Chapter 9

Gibbs was glad that Tom's body prevented them from seeing very much. He gave Tom a gentle squeeze, promising more later and kicked down the recliner as he pulled his pajama pants up. The motion caused him to cough a few more times and he had to wait thirty seconds before he caught his breath. He wiped a hand over his mouth and it came away bright red. "Give me a minute," he said, standing up and heading into the bathroom, washing his mouth out again before returning.

Gibbs leaned against the wall, looking at the two. "Names?" he asked softly.

"You okay?" the other man said.

Gibbs nodded. "Names," he emphasized.

Simon looked at the man, wondering if he really was okay. The young guy had found them outside, had told them to come inside. Thus far, the boy hadn't spoken and Simon had been with him for a couple hours. "Donovan. Simon Donovan. You guys?"

Thomas rolled his eyes with rising anger. "You just couldn't leave it alone, could you, DiNozzo?" he snapped at the man. "I was waiting for the right time, but ohhhh no, you just had to stick your nose into it and ruin my surprise."

Tony looked back and forth between Thomas and Gibbs. "Should've left more goons to guard them then." Though still shocked at what he'd seen in that chair, he went over to his superior and touched the man's arm with worry. "They were in his limo out front. Just the chauffeur with them, so I took care of it. Boss, you need a doctor right now." So do I, he thought to himself, but it could wait. It had to wait.

The younger Weatherly was a bit shell-shocked at all the new changes in his environment. He'd been around a while now as a clone, and this was far more non-sexual stimulus he was receiving than normal. He stood near Simon, close because he looked like the man who'd spoken kindly to him at the pound, but his mouth stayed closed, not about to open it and risk losing his tongue like he'd seen happen to others.

"Enough, Tom," Gibbs said, but without heat. He accepted Tony's explanation with a nod, but shook his head when Tony said 'doctor'. There was no way he was going to screw this day up more than it already was or damage Tony. And he didn't know a damn thing about this Donovan, just that they looked enough alike to be twins. He wasn't leaving him any place where he could be any power. Or anywhere near his boy.

Gibbs hauled himself off the wall by sheer force of will and walked closer to the youngest man. "Hey, you remember me from yesterday?" he asked softly, gently. "You're here now and I'm going to keep you safe. I promised you it'd be okay, didn't I? I really want to know your name. Don't wanna say 'hey you'. I'm Gibbs. My boy there is Tony. We also call him DiNozzo sometimes. And I guess your friend here is Simon." He gave the boy an encouraging look, hoping he'd speak. "It's okay. You're safe here."

Eyes staying low, body trembling, the boy pressed into Simon and darted a furtive look over at Thomas, the only real human in the room.

"Yes, yes," Thomas sighed, fixing his pants then after another glare at Tony. "You can talk to him, you can talk to any of them. Remember what Travis told you. When you're with me, you do what I say, both of you." He looked at Simon too. That was what the argument on the phone had been about. Thomas didn't own these two clones. Travis did, and he was being a bit of a prick about handing them over.

"Not allowed friends," he said in a voice that was a touch lighter than Tony's, not quite at the full deepening end it would have become one day, assuming he hadn't damaged his own vocal chords with all the screaming he'd done over the past year of conditioning ... and hadn't lost his balls to neutering. He was only eighteen, a legal adult now but very much a helpless boy in this world. "Mr. Donovan has been kind ... like you, sir," he ventured, keeping those eyes low. "Princess ... remembers." He turned his face into Simon's shoulder, his body trembling even more at having spoken more words at one time in months.

"Are you telling me he owns them?" Gibbs asked quietly. "That needs to change, Tom. He won't value them..." Value ... had their lives really come down to that?

Gibbs wanted desperately to reach out to the boy but he wasn't ready. That was obvious. But the way Simon touched the boy's shoulder gently said a lot. Gibbs locked eyes with the other man and nodded a silent thanks. "I'm glad you remember, Princess," he said softly. "I meant every word. I want to help take care of you if you and Mr. Donovan don't mind."

"Be my pleasure," Simon replied in just as low and gentle a tone. He extended a hand and shook Gibbs' firmly before turning his attention back to Princess for the moment. The boy seemed to be bonding with him and Simon brought his hand up and stroked through Princess' floppy hair. He looked across the room, nodding at the man called Tony, the older and untouched version of the boy in front of him.

