A/N - Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you guys are the best. Last chapter of the week. I've got a job interview this afternoon, so wish me luck.

Vance had to smile at the sight when he walked into his kitchen. Jackie, Kayla, Tiana and Jared, along with his two school friends were all sitting at the table with milk and cookies. Jethro the dog was very obviously guarding one of the backpack, his chin actually resting on it. At the table, one of the boys looked very nervous, even before Admiral Patterson walked in.

Schooling his features, Vance turned to his wife. "Has Jethro been like that the whole time?"

"I'm afraid so. He was laying under the table until the boys came in and dropped their bags on the floor over there. A few seconds later, he ran over and started barking and growling at the packs, pulled that one away from the rest. He's been laying exactly like that ever since." Now that she'd told her husband all she knew, Jackie pointedly looked at the children, then at the door into the family room. Leon gave a subtle nod and then she began moving the rest of the kids out of the kitchen, leaving only Andrew at the table.

Vance watched as she moved them into the family room, a large space behind the kitchen. Originally it had been a screened-in porch when they'd bought the place, but the first cold winter had convinced the California transplants to insulate and finish the space. You had to walk through the kitchen to get there, but it was nice to have an area where the kids could spread out other than the formal living room. The television and gaming console would keep them occupied until they could retrieve their backpacks.

Jeffrey had tried to edge closer and now reached for the backpack, but Jethro just growled again. The inexperienced agent looked over and shook his head. "How do we tell him we're the good guys?"

Realizing he didn't have a clue, Vance pulled out his phone. "Gibbs, if Jethro has alerted to a possible drug stash, how do we call him back? Hill, Balboa, Taylor and Jeffrey are with me but none of us are trained handlers."

-NCIS-

Tim was sleeping comfortably at the moment so when his phone rang, Gibbs quickly answered, hoping to not wake him. "Yeah, Gibbs."

Gibbs, if Jethro has alerted to a possible drug stash, how do we call him back? Hill, Balboa, Taylor and Jeffrey are with me but none of us are trained handlers.

"What?" Maybe he was more tired than he thought, because it took a moment to wrap his mind around what Vance was asking. "Where is he?"

At my house.

Gibbs didn't even know what to do with that one. "Really?" He heard a sigh, then Vance launched into a little more detail.

A group of Jared's friends are here and Jethro has latched onto one of the backpacks. He's laying on the floor with the backpack between his front legs, his head on the backpack and he's growling at anyone that comes near him.

Jethro was well trained, Gibbs knew that, but he'd never seen any of his working commands. He hated to do it, but he really didn't have any choice. "Tim, need you awake for a minute."

"Hmm?" Tim didn't open his eyes, probably because of the dizziness, but his head turned toward Gibbs and Gibbs quickly and softly explained the situation.

"Needs to see a badge."

"What?"

"Yeah." There was some movement of Tim's head but he kept his eyes carefully closed. "Show him the badge, let him sniff it. Then use a firm voice, say 'release' then 'stand down'. Snap your fingers and point to where you want him to sit. Then lots of praise and a treat. When they find the drugs, he gets more praise and more treats."

Smirking, Gibbs relayed the information back to Vance and wished he could be a fly on the wall.

-NCIS-

Vance jabbed at the touchscreen of his phone with a little more force than necessary. Gibbs didn't have to say it, he could hear the amusement in his voice. At least Ziva David wasn't here, she'd probably be taking pictures. Jackie was standing in the doorway and he knew she'd remember every moment.

Pulling out his badge, he walked over to the dog and bent down. Just as he was told, Jethro looked at it, then sniffed it before looking back up at him. Vance stood back up and used his 'director' voice. "Jethro, release."

The dog's head instantly lifted off the backpack and he seemed almost eager for his next command, so Vance gave it, snapping his fingers and pointing to a corner away from the action. "Stand down."

There was even a tail wag as Jethro scurried over to his assigned corner and Vance grinned as he followed him over. "That's a good boy, Jethro. That's a very good boy."

Just to be safe, Balboa kept his movements steady as he lifted the backpack and carried it over to the kitchen island, but Jethro was perfectly happy to ignore it now that the proper command had been given. Gloves on, he unzipped the backpack and removed several notebooks before finding a pencil bag. The moment he had it lifted out of the backpack, Jethro gave a bark from his corner, so Balboa opened it next.

"Gee, I wonder if this is what he noticed?" In full view of the team and the boy's father he pulled out a small plastic zip-lock bag filled with about a half dozen pills. They all watched as Admiral Patterson turned to his son.

"Andrew, you have something you'd like to tell us?"

