NCIS Paintball

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: I was listening to a friend talking about his weekend paintball trip and had a sudden image of Gibbs playing paintball…this is what followed. There will be an NCIS: LA companion to this.

"The case is finally over, and just in time too."

"Who all is coming on this little 'bonding exercise' of yours Tony?"

"Well, obviously myself, you, McGeek, Abby, Palmer, and Ducky as referee."

"Is Gibbs not joining us?"

"I didn't ask him Ziva…not sure he'd be interested."

"Then I will ask him."

"Ask me what?"

Tony jumped as Gibbs materialized behind him as he always does when he's being talked about.

"Boss! We were just talking about how we're all going out to the woods tomorrow to play paintball."

"Will you be joining us Gibbs?"

"Why not? Not like I have anything better to do."

"Awesome!"

"I think you guys are forgetting a very crucial bit of information here."

"Like what McGeek?"

"Gibbs was a Marine sniper…"

Tony's grin died as he gave Ziva a 'help me' look. She laughed at him as Gibbs just shook his head at them.

The Next Day…

"Fresh air, sunshine…and paintball!"

"Clearly we need to let Mr. Palmer out more often. He is entirely too excited about this considering what he's up against."

"Ah let him have fun Ducky, it'll be a good experience for him."

"Let's hope they all manage to learn something from it."

"I doubt that Ducky…I highly doubt that."

Gibbs walked off with a chuckle as he started looking for the best vantage point. McGee, Abby, and Palmer had decided to team up for safety's sake. Ziva had vanished shortly after Gibbs, and Tony was heckling McGee and Palmer. Ducky sighed at them as he went into a nearby fire watch tower to observe the game. He sounded a 5-minute warning to let them know they had five minutes before he started the game.

Not long after Ducky sounded the start-game signal, Palmer was down. Abby and McGee took a minute to realize that he wasn't with them anymore.

"Ok, we stick together and watch each other's backs right?"

"Right Abby…where's Palmer?"

"He was right behind us a second ago…"

"Do you think they got him already?"

They moved back a few yards and found Palmer sitting under a tree, a large red splotch of paint across his stomach.

"I'm down guys…sorry."

"Poor Palmer."

A few minutes later Tony was stalking McGee and Abby. He carefully maneuvered into position and shot McGee right in the middle of his back.

"Aw man…really Tony…in the back?"

"Gotcha McGeeky. I am the paintball king…"

Whatever he was about to say after that was cut off as he was hit in ass. A laughing Ziva dropped out of a nearby tree. She snickered at Tony's whining and cursing before leaving to track down Abby who had wisely run off. She was surprisingly fast despite the ridiculously tall boots she wore. Ziva finally caught up to her and eliminated her from the game. All of that took about a half hour…it took another whole hour before Gibbs finally took out Ziva and thereby ended the game. Everyone headed to the tower at Ducky's signal.

"The results of the game are as follows: The first one down was Mr. Palmer, taken out by Jethro; Next up was Timothy, taken out by Tony who was promptly eliminated by Ziva; Abby was then taken out by Ziva, and after the last hour Jethro finally managed to take out Ziva and is therefore the winner."

"I'm the paintball king…how the heck could I have lost…"

"Tony…who do you normally play this game with?"

"College Frat brothers, why Ziva?"

"Are any of them trained assassins or snipers?"

"Um…no…just typical guys."

"Then that is why you lost. You were playing as if it was still against people like them. You were not playing as though you were facing a former assassin and a Marine Sniper."

"Alright kids…playtime's over. We have a new case so head back to HQ and gear up."

"Uh…Boss? Think we could go home and change first?"

"Gibbs just smirked at him and motioned to the parking lot.