"Hi Tony."

Simon turned to Hilton, wondering if they were here for a visit or to stay.

That hair was definitely floppy. It was a shade darker than Tony's blonde-streaked brown and far less styled. It hung down in waves around his ears, almost touching his shoulders. When he'd turned his face into Simon's shoulder, it had also been a way to hide it behind the curtain that fell around him so naturally now. He'd been deliberately birthed a year ago with longer hair than he'd sported on The Cosby Show, and though he'd been through starvation punishments during that year that showed on his too thin frame, it had grown even more, enabling him to wrap a thick piece of it around his index finger and stretch it across his mouth to suck upon.

Tony couldn't have gone much whiter at seeing that. He'd never sucked his hair as a child, he was sure of it, but was this some sort of cosmic proof that his ... his MODEL ... had a genetic defect in it? Push it too hard and it cracked right back into babyhood? The proof before his eyes almost had him banging his head against the wall again.

"Th ... Thank you, sir," Princess murmured to Gibbs from behind that curtain.

Barefoot and dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt that were too big for him, loaned from Travis who hadn't taken the time yet to purchase attire for his new clones, Princess didn't just have longer hair and a higher voice than Tony, he was shorter too. Puberty hadn't quite finished with him when he'd been cloned, and thanks to his brutal life as a clone, it had never caught up. This was one Weatherly who had to look up, just by a couple inches, to a Harmon. At 5' 10" he was still taller than Thomas.

Simon wore the pound jumpsuit. The only reason Travis had given Princess anything to wear was because the boy hadn't been wearing anything when he'd taken him by force from the other owner. Travis wasn't exactly generous to his pets, but keeping them completely naked around his home wasn't his thing. Travis was a cold and mean bastard, not usually quite that twisted and depraved too.

"Simon," Tony said nearly as quiet as Princess in staring back and forth between the two he'd found in that limo. He still couldn't believe that Gibbs wanted PeeWee, had come very close to laying the man out when he'd walked into the den and seen what they were doing. It was their company that kept him in place now, kept his tongue from saying just what was on his mind. It didn't help that Simon, though his West Wing appearances were a few years older than Mark Harmon's ongoing gig as Jethro on NCIS, sure didn't look younger than Boss. They were damn near identical! It was almost making him dizzy.

"You better not have hurt my employee," Thomas warned Tony as he headed to the door, intending to check on his chauffeur. He made sure to pass by Gibbs, running a hand across the man's lower abdomen and placing a kiss on his shoulder.

Tony almost decked him.

Gibbs lurched after Tom, grabbing his wrist. "Don't play me, Tom. Don't make me regret what happened. Understand me?" He spoke low and firmly. "You don't manipulate me ... nobody manipulates me. And despite what happened, you hurt Tony I will kill you."

He walked back, a little closer, and turned to look at Tony. "Son, get him some clothes of ours that fit and grab Simon some of my stuff." The jumpsuit offended him and Princess needed some shoes.

"I'm fine," Simon insisted.

"You're wearing street clothes, not a prison jumpsuit," Gibbs retorted.

Simon smirked slightly. "Jar head tactics won't work on me, Gibbs. You were a marine, weren't you? Army ranger, cop, then Secret Service."

"Oh?" Gibbs cocked his head.

"Presidential detail," Simon retorted and Gibbs rolled his eyes. He'd heard that before.

"Hired one of you guys after she was fired from the presidential detail." He'd been ready to say Kate's name but he realized there was no way they would have never met. Different ... lives. He wouldn't think of them as shows. "Marine, then NCIS. Tony's always worked as a LEO. He's my senior agent and my second in command." Gibbs knew he was making it clear how the pecking order was.

Simon shrugged, turning his attention back to the younger man pressed against him. He took a chance and stroked Princess' hair. "Good to meet you, Tony." The resemblances between Tony and Princess weren't as strong as with him and Gibbs, but they were still there. But they was something very little boy about Tony and vulnerable. Simon hadn't missed the flash of jealousy that ran through the man as they walked in on Gibbs and Hilton. Just how did Gibbs mean second in command??

"You okay?" Simon asked Princess, wondering how long before they could change that name. It was demeaning to a man, and despite what had happened, the piercings and the obvious lack of completeness there, Princess was a man.

