Twenty-Five Sentences
1. Loyal
He was always her most loyal – long live the Queen.
2. Consequent
Consequently, Abby was entirely unsympathetic to Tony's puppy eyes; he should have known better than to lie to Gibbs.
3. Sir
"Sir, I'm very sorry to have to inform you of this but as Ms. David's next of kin you have the right to know."
4. Torpid
Tony sprawled across the bed and shut his eyes, resembling nothing so much as a grumpy old bear settling into hibernation – or so she thought, with a muffled laugh.
5. Begone
Ziva took it all in with wide eyes: McGee's choked giggles, Abby's raised silver crucifix on its dangling chain, and perhaps oddest of all – Tony's thick, vampire-esque eye make up.
6. Square
Abby shifted guiltily in her spot, squished squarely between Tony and Gibbs.
7. Region
"…and in this region, here, I made the oddest discovery! It appears to be rather well-congealed whale blubber – ah, Mr. Palmer, the sink is right behind you."
8. Entrepreneurship
Tony stared at his apartment's front door, head tilted and face scrunched together in utter confusion, trying to figure out how a little girl just conned him into buying overpriced Girl Scout cookies.
9. Contusion
Gibbs looks terrified, Tony thought with the familiar fuzziness of a concussion, words drifting in and out of his consciousness – Hold on, Tony, just hold on, you can't, Tony!
10. Evasive
McGee never spoke of his older brother for good reason and the Director knew better than to pry – after all, he had seen this young man's unedited file. Suffice to say, it was not a pleasant read.
11. Manly
Tony flexed his bicep sharply at his reflection, practicing his sexiest smile for the night ahead, and Ziva could do nothing but stare disbelievingly from the doorway.
12. Indecency
Tim choked on his tea, rapidly backpedaling out the door to the tune of mingled voices shouting, Sorry, Boss! He could have gone his whole life without seeing that much, Tim thought a little despairingly.
13. Gulp
Abby gulped, eyes fixed firmly on the face only inches from her locked office door. This is really, really not good.
14. Ferocity
Ziva has never mentioned the one time she saw McGee fight, and she doubts she ever will. It's not like anyone would believe the truth anyway.
15. Wispy
It suited her, Gibbs thought quietly, in the one moment he allowed himself to admire the woman he loved instead of his Director.
16. Woodchuck
"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck—" "Abby!"
17. Folk
Folk dance was never his forte, but Tim made do.
18. Dark
Down in the black of his basement, Gibbs swirled his drink and thought dark thoughts. It was only right he pay her his respects in the only way he knew how.
19. Betwixt
Betwixt and between forever, Abby thought amusedly, watching her boys' awkward attempts to maneuver around each other when it was obvious they could never be parted.
20. Locution
Sometimes she just wanted to smack the eloquence out of that boy, but Ziva had long learned to smile at the pretty, empty words.
21. Slickly
Sweat slid slickly between them and Abby groaned – Gibbs would throw a fit if he caught her in this position.
22. Tweed
Tony stared, "Ziva, please tell me McGoo is not actually wearing tweed."
23. Sickly
Tony hacked wetly and Tim shut his eyes tight, letting the warm weight of Gibbs' hand at his nape anchor him.
24. Genteel
Ziva stared after him, quietly admiring, unable to move beyond the thought that she'd never seen him in a suit before.
25. Rally
Tim rallied every ounce of courage he had left, and stood – this wasn't the end.