Title: Box O'Crayons
Summary: There's flooding in DC and the only people allowed in NCIS HQ are the Director, the MCRT, The Medical Examiner and his assistant, the forensic scientist,…and the Director's wife? But the team and Director show Jackie Vance just how well they know one another and explain to her just how they are like a family. Takes place at some point in season 7 prior to the final 3 episodes.
Date(s) Written: April 1st-June 2nd, 2010
Exchange: NFA White Elephant Exchange
Written for: BananaPancakes (aka Banana7Pancakes)
Prompt Chosen: Prompt #1: Gen - "We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box."
Notes: Gibbs goes off on a little bit of a tangent at the end but I think it works since he's not really featured in this…which was accidental…but he is the quiet type.
It had been raining for nearly a week and Washington DC was starting to flood. This included the Navy Yard which was home to the NCIS Headquarters. Director Vance had declared the building off limits to all non-essential personnel…and his wife who had shown up the day before. Their children were visiting some family in San Diego so she had decided to join Leon at Headquarters while it was on lockdown. The only personnel that Vance had considered essential was the Major Case Response Team… and of course Abby somehow translated that as herself, Ducky, and Jimmy also being essential.
On this night everyone was sleeping in the bullpen…Tim was currently setting up Abby's futon, Ziva was hitting Tony with a newspaper, Jimmy was texting his girlfriend, and Jackie Vance was passing around a thing of brownies when Abby suddenly spoke.
"You know," she said, "We have learned a lot from crayons."
Everyone turned to look at her. Ziva paused mid-swing and Jimmy paused mid-word to give the Goth forensic scientist a strange look (while Tony took the opportunity to scurry under his desk). Jackie Vance looked at Abby with a mix of confusion and excitement on her face. After meeting the young woman the day before Jackie had grown to quickly adore her…just like most everyone who met Abby.
"What do you mean, Abby?"Jackie asked.
"Well, no offense to you Mrs. Vance, but discounting you everyone here spends so much time together that we're like our own little family. It just reminds me of this quote about crayons: We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box. This building is our box and we-" she gestured at everyone in the bull pen"-Are the crayons."
Everyone considered Abby's statement for a moment from their spots on the floor. Perhaps she had a point. There were some moods that were easy to notice…like when Abby was happy or Gibbs was angry…but there were other moods that were harder to diagnose…plus excluding Director Vance…they knew almost everything about each other.
"You know what Abs, You may just be right." Tony said poking his head out from under his desk,"After all, I can always tell when I've taken a practical joke too far with McGee."
"That is not hard to figure out Tony." Ziva interjected, "First he makes that exasperated face with just a hint of anger in his eyes. Then he rolls his eyes and shakes his head. I find it much harder to figure out when the Director is truly angry versus when he is playing angry."
"That's an easy one!" Abby exclaimed. "When he's pretending he's angry he can't hide his smirk when he thinks no one's paying attention. If he's really angry he just goes for the killing blow right away."
"That's actually spot on, Abby!" Jackie said, surprised. She looked at everyone gathered around the lanterns on the floor before speaking again. "What about if…Agent DiNozzo is…sad?"
"How Tony acts when he's sad…depends on if he thinks it's his fault or not." Jimmy said. "If he thinks it is his fault he'll try to drink the pain away and if it's because someone died…he becomes a little more serious than he normally is for a while. I think it's harder to tell when Ziva is really happy...and not happy at the prospect of hurting someone."
"That's when Zivah is truly happy Autopsy Gremlin." Tony said while trying to avoid another swat from the newspaper.
"It is not that hard, Mr. Palmer." Ducky responded, "When Agent David is truly happy she wears this very soft little smile and even when it's not visible her eyes can give her away. There is this glint of light in her eyes that shows she is very very happy. However, I will admit…that she is truly happy when she gets to hit Tony."
Everyone laughed at that comment but only Ducky noticed that Gibbs smiled a little.
"This is so fascinating!" Mrs. Vance said, "How can you tell if…Abby is…worried?"
