"I can't believe that I let you guys talk me into this."
McGee winced as he received four simultaneous, identical glares.
"Okay, I might be wrong, so I'll ask for a little clarification here. Does anyone else remember McMischief over there saying he wanted to have some Halloween fun, tonight?"
Tim rolled his eyes when he saw the rest of the team nod in agreement with Tony.
"I didn't say I wanted the victim to be Gibbs. That's not fun, that's suicide."
"No you didn't," Abby admitted, "I did!"
"And you are very proud of your idea, Abby."
Ziva shook her head in amusement and chuckled lowly, eyes glued to her binoculars and locked across the street. She jumped when the porch light went out, signaling that Gibbs was no longer expecting trick-or-treaters to come to his door.
"He is gone. We should give him a few minutes to reach the basement, but then I believe that it will be safe to get into position."
"I'll go for the stuff."
Tony started for the door, only to have Tim and Palmer grab him back.
"Are you insane? He only turned the light off a second ago, he could still be watching!"
"Palmer's right DiNozzo, wait a minute."
The older agent groaned and tapped his foot in impatience, while Ziva and Abby exchanged a long look. Men were idiots, especially their surrogate brothers.
"Alright. Everyone, go."
The team scrambled out of the car and efficiently gathered their equipment from the trunk. Each of them quickly began to put their part of the plan into action.
McGee started with his newly revealed specialty, launching as many rolls of white paper into the trees as possible. He watched in satisfaction as they caught at the top and began to unravel into the branches.
The task of spraying aerosol string into the bushes was left to Palmer, who was very relieved that the team was executing their plan at Agent Gibbs' house rather than Doctor Mallard's. He'd grown a healthy respect for his mentor over the years, and was considerably more afraid of him than the team leader.
Ziva was in charge of placing plastic forks deep into the front lawn. Just when she thought she was used to the customs of her new country, something like this came about.
Abby and Tony, who had originally planned to throw eggs at the front door had run into an issue. The sound of eggs breaking against the door would no doubt rouse Gibbs from the basement.
Shrugging, she sat down on the step and neatly cracked her first egg on the edge of the porch, dropping the yolk onto the concrete and stacking the shell in a tidy pile on the doormat. Tony stared at her as she repeated the process before crouching down and following suit.
Soon, there were eggs scattered all around the patio, the step, and the sidewalk. The lawn was in a state of less... organized disarray.
Admiring her work, Abby cast a serene glance towards her large collection of eggshells. They were as orderly as they could possibly be until a large foot crashed down on them from above.
"Hey! You're making a mess!"
Looking up, expecting to see DiNozzo and preparing to scold him, her eyes widened when she spotted an entirely different man.
Shit.
"Scramble! Abort the mission!"
The team obeyed, dropping what they were doing and making a mad dash for the car. Abby attempted to scramble to her feet, but she'd surrounded herself with the egg yolks and there was no free space to help herself up.
Gibbs sighed and bent down, plucking her up from her seat and carrying her inside.
The others watched in horror as their friend disappeared into the house.
"We have to go back," Ziva announced, reaching into the backseat to wrap her hand around the heavy bottle she found there. After taking a long swig, she passed it to Tony.
The other agent hesitated, before nodding and gulping his own mouthful down.
"You know, Gibbs wouldn't really hurt her. It wouldn't be so bad to just leave her there."
Tim soon felt a heavy hand land a smack to the back of his head.
"You never leave a man behind, McGee! What the hell kind of agent are you?"
"I don't know, Tony," he muttered, following the others back to the house, "Maybe a smart one."
They took their positions, McGee and Tony at the back door, and Ziva and Palmer trying to avoid the eggs at the front.
Taking a deep breath, Ziva backed up and prepared to kick the door in. Before she had a chance to make contact, the door swung open and she spotted Gibbs leaning against the doorframe.
Peering over his shoulder, her partners came into view, sitting dejectedly on the couch.
Damnit. It was over. They'd been caught and captured.
"When is he going to come get us?
Tony shrugged, leaning back against his wrung of the boat, tossing the sanding block up and down. Looking thoughtful, Abby snatched it out of the air.
"Maybe, he's not. At all."
"What do you mean, Abby?"
"This could be our punishment. He might just leave us down here for the rest of our lives."
Groaning, Tony grabbed the sanding block back and put Abby's mug back in her hand.
"Drink your coffee, Abbs. I think you need to sober up a bit more."
Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck, nervously.
"What are the odds that he won't tell Doctor Mallard?"
The others all took long sips of their coffee, refusing to meet the autopsy gremlin's eyes. Jimmy sighed. He'd thought so.
Just then, the basement door creaked open and Gibbs stomped his way down, cell phone tucked between his ear and shoulder.
"I don't know what got into them, Duck."
"Well, yeah, I do," he corrected himself, "A whole lot of liquid courage got into them."
He raised his eyes to stare at Palmer.
"Yeah, Duck. I'm sure he was involved. Yeah, I'll take care of it. Thanks, Duck."
Snapping his phone shut, Gibbs gaze panned over all of them.
Yeah, they were dead for sure.