Chapter 36

They finally made it into the outer office of the Director's Suite. Closing the door behind them, they looked at each other, laughing, only then realizing Pam Cook was sitting there. "Hello gentlemen, welcome home!"

"Thanks, Ms. Cook! We're happy to be home and glad we made it through the welcoming committee."

She grinned at them. "We've missed you around here, it's been so quiet and peaceful - I mean boring!"

Dad started laughing and her eyes widened, she'd seen him chuckle but never a full out laugh. Vance came out and watched with a grin on his face. "Come on in, Gibbses; let's see what we can do to liven this place up again!" He winked at Pamela who decided not to be embarrassed.

As they'd thought might happen, Vance needed reports from both of them, covering the activities the day Tim spotted the tail car through the capture and arrest of Svetlana Stacevyko. Anything involving the marshals and of course the NCIS-FBI team. Tim shook his head as his father protested, "Leon, they were involved in nearly everything we did the first few weeks. From taking us shopping and waiting outside to covering us from a tail car when we had our own vehicles. Babysitting the kids, vetting Steve Ortiz, measuring the distance to his family's ranch, picking out furniture. Hell, Shepherd, uh that's Marshal Shepherd, helped design the house we lived in and selected some of the furniture."

Vance nodded, "I know it's nitpicking but Secretary Porter feels it needs to be done, to protect them and us."

"From?"

"There are those in Congress who are skeptical of the events that transpired."

Tim couldn't help himself, he snorted. "Let's invite them along next time."

Vance would love to send the professional politicians into the oblivion of WITSEC but knew that being obnoxious was not a valid reason nor would it be fair to the good marshals. He kept his thoughts to himself and tried again.

"They're coming under fire for not pushing back at DHS."

Gibbs frowned, "They're part of Homeland and DHS is pretty much their puppet master, how hard should they have pushed back? They were ordered to give us the BS line about DHS wanting us out of their hair but the Chief Inspector might as well have been rubbing his eyebrow when he said it. The only thing we believed in that little speech was that we weren't going to be sequestered or exiled or quarantined, take your pick, for long. They picked up Tim, not me. Leon, all they would have had to say to either of us was that the children would be in danger if we didn't stop poking around and that would have been it. And McQueen was given money by DHS to house and transport us."

Tim nodded, "He showed us copies of the checks, they were signed by Morrow. They were doing their jobs as mandated by their bosses."

"That's good, all of it and I believe you, I've spoken with McQueen several times and he was not happy keeping you two in the dark for so long."

Tim opened his mouth to ask a question but stopped when his father touched his arm and pointed at the ceiling with a whirling motion.

There was silence as Vance engaged the SCIF. "Love that little whirling motion, Gibbs although it's not exactly the Cone of Silence."

Gibbs smirked, "Close enough. Tim?"

"Director, did you speak with McQueen before we busted the case?"

"Yes. He called me the first time in early March. You two mentioned me by name when they first brought you in and he was worried. No one in his chain of command had heard anything from the DHS team since shortly after your arrival. He'd made inquiries but he was asking his superiors to check with their superiors. He was told to do his job and mind his own business, a very tricky situation. I updated Secretary Porter, I didn't want to cause you any problems but I also had no idea what was going on. Nevertheless, it was good to verify that the Marshals had you although I wasn't told where.

"He called me again in late May to tell me what he'd heard; he said that was the first he'd heard of Svetlana, her murder of the McGees, the various attempts on Tim and her other crimes. He was pressured to move you but he fought back saying he had a strong team, that you two were cooperative and observant, he felt he could defend you better in Albuquerque than moving you to a new location, having to start over with another team. That was also the first I'd ever heard of Svetlana as Svetlana and not Natalie McGee. I shared what I knew of her life as Navy Wife McGee and then I again updated Secretary Porter. At that point, she went to her chain of command and laid the story out. Unfortunately, Stacevyko hadn't yet made a move so there wasn't much anyone could do, although everyone in DHS who was involved, including Morrow was put under covert surveillance.

"When you called to tell me what was going on, I was so relieved I wanted to cry and cheer at the same time. I notified Porter and the news went up the line. I remember calling McQueen and thanking him for allowing you to have firearms. Yeah, I know, you would have purchased them without his permission. Did you know his bosses didn't know that? He really put his neck on the line there."

Tim shook his head, "The whole thing is almost unbelievable. First the list of crimes that woman committed in this country, starting with my supposed death, all three of them although she was an accessory to the first one as opposed to being the actual murderer as she was with my brother and Commander McGee. Then hiring Krose for the third attempt and ending with her last murder victim. Throw in DHS and the Stansons, Morrow's guilt money, treason and the conniving Joann Fielding, it's mind boggling."

He took a breath, "So you want a point by point list of things the Marshals did for us?"

