Once they were ready to leave, Tim handed the Lexus keys to his father. "You mind if we take this? That way we don't have to move the car seat."

"Ah." Of course it would be easier to drive Timothy's car than to remove the car seat and install it in his rental. John watched as Tim buckled her in, checking every strap as he did. "We ready?"

"We are."

The SUV was comfortable with plenty of power. "If I ever get an assignment on land, I may have to get myself one of these."

"We've been enjoying it. Handles great in the snow, too."

Spring was just around the corner, but John could see that just from the way it handled on the wet pavement. "How's the mileage?"

"Really good, it's a hybrid."

The small talk dried up, but they pulled into the restaurant's parking lot a few minutes later. Tim took Tia's hand after he helped her out and as they walked, she also took John's hand. A look of surprise crossed John's face, then he smiled. As they walked in, the host smiled before bending down to kiss her cheeks.

"Hello, Miss Tiana. It is so good to see you again, and you brought a guest with you."

"This is my Grandpa."

"Welcome to Kosi's, Sir." He turned to give Tim a critical look. "How are you feeling? You gave everyone quite a scare." Several menus in hand, he directed them to a table in the center of the dining room.

Tim smiled and raised his left hand enough to show that he was down to a simple wrist brace on that side. "Better, Amando, thank you. I can actually move my fingers now, at least on this side. Another week or so before they let me have my other hand back."

Once they were seated, Amando handed Tim and the Admiral each a menu. "I know what Miss Tiana would like for lunch. Am I right?"

"Yeppers."

John's foreign language skills weren't very good, but he got as far as Medallions De... and Amando knew exactly what he wanted, the tenderloin with a sauce made of Roquefort cheese, mustard, and cream. Tim's language skills had improved vastly between Tony and Ziva's influence and their international cases and easily ordered the Poisson Du Golfe, a dish he'd had before and one that he could easily handle without needing a knife to cut. A waitress set down a platter of assorted appetizers just as they were finishing their order and the bartender arrived a few seconds later with a Shirley Temple for Tia along with crayons and paper. John shook his head, more amused than he would have ever imagined. "This really is her favorite restaurant, isn't it?"

"One of them." Tim shook his head at the bartender. Pain meds eliminated any chance for a glass of wine today. "I'm just having coffee today, thanks."

"And for you, Sir?"

Tim saw his father glance over at another table where the alcohol was flowing rather freely, but he was pretty sure that the Admiral wouldn't indulge; not when they were so carefully tip-toeing around each other and watching every word. One thing John McGee could never be accused of, and that was losing control.

"Coffee also, thank you."

-NCIS-

As the waitstaff quietly withdrew, John sipped at his coffee and studied his only son, trying to fully understand him. Penny had frequently accused him of not understanding what made Tim the man he was and honestly, she was right. Here was a brilliant mind, capable of running entire think tanks, but happily being a junior agent on a four person team. He never seemed to yell or even raise his voice, yet he had a well behaved, obviously happy child and an amazingly well trained dog.

"Tell me about the dog."

Tim seemed as surprised to hear the question as John was that the words had come out of his own mouth. After a moment, he shrugged slightly with his one functioning shoulder, carefully watching Tiana as he spoke. "He was a Navy drug detection dog when we first met him. A, uh, dirty petty officer had dosed him with an almost lethal amount of cocaine and set it up to look like he'd killed his handler. We, umm, we had a rough start, but when it was over I got talked into taking him in and it was a good answer for both of us."

John remembered what Tim had said about the Medical Examiner treating him after he'd been mauled by a dog. Adding in how casually and calmly he was talking about it and how carefully he was watching Tiana's reactions and John's eyes widened. Tim nodded slightly and subtly pulled his shirt collar back far enough to show the scars as he continued to talk.

"Transitioning him from a military life to a civilian life, well, I didn't want him to get bored because bored dogs tend to become destructive, so it was time he learned a more than how to find drugs."

