This came from a conversation with a friend when we went out bowling last night. Please tell me what you think.
No Beta so all mistakes are mine.
No Slash...I know, it's strange for me lol.
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"Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!" Abby screamed as she ran into the bullpen.
"What is it Abs?"
"You're coming with us tonight right?"
Gibbs sighed, "Abby, I'm tired."
"No! No excuses! We all need to get out and have some fun! Everybody else is already going to meet at the alley for dinner first. Pleeeeease! Just for one game?" Abby tried again. The entire team was going bowling and she had been tasked with trying to get the bossman there.
Gibbs looked up into the puppy eyes staring back at him and knew he was about to give in. He had always had a hard time saying no to Abby and especially with everything the team had been through together since Ziva left, he knew he couldn't let her down again.
"Fine. One game then I'm out!"
"Yay! You won't regret this Gibbs!" Abby yelled as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"Doubt that Abs. Go on get out of here."
"You're not gonna bail on us are you Mister?" She asked as she looked at him seriously and pointed her finger in his face.
He pushed her finger away from his face before grinning at her. "I'll come. Just give me time to finish the reports okay?"
"Okay."
Leaning in to kiss Abby on the cheek he nodded his head towards the elevator. Noticing her cue to leave Abby smiled at him before heading out, already texting Tony to tell him Gibbs was gonna be there.
An hour later Gibbs walked into the bowling alley and quickly noticed the motley crue across the room lacing up their shoes and picking out a ball to use. Looking around the spacious room, Gibbs looked to his left and saw McGee at the bar trying to flag down the bartender. Approaching the younger man Gibbs leaned against the bar next to him.
"Boss! You actually came?"
"Promised Abby." Gibbs said as he caught the bartender's eyes and nodded to her. She walked up to the two men and took their drink orders, quickly running back to grab their drinks. Once they were placed on the bar Gibbs put a bill on the counter then helped McGee carry the pitchers of beer back to the table.
"Look who I found!" McGee announced as he put the pitchers and cups he was holding down on the table.
"Gibbs!" Abby screeched as she hugged the older man. "You really came."
"Didn't trust me?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Wasn't about trust. It was a worry about you changing your mind."
Gibbs nodded and pulled back from her hug, sitting down at the end of the small table.
"Jethro, nice of you to join us." Ducky greeted his friend.
Gibbs just tilted his head up slightly in acknowledgement as he reached for the pitcher of beer closest to him.
"Boss, you gonna just sit and drink or are you going to actually join in on the game?" Tony asked from where he was sitting in front of the computer, ready to add Gibbs' name in if the man agreed. Gibbs could tell Tony had probably had a few drinks in him already while they were eating, as his words slurred slightly. He glanced around at the 6 hopeful looks around him and looked back at Tony. Seeing the answer on Gibbs' face Tony smiled then turned and added Gibbs' name to the monitor.
Grabbing his beer, Gibbs walked up to the counter to get his shoes and bowling ball before returning to his family who were already pouring beers all around.
"Toast!" Tony yelled, raising his cup in the air. He waited for everybody else to raise their cups before he started. "To our family, old and new," Tony nodded to Bishop with a smile, "We've been through way more than anybody ever should so let's get drunk and bowl our hearts out!" The table erupted in cheers as they all clanked their cups together and downed their beers in one gulp, all except Ducky who just sipped at his wine.
"Palmer, you're up first!" Bishop hollered as she looked up at the screen.
Palmer smiled before approaching the ball return. Grabbing his ball he smiled back at the group then ran as fast as he could up to the lane and just launched his ball down the aisle. They all laughed as it quickly spun towards the gutter but managed to skim one pin and knock it down. When the ball returned he repeated his throw and hit the end pin on the other side. Turning back towards the table Palmer smiled ear to ear, proud of himself for hitting something at least.
"Alright Bishop, show us what you got." McGee challenged.
Walking by, Bishop caught Gibbs eye and they shared a smile. Nobody else knew how athletic Bishop was or that she spent her extra time at the batting cages. They underestimated her. Standing in front of the lane, Bishop slowly started walking up. Deciding to go along with her friends' notions of her not doing so well, she intentionally guttered the ball just before it would reach the pins.
"That's okay, you still get another shot!" Tony encouragd, hiding his smirk behind his cup as he took another drink.
"Yeah okay." Bishop answered, trying to look disappointed in herself.
