A/N: Sorry this wasn't up Friday. However, thank you to all those who reviewed. Soon I hope to start responding to them but the few moments of free time I have are occupied with writing but know that I am very much appreciative of all the alerts, reviews and favorites. And finally, this is the chapter were Tony gets a dog. I hope you like him.

Chapter Eleven

I'm not always good at remembering new names. I remember Boss' name because I knew him from before, but when someone first tells me their name, like my therapist or a person I meet, I have to write it down by a picture of them so I can look at it later. I have to look at the picture and the name a lot of times before I remember their names.

And sometimes, when I get frustrated or nervous, I don't remember anything and then that gets me more frustrated and Boss has to calm me down so I can slow the thoughts in my brain and think about them one by one.

When we got to the place which looked kinda like a house, there were dogs barking and at first, it scared me cause of all the noise. I used both hands to cover my ears cause my bad hand is getting a bit better and I can open it mostly now.

Boss got scared that I was upset but I told him it was a lot of noise. He nodded and then a person came out to meet us but I don't remember her name. She was nice though, and took us through the doors and I couldn't hear the barking anymore so I put my hands down cause it was quiet there.

She said she liked my helmet cause her favorite color was blue too.

I smiled and let Boss walk first when we followed her because I didn't know what to say back to her.

After that we waited in this room. Boss had to sign some stuff cause he said that all dogs needed to have stuff that said where their family was and who owned them and stuff like that and since he liked the dog that was hear, he wanted to fill it out for me because I don't like writing.

Then the lady came back and she asked me what kinds of stuff I wanted to do with my dog even though I didn't have a dog yet. I told her I wanted one that barked and played and sniffed and that liked sleeping in my room but one that didn't chew on stuff because I don't think Boss would like that at all.

The lady laughed at me but Boss touched my hand to tell me it wasn't the mean kind of laugh and I could tell because she was smiling.

The lady and Boss talked and Boss told her that he was still interested in the one he saw and the lady said that she thought so too cause that's what she had been hoping for but I stopped listening after that cause I couldn't understand what Boss meant when he was saying those things. Boss isn't like me though, what he says he means and he doesn't say the wrong words but sometimes I still don't understand.

I got really nervous then and Boss had to stop me cause I was pinching myself.

I don't mean to do it cause it hurts when I realize that I'm doing it. Boss says that my brain's just trying to calm down.

But even after Boss talked to me, I couldn't stop my thoughts from going all fast and I couldn't get them to slow down.

So Boss asked someone to wait, but I didn't want to wait cause I wanted to see my dog.

So Boss got in front of me and grabbed my good hand. He put it on his chest and then put my bad hand on my chest. He said to follow his breathing.

At first, it wasn't working but then I got the hang of it and slowly, the thoughts in my head slowed down and I was able to tell Boss that I was okay now.

Boss smiled and went and told the lady that I was ready.

And then the lady went and got my dog.

Gibbs was holding his breath. Unbeknownst to Tony, Gibbs had spent almost two months calling up ever reputable breeder around the DC area, visiting their homes and looking for any dogs that they had available. He didn't want a puppy but instead he had been looking for a trained adult dog. The only free time away from Tony that he hadn't spent looking for a dog had been spent with his lawyer, making sure everything was in order now that Gibbs was legally Tony's guardian.

After two months searching, Gibbs had found a wonderful breeder, Marsha, who had had a trained dog in need of a good home.

And Gibbs was happy Tony was having a good day so far.

When they first arrived at the breeder's home, Marsha, had greeted them. After having a few words with Gibbs, Marsha had tried taking up a conversation with Tony, but he had been shy, more so than he usually was nowadays.

These days, Tony had an uncanny ability to get along with almost every kid he met. The same could not be said about women or adults in general. It pained Gibbs heart to see the usually confident man shy away from adults that he didn't know, often using Gibbs as his own shield. But Gibbs was trying to stop comparing Tony to the Tony he knew before the accident-they weren't two different people but the same person.

After Tony practically hid behind Gibbs, his face tucked in Gibbs' shoulder, Marsha had smiled and taken them a quiet meet room so Tony wouldn't be overwhelmed with the noise of the four other dogs she owned.

Marsha was almost all the way out of the room when Tony had a real meltdown. Though Gibbs didn't know for certain, he was more than positive it had to do with Tony being nervous about meeting his dog.

Calling out to Marsha to stall her, Gibbs really hoped that Tony could calm down. He didn't want today to be ruined in anyway.

"Come on Tony," Gibbs said, after a few calming techniques had already failed. This next one would be their last hope, "Breathe with me Tony. Follow me."

At first, Gibbs wasn't even sure Tony was listening to him. But he kept up the steady pace of breathing until finally, Tony seemed to be responding. Tony's breathing started slowly down until about a minute later, Tony was breathing perfectly in synch with the older man.

"You okay Tony?" Gibbs asked, taking Tony's helmet off so he could breathe easier.

After a few more controlled breaths, Tony nodded his head, "Dog. Blue. I'm okay now Boss." Tony looked up, reaching for his helmet.

Seeing that Tony was in fact calmed, Gibbs gave the younger man a smile before explaining to Marsha what had happened.

