Title: Of Margaritas and Ice Cream
Author: Aserene
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August in Washington DC was never pleasant. The city was sticky, it felt awful to have to put on a suit and jacket, and so he opted for a summer one as opposed to a normal weight. As he left the house the sun was barely getting up and it reminded him of other mornings, specifically those in Paris, when he'd hardly been asleep but more enjoyable engaged and… STOP! He refused to remember those moments, not when he had a triple homicide waiting for him. He made record time to the crime scene, an inviting lake that looked perfect for a picnic, well if it hadn't been for the blood spatter and bodies.
"Gibbs!" He turned to see Ziva coming up the small rise and met her gaze not spotting her partner. DiNozzo picked the wrong day to be late.
"Where's DiNozzo?" he demanded.
"With Ducky, he went for an unexpected swim." He could see was trying not to laugh. Gibbs glanced over the scene, McGee was taking photos, Palmer was checking over the bodies, and Ducky was with Tony.
"What do we have?" His voice must have carried because Tony and Ducky looked up, Tony quickly getting to his feet and coming over.
"Triple homicide Boss, looks like they were partying late, someone interrupted and…"
"I can see that DiNozzo! Who are they and who killed them?"
"We're working on that Boss," Tony answered.
"Cause of death Ducky?"
"Well I won't know for sure till I open them up, but I'd guess the knife wound down their chests."
"Weapon?"
"Missing," Ziva replied.
"McGee!"
"Nothing yet Boss, but I have their phones and I'll be able to get something off them when I get to the lab."
"Good, DiNozzo what are you doing?"
"Uh…examining…looks like they were drinking margaritas and eating ice cream." Gibbs simply nodded and continued walking around the crime scene, answering his phone a minute later. Tony watched the Boss closely and smirked. "Zee-Vah!"
"What?" She responded irritated swatting flies.
"Twenty bucks says Gibbs is talking to the Director," he taunted. Both McGee and Ziva looked over.
"It's only five-thirty, you think the Director would be up that early?" McGee inquired.
"Maybe someone woke her up when they left," Tony hinted. Ziva sighed, it never failed, and Tony always brought this up at least once during every case. While she was fairly certain it might be the Director on the phone, she didn't want to get in trouble.
"It's not her," Ziva assured.
"Right…" Tony paused having lost sight of Gibbs until his head snapped forward.
"You done with the scene yet DiNozzo?"
"Yes Boss, we were just packing up." Gibbs smirked as the team bolted to the van; he put his phone back to his ear.
"We're leaving now," he said into and heard the hard, 'good' and the dial tone. He closed his phone staring at it a moment. someone hasn't gotten enough sleep. He drove back to NCIS and was sitting at his desk when the lights flickered. He glanced out the window, no storm, maybe it's just heat lightening. The lights then went out, the team glanced around this time hoping they would come back on. They did a minute later but the familiar hum of the central air failed to begin again.
"Generator Boss," McGee called out as his computer came up.
"We lost power!" Tony exclaimed.
"Generator set to power Autopsy, Abby's lab, and MTAC," McGee informed as his computer crashed again.
"McGee down with Abby, help her out. DiNozzo, Ziva…" His orders were interrupted by a very familiar voice rising in volume.
"What the hell do you mean the power will take 1-2 days to be back on?"
"Uh Boss…we'll be with Abby," Tony called as he and Ziva bolted to follow McGee. Gibbs slowly moved up the stairs and toward the Director's office in time to intercept the Director as she rushed from her office.
"Where's the fire Jen?" She was furious about something and glared at Cynthia who quickly left her desk and Gibbs followed Jenny back into her office. She slammed the door close.
"We have no air conditioning," she snapped.
"That's what happens when the power goes out," Gibbs remarked.
"It's not funny Gibbs. All of DC is in a blackout, they're predicting a blackout like the one in New York a few years ago."
"The generator will last."
"This is going to be hell," she muttered twisting her hair up. "Well ditch the dress code, casual dress till the power is back, teams off unless they have an active case…" Gibbs tuned out the rambling for a minute. He'd forgotten how the heat affected her and wondered if she would follow the casual dress code as well. "Jethro?" Her voice broke into his thoughts.