There was no fallen face of disbelief this time from Thomas when Gibbs spoke sharply to him again. He hesitated only long enough to clear the red haze from his eyes and then he limped right back up to Gibbs and shoved him one-handed as hard as he could high in the shoulder with what little strength he still had left. His teeth were gritted, he was embarrassed and hurt and angry all rolled up into one now in thinking he wasn't being allowed to show affection to his own clone.

"I am NOT playing you," he said very low, the emotions he felt for the man mixing with that hurt and anger and physical pain bringing him close to a faint now. "Believe what you want but it's the truth, and so is this. If your boy hurt my employee, I WILL make him pay for it, and if you want to kill me for it after, I'll take my chances. I protect what's mine just like you do, Gibbs, so don't make ME regret what happened, because I'm already beginning to."

Tony had been halfway out of the room to get clothing when Simon and Gibbs started their own pissing contest. It had frozen him in his tracks, wide-eyed and unwilling to miss it. Gibbs versus Gibbs, and just to muddy the waters some more, a little pissant weasel wanting his own respect too.

"Uhhhh just to be clear," Tony chirped, forcing a smile on his face as that second in command to try to diffuse the tension in the air between everyone, "Driving Miss Daisy-boy is just taking a little ... nap. If he needs some aspirin when he wakes up, I'd be happy to go to the store and buy some." ... and maybe never come back, the deepest darkest selfish part of his nature almost screamed.

Princess answered Simon by moving his head eagerly into that hair stroking as he watched everything going on from under those long lowered lashes. He watched Gibbs the most. He wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable or upset or feeling awkward to be around an older version of himself. Chances were, he'd seen more than his share of Weatherlys in the last year so Tony was nothing new to him. What was new was Gibbs and Simon, two strong men who both seemed sincerely kind, and one of them daring to threaten an owner!

"Makes two of us," Gibbs growled., but being shoved when he was pretty weak anyway drove him back against the wall and he heard something snap. He wouldn't give in, especially with another guy here threatening his territory, but he was starting to worry. "Forget it happened. Just temporary insanity on my part." he tried to suck in breath casually but it was getting hard. "Tony is who matters. My son means everything to me." He said it purely to strike out at Tom, knew he'd struck a blow.

"Thanks for the sitrep, Tony," Gibbs replied, knowing he sounded out of breath.

Simon wasn't going to let the guy fall down and die, propriety and their roles be damned. "Stand down, Gibbs. You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Gibbs growled. No way was he going to let Donovan get his hooks in.

Simon shook his head, even though he understood and would react in the same way. Simon knew his first concern needed to be Princess. The boy was starting to come around and accept affection. He was even talking. Simon sent Gibbs a challenging look, letting him know that it wasn't over.

His fingers ran soothingly through Princess' hair, arm gentle around his shoulder. "Do you like the name Princess?" Simon asked. "It doesn't seem to suit a handsome guy like you."

Gibbs watched the way Donovan was with the kid and felt a bit of jealousy well up inside him. He arched an eyebrow at DiNozzo, motioning him to the door. "Clothes."

He wanted to ask Tony to give him a shoulder and help him to the couch but he didn't dare show weakness in front of any of them. It'd rock Tony and Princess too much and the others would take advantage.

Thomas honestly couldn't understand why the man was striking out at him, why he wanted to hurt him. What had he done that was so bad? Shown affection? That was bad? Not understanding the apparent crime in Gibbs' eyes, why the man was determined to push him away now after what they'd shared, Thomas looked away and limped away, right out the door to his limo.

Thank God the chauffeur was unconscious and the windows were tinted. No would could see his own breakdown.

"Doctor first," Tony decided and headed to the door too. Hopefully he could catch Thomas before he left and do whatever was necessary to get a doctor there before Gibbs collapsed. If the man wasn't going to take care of himself, Tony was going to do it for him.

"Princess is my name," the boy said, cocking his head in confusion after giving a worried look at Gibbs. "What I like isn't relevant, sir. I've never had any other name until Master gave me one." Because his role had been unaccredited and he was one of those clones who didn't have any memory of anything but that one appearance. He had nothing to draw on, no family or friends in his canon background, nothing but knowing he'd been a college student and suddenly waking up in a world of pain.

