A/N - When I write a chapter of a story, I often think of some of my on-lines friends and how they would enjoy certain things that I work into a chapter. ChannelD always was one of the first people to comment on a new chapter and she always noticed the tiny bits of humor I'd work into an otherwise serious storyline. Because of that, she was on my mind quite a bit as this chapter took shape. I was just finishing the last scene when we got the word that she'd died. It was heartbreaking to lose her and incredibly difficult to write the last few lines that were designed especially for her wonderful, quirky sense of humor. Godspeed, my friend, until we meet again.

Jackson was quietly starting lunch when he noticed that the guard out front now had a companion. He was expecting an unscheduled shift change, remembering that the first agent's wife was less than a month from her due date. When they both obviously settled in for the duration, Jackson became concerned and walked to the family room at the back of the house where Tony and Ziva were watching the news.

Various talking heads were debating Dearing's motivations and if he was a terrorist or a true patriot, but the two recovering agents were more interested in what was going on outside. Knowing that they would try not to worry him, Jack spoke first. "Something's going on, our security is increasing."

"Yeah." Tony sounded a little distracted as he peered out through the edge of the curtain. Ziva was more direct.

"Jack, stay away from the windows. Perhaps now would be a good time to go down to the basement." Unlike Gibbs' house, the basement here was fully furnished and Ziva had already scoped out the wine cellar with the idea of making it a temporary safe room.

"Nope, whatever is going on, I'm not going to hide and let you kids deal with it on your own." Jack thumped the floor with his cane to make his point.

Tony was going to argue, but one of the agents outside started moving towards the back door. When he reached the porch, Tony threw the door open, weapon at the ready.

"Whoa, DiNozzo, don't shoot."

"Damn it, what's going on?" The gun lowered, but Tony didn't relax until the agent was inside and the door relocked.

Borrowed from Homeland Security, Agent Dowling had heard plenty about the strange group that was NCIS's top team and he knew when to joke and when to get right to the point. "I'm not sure, but the SecNav just doubled your security detail and he's bringing in some Marine snipers to watch from the roof."

Tony pulled out his phone, but Dowling shook his head. "They've ordered a complete lock down, no calls in or out. Somebody is coming to brief you in person."

"When?"

"Soon."

With nothing else to do, Jack dished up their lunch and encouraged the two agents under his care to eat. Tony wasn't interested, but Ziva reminded him that in Mossad, you take every opportunity to eat a hot meal. After all, when waiting for a possible battle you never knew when the next meal would be. He reluctantly agreed.

Jack sat down and picked up his own fork. "Since Leroy isn't here, I thought I'd fix stroganoff."

"Gibbs does not like stroganoff?" Ziva speared a piece of the meat and some noodles. It did look different than any beef stroganoff she'd ever had, with the sauce a deep red. Next to her, Tony had a strange expression on his face after taking his first bite.

"Doesn't like mine. Boy always had strange taste." Jack turned to get the butter out of the refrigerator, not seeing Ziva's shudder as she quickly swallowed.

"Are those beets I taste?"

"Yep, that's my secret ingredient. Never missed a chance to sneak some veggies into Leroy."

Tony smiled as he carefully dug out some of the sauce-free noodles from the bottom of the pile on his plate. He was pretty sure this particular dish might have been the beginnings of Gibbs' suspicious view of the world.

The sound of the garage door going up had he and Ziva on their feet and moving before Jack even realized what was going on. Weapons firmly in hand, they moved to the front window and watched as Penny carefully pulled her car in, escorted by one of the agents watching the front of the house. Once the large door was down and secured, Tony quickly moved to the access door in the house.

"Penny, Boss, what's going – Probie? Brad?" He could just watch as Dr. Pitt and Abby quickly pulled a wheelchair out of the trunk before Gibbs and the doctor lifted McGee out of the passenger seat and into the chair. McGee's face was pinched and gray as he was quickly wheeled into the house, a portable oxygen tank balanced on his lap.

Loaded down with medical supplies, Penny and Abby followed the men inside. Tony had never seen the goth so quiet. "Abs, what's wrong?"

"Let's help Dr. Pitt get Timothy settled while Gibbs talks to the rest of the team."

Abby nodded at Penny's words, but stopped in front of Gibbs. "Promise me, Gibbs."

He knew exactly what she was asking. Even if the word hadn't come down from the President, he'd already made that decision. Gibbs pulled her face close enough for a kiss to her cheek. "I promise."

Once it was the three agents and Jack left in the garage, Tony didn't waste any time. "He looks like hell, Gibbs. What possible reason would you let him leave the hospital?"

In answer, Gibbs tossed him the phone and seconds later Tony as staring at the picture Dearing had sent to Gibbs. Looking over his shoulder at it, Ziva gasped. "How did he get past security?"

"Oh, he's been working as a janitor at the hospital, probably for days."

"What?" Horrified, Tony stared at his boss. "How did he manage that?"

"Hell if I know, DiNozzo." Moving into the living room, Gibbs started at the beginning and explained everything he knew so far of the day's events. By the time he was finished, Tony was pacing.

"He's got someone on the inside at the hospital, that's the only way he could have pulled it off."

"Not necessarily, Tony." Ziva thought about how Mossad would have gotten someone into a secure setting. "Would not a skilled hacker be able to break into the hospital's computer? Dearing has been able to get into MTAC, remember."

"Maybe." Tony glanced over at Gibbs before continuing. "But he has to have some sort of accomplice since Penny was talking to someone on the phone while Dearing was with McGee."

"Tony's right and we need to figure out all the players." Gibbs swayed slightly and Tony caught his arm and pushed him into a chair.