"Yes I'll tell them."
"You're not listening to a word I'm saying," she sighed. He didn't respond. "You going to tell me about the case so I can tell the SecNav we're still working?"
"Triple homicide, bodies have knife wounds, Ducky…" he drifted off as her cell phone vibrated on the desk.
"Shepard." He could only hear her side. "He's here. I'll tell him." She hung up and looked back toward him. "Ducky has something for you." He moved out the door and she followed till he turned to look at her.
"Director?"
"Oh come on Jethro, I'm not being stuck in my office," she complained bypassing him heading for the stairs.
"No interfering," he warned as he caught her.
"You won't even know I'm there." He highly doubted that. Ignoring her presence was something he hadn't learned to do in eight years; he doubted he would start today. They entered autopsy moments later, thankful the generator was still functioning.
"Ah Jethro, Director," Ducky greeted.
"What do you have Duck?" Gibbs questioned.
"Well it appears my preliminary hypothesis was wrong. The cause of death is poisoning. The knife wounds were post mortem."
"Poisoned with what?" Jenny asked.
"Well if I had to guess, I would say it was the margaritas," Ducky informed watching Jenny bite her lip to withhold what he thought was laughter. Gibbs noticed as well and turned to leave, leading the Director away.
"Call me when you know more." They headed for Abby's lab.
"So a margarita safari gone awry," she joked.
"You enjoying this?"
"Oh only a bit more than a lot." They entered Abby's lab to find the team and ice cream cartons.
"Abby?" Gibbs called. The Goth jumped up.
"Gibbs!" She exclaimed. "Still awaiting tox screens but we know the poison wasn't in the margaritas."
"Then what was it in?" Abby held up a carton of Vanilla Swirl Ice Cream.
"Most likely this."
"And you're eating from it why?" Gibbs demanded.
"Well you see Boss, Abby has a stockpile and she's afraid it would melt," Tony explained digging back into the Cherry Garcia in front of him.
"Here Jenny," Ziva said handing her a pint of Ben and Jerry's Rocky Road. "I know you're not overly fond of this flavor but…"
"It's hot enough," Jenny interrupted her friend's words. She didn't need to look to know that Gibbs was starring at her curiously. It wasn't that she didn't like Rocky Road; it's just that it usually brought back memories of summer in Paris.
"Well Jenny if you don't like it I'll…" Gibbs tried to take it from her hands but she moved out of reach, settling into a chair with a spoon.
"I'll take it," she replied not feeling particularly bad. She began to eat it hoping she could finish it before it melted. Gibbs pried his eyes off her form, he'd get her back later because judging by the faint smile she was remembering the same thing he was.
"So who positioned the sailors?"
"Well I've tracked their movements Boss, and it seems like someone there must have added it," McGee explained.
"So whose the fourth person?" Jenny inquired between bites.
"No idea," Ziva answered. "There was no evidence of a fourth person enjoying the ice cream."
The computer beeped and Abby looked over.
"Tox screen is back and our poison is…LSD."
"Not what I was expecting," Tony commented.
"Possible overdose," McGee suggested. Ziva answered her phone as Abby continued explanations.
"Well this is a high concentration of LSD, defiantly added to the ice cream, maybe to get a better trip?"
"Boss I got something off one of the phones," McGee announced as he put the video on the large screen. Singing voices filled the room as three people appeared on the screen dancing around the campfire.
"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame…"
"LSD induces hallucinations," Tony began.
"You think DiNozzo, McGee is there someone holding the phone?"
"Yea Boss, there are definitely four voices."
"So whose the mystery fourth man?" Abby asked.
"Another sailor," Ziva informed closing her phone. "Metro says a fisherman hooked the fourth body out of the lake."
"Probably thought he could walk on water," Tony concluded.
"Gear up!" Gibbs ordered. "Tony you lead, I'll be with Ducky."
"Sure thing Boss, let's go Probie!" Jenny chuckled softly as the three left, Abby joined in and Gibbs glanced at them.
"Something amusing Madame Director?"
"Not at all."
"Abby?"
"Nope," the girl answered. Gibbs nodded not really getting it and sure he wouldn't, and moved toward the door.
