Chapter 7: Day Six

Abby smiled as she sat on McGee's desk. It was a little early in the morning for her liking, but she'd come in earlier in the past to run evidence for Gibbs. And whatever the hour, she did not want to miss this.

She was enjoying this prank war. It was a pity it would have to stop when the parents returned. She refused to think about the possibility of Gibbs and Jenny not returning; if they could make it five days without symptoms, they were likely to be in the clear.

And life wouldn't be the same without them. Tony would be in charge permanently. She was rather fond of Tony as a leader, but he had a habit of trying to be Gibbs and it wasn't the same. The idea of retraining him was enough to give her nightmares.

Whatever the doctors at the CDC said, Mommy and Daddy were fine. Otherwise the prank war would go on forever and her silver-haired fox wouldn't allow that. He would come back from the dead to stop the war if he had to. Although perhaps that wasn't the most positive thought she could come up with…

"Do you want a hand, Ziva?" Abby asked, slipping off the desk and moving to the Israeli's side.

Ziva nodded. "This is taking longer than I thought," she complained. "And I am sure I will run out before long."

"McGee could always run along to the stationary cupboard and get some more post-it notes," the Goth pointed out, smiling dangerously. She knew just how to persuade him to do her bidding.

The Israeli looked up from covering Tony's entire workspace in post-it notes. "That might be useful," she decided. "I only have half a pad left and I wish to cover his chair before he comes in."

"Good thing Tony's always late," Abby giggled.

Ziva shot her a sharp look. "What did you do?"

"Nothing serious!" she protested. "I have a spare key to his apartment, so I went in last night and hid his car keys. He'll find them in the end and he'll never suspect."

Ziva grinned.

"I am not lending you the key to his apartment," Abby immediately stated. "Although if you steal it from me…"

Ducky observed the 'Gibblets' in action. Ziva and Abigail were busy putting the finishing touches to their project, while Timothy stood nervously on the sidelines.

He felt sorry for Timothy, stuck in the crossfire. While almost everyone in the building had taken sides – with the possible exception of Acting Director Wofford who was supposed to be above such things – the two of them chose to sit on the fence.

It was easy for the doctor to stay out of the way. He was in Autopsy and thus removed from the general bustle of the Navy Yard. Most of the time, it was simply him, Mr. Palmer and his latest guest. The only time people came down was when they wanted results or sanctuary.

But it was a lot harder for young Timothy, working as he did in the middle of the fight. Even if he escaped to Abigail's lab for a few hours, both Tony and Ziva were soliciting help from her. And on top of that, Abigail was taking bets from everyone. The wagers seemed to be on everything, from the next prank to the overall winner. He had heard a few rumors on the size of the pool for the latter. Although he knew it would be exaggerated, silly amounts were being thrown around.

He did feel a small temptation to put a little money on the winner himself. But he constantly reminded himself that he was not happy with the situation. He had a funny feeling who would win – Tony. The ex-cop was far more sneaky than Ziva and he had lots of experience in pranks.

Yet he still worried about Ziva's reactions. If Tony did something particularly stupid, he had no doubt that Ziva would go after her partner with everything she had. And it would not be pretty.

He shook his head softly as the females stepped back to admire their handiwork. Ziva nodded to herself as Timothy gulped.

The desk, chair, computer and everything else on the desk had been covered with a single layer of yellow post-it notes. It gave it an other-worldly look. And it was definitely visible from a distance.

Ducky sighed to himself. Tony was not going to like this.

Ziva David hummed to herself as she finished typing up her report.

She felt the day had progressed nicely. Tony had finally wandered in around midday, freezing in the middle of the squad room when he caught sight of his desk. He had spent the next hour ripping the sticky notes from all the surfaces while McGee had retreated to the semi-safety of Abby's lab.

And she had spent the hour chuckling softly to herself. It had not escaped his attention.

Overall, she thought it was a job well done. It was something deceptively simple and yet clearly annoying. And it showed everyone what she had done as well. She enjoyed embarrassing him in front of others. He did it often enough to her.

She stared at her notes as she tried to complete her report. After this, she was going to treat herself to another Berry Mango Madness. She had already bought one when Tony had finally managed to clear his desk and promptly stomped off to see Abby. Another drink would be the icing on the cake.

At last. She pressed a few final keys and leant back in relief. Two hours of typing, but it was over. She had finished it the day before it was due in; Tony had not even started his yet.

Smiling to herself, she pressed the save button.

And the computer refused.

Puzzled, she pressed a few more keys. And then the computer decided to wipe itself clean.

In panic, she pressed as many keys as she could. She shook her screen. She looked up for McGee but he was nowhere to be seen.

Her report! And everything else saved on her computer! How could this be happening to her?

She raised her eyes heavenward and suddenly spotted something. On the catwalk in front of MTAC. Tony. Laughing his head off.

So this was a computer trick. This was why Tony had visited Abby the moment he had cleared his desk.

She stood up slowly, keeping her eyes on him. She was going to make him pay for this.