AUTHOR'S NOTE - At the end, so as not to spoil anything. Also probably semi-crack, but Idk. Judge for yourself. :)

DISCLAIMER - I own nothing.

ENJOY!


LORD OF THE FLIES

Basement was quiet; quiet was what he liked, what made the worries of the day disappear. Quiet was what let Leroy Jethro Gibbs be alone with his thoughts.

The said quiet of the basement was only challenged by the sound of sanding paper against the wooden surface of the large dining table and, occasionally, the sound of a coffee mug being gently put on the countertop.

That was, of course, until the shrill, offending and endlessly annoying sound of a ringing cell phone was heard.

Gibbs sighed, stopping the motion of his arms and breathing deeply once, twice, hoping it was not dispatch. Slowly, he made his way towards the phone and a small smile graced his lips when he saw who was calling.

"Yes?" – He drawled into the receiver.

"Jethro," – the name was said in urgency.

"Jen?" – He challenged.

"I need you to come over."

"Why?"

"Because. I need you-" – Jenny sighed loudly, pausing as if thinking what to say next.

There was a moment or two of silence and Gibbs tried to gauge what was going on and if his boss was in any real danger.

"I need to show you something," – she said in the end, with the air of finality.

His phone manners might not have been top-notch, but he was very rarely at the receiving end of the beeping noise.

She hung up on him.

Gibbs drained the rest of his coffee before rolling his eyes and moving towards the stairs. This was going to be a long night. His gut was never wrong.

He barely knocked on the thick wooden door of a Georgetown brownstone when it all but flew open, revealing one very flushed looking Jenny Shepard on the other side.

Was she standing by the door, waiting for him?

He opened his mouth to greet her and possibly enquire why she called him so urgently on a Friday evening, but no sound managed to pass his lips before he was being dragged inside.

"Come!" – She said, sounding suspiciously over-excited.

Gibbs managed to hold back a sigh of annoyance as he was being dragged across the house and up the stairs. He slowly lifted his eyebrows when she stopped in front of her open bedroom door, and only then did he realise she wasn't wearing much but an oversized NCIS T-shirt.

He looked at her patiently for a few seconds, waiting for an explanation, but when none came, he followed her gaze.

There was a cat. On her bed. Sleeping.

"Huh," – Jenny said, never looking away from the cat. "He was just doing it now, when I called you."

"Doing what?" – Gibbs asked, looking from the cat to Jenny and then back at the animal. "And who is he?"

"Tobias," – Jenny murmured, looking slightly disappointed.

"Excuse me?" – Gibbs half shouted at her.

That seemed to shake her up and she focused her eyes on him. And smiled.

"Gibbs, meet Tobias," – she said with a smirk, and then added as an afterthought – or a clarification – "The pussy."

Gibbs shifted his eyes back to the tabby sleeping carelessly at the foot of the bed, its tiny paws twitching as it dreamt.

"You have a cat?" – He asked, moving into the room slightly. "And you named it Tobias?"

"Him, and yes," – she followed him, reaching the bed and sitting slowly next to the sleeping kitten, petting it gently. "I got him a week ago, because I get lonely and he needed a place to stay. He's only three months old."

Gibbs looked as the small creature furrowed its head into Jenny's palm and a serene smile appeared on Jenny's face. He moved to sit next to the pair.

"Jenny," – she focused back on him, still petting the kitten. "Why'd you call me?"

Jenny bit her lower lip, looking guilty for a second before giggling quietly.

"Jen," – he growled.

"Tobias was, um, he was catching flies and I wanted you to see it."

Gibbs glared at her, outraged but unsure how to reply. He was about to get up and leave when suddenly a weight pressed on his lap as Tobias made himself comfortable. He sniffled up Gibbs's USMC hoodie before kneading at it with his paws and curling up.

"Hey," – Gibbs protested half-heartedly, bringing his hand to pet Tobias anyways.

"Shhh!"

"Don't you shush me! You dragged me here in the middle of the night to watch your sleeping cat catch flies!"

"Jethro, it's hardly middle of the night," – Jenny stated, lying down on her side, looking at Gibbs's hand as it played with Tobias's fur. "Besides, it's not like you were doing anything but sanding your boat."

"I was not sanding the boat," – Gibbs snapped, lying down on his back and looking at Jenny beside him.

Tobias started purring loudly, making both other habitants of the room smile.

"Oh," – Jenny said faux-apologetically. "What was it then, a chair?"

Gibbs grunted something.

"What was that?" – Jenny teased, reaching to pet Tobias as well.

"Kitchen table," – Gibbs sighed in defeat.

She outright laughed at that, startling Tobias from his sleep. He looked up from Gibbs lap, stared at her for a few seconds before getting up, walking across Gibbs's abdomen and chest and in the direction of Jenny's nightstand.

She sat up immediately and reached for Gibbs, who was still trying to brush off the imaginary hairs from his sweatshirt.

"Look at him now!"

Tobias pounced onto the nightstand, stood on his back feet and propped himself on the wall with his front. For the next few minutes, he proceeded to try and catch one of the many tiny bugs flying around Jenny's night lamp and Gibbs was torn between enjoying the show or enjoying the way Jenny's eyes glazed over with pride as she watched it.

Finally, Tobias, satisfied with his catch, jumped off the bed and walked out of the bedroom, not looking at them once.

Jenny looked after him for a second before turning her eyes back to Gibbs and smiling almost apologetically.

"I can't believe you called me over for this," – he said, meaning to sound pissed off, or at least stern, but knew he failed when she didn't even bother to walk him out.

She didn't have to wait long for the revenge to be executed: Monday morning found the door of her office slammed open by none other than a pissed off FBI agent.

"You named a kitten after me?!"


- THE END -


A/N: This story was requested - nay, ordered - by Alexa, aka madame alexandra way, way back. It was inspired by the video of my cat - Gibbs the cat - trying to catch flies.

Such drama queens, those guys, eh? :)