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xxxxx

"Is it true?" Tony fought to keep his voice steady as he stared at Gibbs accusingly. Gibbs remained silent, causing Tony's anger to increase. "Is it true?" he demanded again, his voice louder and his green eyes flashing with fury.

"Yes, its true," Gibbs finally admitted, realizing there was no way out of this mess.

"My father did this to me?" Tony asked. "I thought you said it was some guy Bellington or whatever the hell you said his name was."

"Bellingham..."

"I DON'T CARE!" Tony was fast losing the battle to keep his emotions under control. "What the hell, Gibbs...was everything you told me just some big elaborate lie you made up?"

"No. It wasn't a lie. Everything I told you really did happen, Tony."

"I thought you said it was my father?" Tony's head was spinning as he tried to make sense out of what he was hearing.

"If you'll calm down, I'll explain it to you," Gibbs said quietly, very worried that this was going to cause Tony to suffer a setback in his recovery.

Tony took a deep breath then looked back at Gibbs. "I'm calm."

Not entirely convinced of that, Gibbs sat down on the chair by Tony's bed and prepared himself to begin. "First of all, I want you to know that I was only doing what I thought was best for you...I never wanted to hurt you, Tony. I was just trying to give you a little bit more time to remember things on your own."

"You don't have to protect me, boss."

Gibbs shook his head. "Tony...Its my instinct to try to protect you. I can't just turn it off. When you remember what's happened to us over the last week, I think you'll understand why I did what I did."

Tony nodded. Although he was pretty angry with Gibbs, he did believe that Gibbs would never deliberately set out to hurt him. "Okay."

"What I told you earlier was all true. Its the part that happened afterwards that I left out."

"What happened?"

Gibbs sighed heavily. "Your father grabbed you from the hospital after we were rescued."

"What?" Tony looked at Gibbs incredulously. "I don't understand...why would he do that?"

Gibbs shrugged. "He was pretty upset that I was your next of kin medically. I think it was a jealousy thing. He accused me of trying to take you from him, stuff like that..."

Tony considered that for a few moments as he twisted the blanket covering him with his hands, then looked back at Gibbs. "Where did he take me?" he asked, still finding it hard to believe his father would even go to such lengths.

He rented a beach house. That's how we found you, actually. The rental agent recognized him from a news report. Not sure how we would have found you if it wasn't for that."

"I guess lots of people saw this juicy little news story..." Tony stated. Though he could understand why Gibbs needed to leak the story, it didn't ease his discomfort at being the focus of it.

"I'll make sure I speak to that girl's supervisor," Gibbs said, his anger flaring once again.

"It doesn't matter, boss," Tony said. "I would have found out one way or another. Maybe it's better this way."

"Even so...she needs to learn how to respect patient rights."

"Yeah...I guess..." Tony shrugged, not really all that interested in the girl who had spilled the beans. "So, is that it? Where is my father now?"

"He's in custody at headquarters. We also have a doctor in custody...Well, he used to be a doctor. Your father hired him to take care of you."

Tony took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "So, that's it...I mean, it's not that bad what he did, is it? He hired a doctor so...so it's not that bad, right?" Tony gazed at Gibbs imploringly, and the look in his eyes almost broke Gibbs' heart.

"Tony..."

"I mean, I'm getting better now. No harm, no foul..."

"Tony...he attacked you..." Gibbs could barely get the words out, not wanting to hurt his agent any more, but Tony needed to know the truth. His father was a sick man and needed to pay for what he had done, or at the very least needed to get some kind of help.

Tony was silent, staring down at his hands which had started trembling "What did he do?" he asked in a whisper,

"The details aren't important right now..."

"You said he attacked me, boss! Now I want to know what he did. Tell me!"

"He had his hands around your neck when we got there," Gibbs said, forcing himself to meet Tony's gaze. "He was choking you…

Tony lowered his eyes, not wanting Gibbs to see how close he was to tears. "So...he tried to kill me?" he asked with a slight tremor in his voice.

Gibbs sighed. He hated this. Inwardly he cursed Tony's father for doing this to his own son and putting them in this position. "He was really angry...probably wasn't thinking. I don't think he really wanted to kill you... Senior's words were echoing in Gibbs' head but there was no way he was going to repeat them to Tony. He was pretty sure they had been aimed more at himself rather than Senior really wanting to see his son dead, though he still shuddered to think what would have happened if they had not arrived when they did. Tony could have easily ended up dead as a result of his father's rage. All it took was an instant for a person to kill someone and then regret it afterwards when it was too late.

"I think I'd like to be alone right now, boss..." Tony's head was bowed as he tried desperately to hold himself together.

Gibbs hesitated, not really wanting to leave Tony by himself, but then decided Tony deserved some time to try to sort things out. "Okay...I'll be right out in the hallway. Just holler if you need me."

