Title: A Friend In Need
Written for as hangman fic for smackalicious, and for the Irregular Occurrence Challenge and Adventures in Babysitting Challenge
Genre: Humor/Fluff (yes, really). Slightly crackish. Not much in the way of plot. One-shot.
Rating: FR 7/K+
Characters: Tobias Fornell, Emily Fornell, Jimmy Palmer (and a little bit of Gibbs)
Prompt: Fornell/Jimmy Palmer/home alone
Summary: Fornell has a problem and Gibbs sends him a solution.
"Damn it, Gibbs, I'm desperate!"
Fornell could almost hear the smirk form on the other man's face.
"Might explain why you married Diane. Doesn't explain why you're asking what you're asking."
The FBI agent growled in frustration as his fingers gripped the phone even tighter.
"This isn't funny, Jethro. I'm stuck and you owe me. I really need your help."
"Would if I could, but I'm in the middle of a case. You know how that goes."
"Yeah, I do, but-"
"You couldn't find anyone else?"
"Not on such short notice. Look, my mother has the flu, Diane is off for the entire weekend on a cruise with her newest fling, every agency I called is booked solid, and I don't know any of the locals that well. I have to be at this meeting. If I don't, my boss will have my head."
"And you expect me to help?"
"YES!"
He heard a sigh on the other end. "I'll see if I can spare someone. Best I can do, Tobias. I'll call you back."
"Thanks."
Fornell put the phone back in the receiver and sighed. Of all the nights for the director to call a special meeting, it had to be this one.
"Daddy?"
He looked down at the beautiful little blonde seated at the kitchen table and his anger disappeared.
"Yes, Emily?"
"What's wrong?"
"I…have to go out for awhile. I'm trying to find someone to stay with you while I'm gone."
"I'm a big girl. I can stay by myself."
"I'm afraid not, sweetie. You're not big enough for that yet."
"Then can I go with you?"
"I'm sorry, but this is for work. You know I can't bring you along."
"Bad guy stuff, huh?"
That's putting it mildly. "Yeah, bad guy stuff."
Suddenly the phone rang and he rushed to answer it. "Gibbs, tell me you have someone."
"Yep, they're on their way. Guess that makes us even now, Tobias."
"Thanks, Gibbs. Wait, who-?" He was greeted by the sound of a dial tone and he cursed silently. You better not have sent me that Mossad assassin of yours, Jethro. Or that smartass ex-cop.
Fornell hung up the phone and sighed. Beggars can't be choosers. He sat down at the table and watched his daughter as she studiously colored in the new book he had bought for her. She was a pretty self-reliant kid, but still he worried. He just hoped the trouble that seemed to follow Gibbs' team wouldn't make its way to his house. He had enough of his own to deal with.
Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang and Fornell got up to answer it. I wonder who it will be? The Goth? The Geek? He reached the door, checked the peephole, and groaned. Great. He opened the door to reveal a young man with wavy brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses.
"Hi, Agent Fornell. Agent Gibbs sent me. I'm-"
"Palmer. I remember. Come in."
"Yes, sir."
Once the younger man was inside, Fornell shut the door and turned to him.
"Do you have any experience looking after kids, Palmer?"
"Uh, yes, sir. My cousin has twin boys...they're 8. I've watched them for her once or twice."
"That it?"
"I…uh, I'm afraid so. I did take a class in child psychology once, if that helps. I'm also well trained in first aid…not that I expect to need it or anything."
Fornell sighed. "I guess you'll do." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Alarm codes, my cell number, and my office number. Do not, under any circumstances, answer the door or turn off the alarm. If anything happens, call me first. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Emily's bedtime is 8:30, but she can stay up as late as 9:00. No later. Dinner's in the oven. Make sure she eats at least some of the vegetables."
"OK."
"She's allowed to watch one movie before bedtime. Her DVDs are in the box labeled 'Em's Movies'. Do not let her watch anything else. There's popcorn in the cabinet over the stove if she wants it. Just make sure she brushes her teeth before bed."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"One last thing."
"Sir?"
"Do not talk about your job."
"U-understood, sir."
"Good. Follow me."
Emily looked up from her coloring as the two men walked into the kitchen and she smiled. "Hi, Daddy. Who's he?"
"This is Palmer. He'll be looking after you while I'm gone."
Palmer crouched down and held out his hand. "You can call me Jimmy."
She shook the proffered hand. "I'm Emily. How do you know my daddy?"
"He works for Uncle Jethro," replied Fornell and shot Palmer a warning look.
"Oh, OK. How long will you be gone, Daddy?"
"Hopefully not too long. Now be good for Jimmy, OK?"
"OK." She jumped up from her seat and hugged her father. "'Bye."
"Goodbye, sweetie." He noticed Palmer was watching them with a rather sappy grin on his face, which disappeared as soon as he caught the older man's glare. Fornell ruffled Emily's hair and started towards the front door, but after he was out of sight he stopped to listen.
"So, what do you want to do, Emily? Do you want to have dinner now? No? How about a movie."
"How about a game?"
"OK. What do you want to play?"
"Oh, you'll love it! It's my favorite!"
Fornell grinned to himself and almost wished he had installed that surveillance camera. It looked like Palmer would be in for an interesting evening.
XXX
I'm really glad Tony isn't here, thought Jimmy. I'd never hear the end of this…
"Do I really have to wear everything?" he asked out loud. His companion giggled and nodded.
"You can't be the Pretty Princess unless you do," she explained. "Now don't be silly. Put them on."
