Forbidden Garden
Who lives or who dies, the potions are cast
The warriors come and there is the trap
Where they are from we really don't know
The sign says Forbidden and the garden still grows
Forbidden Garden (original full length)
Who lives or who dies,
The potions are cast
The warriors come
And there is the trap
We knowest not
Just when we will die
All we can hope is
We don't see Mom cry
The animals stop
To pay their respects
I lie in this field
At eternal rest
Pray for me Mother
My soul is at rest
I died with my allies
My sword's on my chest.
Where I am at
I really don't know
The sign said forbidden
And the garden still grows.
Tigyr May 2013
A Purrfect Merrowlical (A Perfect Miracle)
"McGee!"
Tim sighs as he looks up from his computer. He hasn't been allowed to rest much since the disruption of Gibbs' team. He stares almost unseeingly at Leon Vance. The past few days seem like the worst kind of nightmare; only he can't seem to wake up from it. Director Shepherd dying, Vance stepping in and then separating the rest of the team. He sighs wondering just when he's going to finally wake up and find out that it was all just a dream.
"Agent McGee, are you listening to me?" The main perpetrator of his nightmare is standing by his desk and Tim heaves another silent sigh as he stands up and finally takes notice of his visitor.
"Yes Director?"
Vance hands him a slip of paper. Tim doesn't immediately respond and Vance frowns.
"Agent McGee, I need your assistance on this."
Tim blinks then stares at the sheet of paper. The poem on it is haunting and he glances up at the Director in question.
"What exactly do you want me to do Director?"
Leon Vance paces, something that Tim isn't used to seeing.
"Director?"
Vance stops then motions for Tim to follow him. Tim takes just a second to make sure his screen saver is scrolling, then follows the man who is almost as much of an enigma to him as Gibbs. The fact that Leon Vance wants him to run those financials on Gibbs' new team is troubling to him and he's not happy at all that he can't discuss any of it with the man he still considers his boss and sometimes father figure.
Vance had tried to tell him part of what was going on; the mole at NCIS and possible reason why Jenny Shepherd had lost her life. The team being separated and sent to the four corners of the Earth. "We need to get to the bottom of this McGee. That's why I need you in Cyber-Crimes."
Tim had tried to protest, "I still think that we should let Gibbs know what is going on. It's not fair that you're putting all this on my shoulders and not letting him know the duplicity that is going on in the team. You're putting my boss's life on the line. Someone needs to be there to have his six. " Tim's argument had been met with a cool brown-eyed stare and he'd gulped as he realized that he'd just questioned the Director of NCIS.
"You wanna quit or you gonna be part of my team and bring this person down?"
Tim had sighed and asked what exactly the Director wanted him to find. Now he's trying to do the same thing. Wondering exactly why the Director of NCIS wants his assistance when there are other agents who could do whatever it is he's expecting Tim to do.
"I don't trust anyone else McGee. Is that a good enough answer for you?"
Tim nods and then reads the poem again.
"Am I going to have to assign Palmer to do this?"
Tim stares at him and then realizes that the Director is actually trying to lighten the mood. "I'm just wondering what you want me to do, Sir."
By now they are in autopsy and Tim looks at Ducky who is conversing with his latest "guest".
"Ah, there you are Timothy. You may be wondering why I asked the Director to find you. I thought that as an author, and a mystery writer this particular poem might pique your interest. I want to challenge you to find the author of that poem. I think she might be able to help find some answers for my current guest."
"What do you mean Ducky?"
Tim's interest is genuine now as the elderly ME rarely asks them to help him with anything.
Ducky washes his hands and then puts a hand on the shoulder of his "guest." Tim smiles faintly as the corpse sits up and Gibbs opens his eyes. "Needed a way to get you down here."
"Boss?"
Gibbs points to the poem in Tim's hand. "Langer received that in an envelope. We need to find that author and you're the best bet we have of doing that."
Tim looks at him in question. "I guess I'm not following you. Why or what is it that you want me to do Boss?"
Gibbs gives him a gentle smack on the back of the head. "Take it and follow up on it. Find the author and see if that poem is a threat or just someone being whimsical."
Tim stares at him and Gibbs sighs, "What McGee?"
"Why bring me into it, surely Agent Keating could do just as good a job."
