Disclaimer: I don't own anything nor am I making any profit out of this.

Warnings: Some slight swearing, violence, mentions of child abuse.

A/N: Hey everybody! (Hello Doctor Nick! Wait what?) *coughs awkwardly*

This idea has been swirling in my head for quite a while now so I decided to try writing it down and seeing what happens. I have approximately one more chapter of this written already but I thought I'd post this here and see what the reception is like. That is: do you guys like it? Hate it? Should I continue it or delete this story, go hide under my desk and forget this whole fiasco ever happened? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! :) Constructive criticism is also highly appreciated (how else am I ever going to become a better writer?)! English is not my first language so if you notice some mistakes or brainfarts please notify me so I can fix them (I did proofread but am not sure if I caught everything) :) Okay I'll stop now, on with the story!

Update: Fixed the formatting, hopefully it's better now! (and thanks for pointing it out!) :)

Tony frowned slightly. A few more days babysitting Prince Sayif didn't sound that bad but for some reason he could feel a bit of nervous energy building up inside him, as if his gut was trying to warn him. As he turned to leave MTAC and Gibbs, a gleeful McGee came in half-running and fell in step with the older agent.

"You have a visitor." McGee's face was littered with smugness from knowing something Tony didn't.

"Who?" His gut started churning. This didn't seem promising.

If possible, that made McGee smile even more smugly. "You'll see."

"Tell me," he demanded.

"No."

Gibbs rolled his eyes at his bickering agents as Tony started to get frustrated.

"What's the matter with you?"

He walked up the ramp to exit MTAC and next to the railing only to stop in his tracks when he got a look at his mysterious "visitor". Oh no. Oh hell no. This could not be happening. Not now. Not when he finally had found a place where he could at least pretend that he was wanted.

He could feel some color leaving his face despite his best attempts to keep on the mask. He then proceeded to kneel down with a childish hope that maybe he wouldn't see him and then maybe he would go away. He even stopped breathing so as to be more quiet. Please don't let him notice me.

From below he could faintly make out his Father's voice over the loudness of blood rushing in his ears though the words were lost to him. Was he panicking? It almost felt like he was panicking. Oh, yeah, holding his breath. Right. Maybe he should breathe. He sucked in air as silently as possible, eyes fixed on the man inside their little cubicle. He felt dizzy. But Dinozzo's don't faint. He'd learned that lesson the hard way. Kind of like all the lessons Father taught him. Tony was barely able to contain the hysterical laughter bubbling up inside him.

You see your Father and have a miniature meltdown? Well isn't that just pathetic.

"JUNIOR!" A booming voice distracted him from his thoughts. Father was staring right at him, seemingly beaming from joy at the sight of his son. But Tony knew better. Everything he knew about charming, lying, deflection, acting, smoke and mirrors, he had learned from the best. And right now he was witnessing Father's oh so familiar I-really-love-and-care-about-my-only-son mask, the one he always wore in public because of "must keep up the appearances". Shit. He was royally screwed.

It disgusted him slightly how easily he slipped back onto his role. I'm not twelve and scared anymore! Except that's exactly how he felt. A fake smile slipped on his lips with ease, not that anyone would notice the lack of authenticity. Practise had made him so damn good at what he does.

"Hey, Dad. What are you doing here?"

NCISNCIS

Tim was sizzling with glee. He couldn't believe he just met Tony's dad! And that he called Tony "Junior". Tim snickered. He was never going to let Tony live this one down.

He hurried into MTAC to smugly inform his friend of his visitor. This is going to be priceless. He walked out next to Tony and stopped on his side as he came to a halt. Then Tony slowly kneeled down, as if he didn't wish to be seen. That's what made Tim glance at his face which had gone a few shades paler. His smile changed into a concerned frown. "Tony?"

He heard Anthony Dinozzo Senior talking to Ziva downstairs. "Junior mentioned you to me, but he never told me what you look like."

Wait a minute, was Ziva blushing? Tim struggled to keep his jaw shut.

"You are stunning, Ziva! Do you ever think of wearing your hair down?" The man continues with a charming smile.

