Gibbs slipped the casserole dish into the oven, once it preheated, and as soon as he closed the door, his cell rang. He picked it up and answered, "Yeah. Gibbs."

"Good evening, Jethro," Ducky sounded on the other line. "I apologize about the time, but something came up. Is everything alright for me to come by?"

"Yeah, Duck. What happened?"

"It would be better to discuss it with you when I get there. I won't be long; in fact, I'm on my way as we speak."

"Well, Ziva's here; brought dinner, if you're hungry. You're free to join us."

"And how is Anthony since you last called?"

"Doin' better. Would've called you, if he wasn't."

"I'm glad he has you, Jethro. Alright; I shall see you shortly."

"Bye, Ducky," he ended the call as Jackson entered from the living room.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, that was Ducky. He'll be here in a bit to have dinner with us and check in on Tony."

"I was expecting him a bit earlier..."

"Somethin' came up at work, Dad. Probably a body, seeing as Abby hasn't called yet, either."

"Was she supposed to come by, too?"

"Not necessarily. But if she wasn't workin', she'd be over here as well."

11 00 11 00 11

"Seriously, Abs, I think I can handle getting into my apartment without help," Tim insisted as she swiped his keys and unlocked the door.

"That's not the point, McGee. You should try and give your hands as much rest as they can get, so they'll heal faster." She guided him inside and took his bag, setting it on the floor out of the way. "And that means no computer games for you tonight, mister. And no writing!"

"Abby, come on!" he protested.

"No arguments! If you wanted to blow off steam playing video games, then you shouldn't have wasted all that time blowing off steam busting up your hands! You can't have it both ways. Now...are you hungry? I can fix you something to eat..."

"I don't have anything to fix," he sighed, resignedly, and plopped down in his computer chair.

"I can order pizza? Got any beer?" she headed to the fridge to check.

"Probably. Tony brought some a while back..." the sentence drifted off as he recalled just how long ago it was that Tony had been over.

Abby glanced over at him and noticed the far away look of despair. He wasn't looking at her, but she sent a sympathetic look his way, anyway, and pulled two of the bottles from the six-pack. "I'll order us a pizza, and we'll watch a movie," she offered.

He looked up at her with a furrowed brow as she opened one of the bottles and handed it to him, "You're staying?"

"Tony brought this beer so you could kick back and watch a movie with him, right? So, we'll do it in honor of him. It's totally exactly what he would do in this situation."

"To make sure I don't play video games," he mockingly scoffed.

"Yep. Because you're just as stubborn as he is, in some cases," she said as she picked up the phone and dialed the pizza place. "So, go pick out a movie and I'll be right in..."

11 00 11 00 11

Ducky let himself into Gibbs' house and hung up his coat and hat before entering the living room. "Something smells delicious," he said.

"Hey, Ducky," Jackson got up from his chair. "I believe Ziva just took dinner outta the oven. Want us to fix you a plate?"

"That would be quite appreciated," he smiled. "Thank you." He turned his attention to Tony, who was still partially involved in the movie playing on the screen.

"Hey, Ducky," he greeted. "Ever see Pale Rider?"

"A long time ago, lad," he chuckled. "But I wouldn't mind watching it again."

"It's been on for a while, but if you've seen it, you already know what's goin' on." He looked up at the doctor. "You get a case in at work?" he asked, just as Gibbs walked in from the kitchen.

"No, actually," Ducky answered and turned to look at Gibbs. "I stayed a bit later to x-ray young Timothy's hands."

"What?!" Tony sat up straight from his previously slouched position on the couch.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked with noted concern.

"Now calm down; nothing's broken. He's bruised inside and out and cut up his knuckles a bit; and they've begun to swell. But he'll be just fine. Abigail took him back to his apartment and is taking care of him."

"What happened to his hands, Ducky?" Tony repeated the question and stood.

"From what I understand," Ducky began, "Cullen agreed to confess completely to all counts, under the condition that he could be interviewed by one of your team. Timothy volunteered."

"Did that sonofabitch hurt McGee?" Tony's anger flared.

"No, no, Anthony, please...allow me to finish," he replied, and noted that Tony seemed to calm a bit. "Vance allowed me to review the tape before I left, and nearing the end of the interview, Cullen taunted Timothy; baited him. But as Vance informed me, he accepted the volunteer because he knew Tim wouldn't give in to the taunting. Or...well...he knew he wouldn't take it too far."

"What's that mean, Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Tim held back for much of what Cullen had to say. But then Cullen became very crude and sickeningly smug. I'm surprised that Timothy restrained himself as much as he did. After a particularly gruesome reiteration, Timothy did lose his patience. He lunged at Cullen, knocking him to the floor and holding him down by the throat. Cullen wanted Tim to kill him. But he knew this, and so he backed off."

