DISCLAIMER: Same as all earlier chapters.

THANKS YET AGAIN to those of you who made it this far.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: February 11, 2020; 7:04 p.m.
SECTOR 9; Fogle Towers. Penthouse.

It took a herculean effort on Logan's part not to just gulp the expensive, pre-Pulse wine in his glass as he looked over its rim at Max, sipping her own: the deep red of the wine and the deep red of her lips, the rich chocolate of her eyes and hair...

He set down the wine stem, and, seeing his hand was a bit shaky, drew a deep breath to let it out in a chuckled, rueful confession. "I haven't felt this nervous since junior high and my first dance." He lifted his eyes from the glass to look back up at her. "I was totally outclassed by my date then, too."

Whatever he'd hoped the words would accomplish, he was rewarded more than he could have imagined by the sparkles they brought to her eyes and the wide, pleased smile that lit her face. "Who was she?" Max dared, sounding, for the life of him, coquettish.

"Jenny? No, uh ... Janey...?" He paused, surprised, then laughed. "I can't remember. The biggest romantic event in my life at that point and I can't remember her name now."

"'cos there have been so many others, since?"

There was that look again, that half-closed thing Max did with her eyes, a dare, a challenge ... a look so self-assured he knew she affected it now to hide her own ripples of insecurity. Knowing that, Logan settled into his own smile a little more readily. "No... because of the way you look tonight. And the way you're looking at me now, I'm not sure I even remember my own name." Forget even trying to hold it together, he told himself as he lifted his wine for a healthy mouthful. At least I have nowhere to drive, tonight... Seeing her smile just for him, he cautioned, remembering how new it all was, "I suppose we have some more talking to do, even still," he admitted. "A few more topics are probably out there, even after the one we covered earlier."

"Yeah, but it all should be downhill from there, shouldn't it?" Her eyes danced as her voice carried her own hopes for them, together...

He chuckled, looking into his wine, a smirk teasing the dimple back into his cheek. "Probably," he agreed. "At least for me." Looking back up, he shrugged, "you know my only other skeletons – Eyes Only and the Cale Family."

"Oh, I don't know about that..." She grinned. "Seems to me I never heard all the juicy details about Daphne ... or Valerie..."

"Max," he laughed, and barely believing it, added, "if I didn't know you so well, I'd say you were jealous..."

"Jealous? Me? Impossible," she tried to stifle her grin of embarrassment as she muttered into her glass. "They wrote it out of me.."

"Yeah, I'll bet..." he grinned, enjoying the thought that he could rattle her cage, too, just a little. His smile didn't change when he heard the key in his lock and the sound of Tony poking at the security system. "Tony's here just in time to get you off the hook," he said quietly, raising an eyebrow, teasing her now, his nervousness more easily handled when he realized it was shared. "Hey, cuz, we're in here," he called, grinning widely at Max. He was going to enjoy the evening...

"I'm hoping that's dinner, 'cos it smells mighty good, cuz ." Tony came in from the hall and immediately saw Max and Logan, facing each other across the kitchen work bench, cheeks glowing and their mouths and eyes bound up in hopelessly infatuated smiles. The changes – for the good – nearly made the air vibrate. While his affable smile went up several notches, he was at a loss for the moment of what to say – no way could he prod them more than he had, not while they were together like this, but he damn well was not going to let them falter. As he came in, though, it took only another moment for him to start believing they were doing alright on their own. He'd wait and see, he vowed ... but he just might be able to leave it to them, after all...

He turned to scrutinize each, one then the other. "Max – you're dazzling," he smiled, coming to stand across the work bench from her. "You look absolutely beautiful."

She actually blushed, full force, a combination of Tony's words – and the fact they were said in front of his favorite cousin. "Thank you," she murmured.

"And you clean up pretty well yourself, lil cuz," Tony smirked over at Logan, noting that as compared to earlier evenings, this time Logan was wearing designer slacks and a sweater Tony knew to have cost several hundred dollars. "Of course, it amazes me that Aunt Margo lets you live in the same town she does, what with the, uh..." He gestured along his own jaw, eyeing Logan's scruffy, whiskered cheeks.

Logan rolled his eyes as Max beamed at Tony's pantomime. "Out of sight, out of mind," he sighed, long-suffering. "She manages to forget when I'm not under her nose. Of course, it doesn't take long for her to say something, once she sees me." He chuckled, and added, "I'm waiting for her to send someone to tie me down and shave me."