Gibbs raises an eloquent eyebrow and Tim nods as understanding starts to sink in. He heads to the elevator and sighs as the elevator doors close and he sinks against the back wall wondering just how he's supposed to find the mysterious author of the poem. If Gibbs, Langer, Ducky and Vance haven't been able to come up with an answer, how is he supposed to?
He heads back down to Cyber-Crimes and starts a new search engine. He inputs the poem and isn't surprised by how many different sites have the words Forbidden Garden in them. He thinks about the author. From what he can tell, there is no real identifying factor that can tell him if it's a male or female writing it. He photocopies it and then out of habit, he puts it into an evidence bag. Despite his previous comments he still wonders how the others expect him to figure out who the author might be and if the poem is a threat or maybe a warning, trying to pass a subtle message to Brent Langer.
He shakes his head wondering if the Director and Gibbs are playing with him. He just doesn't know why they think the poem could be of any significance to anyone other than the writer. Langer is after all the new Senior Agent; it could have been delivered to anyone and might have even been meant for Tony.
On that disquieting thought Tim heads back to the MCRT's squad room. He looks around, noting that the other team is nowhere to be seen. He glances at his watch, groaning when he realizes the day is gone and is about to leave when the elevator dings and the doors open. Gibbs is there and motions for Tim to join him.
Tim starts to say something but Gibbs shakes his head and Tim falls silent. The entire time the elevator is in motion Tim keeps expecting Gibbs to turn off the machine and tell him what is going on but Gibbs doesn't hit the emergency stop and Tim's curiosity builds with each passing second. When the elevator does stop Gibbs touches Tim on the arm and the younger agent quietly follows him.
They walk towards the pier and Tim has to ask, "Boss, what is going on? Why the secrecy with this note?"
Gibbs sits down on the bench and as Tim sits down, Gibbs sips at his coffee, staring contemplatively as the waves splash gently against the USS Barry. The destroyer drifts with the tide, not fighting its moorings.
"Boss?"
Gibbs turns to him, seriousness in his gaze. "I don't know what's going on. I don't like Vance coming in like this and turning our lives upside down. I will get our team back together; I'm working on it even now. Help Langer figure this out McGee. It's just one step closer to bringing our people home."
The next morning:
Tim slides into his computer chair, not ready to tackle another boring day of research and cold cases while he simultaneously runs background checks on the beings currently in the chairs of the MCRT. He has to admit that he hadn't thought that anyone would or could be willing to sell out their country, he knows that it's possible but for one of the three that Tim is running the check on...he shakes his head.
A shadow crosses his desk and he looks up into the handsome face of one of his suspects, Brent Langer.
"Hey Brent, what brings you down here?" he asks extending his hand. Langer shakes his hand and hands him an unsealed envelope.
"The real poem?"
"Yeah, but the weird part is that I never knew this person. I've tried to figure out why it was sent to me and I have no idea what or why it would have come to me."
Tim reaches out for the envelope and as their hands touch the room and its surroundings fade in a flash of light and shadows. As they start to disappear, Gibbs runs into the room and tries to stop them. Within seconds all three men are gone and a shadow detaches itself from the corner of the room and lightly touches the poem still on Tim's desk. She doesn't know if the spell work, if all three men will succeed in coming back. Sighing slightly as she starts to fade away, she adds an element to the poem hoping that one of them will notice and be able to bring the others home.
NCIS-NCIS
Tim yawns, stretches and opening sleepy green eyes, stops mid-stretch. He's definitely not in the Navy Yard anymore. He glances around for Langer and finds him still passed out lying to his right. The grassy land is quiet almost ominously so. What or where have they gone to? He starts to reach out and touch Langer's shoulder when he senses a movement to his left.
"Don't move McGee. I don't know what exactly that thing is, but don't move." Langer's eyes are still closed and Tim breathes a sigh of temporary relief that the agent is still alive. He slowly turns his head to look over his shoulder and his eyes widen in disbelief. From his own experiences as a gamer online he can tell that at least one of the animals is a dragon. What have they tumbled into? He thinks about the poem and the garden within. Have they somehow managed to be transported to the land mentioned? A real forbidden garden with exotic plants and animals?
Langer slowly sits up beside him and asks, "Any ideas as to what or where we are?"
Tim shakes his head, "I would almost guess the forbidden garden in your poem, but I have no idea how we got here or even how to get back."
A cool but gentle breeze passes over them and both men look up into the clear blue sky. Clouds are drifting lazily above them but Tim can see a storm brewing off in the distance.
"We need to find shelter before that storm hits."
