AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, the co-write thing didn't work out, but I do have to thank Shaggy37 for some invaluable help getting this chapter started. I had to mess with a few things in this chapter but hopefully it all works.

Next chapter will be 'Judgment Day' and I'm going to try and make the end a really big tearjerker.

Chapter 10


Dog Tags

'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee…'

Or as Tony now thought as he caught a wicked right cross to the face, more like 'Dodge like a mongoose, hit like an elephant'.

Outside the boxing ring, Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee stood watching Kelly fighting with Tony. While Tony had taken a stance at the start of the fight, Kelly had just smiled and with a quick leg sweep had knocked the older agent flat on his back. For Tony, the fight had gone downhill from there.

"Is this a carnival fight?" Ziva asked, looking at Gibbs.

"I think she meant a 'fair' fight, boss," McGee said, looking at Gibbs.

"Exactly," Ziva said, nodding.

"What, you don't think Tony can beat her?" McGee said, looking at Ziva. "Care to bet on that?"

Ziva smirked and nodded. "Very well, McGee. $100?"

"You're on," McGee replied, grinning smugly. Looking over at Gibbs, he asked, "How about you, boss? You in?"

"Sure," Gibbs replied, watching Tony and Kelly.

In the ring, Kelly was surprised when Tony finally managed to knock her down. As he moved to pin her, Kelly brought her knees up before swinging her legs around and pinning Tony. After a few moments, Kelly relaxed her hold and Tony stood up.

"Where'd you learn that?" Tony asked, groaning.

"Repeat of 'Walker, Texas Ranger'," Kelly replied with a grin before kicking her leg out and knocking Tony flat on his back. "Saw that on the movie 'Miss Congeniality'."

"I got to get a new girlfriend," Tony groaned under his breath. As he watched Kelly get to her feet, Tony started thinking. Holding out a hand, he said, "Help me up?"

Kelly rolled her eyes but as she took Tony's hand, she was surprised when he pulled her back down and rolling, pinned her to the mat.

As McGee watched, he said, "You know, let's make it interesting." Looking at Ziva and Gibbs, he added, "$400?" But hearing a loud 'Omph!' McGee groaned and looked at Ziva and Gibbs. "I… I… don't have my wallet on me right this second." Looking at Kelly who had walked to the edge of the ring, McGee asked, "Where'd you learn that move?"

"Ziva taught me that last week," Kelly replied, joining her father and beaming. "And Dad's been teaching me to fight since I was 5." Looking at McGee, she asked, "And that was $400 for each of us, right?"

But before McGee could reply, Gibbs' phone rang. "Yeah. Gibbs." After a moment, Gibbs hung up and looked at his team. "Get changed and grab your gear. Petty Officer Kyle Hanson didn't report for duty this morning."

As Kelly and Tony headed for the locker room, Kelly said, "So that crack you made about getting a new girlfriend…"

"Well, I… I-I wasn't serious," Tony replied, quickly, glancing over his shoulder to see Gibbs was.

"I know you weren't, Tony," Kelly said with a smile. Glancing at him, she said, "If you were serious… you wouldn't be standing right now."

As Tony grabbed a quick shower and changed clothes, he was starting to wonder if he should have started dating Ziva instead of Kelly.

----------

While Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva went to the front of Petty Officer Hanson's house, Kelly and McGee headed for the back, both with their guns drawn. Kelly could hear something or someone moving around inside and when she heard something breaking, she started for the door when suddenly she was knocked backwards.

Putting her arms up to defend herself against the animal—a large German Shepard—attacking her, Kelly felt the dog bite down on her arm. Punching the animal on the nose, it released Kelly's arm for a second before making a lunge for her neck. But before the dog could bite down hard, there was a gunshot and the dog fell to the ground.

Unable to hear anything over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, it took a while before Kelly registered Ziva and McGee helping her up and into one of the patio chairs.

"Kelly. You okay?"

"Huh?" Kelly said, not quite focusing on who was talking. After a few moments, though, the adrenaline rush started to ebb and she found herself facing her father.

"Are you okay?" Gibbs asked again, pressing a hand to the wound on his daughter's neck.

"Yeah," Kelly finally breathed. "Yeah." Looking down at the dog, she said, "I don't think he is, though."

"DiNozzo, call Ducky and tell him he needs to get over here," Gibbs said, looking at his top senior agent.

Looking down at the dog and then back up quickly at McGee, Kelly said, "You killed the dog?"

