Gibbs unlatched the gate as he flipped open his phone, not looking at the display. "Yeah, Gibbs." It took him a few seconds to realize that Tim was upset and worried about him, not the car. It gave him a warm feeling in his gut, one he hadn't felt in a long time. "I'm fine, just kinda embarrassed. DiNozzo's never going to let me hear the end of this one."

~He will if he ever wants to get fed again.~

The once cynical man smiled at Tim's immediate defense of him before turning serious again. "We may have another problem. Somebody was in Mrs. B's backyard and threw something into our yard. Whatever it was, it looks like Jett ate it." He gave a sharp whistle and Jett bounded over, stumbling over his own feet. Gibbs immediately knew there was something wrong with the dog. "He's acting like he's drunk, what do I do?"

-NCIS-

Back aboard the Yard, McGee knew about the most common poison used against dogs and the early symptoms fit. There wasn't much time to save his beloved pet. "Do you remember that brown bottle in Jett's first aid kit? The hydrogen peroxide mix? Pour it down his throat. It's going to come right back up and hopefully bring everything with it."

Juggling both his cell and desk phones, Tim called the vet as he listened to Gibbs' dash into the house and back out. The rest of the team was leaning close enough to hear, along with him, the sounds of Jett retching as Gibbs tried to soothe him. Gibbs' description of the green fluid that came up with the meat cinched it for McGee. "I've already called the vet and they're setting up for him right now. It's the same place that trimmed his nails, I'll meet you there, and Jethro... you need to hurry. If it's what I think it is, there isn't much time."

Tim was already on his feet, grabbing his backpack when Abby joined him. "I'm going with you, McGee."

"No, Abby." He cut off her protest before she could take a breath. "I need a confirmation of what he's been poisoned with and I need to know how much he was exposed to."

It took her a second to nod, and Tony used that time to take charge. "Ziva and I will go with Abby, two vehicles. I'll process the scene while Ziva drives her back here to start the tests." It wasn't until they were in the elevator before his own words sunk in. The yard where they'd had such a wonderful weekend was now a crime scene. At the ground floor they separated, McGee to head to the vet's office, Tony to the truck, while Ziva and Abby continued down to her lab for her portable kit. Even with the detour, he knew that Ziva would probably arrive at the house before he did. Once Tony was alone in the cab of the truck, he pulled out his phone and called the Director.

-NCIS-

The squealing of the brakes would have attracted attention, but several vet techs were already at the door waiting when Gibbs pulled in. He scooped Jett up and rushed past them into the exam room they pointed out. The room immediately filled with personnel, blood was drawn and another round of the hydrogen peroxide was given. The first dose had done a good job, but they took the second, smaller sample away for testing. Activated charcoal was being pumped into his stomach when the vet arrived straight out of surgery, stripping off his paper gown as he came through the door.

"Mr Gibbs, I'm Dr. Wright, I understand you're Jethro's other daddy." Instead of shaking hands, Dr. Wright started examining the German Shepard, which Gibbs was glad to see.

"We've shortened his name to Jett; is he going to be all right?"

Dr. Wright didn't look up from his exam as he talked. "If we're correct and it's antifreeze, it depends on how much he's absorbed, how long ago and how far you're willing to go with the treatments. I'll warn you, it could get very expensive if he needs dialysis."

Gibbs brushed his hand over Jett's head. "I don't care about the cost, just save him."

The receptionist poked her head in the door. "A Miss Sciuto called with preliminary results. She's confirmed that it was antifreeze and she's now testing to determine how much he was exposed to."

Dr. Wright nodded to his staff. "All right, let's get started."

Tim arrived as Jett was being sedated and the vet gave him a brief run down on Jett's chances. As he listened, Tim watched the torment and the guilt on Jethro's face. After the vet left to gather the needed medications, he moved close enough to Gibbs to lean against him slightly. "It's not your fault."

"Tim, I..."

"It's. Not. Your. Fault." Tim reached out and squeezed the hand Gibbs still had on Jett's head. "He should have been safe in the yard. All the blame belongs to the monster that did this."

-NCIS-

Tony barely had time to photograph before Abby was scooping up her samples. A quick shake of a test tube gave her the chemical reaction she was expecting, confirming what the vet's office needed to know quickly. More detailed answers required the large equipment in the lab and within minutes of their arrival, Tony found himself alone in the yard. There wasn't much physical evidence on this side of the fence, but he photographed the paw prints and the trampled grass. There was no doubt that Jett had gobbled the poisoned treat exactly where it had landed. Finished on that side, he was met by Mrs. B at the gate.