"Yes."

Tim smiled, "Luckily I kept a journal so I have most of the information and I'm sure my father will help me put it together for you."

"Good, thank you."

Gibbs stirred, "You'll have it by October 15th."

"Gibbs?"

"Can't do it any sooner, Leon. My boy here is getting married; he has other things to do. You know, since his love life was put on hold for 9 months due to the machinations of the Department of Homeland Security."

Tim didn't say anything but he did rub his eyebrow. If this was going to help McQueen and the Service at all, they needed it sooner than that. All along, they'd understood that the marshals were following orders and the services' own protocols, odd as they seemed.

Disappointed that Vance didn't have any projects for him, he excused himself from the inner office and set up at the extra desk tucked in the back of the outer office. He had his journal on a thumb drive and plugging the drive into the desktop, opened his document, copied it, changed the format to a report and then went through, taking out personal comments and events. He was still working on it when he heard his father asking Pam where he was. She pointed over her shoulder and Dad wandered over. "You're working on that already?"

"Just as soon have it done, not hanging over my head to do."

"Our heads, it's a task for both of us. Vance wants to talk to you. Why don't you leave that up and I'll look it over, make paper notes of anything that needs adding."

Grinning, Tim saved his version and made a new copy, titling it "Jethro". "There you go; you can add it right in there. It'll do an automatic save every three minutes and then I'll copy it over into the main document."

"Thanks kiddo."

"If you get stuck, just stop, ok?"

A voice drifted back, "I'll help him, Tim."

He thanked Pam as he walked back into Vance's office.

"Oh good, you weren't too far away. I'm sure you really are busy with the wedding and settling in, but if you do have some time I have a couple of things."

Tim grinned, "Yay!"

Vance chuckled, "All right, so…"

He walked him out of the inner office 20 minutes later and found Gibbs hunting and pecking on the keyboard. Pam smiled, "He's doing fine. I've learned some new words in Russian and Spanish, pretty sure they're curse words but hey, now I can say I speak Russian!"

Chuckling to himself, Tim got the documents squared away and closed down. "C'mon, let's go see what Mac and the boys are up to."

Dad laughed, "Other than floating in the pool and drinking my beer?"

"Maybe Mac; Rob and Geo have duty shifts tonight."

Leon smiled, "Sounds like fun to me!"

Tim snorted, "Yeah, if we added a paddock and riding trail, nobody would ever go home."

Pam looked curious, "I heard about your cowboy boots. I didn't look to see..."

Grinning, the Gibbses showed her their boots. "Oh, those are beautiful! I thought they'd be all scuffed up."

"Nah, those are our riding boots, these are our going-out-to-do-business boots."

Eyebrows rose, "You have more than one pair?"

Tim smiled, "I have three pair and my father has four. He's found his niche!"

"Damn straight pardner!"

They left after that, finding Abby in the lobby waiting for them. "Hi, uh, I just wanted to apologize, I got carried away again. I know I just saw you at the airfield the other day and anyway I shouldn't have hugged that hard. Dr. Cranston says nobody should be hugged that hard."

They nodded, Gibbs accepted her apology and gave her a kiss, Tim gave her a kiss and a light hug and they left.

In the car they looked at each other, laughing, "We survived!"

Tim shook his head, "I don't like visiting like that. Going back to work would have been fine but that was just weird."

"Yep."

"So what did you get?"

"Options to think about. He gave me a list. You?"

"Couple projects to work on, I'm saved, yay!"

"From boredom?"

"Yes, I can't just float around in the pool. Well, I could but I shouldn't. This gives me enough work to feel useful but I can still spend time with the kids, Mac, and the sibs and do whatever still needs doing for the wedding."

"Good! We also talked about my knee. He agrees with Ducky, I should have the surgery before I go back to work."

"And?"

"Wasn't gonna say anything until after I saw Leon, hoping he'd say no. Duck gave me the name and number of a good orthopedic surgeon and I have an appointment to see him on Wednesday."

"This Wednesday? Day after tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Would you mind going with me?"

"Mind? I insist!"

Gibbs sighed in relief. "Thanks. I'd ask Duck but he gets all caught up in the medical jargon and then I get frustrated and, you know." He looked at his son, "I figure with your bio-medical background and your experience with Gibbs-speak, you can translate for me."

Tim laughed, "Do you know all of our silly Gibbs' terms?"

"Probably not. Some of them are creative. I like Gibbs-speak."

"Not functional mute though."

"Pretty descriptive for work but you know me better now."

"I do and you're almost a Chatty Carl."

"Chatty Carl?"

"I know the term is Chatty Cathy but you're not a girl so I changed it to Carl."

