.Chapter eight

They met in Rock Creek Park 45 minutes later. And the bitching and moaning was, as Tony remarked, epic.

Remy was there, despite the fact that he really should be working in the Tactical Center; Cencom was wanting his results. He defused Tony's glower by saying, "Dude, things are slow and I've got a search running. I don't need to be there just to watch the computer chug."

"Okay." Tony shouldered his ruck.

"Asshole. Trust you to have your ruck." Dean made a face as he donned his.

"Sissy. Man's gotta do. And I knew we were going to ruck at least once this week. No sense in leaving things 'til the last minute." Tony finished adjusting his own pack over his shoulders.

As they got ready, Gibbs filled the others in on the problems Tim had had with the insurance. The replies were all along the lines of, 'Well, shit. No wonder he's pissed. What can we do?'

The consensus was that Tim needed to ground himself, and all they could do was stand by in case of a crash.

They started the run at the trail head, Tony checked each one of them to make sure that their packs were fitted properly. He also made sure that Tim and Jimmy had powdered their feet and the chafe spots on their shoulders and hips. He was meticulous and dressed Jimmy down for forgetting his hips.

Jimmy just dropped his pack and took care of the problem without comment.

Remy and Tony stepped to one side to talk. "AJ, you takin' over?"

"Might."

"Don't worry about me. I don't do bastard DI well, and you know it."

Tony grinned. "I know. You've done a great job so far. But I know you're more a 'mom' type. I'll break 'em, you fix 'em. And we need to get Tim and Jimmy into fighting soon."

Remy made a face. "Tim ... thought he'd be better, NCIS an' all."

"NCIS teaches non-injury takedown. Doesn't do to break the suspect ... in case the motherfucker turns out to be innocent."

Remy made an odd noise then shrugged. "Okay, but I'm teachin' 'em Jew-jitsu."

Tony laughed softly. "Got that one from Ziva."

"Yeah. Heard she's doin' good."

Tony sighed. "Me too. She wrote to Abby and said share with everyone. Hope she gets her shit together."

They dropped that depressing train of conversation and returned to the group.

Remy barked, "'Tenshun!" Everyone lined up at attention, even Gibbs, Tim and Jimmy. "Okay, you lugnuts, AJ's takin' over. I'm back to humpin' like the rest of you swabs."

Tony walked his troops, checking this and that. He took his time and did it right. He also impressed his men with his right to command. He knew that Gibbs knew what was going on, but he was pretty sure that neither Tim nor Jimmy got it ... yet.

"All right. Here's the drill. McGee's had a hell of a couple of days and some jackass Insurance adjuster had the fucked-up idea to accuse him of blowing up the building. Now he's stressed. We're going to take advantage of that and do a ruck, followed by some self-defense training. Questions? ... Bitching? ... Anything?" He waited a moment then snarled, "Well? Get moving."

They moved.

It was now back to the usual way, AJ moved up and down the line of running men, barking and snarling.

Gibbs set a pace he knew he could keep up forever and stuck to it. Tony didn't demand that anyone run faster than their best pace. He did demand that the group stay together.

This wasn't as hard as they had thought as Gibbs' best pace was fairly fast. Now that he was in shape again, he was even more indestructible than ever. This put Dean and Cosmo right behind him, with Remy at their heels. Tim and Jimmy brought up the rear with AJ after them every few seconds to, "Step it up, slacker."

Remy grumbled, "Fuck, Viper, set a killer, why don'cha?"

Gibbs snarled right back, "And where's the kick gonna come from when it's needed?"

Dean joined in with, "Not that you're gonna have to worry about it."

Gibbs snapped right back, "So, something happens to you ballbags, I'm gonna miss ya. Shut up."

Cosmo just slapped Dean in the head and passed him up. Remy snorted and followed.

Gibbs kept his pace, he knew that the younger men would be regretting their showing off soon.

Tim labored to keep Gibbs' pace and resented, just a little bit, the fact that a man a decade older than he could show him up.

The only ones who were surprised to find a log on the trail were Tim and Jimmy. Everyone else just groaned.

"Suck it up." Tony motioned to Remy to pick up one end of the log.

Dean, Cosmo and Gibbs just dropped their rucks and flopped down on the ground. Jimmy had no idea what was going on but he copied his friends. Tim was a bit slower but he followed, adding himself to the side opposite Jimmy.

Then Remy and Tony lifted the log and carefully put it across all their chests, when Dean and the other two experienced men pushed the log up, like a dead weight, Jimmy pushed too. Tim was a bit slower but joined in quickly. When the log was up, they held it in place while Tony lay down beside Jimmy and Remy beside Tim.

