Gibbs and his team arrived at the Army-Navy golf course in record time. He had been warned by Director Shepard that the Army Criminal Investigative Division (CID) would be eager to steal the case, and she was right. Lt. Col. Hollis Mann was already hard at work when they arrived.
Gibbs barked orders to his team and set off to clarify things with Lt. Col. Mann. He had been surprised at her straight-forwardness, and the fact that she seemed to be unaffected by his harsh tone and even harder look. Ziva stood silently, pretending to search through the crime scene photos while she observed the power-struggle between them.
"What's happening?" Tony asked, sauntering up to her noticing her attention was on Gibbs.
Ziva looked entertained. "Gibbs just met his fourth ex-wife." Her eyes met Tony's briefly and she gave a slight nod towards their boss.
Tony lowered his voice. "You think they'll make it that far? Twenty bucks says Gibbs won't give up this case unless he is put in a body bag first."
"DiNozzo! David!" Gibbs waved them over to where he stood beside Hollis.
"Yes, boss?" They called out in unison, as they jogged towards Gibbs. He didn't look pleased, his hand nearly crushing the white coffee cup he was holding. They were quick to notice the look of satisfaction on Col. Mann's face.
"This will be a joint investigation." He paused to take a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee. "Make sure Colonel Mann receives a copy of everything."
Tony and Ziva stared at their boss momentarily before exchanging glances; Ziva looked a tad smug as she mouthed 'Twenty bucks.' Tony rolled his eyes and nodded slightly.
"Uh, ok boss." Tony gave Hollis his best ladies-man smile. "Anything else?"
"No."
Once they had walked far enough away from Gibbs, Tony dug a crisp twenty dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to Ziva. Nothing good can come from working with this woman Hollis. Nothing.
---
Tony strutted into the office to find McGee and Ziva working with Hollis. He paused as he had the briefest of brief feelings, likely what Gibbs would call a gut feeling, in which this woman was not supposed to be part of their team.
"I'll update the BOLO." Tony heard Ziva say as she moved from the center of the squad room to her computer.
"What BOLO?" Tony continued towards his desk.
He had expected a response from Ziva, but Hollis was quick to answer him "Well, we've cleared the golf course and we've added everyone as they were leaving, but we don't have any record of this '99 Toyota leaving. The owner's a greens-keeper..."
"He must have used a service entrance and snuck out before we covered them all." McGee finished for her.
Tony tossed a wadded up ball of paper towards McGee. "Nice catch, McGee."
"Uh, no, it's my catch." Hollis said, intersecting the paper, stopping it from hitting McGee on the side of the face. When she turned away from Tony, he mocked her in childish show of behavior that Ziva could only roll her eyes at. Seeing Gibbs on his way in, Tony dropped his view to the case file on his desk.
Gibbs motioned for Hollis to follow him upstairs to the director's office. Hollis sighed and rolled her eyes. She knew that working with Gibbs wouldn't be easy. She followed him up the steps and into Director Shepard's office.
Director Shepard danced around the subject of a joint investigation lightly. She could tell that both wanted to lead the investigation; that they weren't used to following orders from someone else. She knew for a fact that Jethro didn't follow orders, plain and simple as that. She could feel the tension. The sensitive subject matter of the case had homeland security as well as the CIA and FBI breathing down her neck. They wanted the case solved as quickly and as quietly as possible, each preferring to take over the case, none having the confidence in NCIS to do the job. It wasn't something she was going to let them get away with. She had a point to prove.
They assured Director Shepard of the professionalism of their work and agreed to put this at the forefront of both their teams' duties, promising a quick and effective investigation. With that, she dispatched Hollis, Gibbs and their teams to an abandoned warehouse thought to be a hiding spot. The warehouse turned out to be a trap for both teams, Gibbs spotting the bomb when they entered the abandoned building. They cleared the warehouse of people, but when the doors shut, Ziva decided, much to Tony's annoyance, that she could easily dismantle the bomb herself in order to spare the evidence.
