Okay, here we go again! This was really meant to be a one-shot, but your reviews got me thinking. Maybe we all need some more explanations? I've hinted in this how it could have happened, with the glassy stares and his need for justice and protection for the weak. It's a short one. Maybe more will come to me in a while. We do need more Gibbs in this, don't we?
You die when you're young
Anthony DiNozzo was one messed up kid.
Mr. Holly, the next-door-neighbor, was sure of it. He had heard the bellowing and screaming seeping out from within the great mansion from time to time, and he figured it would mess a kid up.
Tony could sleep anywhere, anytime, and usually did it with great concentration and focus. Every now and then, however, the nightmares would come to hunt him down. They would lure, stalk him and then lunge themselves at him, throwing his weak mind to the ground, overpowering him with fierce memories. He usually woke up in a cold sweat, feeling sick to his stomach and sometimes he threw up, but he never screamed. You mustn't scream.
His father always yelled, though. Tony had learned the hard way just to endure it. He would stand in front of his next-of-kin and nod occasionally, but he never heard a word. The harsh remarks just turned into a din in the background. His gaze went distant, his breathing shallow as he zoned out, waiting for the inevitable. It had taken him a lot of years to hone that skill, but out of pure desperation his body went on autopilot and let him pass those moments relatively unharmed. His mind could never have survived the onslaught otherwise. The waiting was the worst part.
When he was younger he used to cry. He only hit until he cried. He never left any scars and no questions were ever asked in school.
Tony had stopped crying a long time ago, since his mother usually shed enough tears for both of them. She never intervened.
Nonetheless, she knew exactly what he went through, and offered hugs and sympathies afterwards.
Then it was too late.
The scars were already there, only underneath.
Yeah, he was one messed up kid.
Was it over the top? I listened to a very sad song in the car right before I wrote this... ;)