They did twenty sit ups, groaning under the 500-pound log.

Tony commanded, "Up!" and they all pushed the log straight up. The command, "Over," allowed them to let the log fall over their heads to the ground behind them. The third command of, "Rucks up," had them putting their packs back on and heading off down the trail.

Jimmy felt like he was going to pass out by the time they reached the next fall-out point Tim looked like he was past passing out and somewhere near passing on.

Remy gave Jimmy a firm shake. "SEAL up, dude. You can do it. Stop a sec and just breathe. You hold your breath too much. You're going into oxy dep."

Jimmy blinked, "Huh?"

"Oxygen deprivation. Your brain will shut down." Remy shook him again, on general principles.

Jimmy just grinned at him and bent over to do some deep breathing.

Tim, on the other hand, was in really bad shape. He'd been holding his breath too and was now dizzy and nauseous. He was also sweating excessively.

Jimmy gave him a poke and prod, announced that he needed a re-hydration and returned to his exercise. This round was simple, squat-plank-squat-stand, and do it 20 times. Twenty seemed to be the magic number for Tony.

Tim went away with a by-standing medic that Tony had arranged for. They entered a small restroom and stayed there about 10 minutes. Tim emerged with a red face and an unbuckled belt, which he was rapidly fastening.

Dean gave him a commiserating look. "Rocket?"

Tim made a funny whimpering sound, "Yeah."

Cosmo just said, "Yeouch."

Tim, still flushed and embarrassed, started the exercise and realized that Tony was standing over him bellowing, "Breathe, damnit, breathe." He made a concerted effort to breathe as he should, helped by Tony yelling, "In!" and "Out!" and expecting him to do it. He managed to finish the exercise only to find that everyone else had already finished and were lounging around, waiting for him to finish.

He started to sit down to rest too, but had his ruck slammed into his chest. "No! Took too long. Run!" so he did.

They ran again, keeping up the pace that Gibbs set. The three younger men were now regretting their earlier extravagance as they were beginning to wear down. Gibbs, Tony and Jimmy were still chugging along. Tim was still struggling while Remy was ... well, Remy.

The next obstacle was a small dam. It had been built to create a small lake for canoeing, but, as the river was so close, it was more a launch point. The water fall over the spillway was just wide enough that all of them could lay down in it with their arms linked.

They trotted across the dam to the spillway and piled their packs by it. Tony lay down in the eight inch deep flow with Dean on one side and Remy on the other. Gibbs linked arms with Remy while Cosmo joined Dean. This put Jimmy and Tim in the shallowest part of the spillway.

The only problem with all this was, the water flowing over the spillway was frigid. It was so cold that even Gibbs had cried out as he dropped into it. Tim nearly cried while Jimmy unashamedly whimpered.

They lay in the spillway for several minutes, Tim would have sworn it was an hour at least. Tony knew it was only ten minutes, his internal clock was amazingly accurate. When they were all shivering violently, Tony ordered, "Sit up." They all sat up, more or less in unison. Tony took exception to the raggedness of their response.

"That was the most pitiful, half-assed effort it has ever been my misfortune to be a part of. Again. Sit up!" They kept at it until Tony was satisfied with them. They were now rising and falling in exact unison.

"Good. Up." Tony scrambled out of the spillway followed by the rest of his combined team. The moaning and bitching was loud, profane and indicated total misery. "Shut up, you lazy bitches. Run."

They donned their rucks again and took off, cold, wet and shivering. Their boots squelched with every step and their clothing bunched in uncomfortable places.

Jimmy grumbled, "Well, shit, I really, really hate being wet."

Cosmo cheerfully remarked, through chattering teeth, "Beats the hell out of sand in your box."

Tony snorted. "Or up your ass, in your mouth, eyes, nose and hair."

Dean announced, "That's what a shemagh is for."

Remy added, "And for wiping sweat, straining coffee and water, and ..." he stopped, thinking.

"Everything." Cosmo finished.

They finally came to a group of large rocks and the last exercise. Tony called a halt and ordered, "Chin." The group moved to a lattice work of chin up bars and dropped their packs. It turned out that there were only three bars that were high enough that their feet didn't drag on the gravel. Tony set Gibbs, Tim and Jimmy to work while Cosmo, Dean, Remy and he hugged rocks.

This wasn't as silly as it sounded, the sun-warmed rocks felt wonderful to their chilled bodies. They literally warmed themselves by hugging the rock.

After Gibbs finished, Remy took his place on the bar while Gibbs chose his own rock. His soft groan of relief made Tony grimace. "Okay, there, Boss?"

