Big thanks to everyone who has left a kind comment. I'm way behind, so I'm really sorry for not answering you all. I do tend not to answer 'Kilroy' type comments, but I am grateful never-the-less.

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This gym was small and personal in a way that bigger gyms just couldn't manage. The regular trainer, and there was only one, was an ex-SEAL, wounded during an operation. He was healed but not fit for duty anymore, not that that stopped him from being a RED.

He eyed them up then announced, "Cosmo, Dean, Remy; you idiots know what to do. AJ, you do too. Get at it. You," he pointed to Gibbs. "If you don't know, yell." He turned to Tim, gave him a good once over then shook his head. "You, I'll work up a routine for. After an evaluation." A nod of his head included Jimmy in that statement.

Tim just groaned, they'd done this once. He'd known he was going to have to do one, but he'd had a smidge of hope that the trainer would accept Remy's opinion. Jimmy just smiled and sat down on a bench to wait his turn.

Gibbs knew what to do with every piece of equipment, he just wasn't sure what weight to use; so, he put on the heaviest he thought he could handle.

There is a great deal of difference between training for strength and training for bulk. No one in the group wanted bodybuilder muscles, they wanted understated strength.

This meant that they would be doing small-count sets with heavy weight, using quick bursts of activity to build strength and endurance, rather than high-count sets with lower weight to build muscle mass. And none of them really liked free weights, even though those were better, but you needed spotters and they didn't know the gym well enough to trust anyone yet.

Dean, Cosmo, Remy, and Gibbs all found machines and began their workouts, spotting for each other at need. AJ submitted to a quick eval by Hanson, the retired SEAL trainer, then went to join the group. Tim went through the required evaluation process, followed by Jimmy.

Hanson, first name Avery, eyed the results, tapped at his computer for a moment then waited for the printer to do its thing. "Well, here we are. You'll find that you need more protein in your diet and ... well, more of just about everything, including fat. You don't want to lose too much body fat as you'll look skinny. Don't eat too much either." He grinned at them. "I know. It's a balancing act, but my job is to help you achieve the results you want. Now. If you know how to use the various machines, get to it. If not, I'll put each of you on a machine and coach you along. Your workout won't take more than thirty to forty-five minutes. Rest at least three minutes between sets. Let's go." He got up and led them to the machines.

Jimmy admitted to knowing how to use most of the machines and said that he'd start on one he was familiar with and call Hanson when he needed him.

Tim, on the other hand, had no idea and admitted that he was a bit intimidated. Hanson just helped him get started, coached him along then watched both Tim and Jimmy for form so they wouldn't hurt themselves.

He also checked on Gibbs, but one quick look proved that he knew what was what.

The entire gym visit took about an hour. After they were all done with their workout, Mr. Hanson, who admitted that he still answered to 'DI', called them all to a small seating area for an evaluation meeting.

"Okay, gentlemen, here's how it is. Dean, Cosmo, Remy; keep doing what you're doing. Gibbs, you're okay; just step it up a bit. Been layin' down on the job a bit. AJ, back from injury?" Tony nodded. "You just need a touch-up. Keep to your regular workout. Tim." He eyed Tim for a moment. "You're soft. Don't over-do; keep to the workout I set up for you. You'll do fine, if you do. And ..." he eyed Jimmy with some respect, "you're a lot stronger than you look. I'd like to see you bulk up just a bit. What the hell do you do for a living?"

Jimmy flushed a bit. "Um ... I'm ... um ... an ME's assistant. A doctor. I lift a lot of bodies."

Hanson eyed him for a moment then nodded. "I see. Well, that answers several questions. You just need a bit more bulk and some fine-tuning. You'll find that, with a bit of extra weight, lifting dead weight will be easier." He glowered at Remy and Cosmo, who were snickering softly. "And that's enough of that. You try lifting a dead body."

Cosmo shook his head. "It's just the phrase 'dead weight' hit us both odd. Sorry."

Jimmy blinked then grinned. "Oh, I get it. Dead weight. Dead ... um ... never mind." He ducked his head and flushed.

Gibbs glanced at his watch, nodded to Hansen and announced, "I'm starved. Let's go eat." he knew that his comment would stymie any more foolishness from the SEALs; they were all hungry too.

Dean grinned, "Good, I'm hungry too. And we need to make sure that Gremlin eats right. Lots of protein. Man's too skinny." That was when Gibbs realized that Jimmy was now in the 'in' group.

They all moaned and groaned a bit as they showered and got dressed, the SEALs in blacks and the rest in civvies. Jimmy wondered what he'd look like in MARPAT, not realizing he'd done so out loud.

Gibbs laughed, "You got MARPAT at the surplus store. Tim got Navy stuff."

They all headed back to their various homes to change into old clothing, agreeing to meet at Tim's place in an hour.

