JF7
Tony was hot and sweaty, he hated travelling by C130, but he especially hated Okinawa in the wet season. But if he had to go and get Penny for Tim, he would have travelled to the end of the world if he had to, for his best friend, his little brother. "Stan, the man, Burley. In the flesh." Tony called out as he arrived at Camp Gonslave air base, greeting his fellow agent.
"DiNozzo!" Stan replied, giving Tony a manly hug. "This is Ms Langston, or rather; just Penny."
"Tony DiNozzo." Penny gushed, hugging her grandson's closest friend tightly. "How was he doing?"
"Tell us, Tony." Stan demanded as well, as he led them to the waiting sedan. "How's he really doing?"
"He really liked the girl; things weren't perfect between them, but he liked her a lot. They had a lot in common, too. She loved maths and science, like Tim." Tony told them, sympathetically. "They'd been together a few of months and were getting serious."
"That's rough man!" Stan commented, feeling sorry for Tim. He liked McGee, he was so different from Tony, but he also respected McGee, his smarts and intelligence. He had become a good agent and knew he could count on McGee to help him out if need be.
"Yeah, the poor kid has enough trouble attracting a good woman and now, when he finds the one for him; this happens." Tony continued. "The boss has been really supportive of him, which isn't surprising, though. But Vance too, it's like they're in their own little club."
"Well, that kind of unspeakable trauma leaves an impression on anyone's heart, Tony." Penny added, softly. "I'm glad that he's getting support."
"Penny, as much as I didn't agree with them not telling you, either. I am glad you didn't see him in the hospital that first day." Tony told her, putting his arm around Penny in the back seat of the sedan to comfort the woman. "It would have killed you, to see Tim that broken. He was monosyllabic, at best. Shut down, emotionally and physically closed off."
"I have seen him like that before, Tony." Penny told him, it wouldn't have surprised her. "When his mother died, he was like that. It breaks your heart, but it's the only way that big brain of his can process his big emotions, like grief."
"Got that right, he was doing a bit better." Tony told the grandmother as they pulled up at the NCIS base satellite office. "At her memorial service, her parents lashed out, called the nameless boyfriend 'a gutless coward who didn't have the stones to die alongside his date.' That did Tim in, made him admit that he needs you."
"It's just needing a woman's touch, Tony." Penny explained to Tony and Stan. "It's like when you boys were young, and you'd run off to your mom for a cuddle if you scraped your knee. Tim lost his mother as a very young child and his stepmother, well if you don't have anything nice to say... I'm his safety net. It was me; he was running to for those hugs, Tony."
"He's lucky to have you, Penny." Tony told her and leaned and kissed Penny's cheek. "Every little boy needs a Penny in their life."
"Hey, what did I tell you and Ziva the first time we met?" she asked him with a smile.
"You're our Penny too; because Tim's our kid brother." Tony recited from memory. The memory of that night in the bullpen when they'd saved Penny and she was headed off to dinner with Ducky.
"Meant it then Tony, and I still mean it." Penny reminded the senior agent.
"Well, Ziva is in Israel now. Our new agent Ellie, you're going to love her." Tony said, his voice in a melodic tone. "She's... Married, but you know what... Seeing is believing because there's no words that can describe Bishop one hundred percent accurately."
"Well, ... I'll take her, then." Penny grinned at Tony. "Sight unseen. I'm looking forward to meeting her."
"Oh, and about Tim... You know Stan, what's the unwritten rule of Team Gibbs? Not the one about Abs, the Kelly rule?" Tony asked his long-time colleague and former Gibbs team member.
"No... Nothing with the boss' daughter; no friendship, no dates, no passes, not even a flirt." Stan recited by memory. "I have never had the pleasure of being introduced or an opportunity to meet her. I worked for Gibbs for five years."
"Kelly and Tim have struck up a friendship, of sorts." Tony laughed. "Actually, she's the one that coaxed him out of his monosyllabism and got him eating and talking, right after the attack."
"She's a red head, right?" Penny asked, curiously. At Tony's nod, she muttered. "Tim and those damn red heads."