"The bracelet doesn't really fit," he muttered as he tried to fit the gaudy elastic over his hand. "I don't want to break it."
"It's OK. The rest should be fine. Here, I'll help." She slipped the string of lavender beads over his head and attached the matching clip earrings to each ear. She then squeezed a circle of plastic, adorned with a large purple faceted stone, on his pinky. "Now all you need is the crown!"
Wonderful…
"Your turn," he said with a somewhat forced smile. He just hoped the game would be over before Fornell got home. He'd never live this down if that happened.
Emily took her turn, which gained her a necklace of her own. She handed the wheel to Jimmy who gave it an unenthusiastic spin. When the pointer hit its mark, he groaned as Emily squealed in delight and placed the plastic crown on his head. "You win, Jimmy! Can we play again?"
"You know, Emily, I think it's time for dinner. Then maybe we can play another game?"
"OK."
They gathered the pieces up and put the game back in the box, much to Jimmy's relief. He instructed Emily to set the table while he got the dinner out of the oven. To his surprise, it looked and smelled really good.
"Pot roast. One of my favorites." He noticed Emily's expression. "What's wrong?"
"It's got green things in it. I don't like green things."
"You mean vegetables?"
"Yeah."
"Well…try the orange things. They're good, right?"
"I guess…" She picked up a carrot and took a tentative bite, smiled, and continued eating.
Jimmy sighed in relief. Mission accomplished.
When the meal was finished and the dishes were done, Emily dashed to the living room and returned with another board game. "Can we play this? Daddy doesn't like to play, he says he gets enough of it at work. Why would Daddy be playing this as work?"
Jimmy looked at the name of the game and laughed. "Aggravation. I think I understand that one, Emily." She gave him a puzzled look. "Never mind."
"Do you play this at work, too? For Uncle Jethro?"
"I, uh…I don't work for him, well, not directly. I work for Dr. Mallard." Oops.
"Ducky? He talks to dead people and makes them tell him stuff. Do you talk to dead people?"
"Uh…not like Ducky does."
"Oh."
"Let's set the game up and get started, OK?" He said, hoping to avoid breaking one of Fornell's edicts even more than he already had.
"OK." While Emily set up the game board, Jimmy read the rules. He sighed. No plastic jewelry required, just marbles and dice. I think I can handle this one. How bad can it be?
*ten minutes later*
"Oh come on, not again!"
Jimmy groaned as Emily clapped her hands and put his marble back in the storage space for his "men" before replacing it with her own marble.
"Now you have to start over."
"Great. Who knew a six-year old could be so cut-throat?"
"What's that mean?"
"Uh…well, focused on winning, I guess."
"I like to win."
"Unless it involves making me look silly."
"But that was winning!" She fell into a fit of giggles and he managed a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, OK…Now," he said, and gave the die a good shake. "Come on, six!"
Half an hour later, Emily set her last marble in the "home" spot and cheered, while Jimmy smiled at her enthusiasm. "Good game."
"Thank you, Jimmy, that was fun. Do you want to play again?"
"I don't think my ego could take it. How about a movie?"
"With popcorn?"
"I think I can manage that," he said as he put the game away. "Go pick a good one and I'll be there as fast as I can."
"OK." She skipped off.
Jimmy searched the cabinet and found a box of microwave popcorn. After he had prepared one of the bags, he found a bowl, poured the contents of the bag into it, and headed for the living room. Emily was waiting on the couch, DVD box in hand.
"So, what are we watching?" She showed him the DVD. "Home Alone? Isn't that a Christmas movie?"
"So?"
"Well…it's July."
"So?"
"OK, good point." He put the movie in the player and they settled back to watch. Jimmy had to grin as the little girl started to recite the dialog right along with the actors, and he couldn't help but join in.
XXX
It was almost 9:00 when Fornell put his key in the front door and stopped to listen. He could just hear the muffled voices, and couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face. Sounds like they got along just fine. He opened the door, took care of the alarm, and stepped inside.
Emily and Palmer were sitting on the couch with an empty bowl between them. She was curled up, her head on his chest, and he had one arm wrapped around her shoulder as they watched the final scene. Just as the credits started, he saw Emily's eyes droop shut. Palmer carefully disentangled himself and rose from the sofa, turned towards Fornell and jumped slightly when he noticed the agent. Fornell himself noticed something and barely managed to keep the smile off his face.
"Everything OK, Palmer?" he asked with mock severity.
"Uh, yes, sir," Palmer whispered. "Everything's fine." He checked his watch and paled. "Uh, sorry, the movie was a bit longer than I remembered. I, uh, I should get her to bed."
"I'll take care of it. Any problems?"
"No, sir. Everything was fine."
"Good." He pulled out his wallet and handed Palmer a couple of bills.
"That's really not necessary, Agent Fornell."
"Oh, I insist. It's the least I can do for all your trouble."
"Well…thank you. And it was no trouble. I…I had fun."
"Yes, I can see that."
"Sir?"
"Good night, Palmer. Thanks for your help."
"You're welcome, Agent Fornell." He turned to leave.
"Palmer, one more thing?"
"Yes, sir?"
He quickly reached out and plucked an object from Palmer's ear before holding it out for the younger man to see. "This really isn't your color."
Palmer's face turned bright red and Fornell gave him a pat on the back.
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me…Princess."
The End
A/N: Yes, Aggravation and Pretty Pretty Princess are real games. My niece (who also hates "green things") used to subject me to the latter, and my nephew still subjects me to the former. Lucky me :/
Yes, I know, it's not my usual fare. I'd love to know what you think, regardless.