Gibbs was woken up the next morning by the sound of crying and moaning. He opened his eyes and saw Tim tossing and turning in bed. He jumped up and ran to his side. "Hey, it's okay, Tim. Come on, wake up."

Tim's eyes popped open and he started breathing heavily. "D…Dad?"

"I'm here, son. You're safe now, I promise," Gibbs said.

Tim looked around him. "Hospital?"

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah, you're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?"

Tim breathed deeply. Oh, he remembered. He wished he didn't, but he did. Brad had kidnapped him and tortured him for God knows how long. "Yeah, I remember. How long was I gone?"

"A little over twenty-four hours," Gibbs replied.

"Twenty-four hours, that's it?" Tim asked surprised. It felt like it had been at least a week.

"Yeah, it seems like much longer, doesn't it. For me too. But you're safe now. He'll never be able to hurt you again," Gibbs promised.

"Is he in custody?" Tim asked doubtfully.

"No. He's dead," Gibbs said quietly.

Tim took a deep breath. That was what he'd figured. He didn't see his father letting his tormentor live. No, he wasn't surprised that Brad was dead, nor did he really care. In fact, he felt a sense of relief. It might be wrong, but he was glad Brad was dead. He felt a sense of freedom from it. He wouldn't have to look over his shoulder or walk around with a bodyguard. He finally be able to move on with his life.

Tim's eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. If his father killed Brad, that could mean he could be in trouble. That wasn't something Tim could handle right now. He needed his dad. He couldn't lose him now. "Is the person who killed him going to be in trouble?"

"No, the person responsible is probably on his way back to Mexico as we speak," Gibbs said. He knew Mike very well. He'd come to do a job and he'd done it. He wasn't one to stick around and say goodbye, so he was probably long gone by now.

"Mexi… Wait, Franks?" Tim asked. He was the person he knew in Mexico, and he was the only one he could think of willing to go to such extremes.

Gibbs nodded. "Yup. DiNozzo called him. He could see that I was losing control and needed to be stopped. And he knew Franks was the only who could do it."

"You were losing control?" Tim asked surprised. He'd never seen his father lose control before. He always acted calm, even when he was ready to explode on the inside.

"Yeah. The thought of losing you took me to a very dark place. A place I haven't been in since Kelly and Shannon died. I was willing to do anything to save you from their fate. I don't regret it for a second, but if it had gone any further, you might have come home just to lose me," Gibbs said. As he said, he didn't regret doing anything necessary to get Tim back, but he was glad that Mike stepped in and helped him find a better way.

Tim felt a twinge of guilt. If he hadn't been stupid enough to fall into Brad's trap, his father would've never had to put his career and freedom on the line for him. "I'm sorry."

"For what? You haven't done anything wrong." Gibbs said.

"If I had just called Tony to confirm the message that was left for me, none of this would've ever happened," Tim said guiltily.

"Hey! You will not do that. You will not blame yourself for that son of a bitch's actions. He, and he alone, is responsible for what has happened the last couple of days. Hear me?" he asked. There was no way in hell he was going to let his blame himself for any of this.

"But-"

"Do you hear me?" Gibbs asked again.

Tim smiled. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now you get some rest. You really need it," Gibbs said.

"Okay," Tim said before closing his already heavy eyelids.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gibbs went out into the hallway where he found Tony and Ziva waiting. "How is he, Boss?"

"He's alright. Obviously it's going to take some time for him to heal from this, both physically and psychologically, but he'll be okay," Gibbs said confidently. He had no doubts that Tim was going to get through this. He had no doubts because he was going to make sure of it.

"Well, that is good," Ziva said. She'd been very worried about what this would do to Tim emotionally, but if Gibbs was sure that he would be alright then so was she.

Gibbs nodded before turning his attention to Tony. "You went behind my back and called Mike Franks."

Tony looked him dead in the eyes, unafraid and unapologetically. "Yeah, I did."

There was a short pause before Gibbs finally said, "Thank you."

Tony felt his jaw nearly hit the floor. In all the years he'd worked for him, Gibbs had never ever thanked him. He was completely unprepared for it.

Gibbs smirked at his senior agent's expression. "Well, if you'll both excuse me, I need to go get Sarah." He'd sent her home with Ducky the night before. He hadn't seen any reason for both of them to sit in the hospital and watch Tim sleep.

"He thanked me. He's never done that before," Tony whispered to Ziva.

"Don't expect to hear it again, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he continued to walk away.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The next time Tim opened his eyes, he found his mother standing above him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing," Clare said.

"So suddenly you care?" Tim asked.

"Of course I care. You're my son," Clare said.

Tim shrugged. "That never mattered to you before. Why should it start mattering now?"

"That's not true, Tim. Of course it matters. I love you," Clare said.

