Haha! Cookie62—Imagine FOUR restless kids (three boys and me) and a whining father and an angry mother… and a leaking tent. Chyeah. Needless to say, we never went again. ; )
By 6:00 everyone was settled in at the campsite. The tents were up, a fire had been built, and everyone was sitting around the fire with hotdogs on sticks.
"It's so primitive!" exclaimed Abby—who was wearing huge army boots and a skull t-shirt. Not exactly camping-type clothes... "I love it!"
Tim grinned as he bit into his perfectly cooked hot dog. "Yum yum!" he said.
"Shit!" Tony swore as his third hotdog caught on fire. He stood up quickly, dropping the hotdog, and stamped out the flames.
Tim cracked up. "Want me to cook one for you, daddy?" he questioned.
Ziva, who was sitting next to Tony, also cracked up. "Yes, Tony," she said. "Do you want your eight-year-old son to make you the perfect hotdog, before you ruin your fourth one?"
Tony scowled at his girlfriend jokingly. "Just because you've been trained by Mossad doesn't mean you can make the perfect hotdog!"
Ziva smiled, as she bit into hers. "I disagree. Want a taste?"
Tony tried Ziva's hotdog. "Mmmm," he said. "Fine you win. Yes, Timmy. I would love it if you would make me a hotdog."
As dinner was completed, Gibbs grabbed Tim's hand. "Wanna go for a walk, kiddo?" he asked.
"Yeah!" said Tim. "Can Jett come?"
Jett had been patiently lying down as close to the fire as the heat would allow. He looked up as he heard his name and barked contentedly.
"Sure." Said Jett's namesake, Gibbs.
Jett trotted over to Tim who affectionately scratched his ear. "Good boy," said Tim. "Okay, Grandpa. Lead the way!"
"Can I come, Jethro?" Tobias Fornell asked.
"What do you say, Tim?" Gibbs asked.
"Of course, Uncle Toby!" Tim shouted. "Come on!"
"Tiiim!" Tony called. "Do you have your inhaler with you?"
"Yeah…" said Tim, taking the device out of his pocket and staring at it with intense hatred.
"Use it before you take a walk, please." Tony said. "Remember, Brad said to always, always use your inhaler before any type of exercise."
Tim scowled. "Fine." He said grumpily, sticking the mechanism in his mouth and inhaling deeply.
"Alrighty," Gibbs said. "Come on. Let's go."
Fornell picked up a big stick from the ground and threw it. Jethro (the dog) dashed happily after it. "Oh, Gibbs," said Fornell with a wicked grin. "I was throwing that for you. Go fetch, you have some competition."
Gibbs gave one of his patented stare downs to Fornell, but Fornell just looked amused.
"You don't scare me with those baby blues," he smirked.
Tim giggled gleefully and high-fived Uncle Toby's hand. "I think we pulled a joke on Agent tough-guy Gibbs." Fornell chuckled.
Gibbs rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Tobias and he had been friends for years, even though they never really showed it in the office setting. The trio marched along contentedly, along with Jett who sniffed every tree and chased every squirrel along the way.
Gibbs pointed out different types of trees and recited names for Tim. He even bent down and picked some mint up. "This makes some really good tea," he said. "Ducky and Ziva'll love it." ***
Tim soaked up every piece of knowledge the older men bestowed upon him. Soon he was pointing out trees and birds and plants and naming them for his counterparts.
"Smart kid." Fornell said affably "It's a wonder Dinutso had you."
Tim grinned. "Daddy is really smart," Tim said. "He just doesn't like to show it. Last week, Dad taught me about the differences between mitosis and meiosis. My teacher mentioned something about it during school, and so I asked dad when I got home. After dad explained how it worked, he took me to the library so I could get some biology books. It was awesome!"
Both Gibbs and Fornell looked mildly disgusted. "That sounds… err. Oh, gosh, kid." Fornell said wrinkling his nose. "That sounds like the most boring thing ever."
Tim laughed. "It's actually really cool, but yeah. Dad is really smart!"
About half an hour later, Fornell and Gibbs could tell Tim was flagging. "You want a piggy-back ride, kiddo?" Fornell asked.
Tim gratefully accepted, and the three headed back to campsite, with Jett following disappointedly behind them.
The next day bright and early, Dinozzo and Gibbs took the canoe out for a spin. "Let's see if we can catch a fish before anyone else even gets up!" Tony exclaimed.
