Author's note: Hey guys, thank you so much for all the reviews, I was worried people would lose interest as I hadn't updated for a while. Sorry this is a little later than I told some of you but I haven't felt the urge to write, so didn't want to give you anything that wasn't very good. This chapter is longer than the last few so enjoy!!

The team and Ben arrived back at NCIS, where they headed straight for a conference room, not wanting to have Ben in the midst of the all the other agents. Gibbs called Ducky, wanting the boy to get looked over, but not wanting him to go to the hospital, unless it was absolutely necessary. Gibbs knew that he should phone Ben's mother to let her know that he was safe, but he didn't want to risk the Lieutenant finding out before they could talk to Ben.

"Ziva, can you go get Ben a soda, and something to eat, I'm sure he could use something," Gibbs said, as they entered the room.

"Of course Gibbs," Ziva replied, turning to head to the cafeteria, she paused and turned back. "What should I get, I do not know what an eight year old eats."

Gibbs smiled, glad that his agent was being honest. "Get him a sandwich and something sweet, he eats just like everybody else does."

Once Ziva had left, Gibbs was alone with Tony and Ben, who were both sitting at the head of the table, not a word being spoken by either of them. He was just about to break the silence when the door behind him opened and Ducky stepped in.

"I here I have a patient to see?" Ducky questioned as he closed the door.

"Yeah Duck, can you take a look at Ben. He seems ok, but looks can be deceiving," Gibbs replied, turning back towards the boy.

If possible Ben had shrunk further into the chair, perhaps to avoid being seen, Gibbs guessed it was because a stranger had appeared.

"It's ok Ben, this is Ducky, he's a friend of mine, and he's a doctor, we just want to make sure you're ok," Tony spoke, before Gibbs had the chance.

Ben seemed to think for a minute, obviously trying to decide if he should trust the new man.

"What sort of name is Ducky!" he exclaimed, sitting up a little straighter and looking over to the new man.

"Well it's a nickname, my last name is Mallard and seeing as that is a form of duck, the name Ducky just seemed to stick," the M.E replied, approaching Ben as he spoke.

"Can I call you Ducky?"

"Of course you can my dear boy, but what shall I call you?"

"Ben, my name's Ben."

"It's nice to meet you Ben," Ducky said, holding out his hand and taking Ben's, shaking it slightly. "Now would you mind if I take a look at you, make sure that you're ok?"

"I guess so."

Ducky nodded and set his bag down onto the table, reaching in and taking out some gloves and putting them on. He then turned to Ben and began his examination, treading carefully, not wanting to scare the boy.

While Ben was distracted Tony got up and headed towards Gibbs, wanting a quiet word.

"What now boss?"

"Now, we find out why he ran away. I want to get this sorted so that he can get back to his mother."

"Should we let him eat first?"

"We'll talk while he's eating, makes it less formal," Gibbs replied, watching Ducky as he finished his exam. "I want you to do the talking Tony, he trusts you."

Tony nodded; hoping that he could put his own feelings aside while they interviewed Ben, he needed to stay focused, but he didn't know how likely that was to happen.

Just as Ducky approached them to let them know his findings, the door opened to reveal that Ziva had returned with the food.

"Grub's up Ben," Tony said, taking the items from Ziva and going back to sit beside the boy.

Ben's face lit up and his stomach rumbled, letting the room know that he was looking forward to whatever Ziva had bought him. He unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite, smiling once the first mouthful had been swallowed.

"He seems fine Jethro, I few cuts and bruises which were most likely done in the past day, probably from his time away from home. He'll need an in depth exam later, if he reveals what we think he will, but for now he's just fine."

"Thanks Duck," Gibbs replied, opening the door for his friend. "Have you found out anything useful yet?"

"Timothy and I have discovered something, but I'd like to dig a little deeper before I reveal it, I'm not sure what it means yet."

