A/N: Okay, end of set-up. It´s Monday. Let´s see, what happens at the fair.

Enjoy!

Chapter Three – The Fair

Monday morning.

On Monday morning Abby is on her way to visit the Trade Fair. It´s absolutely horrible. She, who is not in the least terrified by walking graveyards at night, is scared of the city´s traffic. Hell, she has studied the map a thousand times but still, she has lost her way nearly as often.

Abby eventually finds the exhibition center, enters the multi-storey parking-lot and faces her next challenge: finding a parking space. In the end she is glad she has finally found one – which has unfortunately taken her a huge amount of time - and she gets off her car, heads for the elevator and somehow easily finds the way to the hall that holds the biotechnology exhibition stands. It, however, has taken her about another hour to finally enter because of the queue.

Having mastered all these difficulties, she is pleased with herself, relaxes and walks from stand to stand to stand, and she does not even notice how time flies!

Early in the afternoon Abby decides to have something for lunch at one of the countless cafeterias that can be found in the building that is surrounded by the different exhibition halls.

There are people everywhere and the crowd seems to still increase. Abby feels panic well up inside. When she has entered the exhibition center this morning, she has learned that the International Trade Fair for Biotechnology is not the only fair that is held at the center this week. There are two (or three? She can´t remember anymore...) other fairs in the adjoining exhibition halls. First, she has not thought much about it, but now, seeing all these people around, she shakes her head.

"This," she says to herself aloud, "is the most stupid thing I´ve ever seen. -- Why that? -- Why? Well, three fairs, open to the public at the same time! Only our capital is able to do that to you!"

Abby is used to people turn and look at her. Not only and not really so much do they watch because of the way she dresses. They start looking at her even more when she starts to talk to herself. She always makes it sound like two people were talking to each other, and she likes to speak in different voices.

Abby wants to return to the exhibition once more and thinks about which stands she will visit next. Being deep in thought, a big container of her favorite caffeine drink, CafPow, in hand, she must have missed something ... must have taken the wrong exit at the cafeteria ... and finds herself surrounded by ... tools! Tools, tools and more tools. Oh yeah, things are even getting worse. Tools to her left and ... wood to her right.

"Abby, your sense of direction sucks!" she curses herself loudly. "You´ve already lost your way this morning, driving around like a student driver and now you´ve lost your way again. -- You´ve most likely taken the wrong exit at the cafeteria. -– You sure? -– Oh, yeah. Just take a look around!"

Abby, in her state of annoyance and anger about her own carelessness and stupidity of having taken the wrong exit, does not watch her way. She turns around herself once and takes a few steps backwards, trying to figure out where she has come from. During all this time, she continues to swear.

People turn and look at her, and they only just manage to get out of her way just in time.

"Oh, couldn´t this be the book fair??? Nooo! It has to be the toooools and woooood!"

--

Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who is studying different kinds of wood, hears someone curse like a washerwoman.

Oh god! Sounds like one of those excited chick-peas, these librarians who had lost their way to the book fair, he thinks, remembering the group of chattering women, whose conversation he was practically forced to overhear at one of the numerous cafeterias some hours ago.

He turns to look for who is feeling so lost here.

But Abby is only two steps away from him. And she still is walking backwards.

"Oh, Abby, that´s ... ."

Something stops her mid-movement and mid-sentence. No, not something. Someone! She has crashed into someone... .

To be continued...

A/N: Short, I know, but ... sadistic enough??