Author note: 2nd chapter in one night! Look at me go. This one is based on episode 12 of season 1, 'My Other Left Foot'.
Disclaimer: As ever I do not own anything to do with NCIS except my own copies of the DVD box sets... (daydreams about buying the next one)
As I sit waiting for Major Mass Spec to tell me what that fine white powder is my mind naturally drifts off in its own direction. Unfortunately the direction it chose to take was remembering sitting in my lab, in tears, after hearing the news about Kate. I remember the strange conversation I had in my head with her, only to have DiNozzo walk in to find me giggling to myself.
I decided this was not a train of thought I wanted to follow, so I redirected it to when Kate got her tattoo on her ass.
"You told him!?"
I looked up startled as Kate came storming into my lab, guns blazing. Well, not really!
"I told who what?" I was trying to take her seriously but when she was mad it almost always made me giggle. As I thought that a song started playing on my CD player that made matters a lot worse and I began to giggle quietly.
"You told DiNozzo about my tattoo!"
"Oh yeah. We had a good chat about it. I told him the whole story and about how frustrated I was because we couldn't have sex until it healed." I raised an eyebrow because as I said this Kate's expression clouded with confusion and uncertainty. "Kate!" I pulled her into a hug and shook my head in disbelief.
"You didn't tell him..? But he said..?"
I smiled at her before explaining, "He asked me if I knew where your tattoo was, and I said that I did, smiled at him and left."
She blinked and sucked in a massive breath.
"Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin?" I loved teasing her and thankfully she loved to be teased.
She laughed so forcefully she lost all the breath she had sucked in. She pulled me close, looked over her shoulder, and kissed me gently. Then whispered, "Now you do realise you have DiNozzo's mind working overtime, right?"
"Yeah, but even with his vivid imagination he's never gonna guess this one."
"Hmm yeah… when I let it slip about my tattoo I had to tell him I was drunk when I'd had it done."
"Heehee, what did he say to that?"
"He said he couldn't imagine me drunk."
"Oh could I tell him a story or two!" I looked up to see a defiant look on Kate's face, "Do you think I wouldn't tell him… cos that expression there is as good as daring me to, you know that right?"
"You won't!"
"Oh really?"
"Well, because you have now revealed to me your devious scheme for world domination I can foil you. Haven't you ever watched any James Bond movies?" Kate laughed as my face fell and I pouted. She gave me another quick peck on the cheek and walked out of my lab, still laughing to herself.
I remember sulking for a further few minutes until Gibbs walked into my lab, with a Caf-Pow. "Hiya Gibbs." As he smiled at my enthusiasm (for his appearance or the caffeine is debatable) a new scheme unfurled in my mind like a rose.
"There you are, Abs. Drink up, I need those results yesterday."
"Oh! Gibbs! Wait!" He'd walked to leave her lab, but my dastardly scheme needed his help.
"Yeah?"
"You like the guys to think you're omniscient, right?" He gave the slightest of nods to tell me to continue. "Well how would you like me to give you the slightest of information about Kate so you can mess with her head and Tony's head at the same time?"
A slow smile spread over Gibbs face for a moment but then it stopped and he crinkled his brow, "Have you and Kate had a fight?"
This comment made me squirm for a moment, before I realise that he was referring to our friendship and nothing else. "Oh no we haven't. I just like to tease her." I flashed my grin at Gibbs. He chuckled.
"So what do I need to know?"
"Well she has a tattoo. And Tony keeps guessing what it is."
"So you figure that when I'm in earshot of this I should correct him?"
"Yeah! Well you don't even need to know what it is, because I think it may be a bit too much information for you, just what it's not."
"Well okay, is it a flower?"
"Nope."
"A heart?"
"No."
"A bird?"
"No."
"A… Abs, this is going to take forever, isn't it?"
"Okay but I'll sign it to you, in case Tony walks in."
Gibbs frowned, as even though he knew what I signed to him it didn't make much sense to him.
"But why a…?"
"Ah stop!" I laughed at him almost physically screeching to a halt, "I agreed to tell you what not why!"
"True. I will try and slip this into Tony's guesses, and see if I can do this when you're present."
"Yay! Thanks Gibbs!" I ran back to my desk for a victory sip of my Caf-Pow.
"Now get some work done." Gibbs tried to give me a serious 'Gibbs-stare' but smiled halfway through.
I still remember the look of total shock on Kate's face when Gibbs implemented our plan later. Her desperately trying to convince Tony that Gibbs hadn't seen her tattoo especially since she had caved earlier and admitted to Tony that the tattoo in question was on her ass. I smiled to myself at the look on her face as she turned to face me and realised I had foiled her instead of the other way round.
"What's that smile for? You find something?" I jumped as I realised Gibbs was directly in front of me. "Sorry did I frighten you?"
"Gibbs! I've told you before, do not sneak up on me!"
"Well Abs it's hardly sneaking when you're facing me!"
"Hmm true." I jumped up to check on the Mass Spec and found a print out of the results waiting for me. "Positive for cocaine."
"Good, that's something else to haul him in on." Gibbs paused for a moment and gave me an intense look. "What were you thinking about as I came in? You seem to be off in your own thoughts so much these days."
I thought for almost a whole minute, and then decided that he deserved to know what was going on. "I was thinking about Kate, or more specifically her tattoo."
Gibbs seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering, "Yeah, I saw you signing to yourself a few weeks back."
I stood there, mortified, unable to respond to him. Fortunately he seemed to realise the effect of what he'd said and drew the conversation back onto safe ground, "So why did Kate have a tattoo of a crossbow on her ass?"
I giggled at how Gibbs asked this in a calm, conversational tone. I wiped the single tear that had escaped my eye off my face and hesitated.
"I don't think she's going to mind now Abby."
I realised he was right so I answered simply, "It was to symbolise her first meeting with me, in my telling her that I'd show her my tattoos if she would show me her guns. And to symbolise her faith."
Gibbs frowned as he put this together. As he shook his head I realised he needed more prompting. I smiled as a said "A crossbow is cross-shaped." Gibbs smiled at this rather obvious remark.
"Right, and a crossbow is a weapon like a gun."
"Yeah."
Gibbs nodded and we were silent for a while each lost in our thoughts. "Are you going to be okay Abs? I know she meant a lot to you and it always takes time to get over losing someone you care about, but you will get over her death won't you?"
I was shocked by that question. My only thought was 'Wow! I must've been acting really weird to worry Gibbs this much!'
I recovered from my shock in time to respond, "Yeah, I don't know when, but I will… eventually." I looked up at Gibbs to see if this was an adequate response and found him hugging me. I smiled as I collapsed into his embrace, the moment only disturbed by the appearance of the rest of the team and DiNozzo's mock outrage, "How come I never get a bear hug?!"
I looked up to see Ziva looked baffled at his choice of expression, DiNozzo grinning and McGee trying hard to avoid my gaze.
"You get head slaps instead Tony, be grateful for what you get! Come on, Abby got us enough to arrest this guy."
As the team left McGee gave me one last peculiar look and then he left too.
