Disclaimer is back in chapter one.

AN: All the medical things were researched as much as possible. I apologize if I screw anything up. And Tony's past was researched too. I don't know if it is all correct. Whatever I didn't know, I kinda made up. Just FYI.

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The shrill ring of Kate's phone echoed though the apartment, waking Kate up.

"Todd," she said sleepily into the phone. She looked down at Kit. They had fallen asleep on the couch. Her head was in Kate's lap. Kate found a small blanket on the couch and draped it over Kit's small body.

"Kate, Gibbs wanted me to update you. Abby traced Tony's phone. She traced it to a house down the street from Henderson's house. Gibbs and I are on our way," McGee told her.

"Wait there. I'll drop Kit off with Abby and I'll ride with you," Kate said, now suddenly more awake.

"No, Kate. Stay there with her," Gibbs voice came though the phone. Kate rolled her eyes.

"Gibbs, I need to help. You need me to help."

"Agent Todd, I don't know what has suddenly come over you. You keep disobeying my orders. Stay with the girl." Gibbs hung up the phone.

Kate slapped the phone shut. She sighed and shook her head in frustration. The only thing she could do now was wait. Wait to hear from Gibbs or Tim if he was okay. Wait to find out if he was alive. Wait to know if his five year old daughter would still have her father.

Kate looked at the clock on the wall. It seemed to Kate it had stopped working correctly. Seconds dragged on. Minutes seemed like years. Her mother used to tell her 'A watched pot never boils'. Kate felt like the phone would never ring. And when it finally did, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Gibbs? McGee? Is he okay? Oh, god. We'll be there soon." Kate hung up the phone. Carefully, she carried a sleeping Kit to her car, blanket still covering her. Kate drove to Bethesda Naval Hospital, narrowly avoiding the late night traffic.

She ran in with Kit in her arms, the little girl resting her head on Kate's shoulder.

Kate received directions from a nurse and headed up to the Intensive Care Unit. They walked into the waiting area to find Gibbs, McGee, Abby and Ducky already there. She looked to them for an answer. None of them had the power to look Kate in the eyes and tell her the truth.

"Gibbs? He's okay, right? He's gonna be fine?" she prompted him.

He looked down at the ground and sighed. Gibbs raised his head and looked her straight in the eye.

"Kate, they're doing every thing they can. I need to find his will. I need to know who has his power of attorney."

She said nothing. She put Kit's head in Abby's lap. Kate walked back over to Gibbs and whispered, "Power of attorney?"

"He's in a coma. Bastard nearly beat him to death. McGee found a baseball bat in the room Henderson was keeping him in. It was covered in blood. He was awake when we found him. He was slurring his words, he couldn't hold himself up and he kept vomiting all over. We had to carry him to the car. When we got here, they took him up for a CT scan. The doctor came out and told us he had slipped into a coma and he has a severe traumatic brain injury. He's bleeding into his brain. Henderson must have hit Tony in the head with the bat. He's in surgery now. I need you to go back to his house and find his will. I need to know who has his power of attorney."

Gibbs sighed. "I don't want to call his father."

Kate gave him a questioning look. "Why?"

"Tony…didn't have the greatest childhood. His father runs a bank up in Connecticut. He was never home, never showed up for his football or basketball games, and only wanted him to become the head of the bank. Anthony DiNozzo wanted his son to go to Harvard, graduate with honors and become the most successful man on the East Coast. Tony wanted to become the star of any sports team he played on. He actually went to Harvard for a little less than a month when he transferred to Ohio State. Of course, after that, Tony had to pay for his own college and he was basically disowned by his father. According to Tony, DiNozzo Sr. hasn't talked to him in over ten years. He never goes home for Christmas or Thanksgiving…"

"How do you know all of this?" Kate wondered.

"He came over one Christmas and got drunk. Spilled everything right out."

"What about his mother?"

"Died a couple of years ago. Go find the will."

"Can't I stay here? Gibbs, I…I screwed everything up between us. I dumped him because of Kit. I haven't forgiven myself for that. I want to be with him. I need to. I need to be the one who tells Kit about him."

"Fine. I'll be back soon."

After Gibbs left, Kate sat down next to Ducky. Her emotions took over and Kate began to cry.

"Shh, my dear, things will be fine," Ducky tried to console her.

"Really, Duck? Do you know things will be fine? Do you know that he'll wake up tomorrow and be just fine? Do you know he'll pull through the surgery?"

As Kate laid her head on Ducky's shoulder to cry, a doctor came into the room.

"Are all of you here for Agent DiNozzo?" Everyone nodded.

"The surgery took a little longer than we expected. He pulled though but just barely. We had to put him on life support.There is a possiblility that he could wake up and be okay."

"What happens if he doesn't wake up?" McGee asked quietly.

"He could have mental and physical disabilities, but it also depends on the injury. Let's stay positive."

"Can I see him?" Kate said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Are you family?"

"We are the closest thing he has to family besides his daughter," Kate said bitterly.

