Life is making me sad right about now xD

Only a few more months...until school is out..

*sigh*

I grumbled as I walked into the lab the next day. Abby got one look at me and commented, "What's wrong with you today?" with one eyebrow raised.

"Too many girl scout cookies and American Dad at night after we parted," I groaned. I placed a bottle of Aleve in front of me onto the counter. "I feel like I'm going to puke. Or worse."

"Here," she scooted the Aleve away from me and in its place set down a Caf-Pow, "try some. It has therapeutic effects. If it doesn't help you feel better, it'll at least make you burp and relieve some pain in your stomach from the carbonation."

I gave her an unbelieving look.

"No, really. Try some!"

"Okay…" I slowly bent my head down to retrieve the straw. "I have to admit, that does taste good."

She gave me an "I-told-you-so" kind of look. "College kids," she rolled her eyes in a joking matter, "you have a lot to learn about the world."

"Apparently. So, what're we working on?"

"Sifting through videos. A shooting took place on the intersection of Second Avenue and John Street. Luckily enough, there was a video camera outside of the coffee shop across the street," she glanced toward the screen. "The shooting was expected to have taken place between one in the morning and two…" she typed on her keyboard (yet not as furiously as the past times I'd seen her type) and the screen jumped ahead to the approximate time. We fast forwarded the video, and sat around for a minute, our hopes slowly getting up.

"Pause it there!" I almost shouted. "Right…there." I pointed toward the screen. We had almost passed it.

"You're becoming a lot more observant," she commented.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" I half glared at her. No wonder she almost passed it up.

"It's possible," she drank out of her Caf-Pow. "Now, let's zoom in…Crap!"

I slumped back down in my chair. We had a video of the guy. We could depict what gun he might be using, we could tell his stature and guess a rough height of the guy. But what we couldn't tell was his face. We had other angles to capture him at, but they all proved useless because he was wearing a mask. A stupid mask. "We could…" I tried to piece an idea together, "try to find out what kind of mask that is, who sells it, and who has bought it within the past…while. What kind of weave is it?"

Abby tried to zoom in more. "Um…let's see…" She leaned even closer to the screen.

Paling a little bit, I said slightly alarmed, "I gotta go." I stood up abruptly.

"What?"

I ran as fast as I could to the bathroom before I puked my guts out all over the hall. I made it just in time, and all I did was throw up and cry. Throwing up was absolutely not my thing. You could say I hated it. And that I hadn't done it in seven years. I heard someone walked in, and I cringed.

"Hello?" I heard the accent ring from outside the stall.

"Ziva? Can you get me a glass of water?" I practically cried from the toilet.

"Of course, Julia." Huh. So she did know my name. I'd have to get to know her later.

She left the bathroom, and a minute later after I had thrown up again, knocked on the stall. "You're going to have to open it."

I lifted my head, flushed the toilet, and slid the lock to the right.

She handed the water to me down from where she was standing and knelt down to my height. "I know I am not your boss, but I'm going to advise that you go home."

"Agreed," I mumbled, after struggling to get words out of my vomit drenched mouth. I gurgled the water and spit it back into the toilet before drinking any.

"Here, let's help you to Ducky's to see what is wrong with you." Gingerly, she helped me up and walked me to him.

"Julia…you don't look to well. Take a seat," he gestured to a gurney.

Ziva spoke for me, and I didn't blame her. I was afraid to use anything in my throat. "She threw up. We are both wondering if she caught something or otherwise."

He took my temperature. "It's possible you may have caught something. You're ninety-nine point seven degrees. Go home, get some rest, stay hydrated, and curl up with a good book," Ducky smiled. "And I don't want to see you back before you're top-notch."

I gave him a pathetic smile. "Thanks," I managed to croak out.

"I'll give Jethro a call, and Ziva can gather your things from Abby's lab."

I was going to protest, but decided that I really, really shouldn't stay. As I was about to ask who Jethro was, I heard Gibbs' voice on the telephone and made the connection. Abby came in with Ziva, and she ran up to give me a tender hug. "Get better, okay? I'll make sure that I'll have a Caf-Pow waiting here with your name on it for when you get back."

"Will do," I smiled, the nausea slowly passing. The Caf-Pow going down tasted a lot better than when it came back up. She put the Aleve back in my hand and reminded me not to take too much at a time.

"We should get going. We don't want everyone else to get infected with what you have," Ziva smiled.

"Bye, guys," I croaked out yet again, waving.

It really surprised me, though. Ziva, who could probably kill a fly from a mile away, had the patience of a seeing eye dog. She held onto my arm, probably to make sure I didn't fall over and hit my head on something. As we reached the elevator, I closed my eyes. I just hoped the awkward stop at the end of the ride wouldn't put my face back into a toilet to puke.

Thankfully, it didn't.

Tim saw us as we walked out. "You okay, Julia?"

"She's going home," Ziva answered for me when I didn't respond. "She is sick."

"I can…walk home," I muttered. "You guys are busy, and I'm the one that can't hold her Samoas*."

Tim looked almost relieved.

"What?" I gave out a shaky laugh. "Did you think I was going to say alcohol?"

"…No. I can give you a ride home. Boss?" He waited for a response.

"Go ahead. I'll call you if anything happens."

We started to walk to the elevator. "Trying to get out of paperwork, McGiggles?"

"No, Tony. Even though it is a drag, I don't have a problem doing it and getting it done, unlike someone," he acknowledged him.

"Hmph," Tony went back to researching video records on his computer.

"Thanks for the ride. I'm sorry you have to miss some work because of me."

"You threw up. Are we supposed to expect that you just stay at work?"

"You've worked there longer than I have. You tell me."

He gave me a look. "If you need anything, just text me."

"I know, I know…"

"Don't say it like that."

"Hey, cut me some slack, I feel a little pathetic. Puking, missing work, having to hitch rides…" I smiled a little bit to make it seem like I was joking.

"Just get better, okay?"

"I will, trust me," I said, "Besides, I'll have the time to catch up on some homework."

"Have you been slacking?"

"Me? Slack?"

He laughed. "Is Tina in there?"

"Um…no," I answered, unsure of why he'd want to know. She's practically jailbait… "She has a class right now."

"I heard about how uncomfortable you were with puking."

Damn you, Ziva.

"Do you need me to stay?"

"I don't think so. My best friend is just a few dorms over. She knows I can't handle vomit," I laughed, "She'll hold my hair. And if she doesn't, our entire friendship has been a lie."

"You might want to take a shower, then…" He picked up a few strands of my chestnut hair, "because nobody held it the last time."

"Oh…that's gross. I'm sorry. I probably stunk up your car."

"Probably not. I'll just roll down the windows a bit. Rest up." I had a feeling he had lied about me not stinking up his car.

"Tim," I laughed, "I'll be fine. I already feel a lot less nauseous."

"Okay, okay. I'd do the same for any other friend."

Damn. Just friends… But, still, a friend. "Thanks," I smiled as I opened the door.

Voila.

I've been lazy. I know. I know.

So. The little asterik by the Samoa thing? Yeah, if you don't live in a Girl Scout Cookie area, they are the most godly of any cookies.

Same story...Review, please?

Because they make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the insides.

Have a good one ;)

-Amehhh