A/N: No, "pinken" is not a word. It's totally made up. But the way I see it, all words are made up words. (Thank you, Abby!) I'm writing a story with McGee and Ruby; you can't blame me for running out of ways to describe blushing!

---

Chapter 2

"How'd you find me, Agent McGee?" Ruby asked as she took another sip of her cherry cola.

Agent McGee slid into the booth directly across from her and smiled. "One of the ladies at the station mentioned you like to come here for lunch."

"I guess I made a pretty big fool of myself earlier," she said, her cheeks beginning to pinken with embarrassment.

"Not at all. If you hadn't run off so fast, I would have told you earlier."

Ruby smiled and met his eyes. "Are you serious? Agent Gibbs isn't a very trusting person."

"No, he's not. But you've shown him once that your technique isn't sloppy. He was listening to you."

"So I overreacted."

McGee smiled, "You could say that."

Ruby tore her eyes away from his handsome face with another blush. She knew Agent McGee would never be interested in a small town girl like her. She had almost no knowledge of how things worked in his world. Hers was tied to this town, and probably always would be. She let her imagination wander as she dipped a French fry into her ketchup and took a bite. She pulled her thoughts back into check as she reminded herself that nothing more than friendship would be feasible for them. Now if she could just stop staring…

"What kind of place is this?" McGee asked, looking around the room in curiosity.

Ruby chuckled in response. "This is Marge's. The front area is a restaurant and the back area is bar. She actually lives in the house across the street, just down that winding dirt path." Ruby smiled as she took a brief trip down memory lane. "I always used to think she was my aunt when I was a kid, but she's just that nice to everyone that will let her."

"That's the lady from the crime scene," McGee said when he caught site of the blonde lady with the huge smile standing behind the main counter.

"Yep. For as long as I can remember, every time there's a crisis in town Marge is there for support. She brings water, coffee, cookies, and sandwiches – whatever is needed. She's really the heart of our community."

"That's nice," he said sincerely. He grew up in a city much smaller than DC, but it was nowhere near as small as this place. It was like visiting a foreign land, or traveling into a scene in a movie he had once seen.

"Did you want to order something?" Ruby said, waving to get the attention of one of the young waitresses.

"Oh, that's okay, I…" He stopped when he realized the waitress was already approaching their table.

Ruby's face flamed to match her hair at the knowing expression on the girl's face.

"Who's the hottie, Ruby?" the younger lady asked, clearly teasing Ruby.

Ruby gave her a reprimanding look and tried unsuccessfully to squelch the blush from her cheeks. "This is NCIS Special Agent McGee."

"Special Agent," the waitress said flirtatiously as she smiled prettily and turned her full attention to McGee. "What can I do for you?"

McGee swallowed. "Umm… Coffee," he said quickly.

"That's all? Just coffee," she asked, leaning forward slightly to display her ample cleavage at its best.

Ruby rolled her eyes and took another drink of her cherry cola. Sarah Baldwin had always been flirtatious. Although she was years older than the waitress, Sarah had always made her feel inferior. She supposed some things might never change.

"He said coffee," Ruby said aloud, trying to keep the irritation from showing in her voice.

"Right," Sarah replied, giving her McGee her naughtiest look. "If you get bored later, look me up. I'm here most evenings," she gave him a wink and flounced off to get him some coffee.

"Don't you need to eat lunch?"

McGee blushed lightly, embarrassed to have been caught off-guard. "Well, I suppose but we should probably hurry back before Gibbs…" he began, but was interrupted by the flurry that was Marge.

"Ruby! Why didn't you tell me one of our visitors was here with you?" she turned to face McGee, her face alight with excitement. "I'm Marge." She shook his hand, her smile and enthusiasm proving contagious.

McGee smiled back warmly, "Special Agent Timothy McGee, ma'am," he greeted her. "But you can call me Tim or McGee, whichever you prefer."

She grinned. "What I'll call you is pale. You look like you haven't eaten in two days. Let me take care of that for you, honey. Now you just sit back and let Marge make you comfortable, 'kay?"

McGee couldn't help but be charmed by the woman's cheerful nature and hospitality. He watched as she moved quickly into the kitchen, stopping to give a smile or greeting to most everyone along the way. She soon returned with fresh coffee, a chicken salad sandwich and a piece of cherry pie.

"Now you just eat that, and if you want anything else just give me a holler. It's on the house."

She disappeared before he could protest. McGee lifted the sandwich and took a tentative bite, hoping it tasted as good as it looked.

"Wow," was his only response.

Ruby watched with amusement as the sandwich disappeared in mere seconds. McGee's eyebrows hiked even further as he chased the sandwich with a long sip of coffee.

"This is incredible," he continued, very surprised that the fare provided in this small town was better than anything he had discovered in the city.

Ruby chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Wait until you try the dessert." Her tone promised he would not be disappointed.

---

"Where's McGee?" Gibbs asked impatiently, looking again toward the door.

"You sent him after Ruby," Sheriff Barrett answered, stating the obvious.

Gibbs gave him a look that should have made him question his intelligence. Whether or not Sheriff Barrett took understood was unknown to Gibbs. But it did shut the man up.

The door opened and McGee and Ruby entered, matching sheepish expressions on their faces.

"Sorry, Boss," McGee began, and then immediately stopped speaking and swallowed. He had definitely angered Gibbs this time.

"Don't apologize, McGee. You've already wasted time; get to work."

Just as the team was getting back to work, the door opened again and Mildred, Tom's secretary, stuck her purple-tinted head in the door. "Sheriff Barrett?"

"Yes, Mildred?" he asked.

"There's an Abby Scuito from NCIS on the phone. She said the direct line wasn't working?"

"Send her through," Gibbs said, and then turned to the room in general. "How do you put this thing on speaker?"

---

"Hello everyone! I trust Edenvale is treating you well?" Abby greeted everyone cheerfully.

"We miss you too, Abs, but is this why you called?" Gibbs asked brusquely.

"I'm getting there, oh impatient one," she said, just as perkily as before. "Ruby was correct in her initial report. The weapon was definitely a .45 caliber. A Colt .45 semiautomatic handgun, most likely military issue. The striations on the slug indicate the barrel had significant wear."

"Great," Gibbs muttered.

"I know. The weapon could easily have been sold off as surplus thirty or forty years ago. I was able to determine from DNA left at the crime scene that our killer was working alone, and isn't in any of the databases I can access legally."

"Can't we just get a list of all registered Colt .45s in the county and go from there?" Tony asked.

Sheriff Barrett chuckled, "This is Edenvale, son. Everyone's a gun owner. If I had a dollar for every Colt .45 you could find in this town I could retire."

"Sorry I can't help any more, but I'll keep working!" Abby said, slightly less cheerfully as she disconnected the line.

"We could ask Ol' Red," Ruby suggested.

"Ornery son-of-a-gun," Barrett muttered, and then sighed as he shoved his hat back on. "Good thinking, Ruby."