Tony grinned happily and offered his own thanks as Logan handed him a glass of wine. Apparently Bling did get some business taken care of, Tony mused, as he watched his cousin pull out antipasto and offer crisp crackers and cheeses with the tray, and watched Max's eyes shine to watch Logan play host, creating pre-Pulse elegance in a too-dark world ... their looks and reactions weren't so different than they'd been all weekend, Tony mused ... but this time ... they seemed to be willing to acknowledge the looks and desires each wore for the other. Maybe he was right... maybe they were doing alright on their own...

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: February 11, 2020; 8:49 p.m.
SECTOR 9; Fogle Towers. Penthouse.

Dinner and dessert had been warm and comfortable, with stories and jokes and safe questions all around. Each was keenly aware that the cousins' time together was growing short, and each knew that jobs and other responsibilities had to intrude to put a continent between them again. But they seemed to have a tacit understanding that these last hours would be used to celebrate, not mourn: the cousins were reunited, no secrets between them to keep them apart, and they would find a way to keep the bond strong...

Despite their efforts to include her, Max helped steer the conversation to the family and the visits they'd managed to have, growing up, at least two or three times a year, with extended visits during school breaks. So many were at the cabin, and so many memories were tied to lake and the hours they'd spent swimming and diving, snorkeling, even skiing at the larger lake nearby. As the discussion fell into the men's memories of the times they'd shared, Max rose to lift her plates, take them to the kitchen, and return with the coffee pot for refills as the others finished their tiramisu. Managing to come back to the table with her plate, a spoonful or two of tiramisu freshly planted there, she slid into her chair to nibble at the extra helping of the rich cake as the stories continued.

"You know, that was where Tony and I first met, at the lake," Logan said to Max, bringing her in. "The summer when I was, what, not yet three ... Tony came out to stay for nearly his whole summer vacation."

"Wasn't the first time, cuz." Tony said immediately, his eyes alight with memory.

"Sure it was; you hadn't been out the summer before that, and my parents skipped the year out at your place when I was one..."

Tony nodded. "I know, but there was a time before. You were way too little to remember, anyhow." He shrugged it off, and apologized to Max, "you shouldn't have gotten us started – this has got to be about as much fun as watching someone else's vacation videos."

Max laughed, caught mid-bite, finishing the tiramisu she'd purloined from the pan, and licked the spoon. "No, you two are pretty entertaining – way better than most videos," she said, putting down her plate and spoon. With a contented smile, she sat up straighter, drained her coffee, and put her napkin back on the table in front of her. "But it's time for me to get going." She looked first to Logan, registering his appreciative smile in return, then looked at the agent. "Tony, I really am glad to have gotten to know you. And I'm glad to know I can use you to threaten Logan, once in a while – if he gets too stubborn about something I can threaten to tell his Big Cousin Tony."

Logan blushed but said nothing, still smiling, he knew, drunk on far more than the two glasses of wine he'd had that evening. Tony laughed and nodded, "Absolutely. And if it gets bad enough, give me a call, I'll come straighten him out." He gazed at the stunning woman, delighted to know that his cousin had Max so taken with him, and shrugged, "of course, I suspect between you and Bling, you probably have most of the problems covered."

"Wouldn't hurt to bring in reinforcements," she laughed.

"Don't go so soon, Max; you know we'd both enjoy your company." Tony said, his smile for her warm. His wide green eyes carried his sincerity, seen – and appreciated – by both Max and Logan.

She smiled, shook her head, and rose from the table, watching Tony come to his feet almost as quickly in response. "You guys have a lot of catching up to do yet," she smiled softly, standing firm, "and even though another month of evenings probably wouldn't be enough, I'm not going to get in the way of any more quality time for you both." With a brief waver, Max leaned over to Tony and, in a move that took both men by surprise, touched his arm gently and kissed him warmly on the cheek. Pulling back, the look Tony saw in her eyes was one of gratitude – his time with Logan, Tony assumed, and what she thought it meant to him. " I'm coming along to the airport with you guys tomorrow, Tony, so I'll see you then." Her gaze dissolved into happier, bouncier grin, and she pushed in her chair, turning her gaze to her host. "Dinner was fantastic, as always," her eyes softened for the ones shining for her behind his glasses, before she moved to take them both in. "Have a good visit, you two."

"Max, I'll..." Logan stammered a little, blushed a bit, then smiled sheepishly at first Max, then Tony, as he came around the table, "I'll see Max out..."