"I'm looking down your shirt right now." Tony joked nervously as Ziva examined the wire.
"See something you like?"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure it's quite worth dying for."
"I'll remember that when we get out of here."
"You know what I mean." Tony held his breath as Ziva used her knife, splitting the wire into two. "I know you like adventure, Ziva, but how about next time I take you to an amusement park and we can go on a wild roller coaster or something."
"You're welcome. Now we don't have to spend the night sifting through charred evidence."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Thanks."
---
Once they were safely back in the office, Gibbs finally offered a threat. He stepped close to Ziva, invading her personal space. "If you pull something like that again, David, I will kick your ass back to Israel myself."
McGee hung up and turned to Gibbs "The CIA refuses to give the name of the suspect. They don't want to work the NCIS… or the CID. They figure if they call the file classified, and we can't get the name on our own then we have to hand the case over to them."
"McGee?"
McGee looked at Gibbs momentarily before understanding that he was to hack into homeland security. If they could obtain the name of the informant of the new terrorist cell, they would have a place to start. Tony listened to the bickering between Hollis and Gibbs over hacking; secretly hoping that Gibbs would put the woman in her place and kick her out.
"Mamoun Sharif, boss. Here is his CIA file." McGee handed the printouts to Gibbs only to have them snatched from his hand by Hollis.
"Hey, that wasn't for you. You don't approve of the hacking, then you don't get to look."
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize…" Gibbs sighed.
"It's a sign of weakness" The team finished.
Tony, Ziva and McGee watched curiously as Gibbs motioned for Mann to follow him.
"Where you headed boss?"
"To pay Mamoun Sharif a visit."
"Should I get the car, boss?"
"No, you guys stay here and see what else you can dig up."
When the elevator doors shut, Tony wheeled his chair over towards Ziva's desk. "I got a feeling about her…"
"Tony, I do not want to know about your 'feelings' for her."
"No, no. Not those kinds of feelings, although she is rather attractive when you think about it…" The look on Ziva's face told him to get to the point, or else she would get to it for him. "I've got a gut feeling, like she's about to turn everything up-side down. I really can't explain it."
"Grow up, Tony. As soon as we get this case finished she will be gone. So maybe if you focus on working, she will leave sooner and you won't have to deal with your feelings."
"Wow, Ziva. That sounded like real advice. You were watching Dr. Phil again, yes?"
"I do not even know who that is."
Tony wheeled back to his own desk. "Yeah, I wouldn't admit it either."
---
When Gibbs and Hollis returned to the office a few hours later, they dropped off a VHS security tape for Ziva to bring to the lab, before disappearing into the director's office for an update. A quick trip to the morgue to check in on Ducky was followed by a trip to the lab, a Caf-Pow in Gibbs hand for Abby.
"Oh, come on... down in front, man." Abby stood in front of her flat screen TV watching the tape that Ziva had delivered to her earlier.
"Do all your people talk to themselves?" Hollis whispered quietly as Gibbs set the Caf-Pow on Abby's desk and stepped around it to stand behind her.
"Have you any idea how many ring-dings are sold each day in your average convenience store?"
"Abbs… The customers?"
"The customers, they're talking about everything from the weather to hemorrhoid cream…"
"There is no audio, how do you know?" Hollis looked from Abby to the screen and back to Abby again when she moved her fingers in front of her lips. "Ah, you read lips"
Abby stepped away from Hollis and signed to Gibbs, Who is this woman?
It's a joint investigation, be nice.
I'm always nice; she's the one that's cranky.
"Can you two stop signing about me, and we focus on the case?" Hollis turned to look at Gibbs
Focus, Gibbs gave her one last sign. He chuckled softly when Abby stuck her tongue out at him childishly.
Abby moved on from the video to the phone from the bomb Ziva had earlier dismantled. "Remember the cell phone that was never used? Well it was used, only all the data has been hard-erased"
"Hard erased?"
"Yeah, hard erased."
Hollis just stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
"What part of hard erased don't you understand?"
