"Gibbs."

"Boss, DiNozzo here. All done here. McGee and I are about to leave for the airport. We should be back late evening."

"No, you won't" came Gibbs' reply.

"Boss?" asked DiNozzo.

"Got another job for you"

"What?"

"Escort duty,"

"What?"

"You know, DiNozzo, for someone who loves to talk you haven't got a whole lot to say," observed Gibbs.

"What? I mean, who are we escorting?"

"Cornelius Rush."

"And who's he? New addition to the most wanted board?"

"Nope. He's the grandfather of Lieutenant Nicholas Rush," answered Gibbs.

"And who's he?"

"The lieutenant just won the Medal of Honour."

"And?"

"And Cornelius Rush was invited to the White House to see the President present his grandson with the Medal."

"That's nice. Where do we fit in?"

"Seems the President got talking to Mr Rush."

"And?"

"You know, this'd go a whole lot faster if you'd let me finish, DiNozzo."

"Sorry. I mean, obviously, not sorry. Carry on. If you want to, of course."

"Mr Rush moved into a retirement community today, Cottonwood Vista in Orange County but his family can't be around to settle him in." Gibbs paused, almost waiting for Tony's next question but when none came he continued, "President thought it would a good thing for the Navy to help the grandfather of a navy hero. So he spoke to SecNav, who spoke to Vance, who spoke to me."

"And?" dared Tony.

"And I'm speaking to you."

"So you're asking McGee and me to take this guy to old folks' home?"

"Not really asking. And I don't think they're called old folks' homes anymore."

"OK," said Tony, "so what do we need to do?"

"Go see him tomorrow. Help him settle in, make sure everything's OK."

"That sounds all right," said Tony, "we'll fly back tomorrow night."

"No," said Gibbs, "you're to stick around for a few days, see if he wants to go on some trips, get him acquainted with the area."

"What!" wailed Tony, "Boss, this doesn't really seem the sort of job for two highly trained federal agents."

"Two what?" asked Gibbs.

"Well, one highly trained federal agent," amended Tony, "but McGee's getting there."

"Vance was going to get someone from the LA team to do it but I told him you'd do it."

"Why?"

"You always say you like old people," said Gibbs.

"Yes, but …"

"It'll be fun," said Gibbs, "give you and McGee a bit of downtime."

"Boss!" tried Tony again.

"DiNozzo, Vance was asked by SecNav who was asked by the President. D'you want to phone the White House and tell them that you don't want to do what your President says?"

"No, Boss."

"Didn't think so," said Gibbs, "Vance is sending the details to McGee. Stay in touch," and with that the call was ended.

Tony sighed and went to find McGee. McGee was sitting in the rental car checking that he had everything for the journey back; movie and sports magazines for Tony, nutter butters and 'Binary Matters' for himself plus earplugs and eyeshades for when he needed to tune Tony out. Tim sighed with satisfaction at his successful planning and began to look forward to the trip home. He looked up as Tony got into the car.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Change of plan, McHoming," said Tony, "check your emails."

"Why?"

"Should be a message from Vance. We've got another job to do."

Tim tapped his cell and found the Director's message, "Cornelius Rush? We're checking out an old folks' home for him?"

"Yep, although the Boss says they're not called that anymore."

"OK," said McGee, "I'll phone the airline, see if we can move to another flight tomorrow night."

"Oh, no, no, no, Tim," said Tony, "you haven't heard the best bit. We're going to stick around for a while. Make sure Mr Rush settles in. Take him on some trips, show him a good time."

"What?" That's ridiculous. We're trained federal agents."

"Well spotted," said Tony, "I pointed this out to El Jefe."

"And what did he say?"

"He invited me to phone the President and tell him that not going back to DC straightaway was going to put a crimp in my plans so I'd rather just get on a plane and fly back, if it was all the same to him."

"The President?" asked McGee.

"The President asked SecNav, who asked Vance, who asked Gibbs who told us to play nanny, "said Tony.

"The President of the United States?" asked Tim. Tony turned to glare at him so he hurried on, "The President asked for us?" he said incredulously.

Tony laughed, "Not by name, I don't think we're on his radar that much, McHopeful. No, Mr Rush met with the President and told him about his move. President thought it would be nice for someone to look after him while he moves. That's us."