"He is still breathing," Ziva said, kneeling down next to the German Shepard.

"What can I do to… Whoo…" Kelly had started to stand up but she felt light headed and she sat back down again.

"The only thing you're doing," Gibbs said as he looked at Kelly. "--Is waiting for Ducky to get here so he can check you out before he takes care of the body."

"Body?" Kelly asked, starting to get up again before sitting back down.

"Sit," Gibbs commanded, looking at Kelly before he headed back to the back door. Looking over his shoulder, he added, "Stay."

Hearing the dog whine, Kelly looked down. "Be glad he's not the one who shot at you." At that, the dog whined again, looking up at Kelly with a forlorn look.

----

When Ducky finally arrived, he first checked the wound on Kelly's neck before turning his attention to the wound on her arm. "Well, you're fortunate, my dear. I think you'll be able to avoid getting stitches this time" After field-dressing the wounds, Ducky eyed Kelly. "When was your last tetanus shot?"

"6 months ago," Kelly replied. Seeing the tiny look of surprise on the medical examiner's face, Kelly smiled. "Dirty basement, wood, nails… bare feet."

"Ahhh, yes," Ducky replied, nodding as he straightened up. "Are you still feeling lightheaded?"

"Not as much," Kelly replied as Gibbs came over. "Dad, I'm fine."

"Uh-huh," Gibbs said doubtfully. "You're still going with McGee to take the evidence back to Abby."

"I don't need a babysitter, Dad," Kelly insisted as she stood and headed to the car where McGee and Palmer were loading the dog into the backseat after McGee muzzled the animal and tied it's paws.

"Don't argue," Gibbs said, curtly as he went to join Tony and Ziva.

Catching Ducky's look as he moved to follow Gibbs, Kelly said, "I'm fine, Ducky. Really."

Ducky nodded and went into the house as Kelly stood and slowly made her way to the car and very carefully sat in the passenger side and fastened her seatbelt before McGee got in and started the car.

----

Pulling into the evidence garage, Kelly didn't even wait for McGee to turn the car off before she jumped out and made a run for the nearest trashcan, throwing up what little breakfast she'd had earlier.

"Oh, my God!" Abby exclaimed hurrying over as Kelly stood up, wiping her mouth. "What happened to you?"

"I was attacked by a dog," Kelly replied as Abby carefully pulled back a corner of the bandage on her neck. "Apparently, he didn't like us serving a warrant."

"What happened to the dog?" Abby asked, as she saw McGee get out of the car.

"McGee shot him," Kelly replied, sitting down as Abby went to the backseat of the car to tend to the dog.

"It was self-defense!" McGee exclaimed when Abby turned to him, glaring. "I was trying to help Kelly!"

"By shooting that cute little dog?!" Abby shouted, angrily.

"He's not cute and little!" McGee protested. "He-He's vicious! And large!"

"How could you shoot an innocent animal, McGee?" Abby went on, glaring at him.

"Kelly, back me up on this!" McGee said, turning to Kelly who had bolted for the trashcan again. Turning back to Abby, he said, "I didn't have a choice, Abby."

"He's right," Kelly said, shakily as she stood up again.

"I still can't believe you shoot an innocent animal," Abby said to McGee as she grabbed his jacket and tucked it around the dog.

"Abby, that's my jacket!" McGee protested. "Don't you think you're compromising the evidence with my $500 Hugo Boss?"

Straightening up, Abby turned to McGee, daggers in her gaze. "If you think I can't distinguish the fibers from your stupid jacket from the evidence on the dog, you don't know me, McGee! And right now, I don't want to know you!"

Despite the pain from her arm and neck, Kelly couldn't help smiling as Abby petted the German Shepard, saying, gently, "Good dog…" Standing up, she turned to McGee and glared at him once again. "Bad McGee!"

----------

Standing at the sink in the ladies' room, Kelly looked herself over before grabbing her bloody clothes. She'd changed out of the outfit she'd worn earlier and after brushing her teeth twice, she finally felt ready to get back to work. Sort of…

Her stomach was still flat but that would change. And before she started to show she'd have to tell the director about her pregnancy… And her father… and the baby's father…

"Nice little mess you're in," Kelly said to her reflection in the mirror. After deciding against going back to the squad room, she headed down to Abby's lab where the forensic scientist was getting the evidence off the dog.

"Good boy," Kelly said when the dog started towards her.

