TITLE: Fore!
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: "You know, I bet that's why Number Two came after you with the nine-iron...You just refused to sit down and talk things through." "Actually, that wasn't it at all."
CHALLENGE Crack Fic – A more "literal" take.
SPOILERS: Eye Spy
DISCLAIMER: Eight therapists have now confirmed – I do not own NCIS or Gibbs.

The first thing Gibbs saw when he got in the door was Diane, sobbing into a pillow on the couch. A second later the contents of the file he was holding were scattered on the floor and he was at his wife's side.

"Diane, what happened?"

"Aiiicdadtiiiieyed!" She was sobbing too hard to make out the words.

"What?"

"Uhhhc...Dadt...Died!"

Gibbs winced and tightened his hold around Diane's shoulders. Her father had already had two heart attacks, and so they knew this was inevitable, but still...

"Honey, I am so sorry." She collapsed against him, her head resting against his chest.

"They...they found him...they found him in the alley," she gasped out.

The comment surprised Gibbs. Diane's father lived in a rest home twenty minutes away. He knew the medication could make the older man a little disoriented, but this was new.

Diane continued to sob. "His eyes...were still...open!"

Okay, this was getting downright bizarre. Why the Sam Hill hadn't someone closed his eyes before letting Diane see her father like that? Actually, why had they let her see her father like that at all...unless she'd been the one to find him. But no, she'd said "They found him," although, she was crying so hard it was hard to understand.

"I just keep remembering...the last time I hugged him." Gibbs tightened his arms around her again, gently rubbing her back. "He was so soft...and the way he purred in my ear..."

She looked up at him, a half smile on her face. "Remember...remember the delicate way he'd take those little Kitty Treats from my hand? He was so...He was so cute!" She burst into sobs again.

What the Sam Hill? Purring...Kitty Treats...Jasper. The eight-year-old black-and-white cat that Diane had brought with her into the marriage. A chuckle bubbled up in his throat as Gibbs realized his mistake, then exploded in full-blown, relieved laughter.

He never saw her reach for the golf bag next to the couch.

0

"I'll get it, Mother!" Ducky hurried to the front door and glanced through the window, then jerked it open. "Jethro!"

His friend stood on the doorstep with a dazed expression on his face, one hand pressing a blood-soaked handkerchief to his temple.

"Good land, come in, come in." He grabbed Gibbs' arm and ushered him inside, holding on firmly as the younger man teetered on his feet. "Sit down, sit down." He eased Gibbs into a sitting position, leaning his back against the wall. A couple of the corgis swarmed around in interest and Ducky shooed at them with his hand. "Get away. Go on, now." He turned back to Gibbs. "What on earth happened?"

"Don't ask, Duck," Gibbs said weakly. "Don't ask."

THE END