AN: Well, here it is, the final chapter. This was the first story I ever started in this fandom and I've been so overwhelmed by the wonderful support you all have given me and appreciate it more than I can say :)

xxxxx

Tony pulled his car into a parking space, then got out and started walking towards the office building where Jim's office was. He had gone to see Adam that morning and had gotten the green light to return to light duty. Jim was the final straw. Hopefully, after today, he would be heading back to work and would only have to see Jim once a week. He sat alone in the waiting room and hadn't been there for very long when Jim opened the door to his office and beckoned him inside. "Hi, Tony. Come on in."

Tony voiced a greeting as he entered Jim's office and settled himself in the now familiar stuffed green chair.

"So, how are you doing today?" Jim asked as he took a seat behind his mahogany desk.

"I'm doing well. Adam said I'm good to return to work on Monday," Tony stated with smile, but there was a look of trepidation in his eyes which Jim did not miss.

"Relax, Tony," Jim said soothingly.

"I am relaxed." Tony shifted in the chair, obviously worried and ill at ease.

"You're not," Jim contradicted benignly. "But you should be. I'm in complete agreement with Adam. In fact, I've already signed you back to work, as well. I have the paperwork right here." He lightly tapped some papers which were lying on his desk.

Tony smiled at Jim, both surprise and relief evident on his face. "That's good news."

"I thought you'd like it," Jim said, returning the smile. "I didn't want you to think that today

was in any form a condition on your returning to work. I don't believe in emotional blackmail."

"You want to talk about my father," Tony stated. He wasn't at all surprised. In fact, he had been mentally preparing himself for it, knowing in his heart that Jim was going to bring it up today.

"Only if you do."

"And if I don't?" Tony asked. "Those papers on your desk aren't going to disappear into thin air?"

"I'm not going to force you into anything, Tony." Jim pushed the papers towards the younger man. "Here, Take them. They're not conditional."

Tony reached for the papers and pulled them into his lap.

"You can read through them, if you'd like."

Tony shook his head with a faint smile. "That's not necessary." Even though he wasn't always in agreement with Jim, he had grown to trust him more over the past few weeks. "So...where do you want me to start?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"Entirely up to you," Jim replied easily. He knew this ground wasn't going to be covered in one session, but just the fact that Tony was at least willing to talk about his father was a major step.

"I don't really know," Tony replied, looking a little bit lost.

"Well, how would you classify your relationship?" Jim asked.

"Considering he tried to kill me, how would you classify it?" Tony scoffed, throwing the question back at Jim.

Jim said nothing, deciding just to wait Tony out. He didn't have to wait very long. "Its not like we ever had some "Father Knows Best" kind of relationship," Tony began softly. "He was always wrapped up in business and stuff...didn't have much time for me..."

"That couldn't have been easy..."

"No. No, it wasn't easy. I saw the way other families were. I mean, I knew nobody's life was perfect, but I also knew mine wasn't the norm. I knew he didn't want me around."

"How did you know that?"

"The fact that he shipped me off to boarding school gave me a clue," Tony said bitterly as his mind went back in time. "He didn't even prepare me for it. One Sunday afternoon, I came in from playing outside and my bags were packed and sitting at the front door. We left the next day. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to my friends. Who does that to a kid?"

"That must have been terrible for you."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "It was...but only in the beginning. Once I got used to it, I realized what a huge favor he had done for me. I liked boarding school...I had a lot of friends, more freedom than I had at home... I felt safe there..." The last words were said very softly and Tony uttered them without really thinking.

"Safe?" Jim prodded gently.

"Yeah, safe." Tony sighed softly. "I know its no surprise to you that my father whacked me around."

"No, its not a surprise," Jim admitted.

"So, nobody bothered me at school. I was good at sports and a bit of a jokester, which made me popular.. I might have annoyed some of the teachers, but for the most part, I did alright. It was just easier there..."

"What about when you went home?"

Tony shrugged. "I tried to stay out of his way... Then, when I was older, I avoided going home unless it was absolutely necessary."

"And now?"

"And now, what?" Tony asked, a little bit crossly.

"How often do you see him now?"

"He's in jail for trying to kill me...I'm not going to be seeing him at all."

"What about before this all happened? How often did you and your father see each other?"

"Not very often. Occasional phone calls, that was about it." Tony found himself staring at the clock on the wall, mentally willing the time to move faster.