"No, you don't. I don't know why, but you don't. So don't insult my intelligence by pretending you do," Tim said angrily. He couldn't even believe himself and how he was talking. Aside from the conversation he'd had with his mother after she revealed who his father was, which was on pure adrenaline, he'd never spoken to his mother this way. He was way too timid and way too afraid of Brad for that.

"I do love you, Tim. How could you think otherwise?"

"How can I not? Look at where I am right now. I'm in the hospital after being beaten and shot by your husband," Tim said.

Clare looked away. As much as she wanted to, she could no longer deny that fact. Brad had snapped and hurt her son.

"You did this to me. Maybe indirectly, but you did. If you had listened just once, this never would've happened. Hell, if you'd chosen me over him when I was a boy, this never would've happened," Tim said.

"I couldn't choose, Tim," she said.

"But you did. By not choosing at all, you chose him over me. And look what happened."

"This happened because Brad snapped. It wouldn't have ever happened if you hadn't found out the truth about Jethro."

Tim glared at her. "Don't you blame him for this. Finding out that he was my father was the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm not going to let you blame that for what Brad became. He was a monster long before that."

At that moment, Gibbs walked in with Sarah. When he saw Clare, he immediately grabbed her by the arm. "I told you to stay the hell away from him. Now get out!"

"Dad, wait!" Tim called as his father was about to kick his mother out.

Gibbs stopped and turned back to his son.

"I have something I need to say to her. Please?" Tim asked. Now that he'd finally gotten the courage to stand up to his mother, he wanted to see it through.

Gibbs hesitated. He wasn't sure this was a good idea. He was worried that Clare was going to try to push Tim into forgiving her, and given Tim's trouble with standing up for himself, Gibbs was afraid it might work. On the other hand, Tim seemed to be holding his own against his mother and it might actually help him heal a bit. Finally, Gibbs let go of Clare.

"You did exactly one good thing for me my entire life. You told me who my father was. And he's the only reason my life isn't the gigantic mess it once was. True, it would've been much better if you'd told years ago, but I suppose it's better late than never, right?" Tim asked. "But the bad far outweighs any good. You're the reason I'm in this bed. You knew where Brad was and you didn't say a word! I know you knew because I know you. Even if he didn't tell you, you would've found a way to find him. That means that you allowed him to walk around long enough for him to kidnap me and nearly kill me."

"I didn't know what he was doing," Clare said lamely.

"Oh, the hell you didn't! I know for a fact that my father has warned you on multiple occasions. Hell, Sarah warned you. You just didn't care. Protecting him from prison was more important to you than saving my life. Well, look how that all worked out. He's dead and I'm in the hospital. The man you've been trying to protect shot me in the leg. But not before torturing me a little. Not before taking a leather strap to my back!" Tim yelled emotionally. The anguish he was feeling was evident in his voice. "He laughed while I screamed. Did you know that? He got off on seeing me suffer. But that's not too surprising. He always got off on seeing me suffer. You used to watch and not do a damn thing while it happened. I wonder if you would've done anything if you'd seen him beating me. I'd like to think you would, but past experience tells me you wouldn't."

"Tim, please-"

"But you know something? It doesn't matter, not anymore. I accepted a long time ago that you weren't going to be there, so the fact that you probably wouldn't have stepped up for me yesterday doesn't really make a difference. You don't make a difference to me anymore. I'm done with you," Tim said.

"No, Tim, don't say that. Don't let your father turn you against me," Clare begged.

"He hasn't, you have. Just by being the despicable person you are. I've tried to make excuses for you in the past, but no more. I'm done. I don't care what you do anymore, but do it without me," Tim said.

"Tim-"

"Get out," Tim ordered.

Clare stared for a minute before turning to her daughter. "Sarah, please-"

"I've said all I'm ever going to say to you the last time we met," Sarah interrupted. She wasn't going to listen to her mother try to make herself look like a victim again.

Clare went to leave, but Gibbs grabbed her arm and started whispering in her ear. "Don't come back here, Clare. They don't need you." He then let her go.

Once Clare was gone, Gibbs turned to his son. "I can't even tell you how proud I am of you right now." His son had finally stood up for himself. He didn't know how he'd found the strength, but he was just glad it happened.

Tim blushed. "Yeah, I even surprised myself. I just couldn't take it when she came in here. I got so angry."

"You have a right to be. She took a lot from you. It has to be hard to know that your own mother could hurt you like that," Gibbs said.

"But you have us. You know that, right Tim?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I do. That's probably the one good thing that came out of all this. I know beyond a doubt that you guys aren't going to leave me. It had taken a long time, but now knew that his father and sister were always going to be by his side. For the first time in his life, he finally felt loved.

THE END

A/N: That's it. If the ending wasn't so good, sorry, I'm not that good with endings. Anyway, thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. This story got much more attention than I thought it would when I started out, which pleases my greatly, so thanks again.