"Good idea but how do we avoid being dragonbait?"
Tim has been studying the animals and so far, the animals haven't appeared to notice them. Instead they are concentrating on the decaying bones of what seems to be an ancient warrior. None of the animals appear to be savage beasts, although Tim knows from online experience that it could just be an illusion. He slowly rolls to his feet and extends a hand to Langer who accepts it and slips slowly over to Tim's side.
"Are they real McGee?" Langer asks in a soft whisper. As if hearing him the dragon slowly turns its head, almost as if acknowledging their presence but doesn't move from its position. Tim motions for Langer to follow him to the nearest building which happens to be a tavern. Even as they enter they can almost sense the heaviness in the air the oppression which denotes an unknown feeling of evil that resides within. Langer bumps into Tim who turns around and motions for him to stay silent. Whatever is going on, they don't want to be lost in this mysterious realm for too long. Tim ushers Langer to a side table and then heads to the front of the tavern, ordering two ales and bringing them back to where Langer is looking around with interest.
"You ever see anything like this McGee?"
Tim shakes his head and slowly sips at his ale. He can't shake the feeling that he's missing something, that he was supposed to see something more in that note and asks Brent if he's seen the note since they arrived in this evil domain. Brent is about to shake his head when he sees something white sticking out of Tim's lapel. He's about to touch it, when Tim gives him a glance almost a warning not to touch it.
"Let me take it out, last time we both touched it we ended up here and I'm not sure what or where here is."
Langer sighs in frustration and Tim raises an eyebrow. "You know, you almost took on a Gibbs look there McGee. Okay, so where or what do we do from here?"
"Let's wait out the storm, and then we'll follow the roads if there are any." Tim takes the note and is about to spread it out on the table when they both hear the faint sound of thunder. The smell of ozone tells them that lightning has struck somewhere close by. Within minutes the sound of pounding rain upon the roof heralds the storm's arrival making both men glad that they'd found shelter when they did. Tim pulls the candle on their table closer to his side of the table so that he can re-read the poem. A faint drawing at the bottom has him looking up a question in his eyes.
"What is it McGee?"
"I didn't see the picture on the bottom of the poem that Vance and Gibbs had me read. Do you remember seeing it when you first opened it up?"
"No, but then I didn't get a real close look before Gibbs took it away from me. I barely managed to retrieve the packaging before I came to see you."
Brent smooths the paper out and is about to start reading it again when the door to the tavern/inn opens again and a small animal slips inside. Merrowl! A small black cat with white markings on its face, paws and stomach comes racing through the open door. The candles on most of the tables flicker slightly at the breeze that makes its way in with the new occupant, but none of them get extinguished and the flames seem to brighten once the door closes again. The cat paws lightly at the innkeeper who shoos it away. The cat takes no offense, instead it prances around, chasing light beams and shadows before settling its gaze on the two NCIS agents.
"That could almost be Spike from Gremlins." Langer laughs as he watches the cat approach them. Neither man is laughing when the cat jumps up on the table and starts washing its paws before nuzzling it's head against Brent's hand. Brent cautiously runs a hand over the animal, and the cat lies down, rolling over so that Brent can rub its belly. Tim notices that while the cat's tail is swishing back and forth, there appears to be a faint bluish fire emanating from the tip of the tail and yet the cat doesn't seem to notice.
"Merrrs..." the cat is almost purring when it turns and bites Brent's hand. Brent is about to slap the animal when Tim puts a hand on his wrist.
"Don't, it didn't break the skin. I think it wants us to follow it."
"The damned thing bit me, McGee and you want to follow it? I thought you were allergic to cats?"
Tim shrugs, "So far I'm okay. It could be the realm or maybe something magical about the cat itself. All I know is that it came in, it sought you out and now it wants or seems to want us to follow it. Besides the storm has stopped and I really don't feel comfortable staying here any longer."
He no sooner finishes speaking and two men come in. Seconds later, the room erupts into chaos as a brawl breaks out. Tim and Brent silently stand up, and staying close to the wall, ease out of the room just as a broken chair sails over their heads and lands on the table where they had been sitting. The table crumbles to the ground making both agents wonder just would have happened if they'd still been sitting there.
As they head outside, Tim can see that the animals still haven't moved, but there are some different elements to the scene. Not only has the warrior changed, but the empty jars they'd seen upon arrival are now full of treasure. The cat merrowls again and rubs against Brent's legs. He bumps against Tim and both men can tell that the figure on the ground appears to be Gibbs.