-NCIS-

Relieved because being wrong about this would have been even worse than being right, Vance bent down to scratch Jethro's head. "Good job, Jethro, good job. Yuck, don't lick my face." Wiping at the dog drool, he straightened up and looked at Tiana, who was peeking out from behind Jackie. "What kind of treat does Jethro like?"

"Peanut butter."

"Peanut butter?" He looked at the now empty plate on the table, figuring the tiny crumbs would not satisfy the large dog. Before he could try to convince Jackie to relinquish some of the cookies he knew she had packed up for the bake sale, Tiana piped up again.

"Yep, when it's time to give him his pills, Daddy puts them in a scoop of peanut butter. He eats it right off the spoon."

"Okay, peanut butter it is." Definitely not looking at Jackie as she herded Tiana back into the family room, Leon reached into the drawer for a spoon and used it to scoop up a wad of peanut butter. "Here you go, boy."

Honestly, he'd been expecting the dog to just gobble it right down, but Jethro took his time, licking the treat neatly until the spoon was spotless as Leon watched in amusement. If they could find a dog this well behaved, he wouldn't mind getting a dog at all.

The Admiral was on the phone with someone, arranging to have his son admitted into a drug treatment program immediately. Vance would have suggested waiting until they knew exactly what the pills were, but it gave the officer something to do that wasn't destructive. It looked like Balboa was done with the field test so he wandered over that direction, dropping the spoon in the sink as he did.

"Well?"

"The outside and the inside of the bag both tested positive for Meth, but the pills are Ritalin."

"Ritalin? That's prescribed for ADHD, right?"

"And it's also abused by kids trying to get an edge."

Vance's eyebrows climbed. Apparently he'd been out of the field longer than he'd thought. "An edge?"

"Grades start to drop, class really hard, take a pill and be able to stay up and focused all night, one more pill for school the next day. Easy at first, but it catches up with them quick. I'm more interested in getting his supplier than destroying an overwhelmed kid."

"Agreed." Vance pulled the Admiral off to the side to speak to him privately. Admiral Patterson was distraught, rubbing at his forehead.

"I can't believe this is happening, Leon. Andrew is a good boy. Do you know what he's on?"

Vance leaned one hip on the countertop, arms crossed over his chest. "The pills are Ritalin. Anyone in your family have a prescription for them?"

"No, never. You know what the Navy feels about ADHD treatments." Patterson rubbed at his face again as he turned to look at his son, slumped over at the table, refusing to look at any of them. "This is my fault. I didn't even know you could get high on Ritalin."

Vance looked over and jerked his head enough to bring Balboa over to join them. "Kids aren't taking it for the high, Doug."

"Director Vance is right, Sir. More and more kids are taking it to get through school, to be able to cram all night and still be focused for a test the next day. Most of the time they don't even realize they're addicted to it until summer break and they fall apart without it. Has Andrew been having any trouble keeping up with his classes?"

That got a slow nod. "First term report card, his math grade dropped down to a B- and his language arts grade went down to a C. I told him that if they weren't back up where they belonged by Spring break, he wouldn't be going to Cancun with his mother and sisters. I guess this really is my fault." Patterson stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "What kind of charges is he facing?"

At least the man wasn't throwing his rank around trying to sweep this under the rug and that made Vance's decision even easier. "We'd rather arrest the dealer than a young kid that got in over his head. If he's honest with us, gives us his dealer, then I can pretty much guarantee probation and a suspended sentence. Especially if he willingly goes into a counseling or rehab program – whatever the doctors think he needs."

"Thank you, Leon."

-NCIS-

While the Admiral quietly discussed the situation with Director Vance, his lieutenant stood a parade rest just far enough away to give him the illusion of privacy. The petty officer that was his driver for the day was much more restless. Not wanting to bother his superior officers nor the agents still testing the contents of the backpack, he ended up near the dog. Now that the job was done, Jethro had returned to a happy, loving dog looking for attention.

"Hey, boy." Petty Officer Wilson held out the back of his hand, waiting to see how the dog would react. Jethro licked his hand, then demanded petting, actually bumping his head against Wilson's palm. "Okay, okay, I get the message."

Dropping down on one knee, he gave Jethro the attention he wanted, scratching his ears and rubbing his belly. He looked up when Vance came back over. "He's a great dog, he's not yours?"

"No, he's just visiting for the day. Jethro belongs to Agent McGee."

"Agent McGee? Is he the guy that fell off that roof today?"

Before Vance could answer, a terrified little voice sounded in back of him. "My daddy fell off a roof?"