"Delilah was brunette." Tony pointed out to Tim's grandmother. "Wait, are you saying Tim has a type?"
"Not exactly, he likes fiery women, feisty, sassy, anyone who can match his intellect and verbally spar with him." Penny said warmly with a smile.
"Well, she's an editor in chief of some big publishing firm in DC, so I'm going to say she's on his intellectual level and the intelligence is there."
Back in DC, Gibbs and Tim sat at the breakfast bar, enjoying a morning coffee. "Any pain in your ribs?" Gibbs asked, he wondered if Tim was going on, in pain and not taking the meds, or if he wasn't in pain anymore.
"Mostly gone. Been gone a while, just taking over the counter Tylenol, when needed now." Tim told him, keeping the conversation light. He didn't want to have to use his brain, this morning.
Yesterday, he and Rachel had spent the entire day together, they'd covered a lot of topics and she'd picked at some scabs that were better left unopened. He was feeling raw and gritty. His mind felt foggy and bogged down. He was bogged down. He needed to clear his head. Especially, before Penny arrives or she would having doing breathing exercises, meditation or some form of yoga.
"What are we doing today, Tim?" he asked the younger man. Stan had sent though a message very early that morning that Penny and DiNozzo had made the flight and were JB-AB bound. "I heard from Burley, Penny and Tony made their flight. He passes on his condolences to you."
Tim just forced a small smile to his lips. "Actually, can you take me somewhere? It's not too far. I need to clear my head. Therapy has muddled it. Normally, I have a spot at work I use, but I'm banished from the yard."
"Say no more, we'll grab Kelly's dog and go. I want to see how you changed Miss Likes to Destroy Everything Sharni into a placid, docile pup." Gibbs grinned at him.
"Oh, and we'll have to take the truck." Tim gave him a clue, but not much of a clue.
The two men and the black and white long-haired beauty made an unscheduled stop at Elaine's for coffee and water first, before heading out. In the truck, the three of them shared a comfortable silence. Tim occasionally muttered a direction or two before Gibbs worked out, they were going over to the Parkway Headquarters, off the GW Memorial. Gibbs knew what Tim needed to do. "You know what Tim; I'm going to hang around here." his boss told him. There was a USMC memorial he liked here, too. "Take Sharni and your cell with you. Call if you need me."
Tim could see right through Gibbs at that point. The older man knew he didn't need a witness to watch Tim stare at the water. He recognised that Gibbs was trying to give him some of his independence and a touch of normalcy back. But, at the look on Gibbs' face, Tim could read how much he was still worried, despite the trust he had for Tim and in him. "I promise I'm not going to do anything stupid." he verbalised the worry he knew Gibbs was having.
"I trust you, Tim." Gibbs told him, but Tim could see signs of worry still.
"Tell you what Gibbs, hike in with me. So, you know exactly where I'll be." he offered. He could see how much the older man was trying not to worry.
"It's not you, never think I don't trust you, Tim. It's grief, I've seen it mess with too many good people. It does things to people's heads. To good people... My heart can't take losing someone else, especially you boys and I almost lost you."
"I'm not going to do something stupid, Gibbs. I promise." Tim reiterated for Gibbs. "But you're welcome to come, as long as you never utter a word to anyone about my thinking spot."
"I promise." Gibbs grinned at the ultimatum. He suspected that not many people were aware of it all. He also saw that Tim was opening up to him, in a way that he hadn't been open with Gibbs like that before.
"I'll even go to the Marine Corp memorial with you afterwards." Tim returned the warm smile and it reassured Gibbs immensely.
The two men set off, following the hiking trails, Tim and Sharni in the lead with Tim's surprisingly commanding voice causing the excitable pup to listen to him. Gibbs had known he was good with the pup, but he was surprised the way the excitable pup was placid and obedient under Tim's command. They hiked in a silence, for almost twenty minutes. Gibbs could hear the sound of the river, the rushing rapids. "Not through there." Tim chastised Gibbs with a shudder, as he grabbed Gibbs to physically stop him from veering off the trail, straight into the trouble. "Leaves of three, Gibbs."
