Author's Note: Only one part after this! How will it end?! (I know. The suspense isn't really killing me either.) And thanks again to everyone who has reviewed; it makes me feel so happy. :)
Disclaimer: Sorry, but if I had in any way any sort of control of NCIS, I WOULD NOT HAVE ENDED THE FINALE IN SUCH A CRUEL WAY!! But I will say no more, for fear of spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet (and if you haven't, why not??).
Part Three
Everyone studied each other warily; sizing their opponents up, as if studying their strengths and weaknesses like two mutts in a dogfight. Then Tony and Ducky, in some sort of unspoken agreement and mutual trust, backed away from the group and were the first two in their alliance.
When those two had gone off together, Ziva turned to Abby. "Look me in the eye and tell me you are not a communist," she said, her black eyes meeting Abby's own seriously. Abby returned the stare, unblinking.
"I am not a commie," she vowed, never flicking her eyes away.
This seemed to be enough for Ziva and she smiled. "Well, Abby," she said, "shall we be in an alliance together?"
"Are you a commie?" Abby asked suspiciously; whether real or fake, Ziva couldn't tell. But she wasn't nervous; she met Abby's eyes again levelly.
"I am not." Her tone was calm and she didn't shrink away from Abby's gaze as the gothic scientist studied her. "So?" she prompted. Abby smiled.
"Sure, why not? And if we are in an alliance," she stepped closer and lowered her voice to a whisper, "then let me fill you in: I found the blacklist paper."
Ziva's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? Well, in that case, my clue might be of use to you." She didn't tell Abby that she had found the name of the communist (it didn't matter as long as Ziva wasn't in an alliance with them), but she did say:
"It said, 'to help find the red, pay a visit to the dead'. Judging by the first part of the clue, I think that the communist, or the 'red', will be wearing red today." This bit of information, Ziva assumed, was what kept Abby from asking about the "visit the dead" bit.
Instead, both women looked over at the same time to stare at McGee's dark red tie.
"He can't be in an alliance with us," Abby said, "just to be sure. Should I blacklist him?"
"It is up to you," Ziva replied.
Abby scratched her chin with exaggerated thoughtfulness. "I think we should tell Tony and Ducky, so they don't get in an alliance with him. No one else is wearing red, so if your clue's correct, he has to be the communist, right?"
Ziva shrugged. "Makes sense to me. Let's go warn them."
They walked over to where Tony and Ducky were sitting and took a seat beside them. Abby explained Ziva's clue and what she thought it meant. "I'm not so sure McGee's an American," she concluded. Tony and Ducky nodded.
"We were already thinking that, Abigail," Ducky agreed.
Tony smiled, somewhat evilly. "We weren't going to let McGeek in our alliance in the first place," he informed them all.
Surprisingly everyone, Abby suddenly looked sad.
"Aww!" she said, rushing over to give McGee a hug. He'd been standing off alone, observing everyone before deciding who to form an alliance with. Abby's hug startled him a bit, and his confusion grew when she said, "I'm really sorry, McGee. It's nothing personal, okay? I still love you…just like I love puppies!"
She pulled back and smiled; McGee raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Abby?"
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to blacklist you, McGee," Abby said solemnly, pulling the paper giving her that right out of her pocket officially. "Like I said, nothing personal." She offered him a small smile.
McGee looked at everyone surrounding him. "Bu-bu-bu—what? No!" he protested. "I'm an American, not a communist! You can't blacklist me! I'm an American!"
"Sure you are," Tony said.
McGee scoffed. "Unbelievable," he muttered, and sat down at his desk, silently sulking. It just wasn't right. Why did things like this always happen to him?
"One minute left," Gibbs informed them all, not even looking at his team, but at the clock. Ducky and Tony exchanged a look. Tony raised an eyebrow in a silent question, and Ducky nodded.
Ziva and Abby looked over at each other, wondering what the men's wordless exchange had meant.
"Ziva, Abby," Ducky said, "would you two like to merge into one big alliance with us? I'm almost certain that Timothy was the communist, so there should be no danger to us combining."
McGee scoffed again, but the others ignored him.
"Thirty seconds," Gibbs said. "Hurry it up."
Abby and Ziva looked at each other a second time. Then Abby said, "Sure, why not? One big, unstoppable American alliance!" She high-fived all of them.
"Time's up," Gibbs announced, standing to his feet and walking in a circle around the four non-blacklisted players of his little game. He studied them all with a small smile, and then said: "Communist. Stand up."