"You don't have to stay here, boss. You should just go home...

"I'll be right outside, DiNozzo," Gibbs stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. He then headed out of Tony's room, hoping he would be able to come to terms with all he had just heard.

xxxxx

Tony waited until he heard the quiet click of the door closing before he crumpled. He curled up into a ball under the covers and allowed the tears to fall. He wondered if his father had ever really loved him, wondered if his parents had ever planned to have a child or if his conception had just been one colossal mistake. Considering his father had either ignored him or smacked him around, it was a good bet he hadn't ever been wanted. He couldn't help but wish he had a brother or sister, someone with shared memories who he could talk to…someone who would really understand. He supposed that was selfish though. It was bad enough that he'd had to suffer through a lifetime of his father's abuse, never mind a brother or, god forbid, a sister, being subjected to it as well. As bad as things had been sometimes though, he had never really been afraid to the point that he had ever imagined his father would actually try to kill him. Sadly, he had thought the beatings he had received as a child were just a normal part of growing up. It wasn't until he was older that he realized they were not. He had started going home with classmates over holidays and school vacations and that was when he realized what real families could be like.

One friend's family had particularly stood out for him, Chris Paulsen. They had bonded in their sophomore year of high school and Chris had invited him home for Thanksgiving that year, an invitation that Tony had eagerly accepted. He had left a message for his father, letting him know, but his father had never even bothered to return the call. The holiday had been a blast, the best one Tony had ever had. Chris' family had welcomed him with open arms and he had treasured every moment he spent with them. Chris' dad had been exceptionally warm and Tony had a great time talking about sports and school as they had watched the football games on television. Chris had a younger brother and two younger sisters, one who had developed quite a crush on Tony. Tony had spent a lot of time just watching the interaction between Chris and his family members. It had been a far cry from the silent holidays spent in his own house. That holiday had been the first of many times spent with Chris' family. It wasn't until they went their separate ways at college that the invitations stopped, but Tony, always pretty popular, never had a shortage of places to go. He tried his best to avoid going home at all costs and for the most part was very successful. As Tony thought back to those years, he couldn't help wondering what had become of Chris and his family. He'd never told Chris just how much those times had meant to him. He regretted losing touch the way he had. Maybe he would think about looking him up.

He was starting to tire again, but he was pretty sure sleep would still be elusive, at least for a little bit longer. His thoughts turned to Gibbs. The man meant the world to him and Tony trusted him implicitly, which was why he had been so pissed off to learn Gibbs had been keeping things from him. Gibbs was the father he had never had but always yearned for. Not that Tony would ever tell him that. He knew Gibbs cared about him, but it wasn't the same. Gibbs cared about all the members of his team. It was his job to protect them and keep them safe. For Tony it was so much more though. NCIS was his family...now more than ever before.

xxxxx

"Gibbs!" Abby threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

"Hi Abs," Gibbs pressed a light kiss onto her forehead and returned her embrace. He was happy to see her, especially after what had transpired with Tony. He had been out in the hallway for close to an hour now and was considering going back into the room, hoping that Tony had managed to fall back to sleep. The only sound he had heard since he left were periodic bouts of coughing.

"Hey, boss," McGee greeted.

"Tim," Gibbs nodded at the young agent.

"Can we go in to see Tony?" Abby asked eagerly as she pulled back from. "Look at all the movies we brought him. He won't even think about watching t.v."

"Probably not the best time to visit, Abs..."

Abby's face fell. "But, I thought he was doing better. Did he have a relapse?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No relapse. But, he overheard someone talking about what his dad did."

"Oh no...Poor Tony..."

"How'd he take it?" Tim asked, concern evident on his face.

"Not great," Gibbs answered. "Not only is he upset about his father, but he's feeling betrayed because I held things back from him."

I'm sure Tony knows you were only trying to protect him," Abby said. "He's just upset right now, but deep down inside he must know you just wanted to help him."

"I hope so..." Gibbs brushed his hand back through his hair, then noticed that McGee's arms were still full of all the DVDs he was awkwardly holding. "McGee, why don't you give those to me. I appreciate you bringing them. I'll call you and let you know when Tony is up for visitors."

"Are you sure?" Abby asked, still reluctant to leave without seeing him. "I might be able to cheer him up."

Gibbs considered that for a moment but then slowly shook his head. "I really think it would be better if you wait, just a little bit longer, okay Abby?"

"Okay...tomorrow for sure though," she said as she hugged Gibbs again. "We really need to see him and I think he needs us too...we're his family."

Gibbs nodded and watched as Abby and McGee headed off, Abby's words echoing in his head. She was right...they were family and he needed to make sure Tony knew that.