Tony walked into the bullpen the next morning and found Gibbs at his desk. "Hey, Boss."

"DiNozzo," Gibbs greeted. "How's Kate?"

If Tony was surprised that his boss knew he'd seen Kate since they busted McGee, he didn't show it. "She's glad it's finally over. Finally her son is safe Uh, she's coming in. She wants to see McGee," he said as started getting settled at his desk.

"Not alone," Gibbs said firmly. He knew very well that if he left Kate alone with John McGee, he wouldn't make it back to his cell.

"Of course not, Boss. I'll go with her," Tony assured him.

"That's not gonna happen," Gibbs said. Putting Tony in there with Kate would be even more dangerous. Tony might not realize it yet, but he'd formed a bond with Timothy McGee. That had been clear from his reaction when they finally got to McGee. Tony would've killed him if Gibbs hadn't been there.

"Why not? Boss, I'll make sure nothing happens," Tony said.

"Or you'll help something happen. Was with you last night, Tony. I know very well what you would've done to him if I hadn't stopped you," Gibbs said.

Tony sighed. "I just lost it for a second, Boss. All I could see was Tim. When I went to Kate's the other day, he actually asked me to ask McGee why he hated him."

Gibbs cringed. Yeah, that was completely disgusting. No child should ever have to ask such a question. That alone was enough to make McGee a complete scumbag. Then you got into him beating his little boy. Gibbs could never understand how anybody could treat their kid that way.

Tony nodded at the look on his boss' face. "That's right. That's all I could hear when we got there, and all I could see was that asshole beating on such an innocent little kid. That boy is so caring. How can anyone torment him like that, let alone his own father?"

"There are awful people in the world. We both know that. The worst in my opinion are people like McGee. Nothing worse or more cowardly than going after a child," Gibbs said

Tony nodded. "Look, I'll be okay. Let me go with Kate."

"Nope, not taking the risk. You've spent time with this kid. You've witnessed the effects this SOB has had on him. I'll go with Kate," Gibbs said.

As if on cue, Kate walked through the bullpen at that moment and approached Gibbs' desk. "I wanna see him, Gibbs."

"I'll have him brought to Interrogation. I"m going with you," Gibbs informed her before picking up his phone.

Kate didn't bother arguing. She'd pretty much already figured that would be a stipulation anyway. It was probably for the best. Leaving her son motherless because she murdered his father wouldn't do her boy any favors.

"How was Tim last night," Tony asked.

Kate turned to him. "He's still having nightmares. That's probably going to go on for a while. He's back in school though. He was happy about that. He likes school, plus he was kind of climbing the walls at home."

Gibbs put the phone down. "McGee will be in Interrogation one in ten minutes. I get why you have to do this, Kate, but I think for one second you're gonna lose it and it's over."

Kate nodded.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Kate walked into the interrogation room holding her ex-husband with Gibbs right behind her. The second she saw him, she wanted to go after him, strangle or shoot him for what he tried to do to her little boy. Luckily, Gibbs had made her leave her gun at her desk and he was there now to stop her from strangling her.

"Kate," John greeted.

"John," Kate greeted back tightly.

"So I heard they kicked you out of the Secret Service. Now you've been forced into this pathetic excuse for a federal agency," John goaded.

Kate didn't rise to the bait. She had no reason to. She was proud to work for NCIS and had no reason to defend herself, especially to her child abusing ex-husband. "I'm here for my son."

"He's my son too," John said.

"No, he's not. You lost the right to call him that the moment you raised a hand to him!" Kate said angrily.

John shrugged his shoulders, showing no remorse at all. "Someone had to discipline him. You never do. Where I found him is proof. He was in a park on a school day. You had no idea he was there. You've lost control of your own kid."

Kate bristled at the accusation that she wasn't a good parent. She made huge mistakes. She'd failed her son when he was being abused by John, but she was doing good now and she wasn't going to let the likes of her ex-husband tell her otherwise. "You were stalking him! You were waiting for the opportunity to grab him!"

"No, it was a coincidence. I saw him there was this buddies, skipping school. Someone had to do something about it. Anything could've happened to him in that park," John said with a smirk.

"You were protecting him? We might buy that if you hadn't put a nine-year-old in the hospital," Gibbs said.

"The boy attacked me," John said.

Kate laughed humorlessly. "You're gonna claim self-defense? Against a nine-year-old? Please. Tim and his friends told us what happened. You tried to kidnap him and his friend, Paul, bravely stood up to you so Tim could get away. You terrorised three kids, sending one into the hospital and causing another to get lost in the woods! We searched for him for hours! He could've been hurt before we found him!"

"He shouldn't have run."

Kate hissed angrily. "That was the smartest thing he did! He knew better than to go anywhere with you and I thank God for it! Who knows what you would've done to him?"

John leaned forward in his chair and glared. "I never did anything to him he didn't deserve! He was nothing but a little wimp! He needed to be taught to toughen up and to behave! I could've taught him, but you had to interfere.

Gibbs moved closer to Kate, knowing she was seconds away from losing it. He himself had a hard time listening to this crap. He would never understand how any father could speak about his own child like that. He'd loved his daughter so much and he would've killed anyone who spoke of her in such a way. He certainly couldn't fathom saying things like that himself.

It took every bit of her willpower for Kate not to lunge at John. "You piece of garbage! There is nothing wrong with my son! He is perfect! If you can't see it, it's your problem, not his. You will never hurt my son again. If you come near him again, I'll kill you myself!"

"He won't get the chance. Assault on a child and attempted kidnapping will have this bastard in prison for at least the remainder of your son's childhood," Gibbs said.

"We'll see," John said.

"You better pray he's right. You'll be a lot safer in prison," Kate said before heading for the door.

Gibbs followed her out. "You okay."

"For the most part. Getting over this will probably take at least a few days, but I'll be fine," Kate said.

Just then, Gibbs' phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs. Okay, we'll be right there."

"Case," Kate asked as he hung up the phone.

"Yep. You up for it or do you need a couple more days," Gibbs asked.

"No, I'm good," Kate said as they walked towards the bullpen.