"Cold. Good otherwise. You're as big a bastard as I am. Asshole." Gibbs' slight, crooked smile took the sting out of his words.

Tony grinned at him. "Yup. But I haven't lost a man yet." He looked proud for a moment, then his face drooped into sadness. "Yet. Lost a few friends though."

Gibbs nodded. "Who, in our line, hasn't?"

Tony recovered his smile. "True. One reason I insist on training."

Cosmo grumbled, "No, it's because you love torturing us."

Dean shook his head. "Whiny."

Jimmy joined them, finding a rock of his own. Dean grumbled a bit but went to the bar at Tony's head jerk.

Cosmo took over when Tim finally finished, joined by Tony. They clicked their chin-ups off at a fast pace and rejoined the group. Jimmy handed drinks out, mixed from sports drink powder and water from a nearby fountain.

After that, Tony went over their performance with them. His opinion was, Dean and Cosmo needed to keep with the group more. Remy and Gibbs, up to standards, enough said. Jimmy was catching up quickly while Tim just needed a bit more work.

Tim looked sad and depressed after that. Gibbs joined him. "What's that long face for?"

"I'm just ... useless. Father was right. I'll never be more than a wanna-be." Tim picked up a pebble and threw it into the creek.

"Bullshit. Your ol' man wouldn't know good if it bit him on the ass. You're good. Real good. I've seen men in better shape than you were, fall out within days. You're slow to pick up; but, once you get there, you'll stay there. Just like us." Gibbs smacked Tim on the back of the head. "Suck it up and deal."

Tim grinned. "Yes, sir. I just ..."

Remy flopped down beside them. "What's this?"

Gibbs told Remy about Tim's concerns. Remy just rolled his eyes. "You really think that?" Tim nodded. "Well, shit. The Admiral really fucked you up." He eyed Tim out of the corner of his eye. "I did some research on your father. He's a bean counter. Been to sea, of course, but he's land bound for a reason. And kept in a non-combat position. He's a good administrator and can lobby like mad. But he's not really command material. Alienates his subordinates. You try to get things done with a crew of CPO's and WO's that hate you and see how that goes. And he's way too handy with GOMAR's. Got him promoted out of command position."

Tim blinked for a moment then really thought about a few things he'd heard. "Oh. I see. So, my Father has alienated all the right people and gotten himself in a position where he's going to retire at that pay grade?" He shrugged. "Okay. Tough for him. What are we doing next?" He would think about this a bit more, later.

Tony had overheard Remy and snickered under his breath. Remy had given him a written report on Admiral McGee, sub rosa. He was not impressed. McGee, Sr. seemed a bit too much like his own father for his taste. He settled beside Tim, drink in hand. "Now, we swim. We'll head up to Quantico and make use of their pool. Who's riding with who?"

Tim groaned. "At least we're not dealing with boats. Thank God."

Dean moaned. "Oh, man. You had to remind him? Please, man, just shut up."

Cosmo joined Dean in bitching. "AJ, no, just ... no. Not that."

Tony shook his head, amused smirk in place. "Not today. But ... next weekend, for sure. Suck it up and deal."

Gibbs just sighed. This was not going to be fun at all.

.

They all piled into two SUV's, one driven by Tony and the other by Remy, and drove to Quantico. The gate guards recognized Tony, saluted and waved both vehicles through.

When they arrived at the aquatic training facility they found that all the indoor pools were in use. This left them with a choice of outside pools. While everyone else was dressing out, Tony picked one, dressed out himself, then led the way.

Gibbs was very familiar with this pool as he'd done his initial training here. He eyed it with a disgusted expression on his face. Tim sidled up to him to ask, "Boss? Problem?"

"Yeah. Fucker's not heated." He dumped his towel, fins and goggles on the deck.

Jimmy unaware of the unheated condition of the pool, just jumped in. He came to the surface with a yell, then shouted, "Damnit, AJ, this fucking fucker isn't heated."

Tony nearly fell down laughing, he had to lean on Dean. Dean promptly dumped him into the pool. He came to the surface, still laughing. He tread water and barked, "In the pool. Laps." he pissed off his team and Gibbs by concluding, "No fins or goggles."

Everyone jumped in, most using a flat dive. They formed a pod around Tony, waiting for further instruction. He gave it, ordering forty laps, which is just over a mile. He also ordered combat crawl. The moaning, pissing and complaining made him threaten to add a lap for every second it took them to get going.

To a SEAL a lap is A to B to A. So they started their laps at the west side of the pool and swam back and forth Tony trusted his men to count properly and not cheat. They didn't. They all knew, from experience, that cheating would bring down the wrath of AJ, something devoutly to be avoided.