"Jenny?" He called back. She looked as if she were trying to decide between the ice cream and playing agent. "The ice cream can come."
"Bye Abby!" She said grabbing the pint and going to catch him. She followed him down the hallway continuing to snack on the ice cream until she suddenly found herself against the wall in the secluded hallway. It took her a minute to figure out what had happened and another minute to decide it was fine. Gibbs had his hands on her hips holding her in place. She had the ice cream carton between them and continued to snack. She resisted the urge to smirk, control finally snapped, did it? She knew ice cream got to him. "I though we were going to Ducky."
"We are," he assured resisting the urge to kiss the chocolate off her lips. Sure they'd spent a lot more time together lately, and he had stayed at her house once or twice, but they were hardly back together.
"Wanna taste?" She inquired holding the spoon.
"If you insist," he leaned down and kissed her, his tongue licking her lips until she yielded. The second she did he used all his self-restraint and pulled back to meet her green eyes. "Tastes good."
He then let her go and continued down the hallway. She leaned against the wall for half a minute and then her brain began to function again. She quickly caught up to him, to find he was waiting just outside autopsy with a smug little grin. She could slap him, or she could use alternative measures to get rid of the grin. She ate the rest of the ice cream and thoroughly licked the spoon getting the very last bit of the flavor, leaving none to waste. She knew she had his undivided attention and whatever teasing comment had died on his lips. She walked straight past him through the doors into autopsy, chucking the empty container.
"Director, I'm surprised Jethro isn't with you," Ducky remarked.
"He'll be in, in a minute. The heat's getting to him," she replied sounding very pleased with herself. Gibbs did enter about thirty seconds later standing on the far side of the table and Ducky glanced between the two of them.
"Ducky anything new?" Gibbs demanded.
"Not since the last time you asked, oh twenty minutes ago," Ducky answered. "I sent Mr. Palmer to collect the floater," he informed studying his friend. He did look a little flushed; he looked back over at the Director and felt a small smirk cross his lips. He had been around the two since the beginning and it hadn't taken him long to figure out when things had shifted the first time around and unless his were betraying him, things were about to shift again.
"Call me when…"
"When I know, you'll know Jethro," Gibbs went back out and Jenny was going to follow but Ducky held her back a second. "What did you do to him now?" he had no doubt that Gibbs' delayed appearance was her fault.
"Who me?" She answered innocently her green eyes wide. Ducky raised an eyebrow. "I didn't do anything…" She was cut off as Gibbs reentered taking her arm and leading her out.
"Well young man," Ducky began talking to the body on his table. "I do believe the heat has gotten to them both. Reminds me of a time…"
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The following morning Gibbs stood in front of the plasma taking swigs of his coffee and trying to figure out if there was a fifth person involved in the now quadruple homicide. The squad room was sweltering, as the power that had returned would not stay on if the air conditioning were turned on. Tony and McGee were at their desks, Ziva having abandoned them for Abby's lab where it was somewhat cool. They'd come in early to try and close the case and so not everyone had arrived. He heard the ding of the elevator on the MTAC floor and glanced up just see. He had every intention of just a brief glance but his eyes were transfixed.
Long, barely tanned legs caught his eyes and he followed them up to mid thigh where they hit denim and continued to a white blouse that hid the familiar curves. He reached the chest and scoop cut and finished the survey noticing the red hair pulled half up, the lower tendrils slightly curled. He glanced over his shoulder just to make sure no one else was appreciating this view and for once found DiNozzo focused on his work. He turned his attention back to the catwalk just in time to glance the back of the top. It was a lower cut back revealing the freckles he'd used to spend hours counting and traced the back till the bow. It was small, obviously part of the style of the top and he wondered if the bow came undone what would happen to the top. His view was impaired as she disappeared into her outer office and he was not happy with that. Not at all.
"Boss?" Tony's loud voice cut into him and he turned slightly.
"What DiNozzo?"
"Ducky called, he's made his final ruling on the fourth sailor."
"Well don't just stand there."
"Boss," McGee hesitantly called.
"What?" Gibbs snapped about to follow Tony.
"Director on the line," McGee held out the phone. Oh decisions…go to Ducky, go see Jen. What a tough call. Gibbs hung up the phone, knowing it would annoy her.
