A/N: I'm so sorry this is so late, guys. I haven't had much time for anything lately. I'm especially sorry you guys had to wait this long for the resolution of the cliffhanter. Anyway, see the first chapter for the disclaimer. As always, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review.

Chapter Eight

June 29, 1994

Tony pulled down the yellow crime scene tape before pulling the evidence seal off of the door. Not that he was entirely sure he was ready for what was behind the door, but he needed to do it anyway. He slowly clicked his key over in the lock before opening the door.

It wasn't what he was expecting.

There were clearly signs of a disturbance, but nothing bloody. Not much to indicate that either Heather or Keri had been injured. If anything, Tony would bet that Heather struggled more than Keri did. Three and a half year olds tend to have minds of their own.

He sighed heavily, sinking into his couch. The one that Keri had picked out. He shook his head before grabbing up one of Heather's toys and throwing it into the TV, the only thing in the room that he could say was solely his idea. The toy busted through the glass screen, and Tony set about causing another disturbance over the already torn room.

Pillows. Toys. Flowers. Remotes. Pictures. Nothing was quite spared as Tony vented his frustrations, fears, and feelings of uselessness. Because there was nothing he could do.

They were gone. And he wasn't sure they'd ever come back.

Tony's frustrations gave way to tears of loneliness, of longing, of love. He curled up with one of Keri's pillows and Heather's stuffed animals, holding them both close to his chest as he openly wept.

He wept for the fear and the uncertainty. He wept for the loss of his life and love. But mostly, he wept because he wasn't sure what else to do. Police work hadn't turned up anything, their families were as clueless as he was, and no one in the neighborhood knew anything. He didn't know what else to do and where else to go.

So he sat, amidst the shattered pieces of his former life, as he held on to the only things of theirs he had left and wept.

Still January 26, 2010

"Oh, my God."

Tony frowned as he stood behind her. "Abby, will you stop repeating that and tell me what's going on?" he asked.

"Y-you… I need to see Mc…Gibbs," she stuttered, hitting a few keys to lockdown the computer.

"Abby?"

The tech said nothing as she ran out of the lab, leaving a confused Tony in her wake.

"Why didn't you come to me?"

Gibbs said nothing as Abby glared slightly at him.

"About your search," she said.

Gibbs glanced over at Ziva, who nodded and excused herself for the ladies' room, before looking over at McGee.

"I needed her computer," McGee explained. "Mine was running down everyone's financials, as well as checking into Hannah's in-hall staff and residents within the building."

Gibbs silently nodded, turning his attention back to Abby as Tony made his way into the bullpen.

"Which, again, makes me ask why you didn't just come to me?" Abby asked.

"Come to you about what?" Tony interjected.

No one said anything.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

"You have a son," Abby blurted out.

"Abby," Gibbs said softly, before looking at Tony and noticing that the face of the senior field agent didn't change.

"What?" McGee asked.

"Oh, come on Timmy, like you didn't know?" Abby said. "What did you think he was asking you to search for?"

"I wasn't sure. He just asked me to search for children dropped off at hospitals for adoption in June and July of 1994 in Illinois and Massachusetts." As he spoke, McGee worked on accessing the search result.

"Let me guess, end of June or early July?" Tony asked, looking at Gibbs.

Gibbs said nothing, looking instead at Abby.

"Yeah, well, your search turned up a little boy, born June 27, 1994," Abby said. "He was dropped off at a hospital in Springfield, Illinois, with a note that said, 'I can't take care of him.' He was adopted on July 7, 1994."

"His name was Ryan," McGee read. "Adopted by Keith and Marie Burton."

"What happened to him?"

Ziva made her way back into the bullpen to find only McGee and Abby hunched behind his computer. "Where are Gibbs and Tony?" she asked.

"Stairs," Abby said.

"Why are they in the stairs and not the elevator?"

"Because that's where Tony went, and I think they're discussing Gibbs searching for Tony's son without Tony's knowledge."

"Abby," McGee said.

"What?" she asked. "She knew about the wife and daughter. I'm sure she already knew about the son."

"I actually did not," Ziva said quietly.

McGee sighed. "Apparently, Dr. Kerilyn DiNozzo was pregnant at the time she disappeared with her daughter."

"With a son?"

"Yeah. We think we might have a lead on…"

The beep from McGee's computer cut his statement short, and after hitting a few keys, he sighed heavily. He glanced back at Abby, who was covering her mouth and trying to hold in her tears.