"All of it"
This woman seems just as computer illiterate as Gibbs. At least he goes along with what I say and doesn't interrupt with dumb questions. Abby shrugged. "Well then you've come to the right place. A cell phone is very much like a computer, you can delete data off of it, but then if someone knows where to look…"
"Bottom line, Abbs..." Gibbs refocused her with a hand to the small of her back. Subconsciously Abby leaned back against him.
"The cell phone was used once. It was an incoming call. It was deleted and reset."
"You got a number?"
"I thought you'd never ask…" Abby gave an exaggerated dreamy sigh, and stuck a post-it note to Gibbs jacket. He placed a quick kiss on her cheek and headed for the door. Hollis didn't wait for the invitation, she followed quickly behind.
---
"So, uh boss?"
Gibbs looked at Tony, but said nothing.
"So anyway, I was just wondering. Are we going to be seeing this Hollis woman around anymore?"
Again Gibbs looked at him, but didn't grant him an answer.
"… because I was just wondering, you know, like should I add her to my speed dial? Should I have her home phone number? You know, is she joining out team?"
"DiNozzo, if you want her home phone number, ask her. But no, she will not be joining my team. Any other ridiculous questions or can I go home now?"
"Oh, uh… well…" Tony caught the glare and realized that it hadn't been a real question. "No, that's all boss. Have a nice evening."
---
"Yo, Abbs!" Tony sauntered into the lab, his jacket swung over his shoulder.
"Just a second, Tony." Abby called from her office. She emerged a few moments later, hung her lab coat on its hook, grabbed her purse and linked her arm through Tony's offered arm.
"God, I need a beer." Tony said as he led her towards the elevator.
"Not that there is anything wrong with that, because there isn't, I mean we're going out for drinks, but any particular reason?"
"This whole 'joint case' crap drives me nuts. It has been such a power-struggle upstairs between Gibbs and Mann. They both want the information 'first', there is no pleasing them both. They don't know how to share."
Abby followed Tony to his car. "Case is closed, right?"
"Yes, thank god."
"Well then, there will only be one boss tomorrow."
They rode to their favorite bar a few miles away. It had become a tradition, Tony and Abby going to the bar every Monday. It made for a good start to the week, and since Monday was the hardest day of the week to get through, it only seemed natural that Monday they rewarded themselves with a beer.
In the beginning they had invited the rest of the team with them, but their constant chatter over the most useless things kept the others from joining regularly.
"Don't you find it odd that some magazine subscriptions say 'for a year' and yet you only get 10 issues, while most magazines you get 12?"
"I know. Personally I think it's just a way for them to save money. Cheap-skates."
Abby saved them a table while Tony ordered two beers. As some point during the car ride, Abby had lost her two pigtails. She raked her fingers through her hair, along her scalp and then pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail. Tony moved cautiously through the maze of tables and set a beer in front of Abby. He sat down and stretched his beer towards her. She touched the rim of her glass to his. They both took a long swallow before setting their glasses back on the table.
"So, was Hollis Mann down in your lab at all? Did you talk to her?"
Abby smirked. "I was signing about her, and she got pretty irritated. I wasn't saying anything bad, just asking who she was. She wasn't impressed."
"It's irritating when you guys are signing. It's not like there is anyone that's deaf in the room."
"You're just jealous that you don't sign."
"I really should learn. I'm convinced Gibbs tells you all his secrets via sign language. I could really gain some insight if I could sign."
"You let me know how that works for you. So what about this Col. Mann?"
"Something about her makes me nervous."
"A woman makes you nervous? Tony, you must be losing your edge."
"Ok, so she's kind of attractive, but she's not just any woman. She's more… I don't know…"
"Mann." Abby giggled softly at the joke she had made with Hollis' last name.
"Gibbs was totally different around her, almost flirty."
"Flirty?" Abby pursed he lips and then took another sip of her beer.
"Yeah, it was just really uncomfortable. He wasn't flirty around her in the lab?"