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Ziva's already up," Gibbs said. "She and I already went for a six mile run."
"It's six in the morning!" Tony moaned. "Six miles! Already?"
Gibbs smiled. "Mmhm. But let's catch some fish anyway."
Ten minutes later, Gibbs and Tony had rowed their way out fairly far. Tony was full of nervous energy. He hadn't taken his morning run, and his restless nature didn't like sitting down for so long.
"Dinozzo!" Gibbs growled. "Stop your squirming and throw your line in."
"Let's go back, boss," Tony scowled. "I don't have the patience for this."
"No kidding," Gibbs sighed. "No. We're catching a fish. Then we'll go back."
"I gotta pee, boss!" Tony whined.
Gibbs groaned. "Take a leak in the river, Dinozzo. The fish won't mind."
Tony stood up uncertainly. The canoe rocked treacherously with Tony's movement, then suddenly… timber! The canoe went over, and both Tony and Gibbs were unceremoniously dumped into the cold lake. ***
"Dinozzo!" Gibbs spat, as his head came above the water. "I'm going to kill you!"
Tony gulped as he treaded water. "Oh, shit." He said. "I knew this was a bad idea."
Gibbs swam over and slapped the back of Tony's head. Hard.
"I guess I deserved that…" said Tony with a grimace.
The two men attempted to overturn the canoe, with little success. "We're going to have to swim it back," Gibbs said, squinting his eyes as he looked to shore.
Ziva was standing on the dock laughing harder than she had ever laughed. It wasn't every day you got to see your crazy boyfriend dump your hard-ass boss into the lake.
Jimmy walked over to Ziva, sleepily rubbing his eyes. As he stuck his glasses on he asked, "What's going on?"
Ziva pointed as she gasped for breath. Jimmy looked and started cracking up along with Ziva. "Oh gosh," Jimmy said. "I gotta grab the camera."
He rushed back to the campsite. Quickly, he began snapping shots from every possible angle.
Soon Tony and Gibbs were back on the dock. Tony lay on the ground panting from the strenuous exercise. Gibbs just glared at his protégé, and stomoed back to the campsite were the rest of the team were slowly coming out of their tents.
"Goodness gracious, Jethro," Ducky said. "Whatever happened to you?"
Gibbs glared some more. "Don't EVER take Dinozzo on a canoe with you." He said in way of explanation. "Ever."
Tobias' face was red as unbridled laughter came from his mouth. "Oh, Lord." He hooted. "I knew camping with this team was going to be great!"
Abby joined in with Fornell snickering. "This is better than… it's better than CafPow! I didn't think anything could be better than CafPow!" Abby laughed.
Tim was laughing so hard he had to sit on the ground.
Gibbs came out of his tent, where he had finished changing into dry clothes. "Come on, Tim." Gibbs said. "You, Jimmy, and I will go catch some breakfast. Tony isn't allowed near the canoes, ever again."
Gibbs wasn't really all that mad at Dinozzo, but he was serious when he said he wasn't letting Dinozzo near the canoes again. That man was serious trouble sometimes.
As Jimmy, Timmy, and Gibbs walked back out to the dock, Tony began apologizing profusely.
"Don't apologize," Gibbs said gruffly. "It's a sign of weakness."
Then he decided to take pity on his senior field agent. He patted Tony's head gently. "Go change, son. I don't want you to catch cold."
Tony looked surprised. His biological father (it made Tony pissed every time he even thought of his father… especially after what he did to Tim. But, he knew he didn't have to worry too much. Dinozzo Sr. was in jail, for the long run, but anyways… Dinozzo Sr.) had been emotionally distant, and if his son did anything wrong, he wouldn't talk to Tony for days. Tony knew Gibbs was tough on him most of the time, but the paternal pride and love always showed through when Tony needed it. It was because of Gibbs that Tony was such a good father to Tim.
Jim, Timmy, and Gibbs hopped into a different drier canoe. "Okay." Said Jimmy. "I've never done this before…"
"It's okay." Gibbs said. "It's not that hard."
As they hopped into the boat, Gibbs handed Jimmy a paddle. "Row." He ordered.
As they got out a little farther, Gibbs instructed Tim to put on a life jacket. "You never know," Gibbs said with the slightest hint of a twitching mouth. "We just might tip over."
*** Thanks to reigningspirit and Siltrana for the ideas. Magnis… you're next chapter. =)
