Tony was sitting in an office with Naval Captain Ethan Ayers. "Agent DiNozzo, I haven't seen John in two years."

"I get the feeling you wouldn't tell me if you had, Captain," Tony said.

"i would never withhold information from the authorities, even if I do think he's being railroaded," Ayers said.

"Railroaded? He beat his little boy!"

"No, Kate misconstrued the situation. Okay, yes, John hit Tim and he shouldn't have, but he lost it for a second," he said.

"You're gonna justify hitting a child?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"No, but mistakes do happen. You don't look to be the type that has kids, so I'll just tell you that children can test your limits sometimes and sometimes you just lose it," Ayers explained.

"And you think that's all it was? A one time incident from a father at the end of his rope? Here's the problem I have with that theory. I've spent time with Tim McGee. That little boy can't be around anyone he doesn't know without shaking and stuttering like crazy. The other day, he didn't want to go to sleep because he was terrified his father would try to grab him in the middle of the night. That is not how a child acts after an isolated incident!" Tony practically growled. "Oh, and then there's the nine-year-old boy who was hospitalized because he tried to defend Tim against his father."

"Th...that can't be right," Ayers said.

"Well, it is. Your former sailor gets off on hurting kids. Tell me where the hell he is," Tony ordered.

"I don't know," he said.

"I don't believe you. Tell me what you know or I will haul your ass in, after making sure you know exactly Timothy McGee was subjected to! I am not going to let this little boy spend another day in fear!" Tony said dangerously.

"Look, I really don't know where he is. I haven't spoken to him in months."

"Months? Well, that's different than the two years you originally mentioned," Tony commented.

"He was in the area and he wanted to catch up. I didn't really have the time, and no matter how I felt about the matter, I wasn't up on being seen with a disgraced Sailor," Ayers said.

"You said he was in the area. Where?" Tony asked.

"I really don't know. Just that he was in Norfolk. That was three or four months ago though," he said.

"What about work? He's gotta be working somewhere. Did he tell you that?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, he's working at a small a diner downtown," Ayers said before writing down the name and address and handing it to him.

Tony took the piece of paper and left without another word.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony and Gibbs walked through an apartment building in Norfolk. Tony had gotten the address from McGee's work. He'd wanted to go himself, but Gibbs insisted he wait and not go in alone.

They soon approached the apartment. Gibbs immediately kicked it in. He wasn't giving this piece of crap the chance to run. "NCIS!"

A man with dirty blond hair was in front of them with a gun.

"Put the gun down!" Tony ordered. Secretly, he hoped he didn't put it down. He would love to shoot this SOB for what he'd done to Tim.

John McGee looked at him for a second before lowering his weapon. "He's my son. I had every right to him."

Tony walked forward, grabbed him by the back of the shirt and slammed him face first into a wall.

John yelled out in pain.

"Now you know a flicker of what you put that little boy through," Tony said before slapping a pair of cuffs on him. "You're under arrest for assault and attempted kidnapping," Tony said.

"He's my son," John repeated.

Tony turned him around, slammed him again and held him by the night.

Gibbs stepped forward. "Hey. Let him go. I got it from here."

Tony let go after a minute. "Get him away from me, Boss. Kate wouldn't be happy if I killed him. She already called dibs on that."

Gibbs roughly grabbed the man that tortured his agent's child and pulled him out of the apartment.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Kate opened her door to find Tony there. "Hey. You're making a habit of this. Hey, where'd Matthews go," she asked referring to the agent guarding them.

"I told him to go home," Tim said as he stepped inside. He saw Tony sitting on the couch with a book. "Hey, bud."

"Hi."

Tony sat beside him. "You having a good day?"

"I guess. I miss school," Tim said.

Tony raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Wow, I think that's the first time I've heard that from a kid. Well, don't worry. You get to go back tomorrow."

"Tony?" Kate asked confused.

"Did you find my dad?" Tim asked.

Tony nodded. "He's in jail and he'll stay there. You won't ever have to see him again," Tony assured him.

"You promise?" Tim asked. He felt kind of bad that he wanted his dad in jail, but he was scared of him. He didn't want to ever see him again.

"Yeah."

Kate sighed in relief. Her little boy was finally safe again. They could both get their lives back to normal.

"Did you ask him my question?" Tim asked.

"No, because the answer doesn't matter. Your father is a bad guy, Tim. He doesn't get to have an opinion on you. There's too much wrong with him for him to ever judge anyone else. You're a great kid, Tim. I know that and we've only known each other a few days. The fact that he can't see that means that there's even more wrong with him," Tony said.

Tim smiled and blushed a little. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Tony said.

"Sweetie, go get ready for bed. It's almost time," Kate said.

"Okay," Tim said before standing up.

"Night," Tony said.

"Goodnight, Tony," Tim said back before leaving the room.

"Where was he?" Kate asked when her son left the room.

"Norfolk. A couple of threats and Ayers gave up his workplace. It didn't even take that for his boss to give him up. He's in a holding cell at NCIS," Tony told her.

"I'll be there tomorrow. I will be seeing him," Kate said.

"Kate…"

"He tried to kidnap my son, Tony. I will see him," Kate said firmly.

Tony nodded, giving up. He would do the same thing if he were her. "Well, I better go," he said before standing up.

"Yeah, you're probably exhausted. You probably haven't gotten a lot of sleep the last few days."

"Not really, but probably more than you. I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

Kate abruptly hugged Tony. "Thank you so much, Tony."

Tony hugged her back for a minute before they both pulled away. "I was glad to help the both of you. If either of you need me for anything else, I'll be here."

"Thanks."

Tony nodded and headed out.