A/N: One more fairly sane chapter to go (of course, Ducky would get the last chapter :-D )... and then an unknown number of crack!fic chapters that appeared in the middle of the night...


Chapter Seven
Gibbs: A Trip to Texas

Gibbs' eyes snapped open. For a long time he stared at the ceiling, unseeing, trying to sort out dream and reality.

Jenny Shepard, back in DC, Director of NCIS—no, wait, that part was true. Right after Ari tried to kill Gibbs and his team, Morrow retired and Jenny stepped into his smelly loafers. Jen was director, had been for—hmm, two years, now.

Where the hell had he come up with those weird-ass dreams? Jenny, going after an arms dealer for killing her father? (Nice guy. Gibbs had met him a couple of times, years ago.) Ziva David, a Mossad agent, a member of his team going rogue and hunting down someone who had killed her father? He wasn't a big believer in "messages"—but maybe this was his subconscious telling him to call Jackson. (That didn't explain the doubly bizarre segment of his former mother-in-law seducing a man and killing him. Maybe he should call her, too.)

Hearing the shower upstairs turn off, he pulled himself off the couch and shambled to the kitchen. He filled a kettle with water and slurped a cup of coffee while the kettle clanked and squeaked as it heated. He didn't look up when he heard steps in the doorway. "Put water on for your tea."

"Oh! Thanks, Gibbs." Kate pulled a mug from the shelf and a teabag from the box. "Thanks again for letting me stay while they fumigate my apartment building. Bugs—ugh." She shuddered expressively.

He shrugged. "No problem. You're quieter than DiNozzo."

She grinned and pulled the kettle from the stove. "And I make much better tuna casserole."

"Never had his tuna casserole," he said with a half-grin.

"Actually—it would probably be pretty good. He buys a decent grade of frozen food. But from scratch…"

"Hey," he interrupted. "You remember Ziva David?"

She thought for a moment. "Of course. She was the Mossad agent who collected Ari Haswari's body. Why?"

He waved a hand. "Nothing. Just had a really weird dream. She was in it."

Kate grinned and reached for the sugar bowl. "Gibbs. She is way too young for you!"

He finished his coffee and clunked his mug into the sink. "Wasn't that kind of a dream, Kate," he said with a smirk, heading out of the kitchen.


This was for those people who wish Kate had never died and Ziva had never joined the team. A nod to Dallas - - or Newhart, whichever you prefer.