A/N: I'm back with a new story which might be very well my last one since Michael Weatherly is leaving the show! I'm not gonna get into details of how I feel about this matter; but the thing is even though I've stopped watching the show regularly long time ago as they kept disappointing us (or how I've always felt Tony needs to just leave and Michael deserves better), I still feel weird writing when Tony is not there! And well, I started watching the show just because of him and with him gone there's simply no reason to follow. So, I don't know, I might stop writing fics, as well; or I might just stick with what we saw in these 13 seasons and write something if my muse doesn't get too disappointed!

Anyway! This story happens early season 12 and the plot of it was written back then, so nothing of the new season and the new form of relationships between characters will be seen here! Possible spoiler alert for season 12 and those before it but the story is kinda AU; read and you'll find out why!

Fair warning, I still have problem with DiNozzo Sr. So, if you're a fan, maybe you shouldn't read this. But just keep in mind that I've had real lines of the show on my mind when writing this story! Lines that were said on the show but ignored later, which in my opinion should've been addressed properly!

More warnings will be added later, so please always check the A/Ns!

Tony-centric as usual!

Hope you enjoy this story and share your thoughts with me.

. Righteous Anger .

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That was just not Tony's day... It had started well enough, but then they'd received a case which although had been easy to break, it hadn't been too easy to close and once again Tony had been the one taking one for the team and ending up with a concussion which at least was mild; it still meant that someone had to keep an eye on him that night and of course Gibbs had taken it upon himself to do so.

Now, normally they'd just go to Gibbs' place and Tony would stay the night, but this time they didn't do that because the whole day, Tony's gut had been churning, making him feel like he needed to go back to his apartment to check on things. He'd told Gibbs that he'd go and check things and then would go back to his boss' place, and that he didn't need a ride, but Gibbs refused to listen and told him that instead of taking the younger man to his place, he'd spend the night in Tony's apartment; after all, Gibbs had learned not to ignore Tony's gut feelings, either; if Tony felt something was wrong, then he'd make sure to be there to have his SFA's back.

They just had no idea that maybe for once it would've been better to ignore that gut feeling; because if they had, it could've prevented a chain of events that followed it.

Tony's head had started to throb really badly and all he wanted was to just go to his room and lie down but he soon realized that it wasn't going to be an option. As they entered the apartment, they found DiNozzo Sr. sitting on Tony's couch, nursing a big bottle of Jack Daniels which was almost empty.

Sighing, Tony looked back at his boss and silently apologized for what he knew was about to happen.

"Hey, Dad! What are you doing here?" He said wearily and thought that he really needed to talk to the building manager about letting people into his apartment; it was getting annoying. This was his place; he was supposed to have some privacy.

"Juni'r." Senior slurred as he got up from the couch and swayed a bit as he walked to his son.

Both Gibbs and Tony saw how drunk the older man was and mentally prepared themselves to deal with him. Now Tony really wished Gibbs hadn't come with him; he really didn't need the embarrassment that his father was going to cause him.

"You come home awfully late." This time Senior sounded much more alert, but one look in his eyes would tell you that he was still very much drunk.

"Sorry, didn't know I had a curfew." Tony replied sarcastically. He really wasn't in the mood. "What are you doing here?"

"Watch your tone." His father warned.

"Or what?" Tony spat and then took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Dad, what's wrong? Why are you here?"

"Why do you think something is wrong? I came to see you. I do that a lot lately."

"Only when you need something." Tony muttered. "And why are you drinking again?"

"What? This?" Senior looked down at the bottle in his hand with amusement as if he'd just realized it was still there; happily, he took another big gulp from the bottle, emptying it completely.

"Boss, maybe you should leave." Tony looked at his boss.

"Like hell, DiNozzo." Gibbs growled. "Even if you weren't concussed, I wouldn't leave you with him like this."

"Umm, thanks, but I can handle him." Tony replied; seriously, he'd handled his drunken father when he'd been a kid; he sure could do that now that he was an adult; concussed or not.

"Hey, I'm right here." His father announced loudly.

"Yeah, unfortunately." Tony sighed and turned his gaze back to him. "And you could spare us all some time and me an even worse headache if you'd just tell me what you need."

The older man let out a heavy sigh, the stench of alcohol emitting from his breath. "I don't need anything from you. What makes you think someone like you could do anything for me? I just had a bad deal and needed someplace to crash."

Tony bit back the retort that came to his mind and instead just clenched his fist. "Take the couch then. Boss," He turned to look at his boss again, "you can go; I'll be alright and will see you tomorrow. Thanks for-"

"I said no." Gibbs cut him off.

"Then take my bed, I'll-"

"Tony, go to your room; I know your place and know where to sleep. Go."

Tony nodded his head gratefully and turned to leave when his father's hand grabbed his arm. Tony frowned. "Dad?"

"I'm not done with you." The older man growled.

Hearing that, Tony suddenly felt like he was back at his childhood house. Shaking his head, he quickly stopped himself from thinking about those days. "Thought you said you just needed a place to crash."

"Right." Senior rubbed his temple. "Right. Forgot. You're not worth my time anyway."

Gibbs' face turned red with anger and he could see the hurt that flashed in his protégé's eyes. Damn DiNozzo Sr. He'd never change.

