"Where should we go now?" Tony asked Bull as they left the botanical gardens.

"How about we get a couple of bikes and take our time looking around the city?"

"Okay," said Tony. He didn't mention that he hadn't ridden a bike in quite some time, nor that he hadn't been very active in the last few weeks. He was already feeling tired just from walking around the gardens. "What about your car?"

"We can leave that in a parking spot near the bike rental station and come back for it later. Brooklyn isn't the biggest city in New York. We would be back within a couple of hours, if that."

"That sounds okay... But, we should get going now, before it starts to rain," said Tony, looking up at the cloud filled sky.

"A little bit of rain won't hurt us."

"Maybe not you, but I'm still a little unwell, Jason. The rain will just make it worse." Tony laughed at the confused look on his brother's face. "My lungs aren't exactly as good as I want them to be. If I'm even the slightest bit sick, water and rain will send me straight to a hospital to be treated for pneumonia."

Jason looked sad. "That isn't fair, Tony. Can't they fix your lungs?" he asked as they got into the car.

"What are they going to fix? Scarring is permanent, just like it is anywhere else on the body."

"How did you get scarred lungs?"

"Years ago, we got a letter at NCIS. I was pretty immature back then, and the moment I saw that there was a kiss on the back, I snatched it off my partner to open it. Long story short, I opened it and white powder came out, which turned out to be a genetically altered strain of pneumonic plague. It didn't have an antidote yet, but the scientist that created it put a sort of timer on the bug, so it died after thirty six hours. By then, however, the damage was done, my lungs were scarred, and I was barely alive. It took me two weeks to recover enough to leave the hospital, then another few weeks before I was well enough to return to work. It took me a number of months to completely recover from it. I learnt my lesson, though- I never acted so stupid again."

Bull seemed speechless after Tony's explanation. He didn't speak for almost fifteen minutes, and they were getting out of the car to rent their bikes when he finally did say something.

"Tony, you are a medical miracle, I'm sure of it."

"According to my doctor, I am. Nobody has ever survived that plague before, and nobody has contracted it since. How I managed to survive, I don't know, but if there hadn't been that timer on the bug, I wouldn't be here now. It was very close, Jason." Tony shook his head as they rented their bikes and started their journey. "I don't like to think about it. That was a tough time for me, and I try to forget about it. Sometimes, like when I have to visit my specialist for a checkup, it comes back, but, otherwise, I think I've done a pretty good job of boxing it up and locking it away."

"I don't know what to say... I mean, thank you for sharing that with me, it couldn't have been easy to relive it. You must trust me a lot to tell me that."

"I trust you. I don't know why, but the moment that I found out you were my brother, I wanted to put all my trust into you. I've never really had a family member that I could trust, and I guess that I just wanted you to be different." Tony smiled. "You are different."

"Is that a good thing?"

"A very good thing. I trust you, for one. You are really nice to me, really kind and friendly. I saw the way your team looked at you- they trust you and like you. It's very rare for a person to actually like their boss and not just pretend that they do."

"You like Agent Gibbs," Bull pointed out.

"Gibbs has been a part of my life for a long time. He's been there through everything from me getting sick to me finding out that I have a twin brother I knew nothing about. He's been a father figure to me, and I really do love him as if he was my dad. I can't tell you how many times I wished he was my dad."

"You know," said Bull after a few minutes of silence, "I think you and I have something in common with our fathers. Don't get me wrong, my dad is great, but he has a mean streak in him, too."

"Trust me, your dad was nowhere near as bad as mine."

"How can you be sure?"

"Did your dad abuse you? Beat you up for getting anything other than an A on your report card? Swear at you for getting the wrong alcoholic drink for him, despite you being ten years old?"

Bull had stopped his bike and was staring at Tony in shock. "What the hell? Are you serious?"

"I sure am," said Tony when Bull had caught up to him again.

"He sounds horrible. I'm glad I've never met him."

"Trust me when I say that you never want to meet him. Ever."