A muttering of expletives came from his boss' mouth, which highly amused Tim and Tim actually laughed out loud. A normal, natural, honest reaction that was not forced and Gibbs hid his smile. Swearing had been a knee jerk reaction because he could normally spot poison ivy and he had completely missed it. The irony was not lost on him of Tim stopping him, instead of Gibbs stopping Tim. Especially in light of Tim's history with the dreaded plant. "Funny." Gibbs dryly muttered, as Tim tried to compose himself. "Tell Tony and I'll throw you in the Potomac myself." he threatened, and Tim knew Gibbs was joking.
"So, I can tell Ellie?" Tim asked and Gibbs rolled his eyes at Tim's retort. At the infamous Gibbs patented glare, Tim straightened up a little more. "Right; your secret's safe with me."
The two men took a seat at a smaller clearing another quarter mile down the trail and sat on the bench seat. Looking out over the river, watching the rapid flow of waters and the currents, Tim felt at peace. His heart still ached for Delilah, but he didn't feel so out of his sphere, now. He felt more in control. It was hard for him to verbalise to his boss exactly why watching the water, soothed him. He didn't know hoe, but he knew it always had calmed him. He suspected it had something to do with what his father had once said to him. Granted it was during a rather heated, angst-ridden argument between the two men. But John McGee had once said to him, that 'the water was in their blood and that's why they were navy, through and through.'
Sharni stayed dutifully at Tim's feet and Gibbs watched the stress leave his subordinate's body. He didn't want to break the spell of Tim's thoughts, but he wanted to leaving Tim alone in his thoughts. He was comfortable knowing that Tim would be ok. He tapped Tim gently on the arm and signed he was leaving and waved his cell at him, telling him to call him if needed. He was ready to order Sharni to stay with Tim when he got up, but he didn't need to. Sharni didn't even attempt to move from Tim's feet.
Tim ventured out of the hiking trail into the parking lot, another ninety minutes later, with Sharni strolling by his side. Gibbs was surprised to see both Sharni and Tim looked quite peaked. It looked as if they'd also been for a run together, too. "Well, you're looking better." Gibbs quipped. "Bit warm there, Tim. But good."
"Yeah, probably shouldn't have done that." Tim said, holding his ribs and wincing as he breathed in and out. "Tylenol?"
"Ibuprofen." Gibbs offered, handing Tim the bottle and the water they'd picked up when they got coffee from Elaine earlier.
Tim thanked his boss for the help with the pain relief, with a warm grin. "Ready to go see that memorial, now boss?"
The two men made their way down the parking lot towards the memorial, Sharni now leashed. She was happily walking along, beside Tim and the dog's antics with Tim amused him.
For Kelly, her day was long and tiring. She was greatly amused to find a text from her dogwalker that her dad and another man had taken Sharni. She couldn't imagine that her dad would take her pup for no reason. She had called his desk line, but her call just went to voicemail. Amused, she tried his cell and that went to voicemail, too. She had her assistant look up Tim's number, when she had sent him a text too. Kelly had been amused to find out that it had been her dad's idea to take her girl for the day.
She had back-to-back meetings all day, each one more mind-numbingly boring than the one before. By the end of the day, she had more than had enough. She was read or some dinner and a glass of wine. She wondered if her dad, and possibly Tim would want some company.
She ordered take out for three from her favourite restaurant. Chicken piccata, veal scallopini and salmon and tarragon risotto for her dad, which was his favourite. As well as three serves of tiramisu for dessert and her favourite bottle of wine.
"Hey, anyone home?" she called out, as she let herself inside, making her way to the kitchen. She began unloading the bags of food in her arms, slipping the desserts in the fridge. Hearing footfalls on the stairs, she was surprised to see them both descend from the backstairs, with Sharni trailing behind. "There you are dinner's ready. Chicken or veal?"
Tim pointed to the chicken, as Kelly handed her father his risotto over. "Here, take these." as Gibbs handed Tim some more ibuprofen. "Stay on top of the pain relief, Tim."
Hearing her father's directive to Tim, she only got one wine glass out, as Gibbs poured juice for himself, and Tim and she poured her wine. At her father's glare, she asked "What?!" rather harshly and both Tim and Gibbs gave her a look. "Sorry, it's been an awful day. Tell me, what were the two of you doing upstairs?"
