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"That's it." Tim leaned over Johnson's shoulder to point out what he had discovered. "That's the moment they target a base."

He already had his phone out, calling Gibbs. "Got something." Nothing else was said, but he knew that would get his boss and the Director down from Vance's office in a hurry. By the time he'd returned to his own desk and pulled the information up on the plasma, the two men had arrived.

"Let's see it."

"The cyberattack actually starts six weeks earlier than the Pentagon thinks." McGee let the Director study his findings for a moment before explaining it to Gibbs while Tony and Ziva listened from their desks.

"Every year there's literally thousands of attempts made to hack into various DOD computer servers. Ever since the movie War Games came out, it's like a rite of passage for teenage hackers."

"Speaking from personal experience there, Probie?"

"Not answering that, Tony." McGee grinned and kept speaking. "This one attack gets apparently bounced away like all the rest, but a hidden kernel makes it through to the old, outdated back-up servers at the base. It's a worm that stays dormant for two weeks, then goes to work, creating a back door that gets the hackers in when they're ready. They're only targeting bases that haven't had the scheduled upgrades."

Vance was already thinking through the possibilities. "Can we track it?"

"Already working on it, Sir." Tim checked with his helpers from the sub-basement before turning back to Vance. "We should be able to tell you not only the target but within an hour of when they plan to attack."

"NCIS – one, Pentagon geeks – zero."

Laughter ran through the room and Vance deliberately didn't look to see who had spoken what they all were thinking. Instead, he checked the time with McGee. "How much longer can you stay?"

"Jared has a sleepover at a friend's tonight, right?"

"Yes." Vance was trying to determine not only how McGee knew that, but what it had to do with McGee's daughter.

Tim smiled. Tiana had been so excited on the phone when she and Ducky had called him and he'd told her the plans. "Girl's night at your place, Tia's been invited. They're having manicures and watching Ella Enchanted. Ducky's dropping her off there after their tea. According to Jackie, any male that shows up before the appointed time will end up with pink nails."

Vance instinctively shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, then, I guess it's boy's night here. No offense, Agent David."

"None taken, Sir."

Ziva couldn't quite hide her smile and Tony grabbed his phone. "All right, I'll order the pizza."

---NCIS---

"This had better be good, Director Vance." Jarvis swept in, obviously on his way to a formal event, as he straightened his bow tie and his cuffs.

Vance didn't waste any time. "Five more raids are in the works, the first will be at the Blue Grass Army Depot in nineteen days, seven hours."

The look on Jarvis' face was something they would remember for a long time. Finally, the man smiled and took off his topcoat. "All right, talk me through it and somebody hand me a slice of pepperoni."

---NCIS---

"Is it safe?"

Jackie looked up and laughed at the three men who walked in, their hands buried deep in their pockets. "Polish is all put away, you're safe."

"Just checking." Vance smiled at the image his wife made, curled up on the sofa with both girls. "You ladies have a good time?"

"We did." Jackie shifted enough to let Tim lift his sleeping daughter. "Tim, there's a bag of chocolate chip cookies on the table for you to take home."

"Thanks, Mrs. Vance. I appreciate this. I hope she wasn't too much trouble."

Lily answered before her mother could. "We had fun. Can Tia come again?"

"You bet, but I think it's time to get this little lady home to bed."

Jackie smiled and helped Gibbs gather Tia's belongings. "She's had a busy day, so she should sleep good tonight for you. Did you guys make any progress on the case?"

Leon had already found the plate of cookies Jackie had left him. "Progress? They already broke it open. Should have seen the look on Clayton's face when our nerds did in one day what the Pentagon's nerds couldn't do in months. Man, I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he informs the Joint Chiefs what we've done."

"I just hope he remembers when our budget for the technology upgrades are submitted."

"Don't worry, McGee. I'll remind him what you and your team did today and tell him that you specifically requested the items on the list. That should do it." Vance was holding the plate tight against him, but at one look from Jackie, he held it out, offering a cookie to Gibbs.

Gibbs smirked at how quickly the plate was tucked away after he'd taken the one offered cookie. "So McGee can finish his leave, now?"

"Don't see why not. In fact, after we battle out jurisdictions with the Army CID, you can even finish your vacation."

"Appreciate that, Leon." With a fast move, Gibbs snagged one more cookie before picking up Tia's go bag and following McGee out the door, leaving Jackie and Lily to laugh at Leon's disgruntled expression.

Jackie let him sulk for a few more minutes, and then when the two cars pulled away she lifted a pillow, showing a second plate of cookies. Leon landed on the sofa, pulling Jackie close and nibbling on her neck. Lily laughed at her parents and scrambled out of the way.