"So… who wants to tell him?"

"You couldn't just tell me you were going to run with it?" Tony asked. "I mean, I have to find out from McGee and Abby?"

Gibbs simply watched as Tony ranted and paced back and forth on one of the landings.

"You couldn't just talk to me about it?"

Gibbs' ringing phone preempted the team leader from responding, as he instead answered the phone with a quick, "Yeah, Gibbs."

Tony paused his pacing to watch Gibbs' reaction.

"Thanks, McGee," Gibbs said after a moment, hanging up his phone.

"Bad news, huh?" Tony said softly.

"Ryan died a year ago. Murdered, along with his parents. Case is still open."

Tony snorted softly. "See. This is why you should've asked me first."

Gibbs looked at him. "You knew?"

Tony nodded. "Police in Akron, Ohio contacted me fifteen months ago. When they found out Ryan was adopted, they ran his DNA through the system, hoping to get lucky, and they found the familial match to Heather and Keri in the Missing Person's Database. Asked if I knew anything about it. I didn't, though. I wasn't as sure that he was still alive as I was about Heather. Just told them to refer to the case file, because I didn't have much more than they did. Well, I do now, but I didn't then."

"Have you told them what you know now?"

Tony shook his head. "I'm not too sure what to make of it just yet. Where or how my father fits in to this." Tony sank down to the floor, with his back against the wall and his knees against his chest.

"DiNozzo, why didn't you come to me?" Gibbs asked, looking at his senior agent.

Tony frowned slightly. "It was while I was afloat. You had enough going on with Lee, Keating, and Langer. The thing with Ryan… I mean, he wasn't Navy. None of them were. And, telling you about him meant telling you about Keri and Heather, and I couldn't do that. Not like that. But by the time I got home, there wasn't much to say. Akron kept me informed, but there wasn't much there."

Gibbs sat down on the stairs across from Tony.

"All their leads went dead," Tony explained. "And no one could figure out why they were attacked. Just seemed random."

Gibbs simply watched his senior agent.

"So, now what?"

"Boss," McGee started as Gibbs walked in. "Case file is on its way from Akron. From what they've told us so far, it's…" McGee's voice trailed off as he noticed Tony behind Gibbs.

"Brutal," the senior agent finished.

"Yeah. You knew?"

"Over a year. They have anything new?"

"Depends on what you know."

"Fifteen months ago, Akron Police responded to the residence after a colleague of Keith Burton's reported that he hadn't shown up for work in a couple of days. When they got there, they saw that the front door was locked, both cars were in the driveway, but the living room window was open. Their best guess was that was point of entry and exit. Rain between time of death and time of discovery washed away any footprints that might have been left in the soil. Also, the curtains on the windows were soaked from the rain.

"Keith's blood was located in the living room, up the stairs, down the hall, and in Ryan's bedroom. His initial blood pool was in the living room, indicating he was knocked unconscious, then came to and went to check on his family, and ultimately was beaten to death in Ryan's room. Marie was killed while sleeping from a knife wound to the throat. Ryan was beaten and stabbed to death. Because most of the brutality was focused on Ryan, investigators started there. But those leads went cold, so they started looking at the parents. And then those leads went cold. They contacted me after Ryan was found to be adopted and that his blood had a familial match in Missing Persons to Keri and Heather. Kept me in the loop, but there wasn't too much to say after they contacted me."

"Except that you call every few weeks," McGee added gently.

Tony nodded. "I just want to make sure someone's still looking for who killed my son," he replied quietly.

McGee nodded.

"They send the pictures?" Tony asked.

"On their way, but are you sure you want to see them?" McGee countered.

"McGee, I watched my daughter nearly bleed to death. I've seen my wife's dead body. I think I can handle my son's."

McGee looked at Gibbs, who said nothing.

"Tony," Abby said softly.

"I'm not mad," he said. "I'm not sure I'm even sad anymore. It is what it is."

"He's your son."

Tony sighed, shaking his head. "Biologically speaking, but… I don't mean to sound bad, but I didn't know him. Never will. And I can't exactly dwell on that right now."

She nodded before reaching out and hugging Tony. He sighed, resting his head against her shoulder.

"Boss, do you really think these cases are related?" McGee asked.

Gibbs simply looked at him.