"Tim's grandmother is coming home tonight, it's a long drive to Norfolk, where she lives. So, Tim helped me change the sheets on the guest bed and aggregated his ribs a little." Gibbs told his daughter with a kiss to the cheek. "Why's your day been awful, baby?"
"Wait?! We have a guest bed, now?" Kelly asked, confused. She was pretty sure that the spare room was full of junk.
"All that crap is in the attic now, Tim helped me move it." Gibbs answered her with a grin. "We bought a cheap and comfy bedroom set on marketplace and cleaned out the room. Now why was today awful, Kell?"
Kelly told them about the boring budget cuts meeting, the talent acquisition meeting, a difficult author and an office wide phone outage. "To top it off, Ethan and Sherry announced their engagement."
The sympathetic look that Gibbs threw his daughter spoke volumes to Tim. "Bastard!" Gibbs hissed and cursed. "Don't worry about it, you're better off without him. He's her lying, cheating, problem now, not yours. "
"Ethan's my ex-boyfriend Tim, not the nicest guy and he proposed to the woman he cheated on me with. A woman in my office. She was flashing the ring around the office and showing me at every chance she got." Kelly explained, her eyes wide and watery.
"Doesn't she know he's going to do the same to her as he did to you?" Tim asked out loud, posing the hypothetical question. "Once a cheater, always a cheater."
"Look at Diane." Gibbs added, trying to support Tim's theory.
"I'd rather not." Tim quipped and it made Kelly laugh out loud. So, he exaggerated his shudder a little bit more and whined more, too. "The further that woman stays away from me, the better I will be."
"And here was thinking of inviting her over for dinner, tonight." Gibbs quipped at Tim, making him squirm more and Kelly give them both a small chuckle.
Dinner was a pretty subdued affair after Kelly announcement about her ex getting engaged. Tim and Gibbs had exchanged a few looks about her downing the whole bottle of wine and Gibbs knew he'd been calling in for her tomorrow. There was no way she was coming through all that alcohol, unscathed.
After dinner was consumed, Kelly put a movie on, and Gibbs went into the basement to do some work. Kelly passed out less than an hour into the artsy movie she had chosen and had been resting her head in Tim's lap.
Tim switched the movie over to an old movie that he and his grandfather had watched when he was a little kid and settled in, switching the lamp off on the side table. During the commercial break, he looked down and was startled to find his fingers tangled in Kelly's hair, gently. He realised he must have unconsciously been running his fingers through her wavy auburn locks, as her head rested on his lap. He removed his hand to stop himself, mortified at what he had been doing while she was passed out.
Gibbs had come back upstairs to a darkened ground floor, the only light shining was the light from the film on the TV screen. Seeing it was an old western film, he slipped into the living room to join them. He was surprised to see Kelly had passed out and her head was resting Tim's lap. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him at first as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Discreetly looking over, he saw what Tim was doing. He wasn't even sure if the younger man realised that he was subconsciously tangling his hands in Kelly's hair in a soothing, relaxing manner. "Want me to take her off you?" he asked Tim, seeing Tim trying to escape from beneath her.
"She's not that heavy, but I do need the bathroom." Tim whispered to him. "Don't wake her though, her ex getting engaged really did a number on her."
"Damn Ethan." Gibbs cursed again. He had never liked the boy, from the very first moment she had bought him over. He disrespected the military and all it stood for, disrespected Gibbs as a person and disrespected his job, all by the end of the first night they met. It only got worse from there. That punk was damn lucky when Kelly discovered he was cheating on her that she wouldn't let him confront Ethan.
It hadn't mattered in the end, though. Tony and Marshall confronted him and Ethan made a harassment complaint against Gibbs to the NCIS Director. The beauty of it was that, Gibbs had no knowledge of what Tony and Marshall had done. Tony may be a player, but that's a line, even he won't cross, the line of infidelity. "I've got her, Tim." He whispered to Tim.
