Three weeks post op, Tony was moved to a nearby rehab hospital. He had already had some rehab but that was mainly stretches to keep his remaining leg strong and prevent muscle atrophy. He had been at the rehab hospital for a week and a half now and the therapy was grueling. Only one parent was allowed to attend the therapy sessions and with how emotional Gibbs got when it came to seeing Tony in pain. Rachel was the one selected to supervise Tony's physical therapy sessions. Jack had taken Abby and Timmy up to Stillwater. About five or six days after Tony's surgery. Tony had just gotten done with a grueling three hours therapy session and was fast asleep. Gibbs sat in the chair beside him. Watching his son's chest rise and fall. Just over a month ago. He was sitting in a waiting room wondering if he would ever see his son breathe again. It killed him that Tony had to lose his leg. In his opinion no person especially a child deserved to go through that kind of ordeal.
"Leroy!" A voice called.
"Dad?" Gibbs questioned.
"Yeah it's me." Jack replied.
"What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked.
"I drove down for the day with an old friend." Jack replied.
"Where are Abby and Timmy?" Gibbs asked.
"Back in Stillwater." Jack explained.
"You left my kids alone?! I don't care how small and safe Stillwater is! You do not leave my children alone, anywhere!" Gibbs snapped.
"Don't worry, Frank agreed to watch them." Jack assured.
"But you said you drove down with an old friend." Gibbs commented.
"I did, I picked up my friend James in Tacoma." Jack replied.
"James?" Gibbs asked.
"You probably don't remember him. You were tiny when he moved away and well you were a little afraid of him." Jack explained.
"Why was I afraid of one of your friends?" Gibbs asked.
"James was one of my buddies from World War Two. He was a fellow pilot and his plane was shot down in Germany. He broke his leg similarly to Tony but he also had burns. So they amputated right away in the field hospital. It was a scary sight for a little boy and you would hide every-time you saw him." Jack explained.
"Why did you bring him here?" Gibbs asked.
"I thought he could talk to Tony. Assure him that he can live a normal life with only one leg. James taught history and coached football. He had other injuries and prosthesis weren't what they are now so he couldn't play sports but he sure did a lot of amazing things." Jack explained.
"If you think he can help Tony. I will let you guys know when he wakes up." Gibbs replied.
"Thank you, Leroy and I hope this goes as well as I think it will." Jack replied.
Rachel stood in the now mostly empty attic. She and Jethro had been planning to convert the attic into extra bedrooms. Ever since they adopted Timmy but stuff kept coming up. Now that Tony was in rehab and the other kids were in Stillwater. They decided it was the perfect time. The contractor had said the attic was big enough for two rooms roughly the size of the one the boy's shared and a bathroom. After everything Tony had endured. It had been agreed upon for months that he would get one of the rooms. The other would go to either Timmy or Abby. If their was an argument she and Jethro would decide who got it and if they still argued. Neither would get it. The contractor walked through the attic door.
"Do you think you can have this done by the time my son is out of the hospital?" Rachel asked.
"How long will he be in there?" The contractor asked.
"They said standard rehab for an amputation is about two months." Rachel replied.
"Oh yeah I can have it done by then. My crew will be here first thing in the morning." The contractor replied.
"Thanks" Rachel replied.
"It's no problem and Mrs. Gibbs." The contractor replied.
"Yes?" Rachel asked.
"Good luck with your boy." The contractor replied.
When Tony opened his eyes he felt like he had been asleep for days. That's what he hated about rehab was how he would sleep all day after his sessions. He hoped that he would get his new leg soon and could go home and play with Jimmy and, Abby and Timmy. He looked around the room but instead of Gibbs or Rachel. He saw his grandpa Jack. He thought that Jack had gone back to Stillwater with Abby and Timmy. Beside Jack was another man. He didn't know him but he couldn't help but notice he was missing a leg too.
"Tony? Buddy you up?" Jack asked.
"Yes" Tony replied.
"Great" Jack replied.
"Who's that?" Tony asked pointing to the strange man.
"Tony this is my friend James Harrison. James this is my grandson Tony." Jack introduced.
"Nice to meet you little fella." James greeted.
"Nice to meet you too." Tony replied.
"We're twins" James commented.
"We are?" Tony asked.
"Yeah we are both missing our left leg." James replied.
"Oh" Tony replied.
"So Tony what happened to you?" James asked.
"I hurt my leg playing football and it got infected so they had to amputate." Tony explained.
"That's too bad." James replied.
"What happened to you?" Tony asked.
"I crashed my plane in World War Two and it was so badly broken and burned that they had to amputate that day." James explained.
"Ouch that must really hurt. Sometimes I hurt where my leg was." Tony explained.
"I do too but I am just glad to be alive. I had a wife and two little girls waiting for me at home. Not leaving them is worth the pain." James explained.
"Did you get to play with your kids?" Tony asked.
"Not for a long time and not the same as I could before but prosthesis were much more primitive back then." James explained.
"Oh" Tony replied.
"So Tony what do you want to do when you grow-up?" James asked.
"I wanted to be an NCIS agent like Gibbs." Tony replied.
"Why wanted too?" James asked.
"Because you can't do that with one leg." Tony replied.
"Tell that to my friend Billy. He is a cop in Tacoma Park where I live and he lost his leg to cancer when he wasn't much older than you." James replied.
"Really?" Tony asked.
"Yes" James replied.
"So I can work for NCIS when I grow up?" Tony asked.
"You can do anything." James assured.
"Really?" Tony asked.
"Well maybe not be a right leg model but anything else you can do." James replied.
"Thanks Mr. Harrison." Tony replied.
"Call me, James." James replied.
A/N: Finally things are getting better for Tony. New chapter will be up soon and I think Tony will be home by then. I know I will lose readers over this but Ziva is going to be in this story as a kid. There will be no romantic Tiva but plenty of kiddie Tiva friendship. As of right now I am planning on having Ziva be blind as the result of the suicide bombing that killed her mom and Talia. So she will have something in common with Tony. Please review and thanks for reading.