A/N: Well, well, well.. summer's finally here and look who has nothing to do :) This is going to be a little bit of a more challenging story for me, so I hope everyone can bear with... Chapters may not pop up so quickly, but I'm going to do my best.
Just my own little quick disclaimer, "I don't own nothin'."
Hope everyone enjoys :)
"What... in the hell are you doing, Dinozzo."
Kate had looked up briefly from the agonizing pile of files and paperwork that haphazardly littered her desk, and, uncharacteristically, some of her floor. Tony was leaning back in his chair -just enough to escape the risk of falling ass backwards- and was desperately trying to balance a pen, upright on his nose. Watching as it tumbled and fell to the floor, he sighed in frustration. "Probie told me that this kid, on the 4th floor? Balanced a pencil, on his nose... for two minutes," he said, holding up two fingers with emphatic amazement. Tony shrugged and picked up his pen from the floor, "If he could do it... someone as skillful and cunning as myself, well.. c'mon..." he scoffed as he leaned his head back and resumed his mission with scary concentration.
Kate blinked. "What are you, 10..? How many files do you have left...?"
"Oh, I dunno..." he held the pen lightly to his nose, mumbling, "two or three."
Kate leaned slightly up from her chair, peering over at her partner's desk to see more paperwork than hers and McGee's combined. "Oh Tony, c'mon! Are you kidding me?"
"Who's kidding what?" Gibbs strode into the bullpen, appearing out of nowhere in particular. Tony fell -ass backwards- out of his chair and hit the floor—not knowing whether to get up or lay still and play dead, he took too long in making that decision. Gibbs stared down at him with raised eyebrows that articulated plenty, but he chose to question him anyway.
"There a problem, Dinozzo?" Tony just shook his head, remaining with his back to the floor. "Then get up...!"
The Agent scrambled to his feet faster than he fell.
Kate still stood at her desk with her head bowed, one hand on the table top and the other shielding her eyes and her smile from her team, primarily from Gibbs. She desperately performed an internal search for some sort of composure. Don't laugh. Don't look up. Don't laugh. Don't. Laugh. Through her secret mantra, Kate didn't notice Gibbs coming up beside her until she felt his breath on her cheek. "Is there a problem, Agent Todd..?" He whispered by her ear, just loud enough for Kate to hear him correctly. She gave him a shake of the head and shook away her smile, turning to look him in the face. "No. No problem." He lingered next to her for a short-lived eternity, his eyes seeming to challenge every inch of her. She didn't bite. The longer she holds out from blinking first, the longer he'd stay. She loves the smell of him.
He turned on his heel and strode towards his desk. "Good.. Now that we have that under control," he shot a look at Tony before continuing, "There's a double homicide down at Archibald's, I need you to---"
"Gas the truck." Piped Tony.
"Grab the gear." McGee chimed.
Gibbs looked at his agents, his eyes stopping with Kate. "--- not get ahead of ourselves. I need you to start vetting and getting all the information you can about the employees, the system..."
"We're not getting the scene?" Tony questioned, sitting back down in his chair.
Gibbs paused, "DC Homicide is taking care of it."
Whenever they didn't have access to a crime scene, it meant one of two things; they didn't have the clearance, or… "When are we going under..?" Kate asked as she walked to the middle of the bullpen with her arms folded across her chest. They hadn't gone undercover in awhile. Kate supposed they were due.
Gibbs walked over and sent some images up on the plasma. "48 hours. We'll have more hard information in the morning. This is what's been sent to us so far." He nodded up to the screen and then turned to face them. "Lieutenant Harcourt and a Miss Benassi were found this morning, single gunshot wounds. I've sent Ducky down… he should be back with more for us." The three agents looked over the plasma carefully as Gibbs walked back to his desk. "Until then, get everything you can find about personnel histories and…" he paused again, getting lost in a thought, "and operations."
The agents nodded and prepared for the usual vetting process. McGee frowned a little, sitting back in his chair. "Boss.. Archibald's, isn't... isn't that a, uh." He fumbled in his confusion. "... Gentleman's club..?" Tony's head snapped up.
"A strip club?" Tony quickly swiveled to look from McGee to Gibbs, "We're going under in a strip club?"
As Tony was questioning what lottery he had just won, Kate did some simple logic and obvious arithmetic. Her eyes shot up, looking to Gibbs. Her mouth hung open slightly, in an almost invisible question meant just for him.
Gibbs let out a grunt. "I need coffee." He strode out of the bullpen and down the hall just as quickly as when he'd arrived.
