Chapter Text
It had been a month and a half since Tony had come to say with Shannon and Jethro Gibbs. The bruises were finally faded completely out and Tony's arm was free of the plaster prison it'd been in for six weeks. Each day seemed better than the last to the boy as he watched TV and played in the workshop and learned all kinds of new things.
Shannon was making sure he kept up in school with all of his subjects for when he was ready to go back, and Gibbs was always fixing something but Tony was never shooed away. The boy would sit right there and watch as Gibbs pulled out one section of pipe from the wall and replaced it with a white one, adding blue goop around the edges so it'd stay.
Shannon had said that the house was really old and they had some bad pipeing that all needed to be fixed, so Gibbs was doing it in little chunks at a time. After watching so many times, Gibbs having explained every step as he did it, Tony was able to give it a try.
Gibbs had watched over him the first time, and then Tony was allowed to help out a lot more. Tony kind of figured it was no mistake that he started fractions that week, either.
They didn't do school stuff all that long, either. Only a few hours spread out through the day. He'd found out that it was because Shannon thought he only had an attention span for about forty minutes before he'd start to space out, so they only ever did thirty minute chunks of work. Sometimes she'd even give Tony quick little quizzes and would make sure to correct all of his missed answers so he could get them next time.
It was all great. Everything was amazing.
Except at night.
Night was when Tony would toss in bed for hours and finally get to sleep, only to wake up a few hours after due to a night mare. He knew he sometimes screamed because Gibbs would come in and calm him down those nights. But, most of the time, he let the adults sleep and just sit in bed until it was okay for him to get up. He knew they were on to something, but they never asked and Tony still wasn't talking much.
He'd squeak out a few words some days, others, it just took too much effort and he couldn't. It was wearing on his patience, too. He got a lot more frustrated a lot more easily, most days ending in tears he didn't even understand.
Shannon cut their sessions in half, thinking that may be the issue, but that only made Tony more agitated. He liked the lessons, and he liked learning stuff, he didn't want to just sit around the house all day while Gibbs got to be a hero and Shannon was so cool. He wanted to be useful!
Shannon and Gibbs were growing more and more concerned with Tony as dark eyes grew under his eyes and he just looked Ike a shadow. He was easy to cheer up and seemed so much more like the child he should be. But something was wrong.
Gibbs threw out the idea that maybe things were just becoming a bit too much for the boy and they'd let him relax a little more. But that only seemed to frustrate him more. Gibbs would have called the meltdown tantrums, but he honestly wasn't sure.
The boy would just seem to fed up with everything and sit in the floor for a while with tears running down his face until Gibbs or Shannon managed to calm him down. Tony was talking even less now, if that was possible. He seemed to cling to any physical contact they gave him as if it would be the last.
Worried that it may have something to do with Tony thinking someone would come and try to take him away again, both adults sat down and made it clear that he was staying for a long time. Nothing could change that. And it seemed to help a little bit, but the outburst remained the same.
"I don't know what to do any more." Shannon said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm not sure of what I'm doing or if it's helping him."
Gibbs ran his hand down her back and sat in quiet thought. "Maybe we could bring someone in?"
Shannon sighed. "There's not many people Tony trusts and I don't want to shove him into a room with some weird person who will start asking all these questions he can't answer."
Gibbs nodded. "We could find someone. Read reviews, talk to people. See what they think and make sure to take it all with a grain of salt."
"Maybe," Shannon let her head fall onto her husband's shoulder. "I just want the happy little boy I know is there somewhere."
Gibbs ran his hand through his wife's long hair as he said, "Me too."
The answer to their problem came the next day when Gibbs had walked into Autopsy and Ducky stood over a body as Palmer read off cards.
"An enlighten state of feeling out of touch with one's body." Palmer said, flipping the card over as Ducky answered.
"Disassociation." Ducky answered, turning his back to the body. "I met a young lady in London once who was able to walk through flames because of this disorder. She'd do what she called 'stepping out' and walk through the flames without feeling a single thing."
Palmer's face twisted in a wince. "How--"
"I hope you can work and play, Duck." Gibbs cut in as he walked around the ME and his assistant to look at the body.
"Ah, Jethro. We all know I am very inept at multitasking." Ducky said, tuning back to the body with his hands still raised in the air in a surgical hold. His face was covered with a plastic mask that hung from a strap around his brow, none of which covered the smile he had for his friend.
"What can I do your you today?"
