A/N: I'm sure many of you heard the difficulties this site has been having in the past few days. I couldn't upload the chapter for the last few days but a fellow author showed me the "temp" fix for it so here you go! :) Hope you guys are enjoying this story and once again, reviews are appreciated and very much welcomed. And without further adieu, Tony finally is at the beach.

Chapter Six

The beach is really nice and the water is ocean blue kinda, just like my room. It changes colors though, when the light hits it but that's okay because I knew that the water by the beach is a different color than the water farther in the ocean.

But when I woke up this morning, I was scared cause I forgot where I was but I had my memory book on the bed by me and I opened it and read it really slow even though I was scared and I remembered that we were at Boss' friend's beach house and we had driven in the truck yesterday.

Boss came to check on me after I woke up and helped me find my swim trunks. The beach was super close to the house and I didn't have to walk very far but I had to go down steps but they weren't that hard.

Even though I was really excited, Boss made me eat breakfast and take my medicines because I completely forgot about them because I was really excited to go to the beach.

I was so excited that I almost forgot my blue helmet and even though Boss said it would be okay, I didn't want to go outside without it on but Boss said that the sand is soft so I would be okay. But I still wanted my blue on so Boss went up the stairs really quick and got it for me. I put it on my head and after I went to the bathroom, I was ready to go on the beach.

The beach was so close I didn't even need shoes cause the sand would have gotten into my shoes. It was really hard to walk in the sand. I didn't like it at all cause it moved and my balance isn't really good and I almost fell but Boss helped me and I was really glad I had my blue on or I would have hurt my head if I had fallen. After that Boss held my elbow on my bad side and helped me to the beach where I didn't have to be in the moving sand.

Boss helped me till I got to the wet sand and then I didn't need help anymore because the wet sand is a lot easier to walk in than the other sand because it doesn't move around but the wet sand does get stuck in your feet.

Boss helped me sit down and then asked if I wanted to take my helmet off so I wouldn't get it dirty. I remembered that when I was little, I always got wet and dirty when we went to the beach so I let him take my helmet but he laid down a blanket and put it close so that if I had to go anywhere I would have it by me just in case.

Boss sat on a chair that he brought and opened an umbrella. He didn't like sitting on the sand but I didn't mind because it was really hot and the wet sand was really nice. I started making a trench in the sand with my good hand but then a big wave came and washed it away and it scared me and I fell backwards on my back because now I was wet and the trench was full of water. And the sand was even wetter than before.

"Tony!" Gibbs jumped up from where he sat after Tony had fallen backwards in surprise, "You okay?"

Tony looked a bit shocked but not seriously hurt as his green eyes met Gibbs' blue ones, "Blue. I'm wet Boss."

"Yeah I can see that," Gibbs smiled, relieved that Tony wasn't upset by his slight fall, "Do you want to move back so another wave doesn't get you?"

Tony glanced around but softly shook his head, biting his lip nervously before looking at Gibbs, "No. Wet. It's okay, right Boss? I'm wet but I didn't have an accident so I can stay right?"

"No Tony, no," Gibbs helped Tony sit carefully back on his butt, "No accident. The wave got you wet."

Gibbs knew that one of Tony's fears was having an accident. Most of the time, Tony had good control over his bladder and didn't need any reminders about going to the restroom. But there had been a few times when Tony had had an accident. Most had been in the hospital when Tony was still recovering. He had frequent seizures during those time and many of them were brought on by stress. Tony would wake up after a seizure and start crying when he realized he had wet himself again. It was during that time that Tony had often refused to drink any water, even going so far to remove his IV lines a few times. But those days seemed so long ago now.

"Wet. Blue. Water. I thought so," Tony gave Gibbs one of his lop-sided smiles that always reminded Gibbs of how luck y he was that Tony was alive, "Can I get more wet?"

Gibbs laughed. Tony looked just like a kid who had discovered something grand, "Sure Tony. Do you want to stand up or stay here?"

Tony debated that for a moment. He didn't have his blue helmet on and he didn't know where it went. He didn't want to ask Boss for it though cause he was pretty sure he should remember where it was.

"Stay," Tony finally decided, "But," he paused.

"What is it Tony?" Gibbs asked, still crouched down.

"Wet. Can you stay here too?" Tony asked hesitantly looking at Gibbs' almost shyly from the corner of his eye.

"You want me to get wet me too?" Gibbs joked, hoping the joke would make Tony laugh.

Tony's demeanor, however, changed with the question. No, he didn't want Boss to get wet. He wanted Boss to stay. Did Boss not want to stay? Was that why he thought Tony wanted to get him wet? Did Boss get him wet? How did he get wet? He didn't have an accident did he?

"Wet. Leave. No. Um," Tony's eyes frantically darted around as he internally searched for the answer.