Tony grinned knowingly, his nod approving. "Good plan," he pronounced. "'night, Max... see you tomorrow." He first watched the graceful, feminine figure start down the hall, the swaying walk only slightly exaggerated for the man trailing behind her, and then let his eyes linger over the smooth, steady moves of his cousin in pursuit. DiNozzo felt himself smile as he watched – what was on the mind of his cousin at the moment was not how he followed Max, but that it was Max he followed. Tony sighed. Logan would be alright ... and the two of them would be even better, with each other at their side, more open about their feelings than before ...

Tony turned to drop back into the chair he'd just vacated. His thoughts were a million miles away now, the memory Logan unwittingly triggered reopened for the first time in decades, playing out before his eyes like a movie ...

...it shouldn't have been their year to have Thanksgiving in Seattle, but this year things were different. This year, just a couple weeks before, his Aunt Sara had a baby, the first for her and Uncle Robert. Tony's other cousins were closer to his age; a handful of years apart, and all older. So a Cale baby was an event they hadn't had for a while, and the fact it was the first born son of Robert Logan Cale made it all the more important.

Tony heard but mostly ignored all the excitement. Everyone had always said Uncle Robert was the brilliant one, the one whose ideas and creativity were opening new worlds at the family business. He'd been nice enough to Tony on his visits, but wasn't around much, often working long hours at the office. It was his Aunt Sara who had always had a special place in Tony's heart. She wasn't like his mom or the other aunts; she was slim and strong and loved the outdoors, just as he did. It was Aunt Sara who taught him to dive from the pier, when he was four or five; she played catch or basketball with him when his cousins weren't around and he was bored. She had clear blue eyes that seemed to guarantee she would always be honest with him, and a quick smile and laugh that let him trust she was spending time with him because she wanted to, and was having fun, not because she felt she had to.

But now...? Aunt Sara had become a mother. And he was fourteen now, old enough not to expect her full attention, and old enough to know it was dumb to be jealous of this baby. But he couldn't help but wonder how things would be now. She was a mother... how could she be the same?

So he stewed. He hadn't seen any of the Seattle family in two years, and this trip had become all about "seeing the baby." The flight was uncomfortable, the drive from the airport to the house was miserable, and on arrival, Tony was already counting the hours before they'd be going back home...

The DiNozzos' arrival at the Cale estate wasn't much different than usual: a couple friendly cuffs from his cousins, still-irritating high schoolers too cool on recent visits to spend much time with him; his Aunt Margo's inevitable appraisal of how he looked and her thinly veiled disapproval; his Uncle Jonas trying too hard to offer a joke or to impress his own parents with boring business stories ... but this time, his Uncle Robert had arrived before they had, looking different – less "perfect" than he usually did but smiling, happy... and maybe even a bit harried. Aunt Sara was nowhere to be seen...

The group had begun moving into the living room, chattering, catching up, adults largely ignoring the kids, as usual. Tony sat in a chair off to the side, nearly forgotten, already bored, hoping that Aunt Sara would at least come by to say hello sometime, wondering if he could slip out to shoot some hoops or something to make the time go faster. He leaned his chin on his palm, kicking gently at the coffee table in front of him, so lost in his own thoughts that he barely heard the familiar voice before its owner sat down gracefully on the coffee table to say, "Hey, Tony – you just got here – so glum already?"

He looked up at the sound, grin starting, and froze, not sure what to think. Aunt Sara, the same blue eyes and honest pleasure to see him – but not the same Sara he'd known: her hair was longer, in soft waves instead of the no-nonsense, sporty cut she'd worn before... Instead of her usual slacks and sweater, she wore a feminine blue dress with lace and a beautiful gold locket – and he gulped, unsure. She was a mother, now ... "No, I... I was just waiting," he stammered.

"Anyone get you a Coke or anything yet?" she asked, gently. When he shook his head, she smiled, the look familiar, but a bit more tired than he was used to seeing. "C'mon – let's get us both a soda, and you can tell me about your flight."

And he began to relax, following her out to the kitchen, responding to her prompting about the trip and his family. Maybe she wasn't so different, he began to think – and there was no sign of the baby, so maybe it hadn't been such a change for her. He started warming up to her, as she asked about the flight and school and his team and friends ... they stood for several minutes at the far end of the large kitchen, out of the way, as Aunt Margo's staff bustled with the final touches of the family's Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe things were not so different than they'd ever been, after all, he started to hope ...

"So, Tony ... you know you have a new baby cousin, don't you?" Sara smiled at the teenager, her eyes twinkling. "I really wish you two could live closer, as he's growing up. I'd be so happy to have you be his big cousin, his protector. Without any big brothers to watch out for him, he could use your strength and smarts by his side."