"McGee go with Tony, I'll be upstairs." McGee hurriedly joined Tony.
"Where's Gibbs, Probie?"
"He hung up on the Director, then said he'd be upstairs."
"He hung up…" Tony glanced to the catwalk. "Give a time limit?"
"No."
"I think we should check on Ziva and Abby after Ducky." McGee nodded.
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Gibbs smirked as he made his was down the hall to the Director's office. No doubt Jenny was fuming that he'd hung up on her. He was half way to her door when her blur passed him. He recognized the perfume and simply turned to follow her, trying to make sure his eyes did not wander below her neck. She almost slammed the door to MTAC in his face but he caught it and followed her in as she took a seat in the front row, crossing one leg over the other. He noticed there were no techs present and he momentarily confused till she grabbed a remote and the screen came to life.
"There a reason you hung up on me?"
"I…"
"McGee doesn't have the guts," she responded.
"You called me, what was it you wanted?"
"How's your margarita safari case coming?"
"Is that what you're calling it?" He questioned.
"Sounded better than The Drugged Ice Cream case."
"Ice cream ecstasy," he corrected his voice low. To her credit she didn't even blush. Well that didn't work, so he tried a new tactic. "You're enjoy casual dress day."
"You could just say you like the top," she sighed.
"I haven't decided yet."
"Maybe if you stopped looking at my shoes…" she trialed off trying to hide her amusement. She was fully aware of his eyes tracing the line from her ankle to her thigh.
"They're pretty shoes, go great with the pink nail polish." He was not even going to pretend to be ashamed. Sure hadn't seen that much of her skin in a very long time, but he had a great memory and the skin brought back lots of very good memories. To top it off, he had always admired her legs.
"I wouldn't do that, the SecNav is about to come online," she sighed.
"Do what?" he questioned confused. He didn't think he was that transparent. She withheld a smirk.
"Mind out of the bedroom Jethro," she whispered standing as the SecNav's image came on.
"Director, how is the lake case coming?"
"We're waiting on the final ruling, so far my agents have had no indication that they were unknowingly drugged.
"Agent Gibbs, is there a reason why the case should be considered a homicide?" SecNav asked and Jen noticed he had come to stand next to her, closer than usual.
"We're still treating it as such until the medical examiner says otherwise, but we believe the fourth sailor mutilated the bodies of his companions in a hallucination and then went for swim and ultimately drowned," Gibbs explained.
"Keep me informed. Director, I'm working on getting NCIS back up to full power, but it maybe a few days yet."
"Thank you Sir." She pressed a button on the remote and the screen went dark. "Have you spoken to Ducky yet?"
"You called me up here, I sent DiNozzo and McGee and…" he held up his pausing her interruption and answering the phone. "You're two minutes late!"
"Sorry Boss, Ducky says he drowned, but would have overdosed anyway."
"Good, case closed. Get up stairs, write your reports, you have two hours." He slammed his phone shut.
"I guess I'll wait the two hours and sign them."
"You could go home."
"No A/C there either. It doesn't really mater."
"Heat doesn't seem to be bothering you," he mocked slightly. She moved slightly ignoring him, pulling her flip-flop tighter to her foot. It was involuntary but his eyes followed the movement of her hand and he could see her balance was slightly off so he caught hold of her arm. She straightened and moved toward the door, slipping out of his hold.
"See you in two hours," she called over her shoulder. Not two hours, he protested silently.
He went down to the squad room, placed his cell phone on his desk and picked up his desk phone dialing the Director's line. He said two words and watched a minute later as Jenny walked straight across the catwalk to the elevator.
"Going for coffee."
"Boss it's like a hundred," Tony said incredulously. Gibbs whacked his head. "Shutting up now Boss." Gibbs headed for the elevator and the team watched.
"That's odd."\
"What Probie, that the man wants coffee on the hottest day of the year…"
"No, Gibbs left his phone," McGee informed. Both Ziva and Tony glanced up and toward the elevator. Tony got up strolling over; he was just about to grab the phone when a voice stopped him.
"Tony why are you at Gibbs desk?"