Gibbs bent down and scooped his daughter up into his arms, making his way through the darkened house, carrying her up the stairs and into her bedroom. Tim joined him at her bedside and pulled the covers back, so Gibbs could gently lay her down without trying to juggle the covers. He removed her shoes and sweater, looking up he noticed that Tim had left him alone in that task. 'Ever the gentleman.' He mused to himself.
Back downstairs he found Tim back on the sofa. "About that..." Gibbs began. He couldn't believe the trust Kelly had placed in Tim, to lie on him like that, seeking comfort from him.
"Forget it, glad I could help." Tim nodded at his boss. Gibbs sat back beside Tim as the next movie of the double feature begun. By the time the second movie would be finished, it would be time to leave to meet Tony and Penny's fllight at JB-AB.
By the time the movie was finished, Tim was asleep too. Gibbs covered Tim with the afghan that he kept on the back of the sofa. He gently brushed Tim's hair back off his forehead and shut the tv off. He went to the safe and collected his credentials and service weapon, before heading out to meet Tony and Penny at JB-AB.
The drive to JB-AB was short and he was immediately waved through security. He smiled to himself and mentally reminded himself to thank Vance for paving the way for him through security and his help with getting Penny on a military flight back to the states.
"Welcome home." Gibbs called out as soon as Penny and Tony were within hearing distance. Penny gave Gibbs a half hug.
"How is he?" she asked, her voice desperate for information.
"Asleep" Gibbs smiled at her. "He tried to wait up for you, but today really took it out of him. Grab your bags and let's go back to the house. You too, Tony. You can crash on the other sectional. Penny, Tim and I set up the spare room for you."
"Thank you, Gibbs." Penny said as Gibbs grabbed her bag and the trio made their way to the sedan.
The trip to the Gibbs family home in Alexandria passed quickly. Tony filled Gibbs in on the latest with Stan and how he and his fiancee had separated and he was loving his new assignment in Okinawa.
Once they were inside, Gibbs noticed that Tim had woken and taken himself off to bed. He double checked Tim's room and he was there, sleeping soundly. He stood by the door and showed Penny that Tim was indeed asleep, peacefully. Gibbs instructed Tony to take Penny's bags upstairs, while he ushered Penny into the basement.
"Bourbon?" he offered and she readily accepted the USMC mug. "He loved her, Penny. He was beginning to feel like she was the one. Only reason he's alive is he dove under a staircase. He stayed by the entrance to take my call. I tried like hell to get him out of there in time. I heard it go down, right before the line went dead. He was buried under the debris. The DOD didn't want us knowing they rescued him, alive. Something doesn't add up."
"He was buried, alive?" Penny asked, taking in what Gibbs was saying to her. At his nod, she stared at him a moment before downing her drink in one gulp.
"He hit rock bottom, the day I called you. Thankfully he didn't try to eat his gun." Gibbs admitted in a small voice. "I've been where he is before and I won't let him try. If it wasn't for my daughter, I'd have eaten mine. He's beginning to think properly again. I trusted him today and he has promised me he won't do anything stupid. I am going to ask him to promise you the same thing. "
"Tony said the girlfriend's parents called him 'a gutless coward', he's been hearing that his whole life, from his father. Certainly, wouldn't have helped things." Penny told Gibbs, as he offered her a refill. "Nothing Timothy ever did was good enough, by John's standards. Going off to school at JH at sixteen, earning two degrees, going to MIT at eighteen and earning two more, going off to FLETC, joining NCIS. He appreciated Tim's love of maths and science, but unless he was applying them to military uses, John told Tim he was wasting his time. He's been called a gutless coward so many times by John, sadly I sometimes think Timothy believes it. "
"He's far from a gutless coward, Penny. He's fiercely strong, brave and loyal. How the Admiral doesn't see that, amazes me?" Gibbs told her, honestly. "He's strong and he's a fighter. Getting blown up in an explosion, getting mauled by a drug dog, surviving being held hostage in a women's prison by inmates, standing by his friend when he had the pneumonic plague to bringing down terrorists, rapists, murderers and cyber-terrorists; they're not the actions of a coward. There are a thousand or so other things I can mention, but they're classified. He's a valuable member of both my team and our agency. John McGee needs to see his son's worth. "
" You know Gibbs, I think I was right about you, all those years ago. When we solved the murder of my friend, Paul Boothe. I think you have always loved Timothy like a son, but like John, you didn't know how to show it, back then. But some thing's changed since then, hasn't it? You and my grandson seem more open and more honest with one another and it has nothing to do with the death of his girlfriend."
