Chapter 4

Ten coffees a day didn't have his hands shaking, but hanging onto Tony's naked body had caused them to tremble slightly. He released the other man with a gentle pat to the abdomen then put deodorant on and then pulled on knit boxers, that NIS T, a pair of well worn jeans, comfortable socks and sneakers. He hoped Tony'd take his lead and wear shoes he could run in, if they had to.

Leopard print bikini bottoms went on Tony, but he did it in the bathroom, slamming the door between him and all the other men, even locking it. Cold water was splashed over his heated face, and then he did something no one but his parents had ever seen him do, something he hadn't done in over thirty years. Tony DiNozzo slid down onto the floor against a wall and banged his head into it several times in rapid succession, something he'd done to combat high stress as a child that was coming back to haunt him now. If this kept up, the poor guy would be sucking his thumb before long.

When he came out, dressed in beige khakis, a jersey from his Ohio State college days, and expensive running sneakers, he was ready to go.

"I promise you," Thomas said as he brought them to his limo, having changed his own pants too from the extra he always carried in the trunk, "all your questions will be answered after this trip. You'll understand better."

"Going to see the Great and Powerful Oz, huh? Why not just give us the ruby slippers now so we can go home?"

Thomas ignored him. Of the two men, Gibbs was his favorite. He'd only had Tony made because it was obvious, at least to him, that they belonged together in a way they'd never be allowed to on their show.

Gibbs inwardly winced as he, too, was closed off from Tony. He folded his arms over his chest, glowering at the other men. When Tony came out, he could read the tension in the other man's eyes. It simultaneously made DiNozzo look almost little boy and much older. "You okay?" Gibbs asked him in an undertone as he allowed them to be led to the limo.

He scooted in first, pulling Tony by the wrist. He wanted the other man as close as possible, not only for tactical reasons, but to support him emotionally. Gibbs rubbed his thumb in circles over Tony's wrist, hoping he wasn't antagonizing the other man. He could tell that Pee Wee knew that his Achilles heel was DiNozzo and would exploit that to get what he wanted.

"Where you taking us?" he asked, hostility in his tone.

"Place where wayward clones end up, those who don't obey their masters," he said cryptically as he sat across from them in the long limo, his mountainous bodyguards silently by his side. Gibbs and DiNozzo had been relieved of all weapons, of course.

Tony wasn't quite sitting in Gibbs' lap this time, but he was as close to the man as he could be, not in the least bit trying to pull away from that comfort touching on his wrist. He was breathing shallow but at least breathing, and not banging his head on anything.

"Oh excuse me," Thomas said as his cell phone rang and he answered it. "It's my brother calling." The following one-sided conversation did nothing to make Tony feel better.

"Yes, they're right here." "Oh yes, beautiful, absolutely beautiful specimens." A laugh. "No I haven't fucked them yet." Another laugh. "No, you can't fuck them yet either." "Of course I remember our bet. The chalet in Switzerland is yours if they stay straight, the villa in Peru is mine if they turn gay on each other." "That's right." "Yes I set them up naked in bed to push them towards it." "Of course it's fair. They're MY clones and I play to win, Travis." A third laugh. "You should see them now. They're practically making out in front of me. It's adorable."

Tony made a sick sounding noise and suddenly scooted over to the opposite side of the limo as Thomas laughed a last time and hung up his phone to smirk at them again. "Travis says hi. He can't wait to meet you."

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said softly, fury clouding his words. "Remember what I said. He doesn't control us. He can't." Gibbs turned to look at the other man. "Count your minutes. I will kill you. When you least expect it, I will kill you." He'd rarely been this angry, was growling every word. If they didn't still need answers...

He regarded Tony for a moment and knew what he had to do, even though he knew he was lying to them both. "Tony..." he said in a low voice. "Never. That's never gonna happen between us. Don't think of you that way. Promise ... and you know what a Marine's promise means. Listen to me, DiNozzo. You know me. He's just a manipulative little shit living on borrowed time."

Soon as they could, Gibbs was getting them the hell out of here and if he left a trail of bodies behind, so be it.

He wasn't Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS Special Agent any more.