Gibbs didn't cheat because he was a Marine. Cheating was beneath him, as well as not providing the conditioning needed.

Jimmy didn't cheat because he also knew that it wasn't beneficial.

Both Gibbs and Jimmy were dragged out of the pool, exhausted and chilled. They were wrapped in warm towels and given hot drinks by the SEALs on the team. As they were more used to this sort of thing, they felt it behooved them to care for the other two. They then wrapped themselves in towels and got drinks too.

To Tim, a lap was A to B. So, his count was short. In the military, there's no such thing as an acceptable excuse for short counts. Tony dressed Tim down like a raw recruit and made him start again.

Gibbs didn't interfere but he did ask, "Bit harsh there. Think you rammed him?"

"No. Tim's biggest problem is, his Ol' Man always told him he couldn't. Wasn't up to it. I'm telling him, and showing him, that he can and is. He's good, he just doesn't know it." Tony met Gibbs' eyes for a moment then went to talk to Jimmy.

Gibbs kept an eye on Tim, hoping he made it. He glanced around to realize that everyone else was watching him too.

For his part, Tim gave up counting laps, he was sure that someone would drag him out of the pool when he ran out of steam, before he finished his laps. Turned out that Remy had to grab him up when he started lap 42.

Remy hauled Tim up, saying, "Hey, Digimon, you're done. Come on." he helped him to the side of the pool and heaved him onto the deck. "There."

Tim grumbled. "I hate you, AJ, seriously." He flopped onto the deck and lay there, shivering, not unlike Gibbs and Jimmy before him.

He was quickly wrapped in sun-warmed towels and given a hot drink. It was green tea but he didn't care, all that mattered was it was hot.

Tony settled by him, rubbing his shoulders. "There. You did it. You actually completed 60 laps, plus. I don't know your Ol' Man, but I'd cheerfully kick his ass. Whatever he said, it's wrong. Remember, I know you. I know what you can do. I'll never ask more than you've got to give." He swatted Tim on the head. "Hear me?"

Tim nodded. "I do. For my Father, I was never good enough. I always fell short. It was, 'Why can't you do what ...' someone years older than me, or twice my size could do." He frowned into his drink. "Guess I'm just too sensitive."

Cosmo announced, "I swear, if he wasn't an Admiral, I'd bust him. He'd be doing KP until he was old and grey."

Tim couldn't help a snicker, "He's already old and grey. And a desk jockey." He held out his cup. "More tea?" Dean poured. "Thank you."

They all huddled in their towels and let the sun warm them back up.

Jimmy did a health check on all of them then got a nearby medic to do one on him, remarking, "I'll always get someone else to check me out. The doctor who doctors himself has a fool for a patient, you know." The medic agreed, checked him and said he was good to go.

The group broke up then, everyone going to do what they needed.

Tim and Tony went back to their apartment to get Tim settled in, electronics up and running and chore lists made.

Tony also made a couple of calls and got things in line for a training exercise. He knew no one was going to be happy with that one, including him.

.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with nothing much. They gathered at Gibbs' place for pizza and beer.

Tony examined the 'in-works' grill and approved. The brick work was about three-quarters done and looked neat and tight. The grill and fire box for the smoker were commercial and still in their boxes off to the side.

"Looks good. Boss?" Tony swallowed half his beer in one go.

"I like it. They ..." he nodded to Dean and Cosmo. "know what they're doing. Good work." Gibbs sighed. "Hand-to-hand."

"I know. I'm a bit more worried about Jimmy than I am about Tim. FLETC teaches take downs and whatnot. But Krav Maga or ..." he grinned, "What we SEALs call H2H is more violent and deadly. They both need it. Jimmy, because who knows what might happen in the line of work. And Tim, for the same reason only he's more likely to actually need it."

Gibbs nodded. "I had the old Marine LINE training. There's a new MCMAP that's said to be better."

Dean joined the conversation, saying, "I don't know about that. I really think it's more head space than anything. You get a PD on someone and they're done."

Remy nodded. "True, true. Some people just have to glower at their opponent and he's done." Gibbs grinned at that.

Cosmo chimed in with, "And that's actually Digimon's big problem. He looks about as deadly as a peakapoo. Seriously. Not good."

Jimmy, shamelessly eavesdropping, asked, "What the heck is M.C. ... what you said?"

"Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. Sort of Mix Martial Arts with a Marine twist." Gibbs shrugged. "It's all about the same. A mix of Judo, Aikido, Karate and Muay Thai and Eskrema and whatnot all. You gonna have a problem with that?"