Gibbs nodded, he was eager to know what had been found, but knew that his friend would tell him when he could. He shut the door once more and turned his attention back to Ben, indicating for Tony to begin with the questions.

"So Ben, do you feel like telling me why you ran away?" Tony asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

Ben continued eating his sandwich, but looked at Tony after the question had been asked, opening his mouth to speak and then closing it before anything could come out.

"It's ok Ben, just take your time."

"I didn't want to be at home any more," Ben said, taking another bite from his sandwich.

"Ok, why didn't you want to be at home?"

"I just didn't!"

"Come on Ben, there must be a reason."

"Nope, no reason."

Tony turned to Gibbs, unsure of how to proceed, but Gibbs was giving nothing away, it looked like it was up to Tony.

"Well if there's no reason, then we better take you back then," Tony said, hoping that that would get the reaction he needed, and wouldn't traumatise the boy.

Ben dropped his sandwich and turned to Tony. "But you promised!"

"I promised that you wouldn't have to go home if there was a reason, but you don't have a reason, so…"

Ben's breathing quickened a little and his eyes darted between the people in the room, and towards the door. Gibbs was standing in front of it, and he stepped a little closer to it, fearing that Ben was going to bolt. Instead he twisted towards Tony and launched himself at him, clinging onto him as if his life depended on it.

"Please don't make me go home, please, my daddy's mean and I don't want to go home with him!"

Tony steadied himself on the chair, not wanting it to tip from the added weight, and curled an arm protectively around Ben.

"It's ok Ben, we're not sending you home, we're not, it's ok."

Ben calmed his breathing a little, but didn't let go of his hold on Tony; he stopped his whispered mantra, and tried desperately to control himself.

Gibbs watched the whole scene from across the room and his heart broke as he watched the small boy, he walked the distance between them and crouched down to Ben's level.

"Can you tell us why your dad's mean?" Gibbs asked, trying to get the boy to look at him. "We can help, make it so you don't have to see him anymore, make it just you and your mom."

"Really?" Ben asked, his head jerking towards Gibbs at that small statement.

"Really," Gibbs replied, smiling.

"My daddy's not very nice to me, or my mommy."

"Your dad hurts you mommy?" Tony asked.

"Uh huh."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen him, when he doesn't think I'm looking."

"So what mean things does he do?"

"He hits me sometimes, when I'm bad, and he shouts at me. But the worse thing is when he comes to say night."

Tony closed his eyes and swallowed hard, not sure that he could sit there and listen to the small boy spill his secrets.

"What happens when he comes to say night?" Gibbs asked, sensing that Tony was having difficulty.

"He does bad things, and I don't like the way it feels," Ben said, tears falling down his cheeks. "I don't like to take off my pj's and have him come to my bed. I want to call out for mommy, but I know I can't, he doesn't like that."

"It's ok Ben, your daddy won't be able to do mean things again, we're going to stop him," Tony said, determination in his voice. "It's ok."

Gibbs ruffled the kid's hair and stood up, walking over to Ziva.

"Go grab McGee and gear up and meet me by the car, we're going to bring Ackland in."

Ziva nodded, and looked once more at Ben before walking out of the door, she was looking forward to bringing Ackland in, she just hoped he'd resist so she could hurt him.

"Tony, I want you to stay here with Ben. Get him cleaned up, there should be some clothes somewhere that should fit him, and we'll be back soon."

"I want to come!" Tony exclaimed, knowing that he needed closure and thinking that bringing Ackland in would give him that.

"Tony, I need you to stay here, Ben needs some one to look after him," Gibbs replied, not wanting Tony anywhere near Ackland, but not wanting to have to order him to stay away. He hoped knowing Ben needed someone would cause Tony to rethink his priorities.

"Ok, I'll stay. But I want to know when you have him, I need to know."

"You'll be the first to know Tony, the first to know."

Author's note: I realsied after I'd written this that Ben probably should have had someone in the room with him, being a minor, didn't want to change what I'd written, so I hope people are ok with that. Please review!!