"You listen to me!" Thomas barked, his lip curling in his own fury now. "I paid a fortune for you two, I put a fortune into that home for you. FOR YOU ... If anything happens to me you'll be picked up so fast as rogue clones and sold to someone else your pretty little heads will spin. Believe me," he snarled, "the devil you know is far better than the devil you don't. I'm not hurting you. I'm even willing to allow Tony to live elsewhere if he keeps resisting what's in his nature. But if you push me, I swear you'll regret it. Do NOT push me. In this world, gentlemen, you're no longer in charge. The sooner you accept it, the sooner we can all live our pleasant little lives, I'll leave you two alone for the most part ... and I can win that bet."

Tony didn't say anything for the rest of the ride to the pound. He stared wide-eyed at the plexi-glass window separating the front from the back ... and started knocking his head into the window at his side.

Gibbs let his hate-filled gaze say volumes. He was not going to be controlled. He was nobody's puppet.

Then Tony started banging his head against the window and Gibbs lunged over, cupping Tony's head. "He's falling apart and I hold you responsible," he said in a quiet voice.

"Tony ... Tony, you need to settle down. Look at me. Look into my eyes here. Not gonna let you fall apart." He sighed, firming his voice. "Ya wanna give that psychopath the satisfaction of breaking you so easily. Come on, Tony ... come on." He leaned in close, almost nose to nose. "I need you, DiNozzo. I know you don't want to disappoint me, right?"

"It's his ego," Thomas sneered. "The bigger the ego, the harder they fall when they're born as clones. I've seen it a million times. You, on the other hand, are an arrogant bastard, but unlike him you usually keep your ego in check. It grounds you, matures you, so you're not falling apart like he is ... or should I say, you're holding it inside much better than him."

The car pulled into the parking lot of the pound and the doors were opened. "I don't want his head cracking open, Gibbs. Take care of him, make him accept what he is now, or I'll have to have the vet give him sedatives that will ultimately destroy his personality even more, I'm sorry to say." He didn't bother to clarify what he meant by 'accepting what he is now'. He could have meant clone or gay ... or both.

"Never wanna disappoint you, Boss," Tony whispered, gazing into the eyes of the only person in the world he trusted now. "I need you too ... but ... but not like that," he tried to deny, a weak denial but still a denial.

"Cut the shrinking," Gibbs muttered, wishing like hell that Pee Wee would stop provoking DiNozzo, who was breaking apart as it was.

Gibbs held Tony's head tighter in his hands, forcing DiNozzo to look at him. "You hear that. You gotta hold it together for me right now. Or he'll hurt us. I don't wanna lose you, Tony." He spoke with as much stark honesty as he could, giving Tony more emotion from him than most had ever seen. "Don't leave me alone here. Don't need you like that, Tony. Need you on my six. Need someone who remembers and lives what I did. Don't hurt yourself ... okay? For me." He paused for one long moment, nodding very briefly before he whispered the last words. "For me ... son."

It didn't matter that he wasn't thinking of Tony as a son ... it was what Tony needed to hear and he'd thought it many a time. So what if right now he couldn't get the memory of Tony watching him as he climaxed, the way Tony was riding the counter, out of his head?

It was exactly what Tony needed to hear. Right or wrong, most everything Tony had done up until then had been to gain some form of paternal attention ... from Gibbs. That it was now all mixed up with newly woken desires and confusions didn't matter. He still wanted to be the son of the man's heart; his body was just catching up with it.

Slowly a grin spread upon his face, his eyes began to light back up with that familiar DiNozzo mischief. "Do I get to call ya Dad? Or how about my old man? I think that fits even better."

Gibbs grinned with relief, seeing that spark in Tony's eyes again. "You call me Pa and I'll kick your ass, Tony." In a rare unguarded moment, he pulled Tony's head close and kissed his forehead, something he'd never even contemplated doing before, but something that felt completely right. And he basked in that smile, with it came familiarity and with the familiarity came hope.

"With me, Tony," he said as he stepped out of the limo, falling into common word patterns.

"On your six, Boss," he automatically returned, falling into line behind the man.

"Good work, Gibbs," Thomas said as he opened the door of the pound for the two men. "He's much better now. I'm sure we'll get along just fine."