.

Tim let Tony drive him in the SUV.

They pulled up in the parking lot to find that the police had established a road block to keep looters at bay. Tim showed his ID, as did Tony. Tim also informed the officer that he had help coming and gave a general description of Gibbs. In return he got the information that the insurance companies had set up a trailer in the back parking lot and had some sort of general agent to help them make a claim.

Tim thanked the officer then Tony drove to his old parking space and backed in.

They were joined by Gibbs and company before they even opened the doors.

It didn't take them long to realize that everything was a total loss.

Gibbs eyed the remains of the building and sighed. "Sorry, McGee. Looks like it's a wash. You need anything, let me know."

Tim shrugged. "I'll be okay. I was letting the lease go anyway. I'd already started packing things up and putting them in storage. I intended to move into a residence motel if I couldn't find something before the lease was up."

Tony shrugged. "You'll be staying with me then?"

"Yeah. If the offer is still open." Tim couldn't help looking hopeful.

"It is. You know damn good and well that I don't leave my people hanging." Tony swatted Tim on the shoulder.

"Ow. If that's the way you're going to be ..." Tim trailed off into laugher.

Gibbs eyed the two with a slight smile on his face. "You two girls better go see the insurance man. We're outa here." And with that, Gibbs, Dean, Cosmo and Remy went back to the SUV and left.

Jimmy gripped Tim's shoulder and said, "Anything I can do, just ask."

Tim patted Jimmy's hand then asked, "You need any help at Ducky's place? I know that back garden has to be a mess."

Jimmy chuckled just a bit. "No. It's really not that bad. Ducky cleared it a while ago; that's when he realized that he needed help. I'm going to Mom's and get starts from the iris before she kills them all. He's coming too. Only reason we aren't there already is, we thought you'd need the help. So ... I'm off too. Bye." He trotted off to a truck that no one had ever seen.

Tim eyed Tony for a moment then groaned. "Insurance forms."

Tony nodded. "Glad it's you instead of me."

They walked across the parking lot to the trailer and tacked themselves onto the end of the line. It wasn't very long so the secretary who took Tim's name told them it would be about twenty minutes or so.

As it was still fairly early on Monday, Tim didn't expect much. He figured that the ball wouldn't really get rolling until late, nearer to 5pm, when people started getting off work.

The agent who waited on him was a fussy little man with thick glasses, the caricature of an insurance adjuster if there ever was one. He fiddled with papers, tapped at his key board and then started his interview.

"Well, Mr. McGee, do you have an inventory?"

Tim, teeth set on edge by Agent Barton's tone of voice, corrected him, "Special Agent McGee, Agent Barton. NCIS."

Agent Barton made a face. "And what is N.C.I.S?"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service. We deal with crimes committed by or upon members of the Navy and Marines, as well as terrorism and treason." Tim already had a bad feeling about this man and his ignorance didn't help.

Agent Barton fiddled with his computer for a moment then returned to his questioning. "Very well, then. As I asked before, do you have an inventory?"

Tim nodded. "I do."

"Can you provide me with a copy of it?" Barton poked a pad and pen in Tim's general direction.

"I have one on this." Tim dropped a thumb drive on the pad. "All you have to do is plug it in and access 'Inventory.'"

"You surely don't expect me to do your work for you?" Barton made it plain that he had no intention of doing anything other than fill out the forms.

Tim sighed. "I guess I don't. So ... do you want me to print it out or download it?"

"Neither. You'll need to print that out on your own printer and bring it back to me." Barton figured that would put things off until they could figure out how the fire had started. He was just obstructionistic on general principles.

"No. I don't have a printer, nor access to one outside of work, and this is not work related. If this company is so poor that they can't provide you with a simple printer, maybe I should call my lawyer?" Tim ignored the man's indignant sputtering in favor of plugging his drive into the nearby printer and finding the appropriate file.

Tony, for his part, was watching with a combination of amusement and annoyance. This Agent Barton was one of those anal, hidebound bean-counters that drove almost anyone to violence.

Tim printed out the inventory then started crossing things off. "Everything on this list wasn't in the apartment. I was packing piecemeal, as I was giving up the lease at the end of this contract term." He rechecked the list then handed it to Barton. "Here, that's it."

Agent Barton took the list then, after a quick once over, stiffened. "I see. You do realize that this list, while comprehensive, is ... interesting."

Tony stiffened. This was going in a direction he wasn't comfortable with.

Tim, on the other hand, chose to ignore the implication. "As I said, I was packing in preparation to moving."

Agent Barton not only stepped over the line, he gayly skipped into dangerous territory. "Well, we'll have to suspend your claim until the investigation is over. Just hope that the fire didn't start in your apartment ... or anywhere public near it."