Tim rolled his eyes. So that's where Tony got his charm.

Ziva, a bit flustered, was just about to answer when her gaze wandered up to the railing, noticing McGee and DiNozzo. DiNozzo Senior followed her gaze and his face absolutely lit up.

"JUNIOR!" he yelled happily.

Tim turned to Tony as the man got up with a lopsided grin, still looking a bit pale but not as much as before.

"Hey, Dad. What are you doing here?"

The Senior Field Agent started walking down the stairs with Tim on his right as his dad chuckled warmheartedly. "What, can't I come say hello to my only son every once in awhile?"

"I guess you're right," Tony replied. "Have you met everyone already?"

"So far I've only had the pleasure of meeting your absolutely beautiful partner here." He smiled to Ziva and gave a small wink.

Ziva returned the smile. "You know, I was over the impression that you and Tony did not talk much to each other."

"Under," Tony muttered.

Ziva frowned. "What?"

Tim stepped in helpfully, "He meant "under" the impression, not over," at the same time as Senior clasped his hand on his son's shoulder. A flicker of pain flew through the SFA's, features unseen by anyone as it quickly returned to the very mild version of his usual megawatt-smile.

Before Ziva had a chance to come up with a retort, Dinozzo Senior answered, "Well, the truth is we don't see that often but we call each other almost weekly, right Junior?"

"Yeah, something like that..."

At that moment the elevator dinged, and Prince Sayif walked out with his security detail. Ziva looked at Tony with his father next to him and said, "Me and McGee can handle this so you can have time to catch up."

"Yeah, thanks," Tony mumbled as she and McGee walked up to the Prince and escorted him away.

NCISNCIS

Tony was on autopilot. He walked downstairs, exchanged a few words, though most of the conversation flew past him. He was angry with himself for slipping back to his ways but what choice did he have? If he wouldn't they would find out everything and most likely start hating him too. Maybe they already did, he thought as he winced internally.

It made him feel sick looking at Ziva and McGee smiling with the only person who truly managed to terrify him. Then Father clasped his shoulder and squeezed with force. Tony barely managed to stop flinching at the pain (that was going to leave some impressive bruises) but his mask cracked for a fraction of a second. Tony didn't know whether he was relieved or desperately disappointed when no one noticed.

Then Ziva and McSmug left to escort Prince Sayif to… somewhere. Tony was having trouble thinking straight. He was brought back to the present as the hand on his shoulder tightened even more.

"Is that the Prince Sayif?" his Father whispered in his ear. Tony looked over his shoulder and nodded. The grip didn't loosen in the slightest. "What is he doing here?"

The younger man remained silent. Senior shook him slightly and hissed "Answer me, boy!"

"He was a target of an assassination attempt."

Tony cursed at himself inside of his head. A few angry words from the man and Tony's mouth escaped from his usually iron control. He really was pathetic.

"What happened?" Senior continued his probing with a low voice.

"I- I can't talk about it!" the agent replied with an urgent, hushed tone. He could feel his anxiety levels going up a bit more. This was classified information, he couldn't say anything, so what if he was scared! Not that he'd ever admit that to anyone. DiNozzo's do not display signs of weakness.

Father was not pleased with his response. He moved so that they were face to face and took a tight grip on both of his shoulders, staring straight into his eyes. If someone was watching from afar, it looked like they were sharing a nice father-son moment. Still keeping up his charming fake-smile, Senior said with a menacing voice, "Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Car bomb."

Tony would have given himself the mother of all headslaps but it might look weird or even suspicious and right now he preferred going unnoticed. He closed his eyes, disappointed in himself. The team, especially Gibbs, would never respect or trust him again if they found out just how weak and messed up he really was. He opened his eyes to see his father still staring at him with one raised eyebrow. Even though his expression was friendly enough, Tony could see the disgust and anger hidden in the depths of his cold eyes. The SFA sighed and turned his gaze towards his feet, deflated and defeated.

"Has his father been told?" the older man questioned.

"Yes, he's flying in from Riyadh," he said.

After a small silence he continued with a hint of desperation creeping into his voice, "Look, I have to get Sayif to the Adams House hotel."

