A/N: I really don't have an explanation for this.
His team had finally closed a gruesome, exhausting double homicide and long after he'd sent them all home, Gibbs was engaging in his familiar routine of finding any excuse not to go home to an empty house. Bourbon and the boat only really served to alleviate the loneliness for so long, and so he usually stayed at the Navy Yard as long as possible.
The problem was, during the time they'd been trying to crack this case, they had cleaned up everything else possible in an effort to clear their heads and find a new starting point. Efficiency was good, except now there was literally not a damn thing for him to even pretend to be doing, and he really had to go home or the overtime goons were going to send him angry e-mails again.
He hated that, because he always made McGee routinely check his e-mail and empty it out, and having McGee tell you you're in trouble was annoying.
He glared silently at his computer desktop, scowling at the memory, and then leaned forward. Hell, he could check his own e-mail. That would give him something frustrating and distracting to do. He clicked on the little envelope on his screen and waited, narrowing his eyes apprehensively. He hated e-mail. The reason he had McGee check it was because he'd accidentally opened a corrupted link last year which had taken him to a very loud pornographic website.
His e-mail icon danced for a moment while he grumbled about that horrible incident, and then the program unfolded and he found he had exactly one new e-mail. McGee must have cleaned out his inbox recently. He squinted to read the address and subject line.
Subject: It's safe to open this, Gibbs.
Gibbs snorted derisively and double clicked on the e-mail. It opened to reveal a mostly blank page. There was a blue-tinted, underlined jumble of letters and characters, and beneath that, Fornell had typed:
Look what Emily showed me.
Gibbs stared suspiciously at the link for a total of five minutes, debating his options. The last time he clicked on a link like this without thinking about it, that incredibly awkward incident had ensued, and DiNozzo had laughed for a week and then Ziva had told the Director and she had left a copy of a lame seventies porno they once watched in Paris in his desk drawer as a joke.
And then refused to re-live the Paris experience with him.
On the other hand, Gibbs highly doubted Fornell's daughter had showed him anything remotely inappropriate, so he ended up clicking the link and glaring menacingly at the screen, silently willing it not to do anything weird or inappropriate.
He was taken to a site called YouTube, and a video popped up.
Gibbs glared again, reading the title.
Baby Panda Sneezing.
Stealthily, Gibbs rose up and glanced around, making sure no one was around. He was the only one in the bullpen this late—in fact, his desk lamp was the only thing providing any light. He hunkered back down in his chair and leaned forward, rolling his eyes at himself as he punched the play button on the video.
He raised his eyebrow, unimpressed, as he stared at a giant panda eating a branch. He was about to close the page and send Fornell a rude e-mail back when the baby panda—which he hadn't even noticed—sneezed, and he nearly leapt out of his chair in shock. The giant panda jumped and stared, shocked, at the baby one.
Gibbs laughed.
He grinned, completely forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be a hard ass Marine turned agent, and he was in the middle of his professional work place, and then he replayed the video, watching closer this time. This time, when the baby panda sneezed, he watched the mother, and snorted with laughter again.
Gibbs absorbed himself watching the panda sneeze about six times before he smirked and copied the link, proud of himself for remembering the trick and intending to show certain snotty former probies of his that he did know how to use computers and e-mail.
If he could make her smile in the process, that would be a weight off his shoulders, since Director Shepard's mood setting in regards to Agent Gibbs these days was constantly pissed.
He opened a new e-mail and went scrolling through his address book to find her e-mail. Thinking he was in control, he pasted her e-mail address into the open box and clicked a few buttons. All the address turned blue, and he glared and clicked again. Something popped up and asked him about a message on the NCIS agency server, and he just hit enter and miraculously the box went away.
He smirked again and then typed a quick message to Jen:
Look at the baby panda sneeze, Jen. It's cute.
He hit send and leaned back in his chair smugly.
She reached past her carton of Chinese food for the blackberry on the other side of her desk the moment it gave an insistent ping. A pair of chopsticks descended onto her knuckles and she glared at Ziva pointedly.
"You are on a break," Ziva admonished, cocking a dark brow.
"I appreciate the food, Ziva, but I am expecting an urgent e-mail from my assistant director," she said mildly, knocking her chopsticks away, picking up her phone and unlocking it.
A look of confusion came over her face, and she leaned back in her study chair.
"Bad news?" Ziva asked mildly.
Jenny frowned uncertainly.
"Jethro e-mailed me," she muttered.
"Apocalyptic news, then," Ziva amended dryly.
"Ha, ha," Jenny said, rolling her eyes. She bit into the fortune cookie she'd been munching on and opened the e-mail, her eyes scanning the message he'd sent. "What the hell?" she muttered, startled.
She opened the attachment, and Ziva snorted, recognizing the noise.
"Is that the panda video?" she asked mildly—and then sat bolt upright. "Gibbs sent you a panda video?" she demanded, shocked.
"'Look at the baby panda sneeze, Jen. It's cute,'" Jenny read out, and then suddenly her face lit up and she burst into laughter. "Ziva," she choked out, turning the blackberry around and tapping with a manicured nail to the top of the e-mail.
Ziva focused on it, and leaned back, smirking.
"This is why we have McGee handle his e-mail," she remarked.
Jenny leaned back in her chair and pressed a button on her phone, still laughing when the muffled ringing ended and Gibbs answered with his gruff, smug tone.
"Jethro," she laughed, without greeting him. "You sent that e-mail out to the entire agency!"
-I think literally everyone has seen that video but if you haven't omg it's adorable. I was at the zoo yesterday, and today I just had nothing to do, so I wrote this. I actually think I'm going to do a Gibbs/panda thing for LBSF soon...eh. Who knows. Still finals week for me, so I'm not responsible for my actions.
-Alexandra
story #132