Gibbs, knowing Tony was moments away from a meltdown, rubbed Tony's back in hopes of stopping it, "Hey, hey Tony. I'll stay. I'll sit here with you, it's okay."

Tony silently screamed. It wasn't okay. Why couldn't he think of an answer for Boss? What did he forget?

"Tony," Gibbs put a bit more force in his voice. He didn't want Tony's first day at the beach to be ruined because he hadn't answered Tony's question. Sometimes, he doubted he was the right person to be watching over Tony. Did Tony have this many meltdown at the rehab facility?

"Come on Tony," Gibbs tried again to stop Tony's downward spiral using touch like one of the therapist recommended.

But Tony was lost in his own world, his eyes already closed and his hands making their way to cover his ears. The therapist had told him that Tony would do that when his didn't want any sensory input. He was trying to "slow his brain down" as Tony himself said once in the hospital.

Gibbs sighed, angry with himself, and rubbed his face. He hoped he could somehow get Tony back to the house to cool off and calm down. He was just about to stand and help Tony stand when he heard a barking in the distance.

"Oh crap," Gibbs whispered underneath his breath. A dog, about 100 feet away, was running full steam towards them, barking as he went. It was a medium sized dog and as far as Gibbs could tell, it had no collar or owner in sight.

As the dog got closer, the barking got louder until the dog suddenly stopped about six feet away from them. Gibbs, unable to grab anything to defend himself if the dog should attack, shielded a now crying Tony with his body, "Get. Go away mutt."

The dog, ignoring Gibbs completely, gave another bark.

Tony, who had been mid-meltdown, suddenly tensed and opened his eyes, his hands still firmly covering his ears.

Making eye contact with Tony, the dog gave a bark again, this time taking another step forward. Gibbs, sensing a change in Tony, took his eyes off the mangy mutt for a few seconds to glance at Tony. Tony was staring at the dog and was taking his hands off his ears. He peered around Gibbs and asked in a quiet voice, "Blue. Slow. Slow. Can I touch him Boss?"

Gibbs looked at Tony. Only moments ago Tony had been having a meltdown and now, he was talking and asking Gibbs if he could pet the dog that, in Gibbs opinion, had almost attacked them.

Well not really attacked them, but the dog was a bit too close for Gibbs liking.

"Tony I-" Gibbs was trying to think of some way to get Tony inside without letting the dog anywhere near him when he heard another voice close by.

"Sam!" a woman called out as she made her way across the beach. In one hand she held the hand of a child and in the other a collar and a leash. When they got closer, Gibbs heard the child, a young girl around the age of six Gibbs guessed, call out for the dog, "Sam, come here!"

The dog glanced back at his owners before taking another step, his nose twitching as he reached forward to touch Tony.

"Sam," the woman finally grabbed the dog by the scruff. The dog gave a surprised yelp but before the dog could run away again, the woman had slipped the collar around Sam's neck and secured the leash to it. Having done that, the woman looked towards Gibbs and Tony, "I'm so sorry, sir. He just slipped right out of the door and hightailed it here before I could grab him. He didn't hurt you did he?"

Now that the dog was leashed, Gibbs let some of the tension dropped from his shoulders, "No, we're fine. He likes barking though. And my name's Gibbs."

The lady smiled, "Michelle and this is my daughter, Casey," Michelle said, indicating to the child next to her. Before Gibbs could greet the child, Casey spoke up.

"Daddy says he's a noisy mutt but I don't think he barks a lot," Casey said, looking from Gibbs to her dog, "Did he scare your friend?"

Gibbs looked at Tony who was still focused on the dog, "No, actually, Tony here would like to pet Sam, if that would be okay." Gibbs looked at Michelle who was looking at Tony. Normally Tony was self-conscious around people, which was one of the reasons he wore his helmet. He hated having his scars show. Now however, Tony was still looking at Sam the dog and had not sensed Michelle staring at him.

"Sure," Casey smiled, "Sam's really friendly though he licks a lot but I don't mind because he's just giving me kisses." Casey gently tugged the leash out of her mom's hand and walked forward with Sam.

Gibbs moved away slightly, giving Sam enough room to reach Tony but at the same time staying close enough should anything happen.

Tony used his good hand to hesitantly reach out and touch the dog on the snout, before moving his hand upwards to pet Sam's head. Sam, as if sensing that Tony was currently a bit more fragile than most people, stood calmly and gently reached out and licked Tony's hand with his tongue.

"See?" Casey smiled, "He gave you a kiss."

Tony looked at his slobber covered hand as if it were an offending alien rather than a body part, "Wet. He does that a lot?"

It was when Michelle heard Tony's slightly slurred speech that she understood the reason for Gibbs' protective stance over Tony. Having observed the way his hand shook as he petted Sam and his offset sitting, she realized that the scars on his head where reminders of an injury that had left this young man changed.

