It didn't take long for Tim and Gibbs to get to the hospital, followed closely by Ducky, Abby and Kate. The group took the elevator to the second floor that housed the ward they were looking for. Gibbs had been holding a hand at the small of his lover's back the whole walk from the car and had tried his best to offer him silent support, but when they excited the elevator to see a grim Fornell waiting for them, the hand moved from it's resting place to deliver a squeeze to the younger man's shoulder and Jethro smiled slightly when Tim lifted his hand to deliver a reassuring squeeze of his own to the hand now on his shoulder.

The group walked over to the FBI agent and Gibbs turned to his companions

"Ducky, find out what you can from Tony's doctor." The older ME nodded and went in search of said doctor. "Abby and Kate, go sit in the waiting room" Abby looked like she would protest, but seeing the desperate look on McGee's face and the stern one on Gibbs' she nodded wordlessly and took Kate's hand to lead her to 'the room of endless worrying' as she had dubbed it in her mind.

The three men watched the women go before turning back to the matter at hand

"What's going on Tobias?" Gibbs asked his FBI counter part when he found he couldn't read the look on his face.

"The doctor hasn't told me much about Tony's condition other than he's stable at the moment, though they had to put him on a ventilator to help his lungs." He ignored Tim's gasp and continued, not daring to look at the younger man as the pain in his eyes would just make this all so much harder. He did make a mental note of the fact that Gibbs out his arm around the younger man and pulled him closer.

"He did tell me that there were bruises and cuts on the boy's face, most likely a result of being slapped on the face and the trouble with his lungs is only partly a result of him being left outside for the night for there were also signs of strangulation." Gibbs closed his eyes at the statement and he pulled his now sobbing partner to him.

"We need to see him Tobias" The FBI agent closed his own eyes as he saw anger, but also uncharacteristic desperation and sadness in the other man's eyes and he swallowed hard and prayed for forgiveness for the fact that he was about to tell more bad news to the man he liked to consider a friend.

Tobias opened his mouth to crush the two men's hope of seeing the little boy, but before he could get a word out he was interrupted by the CPS lady appearing behind him

"I'm afraid that isn't possible at this moment, I presume that you're Mister Timothy McGee" The woman said as she stepped up to the trio and eyed the younger man who was still in Gibbs' arms.

"It's Special Agent. And just who the hell are you? Why can't I see my son?" The anger in Tim's voice surprised everyone as just a few seconds before the man had been sobbing in Gibbs' arms but now he was staring angrily at the woman who was telling him he couldn't go and see his son who was struggling in some hospital room.

"I'm Joanne Shiers, I'm with the Child Protective Services. I think maybe we should move this chat to somewhere more private shall we?"

"Child Protective Services? Why are you here? I haven't done anything wrong and I want to see my son." Tim pulled away from Gibbs who still had a hand around his shoulders and he made to move around the woman, but she held up a hand to stop him.

"I would advise against that. I'm here because there has been a complaint made against you and your, err.. partner. The one who filed the complaint has expressed his concern for young Anthony's welfare according to them, the abuse and neglection the boy is suffering in your hands made it possible for someone to take the poor boy."

Gibbs let out a growl as the woman talked and he could see the shock on his lover's face. "Just wait for a damn minute-" He started but was cut off by Joanne

"I believe you're Special Agent Gibbs" The title was said with an air of sarcasm directed at the distraught younger man. "Now normally in these kinds of situations we would conduct an investigation of the allegations, but right now it seems that they are correct. The marks on the poor boy seem to indicate someone trying to forcefully silence the child and that matches with the complaint made against you two. Coupled with your less than ideal family situation I feel that I have no choice but to remove the child from your custody."

Both men were shocked into silence which brought a smirk to the woman's face.

"Fortunately for the boy, the real father has decided to step up and file a law suit in which he asks for the custody of the child."

"His real father.. But I'm Anthony's real father! Antonia told me she was certain, she told me..." McGee was shaking his head and trying to convince himself that none of this was happening, but it didn't work. He looked at his lover, hoping the older man would make it all go away and make it right, but Gibbs seemed to be just as lost as he felt.

"Seems that Mister Rossi isn't as convinced of the fact, so a paternity test will be conducted to determine the real father. Until that time Anthony will remain in this hospital and once the matter of both the paternity and the abuse allegations has been settled, Antony will go home with his new father."

Fornell frowned when he heard the certainty in the womans voice that the matter would be solved in favor of Rossi, but he held his tongue and looked worriedly at his friend who seemed to be overwhelmed both by anger and by desperation. The woman seemed to sense this as well as she decided to take her leave.

"The hospital staff has been informed by this, and they have been instructed to not let either of you in to see Tony." With that she left with her heels clicking on the linoleum floor and a smirk on her face.

The three men remained standing in silence for a second before the arrival of Ducky brought them back form their thoughts and with a growl Gibbs hit his fist against the wall closest to him, he repeated the process and watched in pained satisfaction as blood appeared on the wall.

"Oh Dear, what happened Jethro?"

"Rossi happened! That son of a bitch is trying to take Tony away from us and damn him but he's succeeding!" Tim didn't say a word as his lover started the explanation but the last few words had him in the older man's face.

"Don't you dare say that! Tony isn't going anywhere." And as fast as the anger came, it drained from him and was replaced with the desperation he had been feeling for a while now. "I can't lose him, I'm his father" Tim's voice seemed to die down and he buried his face into his lover's shoulder.

