a/n - I was feeling sorry for myself about the lack of reviews, then I realized that I'd forgotten to post this last chapter. Sigh. Too many WIP's, I guess. A few more days and the big one on my other profile will be done, then things will get easier. Enjoy.

Gibbs was more than a little surprised at how many cars were in the parking lot when they arrived at the clinic, Jethro dozing in the back seat. He pointed at the bakery box on the front seat between them. "Since you're bribing them with pastries, I figured they were opening up early just for us."

"That's not the reason for the bribe." With no further explanation, Tim climbed out and retrieved the sleepy dog from the back seat. As Gibbs followed with the box, they entered the office.

"Good morning, Agent McGee. Good morning, Jethro." The perky young blonde at the desk took the human treats with a knowing smile and quickly had Jethro signed in. A slightly older woman with darker hair came out and took the leash from Tim's hand.

"Hey, big boy, are you going to be good for us this morning?" Jethro looked over his shoulder at his two fathers as she led him into the back. Once the door was closed behind them, Tim sat down and picked up a magazine, Gibbs following suit.

Gibbs had barely settled before the first canine shriek could be heard and he jumped to his feet, only to be tugged back down by Tim.

"He's fine."

The sounds from the back were hardly convincing. "It sounds like they're torturing him. Do you trust this vet? Maybe one of us should have gone back there..."

"He's fine." Tim waited a few minutes as they listened to the wailing, howling and thumping. "Still want to save a few bucks by doing this ourselves?"

Gibbs looked over at the smirking man and shook his head as he confessed. "Shannon wouldn't let me go with them when Kelly got her shots either."

"Can't imagine why."

Before Gibbs could think of a comeback, the door opened and the harried looking technician brought Jethro back out. He was visibly trembling and his tail was tucked up against his belly. While Tim took care of the bill, Gibbs clapped and held his arms out. Jethro made a dash for him, yanking the leash out of her hand. Tim just shook his head as Jethro didn't stop until he was up on Gibbs' lap with his head draped over Gibbs' shoulder.

Back in the car, Tim was surprised when they turned toward the Yard instead of back to the house. "Are we that late?"

Gibbs still wasn't convinced about the care Jethro had received. "He can stay with us today. Besides, I want Palmer to check him over."

Keeping a straight face was probably the finest piece of undercover work Timothy McGee had ever done.

-NCIS-

Vance did raise an eyebrow when the three of them walked into his office, but Gibbs quickly explained. "He had a procedure this morning, can't be left alone yet." The Director looked anything but convinced, but he didn't question them further about it as the subject changed to the observer they had last night. The license plates led to a dummy corporation, but when Fornell arrived with a stack of photos identifying the known players in Sutton's organization that were not currently in custody they hit paydirt.

"Would love to be a fly on the wall of Sutton's cell when he gets that report."

They all agreed with Gibbs, but Vance was worried. "If he decides to up the ante, you two could be in danger."

"If he wanted up dead, we already would be." McGee seemed pretty confident. "He's got something else in mind."

He was as worried as Vance, but Gibbs had to agree with Tim. "We were drugged and held captive for hours. If he was going to kill us, it would have happened then."

Fornell made it a majority. "He knows what it would look like if the two witnesses were murdered right before the trial started. He's not giving up, I guarantee you, so what else could he do?"

"Until we know, I'm keeping your team here aboard the Yard." When Gibbs started to remind him that they weren't necessarily safe there either, Vance just held his hand up. "I understand your concerns, but damaged tires are a long way from kidnapping and we're looking into it."

Fornell looked like he was going to start asking questions, but he remained silent as he followed Gibbs, McGee and Jethro out of Vance's office. He reached out as if to throw the emergency switch twice, but nothing stopped the elevator before it reached the squad room. He remained behind as the two NCIS agents and their companion exited the elevator. "Gibbs, the offer still stands, whatever you need."

"Thanks, Tobias."

-NCIS-

Ziva was hard at work, but Tony was still booting up his computer when they arrived and he looked up with a grin. "Hey, Boss, need me to track down some good doggie nail clippers for you?" The head smack wasn't much of a surprise, he and Ziva had taken Jethro in once while Tim was down with the flu.

Gibbs leaned down and started his computer, but didn't bother to sit. Instead, he snapped his fingers and headed for the back elevator, Jethro cheerfully trotting behind him, one end of his leash still clipped to his collar, the other end in his mouth.

The elevator moved only a few feet before Gibbs threw the stop and bent down to stare at his namesake. "Time to lay down some ground rules. I've had the name longer, so you get the nickname. Do we understand each other, Jett?"

The staring contest wasn't actually all that long in Gibbs-time before Jethro, aka Jett, dropped the leash from his mouth and happily barked.

"Good boy, I told your dad we'd work it out."

If Ducky was surprised when the two Jethros walked into autopsy he didn't react, but Palmer was beaming at Gibbs "Good morning Agent Gibbs."

"Morning, Palmer. Jett here had his nails trimmed earlier and it seemed kinda rough on him. Would you check, make sure he's all right and that they did a good job?"

"Jett? Oh, short for Jethro, I guess it would be hard to have two Jethros in the same house, and..."

Gibbs decided to cut him off before he started to babble too much. "Yep, we need to know which one of us in trouble." Jett barked his agreement, much to Ducky's amusement.

Palmer didn't know quite how to take the words or the smirk, so he focused on the dog. A quick exam showed that none of the nails were cut short enough to cause discomfort. "His nails appear to be fine, sir. The quick wasn't cut into at all and none of the nails cracked when they were cut. A few of them are a little rough, but a good brisk run will take care of that."

Ducky could see that there was a lot more on Gibbs' mind than the state of the dog's nails. "That's an excellent idea, Mr. Palmer. Why don't you take Jethr... Jett outside and let him burn off some energy and smooth down those nails."

One thing Jimmy Palmer had learned to recognize after all his years at NCIS was a dismissal, so after wrestling the end of the leash away from Jett, they headed out the door.

The moment the door closed behind them, Gibbs started to pace. Ducky listened and watched, trying not to get dizzy in the process. "It's too easy, Duck. You ask any of my ex-wives, I'm a bastard to live with. Even in the beginning, it was always so damn much work and it would never be enough. I know what I'm like to live with, but this time..."

Gibbs finally hopped up onto one of the autopsy tables, much to Ducky's relief. "He invited Tony and Ziva over for dinner last night. It helped, helped a lot, I think."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"After they left, Tim chased me downstairs, told me I hadn't sanded anything in days." Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment as he remembered.

Flashback

Gibbs carefully folded a piece of sandpaper as he tried to decide what was different about the basement. A small, old workbench and chair had been moved closer to the corner he had his woodworking tools set up in. He didn't spot the small speakers on the ceiling until the soft, soulful jazz started playing loud enough to be heard, but still easy to hold a conversation over the music. Footsteps told of Tim's arrival, carrying two glasses.

"Here, the good stuff, not the rotgut you keep down here." Tim handed him one of the glasses before moving to the small bench. The upside down box was taken off, revealing his typewriter. Smiling, Tim sat in front of the typewriter and moments later the keys became another layer of pleasant background noise. Conversation wasn't rushed or forced, as Tim occasionally read off a paragraph or Gibbs spoke of one of his projects. It had been late when they came down, but even the hour spent was peaceful and Gibbs instinctively took Tim's hand as they went back upstairs, turning off the lights as they went.

"It was good, Ducky, it was really good."

Ducky could tell that the problem was actually a lack of a problem. "It's not a crime to be happy, Jethro."