Tony was bored. He was sitting at his desk working cold cases, as they had no active case currently. Of course, Kate managed to get out of his fate by volunteering to lend a hand with a case Balboa's team was working. She was out there working a small undercover assignment while he was stuck looking at cases from like twenty and thirty years ago.
Obviously, things had gone back to normal in the few weeks since Kate's ex had been caught. Realizing that he couldn't win in court, John McGee had taken a plea that would thankfully have him in prison until Tim was way into his adult years. The man would never bother him again. Tony couldn't think of a better outcome.
"Why don't I see your eyes on that file instead of off in space, DiNozzo," Gibbs asked gruffly as he walked to his desk, pulling the agent back to the present.
Tony immediately straightened up in his chair and turned back to the file. "Getting back to it, Boss."
Gibbs settled back at his desk and started getting back to his own work.
Soon, they both heard a phone ring and turned to see that it was coming from Kate's desk. Since Kate was undercover, even if the mission was a small one, she couldn't have her regular cell on her. She had to leave it behind and use a burner.
Tony, who aside from glancing up for a second had ignored the phone call, soon heard his own phone go off about five minutes later. He immediately took it out and answered it. "DiNozzo."
"Hi. I am speaking with Anthony DiNozzo, correct?"
"Yes, who is this?" Tony asked.
"I'm calling from Morris Elementary in regards to Timothy McGee."
"Is he alright?" Tony asked immediately with alarm in his voice.
"Yes, he's fine. He was involved in a fight with another boy and we need someone to come down. We tried calling his mother, but we can't reach her. You're listed as an emergency contact," the woman said.
That surprised Tony. Kate had made him an emergency contact. She trusted him enough to take care of her son if she couldn't? That was a big deal to him because he knew Kate didn't trust just anyone with her kid. Her bastard of an ex had taken away any trust she had in anyone for that boy. "Okay, I'll be right down."
Gibbs watched as Tony hung up and then he raised an eyebrow at him, demanding an explanation.
Tony stood up from his desk. "Boss, there's a small problem with Kate's son. They couldn't get in touch with her, so they called me. He's okay, but someone has to go down there."
"Go. Take him home. There's nothing pressing here," Gibbs said.
"Okay, thanks, Boss," Tony said before grabbing his stuff and rushing to the elevator.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Tony was highly irritated as he unlocked the door to Kate's apartment. He'd gotten the spare key from Kate's neighbor to let himself and Tim.
"Tony, are you mad at me?" Tim asked meekly once they were inside.
"You? No, you didn't do anything wrong," Tony said. Oh, he was plenty angry. He was mad at the school for suspending Tim for something that wasn't even really his fault, and that other kid's parents for defending their kid's bullying ways. Tim had gotten into a fight with another boy in his class at recess. The kid had punched him, giving him a fat lip and Tim had struck back by pushing the boy. Apparently the stupid school considered a little push to be on par with punching a kid in the face, so both boys got the same punishment.
"I pushed Bryan," Tim said as though it were very obvious that he had done something wrong.
"After he punched you," Tony pointed out.
"The principal said it doesn't matter. That I should've asked for help instead of hitting back," Tim said
Tony grumbled to himself a little. He could say a few things about that principal, in fact, he did say a few things to the man's face. Present company shouldn't hear those things though, so he decided not to repeat them now.
"I didn't wanna push him, but he came after me again and I thought he would hit me again. I just wanted to keep him away from me. I'm sorry," Tim said.
"Hey, it's okay. That kid was the one to blame, not you," Tony told him. Yes, in theory, walking away might be a better approach, but when someone's coming after you, it's not exactly the easiest thing to do. "How's your lip doing?"
Tim brought his hand up to his face. "It feels really big."
"Let's get you some ice," Tony said before leading the way into the kitchen. He opened the freezer and started looking for an ice pack. He was sure Kate had one because she had a nine-year-old boy and they tended to get hurt at times. Sure enough, he found one on the door. "Here we go. Hold this to your lip for a while."
"Mom's gonna be mad," Tim said with a cringe before bringing the the ice pack to his lip.
"No, I think she'll understand. From the way you told it, I don't think you really had much choice," Tony said.
"So how about we hang out. We can watch TV or play some video games. You owe me a rematch if I recall," Tony said with a smile.
"Really?" Tim asked surprised. It felt very much like he was being rewarded for getting in trouble at school and that just wasn't done.
"Absolutely, but maybe we'll wait a bit for the video games. Let you ice that lip for a bit. How about for now we find a movie?" Tony asked.