The blue eyes had looked into his in long, honest admiration, and Tony had no doubt that his Aunt Sara meant every word. He felt ten feet tall...

"And you know, I may be crazy... but I think he looks a lot like you. I mean, like you did, at that age. I guess all two week old babies look sort of alike," she laughed, "but with Logan..." Sara shook her head. "When he wakes up, you can see what you think. It probably won't be too long now."

It wasn't. However, at that moment, his Aunt Margo had found them talking in the kitchen and shooed them out, appalled that they'd be "hiding out with the help" on Thanksgiving day. As they were bustled in to join the others, Tony realized that no matter what he'd hoped, the new cousin was a big deal, and Sara wanted Tony to see it. He'd do anything for his Aunt Sara. But ... a baby?

As he thought about it, Tony felt increasingly nervous about what he was supposed to do, when presented with this baby cousin; he didn't know the first thing about babies, had never been around them, never had the first curiosity or interest in them. But he wouldn't hurt Aunt Sara for the world, and she seemed so excited about it all. She even wanted Tony to think they looked alike. Was he supposed to compliment it? Offer to hold it? He decided he would do whatever it seemed Sara hoped he would do, and as he listened to the others chattering, he mentally rehearsed his lines, agreeing that the baby looked just like him...

A few minutes after rejoining the others, amid the adult conversation, he saw Sara tilt her chin slightly, hearing something he didn't, and a soft smile lit her face as she then turned to face him. "I think he's about ready to join us for a little while." Tony felt even more stuck. Would Aunt Sara believe his words, that he saw the resemblance? She seemed pretty goofy over the baby; maybe she'd be paying more attention to it than to him, and he'd get by with it... "C'mon, Tony, want to come with me to meet Logan, before all the others here make a big fuss over him?"

He nodded and stood, when it was really the last thing he wanted to do. He followed his aunt down the hall to Aunt Margo's sitting room, a cozy, quiet library away from the noisier part of the house where the family had gathered. Inside, the first sound he'd heard was a soft, troubled fussing, not really a cry, as if it hadn't really come fully awake yet. Did babies this new even wake up all the way? Tony gulped a bit, uncertain what he'd find -- all he could hope for was to not offend his Aunt Sara if the thing was ugly or weird looking...

"Hey, Logan, look who's here to see you – it's your big cousin, Tony ... all the way from the other side of the country, just to see you." Aunt Sara had crossed over to a sort of baby bed, a basket on wheels, and leaned in to lift a bundle of blankets even smaller than he'd expected. "It's okay, Tony, he's awake..." Sara looked back to the unmoving teenager, then came over to him, adjusting the bundle into her arm and pulling back the corner. "Logan... say hello to your cousin Tony..."

...and Tony looked into a perfect, miniature face with the smallest of puckers along his brow, as his brand new cousin stretched wide his tiny fingers, topped with teeny, perfect fingernails, and opened a gummy, rosy mouth into a tiny, comical yawn...

Eyes wide, mouth agape slightly in his amazement, Tony first stared at the baby, then up to his aunt, then back at the baby, awed. A perfect, tiny human ... a miniature person ... Had he ever known, before, how perfectly babies were made? "Wow..." he managed.

"Want to hold him?" Sara asked. He looked up at her, stricken.

"I've... never..." Tony gulped. "He's so small..."

"It's easy. Only if you want to, Tony; it's okay..."

"No, I ... yeah," he blushed. The tiny face and questing hand riveted him. Tony looked back to the face, the little eyes still screwed shut, fighting wakefulness, and without thinking, Tony reached in to brush the delicate, pink hand with his finger, marveling at the perfect smoothness of the baby's soft skin. Tracing along to feel the tiny nails, he was again surprised when the fingers moved to reach for – and grasp, firmly – his index finger. "Hey!" He laughed, gulping. "He's strong!"

"Just like his cousin Tony," Sara smiled warmly.

"You're sure it's okay ... if I hold him?" Tony looked back up to the blue eyes for confirmation, as always, knowing honesty would be there for him.

"I'm very sure." She shifted, helping him extract his finger. "Here ... only thing to remember is that babies this little are pretty floppy, so you have to be sure to support his head..."

And as the warm, soft blankets shifted, with their precious cargo, into his cousin's waiting arms, the fourteen year old Tony DiNozzo felt an overpowering, amazing need to be the protector of this helpless, tiny, perfect little child. And at that moment, two tiny eyes opened and appeared to look, albeit a bit blearily, right into his...