"But I've got plans for tomorrow," said McGee.

"Me too," said Tony, "and mine are with a living, breathing person with natural synapses rather than a virtual elf lord. But, hey, look up the White House number and see if you can swing it with the President. Be my guest."

"OK," said McGee, admitting defeat. "But I need to go shopping or find a Laundromat. I've run out of clean clothes; we were only meant to be gone two days."

"McBadenPowell," said Tony disapprovingly, "what's the Boy Scout motto?"

"Be prepared," said Tim a little sulkily.

"Well?" said Tony.

"All right," said Tim, "shoot me for not bringing six times as many clothes as I needed."

"We won't go that far," said Tony graciously, "besides, you make a good point. Well done, we'll go shopping. We'll find Cottonwool Vista in the morning."

"Cottonwood," corrected McGee.

"What?"

"It's Cottonwood, not Cotton wool," said McGee.

"Whatever," said Tony, "we're going shopping. And I'm going to help you pick out some chick magnet threads."

"Tony …" began McGee.

"You're entirely welcome," said Tony kindly.

NCISNCIS

As Tim and Tony drew up outside Cottonwood Vista Retirement Community the next day, Tim reflected that the shopping expedition with Tony had been unlike any previous shopping trip he had experienced before. He wasn't sure how Tony had known where to find the best shops or why he had become alarmingly Italian at every venue. He hadn't known that it was acceptable to haggle over prices. He certainly had never suspected that violet and khaki was a good colour combination and still less that it was a combination which would work on him. In the bright sunshine of a Californian day, however, Tim was inclined to think that it did suit him although it was a look he would probably not sport in the office. He wondered if Tony would take him shopping again and he wasn't sure what answer he wanted to that question.

Retail therapy had cheered Tony up and he seemed to have laid aside any regrets about a rendezvous with natural synapses. Tim suspected that the happiness had been bolstered by remembering that he had once been on a Spring Break in Orange County and was already wondering if Mr Rush would like to pay a visit there.

"Let's go, Tim," said Tony as he led the way up to the reception for the sprawling Retirement Community. It seemed that the residents took a turn at staffing the reception desk for they saw an elderly woman with an alarming shock of peach coloured hair sitting at the enquiry desk with a winning smile on her face.

"Welcome to Cottonwood Vista," she announced, "my name is Emily. Are you here to enquire about vacancies in our community? I'm sure we could find something for you," she leaned forward to whisper confidentially, "Freddie Metcalfe didn't look at all well at breakfast this morning; I think he'll be checking out soon. If you know what I mean."

Tim opened his mouth to protest that they, or at least he, were far too young to be inspecting retirement homes on their own behalf but Tony spoke first,

"Well, that depends," he said, "we're both single … are all the ladies here as attractive as you?"

Emily giggled coquettishly, "My dear late husband was an artist and he said the Californian light made all the women look more beautiful."

"He was obviously a man of great discernment," said Tony in a velvety voice, "tell me, does the light work for men too?" And to Tim's horror, he leaned towards the light and, there was no other word for it, preened himself.

Emily was delighted and tapped him roguishly on the hand, "Oh," she trilled, "it certainly does." Then she seemed to catch sight of McGee's stricken look and she said in a much more down to earth voice, "well, it does in most cases."

"We're not here to look for a vacancy," said Tim, wanting to hurry things along, "we're here to see Mr Rush."

Emily dragged her eyes away from Tony who was still smiling beguilingly at her.

"Oh, you're the navy people from DC?"

"Yes, ma'am, we're federal agents," said Tim.

"Tell me," said Emily turning her attention back to Tony, "are you wearing a weapon?" and she gazed at his waist speculatively.

Tim gulped but Tony managed to say smoothly, "well, that would be telling. I favour a shoulder holster though."

"Oh," said Emily in a slightly disappointed tone but Tim noticed that her eyes didn't shift upwards.

"Do you know where we might find Mr Rush?" asked Tim a little desperately. He wasn't sure that a bright pink face was going well with the violet and khaki.

"I think he's in the lounge," said Emily briefly, nodding to her right "now, young man," she said to Tony, "where do you come from? You know, you have the look of my first beau. Now he was a real handsome boy. But a bit wild, my parents didn't approve of him at all."

