"Thanks, Kasie," McGee says quickly, and turns to head back to the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he sees something that makes him stop point-blank, spin on his heel, and move in for closer inspection.
"Kasie. Why do you have this?" He asks, his eyes wide, as he gestures at the picture she's got hanging above her work station, a candid shot of an attractive young woman whose long dark hair is swinging in the wind as she dances at some kind of outdoor concert. "Is she okay? Is she involved in another case I haven't heard about?"
Kasie steps close enough to see what's got Tim in freak-out mode, then furrows her eyebrows. "'Another case?' What are you talking about, McGee? Do you know her?"
"Uh, yeah, I know her!" Tim exclaims. Kasie really wishes he'd keep his voice down; she's standing right in front of him, after all. "Why do you have her photo?"
"Um, because I like to look at my pretty girlfriend sometimes in between going through gross crime scene samples," she says, scoffing as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Your turn: what are you talking about, and why are you so upset?"
"Girlfriend?" Tim repeats dumbly. His face has gone completely slack. After a minute, he shakes his head. "No, she's not your girlfriend," he explains, "She's straight."
With a short, dry laugh and raised eyebrows, Kasie smirks and says, "I don't know where you're getting your information, McGee, but after last weekend, I can most definitely assure you that there is no way in hell she's straight." She pauses, lost for a moment in the memory of time definitely well spent, then remembers that she still doesn't know why McGee is losing his marbles. She's really hoping he's not just being homophobic, because he seems really cool and she'd hate to have to add him to The List.
"Anyway," Kasie asks, waving her hand through the air a little as if to brush aside for the moment all thoughts of last weekend, homophobes, and The List, "How do you know her, McG – " She cuts herself off with a sharp laugh of realization. "McGee!" She exclaims. She gestures back and forth from the picture to her coworker as she spells it out, "Sarah McGee, Tim McGee! Are you guys related? Is that how you know her?"
She's wasting her breath, though; a very horrified McGee completely stopped listening back when Kasie started making insinuations about her sex life, and by now he's on his way back to the stairs, tapping away at his phone, muttering under his breath, and looking very troubled indeed.
Just moments after Tim makes his exit, the elevator dings, and Kasie looks over her shoulder from her monitor to see Nick and Ellie step off, each holding an evidence jar that she can only assume they got from autopsy.
"Hey, Kasie," Bishop greets her. "Jimmy sent us up with –"
"I'm going to stop you right there!" Kasie exclaims, her lab coat floating behind her as she rushes to meet the agents in the doorway, photo in hand. At the surprise on Bishop's face and Nick's mildly affronted expression, she tries again. "I mean, thank you, Agents Bishop and Torres, for the evidence. I will examine it extensively in just a few minutes," she says quickly, and Ellie gives half a chuckle of confusion at her rushed over-formality.
"Okay," she says as soon as she's set the evidence jars on her table. "I have to ask you guys a question."
"Is it, uh, about the case?" Nick asks, cocking his head to the side.
"Not at all," Kasie says, brushing aside the silly notion that what has her so worked up could be even remotely work-related. Nick rolls his eyes but smiles. She shows them both the photo and asks, "Do you guys know who this is?"
Both agents study the picture carefully for a moment. Bishop finally speaks first. "I don't recognize her, Kasie," she says apologetically.
"Me neither," Nick confirms. "Is she okay, though?"
"Oh, she's great," Kasie says with a grin. "She's actually my new girlfriend, but McGee got really agitated when he saw her picture down here. I'm trying to figure out how he knows her." She briefly considers telling Nick and Ellie about Sarah and Tim's shared surname, but decides she wants to check with one more person first.
"Well, thanks anyway, guys," She grabs the evidence jars off the table as Bishop and Torres head for the elevator. "Go find this guy!" She adds encouragingly as the metal doors slide shut.
It takes about an hour to process the new evidence from the body, but as soon as she gets it done, she rushes down to autopsy under the (perfectly reasonable) guise of telling Dr. Palmer what she found. The real object of her visit, though, is tucked carefully into the pocket of her lab coat. Although Nick and Ellie seem like old NCIS standbys by her own standards, she knows from Dr. Mallard that they've actually only been here a few years. Jimmy, though, has been here nearly as long as McGee himself, so she's hoping he might have a little more insight into the mysterious relationship between Tim and Sarah.
"Oh, hey, Kasie," Jimmy says happily, abandoning the email he's drafting and spinning around in his desk chair when he hears the familiar whoosh of the autopsy doors. "What's up?"
"Jimmy!" she exclaims, rushing across the metal floor as quick as her sneakers can carry her. "Do you know this girl?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Palmer chuckles at her unexpected urgency, but takes the photo carefully from Kasie's hand and gives it a close look. "Oh, yeah," he says after a moment's examination, "That's Sarah McGee." He looks up, and the confused frown on his face only deepens when he sees the eager grin on Kasie's. "Is she wrapped up in another case?"
"'Another case?' Why do you guys keep saying that?" Kasie wonders aloud, then backtracks. "No, wait! Don't answer that. Yet. First: who is she to our McGee?" she asks, bouncing in her shoes in anticipation of Jimmy's answer.
"Oh, well she's Tim's little sister," he explains, adjusting his round glasses on his nose. "We all kind of met her when she was suspected in a murder case a while back."
That takes Kasie aback significantly. "Murder?! Well, she didn't do it, did she?" She demands.
Jimmy chuckles. "No, no," he waves off her concern. "Sarah was totally cleared. So, uh, how do you know her?"
Kasie grins, relieved to know that Sarah's not a killer and excited to tell Jimmy about her whirlwind romance. "We're actually seeing each other!" she says happily.
"Oh, wow! That's great, Kasie!" Jimmy grins warmly and places an encouraging hand on her arm. After a brief moment, the smile falls off his face almost comically quickly. "Does Tim know yet?" he asks, quietly, seriously, bordering on conspiratorially.
Kasie laughs. "He saw her photo in my lab earlier today," she explains, "And let's just say I think Sarah's going to be getting an interesting phone call from her brother today."
He grins; remembering the way Tim acted when Abby started dating that Burt guy, that sounds like exactly how McGee'd react if he found out Sarah was seeing someone, let alone someone he works with.
"Are you guys serious?" Palmer asks, and Kasie grins but looks down, and Jimmy's thinking that if she were about half a shade paler, a serious blush would be all over her face right about now. "Kasie, that's great!" he exclaims. He stands up out of his chair and leans against his desk, arms crossed casually across his chest. "Hey, you guys should come over for dinner with Breena and me sometime," he suggests. He really likes Kasie, has been hoping for a chance to try and get to know her better outside of work, a double dinner date seems like just the perfect opportunity.
"That sounds really great, Jimmy," Kasie smiles, happy to be included in an extracurricular with a coworker. She laughs a little and adds, "If Sarah survives her call from McGee, I'll let you know."