"Okay," Tim said before following the man into the living room.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Kate rushed towards her apartment at around six. She'd just gotten back from helping with Balboa's case and Gibbs told her that Tony had to go pick up her son. Gibbs promised Tim was okay, but she was still worried about what had happened.
Once Kate made it inside, she heard both Tony and Tim's voices coming from the dining room. She went towards them and found them both eating pizza.
"I could eat this everyday," Tony said.
"Me too, but Mom wouldn't let me," Tim said.
Kate relaxed after finally seeing that her son was okay. She still needed to find out what happened, but for the moment, she would just be relieved he was alright.
After a few seconds, Tony noticed his partner. "Hey, Kate. How'd things go."
Tim, meanwhile, suddenly looked down at his plate, not wanting to face his mother. He just knew she was going to be mad at him for the fight.
"It went fine. Though afterwards, I find out that the one day I'm unreachable, something happens. Thank you for taking care of things for me," Kate said.
"I was working cold cases. I was happy to get away," Tony joked. Truthfully, he'd been quite worried when he got that phone call. He just didn't want to imagine something really serious happening to Tim. He was very fond of the little boy. "Anyway, come sit. I ordered plenty of Pizza. Got a whole pie of your favorite."
Kate walked over to them. She took her coat off and hung it on the chair beside her son and sat down. She immediately noticed that Tim wouldn't look at her. That told her that whatever happened, he was worried she'd be angry. "Well, it looks to me like someone got in trouble today. Look at me please, Tim."
Tim mad no move to lift his head.
"Now," Kate said in stern tone.
Tim finally picked his head up, but he still avoided his mother's eyes.
With his head finally facing her, Kate got a very good look at her son's fat and bruised lip. "What happened?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, but I didn't want him to hit me again. I'm sorry, Mom," Tim rambled.
"Hey, first, look me in the eyes please," Kate said calmly. She waited for him to do so before continuing. "Thank you. Now pleas tell me what happened. You know that even if I get mad, it will be alright. I will always be fair."
Tim nodded that he did know. "I was at recess. I wasn't even bothering anyone. Paul didn't come to school today, so I was by myself. Then Bryan came over and started teasing me. He teases everybody. I called him a jerk and he punched me."
Kate made a mental note. She would be contacting that boy's parents tomorrow. She would not allow her son to be bullied, and even more than that, she would not allow to be physically attacked. That had happened enough in his life. "Okay, well, I know you don't think I'm angry at you for being hit, so there's more to the story, right?"
"Yeah. When I got up, Bryan came towards me, so I pushed him away. I didn't mean to. I didn't think about it. I just didn't want to get hit again, so I just did it without thinking. I'm sorry!" Tim said. Towards the end, he was rambling again.
"Okay, calm down. You know it's not okay to hit people, but if that's the way it happened, you were just trying to keep yourself from being hit again. I'm not going to punish you for that," Kate assured him.
"But the principal said I was just as guilty for pushing him back," Tim said.
Kate looked over at Tony, who scowled. From the look on his face, she guessed he went a few rounds with the principal.
"They suspended him for the rest of the week, just like the other boy," Tony said.
"Great," Kate said sarcastically before turning back to her son. "Look, the school has its own rules. I don't agree with them on this matter. I don't want you going around hitting people, but you were hit first and you had no other option in that moment but to hit back or get hit again. You're not in trouble with me."
Tim smiled. "Thanks, Mom."
"If you're done eating, how about you go get started on whatever school work you were given for the next few days?" Kate suggested.
"Okay," Tim said before getting up and heading for his room.
Kate grabbed a piece of pizza and paper plate from the stack on the table. "Thanks again for your help, Tony."
"No problem. I was surprised when they said you listed me as an emergency contact," Tony said.
"Well, I figured it would be a good idea to have one of you put down, and Tim likes you. There aren't many out there that he trusts," Kate said.
"You either."
"No, but I'm trying, and if there's anyone I can trust, it's you and Gibbs," Kate said.
"Thanks," Tony said.
"So what do I owe you for the pizza?" Kate asked.
"Not a dime. It was no problem," Tony said.
"No, come on. You've done a lot today. At least let me pay you for the pizza," Kate said.
"I enjoyed every minute of it. Well, except for the idiot principal and the asshole parents, but that's hardly your fault. Really, it was no big deal. I don't want your money," Tony said firmly. He was sure he made it very clear he wouldn't take her cash.
Kate sighed. "Fine, but you're going to let me make you dinner this weekend."
"Now that I'll gladly take," Tony said with a smile. He loved spending time with Kate and Tim, so he would absolutely let her cook him dinner. "I think I'm going to head out. I'll see you in the morning."
"Night," Kate said before watching him get up and head towards the door.