Brent tries to move forward but Tim places a hand on his shoulder. "Stop it's an illusion."
"What? McGee, it's Gibbs!"
"No, it's an illusion. Gibbs is here in the realm yes, but that's not him. If we try and go over there, then we do become dragonbait. It's why the bear is there: she's warning us not to approach."
Langer blinks wondering just what Tim is talking about when he sees the faintly transparent outline of a female bear standing on a rock and watching over the silent form on the ground. As he studies the bear, the figure on the ground once again becomes that of the fallen ancient warrior and not that of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He whistles slightly and asks Tim how he knew that the bear was a warning.
"It's Ursa Major, she's a protective mother bear. This time, she's protecting us or maybe telling us not to approach as the potions are part of a bigger trap."
"Greed, being the major one as those pots seem to suggest. That treasure chest is a trap too?"
Even as he asks the question, a faint form approaches the open chest and upon touching the items within, becomes part of the chest. The figure twitches a few times and then becomes still, another victim to the evil within.
The cat merrs and twines itself around Brent's legs before sauntering over to Tim and lightly biting him on his shoe clad foot. Tim nods almost as if answering an unheard question and starts walking up the beaten path.
"McGee wait up! Tim, what is going on here?"
"It's a question of faith or belief if you will. Do we believe that we can get out of here and do we have enough faith in each other or maybe in Gibbs and his rules to get ourselves home? The cat is part of that belief. I think she's been sent here to guide us to not only Gibbs but the way home."
Langer can't argue with Tim's logic considering the events of the past few minutes. Tim looks at him as they make their way along a beaten path.
"Was there anything else in the envelope when you took the poem out?"
Langer thinks about the arrival of the envelope, how he'd just about gotten it open and the subsequent events, "I had barely opened it when Gibbs rushed in and grabbed it out of my hands. What was up with that anyway?"
"In my first year as a probie, Tony had taken an envelope out of my hands and opened it. It had a mutated form of the pneumonic plague in it. Tony almost lost his life. We lost Kate about a month after that."
Langer gives a low whistle, "That's a lot to take in your first year."
Tim shrugs, "It's part of the job I guess. So tell me, what's it like being back in the field with Gibbs? You seemed really excited to be part of the team."
Brent shakes his head, "Not quite what I thought it was going to be. I'd actually hoped to be part of your team, you know the team that has top reputation for solving cases. I didn't count on all new faces or someone who has no clue how to hold a gun let alone a computer geek who speaks more geek than you do. No offense, but he's not who I wanted to work with."
Tim smiles, "When I started with Gibbs I think I was even greener than Keating. I just had DiNozzo and Kate to keep me on my toes. Ziva's even more exacting than Kate, but then she's Mossad."
Brent nods as they keep walking, "That's the team I had hoped to work with; you, Gibbs, DiNozzo and David. I'm trying to figure out the whole working with two probies as I'm not exactly sure why we have the three of us on Gibbs' team. I mean, I get that I am the senior agent but to have two green agents on the team seems a bit...odd."
Tim nods his acknowledgment. Langer reminds him a lot of Tony DiNozzo, the same crazy energy level and obvious commitment to whomever his boss is at the time. Tim pulls the white envelope out of his pocket, wondering how it got back in there as he doesn't recall putting it there and is about to open it up when the cat rubs up against them.
"Merrowls."
Brent looks down at the animal which is once again entwining itself around his legs. He leans down to pick it up and it curls up in his arms, purring loudly. He scratches it under its chin and the purring sound gets louder. Both men laugh as the cat rubs its head against Brent's arm. Tim looks up and is surprised to see the outline of buildings. He points towards one, and they continue walking, Brent still caressing the cat which is half asleep in Brent's arms. As they approach the nearest building, they can tell that it's a library of sorts and Tim suggests they go inside long enough to examine the document in Tim's hands.
"This way we can both look at it, but only one of us is touching it at a time."
Langer nods and the cat purrs as if in approval. They enter the ancient building and both men sneeze at the coating of dust on the floor and tables. The cat waves its tail and one of the tables and two of the chairs is immediately cleaned off with no hint of dust around it. Not daring to wonder what just happened, the two men sit down. Tim pulls the note and the picture out of his pocket and smooths it out so that they can both read it while examining the picture. The cat paws lightly at the picture, and it seems to waver just a bit.