"But its good he's in jail now, right?"

Tony was silent as he turned his attention away from the clock and started to watch the fish, swimming around in the aquarium.

"Come on, Tony...its good he's in jail now, isn't it?"

"Yeah...yeah its good," Tony answered quietly.

"Why don't I believe you?" Jim asked.

"I don't know. Why don't you?" Tony retorted testily.

"I think you feel guilty..."

"You're a mind reader now?"

"So you don't feel guilty?"

"Don't you think he belongs in jail?" Tony shot back, avoiding the question.

"That's not what I'm asking."

Tony could feel his heart beginning to race and he tightened his grip on the papers Jim had given him. He knew the other man could easily go back on what he had said. New papers could be made out, papers that declared him unfit for duty. He needed to keep it together. He thought back to the day he had confronted Senior, remembering all the horrible things the man had said to him and how it had made him feel. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that his father belonged in prison. He knew it in his head, but it was his heart that was giving him trouble. There was a part of him that still felt guilty, in spite of all the things his father had done to him. "I don't feel guilty," he whispered, not looking Jim in the eye.

"Look at me when you say that and maybe I'll believe you."

"Fine! I feel guilty," Tony snapped. "Are you happy now? You were right." He slammed the papers down on the desk. "Here you go. You can take your papers back. I knew it was what you wanted all along. You never had any intentions of letting me go back to work. It was all just a trick. Though I'll have you know that I'm more together than a lot of agents are. Not everyone is as perfect as you are, Doc. People do have problems. It doesn't make them incapable of functioning in the world. Even with my 'stressful' job as you like to call it. I can still do it and do it damn well. I wouldn't let my personal stuff interfere with my job. I'm too good an agent for that!" Tony took a shuddering breath as he ended his rant and glared back at Jim.

"Are you finished?" Jim gave Tony an amused look.

"I'm really glad you find my situation to be so funny," Tony retorted, his eyes blazing.

"I don't," Jim replied, shaking his head. "I just didn't expect that out of you. You caught me by surprise."

"That's a shocker. I didn't think anything could take you by surprise. I thought you knew everything."

"Is that what you think, Tony? That I'm just some know-it-all who's playing with you for my own amusement?" Jim asked seriously. "Because if that's really how you feel, you need to think about finding another therapist. If we don't have a certain amount of trust, this isn't going to work and we're both just wasting our time."

"I don't think that. Its just you have no idea how important it is for me to go back to work, If it wasn't for working on Gibbs' boat these past few weeks, I would have gone out of my friggen mind..."

"You don't think I know that?"

Tony shrugged.

"You're jumping to conclusions here. Did I say I wasn't going to let you go back to work?"

Tony thought back over the conversation and realized that Jim hadn't actually said those words.

"No, but..."

Jim held up his hand. "My turn to talk now. I understand that you've been having a hard time with all that's happened and with the whole therapy thing. Honestly, I believe you've been working hard and haven't complained too much, which surprised me a little, based on our first meeting. But, you seem to have it in your head that I'm working against you and that couldn't be further from the truth. Adam and I have discussed your case often and were in complete agreement about the decisions that were made. I'm trying to do what's best for you, not punish you. As for your earlier tirade, I had no intention of going back on my decision to let you return to work. Having feelings of guilt is to be expected and its perfectly normal. It certainly isn't anything that was going to make me change my mind."

Tony sighed heavily. He had gotten himself all worked up over nothing. "So now what?" he asked uncertainly, not feeling at all good about what had transpired.

"That's up to you. If you have a problem with me or think I'm somehow going to sabotage you, like I said before, this just isn't going to work. You need to decide what you want to do."

"I...I'd like to keep working with you," Tony said after a few moments of silence. "I'm sorry about what I said before."

"I don't need an apology," Jim said quietly. "All I need is an honest commitment from you. Are you sure you can do that, Tony?"

Tony nodded. "I'll try...I can't say I won't mess up again, but Iam willing to give it one hundred percent."

Jim nodded and a smile crossed his lips. "That's all I can ask."

xxxxx

Tony walked through NCIS headquarters and was greeted by many smiles and well wishes as he made his way to the bullpen. It was his first day back at work and he could hardly contain his excitement. When he arrived at his desk, he found a stack of file folders with a note from Gibbs instructing him to study up and familiarize himself with the cases. The team was out in the field. He was momentarily disappointed, but quickly got over it. He'd be out in the field very soon, himself. He just needed to be patient for a little while longer. He went over the cases for an hour or so and then decided it was time for a break. Picking up a bag by his desk, Tony headed downstairs to visit Abby.