Tim and Tony both froze. Tony closed in on the obnoxious man, saying, "Excuse me? I do hope you didn't just imply what I think you did."

Tim, on the other hand, glowered with considerable heat and announced, "Oh, yes, LtCmdr, he just did."

Agent Barton took one look at the two furious men and caved. "Well ... I'll just turn this over to my supervisor."

Tim grit his teeth and snarled, "You do that. And make it quick. I don't intend to sit around here all day. I have better things to do."

Agent Barton smugly informed them that, "My supervisor won't be here until tomorrow after Noon."

Tony picked a card out of the holder on a side counter. "Oh, I think your supervisor and his, or her, boss will be here in ten. Or else." He dialed his phone and waited, "Hello, my name is Anthony Dominic DiNozzo, Jr. I'd like to speak to Mrs. Joan Parker, please. And do not put me on hold forever. Thank you." He waited a few minutes then just told the tale and asked that Mrs Parker and her supervisor be at the trailer no later than thirty minutes from now. He thanked whoever was on the line and hung up. "They'll be here in fifteen minutes, barring bad traffic."

Agent Barton gulped. "Who are you?"

Tony just smirked, "You obviously weren't listening when I told Mrs Parker. Anthony Dominic DiNozzo ... Jr. Senior is a board member. Shut up and sit." He settled back on his perch on a book case to wait.

Tim leaned back in his chair, silently watching as Barton began to sweat. "Wonder if I should call Gibbs."

Tony shrugged, "Bit of overkill, if you ask me. But, I'm wondering if he won't get pissed if we keep him out of the loop."

"I was thinking that exact thing. You call? Or me?"

Tony shrugged, "I called the insurance company."

Tim sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll make the call." He dialed and waited.

"Gibbs."

"Boss, the insurance agent is not so subtly accusing me of setting the fire. You wanna come down? Or should I just keep you posted?"

"Keep me posted. If there's trouble, I'll go tell Vance and we'll get our fire investigator on it. Might do that anyway. And Abby."

Since Tim had put his phone on speaker, everyone heard Gibbs. Tim put his phone away and turned to the agent. "NCIS has its own investigators and forensic experts. Expect to see them here if we can't get this settled."

Tony and Tim settled in to wait for the supervisor to arrive. They both refused to allow Agent Barton to let the next person file a claim. Instead, they both glowered at him for the next ten minutes.

The supervisor, Mrs. Joan Parker, came in with briefcase in hand. She was ready to do battle.

Tim was too. "Mrs. Parker." He offered his hand, was ignored in favor of set up, and lost his temper. "I see." He settled back to wait. Tony shook his head, silently wondering if anyone realized that, while Tim was exceptionally good natured, once his temper was up, it was sort of like playing with an IED.

Mrs. Parker settled behind the desk, waving her subordinate away. "Well, we'll see. Inventory?" The pages were placed in front of her. "Yes. Well."

Tim showed his teeth for the first time. "Very deep thoughts you're having there. Seem to be very fond of thinking words, don't you?"

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Parker blinked at Tim for a moment.

Tim didn't take his eyes off Mrs. Parker while he addressed Tony. "Special Agent DiNozzo, you do remember what the Boss says about people who say 'well' a lot, don't you?"

Tony nodded solemnly. "I do. They're either idiots or lying. Or an idiot trying to think up a lie."

Tim turned back to Mrs. Parker. "So, which one are you?"

She sputtered indignantly then demanded, "So, tell me, Special Agent McGee, exactly why you have most of your valuables packed up and in storage." Her look said she wasn't going to believe anything he said.

McGee repeated the story he'd told Agent Barton. He got the same incredulous look from her as he'd gotten from Barton. She waited a beat then said, "Well, we'll see about all this. It's going to take at least six weeks just to finish the 'cause of fire' report. After that, we'll have to go over your inventory and depreciate everything." She gave him a smug look and raised an eyebrow. "I do hope you have the dates of purchase."

Tony just stood up and moved back, murmuring, "Oh, God, there he goes."

Tim took a deep breath. "Fine. However, since you seem to be so obstructionistic, we'll go you one better. I'm calling in NCIS's own fire investigation team." He tapped his phone then smiled at her in a way that made Tony cringe. "Oh, and another thing. I really, really hope you aren't stupid enough to put your accusations on record. If ... and I repeat, if I was going to set fire to a building, I guarantee you wouldn't catch me. I do have an MS from MIT and a PhD from Johns-Hopkins. My best lady friend is a Forensic Scientist, my best male friend is, not only a SEAL, but one of the best investigators in NCIS; bar none. My Boss, who I'm calling now, is the best in the business."

A voice from the door made everyone turn. "McGee, what the hell is this shit?" Gibbs was at the door and in full cry. He looked like he was pissed as hell which meant that he was considering actual physical assault.

