Brinley woke up early, when the sun was just beginning to peak through the curtains of his bedroom. Today was the day—the day when he'd get his new little brother. Despite what he'd said to Severus the day before, he was nervous about the situation. Severus might not care about Brinley's magical abilities, but there might be something else that he did care about—something Harry could do that Brinley couldn't do. Brinley knew how fickle parents could be—his own parents had become completely consumed with Coulter and had ignored Brinley altogether with.

It wasn't as if Brinley could do anything about it. Sure, Severus had talked to him about it the night before, but Brinley wasn't in a position to tell Severus not to take in another kid—not when it was Severus's generosity that had kept Brinley out of an orphanage—or worse—in the first place.

Brinley pulled on a pair of slacks and a starched shirt. Harry had been raised by muggles, after all, and if Severus insisted that Brinley wear muggle clothes when they went to visit Zach he'd definitely think it was necessary when they went to pick Harry up for the first time. The last thing Brinley wanted to do was make Severus cross with him before they even collected Harry. He preferred to hold onto Severus's high estimation of him for as long as possible.

Not that it would last.

"My feet are getting tired," Dudley whined.

Harry rolled his eyes at the older boy, though if he were to be honest, his feet were beginning to ache as well. The subways hadn't been running when they'd left the night before, but since they were already packed and ready to go, Liam had suggested they walk as far as they could until things started up. They'd been walking all night long.

Liam was as pleasant as ever. He brushed a lock of hair out of his face and said, "Don't worry. The next train station is only half a mile from here. We can hop a train just as it's coming out of the station."

Harry shook his head. "How do you know that?"

"I used to travel all over," Liam said. "Before we met."

There was a knock on the front door.

"Brinley," Severus called from the dining room. "Do you mind getting that?"

Brinley frowned. "Why do we even have house elves, Severus?"

"Brinley!" Severus's voice was sharp.

Brinley winced. Severus hated it when Brinley treated house elves like—well, like house elves. Brinley didn't understand it, but within his frist week here he'd known better to deride them in front of Severus. He wasn't sure why he'd done so this morning. He supposed he was simply feeling out of sorts.

"I've got it," Brinley said. He laid his hand on the knob of the door for a moment and then pulled the door open. Uncle Tony and Uncle Leroy were standing on the other side of the door, with Zach between them. Brinley bit back a grimace and said, "Hello. Please come in."

Zach grinned and bounced through the door. "Excited, Brinners? You're gonna be a big brother!"

"I already am a big brother," Brinley said. "Or… I mean, I was. I have…had… a little brother named Coulter. When I was living with my biological parents, I mean."

"Oh," Zach said. "Were you joined at the soul?"

Brinley wrinkled his nose and looked up to exchange an exasperated look with Zach's fathers. To his surprise, though, Tony seemed completely oblivious, and Gibbs was looking down at Zach fondly. Brinley shook his head. This family was nuts.

"Brinley?" Zach asked.

Brinley's jaw tightened. He said, "No. We weren't joined at the soul."

Zach frowned.

Brinley shook his head and turned away. Over his shoulder, he said, "Severus is in the dining room, I believe."

"It's easy," Liam said. "Really. There's nothing to it."

Harry stared at the train tracks dubiously. Jumping onto a moving train didn't sound easy to him—and if it wasn't easy for him, it sure as hell wouldn't be easy for Dudley.

Dudley seemed to realize that as well. "Can't we just buy tickets? We have that money that I took from the house—and you already said that we can't spend it on food."

"We shouldn't spend it on train tickets, either," Liam said. "Who knows when we're going to need money?"

"We need money now," Harry said. "Look, you may be comfortable jumping on and off trains, but Dudley and I aren't. I really don't want to get one of us killed because we're too cheap to buy train tickets."

"It's not just that we're too cheap," Liam said. "There's also the fact that no one is going to sell three train tickets to London to a couple of kids."

Dudley grinned. "Let me do the talking. I'm good at talking people into doing what I want them to do."

