to think just as well. Solutions didn't always come as easy as they did with the job, which was due to the fact that it was more like listening to his instincts and following his gut when in the field. This, however, needed thorough reflection.

"I'll leave you alone for awhile, Tony. But I'm coming back as soon as I have a plan that will come as close to your wants as possible. Do you understand? I'm not going to leave you to some obscure enemy and I want you to believe that. Don't lose your head, now that you survived the worst of all the brunt you had to take." Gibbs gave the kid a genuine, yet sad smile but there was no response. He sighed, then moved towards the door. "See you later."

With that he left, leaving the nine year-old behind to his pain, to his loneliness and hopelessness. He couldn't even remember the last time someone had meant it when a promise slipped their lips. He wanted so desperately to believe Kelly's father but a road ascending too steeply for him to walk on stopped him. He longed so deeply for someone to care but disappointment threw him back down again and again.

Turning his head to the sun streams that watched through the window to his left side he felt the ache in his head, his limbs and most of all in his head. And when a bird flew by, free and uncaring, Tony allowed the tears behind his eyelids to fall for the first time since his mother died.

Tbc...


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