"Just coming to see if you found anything on the body, Duck." Gibbs smiled back, taking a sip from the cup in his hand.
"Actually, yes. I have." Ducky twisted his waist just enough to reach for a bean shaped tray and held it out. "A nine millimeter straight through the chest will not kill a person outright. But, if that person was knocked unconscious and shot from above, he would have a high chance of bleeding out."
Gibbs nodded, then looked to Palmer. "What are you doing?"
"Uh, I-Im just helping doctor Mallard s-study, sir." Palmer replied, pushing his thin framed glasses up his nose. His face looked eerie in the bright lighting and taking away all of the color.
"Study?" Gibbs asked, looking over to the doctor.
"For my psychological profiling degree." Ducky said with a fond smile. "Figured it mate be of future use."
Gibbs thought about his question for a moment before he put it into action. "Can you work with kids?"
Ducky seemed taken aback by the question. "Well, I-uh, I'm not sure. I suppose it's all the same basic idea. But I am not quite sure how the young mind develops."
"So, possibly?" Gibbs asked, the desperation showing through just a small amount.
"I suppose I could if need be." Ducky said with great thought.
"Duck, I need your help."
And that was how Ducky ended up at the Gibbs residence, sitting on the floor and talking to Tony.
Ducky wasn't quite sure of everything that was going on, but Gibbs had tried to explain everything the best he could. Tony had started opening up and was now shutting down again. They were worried. And Ducky could hardly say no to a worried father when said father was also one of his best friends.
Tony seemed rather placid as he maneuvered the table of supplies Shannon had laid out for him to draw. She had said that he replied to it well before, so Ducky was testing her and jumping out on a limb.
But, the woman appeared to be right. Tony smiled at Ducky a few times and the doctor even got a, "yeah," out of the boy. The first picture Tony had done was of Gibbs and Shannon and the house. The colors were mostly bright with an eye on detail and labels for everything, even the boat that sat in the corner.
Ducky could see what Gibbs had meant when the man said the Tony was somehow better, and yet worse. He was talking, though never in full sentences, and he didn't seem to shy away from Ducky when the man leaned over. But he seemed withdrawn into himself, shoulders hunched and arms rarely leaving his side of chest as if protecting them. And then there was the way his face would fall when he thought no one could see. He had a look that made him fifty years older, sending dark shadows across his face and showing a deep sorrow. It was as if the boy had faced the front lines of the most brutal war in existence.
And then it hit Ducky.
"Tony, can you draw me something from your dreams, please?" Ducky asked, forcing a smile across his face and handing the boy a new piece of paper. "It could be anything for anyone of them. It might be fun, hum?"
Tony nodded and picked up a crayon. It didn't take long for Ducky to make out the form of some person in black wax. All around him were faces with no names and no definitive features, all just standing with no idea of movement. Ducky pursed his lips.
"You know, you are quite the artist." Ducky smiled with as much truth in it as he could. "Would you mind if I showed this to Gibbs and Shannon?"
Tony nodded his head no, reaching for another paper to draw on again. So Ducky stood up, knees craving the whole way, and walked to the kitchen when Shannon and Gibbs sat at a breakfast table.
They looked up at the same time and offered for him to take a seat, with Ducky greatfuly took.
"I believe we have found what's been troubling young mister Anthony." Ducky said, setting the drawing on the table.
Shannon put her hand over her mouth, looking from her husband to Ducky. "What is this?"
"I request he draw one of his dreams." Ducky answered with the sigh that could only mean the doctor was just as concerned as the other two adults.
"Nightmares?" Gibbs asked, already knowing the answer.
Ducky nodded solemnly.
"I fear this figure to be the perpetrator of the vile acts against the boy." Ducky said, pointing to the figure in the middle. They all knew what he meant. That man was no longer anything of a resemblance to a father. He was barely even a man.
"So what do we do?" Shannon finally spoke up, eyes sewn with worry.
"We help him. We make sure we're there when we are needed. We try to get him to sleep through the night." Ducky sighed here, rubbing at his temples. "That's all we can do."
"Will this ever..." Shannon's voice trailed off, but everyone knew where it was going.
"Completely? Probably not." Ducky saw the woman's face sink, and quickly went on. "But it gets better. With time and help. I'm sure you all are doing everything you need to. We just have to wait."
Both caretakers nodded, letting out small sighs. They sat in silence for a moment before Ducky saw a light switch on in Gibbs's head.
"I may have an idea." Gibbs said, standing up.