"Backed off?" Gibbs asked. "Didn't anyone come in to stop him?"

"I asked why that never happened," Ducky explained. "Vance told me that he knew McGee wouldn't take it that far; that he'd figure out exactly what was going on."

"And if he hadn't?" Tony asked.

"And if he hadn't, then they weren't opposed to Cullen taking a few hits," he said with raised, amused brows.

"What the hell did Cullen say to him to make him react that way?" Tony asked. "And how did he mess up his hands so bad if he never hit him?"

"To blow off steam, he headed down to the gym and proceeded to manifest Cullen as one of the heavy punching bags. He didn't put on gloves, I'm afraid."

"Ouch," Tony grimaced. "But he's okay, now? Abby's taking care of him..." his gaze drifted off in thought. Ducky was grateful that the question before this one could be avoided for now.

"Quite right. She's agreed to stay and make sure he doesn't do further damage."

"Dinner is served," Ziva called from the kitchen. The three of them turned and headed into the kitchen, each taking a seat at the table where Ziva and Jackson had served lasagna on each plate.

"This looks and smells great, Zi," Tony smiled as he pulled his seat in.

"I thought you might like something Italian," she gave him a small smile as she set a large basket of bread in the center of the table and sat down as well.

"Is that garlic bread?" he asked,excitedly.

"Mmhm," she replied as she grabbed a slice for herself.

"Looks like I picked the right night to show up for dinner," Ducky chuckled as he reached for the bread.

"This is really good," Gibbs commented with a mouthful of the lasagna. "Thanks."

"It was my pleasure," she replied.

*~.~*

Dinner went by quickly, and Tony was helping Ziva to clean up the kitchen as Gibbs and Ducky went out on the deck to talk. Gibbs hadn't missed the fact that Ducky had dodged Tony's question earlier. But he was a patient man. Now that he had the opportunity, however, he wanted the older man to talk.

"What set McGee off, Duck?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I thought you might ask. And I'm afraid I have no choice but to tell you, for Tony's sake, anyway. The incident we discussed after the initial examination when Tony was first found... The thing we feared was a possibility..."

"He was raped," Gibbs said for him. "That what you were gonna say?"

"He told you? So, he remembers... Why didn't you tell me about this, Jethro?"

"Because it's his business, Ducky," he furrowed his brows. "He was treated and tested as if he had been, when he was in the hospital. There's nothin' else for you to do, and no reason for you to go reopening old wounds."

"It wasn't my intention to try and do so. But there are questions that need to be asked, for the sake of his health and well-being, Jethro. Like whether or not that monster bothered to use protection... And really, Anthony should go back to be retested. There's no telling-"

"You test that bastard Cullen, then, first," Gibbs interjected. "If he's got anything we need to worry about, then we'll go from there. I'm not subjecting Tony to anything else unless it's absolutely necessary."

"It's okay, Gibbs," Tony's voice sounded behind them, and both men looked over, not having noticed that the agent had come out. "Not that I wanna talk about what happened, or anything. But I know when it's important not to tip-toe around a victim," he flinched and swallowed against what he'd just called himself. "But you know that, too, Boss."

"You don't have to do this right now, Tony, is all I meant," he retorted. "Been a long day."

"Been a long day for all of us," he said, then looked at Ducky. "He used a condom," he told him. "And he tied it up and took it with him when he was done. Then he..." Tony closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly swallowing down bile that rose in the back of his throat. "Gave me an enema...just to make sure there was nothing for anyone to find; 'just in case', he said." Tony looked down at the deck for a long moment as they were all silent. "Who knows?" he asked, then looked up at them. "Besides you two and McGee...who knows?"

"The only people in observation at the time were Agent Fornell and the director," Ducky supplied.

Tony looked down again, shaking his head with a bit of embarrassment. "I...I don't want anyone else to know. I don't want it on the report; don't want him charged for it."

"What?" Gibbs questioned, incredulously.

"He's not going anywhere," Tony met his eyes again. "He killed five people that we know about; one of them being an innocent child. He's going to a maximum security prison for the rest of his life. There's no reason for this to be on the damn record. I don't want it to come up again, Gibbs... please."

After a few moments of thought, Gibbs replied, "It's your decision. And I'll back you up on whatever you decide to do."

Tony seemed to relax marginally. "Thanks, Boss." He looked at Ducky, "So, McGee's really okay?"

"I sent him home with some pain killers. I do believe he'll be alright," Ducky told him. "You'd be quite proud of him; the way he handled Cullen."

"Yeah?" Tony raised a brow.

"Seems he knew a thing or two about pushing a person's buttons, himself. He left Cullen screaming, begging to be killed."

Slowly, a proud smile crept onto Tony's face. "That's my probie."

A grin painted Gibbs' face and he shook his head.

11 00 11 00 11

Tbc...