"DiNozzo, I'm fine ... fine." Gibbs closed his eyes, leaning against the wall so he wouldn't fall over. "Tony..." he began again, sighing and coughing a few times.

Simon breathed a sigh of relief as Tony walked out. Gibbs clearly wasn't happy but he wasn't chasing after Tony either.

"What you like is relevant to me and Gibbs ... right Gibbs?"

Gibbs lifted his head, nodding. "If you want a different name or a nickname..." He paused to try to suck in breath. "We'll come up with something together."

"Or he can." Simon shot back.

Gibbs only nodded and Simon tightened his arm around Princess' shoulder. "Want to sit down?" he asked gently. If he had Princess settled, he could go help Gibbs, who was slowly sliding down the wall.

"If you wish it, sir," Princess said meekly, his body easy to steer in any direction Simon wanted to send him.

"We're going to find you a great name," Simon told the boy, leading him to the chair and easing him down. With a gentle pat to the head, Simon rushed over to Gibbs, who looked only semiconscious now.

"PeeWee!" Tony shouted, banging on the window of the limo. "Open the fuck up!"

"Fuck off!"

"Open up unless ya want Gibbs to die in there!"

That got Thomas to not just open the door but to yank Tony inside, slamming it behind him. "Die?"

"Yeah." Tony had to look down. He couldn't take seeing the man's teary face that Thomas was quickly trying to wipe away on his shirt sleeve. "I pulverized him yesterday and he's getting worse."

"I told him he could have a doctor," Thomas sighed. "What do you want me to do? He obviously hates me." The man was sitting on the side of his hip, leaning on his arm to keep pressure from hurting him even more.

Seeing that made Tony wince, remembering his sacrifice for them, especially for Gibbs. "He won't go to a doctor. His hackles are... " Tony closed his mouth. Thomas and Gibbs had shared a bonding moment in talking about feelings and desires earlier in that den, or at least Thomas had foolishly thought they had, but Tony wasn't interested in bonding with Thomas at all, he was only interested in getting a doctor no matter what it took. "Bring one here."

There was no hesitation. As hurt as he was at being pushed away, Thomas nodded his head. "Okay."

"Okay? Just like that?" Tony expected a big fat shoe to drop as he watched the chauffeur begin to stir in the front seat.

A dark brow rose on the ashen face of the other man. "Yes just like that. Look, I'm going to be honest with you, DiNozzo, just like I was with him, for all the good it did me," he muttered. "I don't love the guy, but he means a lot to me. A LOT. I thought maybe I could have something with him, something nice, no strings, certainly not meant to come between you too, but he's so military he sees games everywhere, and other than putting you two in bed together in setting this all up, I haven't played a single game. Even if he hates me now, I care about him ... and you."

"No you don't," Tony laughed harshly.

Thomas reached out and gripped the man's hand, trying to lock eyes with him. "I care enough about you that I think you should know how he really feels about you..."

Not trying to pull away, Tony's eyes widened, waiting to hear it.

"DiNozzo, he told me he... " But then Thomas sighed again and shook his head, dropping the hand. "No, I'm sorry, I can't. It was said in confidence ... I think."

"Know what? Just as well," Tony decided with a purse of his lips, taking the high road for once and pretending it had nothing to do with worry over what the man actually felt for him. "Maybe you're not so bad after all, PeeWee. Get a doctor here and I'll reconsider friending you on Facebook."

Thomas would have laughed but he was all out of energy by then. He laid down his head on the seat as Tony climbed out. "DiNozzo, if he asks ... don't tell him ... please."

Tony didn't have to ask what that meant. Thomas didn't want the Marine to think he was weak, the reason he'd given it right back at being disrespected like that in front of everyone. Like Tony, what Gibbs thought of him as a man was very important to Thomas. He'd rather Gibbs hate him than think he was a push-over pussy.

"You're coming back, right? He wanted to take care of you ... and I told him I'd help."

"No he doesn't," Thomas groaned and used his foot to close the door on Tony. "He's got his boys to take care of. I'm just the easy to forget human."

The limo pulled away and Tony went back into the home, again skipping the clothes and going right to the side of the stubborn man he loved.

When Tony walked in, Simon gripped his arm. "A doctor. He's got internal injuries, probably a collapsed lung. Dammit, if they had Jack here instead of him, he'd be able to help."Don't know what things are between you guys but I don't want to see him die. What sort of bargains do I have to make to get him a doctor?"