"I think that he's my subordinate, my colleague and my friend. A good friend, perhaps one of the best men I've ever met." Gibbs told Tim's grandmother. "I lost a dear friend, a couple of years back. He was a mentor to me. In my darkest hour, it was Tim who had my back the most. Tony calls Tim his Probie. Mike, my friend, he called me, his Probie, too. Mike used to call Tim, Probie's Probie, because he thought we were a lot alike. I couldn't see it, but then I got to know him and you know what, he was right. Tim and I are cut from the same cloth, just a generation apart and... Oh, I'm a lot more jaded than Tim is. One experience, I never wanted anyone to share with me was to know the pain of losing a partner from a criminal act. My wife, Shannon, she was murdered in cold blood. Jackie Vance, the director's wife, was murdered in cold blood too. Delilah Fielding, Tim's girlfriend, she was murdered in cold blood by a terrorist. You know what the three of us have in common; besides our partner's deaths and losing good women that we loved? Yes, Tim loved her. We all have survivors guilt. That's something that the run of the mill widower doesn't have."
"I am sorry for your loss, Gibbs. I am sorry for the Director's loss and I am sorry for Tim's loss. I can't imagine how you all must feel, but I appreciate everything that you two have done for Tim. My Nelson died of cancer. It wasn't sudden. We knew it was coming and had a lot of time to prepare for it."
Dawn broke and Kelly rolled over in bed, she was surprised to find Sharni curled up on the bed beside her and when she opened her eyes, she was shocked to see herself in her childhood bedroom. She was confused as to how she ended upstairs. Hearing voices she didn't recognise, she ensured she looked presentable and headed downstairs.
"Morning baby." Gibbs said as she walked in the kitchen. He was at the stove, scrambling eggs while Tim and Penny were at the dining table talking in low voices. "Looking for this?"
Kelly watched as her father held up her cell phone. She went to take it and he held it back from her. "Dad, I don't have time this morning. I have an important meeting."
"We need to talk about last night." Gibbs told her. He was surprised to hear that she had been planning on going into work. "You know, no one would fault you if you took the day, given yesterday."
"I can't give Ethan and Sherry that kind of power, Dad." Kelly explained. "They can't know how much it bothers me still, a year later."
"It's OK to feel hurt, you loved him." Gibbs offered his daughter. "I can call in for you."
"Thanks, but no. I am an adult, Dad. I can take care of myself." she told him strongly and he was proud of her. "Besides, Tim and his grandmother are here."
Tim and Penny joined the Gibbses in the kitchen. Tony had snuck out around five, heading off to his apartment to sleep the morning away in silence, promising Gibbs to check in with both Ellie at the office ad with them later, after he had slept.
"Thank you Tim, for last night." Kelly whispered to him, as she came to stand beside him. She tiptoed up and gently brushed her lips against his cheek. "Appreciate it more than you know."
"You're welcome." he smiled at her. It was a forced smile, and they all knew it. "Hey, Penny and I are going to travel to her home on Virginia Beach in Norfolk for the week, Sharni's welcome to stay with us. Maybe you and Gibbs could drive up and spend the weekend, have a mini vacation. Sort of a thanks for taking care of me deal?"
"Even if Dad's busy, I won't say no to a weekend away at the beach. Thanks Tim. Penny." Kelly nodded at the older woman. " I definitely need to get away."
Penny liked what she saw of Tim and the young Gibbs woman's friendship. She did wonder who Sharni was, though. Quickly enough, plans were made to host the Gibbses, Vances, DiNozzo, Abby, Ellie and Jake, as well as Ducky and the Palmers.
She smiled to herself, it had been a long time since her beach house had been full to the brim with family. She was looking forward to it. Every crazy minute of it.