Janine looked up from her receptionist desk, gum snapping tiredly as she had a mountain of paperwork to do. "Oh no, please don't tell me ya got drop offs. Didn't he just make them for ya, Mr. Hilton?" Drop offs meant more paperwork.

"Indeed he did, this morning. It went splendidly ... at first." He rubbed his neck where Gibbs had knocked him out. "We're just out on a little excursion now before lunch. I'd like to show them how things are on the other side of the fence, so to speak."

"Ohhhhh..." She looked Gibbs and Tony up and down with a nod of understanding. "Well boys, listen and learn," she said as if she sincerely cared, which she didn't, she was just trying to schmooze the client. "You got yourselves a good owner, a rich one who won't mistreat ya. Don't end up back here where God knows who'll adopt ya next." She motioned to the wall and Thomas knew what she meant.

He took down two choke collars and two leashes, basic silver chains because these ones were loaners to clients, not for sale. "Hold still," he told his clones as he held them up. "We're going out back for a little tour, and one of the rules at this place is that all clones have to be on these. Don't worry," he quickly added, just in case Gibbs was going to attack again, "I don't do this at home, but when I'm here, I follow the rules just like everyone."

His bodyguards and chauffeur stood by silently, bored expressions on their faces. This was nothing unusual to them.

"Did it for him, not you," Gibbs shot back as he walked into the building. He was starting to get really unsettled, hinky, as Abby would say. Abbs ... God he was gonna miss her.

Gibbs looked at the collars and leashes in surprise for a brief second and then shook his head. "No. Absolutely not. You are not chaining us like we're dogs. Not happening." DiNozzo, ya still with me?" he asked, hoping this newest info hadn't shaken Tony up, and when he didn't get an immediate answer, he moved closer, muscles coiling and ready to strike if he could determine a weakness. They were outmanned and he didn't know what kind of weapons they carried.

They showed their weapons then at a signal from Thomas, and sensing a problem, Janine buzzed in five more pound guards with their own weapons to make sure the clones complied.

"It's happening." There was an honest note of sympathy in Thomas' voice. Just because he spoke of them as his didn't mean he got off in chaining them. This was simply a rule that had to be followed and nothing more.

"Yeah ... still here, Boss." Tony tried to smile, choosing to see it as almost a joke. "Too bad Abby isn't here. I'd collar up for her any day." He looked around at all those guns and then back at Gibbs. "I ain't dying over this shit. I ... I can do it."

Gibbs could have taken the two, at least disarmed one before he went down. But seven against one, those were odds he couldn't win against. Not without his own weapon. "You bastard," Gibbs whispered, wincing when Tony mentioned Abbs. Did Tony have any idea what he was saying?

"You belong to nobody, DiNozzo. Not Abbs, not Pee Wee, not me, nobody. Keep telling yourself that." When Tony said he'd do it, Gibbs gave a short jerky nod of compliance, still holding onto his commanding air even though he knew he was out manned, out gunned, and at every disadvantage. "You belong to no one," Gibbs repeated as the man came closer, standing tall and staring at the ceiling, hands clenched into fists at his side.

A touch of renewed panic flashed in those hazel-green eyes as Thomas slipped the collar around his neck and attached the leash to it, but Tony controlled it much better this time. He kept looking off into the distance, playing back an old fantasy in his head about Abby in tight leather dominatrix gear, marching him naked around her lab, showing him off as a prized stud for sale ... to Gibbs?

He blinked, quickly shaking his head to dislodge that part of the fantasy. Oh no, no, no! Gibbs had no place in that kinky fantasy and Tony was determined to get him out of it before it was too late.

"Not so bad, now was it?" Thomas said kindly and patted Tony's cheek before moving over to Gibbs with the other collar and leash. "I know this is difficult, Jethro, but I assure you it's only temporary. We'll take a tour of the place, you'll have a better understanding of your situation, and then I can take you both out for lunch or bring you back to your home, whichever you choose." He leaned up on his tiptoes and whispered by the Harmon's ear. "I may have his papers, but there's no doubt in my mind he belongs to you."

He was whispering because he didn't want to set Tony off again, not at the pound. Teasing the clone was far more amusing when they were in private and he didn't have to worry about people who didn't work for him becoming involved.