Gibbs was aware of the voices and latched onto one. "Tony? Gotta tell Tony how I feel. Tell him, tell him! Tom, tell him. Rather die than hurt him..." He started coughing again, reaching out for the man. "Tony? Sokay. Don't blame..." Gibbs forced himself to consciousness by sheer will.

"Tony..."

"It's my fault, Boss, I lost my head yesterday and you're paying for it now." Signaling Simon to help him, they were able to move Gibbs to the sofa with minimal jarring of his body. "But you're not gonna die, I promise you. I won't let you." He looked over at Simon too. "PeeWee's getting a doctor for him. No bargains. He's crazy about Gibbs, the only reason you two are here now." Tony pressed his face against Gibbs' and whispered by his ear, "Hold on, Boss, hold on and we'll make love all night just as soon as you're better."

He told himself he had no intention of following through on it, but just like Gibbs, the true master of deception and manipulation, Tony had learned that sometimes it was necessary even with ones you love.

"Princess help?" the boy said and crawled over on his hands and knees to lick the hurting man's hand.

If Tony hadn't been so out of his mind with worry for Gibbs, he would have come up with a great quip at seeing that.

'You're the bottom?" Gibbs managed to groan in reply, resting his head against Tony's. "Holding you ... to it ... son. Gibbs forced his eyes open again to see the younger version of Tony kneeling at his side. "Don't have to ... don't do ... that." Gibbs was touched by the boy's interest in helping and ran that shaking hand through his hair much as Simon had done. "Sit. Tell me ... about you."

He had two Tonys here and a guy who looked just like him and knew he'd be making a power play. Gibbs levered himself up slightly. "Stay ... on my six ... son."

Simon started pacing, walking to the door, looking out, walking back. He was deeply worried about the situation and the damned jarhead trying to come on to his boy.

His BOY? Where had THAT come from???

Princess was very different than Tony. He obeyed instantly and stopped licking that hand. Speaking, however, was very difficult for him after deep conditioning against it. Moving his head, he carefully pressed his face low between the man's legs over those pajama bottoms, thinking that maybe he could help in that way instead.

"Jeeze, Boss," Tony tried like hell to tease, to not anger again, "what are ya hiding down there, the Jewel of the Nile? First PeeWee and now this one?"

"Oh, Princess ... no ... no..." Gibbs' body was twitching pathetically but he lifted the young man's head away. "Not now. Maybe later. Safe here ... don't need ... to do that..." He watched as Simon came up behind the boy, lifting him gently off and away.

Gibbs turned to look into Tony's eyes, reading the turmoil in his eyes. "Belongs to you," he said admitting it with stark honesty. "If you want, it's yours."

Simon couldn't explain the flash of anger he felt when the boy acted like he was going down on Gibbs. Not him. Not his boy. "Princess, he's hurt. He doesn't need that." Simon tipped the boy's chin up, forcing that gaze on him. He wouldn't take advantage of the young man, but a dark part deep inside him wanted to.

"Gibbs." Tony lifted the man's hand, curling his fingers under and laying a soft kiss on the knuckles. "I don't think I'm the one you should give it to. You know me," he tried to say lightly, his lips twisting in a familiar DiNozzo smirk. "I'll just mess it up, typical Tony. The one who deserves it left to get you a doctor. Don't worry, he kept your secret, wouldn't tell me. And don't worry, I'll always have your six, always ... Dad."

Every hour that went by that Tony didn't break again, every hour that went by that Gibbs was in trouble and needed him, gave him confidence, maturity, and a sense of right. Unfortunately, that sense of right was pointing in the wrong direction now, but at least he was trying.

With Simon again, Princess struggled to keep his eyes on the man's face, looking at everything but directly in the other man's eyes. That had been beaten out of him too. "Later?" he asked very quietly. It was telling, though perhaps not noticeable yet, that with the human gone, Princess was taking his direction from Simon, asking him for clarification.

"Later?" A surge of jealousy ran through Simon. "If you both want that. Or if you want to ... with me. That would be nice." he was trying to be so gentle, trying not to ask for what he thought he wanted. He took Princess' face a little more firmly in his hands. "I'd like to see your eyes. They'll tell me a lot about how you're doing. Do you think you could be brave enough to do that, Princess?"