"No, not at all." Abby fought against the image of Gibbs flirting with someone else. "Hey, do you think Gibbs would ever go for someone like her?"
"I don't know, Ziva said she had thought he had met his newest ex-wife, but I don't think it'll happen. Why?"
"Just wondering."
"What about you and Ziva?"
"Ha! That'll be the day. Nice try, changing the subject. Why are you wondering about Gibbs' next… physical pursuit… for lack of better words?"
"'Physical pursuit? Way to be classy, Tony. I was just curious. Hey, did you hear that Marshall from accounting got caught in a 'red-light situation' in the break room with one of the new agents on Brandon's team. I think her name is Carrie."
"A red-light situation? As in, from our sexual harassment seminar, are you talking about that kind of red-light situation?"
"Uh huh."
"No way, really? What were they doing?"
"I don't know, I was hoping you could find out. I just heard the rumors."
Tony gave her a knowing smile. "I'll find out for you, people can't hide these things from me." The pair sat in the bar a while longer before Tony drove Abby back to the Navy yard to pick up her own car.
"See you tomorrow, Abby."
"Bye Tony."
---
The next morning, Abby strolled into the office, ready for what the day would hand her. The rest of the team was up with the director going over the monthly budget. Her plan was to deliver the coffee she picked up with her Caf-Pow to Gibbs desk, maybe write a flirty note, and then retreat to the comfort of her lab and wait for him to come to her.
She wasn't prepared to see Hollis milling about in the squad room.
"Can I help you?"
"Oh, Abby. I'm looking for my day-planner. I seemed to have left it here yesterday."
"You mean that one?" It lay on McGee's desk where she had spent some time at his computer. The look on Hollis' face showed that she had seen it, but was waiting around until Gibbs came down to help her find it.
"Oh, that's it."
Abby stood waiting for Hollis to leave, when she didn't move, Abby stepped around her and took a seat at Gibbs desk. She placed the hot coffee next to his keyboard and dug around the top drawer for a yellow post-it note. She could feel Hollis watching her, so she drew a simple heart on the note and stuck it to his coffee. "Did you need something else, Col. Mann?"
"Is there something you need to say to me, Abby?" Hollis' voice was on the verge of accusing.
"Uh, nope." Abby placed the pad of post-it notes back in Gibbs desk and shut the drawer, using a little more force than necessary.
"You don't like me, do you?"
"What gives you that…"
"Save it." Hollis snapped. "I can tell. I'm not sure what I did to piss you off, but whatever it was… I'm sorry."
Her apology was nowhere near heartfelt. Abby stood up and grabbed her Caf-Pow. "Don't apologize, it's a sign of weakness. Gibbs rule, number four." Abby didn't wait for a reply; she headed for the stairs down to her lab.
---
Down in her lab Abby squeezed Burt for comfort. She made the loop around her lab, turning on each of her beloved machines, wishing them a pleasant morning. She was busy at one of the computers when the lab doors opened.
"Abby."
She smiled to herself before turning around to face Gibbs. He stood with the coffee she had delivered in his hand, the post-it with a heart still on top. "Morning Gibbs."
"I was in with the director and when I got back to my desk I found this. Now, I saw Hollis leaving, but I'm fairly certain she didn't do this." He held up the post-it.
"Must've been Tony, he probably left it before the meeting." Abby played innocent.
Gibbs smiled and slipped the post-it into his pocket. He took half a step forward and leaned the rest of the way to kiss Abby's cheek. "Thanks Abbs."
"Are you going to go kiss Tony next? Because if you are, I'd really like to be a part of that, I mean, not a part of it as in the middle of it, but a part of it as in I'd like to watch. Not in a gross way, just, you know. Just a display of affection between you and Tony, it'd be sweet."
Gibbs clenched his jaw muscles and swallowed his smart-ass remark. "Get to work, Abby."
Abby gave Gibbs a sloppy salute as he walked away.
"Wrong hand, Abbs."
"Oops." Abby giggled, switched hands and then spun back around to her computer.
-----------------
TBC….
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