"Have you heard anything?"

He hated having to tell her no. "I'm sorry, ma'am. We weren't able to get an update. I know they're doing everything they can for Jett."

Nodding as she led Tony to the footprints she'd found earlier, the elderly woman fought back the tears. "It will destroy Jethro if they lose that dog. Now, you do whatever you need to do to get your evidence. I don't care if you have to tear out my entire garden, you find something to stop whoever is terrorizing Jethro's family."

Even as upset as he was, Tony had to bite back a smile at the reference to Tim and Jett as Gibbs' family. He worked quickly and efficiently, taking dirt samples, photographing everything and making plaster casts of the footprints as he heard a steady stream of stories about Jett and his two dads.

-NCIS-

Vance pinched the bridge of his nose before picking up the phone. Now, he really wished he hadn't let Jackie get involved with the Gibbs-McGee situation. She picked up on the second ring.

~Hey, sweetie, you're not calling to tell me that you'll be working late, are you?~

He winced, Jackie's mom radar was almost as good as Gibbs' gut. "I'm afraid so, hun. The harassment of Jethro and Tim has... let's just say I expect a long night."

~Leon, what happened?~

"Somebody poisoned Jett, threw some meat laced with antifreeze into the backyard."

~Oh, no. Is he...~

Vance knew exactly what she was thinking. His in-laws' dog had licked up a small dribble of antifreeze in the garage. By the time it was discovered, the small terrier had suffered irreversible kidney damage. The only time he'd ever seen his father-in-law cry was the day they made the final trip to the veterinarian's. "Gibbs discovered him pretty quick, Jackie, he's got a good chance."

~Keep me posted, Leon, and you find who's doing this. Somebody who would hurt an innocent dog is capable of almost anything.~

"I will, I promise."

-NCIS-

"Our suspect is a woman." Tony entered the lab at a brisk pace, laying the plaster cast on Abby's work bench. "You can measure, but I'm pretty sure that's a woman's size seven shoe print." When it came to estimating a woman's size, nobody was better than DiNozzo, so Abby considered a formality as she started the measuring, Ziva leaning over her shoulder. Vance quietly entered, not interrupting the discussion.

The Israeli agreed, as it fit with what she and Abby had been working on before the call. "That makes sense. Every image we found of the vandal that damaged McGee's car showed that the suspect was no taller than 5'7". There are only three men that short working in the building and we've already cleared them."

Abby finished with the cast footprint. "I think Tony's right about the size. It's harder to pinpoint a woman's shoe because of the high heels. Who would hate them so much that they'd try to hurt Jethro?"

"Jett." Tony looked Abby in the eye. "Tim and Gibbs changed his name to Jett, Abs."

"But I..."

"You," Tony squeezed her upper arms to make the point, "gave up your rights to Jett when you gave him away, just like you gave up your rights to McGee a long time ago. They need you to understand that, especially now, Abby." Seeing that he had her attention, Tony pushed harder, verbalizing what he'd seen over the last week, and especially over the weekend. "For the first time since Shannon died, Gibbs has someone who's strong enough to love him the way he needs, and believe it or not, that person is Tim. You need to open your eyes and really look at them, Abs, you owe them that."

The moment was broken when Ducky and Palmer rushed into the room. "Heavens, Tony, is it true? Jett was deliberately poisoned by someone?" Behind Ducky, Palmer looked worried as he made a quick phone call, his time working as a vet's assistant giving him a detailed knowledge of what kind of future the dog was possibly facing.

"Yeah, Ducky, there's no doubt it was deliberate. What's going to happen to him?" Even as Tony asked the Medical Examiner, he looked over at Jimmy, remembering his experience.

Palmer sighed, hating what he was about to do. With everyone's attention on him, he began to explain. "The problem with antifreeze is that it tastes and smells sweet, so it encourages animals to lap it up in a hurry. Mixed with meat, it's a pretty tasty combo and it's absorbed really quickly. They'll act like they're drunk, but the symptoms only last a little while. A lot of times, that phase is over before anyone even notices."

Ziva remembered McGee's words about not much time. "And then?"