The doctor looked at his feet. "You can, but if you take the girl in, you need to explain everything to her. And it might be for the best if you don't take her at all. She might not understand that her father could never recover."

"We'll let her sleep, but if she wants to see her father, we'll let her," Ducky informed him.

He nodded. "Only two at a time. I'll show you to his room."

Kate looked around to see who wanted to go first.

"Caitlin, you go. You need some time with him. We'll all go after you," Ducky answered her unspoken question.

Kate stood up hesitantly. She followed the doctor into his room. He shut the door behind her and she pulled a chair up next to his bed.

Tony was hardly recognizable. He had several injuries. Among them were: a broken arm, leg and nose, cuts all over his face, and a black eye. Plus, the bandage that covered the soon-to-be scar they made on his head for the surgery. Kate could hardly imagine what he had gone though. She wanted him to wake up. She needed to tell him what had been going through her mind since she found out he was missing. She still loved him. She wanted to be with him. It was the biggest mistake she had made and she regretted it. He needed to know that.

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"Abby? Where are we?" Kit had woken up. She had slept all night despite being moved from the couch to Kate's car to the hospital waiting room.

"Hey sleepyhead! How are you?"

"Is my daddy here?"

Abby looked up at Ducky for an answer. He looked back at her, both at a loss of what to say.

"Kit, are you hungry?" Tim asked her.

Her eyes widened in excitement and she nodded. "Come on. Let's go to the cafeteria." The two of them walked away, Kit still clad in her pajamas.

Abby sighed.

"We can only avoid telling her for so long. She's gonna come back and want to know where Anthony is," Ducky said to Abby.

"What are we gonna do?" Abby asked.

"We're gonna keep him on life support." Gibbs said as he strode into the room, "I found his living will."

Abby and Ducky looked up at him. "Who has his power of attorney?" Ducky questioned.

"Me. And Kate will take care of Kit. I don't know how she will feel about it. Has she come out yet? Have you seen him? Give me an update, Duck."

Ducky told him everything the doctor had told him.

"Caitlin hasn't left his room. None of us wanted to disturb her." Gibbs was half way down the hall getting directions before Ducky could finish. He peeked through every window to find them. When he finally did, Gibbs stood out side the door for a minute. He had to calm himself down before he went in.

"Kate?" She didn't answer him. He moved closer and found she was asleep. A small smile pulled at his lips. "Kate, wake up." She stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

"He's okay, right? Nothing happened while I was asleep, right?"

"He's fine. Nothing happened."

"Did you find his will?"

"Yeah, I did."

"And…" Kate prompted.

"And I have his power of attorney."

She looked out into the hallway. "What about Kit?" Gibbs exhaled loudly.

"He wants you to look after her."

Kate had a blank expression on her face. She didn't know what to do. If Tony didn't make it, she'd have to raise her all by herself. She barely knew Kit. Kate took several minutes to process this and determined that if she did have to care for her in the long run, she'd deal with it when the time came.

Kate looked up at Gibbs. "You didn't call his father, did you?"

"I had to. But, of course, the only person I talked to was his secretary's assistant. Damn assistant put me on hold for a half hour and I had to leave a message. I never talked to him directly. Why does a secretary need an assistant?"

Kate half way smiled at his remark. She knew Tony wouldn't want his father to show up.

"Why did you call him?"

"It was in his will. Tony just wanted his father to know that something happened to him."

Kate kept the questions coming. "Does he know about Kit?"

"Not sure. It's hard to tell."

Kate nodded and looked back at Tony.

"Does she know yet?"

"I don't think so."

She sighed as a few tears escaped. "Neither of them deserve this. Tony didn't do anything wrong. And he's the only one she has. It's not fair."

"Come on. Let's let Ducky, Abby and McGee see him before we bring Kit in."

"Gibbs," Kate started, "Did you get Henderson?"

"I'm letting him sweat it out in Interrogation. I'm going back in soon to see how he's going to defend himself."

Kate nodded in response. Gibbs guided her out into the hall way and into the waiting room.

"Kate!" Kit ran and jumped into her arms. Kate was surprised by her actions but accepted the hug nonetheless.

"Hi!" Kate greeted her with fake cheerfulness.

"Ducky said my daddy's here! Do you know where he is?" Kate looked up at the rest of the team for help.

"Katharine, my dear, um…your father, right now, is not himself. He has been hurt very badly and he has several broken bones and lots of cuts and bruises. He won't wake up when you talk to him. You can, he just won't answer you. Do you understand?" Ducky told Kit.

She had a confused look on her face but nodded her head any way.

"Kate, will you take me to see my daddy?"

Kate exhaled deeply and nodded, mentally preparing herself for what could come next. She ushered Kit down the hall to Tony's room.

"Daddy!" Kit shouted. She braced herself to run and jump on his bed, just like she did every other morning., but Kate stopped her.

"Kit, Daddy's hurting a lot. You need to go easy on him. You remember what Ducky said, right?"

She nodded. Kit tiptoed into the room and over to her father's bed. She eased her way up onto the bed and cuddled up next to him.