Severus poured tea for himself and DiNozzo and then, sneering slightly, poured a cup of coffee for Gibbs. Personally, Severus couldn't abide coffee—far too dark and bitter, like drinking poisoned river water. On the other hand, Gibbs was one of the more respectable members of Lupin's family—and Severus's family by extension—and Severus couldn't bring himself to do anything more than sneer.

Zach wandered into the room, dragging a hand through his hair. "Hey, Uncle Sev."

"Good morning, Zach," Severus said. "Are you excited about today?"

"More excited than Brinley, I think," Zach said.

Severus frowned. Concern darkened his eyes. "What did he say?"

Zach shrugged and threw himself into one of the dining room chairs. "Just that he's already been a brother before."

Gibbs gave Severus a meaningful look. "He seemed upset when Zach asked if Brinley and Coulter had been attached at the soul."

Severus frowned and tapped his lower lip. He knew that Gibbs had used the phrase to explain sibling loyalty to Zach back when their family was first moving to England. Zach hadn't understood why Tony wanted to be near his brothers. Severus himself had reiterated the statement when talking to Zach about Celia… Of course, Severus knew that Brinley's relationship with his younger brother hadn't been the greatest, but for him to actually be adverse to questions on the subject… He hadn't expected that.

Gibbs caught Severus's eye. "He'll adjust. He just needs to see that you won't behave the same way that…"

"Careful," Severus said, shooting a meaningful look to the door. Brinley's parents had treated him abominably, but for all that, there was a part of Brinley that was still intensely loyal to them. It would hurt him to hear his new family badmouthing his biological family.

The floo flared to life just then and Dumbledore came through. His blue eyes were glistening pleasantly. "Gentlemen. How are you doing today?"

"Fabulous," Severus drawled.

Tony rolled his eyes and punched Severus in the shoulder. He said, "Are the kids packed and ready to go?"

Dumbledore frowned. "Not exactly."

"How much longer do they need?" Zach asked. "Are they saying goodbye to their friends at the orphanage?"

"They're not in an orphanage," Dumbledore said gently.

"Well, wherever they are," Zach said, shrugging.

Dumbledore lowered himself into a chair. "In point of fact, they're in an abandoned sub shop."

Severus's hand tightened on his tea cup. "They're what?"

Dumbledore raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "They're being well looked after. The ministry is keeping watch."

Gibbs snorted. "The ministry. Sure."

Tony added in a sarcastic voice, "I've never seen an undercover op go wrong. Not once."

"An undercover op?" Dumbledore said. "This isn't an MCIS case. It's just a couple of children who are afraid of going to an orphanage. I thought that we'd have more of their support if we didn't force them to go into one against their will…"

"Orphanages are no fun," Gibbs said, "but I think they could have managed for a night while we got their rooms together. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Jethro!" Tony said. He pressed a hand to his partner's forearm.

Gibbs sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. He shot a look in Zach's direction. "Change of plans, buddy."

"We're not adopting?" Disappointment laced Zach's tone.

"We are," Tony said, shooting Gibbs a look.

"Of course we are," Gibbs confirmed. "But I don't think we're going to bring you with us to pick your new brothers up. If they haven't even been told they're getting adopted, things could become…unpredictable."

"Oh," Zach said. "Like they might be upset or something. Right."

Tony said, "Let me floo Remy and see if he can take you."

"Can't you floo Uncle Greg and Uncle Jimmy?" Zach said. "Only, the full moon was just two days ago and Celia might still be kinda grumpy. 'sides, I'm guessing Brinners is gonna need to come too, right? He gets along okay with Simon."

Tony exchanged a look with Severus. It was no secret that Severus didn't approve of House and Wilson's daughter, and Tony was sure that Severus didn't want Brinley spending any more time with her than necessitated by normal family gatherings. To his surprise, however, Severus merely gave him a wary nod.

"Go collect Brinley, please," Severus said to Zach.

Zach nodded and scampered out of the room.

Dudley sauntered back to the bench where Liam and Harry were waiting, three train tickets clutched in his pudgy hand.

"How the hell…" Liam muttered.