"He is," Abby agreed. "When I finish getting the evidence off of Jethro—"

"Jethro?" Kelly asked, slowly kneeling down as the dog came over to her. Scratching him behind the ears, Kelly felt her anger at the dog ebb a bit as 'Jethro' nosed the bandage on her neck and whine before licking the bandage on her arm. Trying not to smile, Kelly looked into the dog's eyes. She could understand why Abby named the dog Jethro. Those eyes were just like her father's: quiet, reserved… kind, but with strength and loyalty. "You're sorry you attacked me, aren't you?" Kelly whispered, nuzzling the dog. Leaning in closer, she whispered, "Don't apologize. Sign of weakness." Hearing Abby chuckling behind her, Kelly looked up.

"So what do you think?" Abby asked, kneeling down as well.

"I think I want a dog," Kelly replied, turning back to Jethro the dog.

"Want to help me clean him up?" Abby asked, looking at Kelly.

--

After cleaning up the dog and swabbing the canine's mouth for DNA, Abby smiled at him as Kelly started running the DNA against the swabs from Petty Officer Hanson's wounds.

"Who's a good Jethro?" Abby said, petting the dog as she checked his mouth for any evidence she may have over looked.

"I'm a good… Jethro," Gibbs said, coming in and looking at the German Shepard.

"Don't be mad," Abby said, quickly as she stood and looked at her boss. "Be flattered. He's just so strong and silent, and handsome… so I called him 'Jethro'."

Looking over at Kelly, Gibbs raised an eyebrow at his daughter who shrugged. "He has your eyes… although his are brown instead of blue."

"He attacked you," Gibbs said, gesturing at the dog who barked twice.

"And he's sorry for that," Kelly replied as Jethro came up and put a paw on her leg.

"Dog belongs in the kennel," Gibbs said, quietly.

Kelly looked at Jethro and nodded at the kennel, smiling when the dog went right into the crate and turned around, lying down as resting his head on his paws. "He's innocent, Dad," Kelly said as she closed the kennel door.

"Kelly," Gibbs said, a slight note of warning in his voice.

"I know," Kelly went on as she stood up. "The evidence could say otherwise and even if Jethro is innocent he doesn't belong to NCIS. You don't have to say it, Dad.'

"Good," Gibbs replied with a nod.

"We'll let you know when we find something, Gibbs," Abby threw in.

"Okay," Gibbs said as he noticed Kelly subtly moving so she was standing in front of the kennel, her hands behind her back. As he headed for the door, Gibbs said, "Dog stays in the kennel, guys."

----

While Tony and Ziva headed back to Pax River, Kelly went to Autopsy and found Ducky and Palmer finishing up on Kyle Hanson.

"Ahhh, Kelly," Ducky said, looking up. "How are you feeling?"

"I'll live," Kelly said as she approached the corpse, looking at the bite wounds. "How come the wounds at the neck are so much worse?"

"Does your father know you're down here?" Ducky asked, with a slight smile.

"Don't ask," Kelly muttered, still looking at the body. "The wounds?"

"It looks as though Petty Officer Hanson was mauled," Ducky replied, frowning. "By a dog."

"Do we know for sure which dog?" Kelly asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Not yet," Ducky said, quietly. "Kelly…"

"You didn't see his eyes, Ducky," Kelly insisted. "That dog did not kill Hanson."

"His eyes told you that?" Ducky asked, intrigued.

"It was like looking into Dad's eyes," Kelly replied.

Ducky was about to reply when Gibbs entered the room. "Ducky? You got that report yet?"

"Oh, you mean the one that says Jethro's a killer and has to be put down like the dog he is?" Kelly said, crossing her arms and glaring at her father.

"I thought the dog's name was 'Butch'," Ducky said, confused as he grabbed his report off of his desk.

"Abby renamed him," Gibbs explained as he indicated Ducky and Kelly were to follow him as he headed for Abby's lab.

In the lab, Kelly said, "Hanson was mauled by a dog, Abbs. Most likely Jethro."

"No way," Abby protested. "I mean, yes, I found Hanson's flesh and hair follicles from his arm in Jethro's teeth but he was probably just trying to save his owner."

Kelly sighed. "Abby… I know how you feel. But… The evidence is there. I'm sorry."

Abby crossed her arms and gave Gibbs and Kelly a look. "I don't care what the evidence says. Sometimes you have to go with your gut. And my gut says that Jethro did not kill Petty Officer Hanson."