Tim waited to see if Tony would go to the lounge but he seemed absorbed in his flirtation so Tim went alone in the direction indicated by Emily.

"So," said Tony, "my co-worker and I will need somewhere to stay for a few days while Mr Rush settles in. Have you got any suggestions?"

"Well," drawled Emily, "I've got a big studio apartment … only one bedroom but my couch is comfortable – if you thought you'd need it."

"You're very kind, Emily," said Tony apparently giving this serious consideration but there's McGee as well. We need more space."

"There's a guest cottage in the grounds," said Emily switching to practical mode, "I don't think there's anyone staying in it. We don't get many people staying. I'll check with Lucy, our administrator, if you like."

"Thanks, Emily, that'd be great."

In the distance they heard Tim's slightly over loud voice coming down the corridor,

"Come along, Mr Rush, you can show us your new apartment. Tell us if you need anything doing."

Tony turned and saw Tim ushering a tall, gaunt man before him. Cornelius Rush looked every one of his 78 years; his face was lined and wrinkled, he was slightly stooped and walked slowly but when he raised his face Tony saw that his eyes were bright and alert.

"Good morning, Mr Rush," said Tony going forward to greet him, "I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, but you can call me Tony."

"Hmph," said the old man, "Italian, I suppose?"

"Yes," said Tony but chose not to elaborate, "do you want to show us your apartment, Sir?"

"Been waiting for you," came the unpromising reply and he stalked to the door. A burst of noise greeted him as he stepped out into the sunshine. Tony twitched at the assault on his eardrums but Emily smiled proudly,

"The orchestra's been practising the 'Star Spangled Banner' ever since we heard that our new friend had met the President."

Tony nodded gamely. He could see Rush blinking in the sun and thought that perhaps he was a little moved by the tribute. Cornelius stood there until the anthem had finished and then he nodded curtly and moved on. Tony followed him and was greeted by the stirring sounds of 'Il Canto degli Italian', the Italian national anthem. Tony was impressed by the speed at which the players had found the tune and began to think this might be a fun place to live.

"Molte grazie," he said and bowed graciously. The orchestra beamed with pride. Tony saw McGee looking on in bemusement and went to talk to the conductor. A few moments later McGee heard the opening notes of the Star Wars theme. As Tony walked back to re-join Rush and McGee he heard a snort from Rush but couldn't be sure if it was laughter or a cough. He looked back and saw a group of elderly cheerleaders with pom-poms gathering in front of the orchestra,

"Ra, ra, ra! Go, go, go! Corney's come to live with us! Ra, ra, ra! Go, go, go! Cottonwood's the place to be! Hurrah!

Rush's lips twitched for a moment and then he muttered, "Hate being called Corney."

There was a final burst of cheering and waving and the elderly residents fell back. Tony thought he heard one of them saying, "If he'd come a day later, I'd have been ready to do my cartwheel. I need a lie down."

NCISNCIS

Cornelius Rush led the way to his new accommodation, a studio apartment which looked out on to a square of slightly weedy grass.

"Looked better in the brochure," Rush grunted as he opened the door and went in. The apartment was spacious and obviously well-designed although the paint was a little dingy.

"Coffee?" asked the host.

"That'd be great," said Tony.

"Unpack that box in the kitchen and you can make some," said Rush.

"OK," said Tony with a slightly forced smile but he went into the kitchen as directed.

"What can I help you with, Sir?" asked Tim.

"You any good with computers?" asked Rush.

"Er … I know a bit," said Tim.

"Nice one, McBabbage," came Tony's voice from the kitchen.

Rush and McGee looked up in surprise,

"Hey," said Tony, "I know about computers too." As he saw McGee's hard stare, he hurried on, "well, I saw this Discovery channel programme. It was about Charles Babbage. Apparently he did something important with early computers, something about being the first person to do something about something."

"Go on, Tony," said McGee, "what did he do?"

"Don't know," said Tony defensively, "the football came on so I switched channels. Anyway, Sir, Tim here is a computer genius."

"I thought your name was McGee," said Rush, "why does Agent DiNozzo call you McBabbage? You're not undercover, are you?"

"No, Sir, my name is McGee. It's Tony's idea of a joke."

