When Tony returned to the table he was the picture-perfect nephew and son. He was polite, he was smiling, joking around with Tim and his Dad. He saw Uncle Steve look his way, but ignored the raised eyebrows in his direction, instead kept on going with the mask he had put up. Tony was even pretty sure he had fooled his Dad.
"Tim, Tony cleared the table earlier so it's your turn now." As soon as Tim was out of earshot he continued: "And now you two are going to tell me what the hell is going on."
"Nothing Dad." Tony answered, daring his Uncle to speak up. "Everything is fine."
"Are you truly trying to lie to me Tony?!"
"I just snapped out of it, it probably was the too much food that made me cranky. I'm fine now Dad."
"Anthony."
"Dad." Tony said stubbornly. Seeing that he would get nowhere with his son, Gibbs turned towards his younger brother:
"Steve? Do you got something to say?"
"Leroy…"
"Steven, it doesn't work that way. You both looked exhausted for no reason and after I leave you two alone for two minutes Tony's like a different person. Not to mention the tension between you two earlier. Now if you don't want Tony here while you tell me that's fine, but one of you will tell me what's going on."
"Tony hasn't been himself the last week. It started with him ignoring me, then attitude, then ignorance again. Whenever you weren't near it was like if I didn't even exist. His teachers noticed Tony not being himself and I noticed the dark circles under his eyes and told him on Friday to snap out of it or I would tell you. He gave me attitude and eventually ended his little speech with you being the only one he needs."
"I'm not hungry anymore." Tony announced and got up from his chair. "I'm going to my room."
"You stay!" His Dad growled angrily.
"You saw us most of the time Leroy, then the few minutes you were gone, the kid was angry at me for hinting to you about something not being right, told me that if I told you anything he'd never forgive me."
"Anthony corner. Now!" His Dad growled, and Tony got up and planted his nose in the nearest corner. "You should have told me Steve, I could have kept an eye on the situation and interfered."
"I'm a grown man Leroy, I should be able to handle your son myself."
"We both know how he can get." Hearing that Tony froze. Had his Dad just said what he thought he had?! Tony felt the tears start forming and angrily blinked them away. Had his Dad really the right to tell him that?! Tony wanted to scream and cry, but eventually settled on deciding to become just like Tim, perfect. Clearly that was what they all wanted. So fine, then that was what they were going to get. Ignoring the rest of the conversation Tony stood stiff in the corner until he finally heard his Dad's stern voice:
"You can come out now Anthony." With a deep breath to clear the last feelings of hurt and anger Tony turned around, mask in place.
-Flashback ending-
"It's all a lie! They made me do it, I fought because they threatened to blame me for everything, I only tried to stop them!" Rizzo argued heatedly.
"Then how do you explain the video?" Steve asked calmly.
"They made me look like the bad guy! You have no idea what happened before they started shooting the video!"
"But what happens during it and what has happened the past few weeks is painting a pretty clear picture, but to humor your defense I'll ask Mr. Jamison to take a look at it. That way it won't be up to just me."
"That's unfair, he'll take their side!"
"And it's my decision so right now you better hope he'll be able to see something that I can't, or this will be your last day here."
"What?!"
"I'm sure your parents were informed when you started that our school has a zero-tolerance policy against bullying. If not, then this will be a pretty rude awakening." With that Steve reached for the phone causing Tony and Luke to grimace simultaneously, they knew that neither parent would be thrilled with how they went about proving the bullying. "Mr. Gibbs? It's Principal Hayes here, we have a problem that requires your presence as soon as possible."
-Flashback-
"Tim, we need to talk with Tony alone so you have the choice of staying here buddy, or one of us can take you to Ducky's or Mike's."
"Grandpa Mike." Tim chose, smiling, he always enjoyed spending time with his Grandpa.
"I'll take you." Steve said.
"I'll just grab my bag." Two minutes later the door slammed shut and it was just Tony left with his Dad who beckoned him forward with his finger.
"Sit." Tony did so and tried hard not to react but couldn't help but wince ever so slightly when his Dad sat down on the coffee table in front of him.
"Why?"
"I was angry." Tony met his Dad's eyes without being told to since he figured that the first step towards becoming the perfect son was to own up to his mistakes.
"Why?"
"He read the file. I know it's not a good reason but it's all I have. I got angry and I realize it wasn't fair."
"Are you feeling okay Tony?"
"Yes Dad, I'm fine. Why?" Tony answered politely.
"You just seemed a bit weird, but it probably is the lack of sleep…if you knew it wasn't right why then do it?"
"It seemed like a good enough reason at the time."
"And now?"
"I understand the error of my ways."
"Seems like the good language is another thing your son has been holding out on." Uncle Steve said coming in through the back door.
"I listen in class." Tony explained unfazed.
"So I've heard."
"I'm sorry I blamed you for my past mistakes. It wasn't fair and I apologize."
"Thank you. I guess that answered the why your Dad wondered about, but what I'd like to know is how you came up with the plan to ignore me."