Gibbs had taken Penny to get Tim's Porsche Boxster early that morning from the Navy yard. Tim, Penny and Sharni departed for his apartment before hitting the open road. Hugs had been shared between Tim and Gibbs, with promises to stay in touch and Kelly had surprised Tim by hugging him too. At first, he had felt weird about it, but then he remembered that Gibbs said that Kelly had lost a lot of friends when she left Ethan after his infidelity. He guessed that they were friends now.
The three-hour drive to Norfolk soothed his mind as Penny showed him, she was still a responsible driver, with not even a near miss on his beloved Porsche Boxster.
Once they pulled up outside Penny's place in Norfolk, Tim felt he was breathing even easier. He didn't know if it was the salt in the air or the close proximity to the sea, or if it was the distance away from DC, or even just having Penny here, by his side again.
He leashed Sharni before letting her exit the car, knowing that although she was obedient for him, lots of new smells, she might run away. "Timothy, you seem to be loving having a dog again."
"Makes me miss Jethro, yeah. But she's such a good dog and a bit more gentle than Jhro, not to mention smaller."
Tim missed Jethro, that was true, but he didn't have time for a dog, especially of Jethro's size. When Agent Borin had mentioned in passing that their unit's drug sniffing dog had been diagnosed with a brain tumour, she had been devastated. After a couple of days, he couldn't get it out of his head, he spoke with Gibbs and Ducky, who both thought that Tim was doing the right thing. He mentioned to Abby in passing, that he was planning on donating Jethro to the USCG she flipped her lid at him, until even she realised it was a better fit for the German Shepard, than a teeny tiny apartment and a visit from the dog walker once a day.
Tim started laughing and at Penny's questioning gaze, he explained "Before Abby forced me to take Jethro, I had been looking at getting a rescue dog. Ziva and I had a website up at work one day and were looking. Gibbs told me I should get an Australian Shepherd, because they're working dogs. Of course, it was a hint to get back to work, but they're such good dogs. They have good temperaments, they need training, but all dogs do. They're pretty cute too."
"Not to mention a certain young lady has one too. A red haired, young lady, Timothy." Penny hinted. She enjoyed watching Tim smile at the mention of the young woman she had just met that morning.
"Enough now, Penny. We're just friends." Tim told her, firmly. "Right now, I am in no physical or mental state to even look at another woman. Which reminds me, I have a couple of appointments with my docs in DC on Tuesday. Can we stay in Reston? I'd rather not abuse Gibbs' generosity and stay there again. I've been there since I was discharged from hospital."
"I'll call Sam and get it dusted, aired out and restocked, ready for our arrival on Tuesday. Gibbs told me you have your sessions with the doc on Tuesday and Thursday, so we can base ourselves there." Penny agreed. She loved the beach house, but it was too far away from DC. She had three meetings next week there, about her next lecturing tour and had a mental note to meet Gibbs for a coffee to discuss how Tim was doing. "Meanwhile, I have a proposition for you. My penthouse apartment in Georgetown, would you be interested in living there. I understand that you might not want to leave your apartment. You and your girlfriend had good times there. But I'm - ."
"Penny, I hate it there now. Too many good memories, I need to move forward. Move on, I'll take on the apartment in Georgetown." Tim told her with a kiss. "I actually already mentioned to Gibbs I didn't want to stay there anymore."
Penny knew that already, Gibbs had warned her, but Tim didn't know that. "I own it outright, you cover the Body Corp fees and utilities, I'll sign it over to you on Tuesday." she offered. She knew that she couldn't just let him live there, rent free. One; he wouldn't accept that; he was too proud. Two; everything has to be above board when he declared it to NCIS for his job. After all, it was very expensive real estate and Tim needed to have all the i's dotted and the t's crossed, as far as legalities go.
"Deal." Tim agreed, kissing his grandmother's cheek.
"Now about Gibbs' daughter?" Penny tried again with a sly, cheeky grin.
"We're just friends." Tim reiterated to the older woman. "She's been a good friend to me, that's it."
"There used to be a time, when you couldn't lie to me, Timothy." Penny chastised him.