Thanks for the feedback everyone, I hope you like this chapter. It's the longest one. :P
Chapter 4: Embracing The Final Frontier, Part 2.
Their first night aboard Voyager was fairly uneventful, they were shown how to use the replicator so they could eat what they wanted. The replicator delighted Tony, he loved being able to ask for whatever he wanted and get it just how he wanted it, and all in an instant. He naturally ordered copious amounts of Pizza. He was happy. It wasn't quite the same as the 'real' stuff he was used to, but he wasn't complaining, after all it was all free. The concept of these people not having to pay for anything really baffled Tony, he didn't understand how a society could function like that, but apparently they did, and just fine. The human race had obviously changed a great deal in 300 years.
They had been invited to breakfast in the mess hall for the following morning, courtesy of Neelix. A few of Voyager's crewmen had warned them about Neelix's cooking, saying that it was unique and those who ate it required an open mind. Neelix thought that since their newest guests were from 21st Century Earth, that he would prepare some food they were familiar with. At least that's what his intention was.
Waking up to the gentle humming of Voyager's warp core was a new experience for Tony as he was used to being woken up by the sounds of cars zooming past his apartment block. Even more unusual was waking up in the same room as McGee. . . Neelix had offered to replicate them some alarm clocks - ones which they knew how to use that is - but they declined that offer, reassuring Neelix that they would do just fine without them.
"Tony!" McGee shouted, at his still sleeping colleague, "Wake up!" He didn't get a response, he decided to leave him there while he finished getting ready. McGee had been up for an hour already and had already showered and everything, he was ready. Unlike Tony.
"Computer, play music file McGee zero one." McGee said, Harry had shown him how to select music and have it play through Voyager's computer. He had selected some of the jazz music he liked. Voyager had a very extensive library of music to chose from. He smiled to himself as the music began playing, he knew this would get Tony up.
It took all of thirty seconds before Tony woke up with his hands over his ears exclaiming how horrible the music was and saying it wasn't real jazz, much in the same way as he had done when McGee's novel, Deep Six was involved in one of their cases.
"Computer, stop music."
"Thankyou! My ears couldn't take much more of whatever you call that. 'Cause it sure isn't jazz, Probie."
"Hurry up, we have to be at the Mess Hall in twenty minutes."
"I, unlike you, McShower Power, do not need twenty minutes to get ready."
McGee rolled his eyes, "Sure, Tony, Sure. Now hurry up!"
Thirty minutes later, Tony was finally ready, "I thought you didn't need twenty minutes to get ready."
"I didn't take twenty minutes, Probie, I took thirty." Tony replied.
"Can we just go?"
They made their way to the Mess Hall, it was easier than it looked. They didn't realise just how many corridors Voyager had. They found a turbo lift eventually and found their way to the Mess Hall.
When they entered, they saw Janeway and several members of her crew who they'd seen on the bridge, including Chakotay and Harry Kim. Seven of Nine, The Doctor and Tom Paris. (Neelix was still in the galley preparing food.) Then they saw the other members of their team, Gibbs and Ziva. As well as some new arrivals. They were confused as to how they got here, unless they were just figments of their imaginations that is. Anything was possible in space. . . Or so they'd been told.
They walked closer to the large table where everyone was seated, and focused their eyes on the new arrivals, just to see if they were real.
"Is that -" McGee started.
"Yeah, I think it is." Tony replied.
"But how?"
"I have no idea, Probie, ask your space-buddy Harry."
"Tony! You're here!" Came the familiar voice of Abby. She ran up to him and crashed into him, hugging him tighter than she'd ever done before. "Space is pretty cool, I mean I know I only just got here but you can just feel it!"
"Abby, I can't breath."
Abby slowly loosed her grip on Tony, "Sorry." She said.
"It's alright, Abs."
"It's about time you two got here." Gibbs said, as Tony McGee walked over to the table with Abby and sat down. Everyone else seemed very comfortable with the fact that there were three extra people sitting at the table who hadn't been here until now. Or probably sometime during the night, Tony thought. Sitting at the table now, was Director Shepard, Ducky and Abby.
