A/N: You guys really do isnpire the muse to work faster!

Without even thinking about it, Tony bit the hand of the man that was holding him up. He followed it with a swift kick to the man's shins. It didn't really hurt him, just surprised him enough that he loosened his grasp on Tony for just a fraction of a second. That was just long enough for Tony to wriggle free and make a wobbly dash for the door.

He didn't know where he was going, he didn't' have enough energy to get far, the only thing keeping him upright and on his feet was the adrenaline that was coursing through him at the moment. The only thing in his mind was that if he could delay enough, he could stop Magnum from giving in to the bad guys. He refused to be used against his friend in their plans.

As he ran through the door, he ran smack into a larger body that scooped him up bodily.

"Let me go," he struck out with a fist determined to fight with everything he had.

He connected with flesh if the muffled "Ooomph!" was any indication.

"Tony, stop." The hushed voice had authority in it and kindness.

He blinked up at the man holding him tightly. He was different from all the other men he'd seen so far. Dressed in a dark jacket, he had a cap pulled down low over his eyes with NIS stenciled on it. The man held a finger to his lips before handing Tony off to someone behind him. The hallway was crowded with people as they carefully surrounded the door Tony had just escaped through.

Tony didn't struggle or resist this time as he realized they were being rescued. The good guys had arrived finally. He watched with interest as they silently assessed the situation. Tony could hear from inside the room the shouts of the men. One of them rushed through the door, probably to retrieve him. He was thrown against the wall by one of the agents waiting there for him.

He was handcuffed and hustled away all without anyone making a sound that would alert the man inside the room to his own imminent peril. The agents communicated without speaking a word, with hand signals. One of them gave a sign and all the men, except the one holding Tony, flooded into the room where Magnum was being kept.

Tony heard, "Naval Investigative Service, everyone on the ground. Now."

Tony wiggled a little trying to get a better vantage to see what was going on inside the room. The man he'd been handed to made the mistake of putting him down and Tony darted back into the cabin he'd just bolted from.

"Hey, come back here, you can't go in there," the man made a grab for Tony, but the boy was too fast.

He arrived in time to be greeted with the sight of Mr. Pearson being put into handcuffs, protesting loudly at the indignity being heaped upon him. The other goon was on the floor. An agent had a knee in his back and was clipping cuffs on him none too gently as he read him his rights. Magnum was still sitting on the cot where he'd been when Tony rushed out the room. He had a fresh cut on his lip, but otherwise he was okay.

Tony took it all in in a daze. Everything had happened so fast he could hardly believe it. His head swam from the rush of relief that ran through him and he swayed a little. Instantly the first man he had encountered was at his side.

"We need a medic here," he called. He helped Tony sit down next to Magnum on the cot.

"Hey, Tony," Magnum said softly.

"Hi, Mr. Magnum," Tony said. "The good guys made it." He was no little amazed at that. They had survived. Tony shivered as the events of the day began to catch up with him.

Magnum smiled. He put an arm around Tony and pulled him close.

"They did," he agreed. "Tony, this is Special Agent Morrow. He's in charge of the case against Greg Pearson."

The man knelt down so he could talk to them.

"When TC saw the two of you taken away, he called us in immediately. It just took us a while to get the paperwork sorted out so we could search the Pearson house. By the time we got there, the two of you had already escaped. You made our job harder by the way," he frowned disapprovingly at Magnum.

Who didn't back down in the least, "I'm so sorry for that. They had knives, it was about to get ugly," Magnum informed him stiffly.

Tony knew that whatever they were talking about, it was important, but he was having a hard time focusing. There was a buzzing in his ears like a thousand angry bees. And he was so cold. He burrowed in closer to Magnum trying to get warm.

The medic chose that moment to arrive, or Tony thought he must be the medic, he was wearing a white coat. He had a blanket that he wrapped around Tony.

"He's going into shock," Tony heard as the bees started to buzz louder. He burrowed into the blanket, letting its warmth surround him. He was so tired and he just wanted to rest. He shut his eyes and let himself be carried away because they were finally safe.

He found himself once again in the water, fighting with the hand that was holding him down under the water. He had to breath, he needed to breath but he knew he couldn't because the water would invade his lungs. He was going to drown and there would be no one to know he was even dead. Tony fought with all his might, but he was losing the battle, he had to breath soon.

"Tony!" Magnum's voice called him.

How could he hear Magnum? He was under the water. You couldn't hear people under the water. And, yet… there it was again.

"Tony, wake up."