"Yeah, you're drunk. Why don't you just go and sit on the couch? I'll get you a blanket." Tony's voice was strained, but he wasn't in the mood to fight or even dwell on his father's hurtful remark. That was always the case when the man was drunk, anyway. Nothing new. Although, he did prefer that it wouldn't happen in front of his boss.

"You do that. It's not like you're good for anything else."

"Because you're one to judge." Tony retorted coldly, not able to keep it inside, this time.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tony decided to ignore the question, but his dad had other things in mind.

"I asked you a question, Boy." He spat angrily. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you? You think I embarrass you?" He laughed humorlessly. "Of course you do; you walk around and tell people I'm a conman, you worthless piece of shit."

Tony was getting angrier by the second; it'd been years since he'd heard his father sounding like that and it was maybe a good reminder why he'd cut the older man off. Lately, it seemed like he'd been just an ungrateful brat who couldn't understand that his father had been in pain after losing the love of his life; his father acted in a way that even Tony himself had been convinced he'd been the one making the mistakes, being way too sensitive and not understanding his father and his pain.

But this reminded him how it'd been back when his father had been a heavy drinker; when the man used to tell him that he'd end up in a gutter and other awful things on a daily basis.

"Well, what do you expect me to say?" Tony spat back, sounding just as furious. "You never tell anyone your son is a federal agent; doesn't that mean that you're just a conman who's afraid your acquaintances would back off if they knew you were related to a federal agent?"

"No, that just means I'm ashamed of you." Senior's words cut him deeply, and it was years of working on his masks that kept him from outwardly flinching.

Gibbs was ready to shoot Tony's father at that point; he was an expert in reading Tony's real feelings from his eyes and he could clearly see behind the younger man's masks; he saw the raw pain in his eyes as his father told him he was ashamed of him. But despite his better judgment, he decided to stay out of this one and let Tony handle his father; the last thing the younger man needed was for his father to think he needed someone else to fight his battles for him.

"You never amounted to anything. You were a dumb jock and when you failed even in your stupid sport, you had no choice but to become a cop. Nobody becomes a cop willingly; just like nobody enlists out of choice. All of them are people who weren't good at anything else."

"That's enough." Tony shouted; his face completely red now, eyes flashing with anger. "You wanna insult me; fine. But don't you dare insult the people who serve this country; as officers of the law or soldiers. You can never understand what they sacrifice everyday so you could fucking enjoy your stupid drinks."

The punch that followed that angry remark caught Tony by surprise.

Instantly, Gibbs jumped in. "Heeeey." He pushed Senior away.

"What?" The other man shrugged Gibbs' hand off with annoyance. "He needed to shut up. He's got verbal diarrhea; don't tell me you haven't noticed or that you don't know how he needs a rough hand every now and then. I've seen you head-slapping him; I know you think the same."

Gibbs' eyes flashed. "That's not the same thing, you bastard."

"Oh, come on, Gibbs. It's alright. Junior has always been like this; a backhand or a kick here and a shove there would quickly put him in his place; he needs it and he knows it." The drunken man laughed uncontrollably, like he'd stated a funny fact.

Gibbs was so shocked that he couldn't even react. Had the drunken bastard just confessed to actually abusing his son when he'd been a little boy?

"You need to leave. Now!" Tony's voice was cold, but calm; his face totally expressionless. He'd never felt more embarrassed.

"You can't throw me out."

"That's funny; you threw me out of a house that was mine too when I was merely a child and you think I can't throw you out of my apartment?"

"You stupid worthless bastard." Gibbs spat finally, and it was like he hadn't even heard Tony talk. "You don't deserve a son like him. Get the hell outta here and you'd better never show your stupid ass here again."

Senior rolled his eyes which caused him to sway a little. "Gibbs, nobody cares what you say; this is my son's home and I'll stay if I want."

Gibbs grabbed his arm and was about to bodily push him out of the apartment when the other man snapped and brought the bottle in his hand up to smash against Gibbs' head.

At the last moment, Tony's mind registered what was going to happen and he reached out to grab his father's forearm, but he'd reacted a second too late and instead of the arm, his hand landed on the bottle and with the force that Senior had put behind his move, the bottle smashed against Tony's hand, cutting into his palm.

"Goddammit." He yelled and didn't even see as Gibbs punched his father and pushed him against the wall.

"You're under arrest for assaulting a federal agent." The Lead Agent hissed furiously.

"Who? Him?" Senior was still not aware of what he'd done. "When are you going to see he's damaged goods? He's worth nothing; you will spare everyone lots of trouble by just throwing him out."

"He's a way better man than you could ever wish to be. The only worthless shit here is you. Everyone would be proud to have someone like Tony around."

"Gibbs." Tony called with strained voice as he tried to not clench his left fist or the shards of glass in his palm would cut even deeper. "Let him go."

"DiNozzo-"

"No. Let him go." To his father he said, "You need to leave... Just go."

Gibbs, reluctantly gave in and grabbed the other man by his lapel, opened the door and literally threw him out. "You better get lost or I will arrest you." With that he slammed the door close.

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TBC

A/N: I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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All mistakes are mine.