"Chatty Cathy was a doll back in the 60's, one of my buddies' little sister had one. You pulled a string in the middle of her back and she'd say something. A phrase or a question." He started laughing and Tim waited patiently.

"Reminds me of that teddy bear we got, that you programmed with your voice. I think it was that case with the secret Cuban lover."

"Oh geez, I did that and I had it compliment me. Of course you had to be standing right behind me when the stupid bear said that."

"I thought it was pretty clever. That was also one of the first personal things I'd ever heard you say or ask for."

Tim grinned, "I got a hair ruffling instead of a Gibbs' slap; that was good."

"I don't like that one."

"Gibbs' slap?"

"Yeah. My own fault though, should never have picked that up from Franks."

"Ah, so it was really a Franks' slap."

Gibbs grunted, which told Tim the subject was closed. He laughed to himself, his former boss was a great dad but when he was done with something, he was done. Period, end of discussion. And he was stubborn as a mule. Although Tim admitted he had his own mulish moments.

They spent most of the afternoon finishing their Exile report, e-mailing it to Vance that evening. Tuesday Tim started one of Vance's projects, spent some time in the pool and managed to squeeze in grocery shopping.

Dad's appointment was at 0930 on Wednesday; the Gibbses were there at 0920 and were happy to be called into the surgeon's office promptly at 0930. The doctor had the last scan of Dad's knee displayed on a light board. After the introductions, she pointed to it, "That's dated last year. Have you had a scan since then?"

"No, I've been away on a case for several months, just got back last week. My son here has been talking to me about getting this done but I haven't been to a doctor since my last physical."

"I see. Any changes, additional injuries to it?"

"No, in fact from May through the summer, I swam almost every day and that really helps. I've also done a lot of horseback riding and it doesn't seem to bother it, not as much as running after suspects does."

"A healthier lifestyle is always good news. It's probably helped slow the degeneration but it won't reverse it. If your knee looks anything like that scan, you really do need the surgery."

"And that's a full replacement?"

"Yes. Let me show you." She pulled out a life sized plastic leg with a knee attached to it. Removing the knee, she showed him the artificial parts that would make his new knee. "The surgery is 98% successful and takes a lot of stress off the rest of the body which has been working overtime to support the wounded structure. I'm not going to lie, it's painful; it takes time and a strong commitment to physical therapy to get you back on your feet. But once you're there, you won't believe the difference. I'm not just saying that, I've had one knee done and I'll be scheduling the other one sometime next year."

"Will I be able to run?"

"For exercise or work?"

"Work; my personal physician doesn't want me running for exercise. He says a brisk walk is better for me."

"It's certainly better for your knees! Yes, you'll be able to run again but it will take several months before I'll clear you for that and I'd rather you didn't."

"All right; so how's it happen?"

She explained the surgery, the need for him to be up and around before he could be discharged. "You'll be using a walker and then a cane. You'll begin working with your physical therapist as soon as you wake from surgery. Before you leave the hospital, you'll be walking the hallways with an assistive device, generally a walker, sometimes crutches or a cane and you'll use it to walk up and down stairs. Do you have stairs in your home and is there anyone living with you?"

"There are five steps up to my front porch, three up to the deck in the back, and my bedroom is on the second floor, but there's also a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor I can use. My 81-year-old father-in-law is staying with me, although he's staying in the downstairs room. Tim lives five houses away."

"I'm happy to hear about the downstairs bedroom but I prefer once you're discharged you have someone with you. It sounds like there's a conflict with the downstairs bedroom."

Tim nodded. "We don't have any steps into our house and there's also a downstairs bedroom and bathroom. I do have young children but they're old enough to watch themselves around him."

"How old?"

"Four and three."

"Are they home during the day?"

"No, they're in preschool and daycare."

"All right, that might be an option. What about the bathroom? Is it a tub/shower combination or a step in shower?"

"A step in shower."

"Good! He may need to have someone in the room with him for his first couple of showers."

Tim nodded, "That's not a problem."

His father gave him a look; Tim gave him one right back and Dad sighed.

The doctor laughed, "Think of it as payback. I'm sure you changed his diapers when he was a baby, now he'll help you with a shower."

There was dead silence and the older man took the younger one's hand. Finally, the son smiled at the doctor, "We didn't know each other when I was a baby. Found out we share DNA less than two years ago."

"Oh my goodness! Then you're doubly lucky to have your son to help you out, Agent Gibbs."

He nodded with a smile. She wanted an updated scan and physical before she'd do the surgery; he made an appointment for both. She handed each of the men a copy of 'What to Expect' from a total knee replacement and a copy of 'Handy Tips for the Home'. She advised them to read both, ask her any questions and make sure both homes were prepared prior to the surgery.

A/N: For this series, I tweaked the Marshals Service puppetmaster from the Dept of Justice (DOJ) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)