Casey, taking Tony's almost child-like demeanor in stride, laughed, "Yeah but you get use to it."

"Dog. Blue. So he's your dog?" Tony asked Casey. Casey was in her own swim suit and sat down in the sand with Tony, not worrying about getting a bit wet from the rising waves.

"Yeah," Casey answered, smilingly proudly, "Sam, sit."

Tony watched as the dog sat on his haunches, "He listens really good."

"Yeah," Casey agreed, "Sam can do lots of things. Want to see?"

Tony nodded his agreement, adjusting his position when he started to lean a bit too much towards his right side.

Casey waited for Tony to stop moving before smiling at her new friend.

"I'll show you," Casey stood up quickly and walked towards the dry sand. Tony made a move to stand also but his hand traveled to his head.

He glanced around worriedly, looking for his helmet. Gibbs, who had been talking to Michelle about her husband who was currently serving a tour in Iraq, grabbed Tony's helmet and handed it to the young man.

"Head. Blue. Thanks Boss," Tony said, putting it on, "Um, I need help. Slow."

"No problem Tony," Gibbs helped Tony stand carefully. Casey watched in silence till Tony took a few steps.

"Did you hurt your head?" Casey asked innocently. Gibbs felt Tony tense at the question before answering.

"Head. Slow. Yeah," Tony said. He didn't like being asked that question because most of the time he didn't remember exactly how he hurt his head and he hated not being able to tell people why he was hurt.

But the "yeah" was all the answer Casey apparently needed because she nodded her head, "I would wear a helmet to. It keeps you head safe?"

Upon hearing a question he could confidently answer, Tony smiled, "Yeah. It's blue cause I like blue."

"Like the ocean," Casey added before Tony himself could say it.

Tony gave another smile, "Yeah. Ocean blue."

"That's cool," Casey said. Sam, who was feeling a bit ignored, gave another bark, "Oh look. Let me show you what he can do."

Tony made sure he was balanced before he focused on Sam, "Okay."

Casey smiled and unclipped Sam leash. Michelle huffed in annoyance while Gibbs smirked at the mischievous expression on the little girl's face.

And Tony just laughed.

Me, Boss, Sam, Casey and her mom stayed playing on the beach all day. Sam liked digging in the sand and Casey helped me make a sand castle. It was really cool looking and Boss took a picture so I could put it in my memory book.

After that, Casey had a ball and she would through it in the waves and Sam would go after it. He's a really good swimmer. Casey said it's cause he's part Labrador and I asked Boss what she meant and he said that a Labrador is a kind of dog that was made to swim and help fisherman with their boats.

Sam's really nice. He lets me pet him and he's the same color as the sand. He does like to lick me a lot though and at first I didn't like it too much but Casey said it just meant that he liked me so I didn't mind too much after that.

I never had a dog when I was little, at least from what I can remember. My father didn't like animals I think. I did find a dog once I think, a long time ago. He was sand colored like Sam and he was bigger. He barked really loud but I don't remember what happened to him because my memory isn't too great anymore because I hurt my head.

I told Boss that I really liked Sam. He's different than new people I meet cause he's a dog and I don't think Sam cares that I have a bad side or that I wear my blue helmet. He liked me just like he liked Boss and I think he even liked me more because I would throw his ball for him even though I couldn't throw it as far as Boss could.

Boss said he had a dog a long time ago too and that his dog was smaller than Sam and I told him it would be neat if we had a Sam too because it was really cool that Sam never got tired of bringing his ball back and that he licked me just like he licked everyone. Boss smiled and said Sam did lick everyone but he said it in a nice way and I know he thought it was cool too.

I got hungry after we played on the beach and Boss told Casey that I had to eat lunch. Casey's mom said okay and they would come back later to play. They live sorta close Boss said and that's great because Casey and Sam are cool. I think Casey's mom is nice too, but she stared at my scars till I put my helmet on.

When we went back inside, I took a shower. Normally, you don't take a shower in the middle of the day but I got really tired and Boss told me that if I slept with sand all over, I would get itchy and uncomfortable.

I needed help getting up the stairs cause I was worn out. Then Boss had to help me take my shirt off because I can't take it off still. My therapist says that it's a goal I should focus on.

Back at our house, Boss doesn't have to help turn the shower on because my therapist and Boss showed me how it works but at this house it's different and Boss had to help.

But Boss said he didn't mind and after he showed me where the shampoo for my hair was, he left. I took my helmet off cause I didn't want to get it all wet and looked inside.

I think Kate would have liked the sand and Sam. I don't remember if she liked dogs but I don't want to ask Boss because he might get sad. Maybe Probie will know and I'll ask him later.

I cleaned my helmet before I got into the shower because it had sand on it. Then I got in the shower. Boss was right. Sand does get itchy and uncomfortable.