Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

Chapter 2

Ducky approached the woman, who wrapped her arms around him in obviously glee.

"Long time, no see, old bird!" She all but chirped.

"My dear, you look wonderful…but I thought you weren't arriving until tomorrow." Ducky returned the hug, unaware of the stares from his coworkers.

"Well, you sounded so concerned about this game and from you've told me about that special agent, he just hates to lose!" The woman grinned.

"Ahem." Gibbs cleared his throat.

Still smiling, the woman turned. She lowered her sunglasses and stared at Gibbs over their rims.

"And that special agent would be you. Surprised you didn't clobber the umpire with the bat when you were called out. Nice control." She remarked.

"I would have been aiming for the catcher." Gibbs admitted, one side of his mouth tilting up.

"Ah. Controlled and honest…definitely a Marine. Uncle Ducky has told me so much about you Special Agent Gibbs."

"And…uhh.." Tony scrambled off of the bench to be included. "What about me? Has he told you anything about me?"

Blue eyes once again became shielded by a set of dark glasses.

"I wouldn't say he's told me about you, Tony." She started and frowned slightly. "More like warned."

"Hey!" Tony glared at the doctor who just shrugged.

"What can I say, Anthony. Your stories of conquests are rather explicit and…"

"…you were merely conveying the truth, Doctor." Ziva proclaimed.

"Okay, okay!" Abby all but shouted, having removed herself from first base during the time out. "We have ten minutes…eight now."

The woman nodded.

"And before you proclaim that you know me, Tim, Director Shepard and Bob over there…" Abby started rocking back and forth on her heels as she pointed at everyone she had mentioned. "Who are you? You mentioned a ringer? And how are you gonna help us win? Because we can't lose! Not to 'them'! Right, Gibbs?"

Gibbs just watched the woman.

"This, Abigail, is the daughter of some family friends…she's not really my niece but…" Ducky started.

"Okay…first question answered. Next!" Abby's energy was near boiling.

"I played baseball at university. Varsity, actually. My team even played in several international levels. Won some, lost some…but always improved. And without sounding egotistical, I'm better than anyone you've got on this team right now."

"Yeah, that didn't sound egotistical." Tony commented.

A dark eyebrow arched above the rims of the sunglasses.

"I play right field…not pitcher, unfortunately. But I've seen enough to give this team some advice and if you take it to heart, we stand a chance at winning this game."

Gibbs remained silent. He was impressed with the use of the word 'we'; as if she was already part of the team. It couldn't hurt, but there was one small problem.

"You're not part of NCIS." Director Shepard commented, as if reading Gibbs' thoughts.

"But you have the authority to change all that right? Even without the paperwork. An unofficial contracting of my services." Was the response.

"Okay…we'll work out the details later. You're hired." Jen extended a hand. "Your name?"

"Rebecca Lyndsey." Two hands met and shook in agreement.

"Six minutes." Abby called out.

"Here we go. Pay attention, please. Director Shepard, you first. Stop being afraid of the ball. It won't hurt that much and a bruise won't be the end of you. Approach it, don't sidestep it. Your glove will protect you if you use it properly. When you're not out in the field, we'll try a few catches."

Jen nodded, gulping a little loudly in her nervousness.

"Tim, stop swinging at every pitch. I don't mean to sound cruel, but you probably won't hit a home run every time you're at bat. You're logical, analytical. Look at the number of outs, the number of people on base, the wind even. Watch the style of the pitcher. Swing only at the balls coming within the strike zone."

Tim chewed on his lower lip. She was right…he was trying to be a hero, but maybe he could help out in his own way.

"Abby." The woman smiled. "Just keep doing what you're doing. I don't know if you're flirting with the pitcher or trying to scare him…but either way, it's working."

Abby punched the air with a fist. "I rock!"

Rebecca addressed a few more members of the team, quickly, before coming down to the last four.

"Ducky…relax. This isn't an autopsy where one wrong move might invalidate all the results. It's a game. Have fun. Enjoy the air. Breathe."

Ducky exhaled.

"Ziva, ummm….stop trying to murder the ball. It didn't do anything to you." Ziva frowned. "Just try to make contact. You've got a great swing, lots of power, but this will only help you if you stop trying to hit that ball back to Israel."

Tony laughed. The woman removed her glasses to look at him.

"Tony…lose the ego. The pitcher's got one that's just as big as yours but with one difference. He's got talent." Tony's jaw dropped. "Go up there and be humble. Respect him….fake it if you have to. That'll throw him off."

Rebecca turned back to Gibbs.

"This is your team, Special Agent Gibbs. I don't know what kind of pep talk, if any, you gave them before, but it's obviously not working. You know these people the best. Utilize their strengths. Pull them together. And, dammit, ignore the catcher. It's a nice day to play…but an even nicer day to win."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed a bit. The truth stung. He was taking it seriously. He was letting Fornell get to him. And he really hadn't done much to coach the group into playing as a team.

"Any thing else, Ms. Lyndsey?" He asked drily.

"I'll comment during the rest the game." She retorted.

"Play ball!" Came the yell from the umpire as he settled back in behind the plate. Abby returned back to first base. Ziva approached the plate, looking back at the bench. Rebecca was making calming gestures with her hands.

"Don't kill the ball. Don't kill the ball." Ziva muttered.

"What's that David?" Fornell asked.

"I have been told to not kill the ball…but that the catcher is fair game."

Fornell's eyes widened behind the mask.

Lifting the bat into the air behind her shoulder, Ziva got ready for a pitch.

Swinging at the toss, the sound of leather meeting aluminium surprised her.

"Run! Run! Dammit, Ziva, run!" Shouts came from her bench. She ran up the line to first base and saw that Abby was already at second and giving her a thumbs up.

Rebecca ran up to first to take the bat away from Ziva.

"Nice job. No need to kill it…but maiming is perfectly acceptable." She grinned. "Next time, though, drop the bat."

"Oh." Ziva returned the bat to Rebecca.

Gibbs watched from the bench. Okay…maybe things were turning around.