"Hey, guys, Tia is as close to a baby sister as I want right now."

---NCIS---

Tia barely woke as she was carried inside and put to bed, just enough to demand kisses from her daddy and papa. Once she was settled, Tim went into the kitchen and turned the crock pot off. "You hungry? There's plenty."

Gibbs just grinned so Tim put him to work making a pot of coffee while he loaded two plates with sliced ham and slow roasted sweet potatoes from the crock pot. When he pulled out salad makings, Gibbs shook his head. "How about a Hulk with a kick after dinner instead?"

"Okay." Tim opted not to question how much, if any, nutritional value was lost when it became a cocktail, but decided the fact that he was probably the only person in the world that could get Gibbs to willingly eat spinach and kale was a win in his favor.

Dinner was fairly quiet as the two men reflected on the successes of the day and Jethro waited patiently for any scraps to land on the floor. After sneaking the dog a treat, Gibbs rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. While he was doing that, Tim packed the leftover food into the refrigerator and made up a batch of the smoothie, this time with a generous dose of tequila added in.

Retreating to the living room, Gibbs once again made himself comfortable in the recliner, prompting a memory for McGee. "I was going to ask you the other day – why were you sleeping in the recliner instead of on the sofa?"

"My ex-wife has slept on that sofa, McGee. I'm not laying down on it until you have it fumigated."

Tim started laughing so hard he started choking on his drink. "She's not that bad, Boss."

"You haven't lived with her, McGee."

Tim shuddered at the thought. "And I'm not planning on it. One night in the same room was more than enough. Believe me."

"Oh, I believe you. Still not sleeping on that damn sofa, though."

"It's too small for this room, anyways. Thinking about replacing it with one of those big, deep sectionals."

"Good."

And like that, the decision was made.

---NCIS---

After Gibbs left, Tim took Jethro out one last time before locking up the house. No matter how much he'd prefer to keep his two families separate, Tim knew his carefully balanced plan was in danger. It wasn't in his father's nature to just show up, but Penny was an entirely different matter. Another decision made, Tim picked up his phone. It was early tomorrow afternoon in Sydney, so he had a good chance of catching her at her hotel. She picked up on the third ring.

~Hello?~

"Penny, it's Tim."

~Timothy, darling, I've been thinking about you all day. Your father asked me some very strange questions about whether I would tell him if something was wrong with you. There isn't, is there?~

"I'm fine, Penny, but I have had a life change – one the Admiral probably won't approve of."

~Is this why you're out on leave?~

"I'm out on bereavement leave, Penny. Grace died."

~Sweetheart, I know she was a good friend to you, but...~

"We had a child together, Penny, and now I have full custody of my four year old daughter."

~A child? You're saying that you become a father four years ago and didn't think to mention it to any of us. Are you sure it's yours? Have you had testing done?~

"Penny, I am only going to say this once. Tiana is my daughter. I knew about her existence from the moment Grace found out she was pregnant. She didn't trick me, she didn't force me into anything. Until my father is ready to accept me and the life I've chosen, I don't want my parents involved. Tiana just lost her mother, she doesn't need someone even suggesting that my life would be better without her. Is that understood?" There was a long silence before Penny answered him.

~I hear you, Timothy. How on Earth are you going to manage, though? What happens when your leave is over?~

"Everything is handled, Penny. She's set up at the child care aboard the Yard and with emergency child care that's available round the clock, plus the Director's wife loves spending time with her and Grandpa Ducky and..."

~Grandpa Ducky?~

Tim thought that would get her attention. "While I met with the SecNav this afternoon, Tia and Grandpa Ducky had a proper afternoon tea together. I'm not sure who had more fun."

~You're really doing this, aren't you?~

"Yeah, Penny, I am." There was a long pause before Tim heard a sigh over the phone.

~All right, what can I do?~

"Love her, accept her – and help keep the Admiral away from us."

~You know, this might just be the thing to get him off his high horse.~

"No. I need him to accept me as I am, first, before I trust him with Tiana. She's already been through enough."

~All right, Sweetheart, I'll run interference for you, but he's already getting worried about you.~

"Worried about me, or worried that I might be, once again, failing to live up to his standards?" Tim pinched the bridge of his nose when his grandmother fell silent. "Until I'm absolutely, one hundred percent certain of the answer, I don't want him to be part of this."

Penny didn't have an answer for him and Tim ended the call. He'd learned early in life to pick his battles and this one wasn't ready. Nope, his next battle would be the day after tomorrow when he met with Grace's lawyer since her mother was bound to make an appearance. Exhausted suddenly, Tim went to bed, wishing he'd asked Gibbs to stay over again.