"Ah, Tony..." Gibbs coughed again, closing his eyes briefly. "You're the only one worthy. The only one. Yours to have..." Gibbs tried to focus on breathing. "Nobody else ... I need ... on my ... six. Trust you. Alone. My boy ... my son..."

An image of Thomas' wet face flashed behind Tony's eyes, but he pushed it aside and nodded, kissing the man's knuckles again. Ah well, if Gibbs really did hate their owner now, all the better, he decided. Except there was one problem with that. If he himself wasn't going to give the man what he wanted, and the man didn't want Thomas anymore, who would?

He glanced at Princess and felt an even deeper clenching in his gut. For some reason the thought of Thomas being with Gibbs wasn't nearly as bothersome as Princess being with him. Thomas didn't look anything like him. Princess, under all that hair and slimmer, slightly shorter body, was still Tony ... and how weird was that?

Damn. Damn. Damn.

In his newfound maturity he was working hard to selflessly want Gibbs to be happy with a bedmate, but did that bedmate have to look like him?!

"With you," Princess repeated like a trained parrot, smiling until the man mentioned his eyes. Fear flashed through them and tears sprung to the corners. Was the man making him do it just so he could punish him? He'd been tricked often enough by others, clones and humans. Trusting anyone was near impossible now.

"Chopper!" Tony called out at the sound of one coming from the front of the house. "Hold on, Boss, hold on." He kissed the man's lips and raced to a window. "Medics."

Armed soldiers were coming out flanking three men, two of them carrying a stretcher, one of them barking orders. Only Simon would recognize the one in charge. Princess had come and gone from the pound during Carl's day away. Thomas had put in a call to Thorne, and once Carl had gotten details about what had happened, he'd insisted on taking a chopper in case the man's lungs were on their last legs. The armed escort was Admiral Thorne's doing. He let the naval hospital take care of clones all the time for the community Houses, but until he got to know them, knowing that many clones were not quite what they seemed, he didn't take chances in trusting them. As far as he was concerned, the four in the home that Thomas had told them about were to be treated with caution.

Carl, on the other hand, being a doctor at the core flew right into the house, calling out, "We're here to help! Who's in charge?!"

Gibbs coughed a few times and tried to sit up. "Me. M'in ... charge."

"Sir!" Simon called out, putting helping Princess on hold for now. "Mr. Gibbs is hurt, internal bleeding maybe. Broke a rib or two, I think. Stubborn too."

That delivered, he turned back to Princess. "Don't cry. You don't have to look yet. It wasn't an order. And none of us here will hurt you. I know you'll have to learn to trust. Remember how I told you earlier that I was a federal officer before, that I used to help protect the president? Gibbs and Tony do the same thing, but they take care of the military, navy and marines. You can trust us, Princess. We're going to work with you and help."

Simon gently led Princess over to Tony. This man's relationship with Gibbs was complex, at one moment they seemed to be father and son and the next lovers and he knew Tony would need some support.

"He's a tough jarhead," he said to Tony, squeezing his shoulder. "But he'll be okay." It felt nice to have both boys close to him here.

"He better be," Tony muttered as Carl barked more orders and Gibbs was placed on the stretcher. Worried eyes tracked everything those medics did in getting the Marine ready for transport. His hand, subconsciously, reached out to hold Simon's. It was as if the Harmon in Simon called to the Weatherly in Tony. "I did this to him. We were just ... born ... and I completely freaked out and he let me beat the shit outta him. If he dies I'm gonna kill myself," Tony said seriously in a whisper.

Princess stayed very close to Simon. The man confused him but he definitely felt a sense of safety with him, just as he did when near Gibbs.

"Donovan?" Carl asked, not having gotten the names of the clones in the house from Thorne. "That you, mate?" It wasn't racist thinking to not be able to tell some characters of the same Model apart. It was logical. "What happened here?" He looked down at Gibbs as he put an IV into him. "Got room for everyone or they can stay here and wait. Your call."

The man had said he was in charge and no one had disputed him. Carl wasn't familiar with the NCIS fandom so he had no idea who he was talking to.

Simon squeezed Tony's hand and then put a gentle arm around his shoulders. "He let you. He is at least as much to blame. It'll be okay. You'll see. He's mean and tough and he's a fighter."