Marsha nodded her head in understanding before slipping out of the room quietly to go get Tony's new dog.

And Gibbs sat back in his seat and waited with Tony.

A few minutes later, Gibbs heard someone knock on the door. Gibbs stiffened out of habit, but quickly relaxed. Gibbs turned and made eye contact with Tony, leaning his head slightly, knowing Tony would understand.

"Polite. Come in," Tony said when he was ready.

Hearing the reply, the person on the other side slowly opened the door, revealing the dog that would hopefully come to be one of Tony's best friends.

When Gibbs had seen the dog the dog that first time about a week ago, he had been blown away by the beauty and dare he say, magnificence of the animal. He had even been more shocked when Marsha had informed him that said dog was one of the most laid back dogs she had ever breed. The problem was his age. Most people wanted puppies. Not large two and a half year old dogs.

The dog that was going to be Tony's was a large shorthaired German Shepherd. He was, according to Marsha, a bi-colored German Shepherd with a stock coat. Gibbs had picked this dog mainly because of his gentleness, but also because of how well Tim had been able to bond with his German Shepherd. He hoped Tony could have the same sort of bond.

After looking at the dog for a few seconds, Gibbs ripped his gaze away to look at Tony. He hoped that Tony wasn't disappointed. Tony had loved Casey's Labrador and this dog was much bigger and wider, and of course totally different, than Sam had been. But then, Tony had loved Jethro too.

But as soon as Gibbs saw his face, he knew that there wasn't a cell in Tony's body that was at all disappointed.

Tony hadn't moved from his seat but he had lifted his good hand as if he wanted to pet the large dog.

Marsha, who had been holding the dog on a loose leash, walked the shepherd over to where Tony was sitting.

The dog walked calmly over but Gibbs could tell the dog knew who his new owner was suppose to be.

"Black. Hi dog," Tony said quietly, lifting his hand and placing it on the dog's head. The German Shepherd pulled gently on the leash, wanting to get closer to Tony to sniff the new individual.

"Here Tony," Marsha spoke to Tony gently, like she had seen Gibbs do, "You'll have to hold his leash from now on."

Tony looked up at Marsha and then to the leash. As he accepted the leash, he looked as if the breeder had just given him the most precious jewels of England.

"Dog. He's mine?" Tony asked, his voice in awe of the dog, who he was now petting.

Gibbs smiled and he knew that he had picked the perfect dog for Tony, "Yep Tony, he's yours. If you want him."

"He's," Tony paused. His dog had started licking his bad hand gently, and Tony let him do it. He continued to scratch the dog's ears as he looked from the dog, to Gibbs then to Marsha, "Polite. Yes. I like him Boss."

Gibbs laughed, pleased with Tony's confirmation of his own thoughts, "I'm pretty sure he likes you too."

It was quiet for a moment after that before Tony shifted in his seat slightly. He looked at Gibbs and smiled, "Big. Black. Nice. What's his name?"

Gibbs let out a deep breath and smiled, "His name's Baron Tony."

"Baron," Tony said wistfully, looking at his dog, "Black. Dog. I like that name."

Shortly after that, Marsha left the room, leaving Baron and Tony to become acquainted with one another.

And while he too wanted to go and pet Tony's new dog, Gibbs stayed in his seat.

He didn't want to ruin the moment.

I met my dog today. His name is Baron. He really big and strong and he licked me all over when I started petting him after the nice lady brought him in.

He's really calm and he's got really nice dark brown eyes. He's all black like really really black except for his paws which are a yellow brown color. It's really cool to watch him move cause he's really dark and I told Boss that and he said that he thought so too.

I like Baron already. He's really cool and after awhile of petting him, I took my helmet off and let him sniff it. He was really careful when he was sniffing, and I think that's because he already knows that I take good care of my helmet because it takes good care of my head.

Baron knows tricks and the nice lady taught me words to say to make Baron do tricks.

He knows how to lie down, stay, come, sit, give me his paw and bark. The nice lady said she taught him so he could find a good home like my home.

After that, Boss met Baron. Baron sniffed Boss all over and Boss gave Baron a scratch on the ears.

Baron liked that and wagged his tail and I'm glad that Baron likes Boss too. Boss said that Baron was big but I think Baron is a giant, but a gentle giant like that movie that came on the TV when I got sick.

We stayed in that room for awhile until the nice lady took us to a room so that we could make sure that Baron was ours-mine and so that he had his papers with him if he ever got sick and had to go to the vet which is a doctor for animals.

Then we went home. Baron gets to stay with me all the time now. He even sleeps with me and at first, I was worried he was going to hurt me when he jumped on the bed.

But Baron is really careful when he jumped up. When he got on the bed, he moved really slow and laid down right by me. He sniffed my arm and leg braces but after that he put his head on my stomach and let me rub his ears and scratch his head. I rubbed his nose too and he liked that cause his tail was wagging like it did when we first met each other in the room.

I think I love Baron. He's really cool and neat and I know he's going to be my friend because I can tell he's really smart.

Even though I don't remember names really good, I know I won't forget Baron's. I know I won't ever forget Baron.

I just can't wait till Abby and everyone else gets to meet him.

Cause Baron is really cool and he's really gentle.

And I know I love him.