Chapter 1
"Come on, Tony. Put the movie in!" the brunette woman said impatiently.
"Geez, just give me a second, Kate! This stupid thing's having problems again." Tony DiNozzo hit the machine, hoping a little tap would fix the problem. "McNerd probably screwed it up on purpose to get back at me for putting hand sanitizer in his coffee."
"I wouldn't blame him. After all those pranks you pull on him, I'm surprised he doesn't do something more tragic than messing with your DVD player."
"Well, Katie, he just takes it so well, ya know?" McGee was destined for the cruel remarks and practical jokes anyway. After all, he was the 'Probie'.
"Well, maybe if you could be nice to McGee once in a while, Gibbs would stop slapping you. You're always complaining about people giving you a hard time, when in fact, you usually deserve it." Kate Todd could not get over the fact that her boss actually slapped his team members on the back of the head as a 'wakeup call'. The Director himself did not even blink an eye when he saw a 'Gibbs slap' being given, and Kate giggled at the thought of Gibbs attempting to give the Director a slap. She had somehow avoided receiving any Gibbs slaps, much to the chagrin of her team members.
"Look, Kate, I'm kinda busy. Why don't you go pop some popcorn or something. Make yourself useful."
"Make yourself useful…" Kate mimicked Tony. She stood up from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. Kate felt at home in the kitchen. She loved cooking, especially baking, and she was always bringing goodies to work for the team, who just gushed over them.
Without even thinking about it, Kate opened a cabinet and pulled out the popcorn. Kate knew exactly where everything was placed. She had helped Tony organize his apartment, after all. But she still had to come in every once in a while to make sure everything was still in order, as Tony was likely to leave empty boxes in the pantry and old, unrecognizable liquids in the fridge. Kate shuddered at the thought of finding the expired apple juice earlier that evening. At least, she thought it was apple juice. She stopped for a second, why do I feel the need to come in here and reorganize his things? It's not like we live together or are in a relationship. Kate shook her head as if to shake away the thought, and went about her business.
Back in the living room, Tony was dialing Abby's number. She answered after the third ring. "Abs, I need some help with my DVD player." Tony knew he could trust Abby to fix his favorite piece of equipment. She understood his need for a James Bond fix after the long hours at work. "Oh, the one McGee was working on yesterday? Hold on, he's right here…" Silence ensued. "McGoo? You there? Elf Lord? If you don't answer, I'm gonna come over there and bolt your dead body into that coffin!" Tony just knew that would scare McGee into helping him. "Uh, look, Tony, I'm kinda busy right now, so I can't help you. See ya tomorrow!" The line went dead. Tony could not believe that McGee had hung up on him! The gall!
Back to where he started, Tony decided to skip the movie and see what Kate wanted to do.