Grabbing her ball from the return she set her feet at the right spot and looked for her mark on the lane where she needed to get the ball. Crouching lower she slowly walked up then threw the ball with a slight spin to it and hit right in the front of the pins, knocking all ten of them down. Turning around with a satisfied smirk on her face she looked to her coworkers.
"Go Bishop!" Abby cheered, giving the blonde a high five.
"Very good job my dear." Ducky added.
"You hussled us!" Tony accused.
"How? I never said whether I could play or not. You just assumed. Gibbs, isn't there a rule about that?" She asked with a smile, trying not to laugh at the look on Tony's face.
"Number 8."
"Boss! You knew didn't you!"
Gibbs didn't answer. "Dinozzo, it's your turn."
Tony quickly grabbed his ball and ran up but instead of throwing the ball down the lane the normal way, he put his arm behind his back at the last second and threw the ball between his legs. Everybody was surprised when he made it all the way down the lane and knocked down 6 of the 10 pins.
"The hell was that?" McGee questioned the Italian's methods.
"Skill McBowler, that was all skill."
"No, I think that was all the beer you've had." Abby teased.
"Or both." Gibbs added.
"Thank you Boss...I think." Tony's face scrunched up in confusion as he tried to figure out if it was said as a compliment or not.
Grabbing the ball again Tony walked up to the lane then turned around and faced his friends. Bending over he looked through his legs and with two hands he pushed the ball down the lane. Not bothering to stand up, Tony placed his hands on the floor and watched through his legs as the ball travelled closer to the remaining pins. Seeing the last 4 fall down he stood up with a smile and returned to his seat. He looked up when he felt the gaze next to him.
"What Autopsy Gremlin?"
"How did you do that?"
"Secret."
Gibbs smiled at the interraction. He had always admired Tony's unique methods in the field and now they were all just seeing that in a new environment.
Abby grabbed her wrist guard off the table and put it on her hand before picking up her black ball with a skull on one side. Lining up she threw the ball and winced as the pins fell, leaving her with a 7/10 split. Hearing the words of encouragement from behind her and the obnoxious cheers from Tony and Palmer she smiled as she grabbed her ball again and tossed it towards the one side. Hitting the pin she held her breath as it jumped in the air and flew towards the other one. The pin skimmed against the last one standing and they all stood silently watching as it teetered back and forth. When the remaining pin righted itself and stood back up Abby's shoulders sagged as she walked back to the table, a smile still plastered on her face.
"This game is rigged!" She complained.
The group laughed at her antics as they looked back to the computer monitor. "Alright Duckman, show us how it's done!" Abby said with a nudge to the Scot's arm.
Ducky smiled at her before taking another sip of his wine and grabbing his ball. Knowing that running up to the lane would not be a wise choice he walked slowly up until he was standing right in front of the lane. Tossing his ball down the lane he smiled when it made contact and knocked a few of them down. As his friends cheered him on he grabbed his ball again and walked back up, tossing it in a smiliar fashion as he had done the previous throw. It rolled down the lane then continued on, going right between two standing pins and hitting the back wall.
"It's good!" Palmer hollered, holding his arms up like a football referee would after a kick had successfully gone through the uprights.
Ducky shook his head at his assistant. "Did you know the history of bowling my dear lad?" When Jimmy shook his head, Ducky shared the story. "The earliest most primitive forms of bowling can be dated back to Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. Records and artifacts were found in ancient Egypt, dating back 3000–5000 years ago. Balls, made of husks of corn, covered in material such as leather, and bound with string were made. Other balls, made of porcelain, also exist, indicating that these were rolled along the ground, rather than thrown, due to their size and weight..." as Ducky continued and Palmer nodded along to the story the rest of the group drowned them out as McGee downed the rest of his beer and walked up to the lane.
Standing at the starting point McGee stared down the lane, trying to use math and angles to figure out the best strategy to throw.
"C'mon McStall! Throw the dang ball already so you can get us more beer!" Tony jeered as he smiled drunkenly around the table at his friends.
McGee shook his head at Tony before walking up and throwing the ball at an angle down the lane. He smiled proudly when all the pins in the back fell down like dominos, just leaving the two up front for him to hit. Turning back around to retrieve his ball, Tim noticed Gibbs returning with pitchers of beer and he smiled at the older man, knowing he had gone up in place of McGee to get Tony more beer. With Tony reaching for the pitchers McGee was able to focus without the distractions of Tony yelling at him. Figuring out how hard he had to throw the ball and at what angle he had to do it in, McGee approached the lane and hurled his ball. He turned back to the group before the ball had finished its travel and a smile crossed his face when he heard the ball make contact with the pins.
