Vance waited until Tony was done telling his story about what happened to Joey or what he had thought had happened to him. What everybody had thought happened to him for so many years. Now he had to ask the far more difficult question. What could possibly possess a ten year old boy to lie and claim to be his dead friend and how did he pull it off for so long?
"Alright James it's your turn start explaining yourself." Vance said.
"Yeah Joey why did you lie about being dead?" Tony asked slightly hurt.
"Please don't hate me." Jimmy pleaded.
"I don't I could never hate you I just want to know why you lied." Tony replied.
"I lied because I had to get out of my old life! I couldn't take it anymore! It was too horrible!" Jimmy cried.
"What was so horrible about it?" Vance asked.
"Well let's see my dad denied me being his and refused to care for me. My mom was an abusive drug addict. Who told me at least once a day that she never wanted me and that she hated me." Jimmy explained.
"How did she abuse you?" Vance asked.
"She'd beat me, kick and push me around. She expected me to be perfect but she told me I was worthless. She would lock me in closets and outside in any extreme of weather for hours so that she could drink and use drugs. She would turn her back and let whatever pedophile, drug dealer, or any other variant of scumbag loser she was dating do whatever they wanted to me." Jimmy explained his body shaking.
"Oh Mr. Palmer" Ducky whispered.
"How can you be so happy living with something like that?" Vance asked.
"Kid that's horrifying." Gibbs commented.
"I should have taken you sooner. I…I could have rented an apartment I could have gotten a job. I could have saved you and not had to live all those years carrying your death around with me." Tony replied.
"No Tony don't beat yourself up. You deserved your wild frat brother years not to be saddled with some broken child." Jimmy replied.
"I still feel terrible." Tony replied.
"Why did you say that you were Jimmy though? Why not say you were abused?" Vance asked.
"Because I spent so much time with the Palmer's and knew that they loved Jimmy more than anything and that losing him would destroy them. He was their world. They tried for like twenty years to have a baby she had like fifteen miscarriages. They had tried to adopt as well for about five of those twenty but couldn't get approved. They had given up for over a year when they finally got pregnant with him. They just loved him so much. It would kill them to know he was dead. It killed me to see him dead. I knew that I had to lie. I mean we looked almost identical" Jimmy replied fighting off tears.
"OK I have to ask if they were such good parents how did they not notice that you weren't their son. I mean even if you looked identical good parents should know." Vance replied.
"They did notice it. In fact they confronted me about as soon as I was out of the hospital." Jimmy replied.
"You ready to come home son?" Elijah asked.
"I know we can't wait to get you back home with us." Eunice added.
"Oh yeah I'm excited." Joey replied nervously.
"Well let's get you home." Elijah replied helping Joey into the wheelchair.
An hour later Joey was at the Palmer's house under his new identity Jimmy. He walked up to the room that had been his best friends. He was never coming home and now it was his room. He picked up one of Jimmy's toy car, held it in his hands, and collapsed onto the bed. He spun the wheels around and starred up at the glow in the dark star stickers on the ceiling. He looked over and saw the Palmer's standing in the doorway.
"Jimmy can we talk to you?" Elijah asked.
"Uh yeah sure." Joey replied nervously.
"We know who you really are." Eunice replied.
"That you aren't really our son. We know you are Joey DiNozzo." Elijah added.
"Oh God I'm so sorry. Please don't send me back to her! I know I lied and that was wrong but I can't take anymore." Joey pleaded.
"Joey listen it's OK we aren't sending you back to her. We would never do that." Elijah assured.
"Yeah there is no way we would send a child back to that horrible life while we have to live with the fact that our son is dead." Eunice added.
"From now on you are Jimmy Palmer." Elijah said.
The two hugged him and then left him alone in his new room. He was finally free.
"So they just let you take over their son's life to protect you?" Vance asked.
"Yes" Jimmy replied.
"WOW what amazing people." Tony replied.
"Does anyone besides us and your parents know?" Vance asked.
"Just Breena I told her just before we got engaged." Jimmy replied.
"Alright I think we are done here. I just have to think of what to tell the media. ZNN has been pestering me all afternoon for a final report of victims. As for you guys you are free to go." Vance replied.
Tony, Gibbs, Jimmy, and Ducky walked out of Vance's office and downstairs. Gibbs and Ducky left to go home. Tony started to leave but turned back when he saw Jimmy standing alone in the bullpen.
"Oh Tony I'm so sorry!" Jimmy replied sobbing
"Hey Jimmy its OK bro." Tony assured.
"No it's not I lied to you! I was selfish!" Jimmy sobbed.
"No you weren't you were just trying to protect yourself from a horrible life." Tony assured.
"It was still wrong!" Jimmy cried before he began crying hysterically.
"Not it's not. Shh you are OK." Tony assured holding Jimmy close.
Tony and Jimmy held each other close and cried together alone in the bullpen in the darkness.