Tony shot up in the hospital bed, gasping for breath. He clutched onto Magnum's arm, feeling him solid and safe, sitting on the bed next to him. Magnum didn't say anything, just let him take his time and get his equilibrium back.

At last his breathing slowed and he slowly took in his surroundings. They were in a hospital. The nurses smiled as they walked by. Whether they were smiling at the sight of the little boy all bruised and bandaged or the man sitting next to him all bruised and bandaged, Tony didn't know, but he smiled back automatically.

"What happened?" he finally managed. He had confusing memories of being on the water and then on a boat, being afraid they were going to die, then being afraid that Magnum was going to do what the bad guys wanted. After that everything was a blur.

"You just lay back," Magnum instructed. He pushed him back into the pillows with a gentle hand. "The doctor will want to take a look at you before he lets you leave." He held up a hand to stop Tony's protest, "I'll tell you what happened, you just have to lay quietly. You've had quite a day."

Tony wanted to protest that he was fine, but it really did feel nice just laying back into the softness of the pillows. Magnum drew the cover up to his chin before he spoke.

"I probably should start at the beginning." He paused a moment, his look distant and faraway. Tony wondered what he was seeing. He took a deep breath then he began, "Mr. Pearson's son was a Marine and he did something really bad that hurt a lot of people."

"What did he do?" Tony asked softly.

"He told some secrets to the other side, secrets about what troops were going to be where, when we were going to be moving, things like that. Some soldiers died and so did some of the villagers who were helping us. It was bad..." Magnum paused and Tony could see that it was painful for him to remember. He put his unbandaged hand on Magnum, offering what small comfort he could with his presence. Magnum patted it before continuing.

"I was there, you see. And I found out what he did, not in time to save the soldiers or the villagers, but I was the person who arrested him and brought him in. So, I was the most important person in the Navy's case to try him. Mr. Pearson thought if he could get me to change my story that it would save his son."

"Would it?" It didn't seem to Tony that could be right. It shouldn't be right.

Magnum shrugged, he winced a little at his own bruises. "I doubt it, there was other people who were going to testify against him, another marine, Jethro Gibbs who was in his unit and survived the attack, but my testimony was the most damning. It might have made a difference."

"But now you're going to make sure he goes to jail?"

Magnum nodded, "I'm going to make sure he goes to jail. And Mr. Pearson and the men who work for him, too, for hurting you today."

Tony nodded thoughtfully, "That's good. They're bad guys. They should go to jail."

"Yes, they should," Magnum agreed.

"I want to do that someday," Tony announced suddenly.

"What?"

"Put bad buys in jail, save little boys, things like that."

"I think you'd be good at it," Magnum told him.

"Really?"

"You did really good today, Tony. You didn't follow instructions, but you did follow your instincts which is sometimes better. You kept your head. I was proud of you."

Tony felt like his whole life was suddenly ahead of him. He had a friend who was proud of him and he had something he wanted to do.

"Thanks, Mr. Magnum," he said shyly.

"Your welcome. And thank you," Magnum brushed away he tendrils of hair that slipped down onto his forehead.

"What did I do?"

"I'm pretty sure you saved my life today. Now," he didn't give Tony a chance to deny it, he continued speaking, looking around at the medical personnel who were moving around them, "where is that doctor? We have a conference call with your father coming up in..." he glanced down at his watch, "in exactly an hour."

Tony felt his new found happiness come crashing down around him. He was going to have to go home? He imagined that he was going to go live with Magnum and spend the rest of his life in Hawaii playing baseball with Chris and helping solve cases. It wasn't fair, he wanted to wail to the world.

Magnum must have understood how he felt, "Sh...," he soothed, "as much as I'd like nothing more to see you in a place where the people will love you and care about you the way you deserve, family services is not where you want to end up."

Tony was working hard to fight the tears back, he wouldn't cry, he wouldn't!

"But… but what about you? I could live with you," there he'd said it out loud.

"Tony, as much as I might really want to take care of you, no court would give you to me. I'm a single man without a steady source of income. Your parents look good on paper and it would be really hard to prove otherwise. Don't worry," he patted Tony's hand, "I have a plan." There was such a twinkle of mischief in his eye and his smile was so infectious that Tony couldn't help smiling back.

"Now, where is that doctor? We need to get out of here."

TBC...

Before you all write to tell me that it's NCIS, I did some research and the agency was the Naval Investigative Service in 1980 which is roughly when I see this story taking place, so I went with it. I hope it's not too precious working Tom Morrow and Gibbs in the story I just couldn't help myself.