Kelly looked at her father, then at Abby. "Abby… Sometimes… your gut can be wrong. Look… Maybe—Maybe Jethro is innocent. But if he is, how can you prove it with Hanson's flesh in the dog's teeth, bite marks on the body…" When Abby's computer beeped, she added, "A positive DNA match on the dog. How can he be innocent?"

"I don't know," Abby admitted. But after a moment, she strengthened her resolve. "But he is and I will prove it."

"Abbs," Gibbs started to say but Kelly stopped him.

"Dad, you and the others need to find out who was pushing drugs through the base," Kelly said, ignoring the look she was getting. "I'll work with Abby."

"Kelly…" Gibbs said with an exasperated sigh.

"If it turns out Jethro's a killer… you'll be the first to know," Kelly promised.

Once Ducky and Gibbs had left the lab, Abby gave Kelly a look that was morose and angry. "How could you take his side?"

"I'm not," Kelly insisted, pulling a chair over to the computer. "I'm with you, Abby. But Dad's not going to trust your gut on this one. He's going to believe the evidence. So let's get everything together and see if we can figure this out."

"You really think Jethro's innocent?" Abby asked, doubtfully

Kelly shrugged. "Maybe," she said, quietly.

-------

But even after coming through everything, there was more evidence condemning Jethro than exonerating him.

"We have cocaine in the dog, bite marks and Jethro's saliva…" Kelly said, sadly as she sat at the computer. "On the plus side we have a flea on an otherwise immaculate German Shepard." Resting her chin on her hand, and looking at the computer she heard a soft woof at her feet and looked at Jethro who was still in the kennel. "You're screwed, boy. I'm sorry."

Jethro barked four times and Kelly smiled as she imagined the dog saying, "Don't apologize. It's a sign of weakness." Looking at Abby as she sat up, Kelly said, "Let's say the flea didn't come from Jethro."

"It had to come from somewhere," Abby replied. "Maybe… another dog?"

"Then let's find it," Kelly said, standing up. "Bring Jethro."

"Are you sure?" Abby asked, doubtfully as she opened the kennel.

"If we leave him here he'll be gone when we get back," Kelly replied. "Let's go."

----

It didn't take much to make Jenny suspicious. Call it Gibbs' influence, but catching Ducky as he headed into the elevator, Jenny waited till the doors closed before stopping the elevator.

"Something on your mind, Director?" Ducky asked politely.

"How's Kelly?" Jenny asked, giving Ducky a look that clearly sent the message that she knew something was going on.

"Doing fine," Ducky replied. After a moment, he asked, "Has she told you?"

"Told me what?" Jenny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ducky smiled slyly. "I'm afraid I can't tell you what you want to know, Director."

"If there's something wrong with one of my agents, I need to know, Dr.," Jenny insisted.

Ducky shook his head. "I can't. I'm sorry." As Jenny started the elevator again, he added, "And before you make the suggestion, Jethro doesn't know either."

----------

On the way to Pax River, Kelly went over printouts of the crime scene photos, looking for anything that would explain so much evidence pointing to Jethro the dog who was lying on the backseat of Kelly's car. Behind the wheel, Abby glanced over at the photos as she drove. "Anything?"

Kelly shook her head as she looked at a picture of the bite marks on Petty Officer Hanson's neck. There was something about it… something not quite right. "Is Jethro an attack dog or a drug dog?" Kelly asked, looking at the picture of the cocaine. Seeing that Abby wasn't sure where the question was going, Kelly said, "Drug dogs are trained to hold, but not bite packages of drugs."

"But if someone was trying to get the drugs away from the dog," Abby said, following the line of thought. "The bag could have ripped, and Jethro could have swallowed or inhaled it."

"Drug dogs are trained to take down dealers," Kelly went on as she showed her badge at the entrance to the base. "Jethro did what he was trained to do but because he was high, he didn't realize how aggressive he was being."

"That still doesn't clear him, though," Abby said, sadly as she looked at the rearview mirror at the dog lying down in back.

"No," Kelly admitted. "But maybe what we find at the crime scene will."

--

Parking outside Hanson's house, Abby went to open the back door of the car but as Kelly got out, Jethro bolted from the car and raced across the yard and to a wooded area where he stopped and started digging in the loose dirt.

Kneeling down next to the dog, Kelly started digging nearby and pulled out a broken knife. "Okay…" Looking up at Abby, she asked, "You wouldn't happen to have an evidence bag on you, would you?"