"Psh…easy! Mind you if you haven't yet noticed Abby wears her emotions on her sleeve—" Tony started.
"I thought the expression was to wear your heart on your sleeve?"Ziva asked.
"I was paraphrasing Zivah. As I was saying that Abby's pretty obvious as to what she's feeling…most of the time. But when she's worried she goes quiet but once you get her talking she'll ramble on and on or everything she ask will sound like a question. I have to be honest...sometimes it's hard to tell when the Geek King is being funny."
"Hey! Do I have to remind you again that I have a girlfriend? You renamed McGee the Geek King."
"Huh…I forgot…Well everyone knows I meant you."
"Well to defend the former Geek King…its because a lot of Jimmy's jokes come out sounding really…creepy." Tim said, "He's much funnier when he's not trying…and doesn't make jokes about the body parts."
"Timmy's right about that, Jimmy. That dark meat/light meat joke…like I said then it was inappropriate with a huge dash of creepy." Abby added.
"I have to say though…for me especially when I first joined the team…I had trouble figuring out when Gibbs was happy."
"It took me some time too but I've managed to figure it out." Vance responded, "It looks a lot like how Dr. Mallard described what Agent David looks like when she is happy only the soft smile is replaced by a devious smirk. And there's something to his eyes that just screams 'I'M HAPPY'! But, I can't speak for everyone but I don't think I've ever seen Dr. Mallard angry."
The MCRT looked at each other for a moment—had any of them ever seen the kindly Ducky angry? It was after a few moments of silence that Gibbs spoke up for the first time since the gab session had begun.
"Ducky angry is a sight you never want to see. He doesn't get loud but the timbre of his voice sounds…dangerous. If he's angry enough he might actually start poking you in the chest. Sometimes he won't even say a word to you to let you know he is angry and he'll just be very cold to you." he said before returning to his coffee.
"Wow. You all do know each other really well." Jackie said.
"We spend a tremendous amount of time together." Ziva said, "As Abby said before, Mrs. Vance, we're much more than mere co-workers. We are our own little family. We spend holidays together—that is how close we are. I celebrate Chanukah and Tim and Tony bought me eight presents this year."
"Most people can't stand their co-workers but that's because they don't need to have the bonds that we do. There's no room here for mistrust so we learn everything about each other to facilitate trust. I feel comfortable telling Tim and Ziva stories about myself. Okay, I mean sure, I wish Ziva hadn't found out how I lost my virginity—" Tony said.
"It was a coquette." Ziva interrupted.
"Rockette, Ziva, Rockette. But like I was saying I wish Ziva hadn't learned that story— by the way, thanks for that one there Probilicious—but at the same time its nice that I'm able to share everything with them."
"Though, honestly Tony, sometimes your stories are not something we need to hear." McGee added, "But to continue that train of thought its nice to know that I can say I crashed my first car hours after getting it and Tony will share my pain. We're a close knit group and I wouldn't trade this for any job in the world. I can't speak for everyone but I know Abby and I have both been given amazing job offers—but we love what we do and the people we do it with too much to leave."
"I have returned to Mossad twice since I began working here as the Mossad Liaison Officer and both times I missed the camaraderie and trust that I had at NCIS. I have been more NCIS than Mossad for a very long time now. I am happy to have quit Mossad and become an NCIS agent, even if it is probationary."
"And we are very glad to have you, Probationary Agent David," Tony said, slinging and arm around her shoulders, "You and your eighteen different ways to kill someone with a paperclip."
They continued talking for a few moments before Mrs. Vance noticed Abby yawning and told them all to go to bed. It was Gibbs who turned all but one of the lanterns off for his little family. He had lost his wife and only child but these people had managed to turn themselves from co-workers into friends into family. What they had told Jackie Vance was true; they had created their own little family but it was more of a choice than they had lead her to believe. He knew that his team told people they didn't spend much of their time at NCIS but he knew that it was a lie. Just as the crayons' home was the crayon box…NCIS was their home and where they would always find their family.