"So he's totally retired?"

"Not totally." Tim looked rather amused, but their soups arrived and the topic was dropped, at least for now.

John hadn't realized soup came with lunch, but Tia piped up before digging into her own little bowl. "We always get the soup, Grandpa."

Enjoying the soup and the rest of the appetizers, John was almost caught off guard when a group of officers from the Pentagon walked past, stopping and snapping off brisk salutes. "Sir, good afternoon, Sir. I didn't realize you were in Washington, Admiral McGee. Is there anything we can do to assist you while you're in town?"

If there was anything Admiral McGee could recognize was a brown-nosing subordinate as he read the name tag on the uniform. "Thank you, Commander Brown, but I think I can handle a weekend with my family."

"Family? Oh, Agent McGee, I didn't make the connection."

"No reason you should. McGee's not that uncommon of a name and I don't use my father's connections to try and impress people." Listening to Tim, John realized that the two men knew each other and, judging from Tim's tone, they weren't friends. When Brown briskly saluted again and stormed off, John turned to Tim, looking for answers.

"Commander Brown, nephew of Senator Brown, heads up the Pentagon Cyber-team for the Navy."

The pieces falling into place, John had to smile as he looked over at the sulking man ordering another drink from the bar. "Ahh, eleven months, right? Then you broke it in one day."

"Me and my team."

John approved of that answer, along with the confidence behind it. "I take it the Commander wasn't too happy?"

"I'm sure no one enjoys being called an idiot by the SecNav in front of two admirals and a general."

That made John laugh. "My God, you've grown up."

"And you've mellowed, a lot."

John tilted his head in acknowledgment. Probably more shock that mellowing, but he'd give him that one. The soup was very good and while they ate, he watched Tiana. His granddaughter, that was something that still made his head spin when he thought about it. Of course Timothy was old enough to be a father without causing any embarrassment but still, he was a grandfather. His mother was going to have a field day with this one. "Does Penny know?"

"I spoke to her a few weeks ago, right after you apparently had a strange conversation with her."

That made sense. "Yes, I called her after the SecNav mentioned your leave and how much you were needed on the case. Of course, he didn't tell me what kind of leave, but...

"But threw enough hints your direction that you'd get curious?"

"Something like that. First I knew that you weren't just some junior agent on a random team."

"We've never been just some random team. We're the top MCRT in the Agency, have been for years."

Anything else that would have been said stopped when the food arrived. John's steak was excellent, the Roquefort and cream sauce divine, but most of his attention was on Tiana. When his own children were that age, he never would have dreamed of bringing them to a place like this but here she was, enjoying her calamari while the waitstaff beamed at her. He was more impressed than he was willing to admit.

"Is that good?"

Her head bounced up and down. "Uh huh, it's yummy and their mary-anna sauce is almost as good as Daddy's."

John wondered absently what he did to make bottled sauce taste better than what they were serving here, but then Tim gave Tiana a piece of his fish and John's curiosity shifted to see how she would take to something new.

"Here you go, Sweetheart. This is a piece of mahi-mahi, I think you'll like it. It's kind of like halibut, only a little sweeter."

She ate the piece of fish and smiled. "Yummy, Daddy."

"I thought you'd like that. How about if we grill some in a few weeks when I can use my arm better?"

That got an enthusiastic nod as she dug into her calamari once again. John was amazed. "She seems very willing to try new things."

"Grace and I were always introducing her to new foods, starting as soon as she was ready for any kind of solid foods."

"It was always a battle when your mother tried to get you or Sarah to try something new."

"The way Mom cooked?"

John had to chuckle at that. Even he'd been scared when she'd tried something new. "Good point."

a/n - NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow, so I'll be writing like mad on that piece. If all goes according to plan, I should be able to continue to post at least once a week on this one, too.

Sigh, it only took 6 Army doctors 8 weeks to diagnose a spinal (stress) fracture in my son. Hopefully they will be a little quicker in treating it.