"He's looking at me!" Tony whispered, a huge grin on his face.

"Of course he is – he's heard about this big cousin Tony of his, and wanted to check you out."

Tony laughed a bit, sheepishly, finally hearing the amazement in his voice, recognizing how taken he'd been at the sight of the little newcomer. "Wow," he repeated. "I guess this is why people get so wound up about babies, huh?"

Sara laughed softly. "Especially why they get wound up about special, family babies." She sighed. "I mean it, Tony, I do wish you lived close enough that he could have you to look up to. You're turning out to be the kind of guy I'd like him to be."

Tony glanced up to her with a blush, and glanced back to Logan, to avoid the discerning blue eyes as he murmured his thanks. "I could come visit."

"You'd better," she grinned, "and we'll still visit you. Deal?"

"Deal." Tony smiled. They were quiet for several moments, as Tony held the blanketed little form, listening to the soft little grumps and sighs and near-fusses he made. Tony found himself swaying a little with the baby in his arms, ever so gently letting his arms bounce him and hearing the fussing lessen slightly. He grinned again at his success, looking back up to the smiling eyes of his aunt.

"He doesn't stay awake too long yet, and I think the others want to see him, too. Want to take him out and introduce him to your parents, before he conks out again?"

Tony looked back to the button nose and blinking blue eyes, showing, Tony dared to think, some traces of his own green in just the right light. With another wide smile, he held the bundle close and nodded. "I'll make sure he's okay."

"I knew you would." The blue eyes promised.

And with growing pride, Tony DiNozzo turned to go back into the front room, where for the first time, but not the last, he would be the strong arm around Logan Cale, as Logan ventured out into the wide, wild world...

As Logan came back toward the table he felt the small warmth of an anticipatory flush along his neck and cheeks, knowing he must have gaped and grinned like a fool at Max the whole evening, wondering if Tony would tease or ignore or encourage – because no matter how he chose to react to it, there was no way he would have missed his cousin's love-struck reaction to Max.

But Tony sat quietly at the table, eyes seemingly focused on thoughts so far from Seattle that Logan wasn't sure if he'd heard him return. Even agents have memories, Logan mused and even overgrown kids like Tony grow up eventually. When he was still and unmoving, like this, Logan could see the streaks of grey trying to catch up with the brown, and could see the laugh lines at his eyes and mouth working to become full fledged age lines. Time was trying to catch even Tony DiNozzo, and Logan had almost let it happen, hiding from his cousin in his embarrassment and shame. The shame was greater that he'd allowed his pride to get the better of him, and vowed that he would find away to see Tony much, much more often...

"Hey," Logan interrupted softly. "What can I get you? More coffee? Some more wine, or something else?"

Tony looked up to his cousin and for a moment, Logan saw his eyes flicker as if he was just now really registering the chair for the first time, with a look of such sadness and guilt that it pushed aside the warm, glowing happiness Max had left in him. DiNozzo blinked a little and his expression came back under his control, but the pain had been there to see. Logan waited, his knit brows asking the question, silently. Tony finally drew a long breath and admitted, "Logan, I'd heard that things out here were bad – but I never really got it. I never believed that the Seattle I remembered could turn so desperate, that even the Cales could be threatened or hurt ... You know, if I'd really understood that it was even half this bad, I'd have been out here in a shot and have found some way to get you back east, with me ... some place where this never would have happened."

Logan crossed the remaining few feet over to the table, and sat at the corner by Tony. There was an unusual vulnerability in his cousin as he spoke, and Logan understood that, whatever the memories had been, DiNozzo was taking the blame for his being shot. "Look, Tony – first of all, there's no way you would have seen this coming, no way could anyone think that I needed 'rescuing' from living out here. Random stuff happens – could've been a traffic accident or something else. And second – I think I can out-stubborn even you, now. You wouldn't have been able to get me back east with you."

"I promised your mother I'd make sure you were okay ... " Tony shook his head, the admission a painful one, and he looked back at the face so like his. "I can't remember how many times..."

"And I am okay..." Logan promised, "especially now." The smile Tony saw crossing his cousin's features was more genuine than any he'd seen since he'd gotten there, and it banished the terrible, ghostly pallor and pain that had greeted Tony's arrival. "The only thing that wasn't 'okay' was that I hadn't come clean to you about all this, yet. But once you got here – and you saw me, right away, not the chair..."