Jimmy thought about it for a moment. "I ... I really don't know. I think no one really can know until they're put to a real test. And not one on a mat. But ... if it came to defending a wounded man, I think I could. I mean, helpless, wounded man vs. wild-eyed terrorist or something? Wounded come first." He gave a firm nod as emphasis.

Tony chuckled softly. "That's my Gremlin. You'll do fine. Tim?"

Tim, who'd also been eavesdropping, sighed. "I can. If I have to. I'd really rather not engage, but once I'm engaged I want to come out on top. So. What are we doing?"

Tony thought. "Well, we're going to step up the training and add H2H. We've got another two weeks of desk duty, doctor's orders. Although, why, I'll never know."

Gibbs shrugged. "Ducky saw a chance to see us use up some of the sick leave that we're about to lose. Offends his Scottish soul. So, we're still on DD due to the three weeks he recommended we be off. He's a bit pissed about that."

Tony snickered. "I'm going to get paid for about half of mine. I'll put a bit of pressure on on your behalf, Boss. No sense in losing it if you don't have to. So, we could take Tuesday and Thursday morning off. That'd give us three days to do weights, yoga, tai chi, and H2H. And Monday, Wednesday and Friday for run and swim. We'll be wheels-up ready in no time."

Gibbs nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Tim groaned while Jimmy just started making plans for what he'd need in his ruck.

Another thing that Tony did was give each one of his NCIS team members a set of dog tags. The tags had their name, Social Security number, a contact number, blood type and allergies plainly embossed on them.

Gibbs examined them then dropped them over his head without comment. Jimmy stuttered his thanks, eyes gleaming with pleasure. But Tim had to smile a bit sadly.

"I wonder why my father never thought of doing this when I joined NCIS? It wouldn't have been that hard to get me a set." He rubbed one with his thumb.

Tony sighed then said softly. "Aw, damn, Probie. I should have done that first thing."

Tim shook his head. "Not your responsibility. But ... Father should have thought of it, just as a safety precaution. Thanks. I really appreciate it."

Tony just gripped his shoulder for a moment then went to answer the door as the pizza man was making their delivery.

He paid and returned to the back patio with a pile of pizza boxes. Gibbs had ordered one for each of them.

They fell on the pizza like the horde of locusts they'd been compared to. It only took about ten minutes for them to devour the pizzas and start looking for more.

Tony groaned. "Man, I'm full but looks like Remy and Dean are still hungry."

Gibbs chuckled. "They've both got hollow legs. Seriously. They can fill up on sandwiches. I keep plenty of fixin's in the fridge."

Tim, full and drowsy, settled in the lounge he was sitting on. "I'm full. And sleepy. I'm glad Tony's driving."

Jimmy sighed, glanced at his watch and exclaimed, "Oh, crap. I got to get going. I promised Ducky I'd be home before bridge." He jumped up and scurried around, gathering his things, helped by the others, who tossed things in his general direction.

Gibbs yelled after him, "I'll call Ducky so he knows you're on your way."

Jimmy yelled, "Bye!" over his shoulder and bolted out the door. The sound of his truck driving away signaled a general round of laughter.

Tony finished his beer and contemplated the empty bottle for a moment. "I'm glad Jimmy moved in with Ducky. He's getting old." He looked around at the disbelieving looks. "Really. He's like almost 80. Not old-old, but ... he should have retired fifteen years ago."

Gibbs nodded. "He should have. But what would he do? Really, he's not going to retire, he'd die of boredom in a week." He dialed and waited, listening to the conversation with one ear.

Tim nodded. "He would. He's in good health and sharp as a tack. He's just not up to doing some of the physical work of maintaining a house anymore. He needs someone with him at night. He's not feeble by any means but he is old."

Gibbs said, "Ducky ... yeah ... he's on his way." He listened for a moment. "No, Ducky, he's doin' real good. I'd have been proud to serve with him in my day. Good-bye."

He hung up and turned to his last beer. "Last one for me. School night. You guys had better head for home. Tony?"

Tony scowled at the near beer in his hand. "O'Douls for me. Tim?"

"I had two. Not fit to drive." Tim wouldn't drive after any liquor, not even half a glass of wine.

Tony nodded. "Ok, we better get going. We have to get up and run tomorrow."

Tim just sighed. "Yay." he dragged himself to his feet. "Seriously, it's only Monday?"

"Yup. And not that late. You wanna do electronics today or put it off?" Tony made it to his feet with only one groan.

Tim thought about that as he collected his things. "No, I'm all for vegging, there's no real hurry."

They wandered out to Tony's SUV and drove home.