"He belongs to nobody," Gibbs whispered back, not reacting other than clenching his fists even tighter. He stood absolutely still as the man secured him like a goddamn dog, but when he was chained and leashed, Gibbs gave PeeWee a brittle 'Woof' before he moved closer to Tony.

"You okay, son?" he whispered, standing close enough so that their arms brushed. If he focused his attention on Tony, he might just hold on to his fury.

"Just peachy, Pops," Tony said through clenched teeth. "Just think of the Christmas card for the team this would make. McGeek would be begging for his own collar, I bet with big shiny rhinestones to show off to all his friends."

"Alright hushup," Thomas ordered. "See that doorway over there. When clones walk through it unannounced, alarms go off. Ms. Baxter will set it to accept you both so we won't hear it, but I thought you should know, there's something in your DNA that isn't exactly the same as in ours. There's technology that can prove it and detect it. You look human, you talk, act and smell human, but you're not. Not quite."

He pulled them through the doorway by their leashes into the long corridor that would eventually take them into the pen area out back. First they'd stop and meet the CEO, who Janine had buzzed to let her boss know that guests were on the way. "Jemaine Davies, CEO of this company, worldwide, keeps his main office here. He's a very powerful man, and from what I understand more clone tolerant than he used to be."

True, because his Vice President, who unfortunately wasn't at work today, was Carl Bruce, and Carl was VERY clone tolerant, doing everything he could in his own position of power at the pound to help clones whenever possible because he saw them as equals, not as less, though in this world it sometimes made Carl the minority.

"If there was still a team," Gibbs reminded quietly, sadly. Gibbs didn't care what Pee Wee said, he was completely human. As was Tony. They had memories, relationships ... they'd loved, lost...

Gibbs angled his head slightly, staying silent as Pee Wee spoke. Was he supposed to care about this? His hand found Tony's wrist again and he rubbed it in circles with his thumb, trying to make sure Tony was calm and centered. All the while he tried to telegraph to Tony that he was okay, that he wasn't alone.

Seeing that Pee Wee expected a response, Gibbs smirked and "woofed".

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Any time you want me to stop the explanation, that YOU demanded from me, just say so. Far as I'm concerned, I don't have to explain a damn thing."

Davies met them at the door, scowling as he overheard it. "Stubborn clones?" he asked the client. "Well don't you worry, a tour of this place will put them in their place. Have a seat, Mr. Hilton. Not you two."

Thomas sank down into a comfortable leather chair across from the big desk of the CEO, keeping his hands tight on those leashes. "I'm truly sorry to bother you with this. I know how busy you are."

The Frenchman waved his hand dismissively. "Pah, not a problem. We appreciate our clients, and this is just part of customer service for them. Shall we start with the book?"

The book.

He opened the large album and placed it on the edge of the desk for all three men to see. It was filled with different services that the pound offered. It wasn't just a place to drop off or adopt clones. Their vet provided a variety of services from simple grooming to neutering and spaying. The pictures next to the prices for those services showed clones, some with very recognizable Hollywood faces, in positions of before and after shots.

Teeth could be removed too, various markings of ownership such as tattooing, piercing, cutting and brandings placed on their bodies at their owner's will, and if Gibbs hadn't been holding onto his wrist so tightly, Tony would have bolted for the door and taken his chance with all those armed guards behind them.

They couldn't do this. They were in America, dammit. He'd served his country, slavery had been abolished ... All of those things ran through his head, but he kept coming back to those damn DVDs broadcasting their lives.

He glared at the other man, glancing around the richly appointed office and assessing that there were no good exit routes. Then the man opened a book and Gibbs felt Tony's panic as if it was a living thing. He shifted position slightly, angling his body toward Tony's, releasing the wrist only to clamp onto it with his other hand, bringing his free hand up to hold Tony's neck just above the collar. The thumb that had been soothing DiNozzo's wrist started circles just behind Tony's ear.

"Easy, son. Easy. You're not alone. I'm here." He leaned his chest lightly against Tony's arm, lips close to Tony's ear.

Once he was confident that Tony wasn't going to run, Gibbs looked over at the book, appearing nonchalant even though his stomach clenched and icy dread ran through him.