"Abby," McGee hissed.
"Listen Abby, I just want to make sure Gibbs hasn't missed any calls," Tony defended grabbing the phone.
"You're trying to win the bet," Ziva guess. She looked over his shoulder. "But you've lost, it was a call from House 2 this morning." Abby came over and glanced at the number.
"That's not Gibbs' house line."
"One way to find out, Probie!" Tony called.
"Come on Tony, Gibbs will kill us."
"I'll call it," Tony threatened.
"Fine." McGee triangulated the number. "Shandon Drive, no anyone there?" Ziva sighed and handed Tony a twenty-dollar bill. Ducky came around the corner and found the team standing around.
"There a reason the elevators are out?" The elder man questioned.
"They should be working," McGee informed.
"Is Gibbs in them?"
"He did just leave for coffee, but there was no one with him."
"Maybe…" the elevator opened on the squad room floor.
"Well that was odd," Ducky remarked heading toward the elevator.
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He glanced at his watch; it was a really good thing he pretty much knew how long each elevator took to move from floor to floor. He stepped out and moved around to the back entrance where the elevator for MTAC would stop. He stepped off in the alcove and waited the five seconds and watched as the elevator ding and the doors begin to open. Jenny stepped off looking around, he watched her tense as she stepped cautiously past the alcove and he snagged her wrist with his one hand. Her other hand came up and he caught it forcing her to face him.
"Gee Jenny is that any way to greet your old partner," he teased.
"Is there a reason for the cloak and dagger?" She inquired sounding bored.
"You could use some exercise so we're going for a walk to get coffee."
"Jethro its hot out," she whined.
"Better here than in there. Come on I'll buy you ice cream," he promised.
"I have ice cream in the house," she responded as she slipped on hand from his grip and brushed the hair off her neck.
"Okay." He led her toward his car.
"Okay what?"
"We can go eat the ice cream at your house, wouldn't want it to melt all over your hardwood kitchen floors, unless you have a better idea."
"Oh I have ideas," she replied sliding into the car, the leather burning her legs. "Ow."
"Hey at least its tan leather, your car has black."
"Just turn on the car." He did so and as they pulled out she adjusted the air.
"You're just going to be more uncomfortable when we get out," he warned.
"At least this car has air conditioning," she muttered. They got out of the car as once they'd parked in her driveway and went through the house, Jenny knowing it was empty. He followed her through to the kitchen, dropping his jacket over the railing. She already had pulled the cooler open that had the ice cream packed with ice. She grabbed a container of vanilla and set it on plate on the counter and grabbed two spoons.
"What happened to the chocolate?"
"Ate it last night."
"You're going to be sick with so much ice cream," he warned as she took another bit of the vanilla.
"I didn't hear you complaining about ice cream before," she reminded, turning her back for a second. That turned out to be a mistake, because he snagged her waist and pinned her between the counter and him. She didn't seem overly concerned about her new position, just taking another bite of ice cream. "Wanna taste?" She looked up meeting his darkened blue eyes.
"If you insist." His mouth covered hers in a soft, tasting kiss that quickly became possessive. She tilted her head kissing him back, ensuring that she was just as active a participant. Her hands managed to place the container back on the counter behind her before reaching up and wrapping around his neck. The kisses became softer until they were barely brushing, still he held her closer, as he pulled back enough to let her breathe.
"Tastes good."
"Good," she replied, her brain not quite ready to form coherent sentences yet. He met her darkened eyes and kissed her cheek lightly. They hadn't talked about this, they hadn't talked period, things had just sort of happened. They'd started spending time together, almost unconsciously and while he admitted it or not, he really hoped this meant they were going forward.
"Jen…" he trailed off. "We could always say this was to much sweets, and to much heat and ignore it." That triggered a smile he hadn't seen in years, just as it had triggered one in Marseilles.
"Didn't use that excuse the last time, don't think I'll use it this time," she whispered against his lips kissing him again. The kiss soon became deep and passionate a powerful force of nature that neither had any intention of stopping .His lips trailed down her neck, to the spot right below her ear as she melted into him, his hands trailing down to her bare legs.
"Want to christen the kitchen, again?"
"Later," she giggled. "Bed now."