As they watch, the picture changes and they can see that if they'd tried to "rescue Gibbs" as Langer had suggested, that not only would Gibbs have become the fallen warrior, but at least one of them could have been trapped as well. Langer stares at the photograph watching as the warrior changes from Gibbs to Tim to the ancient warrior. Gibbs he can understand as Tim had warned him not to charge forward, but why Tim?
The younger agent taps him on the shoulder indicating they should leave and Langer nods, pocketing the poem with its mysterious picture. The cat merrs and bounces towards the doorway, and the two agents follow him out the door. Exiting the library, they can tell that time has passed, at least an hour if not more as the sun or whatever passes for daylight is starting to disappear.
The cat bounces back to them and both men can see the tension almost building within the small animal. It's as if the cat is trying to hurry them out of the garden before night falls and they are trapped there for all time. They jog down the path and the cat leads them into a small art gallery. There is Gibbs standing motionless in front of a medium sized painting. As they step closer, they can see that the painting is that of a landscape. As with the picture and the poem, the painting wavers as they approach and neither man is sure that they should touch it.
"Merrowls!"
Nodding once again, as if he's hearing something that Brent isn't, Tim puts Gibbs hand on the landscape and then touches the shoulders of Langer and Gibbs. The last thing any of them hear is the sound of the cat as it lets out one more yowl.
NCIS-NCIS
Gibbs blinks his eyes, wondering what has happened, why he feels so weak and who is lying beside him. The last thing he remembers is dashing into the Cyber-Crimes unit, to warn his junior agents not to touch the note as he'd noticed the picture lying on the floor of Autopsy and the motionless figures of two men lying still in the grasses. At first he'd thought the men were Langer and Keating, his two newest team members, but the picture had flickered almost as if in response to Gibbs' thoughts and the men in the picture had become Langer and the man he thought of as a younger son, Timothy McGee.
His heart in his throat, as fear, that one emotion he kept as far from himself as possible, washed over him he'd run up the stairs of the main building, knowing somehow that his two young agents were in terrible danger. He'd run down the stairs into the Cyber-Crimes unit and just barely managed to touch Langer's sleeve before being pulled into another nightmare.
This time he was immobilized made to watch as Tim and Brent slowly made their way from once side of this evil place, wherever and whenever it was, to another. They'd progressed from waking in the mysterious graveyard to a tavern or an inn. Tim had managed to keep Langer in line most of that time, bringing a smile of pride to Gibbs' lips. Tim McGee might not play online games that much anymore but it was obvious that he was the one leading this particular case and doing a damn good job of it. The element of the cat was something he couldn't figure out.
Someone or something was making sure that his agents stayed alive, and using the cat to guide them. The fact that neither man had an obvious weapon on him was a bit disturbing to Gibbs as he wondered just how the two would defend themselves if they needed to, but the weird little dwarves, priests and wizards just walked right through them and the two men acted as if they couldn't even see the danger they were in.
Gibbs wanted to shout, to dash out of the prison he was in, but all he could do was watch. His two men, his sons were doing an admirable job, communicating with each other, talking and joking and he couldn't have been prouder when they stopped and finally saw the picture at the bottom of the poem. How could he have been so stupid?
Exhaustion washed over him and his eyes closed for a second or was it hours? Whatever it was, he could see the landscape before him. The hillside is familiar and yet, he's not sure that it really exists. What could that mean? Was it a sign of things to come? He can feel a draft as the door behind him opens. Tim gently raises Gibbs right hand and places it on the ever moving landscape.
Next thing that Gibbs is aware of he's not immobilized anymore. He looks left and right, immediately spying his two agents. He leans over and breathes a sigh of relief as both men are alive, but neither responds immediately to his touch.
Deciding not to immediately wake up the two young men, he rolls to his feet and takes stock of his surroundings. Yep he's in the park that Vance mentioned when the Director was first looking for housing which means that the Director's house isn't that far away. He nudges the two younger agents into wakefulness and they both open bleary eyes. McGee is the first one that sees him and Gibbs smiles when recognition dawns in those green eyes.
"We're home, at least we're back in the US." Tim states and Gibbs nods, leaning over to give him a hand up.
"Just around the corner from Vance's house if I've got my bearings straight."
"How?" Tim's cut off by Gibbs shaking his head.
"No idea. Let's get sleepyhead here to his feet and then go find Vance."