Harry shrugged. "Like he said, he's good at talking people into things."

"I told them we were travelling to see our dad," Dudley said. "Children of divorced parents. Not really a big deal."

Harry grabbed a ticket out of Dudley's hand. "You know, Dud. You're not completely useless."

"Thanks." Dudley dropped onto the bench, making it groan. "You're still a total freak."

Liam said, "At least he can fit through a window without cutting his stomach to pieces."

The neighborhood that they wound up in was typically muggle. It wasn't far from the neighborhood where Severus had grown up, in fact, and it was hard not to sneer. Dumbledore walked at the front of the group, his stride more graceful than should have been allowed for a man his age. Trailing barely behind the man, Severus's movements were much jerkier. Ever since he'd heard that Dumbledore had left the boys alone in a sub shop, his gut had been twisting itself in knots. Judging by the looks on Tony's and Gibbs's faces, they were feeling the same way.

Dumbledore suddenly paused outside of a squashed building that didn't look much different than any of the surrounding buildings, except for the fact that this one was boarded up. A crooked sign over the door read Larry's Subs.

"They're in there?" Gibbs asked.

A previously invisible man stepped into sight. He said, "They went in around 9 last night. My men have been watching the place all night."

Severus stepped forward and pulled the boards from the door. The coming conversation was going to be awkward at best, he realized, but he was never one to shy from a difficult conversation. In any case, ever since he'd heard that Harry was to be his son, he'd been anxious to see the boy. Would he look like Lily? Would he smell like her, or sound like her, or carry her kindness in his heart?

In the end, it didn't matter. He burst into the sub shop, Gibbs and DiNozzo close on his heels, only to find the place completely empty. Severus froze. His left hand curled into a fist.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said quietly, jerking his head in a silent gesture that Severus didn't understand.

DiNozzo and Gibbs silently padded through the building. It took Severus a moment to realize that they were using their MCIS training to check the house for the children, as if they might have secreted themselves away in a cupboard in the zero seconds it had taken Severus to enter the building.

Severus didn't help them look the building over. He trusted their thoroughness, but more than that, he felt in his gut that the kids weren't here. He turned instead on Dumbledore. "What are you playing at, old man?"

Dumbledore looked pale. He turned to the man who'd appeared when they got there. "DeLacey?"

DeLacey shook his head. "I'll talk to my men."

A few minutes later, DiNozzo and Gibbs came back up the stairs shaking their heads.

"Looks like they're gone for good," DiNozzo said. "Most of their stuff is missing."

"How can you tell?" Severus asked. "How can you possibly know what they had for stuff to begin with?"

"Dust marks," Gibbs explained. "This place hasn't been cleaned in a long time."

DeLacey came in the door looking furious. "The idiot I had watching this place last night fell asleep!"

DiNozzo shook his head. "I told you. Stake outs are dangerous and unpredictable. I should know."

"Yeah?" Gibbs said. "You ever fall asleep while on a stake-out."

DiNozzo's eyes widened. "No. Never, Boss."

Severus pressed his lips together and spun on his heel. He walked outside, feeling furious. He was sure that it wouldn't be hard to locate the boys—how far could three boys get?—but it shouldn't have been a problem at all, damn it.

A shouted "Ow!" came from behind him. He turned to see DiNozzo rubbing at the back of his head.

DiNozzo glared at Gibbs. "What was that for?"

"For calling me Boss," Gibbs said. "You don't work for me anymore."

"Yeah," DiNozzo said. "Well, I'm hardly about to call Dumbledore boss when he can't even manage to babysit our kids for a night, am I?"

"Don't be an idiot," Gibbs said.

Unperturbed, DiNozzo added, "Besides, you didn't seem to mind me calling you Boss the other night."

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked.

Severus's upper lip curled. "As much as I'd love to stand around and hear more about your trysts, our children are in fact missing."

DiNozzo nodded. His face turned suddenly more serious. "I know. Trust me, I do. I just…"

"He acts like a complete idiot when he's nervous," Gibbs said. "He always has."