"Tony!" he had no sooner entered Abby's lab when the goth flew over to him and enveloped him in a hug. "Its so good to see you!"

"Its good to see you too, Abs." He hugged her back tightly, a bright smile on his face.

"Are you feeling okay?" Abby asked as she pulled away and studied him closely. "You look really well rested."

"Yeah, I'm feeling really good. I'm so glad to be back." He held the plastic bag he was carrying out to her. "I figured it was about time I returned this to you. Thank you so much. Bert was more helpful than I ever could have imagined."

"Oh. You don't have to return him." Abby said, making no move to take the bag from Tony.

"Of course I do. I know how much you love him."

"I have a little confession to make," Abby said. "That actually isn't Bert...its Ernie."

"Ernie?" Tony chuckled and gave Abby a knowing look. "Ernie and Bert...so, they're like..."

"Brothers!" Abby looked at Tony in mock horror and lightly punched his arm. "Get your mind out of the gutter. Besides, all those rumors are unsubstantiated. The characters you're referring to are just best friends."

"Are you sure about that, Abby. Are you really sure?" he asked mischievously.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now I have work to do and so do you. So, get out of here."

"Okay, I'll get out of your hair." Tony laughed as he started walking towards the elevator.

"Tony?" She called after him and he turned around, still smiling.

"Yeah?"

"Lunch later? Maybe we can get the whole team together?"

"Sounds good. We'll catch up later."

Tony left Abby's lab and then decided to pay Ducky a visit. He made his way to Autopsy where he found the older man working on a victim. "Hey Ducky."

"Anthony, my dear boy. How are you? It is very good indeed to see you back at work. You're looking quite well," Ducky said with an approving smile. The boy looked worlds better than he had when he had returned to work after suffering the plague. Though the prolonged absence might have been hard on Tony, it had obviously done him a world of good.

"Thanks, Ducky. I'm glad to be back. Who's your friend?" He glanced down at the corpse on Ducky's autopsy table.

"This is Petty Officer Frederick Pendleton. This very unfortunate young man was killed by an ice pick to the heart."

"Ouch," Tony grimaced and gave the man a look of sympathy. "Gibbs left me some files to catch up on. I was reading up on this one earlier."

Ducky nodded. "Yes, so far, there's not very much to go on. How and why this happened remain very much a mystery.

"Poor guy...Well, I can see you're busy. I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I just wanted to say hello."

"I'm very glad you did. Welcome back, Anthony. You've been sorely missed."

With a brief wave, Tony headed out of Autopsy and went back to the bullpen. The team was still out so he settled back down with the case files. He was so engrossed, that he never even noticed when Gibbs, McGee and Ziva returned and gathered near his desk, staring at him, until Tim spoke. "Wow, boss. I don't think I've ever seen Tony working so hard."

The three smiled and Ziva walked over to him and gave him a brief hug. "Welcome back, Tony," she said. "It is very good to see you."

"Thanks Ziva. Its nice to see you too." He smiled as he returned her embrace.

"You doing okay, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, looking very happy to see his senior field agent back in the fold.

"I'm doing fine, boss," Tony replied with a grin.

"Its good to have you back, Tony," Tim said as he went over to his desk.

"Good to be back, Probie. So, where have you guys been? Anyone want to fill me in?" Tony asked.

"Did you happen to read the file on the ice pick victim?" Gibbs asked.

"I read it," Tony said with a nod. "Ducky is working on the victim."

"Well, now there's another victim, Seaman William Blakely. Same M.O. Definite pattern developing." Gibbs gave Tony the details and the case was discussed at length. The rest of the day went well and Tony was more than satisfied when the workday came to an end. He was finally starting to feel like his life was coming back under his control.

xxxxx

"So how does it feel to be back on active duty?" Gibbs smiled at the younger man who was obviously relishing the steak on his plate. It was the Friday night of Tony's first complete week back on full duty. He had done very well and Gibbs had observed no ill effects at all from what Tony had gone through.

"It feels good, boss, but nothing can compare to this steak." Tony replied after he had swallowed mouthful of food he was chewing on. "You've definitely outdone yourself."

