Kate was in the kitchen getting dinner ready while her son sat at the kitchen table doing schoolwork. After leaving NCIS, they'd stopped by the school to pick up Tim's assignments for the rest of the week.

Kate soon heard a knock at the door, followed by her son's fearful yelp. "It's fine, Tim. It's probably just the agent outside," she said before going to open the door. She checked through the peephole and saw that it was Tony. She immediately opened it. "Hey."

"Hi," Tony said before walking inside.

"Is there news on John?" Kate asked as she shut the door.

"No, I just wanted to check on you guys. Hey, Tim," Tony greeted once spotting the boy at the dining room table.

"Hi," Tim said timidly.

"You wanna stay for dinner? It's the least I can do after you spent the whole night up to appease my son," Kate said.

"Sure. You can cook, right? I don't want food poisoning," Tony joked.

Kate smacked him lightly on the arm before heading back to the kitchen.

Tony approached Tim "Hey, man. How about we have that rematch from last night after you finish that."

"I can't," Tim said depressed. It was his punishment for skipping school. He wasn't allowed to play his video games for a week.

Tony cringed. "Groundings suck, don't they?"

Tim smiled slightly and nodded.

"Well, we can do it another day. We're having that rematch. Last night was an off night. I'll show you my real game next time," Tony said.

Tim chuckled softly. He liked his mom's friend. He was kind of nervous and unsure about him, but he was really nice. He'd saved him when he got lost, bought him dinner, played with him, and even stayed up all night to make him feel safe. It was a little easier to trust him than with any other new person.

"So what are you working on here?" Tony asked.

"Math," Tim said.

"Ugh! I always hated math. Do you like it?" Tony asked.

Tim nodded. "I like school. Alex says that means I'm weird.

Kate listened to the exchange as she continued to make dinner. Tony seemed to have a remarkable way with her son. Tim still had a guardedness in his voice, but he was more comfortable around Tony than he had been with anyone else after just meeting them.

"Eh, he doesn't know what he's talking about. I met him. He's the weirdo," Tony said.

"Tony!" Kate tried to chastise. Her heart wasn't in it though since he was trying to make her son feel better.

"Alex is cool. He has a lot of friends," Tim said.

"Yeah, well, sometimes more friends doesn't mean cooler. It's not cool to be mean to your friends and he was mean to you," Tony said.

Tim shrugged. "Are you gonna stay here again tonight?"

"Honey, Tony can't stay here every right. I told you, we have agents outside to protect us," Kate told her son.

"Yeah, they're going to stay so that I can go help find your dad," Tony said.

"Mom said you're gonna put him in jail," Tim said in an impassive tone.

Tony cringed slightly. Tim didn't give anything away in how he felt about that. It was possible that it upset him. Tim was clearly afraid of his father and didn't want him around, but that didn't mean he wanted him in jail either. Kids loved their parents, even when they didn't deserve it. "Yeah, I am. It's against the law to hurt someone the way your dad hurt Paul. He also tried to kidnap you and that's a crime too."

Tim nodded. "I'm glad. I don't want him to hurt anyone else. C...Can you ask him something for me when you find him?"

"Sure," Tony said uneasy. He could tell he wouldn't like Tim's question for his father.

"Ask him why he hates me," Tim requested.

"Uh, Tim, dinner's almost ready. Put your homework away and go wash up," Kate said.

Tim grabbed his books and his homework and headed for his bedroom.

"Kate, would it bother you a lot if I killed your ex-husband?" Tony asked once the nine-year-old was out of the room. He was right, he hated the kid's question. No child should ever have to ask such a question.

"Yes, very much so. I already have dibs on killing that SOB," Kate said as she started taking the fried chicken she'd made and put it on a large p, welate.

"Okay, well, how about I just beat him until he's almost dead and you finish him off," Tony said only half jokingly.

"Deal," Kate said in the same tone.

"He's a piece of scum. What kind of man treats his kid so badly that he actually believes his father hates him?" Tony asked in disgust as he got up and joined her at the stove.

"Do you have any leads?" Kate asked.

"Not yet. We talked to a couple of the people you mentioned, but so far nothing," Tony said.

"Who'd you speak to?" Kate asked.

"James Williams and Thomas Carter," Tony said.

"I told Gibbs to start with Steven Chambers. He's a little bastard and he has no problem with men beating up on women and children. He actually came to me and told me that my son deserved any punishment his father gave him. I could've killed him," Kate said seething.

"Yeah, it doesn't surprise me given his history. He was discharged a year ago for putting his hands on a female sailor. He was later arrested for domestic abuse. He's in jail right now. It wasn't him. I'm headed to Norfolk to speak McGee's former CO, Ethan Ayers," Tony said.

"I didn't even really consider Ethan. I don't even think I put him down on the list," Kate said.

"No, you didn't. I got his name from Carter. He said they were friends outside of the Navy," Tony said.

"Yeah, they were. It could be him, and if it is, it's because he doesn't believe that the abuse really happened," Kate said.

"He thinks Tim lied?" Tony asked through gritted teeth.

"No, he thinks I misunderstood what I saw," Kate said irritably. She could never get past that idiot. As if she could in any way misunderstand seeing her husband hit her child across the face. Ethan Ayers was a Captain in the Navy. He shouldn't be this stupid.

"Well, if he knows something, we'll find out," Tony promised. "Now, can I help with something here?"

"Yeah, grab some plates from the cabinet over the sink," Kate said.

Tony immediately did as she asked.