A whine started in Tony's chest, and when he couldn't take it anymore, his face fell into Gibbs' neck, arms still at his sides but his body relaxing into the other man's, under the other man's perfectly soothing fingers in just the right places.

"Don't let it rattle you," Thomas said as he tugged on their leashes to leave the office after a few more moments of discussion with Davies. "Just keep it in mind. I'm not interested in any of those options for my property, but if anything happens to me, or you piss me off too much, who knows what your next owner will fancy."

The next room was the office and exam room of the vet, Doctor Franke. Along one wall were large dog cages, and nude men and women filled some of them, resting on their hands and knees or sides in waiting for their turn out of that cramped confinement. Some were crying softly, some just looked shell-shocked. None of them were swearing loudly or screaming. Doctor Franke had a reputation for splitting and even removing tongues altogether if clones got on his nerves.

Armed guards were everywhere, and center stage in that room was the chair. Reclining like a dentist's seat but with legs spread high and wide, the doctor had a naked clone strapped into it and was in the process of following a modification order from its owner. The clone was already neutered from a previous visit, and this time he was being pierced. His chest was speckled red from the trauma of nipple rings having just been inserted, and his cockhead was suddenly sporting a large barbell piercing through it the doctor had just placed as company arrived.

Muffled screaming could be heard under the thick muzzle around the clone's face, and he'd pissed himself in terror and pain. Doctor Franke was notorious for not using anesthesia unless the clone's owner was in the room overseeing the procedure and wanted it done. This owner was no where around, the clone a drop-off for modifications, and would spend the night in one of those dog cages to await pickup in the morning.

Tony hissed so sharply at what they were seeing that it whistled through his teeth and he felt his own bladder become dangerously loose, close to letting go too. But it wasn't his bladder that he had to worry about, it turned out to be Tony's stomach. Though he hadn't eaten since the night before on his date, and though that hadn't TRULY happened after all, still his stomach revolted, bile spewed from his lips as he fell to his knees, his head falling forward on his chest as he heaved and heaved what little would come up onto the floor next to Gibbs' legs.

The extreme reaction wasn't so much because the clone was being so hideously pierced, or that the clone was even ball-less with just a long flaccid cock hanging between his legs. The extreme reaction was because he recognized the face in that chair. It was his own face staring back at him, one from about fifteen years ago. It was a younger Michael Weatherly clone, and that just completely did Tony DiNozzo in.

This next room was much worse. Gibbs' initial reaction was to release these poor people but he knew he couldn't. He instead moved closer, vowing silently to protect DiNozzo whatever the cost. He was tougher, he could do whatever he had to as long as Tony was okay.

Gibbs was trying not to focus on anyone or anything in the room. The stench of human misery hung heavy in the air. But then something about the person in the chair's screaming started his scalp prickling, just as Tony jackknifed to the ground.

Gibbs never froze in shock but this ... this was ... It was TONY. A younger Tony, early mid twenties, flopping hair a couple of shades lighter, glasses. No testicles ... pierced. Terrified. He took one step forward, torn between helping the two Tony's. "It's okay..." he said in a shaking voice, trying to see the eyes of the young man. It was just too damn much. Much as Gibbs wanted to go to the boy, Tony needed him. HIS Tony. He crouched down behind Tony, stroking his hair slowly before pulling him firmly against his own chest.

"Don't look, Tony. Don't look."

As much as Gibbs hated it, he looked up at Pee Wee, making a silent request to leave. Vowing to himself that he'd eat his gun before he allowed this to happen to them. Knowing ... knowing it already had to that other Tony. Or Michael, or whatever his name was.

No name. His role in The Cosby Show as Theo's college roommate had been uncredited, but his owner had certainly come up with a name for him upon his birth as a clone. Princess.

Princess continued to scream behind the muzzle as Tony began to gulp air frantically, once again clinging fully to Gibbs. He wasn't heaving anymore, but he was shaking like a leaf and making that odd whining noise into the man's neck his mouth and nose pressed deeply into.

The silent request was heard and Thomas nodded in agreement. "Get'm up. We'll check out the pen area and head home." As he tugged on the leashes, he added softly to Gibbs, "I'm sorry."