"I think we're going to need more than that," Abby said, pointing to where Jethro had been digging.

Kelly stood and looked just as her phone rang. Answering it, she said, "McGee, we're at the base. You better get down here. I think we've got another body and I found something very interesting." After signing off with McGee, Kelly pulled a plastic bag out of her pocket and dropped the knife into it. "You know what…" Her face scrunched in thought, Kelly hurried back to the car, Abby and Jethro hot on her heels. Pulling out the photos she'd been looking at earlier, Kelly leaned against the car as she pulled out the picture of PO Hanson's neck wounds. Pointing at the wounds in the picture, Kelly turned to Abby and asked, "What does that look like to you?"

"Dog bites," Abby replied, confused.

"No," Kelly said, shaking her head. Pointing to a particular puncture wound, she said, "That."

"That's not from a dog," Abby said, slowly.

"No," Kelly agreed, looking at the photo again. "More like the tip of a knife." Looking around, she frowned. "We checked the house. We didn't find a knife tip anywhere."

"And if it was in the body, Ducky would have brought it down," Abby added.

--

Gibbs wasn't happy when he finally arrived with McGee, Ducky, and Palmer. Even when Kelly handed over the knife and showed him the photo.

"You shouldn't have taken the dog, Abby," Gibbs said, looking at his forensic scientist.

"Dad, I told Abby we needed to bring Jethro with us," Kelly insisted. "And if we hadn't, we wouldn't have found the knife or the bones."

"Bones of what?" Gibbs asked, looking at Ducky.

"Give me a moment, Jethro," Ducky muttered, turning when he heard barking at his shoulder. "I wasn't actually talking to you," Ducky said to the dog. "And, er… you may want to cover your eyes." Turning back to the bones, he brushed away more of the dirt. "What's here is not human." Kneeling down behind Jethro the dog, Abby covered the dog's eyes as Ducky concluded, "It's canine."

----

Back in the lab, Kelly checked the knife for prints as well as combed through the old evidence to see if the knife tip turned up while Abby stayed in her office, working on other stuff with the door locked.

Hearing someone come into the lab, Kelly looked up to see Petty Officer Erica Pirelli accompanied by McGee.

"You're here for Jethro… aren't you?" Kelly said, sadly.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Pirelli said.

"They're in there," Kelly said, pointing as she turned back to the knife.

But when Jethro started barking loudly and aggressively, Kelly turned and watched the dog as well as PO Pirelli and McGee.

"Pay no attention to him, Jethro," Abby said, not looking up.

"Abby, open the door," McGee said, knocking on the glass. When Abby didn't reply, McGee said, "Jethro has to go now."

When Jethro started growling, Kelly stood and walked over to the glass, blocking the dog's view of McGee. When Jethro continued to growl and bark, Kelly moved so she was in front of Petty Officer Pirelli. When Jethro's growls grew quieter, Kelly turned to face the other woman. "I guess the dog doesn't like you. I wonder why."

"Kelly, come on," McGee said, looking at Abby again. "Abby, open the door right now."

"Do it, Abby," Kelly said, crossing her arms and watching Pirelli who took a few steps back as Abby stood, facing the sliding glass door as Jethro started growling louder. Turning to look at Abby, Kelly said, "Open the door, Abby."

But before Abby could open the door, Pirelli grabbed the broken knife and Kelly, pressing the broken edge to Kelly's throat while grabbing the arm that Jethro had bitten before.

"Erica, what the hell are you doing?" McGee said, shocked as he reached for his weapon.

Pressing the knife edge harder against Kelly's neck, Pirelli said, "Don't do that, Timothy."

"She's the one who's been pushing cocaine through the base," Kelly said, trying to let the Petty Officer see that she was scared. "Killed Petty Officer Hanson, too, I'll bet."

"Prove it," Pirelli said, walking with Kelly backwards towards the door.

"Your prints are on the handle of the broken knife we found yesterday," McGee said, looking at the computer match that popped up on the screen. Catching Kelly's eye, McGee moved closer to the wall, blocking Pirelli's view of Abby who quickly punched in her code to unlock the door.

"Step back to where you were," Pirelli ordered as she reached the doorway.

"Yes, ma'am," McGee said, dodging quickly as Jethro bounded out of the office and lunged at Pirelli, knocking her down as well as Kelly who scrambled to her feet.