"As the kidneys and liver break it down, it becomes toxic and destroys the kidneys. Sometimes they can put the dog on dialysis and if the damage is minimal, it might heal, but most of the time if it's that bad the only options are either a kidney transplant or putting the dog to sleep. I'm sorry, guys."

Abby started crying and Tony wrapped his arms around her as he shook his head. "A kidney transplant? I didn't know they could do that for a dog."

"It's rare because they don't exactly have a donor program and it's almost as expensive as a human transplant. I know Tim has medical insurance for Jett, but I don't think it covers something like a transplant." He hesitated, then decided to tell them what he'd just learned. "I called the vet's office. Gibbs told them to do everything they could to save Jett and he doesn't care about the cost. He wouldn't even let them discuss it with him."

Abby smiled through her tears, that was her hero. "We'll all help, right guys?"

Tony gave her a one-armed hug. "Of course we will, Abs."

"Hopefully, it won't get that bad. They're going to give drugs that should stop the antifreeze from breaking down, or at least slow it down. Then it will have a chance to pass through his body without causing too much damage."

Vance wanted to keep them on track while they waited. "This was too personal to be someone who is anti-gay. How many women would hate either Gibbs or McGee this much on a personal level?"

Ziva had a pretty good idea. "McGee was friendly with a woman in the legal department that seemed to read more into it than friendship. She accused him of using her to cover his relationship with Gibbs."

"Legal? That complicates things." Vance thought for a moment. "I'll call Fornell and run the search warrants through his office, no point in tipping her off before we're ready." Just then one of Abby's machines beeped and she had the final answers she needed for Dr. Wright's office.

Call made, she turned back. "Can I go see Jett now?"

Tony smiled at her question, but Ziva was quicker to answer. "Of course. Why doesn't Tony drive you while I wait for the warrants?" Capturing the woman who'd been stalking and harassing their teammates needed to be done by the book, but she, too, had noticed the change in Abby's words. Besides, she wanted to personally handle the investigation and arrest, woman to woman.

-NCIS-

"Well?" Out in the hallway, Gibbs watched as Dr. Wright studied the last blood and urine tests from Jett, comparing them to the poison concentration levels Abby had sent over.

"As you know, we're giving him 4-methylpyraxole to prevent his body from metabolizing the ethylene glycol from the antifreeze into the toxins that cause the damage. We're also pushing fluids to help him excrete as much of the poisons as possible along with the charcoal to bind what's still left in his stomach. Overall, the combination is working pretty well."

"Pretty well? What else can you do? What about the dialysis you talked about?"

Dr. Wright hesitated. "We have the only animal dialysis unit in the DC area, but usually we wait until there is confirmed kidney damage..."

"But it could help?"

"It might."

"Will it hurt?"

"Well, no, but you must understand that using dialysis this early won't be covered by any canine insurance. I really feel like we need to discuss the financial impact of such an aggressive treatment plan."

In answer, Gibbs pulled a credit card out of his wallet and handed it to the receptionist. "Twenty-five thousand dollar limit, that should get you started. If needed, I'll get a second on the house." Satisfied that he'd made his point, Gibbs returned to Tim and Jett in the treatment room. Tim had suffered enough, he wouldn't lose Jett if Gibbs could save him.

-NCIS-

The drive to the veterinarian's seemed to take forever. As Mrs. B had done for him, Tony filled the silence with stories of Gibbs and Jett, bringing a smile to Abby's face as she visualized her stoic silver fox sneaking treats to the dog and carrying him after he'd had been stung by a bumblebee. Once they arrived, one of the technicians informed them that Jett was undergoing dialysis and his fathers were both with him.

Following her, they arrived at the door to the dialysis room and watched through the large window. Instead of being strapped down to the treatment table, the sedated dog was draped over Gibbs' lap as he sat cross-legged on the floor. McGee was kneeling next to him, helping to support Jett's head with one arm while the other was wrapped around Gibbs' shoulders. The two men's heads were touching as they quietly talked.

As Abby watched, Tony's words from earlier echoed in her head, about Tim being strong enough to love Gibbs the way he needed. She remembered how much love Tim had to give and how suffocating she'd found it when they dated and realized that Tony was right. As she watched, the men moved slightly and Gibbs' head shifted to rest against the crook of Tim's neck, a gesture she wouldn't have imagined, but looked so right. Smiling, she turned back to Tony.

"I get it, Tony. I really, really get it."