"Oh," said Rush, "I see. Well, as you're an expert perhaps you could look at my internet connection. It seems to be running slow."

"Of course, I'd be glad to," said McGee, "where's your computer?"

Rush pointed to a desk in a corner of the room and Tim went to look at it.

"This is a pretty nice machine, Mr Rush, an X457ZQ, top of the range, only just out."

"I used to work in computers," said Rush.

Something like a sigh was heard from Tony's direction but it was quickly covered by the sound of pans being unpacked.

"What work was that, Sir?" asked McGee as he switched the computer on.

"I lectured in the Computing and Mathematical Science department at Caltech."

A louder sigh came from the kitchen and McGee looked up from the desk with a look of something approaching hero worship on his face.

"Coffee's up," said Tony, coming in with three steaming mugs, "just instant. Hope that's OK."

"Why would you apologise for serving instant coffee?" asked Rush.

"If you met our Boss, you'd know why," said Tony briefly.

Tim continued working on the computer while the others drank their coffee.

"It's a nice place," observed Tony.

"It's a sensible place," said Rush, "my old house was too big for me. My wife died last year and I've got no family nearby. My son's the nearest but he lives in Denver. He wanted me to move to live with him and his wife but I wanted to stay in California. This was the compromise," and he sighed.

"The people seem friendly," said Tony, "looks as if there's a lot going on."

"Yep, they seem to encourage the residents to help run the place," said Rush, "that lady on reception this morning. An elderly guy was cutting the grass when I got here yesterday."

"And that orchestra," said Tony, "that looked … interesting."

"Found the problem," said Tim.

"What is it?" asked Rush.

"You're using a low speed internet connection," said Tim.

"It's supposed to be high speed, state of the art," objected Rush, "it was in the brochure."

"Sorry, Sir," said Tim, "the cabling looks fine but the connection is just low speed. Let me see if there's anything I can do to boost it."

"I'm going to back to Reception. See if Emily has sorted out our accommodation," said Tony but the other two had their heads bent over the computer and barely noticed him going.

As Tony walked to the main building he noticed an elderly man sitting on a riding lawn mower on the front grass. He waved happily to Tony as he adjusted his cap. Tony found Emily still on duty at the reception desk.

"Hi, Honey," she said, "how you doing?"

"Fine," said Tony, "you still working?"

"Oh, I don't mind," said Emily, "I spoke to Lucy and she said it's fine for you and your friend to spend a few nights at the cottage. Sadie and Jake are going to look in and change the sheets for you and tidy up a bit."

"Are they the janitors?" asked Tony.

"Oh, no," said Emily, "they just like to help out. It's good to keep busy, you know."

"If you say so," said Tony, "I'm surprised the cottage is empty. I'd have thought you got lots of guests here."

"It gets busy sometimes," said Emily, "but most of us are on our own, haven't got any family so we don't get many visitors."

"I see," said Tony, "Have you been here long?"

"About five years," said Emily, "my husband and I moved in after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. There were more couples then but now it's mostly people on their own, like me."

"Your husband died?"

"Yes, about two years ago. I thought about moving but I've got happy memories here so I decided to stay on."

"I'm sorry," said Tony.

"Don't be, Sugar, we were married fifty two years. It's the way of things." She patted Tony's hand and then looked up, "Oh, there's Dorothy wandering again. She keeps looking for her engagement ring. We told her that it's gone off to be repaired but she won't believe us. I'll go and get her, she shouldn't be walking round like this. I'll see you later, why don't you come and have a cup of tea with me this afternoon?"

"I'd like that," said Tony, "but tell Sadie and Jack they don't have to fix up the cottage for us. We'll do it ourselves."

"It's no trouble," said Emily.

"No, that's fine," said Tony, finding himself uncomfortable at the idea of these elderly people waiting on him.

"If you say so," said Emily happily.

Tony watched her go over to Dorothy and walk her back to her apartment. He was about to go back to McGee and Rush when his cell rang.

"DiNozzo," he replied, "Hi, Boss."

"How's it going, DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs.

"McGee's found a computer superhero, we may not get him back," said Tony.

"And you? What have you found, DiNozzo?"

"Not sure, Boss. It's a nice place, nice people."

"But?"

"But something feels a bit hinky."