Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Oh my goodness! I didn't expect so much of a response. When I saw all the fav's, follow's, and reviews, I was shocked. Thank you so much!
In answer to a few questions that I got...
1. Yes there will be hurt for both boys :)
2. I was going to base Tim off of my Nephew who was speaking almost full sentences at 18 months. So I thought 'If Tim could, Tony had to have taught him, right?' But I will have them with more of a kid-pronunciation when they talk. Thanks for pointing that out!
3. And you can bet that 'Ben' will get his... when Gibbs get's a hold of him!
***This chapter will talk more about children being hurt, so if you don't want to read about that... don't read this***
And without further ado... onto chapter two!
Even with the body of the dead Marine wrapped up and out of the house, safely stowed in the back of Ducky's truck, the house looked like a blood bath. Gibbs had continued down the stairs and straight outside. He didn't want the boys to see what had taken place. Even with it being the middle of February, the temperatures in D.C. were in the low forties. Still, Ducky clucked his tongue at Gibbs when he came out.
"Goodness Jethro, it's way too cold for little boy's with short sleeve's to be out in this cold." Ducky scolded as he wrapped another blanket around both boys.
"Didn't really have another option Duck." Gibbs replied with a smirk. He saw tenderness creep into Ducky's eye's as the M.E. looked at Tony.
"Well hello my little lad. I'm Ducky, and who might you be?" Ducky asked in a soft voice, slowly leading Gibbs towards the van. Franks had got it started and the heat running so they would have a warm place to sit, while waiting for the Ambulance.
"I'm Tony." Tony replied with awe in his voice, not knowing what to make of the older man. One minute he's scolding Gibbs and the next he's as kind as could be.
"It's a pleasure to meet you young Tony. And who might your handsome little friend be?" Ducky inquired as he took Timmy's pulse.
"Tis is my brother, Timmy." As Tony replied, the Ambulance came to a stop behind the van.
"Well my dear little lad's your ride is here. These gentleman will take you to the Hospital, and get Timmy well." Ducky said as he stood up to make room for the paramedics. Up until that point, while Tony hadn't really relaxed, he hadn't put up a fuss either. When the paramedics tried to take Timmy from his grip, he lost it.
"No! No, don' touch 'im!" He yelled and swatted at one of the men.
Gibbs immediately wrapped both arms around him and soothingly spoke into his ear. "Tony, Tony, Buddy, it's okay, shh. Calm down, their not going to hurt Timmy. Calm down now, shh."
Tony slowly relaxed and stopped struggling. "No take Timmy." He said in a no nonsense voice.
"Tony they just want to help, alright?" Gibbs continued to whisper in his ear as Franks came over.
"Probie, go to the Hospital with them. Stay with them. Keep me informed. And keep them safe." Franks shared a look with Gibbs that spoke volumes. They didn't know who had hurt these boys, but whoever it was, they were still out there. Gibbs nodded as he turned back to Tony,
"How about that? I'll go with you to the Hospital. Keep you both safe."
Tony turned to look up at Gibbs, reading the truth in his eye's. Reluctantly Tony agreed, "Okay, but they don' hurt Timmy." He said as he glared at the paramedics.
"I promise Buddy. They won't hurt Timmy."
Everyone was finally situated and on the way to the Hospital. Tony had another tantrum when the paramedic had tried to put an I.V. in Timmy's arm. Gibbs calmed him down and explained what it was, along with the oxygen mask. Gibbs had expected the fight of all fights from Tony when they reached the Hospital, but Tony just stood there holding Timmy's blanket to his chest, watching the doctors wheel Timmy down the hall. Gibbs knelt down next to him,
"They're going to take real good care of him Buddy. He'll be up and around in no time." Gibbs said as he softly rubbed Tony's back.
"Well hello there. And who is this handsome young man?" A nurse had watched the whole exchange and now came to kneel down on Tony's other side.
Tony didn't even look at her when he replied, "I'm Tony." He kept his eye's on the room his brother was taken too.
"It's nice to meet you Tony. My name is Nurse Jenna." She waited until Tony looked at her, then gently smiled. "So how old are you Tony?"
"I'm almost thee." Tony said still distracted.
"Wow, almost three. You're almost grown up." Nurse Jenna then asked, "So who's the big guy, with you?"
"Tis is Gibbs."
"Well how about if you, Gibbs, and I go into this room here. That way a Doctor can look you over, okay?" Nurse Jenna asked.