"What's the next step, Boss? Has this safe house been compromised?" Tony looked around. The big house was comfortable and would be easy to defend, but they weren't ready quite yet for a fight.

"For tonight it's safer than any of our other options. We have to assume that Dearing knows about any and all of the Agency safe houses."

Ziva thought about the possibilities. "We need to check the cars for tracking devices."

"Agreed, Vance and Fornell will be here soon with a scanner."

Gibbs' answer reassured Tony, but there were other ways to track the movements of the team. "Could Dearing have followed Penny? She's not trained to look for stuff like that."

It was a possibility the older man couldn't ignore. "Dearing's been still at the hospital when she would leave for the evening, but..."

"But he has an accomplice." Tony finished for him with a serious expression.

-NCIS-

"Do you... think I'm nuts for..." Tim had to stop talking to catch his breath, but Brad understood the question.

"Medically, I certainly would have preferred to keep you in the hospital for a few more weeks, but I understand your decision – and as long as you follow my instructions and don't push it too hard, we should be able to manage your recovery here."

"Thanks... Dr. Pitt."

Brad pointed a finger at his patient, smiling to lessen the sting. "No more talking tonight. Since you're on a regular oxygen system instead of the pressurized support, I want you to just breathe without any extra strain."

With the barest of nods, Tim's eyes drifted closed as the IV of painkillers Brad was starting did its trick. As he checked the lines and taped them securely to Tim's arm, Penny bent over to study her grandson closer. She still wasn't convinced they'd done the right thing.

"We could have demanded more security at the hospital."

"We could have." Finished momentarily with his patient, Brad sat back and turned his attention to his grandmother. "Under the circumstances, I could have made the argument to use the Presidential medical unit at Walter Reed."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because it was more than him being safe, it was a matter of him feeling safe." Brad reached out and laid a hand on Penny's arm. "Worrying about Dearing being the next man to walk through his hospital room door would have put more strain on his recovery than moving him here. Here, he's got his whole team surrounding him and he knows they won't let Dearing get past them."

Deep down, Penny knew the doctor was right. She'd seen Tim in a medicated sleep often since she'd arrived in DC, but this time he looked finally peaceful as the pain lines eased off his face. "I hate this. In my heart, I'm a pacifist, but I want that man dead."

"Gibbs already promised." Now that Brad was done for the moment, Abby staked her claim to a spot right next to the bed, allowing her to lay her head next to Tim's. "He always keeps his promises."

-NCIS-

Vance and Fornell arrived in a SUV loaded down with the rest of the supplies on Dr. Pitt's list. Short of emergency surgery, all of McGee's medical needs could now be met at the safe house. Fornell and one of the agents from Vance's security team started scanning the cars while Vance escorted the nurse he and the SecNav had hand picked to assist Dr. Pitt.

With the resources of NCIS stretched so tight, one of Vance's regular guards had been replaced by a rule bound member of the SecNav's personal security team. He shook his head as they moved into the garage to check the car that Penny had been driving. "Protocol states that the potential targets should be separated. The kid should have been sent to another hospital under an assumed name and the rest of the targets scattered across the country."

Fornell barely managed to contain his laughter, but he did snort. "Yeah, well, I'll let you tell that to Gibbs. Just let me get out of the way."

"He's got that much control over them?"

"Nope, they've got that much faith in him."

Inside the house Vance followed the nurse into McGee's room and, after the introductions, he moved to Tim's bedside. Giving Penny a slight smile and nod, he turned his attention to McGee. The noise had wakened the younger man.

The eyes opened to just a slit, but Vance could see the confused green eyes. He reached out and straightened the blankets. "Easy, Tim, you're safe."

McGee struggled against the exhaustion for a moment, but seeing Abby's sleeping face next to him settled him down almost instantly. Vance watched him sleep for a moment before straightening up. He had more information for Gibbs, information that wasn't going to sit well with the other man.

-NCIS-

Fornell found Gibbs pacing in the living room, his father watching him closely. "Well, the cars are clear, if that helps."

"What would help would be knowing how he got past your people, Fornell."

"Mistakes were made."

"Really?"

Wincing at the sarcasm, Tobias tried again. "We relied too much on the computer database at Bethesda, assumed that anyone already in the system would have been cleared. When Dearing hacked in with his false ID, he backdated it far enough that our checks didn't pick up on it. I know what you think of apologies, but I am sorry, Jethro. He out maneuvered us."

"He had his hands on my man. Tim was helpless and Dearing touched him."

Years ago, the two men had had a similar conversation, only reversed. Tim may not be a child like Emily had been, but his injuries made him even more unable to defend himself. "I get it, I really do."

"Still doesn't explain how he managed to forge such a perfect replica of the employee badge."

"No, but this might." At the sound of Vance's voice, Fornell and Gibbs turned around. Vance looked uncomfortable with whatever he was about to tell them. "It took a lot of pressure, but the DoD finally released Liam Dunham's records. He specialized in creating forged documents for the DoD and the CIA."

"You've got to be kidding me. And they didn't think it was important for us to know that before now?" Gibbs shoved his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth, his limp getting worse. "Damn it, we should have been tracking him along with Dearing."

"I'll get my people on it." When Gibbs glared at him, Fornell held up his hands and clarified his statement. "I'll get my best people on it."

Jack was waiting and when Fornell and Vance left, he steered his son to the kitchen table. "I know that you're not interested in eating, Leroy, but your team needs you to keep up your strength."

Still thinking about everything that had happened that day, Gibbs let his dad push him into a chair. It was only when Jack set a plate in front of him that he objected. "Stroganoff, Dad, really?"