Tony quickly explained the mess to Gibbs while Tim just stood and eyeballed the two Agents.

Gibbs eyed the group of Insurance Agents for a moment then said, "DiNozzo, you know that rule about Never Involve A Lawyer?"

Tony just grunted, "Yeah, Boss."

"Add Insurance Agents to that."

"On it, Boss." Tony gave the group of agents his own version of a hairy eyeball. They now had three very pissed federal agents eyeing them like fresh meat. They stared back like a herd of cornered gazelles.

The staring contest was interrupted by a voice from outside the trailer. It was the local fire marshal. "Excuse me. An NCIS tech is here. He said there was some question about the origin of the fire?"

Gibbs turned to allow the man into the trailer. "There is." he pointed to Agent Parker. "That one ... and that one..." he changed the aim of his accusing finger to Agent Barton. "are accusing my agent of setting the fire. Why? You tell me."

The fire marshal just shrugged. "Probably to avoid paying for whatever was in the building." He turned to glare at the now huddling group of Insurance agents. "I assure you that my investigation was thorough, complete and detailed. As my report should prove. If you want to question it, fine. But, if you think you're going to get away with refusing to pay what you ought, think again. In fact, think several times. I'll be just as happy to investigate you. Or turn NCIS loose on you. Bulldog Gibbs will tear you a new one in a second." He turned to Gibbs. "Your people are on scene and tearing things apart again. That's fine with me. I'll just append their report to mine. Then I'm reporting this company for refusal to pay appropriate reparations on demand." He bared his teeth at the group and stomped off, shaking the flimsy trailer as he went.

Gibbs eyed the group of agents, insurance and NCIS. "What are you waiting for? Get with it. We've got better things to do than sit around here while you numbnuts get your shit together." He turned and left, going to talk to the fire marshal and the head of the NCIS team.

Tony sighed. "Well, he's not happy." He turned his spine melting glower on Parker and Barton. "I'm not happy either. I'm sure that Special Agent McGee is even less happy." He waited a minute then opened his mouth to yell.

McGee interrupted him. "Don't waste your breath. You only yell at people when you know they're smart enough to know why you're yelling. Yelling at those two is like yelling at a two-year-old. Useless."

Tony shrugged. "But it'll make me feel better."

"No, it won't. You'll only get a sore throat." McGee turned to stare at the now cringing agents. "Well? What the hell are you gawking at? Get to work. I've got the inventory printed out; divide up the pages and get cracking. I expect a check deposited in my account in 48 hours. Or I'll be back." And with that, Timothy McGee, admiral's son, stood up and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Tony looked around for a second. "You're all idiots. That fire was an accident, or some sort of structural failure. I'd really expect most of the people you've already denied to be suing the shit out of you shortly." He left too, refraining from slamming the door, but he stomped down the stairs, making the whole trailer tremble.

The group got to work and McGee had his check by the end of the day. All the other cases got reviewed and reworked. Several people who might not have gotten checks, got one. Several employees, including Mrs. Parker and Agent Barton were retrained, taking a demotion and pay cut into the bargain.

Tony watched Tim as he stood just outside the trailer, breathing like a steam engine. He waited until Tim seemed calm then ambled over. "Okay?"

"Yeah. But I'm writing a letter to the home office. I'm ... this is outrageous. Who ... what?" He stopped talking as the fire marshal walked up with Gibbs right behind him.

"Did you have any trouble with ... a hot water heater or your stove?" the marshal eyed his notes for a moment then looked up.

Tim nodded. "I did. The hot water heater would quit suddenly. Not good when it happened in the middle of a shower. And the stove quit a couple of times. Why?"

The marshal made a face. "I examined the gas lines and they're all FUBAR. Rusted out. Who the hell put in steel pipes? That's what I'd like to know."

Tony blinked for a moment. "I thought all gas lines had to be made of ..." he frowned. "Plastic or something else that wouldn't corrode."

"They do. But this place ... the good lines were lead. The rest were copper or steel. Not up to code. One of the main lines just gave up the ghost. Ruptured and then someone flipped a switch or lit up a smoke. Something. Someone's gonna get arrested over this. Three people are still in the hospital burn ward, and that's the good news." He walked away, shaking his head.

Tony eyed Tim a second time. "What now?"

Tim thought. "Rock Creek Park, ruck run. Just because... if I don't do something, I'm gonna kill someone."

"Okay. Let's go. My ruck's in the back of my SUV." Tony knew exactly how Tim felt and was willing to cater to him. "Want to call anyone?"

"Call everyone. They could use the exercise too." Tim grinned at Tony.

Gibbs nodded "Right. If we're miserable, they need to be miserable too." He started dialing.

It turned out that Tony was the only one who had his ruck with him. He called them all 'box-a'-rocks boots' then grumbled while he drove them to get their rucks and a change of clothing.