The Voyager crew members were a little startled by Abby's reaction to Tony. Seven of Nine in particular was unsure of why cutting off a person's breathing was considered to be a form of affection. Abby however, was acting like her normal self, sitting next to Tony and Gibbs smiling, feeling completely at ease. Tony wasn't surprised that Abby was comfortable on a spaceship. He remembered when she was trying to prove the existence of aliens when they'd seen the crop circle in one of their cases a few years ago.
Seven was unable to hold her curiosity any longer, "Abby, may I ask why you felt the need to prevent Agent DiNozzo from breathing?"
Abby looked at her like she was insane, Seven's phrasing took a little to get used to, and Abby wasn't used to it just yet, so she didn't really know how to reply. She just said, "I wasn't cutting off his breathing, I was just happy to see him. Tony's my friend."
Seven didn't understand, but she left it there. Even though she was mostly human now, she still didn't always understand them.
Neelix eased the awkwardness by bringing over some breakfast. It looked pretty normal. He'd tried to create scrambled eggs and toast, he'd mostly succeeded, but he'd added some Talaxian spices to the egg mixture, which made it taste a little different to the NCIS team. They all told him, out of politeness, that it tasted good. Even if it didn't.
Janeway changed the subject, she could tell everyone was wondering the same thing. How did Ducky, Jenny and Abby get to Voyager. She knew the answer, as they had told her and her crew before McGee and Tony had arrived, so now, it was time for them to explain it. "Director Shepard, would you mind telling the story?"
"Me?" Jenny exclaimed, looking at Gibbs, then looking back at Janeway, "Okay." She now directed her eyes to Tony and McGee, "Well, after Jethro didn't come up to my office for our meeting, I called his cellphone, wondering where he was, I didn't get an answer. . ."
Jenny entered Autopsy and spoke, "Ducky, have you seen Jethro?"
"No, I assumed he was still out in the field, why?" Ducky, who had been cleaning some medical instruments, answered.
"I can't find him, and I can't reach him on his cell."
"Maybe they're out of range?"
"I don't know, it's strange that he wouldn't contact one of us. And come to think of it I haven't seen Tony, McGee or Ziva either. Not since this morning when they left for the crime scene."
"Perhaps Abigail knows where they are, Jethro tells her everything." Ducky replied.
"I'll go up and ask her, thanks Ducky."
"My pleasure Director, you're always welcome here you know."
"Thankyou Ducky." She replied, as she made her way up to Abby's lab.
Abby's lab was unusually quiet, she didn't have her music on, she was sitting at her desk starring at the phone.
"Abby?" Jenny said, walking up to her.
"Director!" Abby exclaimed, running up to her, "Have you seen Gibbs? I can't find him, or reach him. And same for Tony, McGee and Ziva, this isn't normal. I can feel it."
"They're okay, Abby, I'm sure. We just have to work out where they are." Jenny replied. "Do you know where the crime scene was?"
"No. But I can find out. I just need to make a phone call to Metro Police, they should be able to tell me, since they called it in."
Abby spoke with someone at Metro and found the location of the crime scene. "Thankyou." She said into the phone, "Director, I have a location."
"Good job, Abby, let's go."
"What? Together?"
"Yes. Why, is that a bad thing?"
"No, of course not, it's just. . .I don't know, weird."
"Don't be afraid of me Abby, I'm just as normal as the next person. Now let's go, so we can find out where everyone is."
Abby drove them to the crime scene's location, when they pulled up, they spotted some officers from Metro there. They immediately went over to them, "I'm Director Jenny Shepard, NCIS, and this is Abby Scuito, she's in forensics, we're just wanting to see the crime scene."
As Jenny was the Director, the officer didn't have a choice but to let the two women through to the crime scene. "They're not here!" She exclaimed, "But their equipment is, how strange."
"Director!" Abby called, she'd gone up ahead and had found something.
"What is it, Abby?"
"I found something."
Jenny ran up to Abby, "What?"
"Footprints, I'm pretty sure they're Gibbs's."
"You're right. They seem to stop in that clearing."
"Then we walked up to the clearing and the next thing we know we' were here, explaining all of this with Captain Janeway." Jenny finished.