"I got angry and couldn't see straight so somewhere along the way I got it into my mind that you didn't mean anything to me."
"That couldn't have been easy to decide."
"It wasn't easy to ignore you." Tony offered, but nothing else.
"So now that that is cleared, do I get back my uncle-title?"
"It's yours, Uncle Steve." His Uncle smiled, but Tony had a hard time returning it. The whole time he had been sporting the neutral tone he had taken on once he decided to become the perfect son and it was becoming harder and harder to not let them notice.
"Are we okay kiddo?" Uncle Steve asked, kneeling down next to him.
"Yes sir."
"Then you don't mind giving me a hug, kid?"
"Of course, not Uncle Steve." Tony got up to give him a hug but stopped inches from his Uncle. That didn't stop his Uncle though who pulled him into a strong hug. It took all Tony had not to cry when he returned the hug a bit less enthusiastic than his Uncle. Tony blinked rapidly to keep the tears from falling and once his Uncle released him he quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve before either man could see them.
"Are you okay now?" His Uncle asked, keeping a grip around his shoulders. Tony just nodded as an answer and sat back down, knowing the conversation couldn't possibly be over, but his Dad halted his actions causing Tony to look questioningly at him.
"I think it'd be best if you took a nap, you look exhausted and I could do with a few hours to think this over."
"But…"
"I'll join you in a few minutes." Uncle Steve said and started guiding him towards the stairs. Sighing Tony gave up.
"Yes sir."
"Good boy. Try to fall asleep before I come up, okay?!" Tony nodded and then quietly jogged upstairs.
"How do you want to handle this?" Gibbs asked Steve.
"I wouldn't mind having the kid with me for a while, but something is up with him Leroy, and I'm not sure I can figure it out on my own." Steve admitted.
"You haven't been around much lately, you'll figure it our after a while. You are right though, something is definitely up."
"So, what do we do?"
"Keep an eye on him, starting with you joining your hopefully fast asleep godson."
"And then?"
"We'll see from there."
-Flashback ending-
Tony stared at the clock on the wall, the grownups had been inside the office for the last 30 minutes and it started to make him nervous. Finally, the door opened and Mr. Jamison, Mr. Andrews and his Dad made their way out.
"Anthony Rizzo." Tony who had been fixated on his Dad hadn't even realised his Uncle had been following the men to the doorway. A tense silence fell over the room until Mr. Jamison started speaking.
"I'll see you both tomorrow when school is out." Nodding to the Dads he then left the group alone. Even the secretary excused herself.
"Are you two crazy?!" Mr. Andrews roared. "I saw how the kid fought, you both, not to mention Tim, could have been badly hurt!"
"We just wanted…"
"I know what you wanted Lucas, but this wasn't the way to go about it."
"Yes sir."
"Whose idea was it?"
"Mine." Luke admitted. The silence then fell, Gibbs choosing to use his gaze rather than words. When he was certain both boys were aware of his disappointment he nodded once and then quietly leaned against the wall."
"We're sorry. It was the only plan we could come up with."
"I'll help you with that judgment later." Mr. Andrews answered, all eyes turning towards the door as it opened. Rizzo made his way out before his parents, all sporting the same angry face. Meeting the other Tony's gaze, Tony didn't even flinch, just met the angry gaze steadily.
"Troublemakers, I want a word with you and your Dads."
"What's the verdict?" Mr. Andrews asked once they all had sat down.
"Three days detention with Mr. Jamison for fighting."
"Good, might get this kid here" he pointed at Luke. "To start using his brains a little more."
"I'm sure Mr. Jamison will make sure of it. Now, I want the two of you to listen carefully: the reason we did what we did was to make sure a confrontation didn't happen where we couldn't witness it."
"This was the next best thing sir, with all due respect we waited patiently, but realised he wouldn't do anything as long as you were near."
"Lucas!"
"It's okay, I do understand that, but we were trying to keep the situation under control until we could find a suitable solution that wouldn't put Tony at risk."
"Oh."
"You should have trusted us. Both of you."
"I'm sorry" They both apologized at the same time.
"I trust this won't happen again."
"No sir."
"Good, then you'll be happy to know that Mr. Rizzo was expelled, but the same result could and should have happened differently."
"Yes sir."
"I think I've said everything I needed to say, so get out of here you trouble makers! I'm sure your Dads are eager to deal with you."
A/N: So this wasn't the best chapter ever but I hope it's okay, unfortunately I had to cut it off here since it's the only logical place to do so for a while but I'll try to update a bit sooner next time. I've been holding on to this chapter a couple of weeks thinking it was too short, but as I said, there really isn't a good place to cut it for a while after this so the next chapter will be longer, I promise! Until then, let me know if it felt like a suitable way to move the story along or if you wanted more action in this chapter… I think Uncle Steve went easy on the boys since Mr. Andrews and Gibbs no doubt won't let it go with just a scolding…