Tim glances around, "Where exactly are we? I mean I figured it would be someplace that you would be familiar with; wasn't sure, but it seemed likely that's where we'd go as you ended up with us."
Langer looks at him as they follow Gibbs through the park. "How would you figure that out?"
"Once I knew that we had to get to Gibbs, it made sense that we'd have to have him lead us out of our final destination. If it had been just the two of us, then I think the landscape would have reflected one of our hometowns. I just don't know where or when we would have ended up."
They both run to catch up and Gibbs just smirks as he leads them down the hillside and into the small suburb just outside of Alexandria, Virginia.
NCIS-NCIS
The trip back to DC was quiet and Gibbs kept looking in the review mirror to reassure himself that the boys were there. Neither of them were sleeping but then again, after the events of the past few days, and it had actually been a full two days since they had disappeared from the Navy Yard, he wasn't surprised that they were awake and he doubted that he'd get much sleep in the near future.
The walk to Vance's house had gone as expected. Neither man had said much and the two younger agents either didn't know what was going on or more than likely were too tired to pick up on the emotions simmering near the surface of the two older men. Or were too polite to comment on it in the case of one Timothy McGee.
He drove straight back to his house and ushered the two agents inside. They didn't argue and he crawled into his own bed, after making sure that they had pillows and blankets to sleep on. Hours later he woke up and drove back to the Navy Yard. Vance had only raised an eyebrow and told him that there was no need for a report as it had been their weekend off.
Gibbs motioned for the Director to follow him upstairs. "What in the hell happened Leon?"
Vance chewed on his toothpick then shrugged. "I'm damned if I know Gibbs. All I do know is that you all left, and then I had a phone call saying you were all safe and following up on the lead that you'd given McGee. I was told to stand down and to await your arrival yesterday afternoon."
Gibbs sipped at the coffee in his hand, "Any idea who or what?"
"Was told none of my business. None of yours either now. Go home Gibbs and get some sleep. Looks like you need it."
"You have no idea Leon." Gibbs muttered as he entered the elevator and headed for home.
NCIS-NCIS
Epilogue:
Ducky opened his front door and Gibbs slipped inside.
"How's your guest doing Duck?"
Ducky chuckled and shut the door behind him. "He's a wee bit bored, Jethro but as he says it's better than the alternative."
The picture had finally made sense. The fallen hero that Gibbs had seen had been Langer, not an ancient warrior. Tim and Brent had kept their silence in that regard as they both had seen Gibbs (when they'd walked out of the tavern) as the fallen warrior. The picture had fluctuated when they'd observed it, indicating that if they didn't work together one or all three could have ended up in that evil ancient garden. Only by working together, trusting each other and the mysterious little cat had they gotten out of there alive.
Together the men (Langer, Gibbs and McGee) had conspired for weeks trying to figure out how to save Brent's life when they couldn't predict the future. Ultimately they'd just had Brent wearing a prototype vest, one that the Department of Defense had been trying to test on willing subjects. Ducky had created a false death certificate and once the coast was clear, Brent had been moved to Ducky's house until they could unearth the real mole.
Brent sighed wondering how to pick up the pieces of his life now that the game was over. Where could he go and what prospects lay ahead of him? Gibbs handed him some documents and Langer looked up at him in question.
"McGee worked his normal magic. Your name is cleared, you can go back to the FBI or we can get you assigned to one of our other teams. Your choice Brent. If you want we can always put your name in for the next Agent Afloat. I understand that there will be at least one position opening up."
Gibbs smirked as Langer's gaze met his own cool blue one. "Your MCRT is reforming then? Are you getting all of them back?"
Gibbs nodded and Langer didn't take long to figure out that if DiNozzo was coming back then there wouldn't be any need for two senior agents. And despite how much he liked McGee, there was no way he could put up with DiNozzo; they were too similar. He nodded and accepted the branch being offered to him.
"Guess I'll see ya when I see ya, Boss. Tell McGee thanks, for everything."
Gibbs watched thoughtfully as the door shut behind the agent and Ducky touched him on the shoulder.
"He'll be fine Jethro. Come, let us enjoy one wee dram tonight and tomorrow we'll bring our ducklings home."
Outside of Ducky's house, a cloaked figure stroked a softly purring kitten with a soft blue flame on its tail, smiling as another successful chapter in the game called life came to a satisfactory close.
The End.
A/N: Written for the White Elephant Exchange on another site.