Fornell related the details to Ducky, not noticing that the two women who were supposed to be in the waiting room had come to see what the commotion had been about and were listening in as well.

The exclamations of disbelief from the two people however brought it his attention that Abby and Kate had been listening as well. Te young Goth looked at his friend crying and whispering swearwords in his lover's arms and she took in the bloodied knuckles of the man holding Tim. She didn't want to interrupt them so she went to Ducky and threw herself into the ME's arms.

"Please Ducky, tell me it isn't true. Tell me they aren't taking Tony away."

"Shh, my dear girl. I have no doubt that they will try, but do you really believe that Jethro would let them win without a fight?" He smiled reassuringly at the young woman even though there were doubts of Gibbs' ability to make this right.

"Ducky, did you find out anything?" Gibbs asked quietly over his lover's head.

"I'm sorry Jethro, but the CPS worker has forbidden the doctor of discussing the details with anyone but herself"

Gibbs just nodded his head and motioned for everyone to head out, it went unspoken that they would all gather at NCIS to find out as much as they could in order to fight the CPS and Marco Rossi.

Fornell followed after the other people, leaving Tim and Gibbs standing alone in the corridor after promising to do whatever he can to help. Jethro acknowledged the promise with a nod of his head. He watched the man leave and was just about to lead Tim to the elevator when one of the nurses locked eyes with the lead agent and motioned for the two men to follow her.

Gibbs recognized the nurse but couldn't place her, but none the less he guided Tim after the nurse, ignoring the puzzled look on his face.

The two followed the short nurse with a long hair wrapped to a bun who motioned for them to keep quiet. They walked down the corridor until they reached the door to a linen closet. The nurse looked around before unlocking the door and ushering the men inside before following them and closing the door.

The nurse turned to the two men after she had clicked on the light and now that Gibbs looked at her more closely he recognized her for being the nurse who had mostly taken care of Anthony after he had been born.

"I don't know if you remember me, I'm nurse Maria, I took care of Antony when he was at ICU after his birth"

Now that the two men looked more closely at her, they recognized her as the same nurse who had been present nearly every time Tim had held Anthony in his arms and she had been the nurse In charge of the boy's care, alongside the doctor's of course.

"I remember you, but why did you drag us in here?" Tim asked, confused by the nurse's behavior.

"I heard what happened with the kidnapping and the CPS thing and I don't believe for a second that you would abuse that little boy." She tried to smile reassuringly at the two men, but couldn't really pull it off upon seeing the pain in their eyes.

"I've been assigned to be Tony's nurse during his stay here and I have to tell you that I'll do whatever I can to make sure you'll be able to visit him, I'm just sorry it'll be short, but that's all I can manage." She saw the hopeful look on McGee's face and the suspicion on Gibbs'

"Couldn't that get you fired?"

Maria took a deep breath and looked to meet Gibbs' eyes

"Yes. But I started this work because I want to help those little ones and right now Tony needs his father and his love and I'm gonna do my best to make sure he gets the love and care he needs." She looked at Tim "And I heard that Mr Rossi claims to be the real father, but we did the test right after Tony was born. I'm not sure you remember because you were so focused on your son. But there is no doubt that you're his father."

The nurse was surprised when Tim moved forward and pulled her into his arms for a tight hug "Thank you so much. We know how much you're risking for us and I don't know how to thank you" She pulled back from the man and looked at the older agent who was now sporting a small relieved smile.

"You're welcome. I'm afraid however that I can't take you to see your son until later tonight. The night shift starts at nine there are one nurse with me on this ward during the shift and there will also be a doctor who makes his rounds just in the beginning of the shift. If you'll wait until ten o'clock I will be able to sneak you in and let you see him for a few hours. I'm sorry but unless the visiting restriction is lifted, that's all I can give you"

There was real regret in her eyes and both men saw it.

"We just need to see him and we're grateful that you're willing to give us a chance to at least be there with him for a little while. " Gibbs reached to shake the nurse's hand and the two men turned to exit the closet, but Maria stopped them with a hand on their arms and opened the door herself. She poked her head out and looked up and down the corridor before motioning the men out and following them.

She stopped them once more in the corridor. "I know they didn't tell you much, but Tony will be fine. His breathing was what worried us the most, but it seems that it's getting better. I'll tell you more tonight. Oh, and I almost forgot!" She dug a notebook from her pocket and scribbled her number on it before handing it to Tim.

"Text me when you're outside the ward and I'll let you in as the doors are locked during the night."

With that she walked down the hall and towards the nurses station.

The two men looked at each other and they both had the same expression of astonishment on their faces . They headed for the elevator so they could get to the head quarters, but their earlier desperation was now pushed a bit further back in their minds as a new thought had taken residence in the front of it. Both men were thinking the same thing: 'Maybe all isn't lost yet.'

TBC...

A/N:Hiya folks! So first of all, I'm sorry for the delay, apparently Saturday wasn't as good day as I thought. I'm again struggling a lot with this fic, I know where I want it to go, but my muse isn't so-operating like I wish she was... like it was totally her idea to make the CPS lady such a bitch... It's always interesting when you know exactly what you're gonna write and then the result is nothing like you thought..

And I really don't know if this make sense to anyone else but me, so I'd appreciate it if you would tell me if this fic is getting way too confusing and not sense makingly bad. (yeah yeah, I'm again trying to make bad English into an art form... ;D )

and finally, the next chapter will be up at the end of this week at the latest. I'm now giving myself more time to write so then I may be able to post early instead of late ;)