He glanced at Father, who was nodding to himself.

"Alright, dismissed," he stated absentmindedly, released his hold and begun to stroll towards the elevator.

Tony almost failed at blocking the relieved sigh.

NCISNCIS

The rest of the day was a recurrent struggle for Tony to keep his mind in the game. He was still unnerved and jumpy after seeing Father again and it was getting increasingly harder to hide it the more tired he got. So when Sayif insisted that Ziva would be the agent accompanying him after fighting with his brother, Tony felt relieved. He could go home, order some pizza and maybe take a beer, try to relax and block this day out of his memory. Perhaps watch something out of his vast collection of movies. It would give him some much needed time to get up his game and rebuild his walls the way they were. All he wanted was some peace and quiet.

So of course life wanted to screw him over once more. He didn't know whether he should laugh or cry when he found Father waiting for him in his living room. He drew his hand down his face and smiled sarcastically to hide the pain Father's disapproving gaze still brought after all these years. But he was used to hiding his real feelings by now.

"Make yourself at home, why don't you?"

Anger took over his Father's unimpressed expression as he stood up from the sleek black designer couch he'd been sitting on. He walked up to him and Tony had to repress his urge to step back. Senior looked at him with an angry sneer before backhanding him on the cheek. The force of the slap might've made him lose his balance if he hadn't known it was bound to happen.

"Don't look at me in the eyes like you'd be an equal," he spit out, contempt evident in his voice.

Automatically his eyes snapped to the floor, disgusted how quickly he did whatever Father demanded. He thought he had gotten over that, that Father wouldn't affect him the same way anymore, that he was stronger now. Clearly he'd been wrong. Nothing had changed. He was still the same screw up he was back then.

"So," Senior began coldly as he started to circle around him, "you think just because you managed to bullshit your way into being a federal agent that makes you a somebody?"

Tony stayed quiet, gazing at the floor intently.

His Father gave a loud huff. "Well let me tell you something then. I have to admit, a part of me hoped you would have changed, that I could finally have a son I could be proud of, but surprise surprise, you disappointed me once again. You're a nobody, a useless coward hiding behind his walls. A worthless liar. I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, in fact I have no idea why I did in the first place! After all, all you do is disappoint me! And your team? You think they care? Let me break it down to you: they don't. It's obvious even to me! I guess they see your inadequacy even if you've mostly fooled them into thinking you're worth keeping around. All they do is tolerate you because they have to, because they are stuck with you! You're just a huge waste of time and a waste of space!"

With that, Senior took up a baseball bat he'd apparently brought with him and swung it towards his son's torso with all his might. Tony saw it coming but merely tensed up to minimize the injuries. He knew from experience it would only get worse if he'd try to avoid it and that he didn't have the guts to face Father in a fight despite being a skilled fighter - even standing his ground against Gibbs or Ziva on a good day.

He grunted as the bat hit him in the chest and knocked the air out of his lungs. Gasping for air, he got down on his knees. This time the blow made contact with his back, the force pushing him to the ground. He curled up and lifted his hands to protect his head as Senior moved on to kicking him in the ribs. Giving a one last kick, the older man stood up panting slightly from exertion and straightened his suit and tie. Then he spat on him. "Mark my words: it's just a matter of time until you'll screw this NCIS-thing up too. Just wait and see." And then he left, leaving the door open in his wake.

Once Tony heard the footsteps retreating and fading away he let out a small moan. Damn, his ribs were killing him. He took a few deep breaths, wincing at the pain it caused. There might be a few cracked ribs but fortunately none of them seemed broken. Small mercies huh.

Suddenly moisture gathered unbidden in his eyes. Angry at himself, at Father, at the world, he slammed his fist on the floor with a satisfying thump. He would not start crying like a little kid. He deserved what happened since deep down, he knew Father was right. About him, hell about everything.

He blinked away the unshed tears and slowly made his way up. Carefully, so as to not aggravate his ribs, he walked to the door and closed it. Then he curled up in his bed under blankets and tried to convince himself that he didn't care.