Sequel to "NCIS and the Mysterious Door" for the NFA AU x 2 challenge.
Second AU will become evident as time goes on :)
GIBBS
"Boss?"
Gibbs looked up. "Yeah, McGee?"
"There's something, uh, downstairs."
He waited. McGee's gaze briefly flickered over towards Tony and Ziva, both hard at work - or at least well occupied. Tony was staring at his computer screen with the intense concentration that usually meant he was playing whack-a-terrorist.
"What's up, Tim?"
The unaccustomed use of his given name was enough to bring McGee's attention back, though he still looked deeply uncomfortable. "You know that... incident... a few months ago?" His eyes widened dramatically and he lowered his voice. "The one we don't talk about?"
Suddenly McGee's expression started to make sense. Oh. Damn. That mysterious door, that inexplicable tunnel, and the things they'd found at the end of it that had made even less sense. It had been a long and confusing night.
The next morning he'd been able to convince himself that it was some kind of dream or a symptom of sleep deprivation till he got into work. Then he'd seen McGee's glazed expression, the brand new furrows in Ducky's forehead...
It had taken the rest of the day to decide that it was probably a mass hallucination (he didn't know if that was possible, frankly didn't care), and several weeks to push it so far to the back of his mind that it was almost forgotten. Almost.
"Uh huh?"
McGee swallowed nervously, as if he thought Gibbs might blame him for whatever weirdness had turned up in the evidence garage this week. "The door..."
Crap. He glanced towards the huge windows. Definitely daytime. Unless this was a recurring dream and he was actually on his couch at home. He could hope, right?
He sighed. "OK. OK." He collected his thoughts for a moment, then stood up. "Tony? Ziva? Grab your..." He paused. They were only going downstairs, but... "With me. And bring your sidearms."
McGee looked even less happy. "Boss, is that a good idea?" He said it quietly, but not quietly enough.
"Crime scene, McProbious." Tony delivered a slap to the back of Tim's head. Just a light one - he knew Gibbs would exact vengeance if he pushed his luck. "That means federal agents are a good thing."
McGee shot a pleading look at Gibbs, who shrugged. If they were imagining things, a couple new pairs of eyes on the situation might help reality assert itself. If they weren't...
He shook his head. He'd worry about that if they had to. "Tim, stay here - do some research on the- for the... Just figure it out OK?"
"OK boss." McGee actually looked relieved for a moment. Then suddenly a little defiant, too. "I'll get Abby to help me."
Gibbs nodded, and even smiled to himself. Trust Tim to want to be sure and protect Abby from the weirdness. Two of his favourite scientists... and they always stuck together.
He walked off towards the back elevator, then turned back to Tony and Ziva, who looked mildly surprised at the direction he was taking. "You comin'?"