Ziva, Abby, Ari, and Tali all sat in a stunned silence, too shocked and horrified to even process the words for several minutes. As if a switch was flicked on, Abby started sobbing, laying her head against the chair. Ziva and Tali were in tears, a stifled sob getting out every now and then, and Ari had his fist gripped against the counter angrily, a single tear escaping the corner of his eye. Even Jenny was crying silently while Gibbs pulled her into his chest, whispering words of comfort. This went on for another ten minutes before their sobs died down to occasional hiccups.

"Why...why would his father...do something so...evil!?" Ziva screamed. Something changed inside her when she heard that story. Gone was the mere sexual attraction, and born was something deeper, something more meaningful. Tears pricked her eyes, her hands tightening around her water bottle in a death-grip. This was the kind of story that only happened on TV shows or movies, even books. But this was reality, the real world, and Tony has to carry the weight of such...trauma and grief every day of his life.

Nobody could answer her question, just weep silently, shuddering to even think about something like that. Ari threw his backpack against the wall in a burning anger. For what little time Ari knew Tony, he could tell that Tony was a good man. No, that would be an understatement. More like borderline holy. Ari was always a good judge of character, but Tony had him stumped. From what Abby described of him in his earlier days, he was a frat boy at heart, the popular jock at school who stared at girls more than he ate or drank water. Now Ari could see clearly why Tony changed; He was severely traumatized, having to witness firsthand his mother being butchered, by his father no less. His cold and hardened exterior is a mask, and one that he has grown so comfortable and used to that it has almost completely changed him, completely wiping the old Tony away from his mind and body.

Almost.

Tony still possessed the capability to trust, to love, to have emotions. The problem is that they have been buried under an array of betrayals, traumatic events, and an ocean of sadness. Ari still couldn't figure out where in the world he got SEAL training from, but he did understand why; He's afraid, afraid of not being able to protect himself, to protect others. He obviously expends his anger and sadness in his training and fighting, using it as a distraction to escape the reality of his life. With this in mind, he gestured for Ziva, Abby, and Tali to follow him upstairs.

When they got into Abby's room, she exploded. In a fit of rage, she picked up her phone and chucked it at the wall, separating it but not breaking it.

"Why, why would someone do that to Tony!? He's such a good guy, no one deserves something like this!" Abby screamed as she broke down into tears again. At this point everyone in the room was running high on sadness and anger, wanting to avenge Tony but seeing no way how, and this only frustrated them further. Ari cleared his throat and gestured to Abby's phone. With a loud sniffle, Abby walked over to her phone, but not being able to put it together since her hands were shaking like mad. Ziva and Tali sat down next to Abby as they helped her put her phone back together.

"We should go over to comfort him, especially since we obviously brought up bad memories for him today at school." Ari said as he ran his hand through his hair. Ari was like the overprotective brother in the family, always making sure his sisters were safe and would tear apart anyone who would try to harm either of them. Still, somehow Tony burrowed his way into a soft spot in his heart unintentionally, seeing Tony as the brother he never had. Heh, it's only been a day and he's already seeing Tony as a brother. He sure has a way of affecting people's hearts, even when he doesn't try.

With a simultaneous nod spreading through the room, they all walked out into the hallway only to be met by Gibbs. Abby was about to explain when Gibbs cut her off, silently communicating that he knew where they were going. Stepping to the side, Gibbs let them go down the stairs and out the front door. As Gibbs made his way into the kitchen, he say that Jenny was still standing by the sink, tears streaming down her face.

Gibbs rushed to Jenny's side and pulled her into a tight hug as Jenny burrowed her face in Gibbs's chest. Tears stained the front of his shirt, but he could care less. When family is hurting, you do anything in your power and more to make it right. They stood there for a few minutes before Jenny brought her head up to meet Gibbs's gaze, soft blue eyes looking through the window's of her soul, trying to piece together what had her so worked up. Understanding what he was trying to do, Jenny quickly explained. "Do you think Tony hates us? For not being able to catch...his father?" Jenny inquired as even more tears threatened to spill, afraid of the dreaded answer she expected. Gibbs just stayed silent, knowing that the truth would hurt Jenny even more, but finding no way that Tony could not hate them. Looking her in the eye, Gibbs placed a kiss to her forehead and grazed her cheek with his thumb, wiping the tears away.

Chris opened the door to be greeted by a strange goth and the three Israeli's Tony was talking about earlier that morning. They each introduced themselves as they held out their hands, Chris giving each a firm shake before gesturing them inside.

"Hi, how can I help you guys?" Chris asked them as he poured himself a glass of milk.

"Hi, we were wondering if you knew where Tony is. We kind of wanted to talk to him." Ziva replied as she was discreetly sizing up the man. He was 6'2" and had massive muscles, like that of a body builder. He seemed to be of Italian descent, but Ziva only guessed given that Tony was Italian. He had faint scars along the side of his cheek and across his forearm. He was dressed in a casual white t-shirt and black sweatpants.

Chris gave them an inquisitive look before putting the milk back in the fridge. "You guys are the three Israeli's that moved in last night, right?" Chris asked as he fully examined them. Their red eyes and dry tear tracks suggested that they were indeed crying before they got here, the reasons beyond him.

Tali just shot him a confused look before responding with, "How did you know?" Chris chuckled softly before responding, "Eli David's kids right? Ziva, Ari and Tali?" They all nodded slowly, slightly creeped out that he knew that. "Anyway, Tony was telling me about his run this morning with you, Ziva." Chris said as he gestured to Ziva who blushed ever so slightly. "Told me your name was Ziva, and I actually ran a couple of operations with Eli back in the day. Anyway we became close and we kept in contact, though we didn't talk about anything too personal. Read his dossier one day and it said he had three kids." Chris explained as he sipped his milk again.

"Operations?" Ari asked inquisitively, confused as to how he could possibly know his father, and even more confused that he was close with him. Hell, only a couple people in Mossad were close with him.

"Oh right, where are my manners. I'm Chris, former SEAL of Seal Team Six." Chris stated as if it were nothing. Well THAT sure answered a lot of questions as to where Tony got his SEAL training.

"Wait, your Tony's legal guardian?" Abby inquired, slightly suspicious of the man, but not commenting on it.

"Yes, have been for two years." Chris said proudly, having small flashbacks to all the laughs they had together, even when he was still hurting.

"Oh, well that's cool I guess." Abby replied, her expression remaining stoic. Suddenly the thought struck him that the reason they were crying was because they learned what happened to Tony, based on the stoic look on Abby's face, but still feeling the need to double check.

"Did Tony tell you about what happened over Summer Break?" Chris asked cautiously, not wanting to give anything away. They all nodded in reply, drawing a saddened look on Chris's face.

"He's such a good kid." Chris said as he shifted his gaze to the pictures of Tony and Chris at the beach, all the girls in the background ogling them. "He didn't deserve what happened to him. He's truly an amazing person at heart, and resilient too. Never gave up when things looked like it was over for him." Chris said quietly. They all nodded in response, not trusting themselves with words in such an emotional conversation.

"Well anyway, Tony came by and said he would be at the local gym. If you leave now you should be able to catch up with him." Chris stated, glancing at the clock. "Thank you," they all said as they walked out the front door and went back to their own house. Grabbing the car keys, Ari exited the house and unlocked the spare car. Jumping in, they all drove over to the local gym as Abby gave directions to Ari.