"I didn't..." Tony tried to confess.

"Nah, you did," Logan grinned. "Well, okay, you saw both, I know. I'm getting pretty good at deciphering the looks, these days ... but right away, you set out to find me in this chair – and you did. And after only a couple days, it's me you see now, for the most part. Once in a while – like now – you remember the chair and what it implies, but, mostly – you see me. It means more to me to have you still see me in all this, than anyone else I can think of. And the fact that you did confirms everything I ever thought of you, as a kid. I always thought you could walk on water, if you wanted. Now all I ask is that if you decide you do want to try it, give me a call. I want to watch."

Tony looked long into the smiling, untroubled expression on his cousin's face, and swallowed the lump that threatened to form. With a more-DiNozzo-like smirk, he asked, "would it get you to come out east for a while?"

Logan laughed. "It just might."

Tony smiled back, the slightly wan look to it the only remaining evidence of the emotions which had rolled through him so recently. "You know how hard it was, not to tell Max you have a standing job offer with me? She might just think it's a good idea, too, and we'd both be badgering you."

"Then I appreciate your self-control," Logan lifted his cooling coffee to take a gulp, half-saluting his thanks to Tony with the cup as he did. He watched as Tony shook off the remaining ghosts and settled back into his smart-ass grin.

"Of course, she's coming to the airport, too..." Tony pointed out.

"What if I tell her after you've gone?" Logan tried.

"'cos you won't?" Tony snorted.

"I might..." Logan's expression softened a bit and he said, "I hadn't told her yet that you know about Manticore and the escape, and that you figured out she was one of them. Selfishly, I... I didn't want it to be awkward. You two seemed to be getting to know each other and... you know." He trailed. "But I need to tell her; it's something that she ought to know, no matter who it was who knew about things. And, too, I want her to know that ... if anything were to happen to me, and she was in trouble ... that maybe you could help her out." Logan sought Tony's reaction to his words, and rushed to add, "I don't want to put you on the spot, Tony, and don't want you to have to do anything that would compromise what you have to do for NCIS..."

"No, Logan, it's okay. I want to be there for her if something happens. For both of you," he insisted.

"I'll remind her it's only for last-chance emergencies..."

"You don't have to. Any time something's up and you're worried about her safety... or yours," he insisted. "You're getting that part too, right?"

The emerald eyes wavered, looking into the agent's, assessing, before Logan relaxed back into a grin. "Yeah." He beamed at his cousin for a moment, and nudged him, "C'mon – let's go into the other room and you can tell me all the embarrassing stories about me I didn't want Max to hear. And catch me up on what's going on with you – we've had plenty of my changes for one visit," the eyes still sparkled but softly now, still showing his affection and near-idolization for his older cousin. "You still haven't come clean about this Assistant Secretary you've been sneaking off to call a couple times a day. When am I going to get the story on her?"

DiNozzo chuckled, almost looking a bit embarrassed now, himself. "Leave it to the journalist to want the 'story'..."

"And leave it to your cousin to want to know what's happening in your life – I've let too much time go by without asking, and I'm making a promise now that it's not going to happen again. Deal?"

And once again, Tony DiNozzo looked into eyes which sparkled with wisdom and truth and caring, maybe this time Logan's green rather than the clear, sky blue of his mother's, but just as powerful and articulate as hers had been those thirty some years earlier. With a wide smile acquiescing in affection and pride, Tony clapped Logan on the shoulder. "Deal." He stood and grabbed some dishes to take out to the kitchen. "I'll get the coffee, you get the tiramisu. Just the pan and a fork is fine with me..."

Logan watched the man transform back into a carefree frat boy, and smirked. In only another moment he started loading up with dishes, too, to take to the kitchen. He had the evening and part of tomorrow with the one constant in his life, the one person who'd been with him from the first and was still there for him, still trustworthy, from his earliest memories to those new ones being made this very moment. He fleetingly wondered if he could make a life at NCIS, in DC ... or if Max would be interested in such a move...

Whether she would or not... whether he could, or not... he felt the luxury of having a choice, something he hadn't felt for a very, very long time...

And smiling softly at the sudden sound of tuneless singing bleating loudly from his kitchen, accompanied by water splashing in the sink, Logan turned to join his cousin in the kitchen and even, as he had before, many years ago, on a few random nights like this, offered his own stab at a harmony intended to drown out the melody...

...and through much of the evening, the quiet, elegant penthouse rattled with caterwauling, laughter ... and memories ...

...to be continued...