Never Again

Tony realized in hindsight that the Caf-Pow drinking contest might not have been such a good idea but he was so euphoric he really didn't care. He jogged by Gibbs' house—backwards, this time—waving as he ran by. Gibbs was inside dealing with Abby and he'd been sent to run off some of the excess energy.

Normally running was a chore, exercise he wished he didn't have to endure but it turned out being high on caffeine made everything fun. He ran backwards and forwards, skipped and did a few flips, waved furiously and used the cars as cover to be a little more covert. Every lap it was something different. He doubted Gibbs was watching but he was entertaining himself.

Inside the house, Abby was gabbing on and on about—well, something. Gibbs had lost track about ten minutes in. It was difficult to keep up with her on normal days; on a caffeine high, it was impossible. She was so jittery it made Gibbs shake just looking at her. He stood calmly leaning up against the counter, drinking his coffee, nodding every so often at whatever she was saying as she paced the floor and waved her arms wildly.

"Ah-ah!" he warned when she tried to grab his coffee for a sip. The absolute last thing she needed was more caffeine.

"Please Gibbs," Abby pleaded employing her puppy dog eyes and turning her lower lip out into a pout. "I'm runnin' outta steam!"

"Good," Gibbs said with a smile as he lovingly pinched her cheek.

The Goth yawned and rested her head against Gibbs' chest as he stood in front of her.

Gibbs glanced at the microwave clock as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. 2100 hours, it had taken the caffeine over seven hours to start working its way out of her system and Abby was fading fast. He finished off his coffee and set his cup aside then wrapped his arms around Abby and walked her to the couch in the living room. Just as they were settling in, Tony burst through the front door.

"Hi Boss!" he greeted with a big, goofy wave. "My legs won't let me run anymore."

"Shower," Gibbs said nodding towards the stairs with his head.

Tony jogged enthusiastically up the stairs and headed for the hall shower. He was exhausted. His brain knew it and his body felt it but the caffeine wasn't yet ready to release its hold on him.

Gibbs could hear Tony singing at the top of his lungs as he showered. Abby was tucked securely under his arm, her hand twitching against his stomach from the last of the caffeine in system as he brushed his long fingers over her shoulder. The talking had ended and for the first time all afternoon and evening he was enjoying the silence, well, if he didn't count Tony's singing.

He'd been far from impressed when he'd gone down to the lab that afternoon and found Tony and Abby chugging Caf-Pow with a slew of empty cups lining nearly every surface in Abby's office. The two were all smiles and giggles, trying to persuade him to join in the fun as he snatched the cups out of their hands.

They were so over stimulated he didn't even trust them to drive home so he'd brought them home with him and endured his seat being bumped, the car being vibrated by Tony's shaking leg and being poked, pinched and having his hair rubbed by Abby. Apparently too much caffeine made her a little frisky.

Now, with Abby on the verge of sleep in his arms, he just had to deal with Tony. One down, one to go. The young man came barreling down the stairs so hard and so fast, Gibbs wondered if he'd tripped and fell but a glance in that direction told him otherwise. Tony was standing there with his arms outstretched and a goofy grin on his face, almost looking like he was waiting for applause for whatever acrobatic move he'd done on the stairs.

"You think you could sit still long enough to watch a movie?" Gibbs asked quietly.

"Always," Tony scoffed. "We'll just need popcorn and candy and soda and—"

"No more caffeine," Gibbs interrupted.

Tony thought back over what he'd said. "Oh," he said, "no soda. Since Abby's asleep, we'll have beer, man's drink!"

"I should make you drink water," Gibbs said.

"But beer is a depressant," Tony countered. "It'll help me calm down."

"Alright," Gibbs said, "just don't overdo it. Let's practice a little control here."

"I have perfect control, Boss!" Tony said excitedly as he hurried off towards the kitchen.

"After today, I'm not so sure," Gibbs muttered, knowing Tony couldn't hear him.

Abby jerked and frantically latched onto Gibbs' t-shirt. Gibbs held her closer and slowly rubbed her back, figuring she'd had the same falling dream he sometimes had on the verge of sleep. She settled back in and loosened her grip just as Tony made his way back into the living room and plopped down next to Gibbs, bumping popcorn all over his lap.

"Whoops," he said scooping it back into the bowl. He leaned back and pulled a beer out of each pocket and handed one to Gibbs before looking at the TV and realizing he hadn't put the DVD in or grabbed the remote. He sighed dramatically as he set the popcorn bowl aside, put his beer on the table and stood. He flipped through the handful of DVDs Gibbs owned, most of them still in the shrink wrap, and settled on Sands of Iwo Jima.

"How come you buy movies if you're not gonna watch 'em?" he asked pulling the plastic off the chosen DVD.

"Didn't buy 'em," Gibbs said. "They were gifts."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Tony said. "Obviously whoever gave 'em to you doesn't know you very well."

He put the movie in then returned to the couch and made himself comfortable. He offered Gibbs some popcorn but the older man declined with a shake of his head. Tony waited impatiently to get to the DVD menu and started the movie then went to work on the popcorn, tossing the pieces into the air and catching them in his mouth… or at least trying to.

Gibbs could add being covered in popcorn to the list of annoyances he'd endured that afternoon. He'd surprised himself with his patience as he suffered through things that would normally earn them head slaps and stern glares, knowing it would only cause more giggles and hilarity rather than put an end to the offensive behavior.

"Sure you don't want any of this, Gibbs?" Tony offered as he neared the bottom of the bowl.

"I think you've shared enough," Gibbs replied.

"Huh?" Tony looked over at Gibbs and realized he had popcorn in his hair, his lap and on his shirt. "Oh," he said with a smile that turned into a giggle that was soon an all out laugh. For some reason caffeine made everything funny.

"I really am sorry, Gibbs," Tony said once he'd stopped laughing. He knew he was annoying Gibbs and was pretty sure it was taking all of Gibbs' willpower not to kill him with his bare hands.

"It's my fault," Gibbs said.

"What do you mean?"

"I should've known better than to leave you and Abby alone when you were bored."

"Yeah, you really should've," Tony agreed, yawning as he tossed the empty popcorn bowl onto the coffee table making more noise than he'd intended.

Ten minutes later Tony's head was swaying back and forth before it finally landed on Gibbs' shoulder as sleep took over his body. Despite the war raging on on the TV, Gibbs released a deep breath and smiled at the peace and quiet. After a very long afternoon of wreaking havoc and pushing him to the limit, Tony and Abby were finally asleep.

"Never again," he vowed quietly, "never again."