"Way to go McGee!" Bishop congratulated as she grabbed the pitcher out of Tony's hand and poured her own drink.
"Gibbs! You're up!" Abby exclaimed, really excited to see Gibbs actually bowl with them.
Gibbs looked at her and before she could even give him the puppy dog eyes he stood up and grabbed his ball. Walking up with the ball hanging at his side, Gibbs just tossed it on the lane, not even trying. Nobody was surprised when it went into the gutter and Gibbs turned around, waiting for the ball so he could be done already.
"Giiiiiibbs! You have to at least try!" Abby complained.
"Yeah Boss, you can't do any worse than the rest of us. Who am I kidding? You're probably secretly a pro bowler. I don't think there's anything you can't do is there?" Tony asked.
"Shut you up." Gibbs said with a smirk at his Senior Field Agent.
"That's not nice Gibbs." Tony chastised as he waved his cup around.
"Gibbs, let's see if you can do better than Tony, McGee, and I. We did knock down all of our pins after all." Bishop teased, knowing their boss liked a competition.
"You challenging me Bishop?"
"Maybe, but if you're gonna bowl like that then I'm not all that worried about losing." she taunted with a smile.
The rest of the group just smiled and watched as the two stared each other down, knowing Gibbs would win but enjoying the fight in Ellie.
"You're on!" Gibbs boasted as he picked up his ball and turned back to the lane.
He took a deep breath and tried to focus. He channeled his inner sniper and tried to pinpoint where to hit with the ball. He wasn't about to admit to his team that he wasn't a great bowler. He hadn't been bowling since Kelly was about 5 and even then they had the bumpers up on the side for her. As he threw the ball he held his breath as it barrelled down the lane and hit right where he wanted it to. He turned and walked back as the pins erupted at the end of the aisle.
"Is that better?" Gibbs asked when he walked by Abby.
"Much!"
"Bishop?"
"It was okay I guess."
Gibbs smiled at the challenge in her words and nodded to her, signaling the beginning of their competition.
Three pitchers of beer and 9 frames later, Gibbs was back up at the lane, getting ready to bowl his last frame. Tony had lost his mojo after about his fifth beer and quickly dropped from the running for the winning game while McGee and Bishop continued to progress. Abby had gotten a few strikes and spares but she wasn't as close as Mcgee, Bishop, and Gibbs were to the top spot. Seeing that McGee was ahead of Bishop by one pin and Gibbs needed to get at least two strikes to win, Gibbs threw his ball down the lane. Abby, Tony, and Palmer all jumped and cheered as Gibbs got another strike.
"Worried yet Probie?" Tony taunted.
"Lucky shot. He still needs another one to beat me." McGee smiled, enjoying the laid back feeling of the night. Originally he had felt guilty about coming out when Delilah was stuck at home but she told him to get out and enjoy himself and he definitely was.
Gibbs looked over his shoulder at the cocky grin on McGee's face. Seeing everyone looking to him he grabbed his ball again and lined up. As he reached the lane and tossed the ball, his foot skidded on the floor and he stumbled slightly. The slight variation of his throw caused the ball to go further to the left and only knocked down 5 of the pins, the remaining 5 were scattered around with no obvious way to hit them all down.
"Yes!" McGee cheered and high fived Bishop next to him.
"It's not over yet Timothy. You should know not to undersestimate Jethro when it comes to a competition or difficult situation." Ducky admonished, enjoying the night immensely.
All eyes returned to Gibbs as he made his final approach. Knowing he had to throw the ball harder and hope the pins went where he wanted them to Gibbs chucked the ball as hard as he could and waited. The pins exploded and when the chaos stopped everybody looked down the lane and saw one lone pin left standing.
McGee jumped up into Tony's arms who lifted him as if he had just won the Super Bowl and did a victory dance around the alley. The rest of the group laughed and cheered as Gibbs returned to his seat, smiling at the two men's antics.
"Great game guys!" Palmer congratulated the table.
"We're not done yet are we?" Abby asked Gibbs, hoping he did stay for more than just the one game he had promised.
Gibbs sighed and shook his head no. Smiling when everybody cheered and Palmer quickly went back up to start another game.