"Jethro, no!" Kelly said as the dog went to attack Pirelli. When Jethro gave her a slightly puzzled look, Kelly said, firmly, "No, Jethro."

"You okay?" McGee asked as he pulled out his handcuffs and hurried to Pirelli.

"I'm fine, Tim," Kelly said. "Jethro… off."

Jethro backed away but at McGee handcuffed the murderous petty officer, the dog started pacing before coughing up blood and collapsing.

"Jethro!" Abby exclaimed as she ran to the dog's side.

Bringing over a small cart, Kelly grabbed Abby's spare lab coat and after a bit of work Abby and Kelly got Jethro on the cart as McGee handcuffed Pirelli and took her to one of the interrogation.

Hurrying up to Autopsy, Abby shouted, "Ducky, I need help!"

"What happened?" Ducky asked as he dashed over.

"He was pacing then he started coughing up blood," Kelly replied.

"Get the x-ray machine, Mr. Palmer," Ducky ordered as he went to look at the dog.

"Is he dying?" Abby asked, worried as Kelly scratched Jethro's ears.

"I don't know," Ducky said, feeling entirely out of his element. A live body was challenging enough but a live body that wasn't human…?

"That's not a good answer!" Abby snapped, fear heavy in her voice.

"You must calm down!" Ducky ordered as Palmer brought the x-ray machine over.

Once they had the x-ray, Kelly looked at it, pointing. "There. In the stomach."

"What is it?" Abby asked as Ducky and Palmer prepared to operate on the dog.

"My guess?" Kelly said, looking at Abby. "The knife tip."

"What?" Abby asked, confused.

"Jethro must have been licking Hanson's neck wound and accidentally swallowed the tip of the knife," Kelly explained, turning to Ducky just as he managed to extract the knife tip. "Ducky."

Getting an evidence jar, Kelly took the knife tip back down to the lab and after pulling on latex gloves, she grabbed the broken knife Pirelli had dropped on the floor when Jethro had pounced on her. After matching the tip to the knife, Kelly called the squad room and after a few moments, she headed to Interrogation Room B where Pirelli was still sitting, handcuffed.

"So we've got Hanson, an unidentified dog… and almost Jethro," Kelly said, circling the table.

"What are you talking about?" Pirelli said, confused.

"Your victims," Kelly clarified. "Jethro's going to be fine. We managed to remove the tip of your boot knife and repair the damage." Smiling, she said, "So you just have to worry about two murders."

"Is that all?" Pirelli said, her eyes cold as she looked at Kelly.

"Yeah," Kelly said, leaving the room and heading back to Autopsy to check on Jethro.

-------------------

"Commander Weatherly," Gibbs said as he walked into the man's office a few days later.

"Special Agent Gibbs," Michael Weatherly said with a nod. "Can't believe it was Petty Officer Pirelli. She was a good officer. "How's Butch?"

"You mean 'Jethro'? Gibbs asked with a smile. At the commander's perplexed look, he said, "He's been renamed. Actually, that's why I'm here."

Michael smiled as he sat behind his desk and guestured at one of the chairs in the office. When Gibbs sat down, Michael said, "Butch—Jethro… is a good dog. A fine canine officer. One of the best I've ever seen."

"My forensics tech is the one who named him 'Jethro'," Gibbs replied. "She and my daughter have become attached to the dog. And the dog likes them."

"Agent Gibbs, if I let all of my handlers keep the dogs they take care of…" Michael said, sadly.

"My daughter's the one who was attacked by the dog at Petty Officer Hanson's house," Gibbs said, not ready to give in. "Couple months ago, someone broke into her apartment… kidnapped her best friend… Kelly could use the extra protection, Commander."

"Agent Gibbs…" Michael protested. After a few moments, though, he sighed. "Okay." Smiling, he said, "Jethro's a good dog. He deserves to be happy."

'Thank you very much, sir," Gibbs said with a smile as he stood up.

-------------

Coming back from class, Maddie was surprised when she found a German Shepard lying on the couch and watching TV. Seeing Kelly in the kitchen, Maddie asked, "What's with the dog?"

"His name is Jethro," Kelly explained. "He's formerly with the Pax River Naval Base. He's clean, quiet, loyal, and he's not going to stalk you."

Maddie laughed at the last part and knelt down next to the couch, petting the dog. "The perfect guy, huh?"

"Something like that," Kelly replied.

After a few moments, Maddie stood and asked, "Do you mind if he sleeps on my bed tonight?"