Tony looked to Gibbs and watched him nod his head. "Yeah, okay."
Once in the room Gibbs lifted Tony up onto the bed and sat next to him as a doctor walked in. "Hello everyone."
"Hello Doctor Shawn. How are you today?" Gibbs asked with a smile.
"Gibbs! How wonderful to see you." Doctor Shawn replied. "So who's your little friend?"
"This is Tony." Gibbs said to the Doctor before turning to Tony. "Hey Buddy, you have one of the nicest Doctors you could possibly want. Doctor Shawn."
"Well thank you Gibbs. I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said about me." The two men gave each other a smirk.
"Alright so, what do we got?" Doctor Shawn asked as he pulled a stool over and sat in front of Tony.
"Need you to do a full check up Shawn. Tony here, and his little brother, weren't in the best situation." Looking at Gibbs, Shawn could see the dangerous look in his eye. 'Someone's going to be in a lot of trouble when Gibbs gets to them' Shawn thought.
"Okay then, little man, let's take a look at you, alright?"
Tony was very reluctant to take off his shirt and let the Doctor look at him, so Gibbs took his off first. Shawn listened to Gibbs' lungs and heart, then let Tony do the same. Realizing it wasn't going to hurt, Tony let Shawn do the same to him.
As Tony peeled his shirt over his head the three adults froze. "Tony, who put those bruises on you?" Gibbs asked in a barely controlled voice.
"Ben." Tony stated with all honesty. There were old and new bruises on his stomach, chest, and back. He also had what looked to be fading finger prints on his upper arms.
"Buddy," Gibbs had to take a deep breath and swallowed hard before asking, "Buddy, does Timmy have marks like this too?" Gibbs gently ghosted his finger over a fading bruise on one of Tony's ribs.
"Yeah. Ben a-ways hurts Timmy. More 'en me." Tony said softly as he looked down at his shirt in his hands.
Gibbs, Shawn, and Nurse Jenna were in shock. Tony was covered in black and blue marks, all in different stages of healing. Not only that, but you could see he was way too skinny. He was very malnourished.
"Tony, how much do you eat each day?" Shawn asked, fearing what the answer might be.
"We get 'unch. When Ben 'emembers." Tony rolled his eyes as he said this. The three adults were once again left speechless. Shawn finally shook himself and decided to put it behind him for the moment.
"Alright big guy, lets listen to you." With that said Shawn proceeded to Tony's listen to Tony's heart, lungs, and take his vitals. Tony wasn't to thrilled when Nurse Jenna wanted to take a sample of blood, but Gibbs once again volunteered to go first. After seeing it done and having it explained to him, he agreed. Though he thoroughly did not enjoy the experience.
Last on the list was x-rays. Gibbs was surprised this didn't scare him, but was quickly informed by a fascinated Tony, "I had toes done before."
While Tony was off with Nurse Jenna getting his, as Tony called them, 'bone pic's' done, Gibbs and Shawn took the opportunity to see what was happening with Timmy.
"Duck! What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked as they ran into him in the hall.
"I followed you in. I wanted to make sure that little boy got the best of care. Doctor Michaels is with him now." Ducky replied with a closed off expression.
"Meaning he's in surgery." Shawn said before Gibbs could ask.
"Yes, he is." Ducky sighed. "He has two broken ribs, one has slightly punctured his lung, which we could have easily guessed by his breathing. They do not know yet if there is any other damage. The surgery will tell though." Ducky stopped to take a deep breath.
"How many bruises were on him Duck?" Gibbs asked, almost not wanting to know.
"Ah, I can assume then that Tony has them too? Timmy is one big mass of bruises, in all different shades of healing." Ducky had a dark tone in his voice that Gibbs wasn't use to hearing.
"Yeah, Tony too." The three men stood in silence for a moment until Gibbs asked, "How long will Timmy be in surgery?"
"That is hard to tell my friend. A few hours at least. And that is if he makes it."
"What?" Gibbs didn't want to believe what he had just heard.
"Jethro, that little boy has been through more than I can imagine. His body must be extremely weak from malnutrition, add in the abuse he has endured. I'm sorry Jethro, I can not in all honesty give you the answer you want. It will definitely be a 'wait and see' outcome."
"Well crap." Gibbs sighed as he ran his hands through his hair.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter two! We'll delve more into Tony's and Tim's background in the next chapter :)