Over The Edge

Tony was running, the suspect was just a few feet in front of him and he knew he'd catch up really quickly.

Having said that the man was a few years younger than him and Tony thought maybe he was a free runner or something. They reached an abandoned warehouse and he could hear his team catching up behind him. He followed the suspect up a flight of stairs and skidded as he stopped.

The man swung his leg round and caught Tony behind the knee; he heard a sickening pop and felt himself go down towards the handrail.

He caught sight of his boss and shot him a terrified look as the rusted handrail broke and he went tumbling over the edge.

Ziva and Tim were right behind Tony as they entered the warehouse and as the suspect turned they pulled up and drew their guns.

Ziva couldn't help the scream that left her mouth as she saw Tony fall and she knew as McGee moved to catch him that this time he'd be too late.

She caught the look of horror that crossed Gibbs' face as he saw his SFA fall, "Tony!" He yelled as he ran to his senior field Agents' side and checked for a pulse blanching at the unnatural angle his leg was at.

Ziva arrested the suspect and took him to the car for transport back to NCIS and called another team to relieve them, Tim called an ambulance and then Ducky and Abby so they both were aware of what had happened.

Gibbs hadn't moved except for gently lifting Tony's head into his lap and stroked his head while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Tony was cold, he hurt and was scared, He knew he was in hospital but had no idea how he'd got there.

He slowly opened one eye and saw a man with a badge sitting next to him. He held his breath scared he was in trouble for something.

"Hey DiNozzo, how are you feeling?" Gibbs asked.

"F…Fine Sir," Tony answered without looking Gibbs in the eye.

Gibbs looked concerned "Sir?" He stopped as Ducky came in.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs said confused.

"Anthony my boy, how are you feeling?" Ducky asked him

"Fine, Thank you Sir," Tony said.

Ducky nodded and put a hand on Gibbs' shoulder. "Anthony, do you know who we are?" He asked gently.

"No Sir. Although I think this gentleman is a policeman I saw his badge," Tony admitted.

Gibbs looked shocked, "Ducky?" He growled and instantly stopped as Tony tried to move away from him.

"In a moment Jethro." Ducky said cutting him off, "Anthony, you have had a bad fall and injured your knee, you also hit your head and that's why you are having trouble remembering some things. But don't worry we'll get you back to work soon." He smiled reassuringly.

"Work….Sir? But my…my fathers sending me to school next semester." Tony said his voice trailed off scared that maybe this man was here to take him away to work rather than the school his father had told him about. Unless he was already away at school. He looked around trying to see if his father had turned up seeing as he had been hurt but as usual there was no sign of him.

"Tony…How old are you?" Gibbs asked him his gut twisting in readiness of the answer.

"Twelve Sir, Did something happen, my father didn't mean it Sir, It was my fault honest!" Tony started to cry silently and looked away so the men couldn't see.

Ducky and Gibbs left the room.

"What the hell happened?" Gibbs asked Ducky as they walked outside.

"It seems that when Anthony hit his head as he fell he has amnesia to the point where he think he is twelve." Ducky explained slowly. "Whether or not it is permanent will remain to be seen."

"OK," Gibbs said as he let out a breath he'd been holding, "What about that other stuff. What does he mean his father didn't mean it?"

"I don't know," Ducky admitted, "We will have to ask Anthony. I can get his childhood medical records sent to me and see if there is anything in his files that will let us know what we will be in for dealing with a 12 year old Anthony." Ducky said.

Gibbs nodded and leant against the wall determined to let the rest of the team know what was going on before they walked in and overwhelmed the 'boy' in the room behind him.

"Hopefully it won't be too long before they let him go home," Gibbs said, "You know how much he hate's hospitals."

Tony heard the two men talking outside, he couldn't hear the words but they sounded mad. Maybe his father had gone too far this time, or worse maybe they were telling him where he was. The last thing he remembered was the conversation in his fathers' study.

"Junior, I've had enough" His father had said.

"Sir?" Tony had asked.

"You are a complete failure and a huge disappointment to me, you made your mother kill herself due to your whining and clingy behavior." Senior had walked over to his child and noticing the tears starting to spill from the boy's eyes had backhanded him and sent him sprawling along the floor of the study.

Tony had picked himself up and run to his room hearing the sound of his father chasing him and had managed to lock his door just before his father got there.

Tony heard the first man talking about taking him home and he figured that the policeman must have been paid off by his father so he wouldn't talk.

He began making a plan; he'd have to get out of there before his father could hurt him again.

He tested his knee as he gingerly stood up, the brace was holding and the pain was there but bearable. His head swam a bit but he was good.

He grabbed his clothes and put them on, he found a wallet with his name in it and some money surprised at the picture in the wallet being an old man he shrugged either way it had his name on it and he could always pay the old guy back later as it had an address in it too.

He quietly made his way to the door and peeked out.

There was no one in the doorway but he could here the voice of the policeman from down the hall talking to some other people, he wondered if his father was one of the people there and decided that was not the way to go.

He had never felt so scared in his life but he knew he was never going back, he'd had enough of being beaten and abused and wanted out. Maybe he could start again and go to another school far away. After all there were so many children in public schools he was sure they wouldn't notice and extra kid hanging about.

He slipped through the double doors at the end of the corridor and was gone.

Gibbs walked up to where the others were waiting for news on Tony.

"How is he, can we see him?" Abby asked.

"Not yet, Abs." Gibbs said trying to reassure her, "Tony's ok but there's a bit of a complication."

"What is wrong Gibbs?" Ziva asked

"It appears young Anthony has lost some of his memory." Ducky said.

"How much?" Tim asked

"Everything past the age of 12, in fact he thinks he is 12." Gibbs said flatly watching as the others took in the implication of what he had said.

"Is it permanent?" Tim asked.

"I don't know," Gibbs admitted, "His doctor will be in to see him soon. You can go in one at a time to see him but not too much pushing, ok Abs."

"Can I go first?" She asked

Gibbs nodded knowing he wouldn't be able to keep her out there much longer. When it came to Tony, Abby was fiercely loyal, although she worried about all of them equally she had known Tony longer with the exception of Gibbs and he was like her big brother and the one person Tony had confided most if not all of his secrets to.

Gibbs grabbed a coffee from the machine. It was awful but it was needed. He turned to sit by Tim when Abby came flying around the corner.

"Abby!" Gibbs exclaimed as he dropped his coffee and held on to the crying forensic scientist.

"Gibbs he's gone!" Abby said full of terror for her missing friend.

They immediately searched the floor for their friend and Ducky asked the nursing staff if they had seen him, but to no avail.

Tim went to the security station to go through their records.

Gibbs walked in just as the footage of Tony leaving through the back entrance came up.

"Is he crying?" Tim asked looking at the footage as Tony stopped and looked around obviously scared and wiped his forearm over his face as if wiping away tears.

Gibbs nodded. If Tony thought he was 12 years old what on earth would scare him so much that while in a knee brace and with what had to be a killer headache, running away would seem like a better option than staying and getting help.

"Tim call up local traffic cameras I'm going off to find him, Ziva your with me," Gibbs said and they headed to his car.

Tony had made it about half a mile in the time it had take for him to leave the hospital and for Gibbs to leave to look for him.