"Glad you're enjoying it...it was a long time coming..."

"Tell me about it," Tony said. "I thought this dinner was never going to happen."

The two men had agreed to postpone their interrupted dinner until Tony had returned to his full duty status at NCIS. In Tony's opinion, it was well worth the wait. Gibbs had gone all out with salad, steak, baked potatoes, corn on the cob and there was a delectable-looking chocolate cake in the refrigerator that Tony could hardly wait to sink his teeth into.

"So...," Gibbs began. "How have things been going with Jim?" He didn't bring it up very often, knowing that Tony wasn't particularly comfortable with discussing it, but he he couldn't help being curious and wondered if his agent was going to keep on with the therapy.

"Pretty good," Tony said. "I'm only going once a week now, so I guess I can deal with it. He's actually a pretty okay guy, though we don't always see eye-to-eye on everything."

Gibbs nodded. "Its good you're going to keep on with it."

Tony shrugged. "I guess so. I figure it might help me deal with some stuff and when Senior's trial comes up, it definitely won't hurt."

"That's true," Gibbs nodded. He hoped when that happened that the stress on Tony would be minimal. He had hoped that Senior might have just pleaded guilty and spared everyone the trial, but it seemed the pompous jackass was going to fight the charges with everything he had.

"Don't worry about it boss. It's going to be okay," Tony said assuredly, almost as if he was reading Gibbs' mind. He liberally spread some sour cream on his baked potato and took a bite, then gazed at Gibbs thoughtfully to the point that the older man finally started to become a little bit uncomfortable.

"What are you staring at, DiNozzo?" Gibbs finally snapped.

"Huh?" Startled, Tony broke out of his reverie. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare, boss...I was just thinking."

"About?"

"About how good you've been to me...the way you stayed by my side during all of this, even when I might have been...well... shall we say, a little bit difficult."

"A little bit difficult?" Gibbs teased as he chuckled.

"Well...maybe a lot difficult," Tony admitted with a grin. "Anyhow...I just wanted to say thank you. You really came through for me. I...I can't imagine having a more loyal or caring father..." He ducked his head down at the last part, unsure of what Gibbs' reaction would be.

"You're welcome," Gibbs said then reached out and gently grasped Tony's shoulder. "Hey."

Tony looked up at Gibbs questioningly. "Yeah, boss?"

"I've made it very clear how I feel about you. That hasn't changed. You are my son in every way that matters, Tony. I'm proud of you and..." Gibbs hesitated, but then decided to finish what he needed to say. "I love you very much."

Tony stared back at Gibbs, his eyes a little watery with emotion, a bright smile on his face. He finally had a family, a real family, the kind he had yearned for as a boy, with a real honest-to-goodness father who he knew loved him and would do just about anything for him. "I love you too..." What should he call him in this situation? Boss? Gibbs? Jethro? "Dad." The word was whispered, but he knew Gibbs heard him and from his expression, he knew it had been the right thing to say.

"You better get back to eating that dinner before it gets cold," Gibbs said gruffly. "We have a lot of work to do on the boat tomorrow. You're definitely going to need your strength."

"Whatever you say, boss," Tony replied, grinning happily as he cut off a piece of steak and put it into his mouth. The moment was over, but the sentiments expressed were clear and Tony felt better and more positive than he had in a very, very long time.

He had a feeling everything was going to work out just fine.

xxxxx

Epilogue

Anthony DiNozzo Senior sat in his cell, staring at the wall. As was the case most days, his thoughts were dark and dangerous. This was not the kind of thing that was supposed to happen to a man like him. His lawyer said it was not likely he would escape a prison sentence.

Prison...he couldn't believe it was true...All because of Gibbs and that so-called son of his. One thing was certain. They would not get away with it. He didn't care how long it took. Someday, somehow, he would get back at them. He would get his revenge.

Gibbs and Anthony would both pay dearly for what they had done to him. They were going to be very, very sorry...

AN2: Thanks so much to those of you who made it through this whole story. Your encouraging comments meant so much to me and kept the story going even when it got more difficult. If there is interest, I do have an idea for a sequel in mind, but not right away. I need to take a break from this storyline and work on some different stories. You guys probably need a break as well lol. For now, best to think of Gibbs and Tony happily back at work and Senior just thinking harmless thoughts that might not come to anything at all.

Thanks again :)