A/N: THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE ADDED THIS STORY TO YOUR ALERTS AND HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO COMMENT & REVIEW. IT'S SUCH A NEEDED CONFIDENCE BOOST. HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY THE STORY.
"Base commander's office, Lieutenant McMillan."
"Tim, I need Jeff. Now." Dallas' tone brokered no discussion.
"Putting you through now, ma'am." And Tim walked to the C.O.'s door and knocked. Hearing his permission to enter, Tim walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Dallas is on the phone. Something's up," Tim warned.
Picking up the flashing line, Gibbs spoke, "What's up?"
"We've got plumbing problems."
"Plumbing problems," Gibbs quizzed.
"Yeah, severe. I've already called a local plumber and they'll be here shortly."
"I'm coming right over."
"Bring the Lieutenant," Dallas ordered, "we'll need a strong back." And the line clicked off.
Gibbs raised his brows at the commands issued by his wife. "Well, c'mon, Lieutenant. Seems my wife has plumbing problems that require our attention."
They shared a look but quickly locked up the office and crossed to their base housing. Just at that moment, a white panel van pulled up to the front door. The driver stepped out and caught the attention of the two marines crossing the grass.
"Someone here call a plumber?" The megawatt smile belonging to none other than Anthony DiNozzo.
"I believe my wife may have called you." Extending a hand, he continued, "Colonel Jeff Gilbert. This is my personal attaché, Lieutenant Timothy McMillan."
"Well, that's my partner, David. He usually does most of the heavy lifting." Tony pointed to a very obvious Ziva David who was grabbing two tool boxes from the back of the van. Handing one off to Tony, the four entered the house where Dallas, now changed into blue jeans and t-shirt, greeted them all at the door.
All pretenses dropped as soon as the front door closed.
"What did you find?" Gibbs ordered.
Tony and Tim headed to the spare bathroom while Dallas spoke loud enough to brief the team. "Abby's report said there were traces of silicates in the wounds. It kept playing around in my head."
"Tiles had been replaced recently. I remember the smell when we moved in." Tim concurred with Dallas' diagnosis.
Nodding, "It all came together. So I took to it with a hammer."
"Good call," Gibbs said, watching the two male agents work, spraying luminal and taking pictures of the obvious blood spatter.
"There is possibly evidence in the drain," Ziva chimed in, standing next to Dallas, "we should pull that as well."
A couple of hours later, the bathroom was a disaster but evidence was gathered and packed away to be sent to Abby for confirmation. Hair and possible bone discovered in the drain were also packed to be sent to Abby for verification. Dallas also gathered the files that the two agents had requested in order to help the drug task force.
"How did you get the van so quickly?" Hunter asked as they walked towards the door.
Ziva smiled, "We took advantage of Detective Nunez."
Dallas' look was quizzical, "She means we took advantage of the connections with Detective Nunez. He said they use it for undercover ops." Tony clarified for the agents.
"I like her version better." Dallas laughed in response.
Pulling her cap back on to cover her hair, Ziva took the boxes and walked back out to the van. Tony turned to Gibbs, "We'll be in touch."
Shaking the plumber's hand, Gibbs nodded and watched the agent return to their van and drive out of the base, no one any the wiser.
"Well, I'm headed to the Officers mess. Meeting Captain DeLeon and then to his house for poker."
"Really?" Dallas smiled. Turning to Gibbs, she added, "Out Tiny Tim is growing up, dear."
He slapped the back of Dallas' head before warning McGee, "Just watch your back."
Still rubbing the back of her head, she turned on the senior agent, "He gets 'watch your back' and I get a dressing down when I try to make contacts?"
"I know what he's doing and where he's going to be. Can't say the same for you." Gibbs corrected. Turning back to McGee, he finished with, "Report back in before you call it a night."
Nodding his goodbyes, McGee left the couple alone.
Gibbs showered and changed and joined Dallas in the kitchen where she was cooking chicken and rice. She began talking, "I still can't believe they were killed here."
"Makes sense. No one would have questioned the C.O. having his senior staff in the house. And, most of the folks around here wouldn't keep a close eye on the comings and goings of the officer in charge so no reason to question if all of a sudden they didn't make an appearance."
Setting the table for the meal, Dallas continued, "It's at the back of the house and Major Patterson had no adjutant that would have noticed anything out of the ordinary either."
"She was killed first, in front of him. When he didn't give them what they wanted, he quickly followed." Gibbs had picked up Ducky's autopsy report while Dallas continued to work.
"And you know what it was they were after?"
"We think so," Gibbs responded, taking a plate and filling it with the mouth-watering food. Around bites he continued to fill in Dallas, more and more of the information taking shape.
"Still can't see what the bartender at the O-Club has to do with this, though," Dallas shook her head in frustration.
"Or how Tony and Ziva's case with the task force ties into this either," Gibbs added. "Still too many missing pieces to make me happy."
"What's your gut say?"
Standing up and pulling her away from her cleanup work at the sink, he spun her around to face him, "It says that was a great meal and it's very full. Leave all of this and let's watch a movie."
Dallas' eyebrows shot up to the top of her head, "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Jethro Gibbs?"
He grabbed the dishtowel from her hands and deftly popped her backside, "You deserve a break. You did good today. Recovered nicely from yesterday's debacle and, as soon as Tim reports in, we'll have a good idea if we're still in play."
"Ahh. That's why the movie. Waiting up on McGee."
He couldn't hide his obvious concern so Dallas let him off the hook, "Just let me start the dishwasher and refill the wine glasses."
McGee called a couple of hours later with confirmation that they were still good – no holes in their cover. Gibbs thanked him with a gruff "Sleep in. Report to the office at 0-700."
After hanging up, Gibbs pulled a sleeping Dallas closer to his side. He let his mind wander to times when he and Shannon had done things just like this. And when Kelley came along, it was 3 of them curled up like this. Glancing at the agent next to him, it would be easy to fall back into those habits with her. Dallas didn't question him. She understood the demands of the job. Unfortunately, no children could be in their future but he was older and maybe that didn't matter too much anymore. Yeah, he could see a life with Dallas Hunter. And that, more than anything he had dealt with in the last five or six years, scared the shit out of him.