Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Kate looked up in time to see Tim exit the elevator and stalk into the bullpen. Tony had yet to arrive-
"Um, Tim, where's your-"
"Oh relax, Kate. She's right there." Tim gestured absently behind him as Mara came racing into the bullpen, balancing her cup of coffee on top of an open book, her iPod balanced precariously on top of the coffee cup. She had her gear over one shoulder and a bag of stuff held in the other hand, a pastry tucked between her teeth. "I told you to leave the rest of that at the apartment." The girl hurried to her desk, quickly setting everything down and removing her headphones before taking the pastry out of her mouth and making her way towards Tim's desk. She dropped into Tim's chair, sighing softly and taking a bite of her treat-
"Hey!"
"Not. Your. Chair." He replied, tilting it forward and depositing her unceremoniously onto the floor. Kate chuckled softly, as Mara stood, glaring at her father before taking a seat on the edge of his desk. At least the girl was trying to make an effort to get to know her father- it was Tim Kate was worried about. He was stubborn, and often dug his heels in when he didn't want to do something or give something up.
The elevator opened and all three looked up as Tony shuffled into the squad room, looking like Hell warmed over. Though his partners both snickered behind their hands, Mara laughed out loud- that started as a giggle, morphed into a full-blown laugh, and ended in a snort. She stopped, eyes going wide, a hand coming up to cover her mouth as she glanced around to find all three of them watching her.
"What..." Tony started, and then stopped, unable or unwilling to finish his sentence. He appeared to be getting over a hangover, since he was mixing tobacco with lemon juice and God only knew what else.
"A few of our Japanese counterparts were visiting last night and the director had Tony show them around." Kate clarified, nodding to his appearance.
"Saki bombs." Tony whispered, peeling apart a lemon. Mara furrowed a brow, turning to her father.
I'll explain later. She nodded, taking another sip of her coffee as she turned back to Tony. The man quickly poured a good dollop of tobasco into the glass, choking back the urge to vomit.
"What you see before you, Mara," Kate began. "is the DiNozzo Defibrillator. It's been passed down through six generations." The girl raised an eyebrow, turning back to Tony. She made her way towards him, studying the things on his desk.
"My family also has a hangover remedy. Jasmine tea with lime."
Tony made a face, meeting her gaze. He was slowly turning sickly green. "That's disgusting. Remind me to never have a hangover in Israel." Kate laughed, as Mara turned her attention back to the older man's head directly below her. He leaned over his drink, oblivious to everything and everyone until she ran her fingers through his disheveled hair. Tony jumped back, glaring at her.
"You... you might want to do something about your hair, Agent DiNozzo. It is sticking up like a porcuswine... no, wrong word..." She glanced at Kate as Tony looked up, giving her a look. "Porcupig?" Kate waved her hand back and forth; she had gotten it half right. "The little animal with the little spikeys, yes? The-"
"Procupine."
"Porcupine, yes! Thank you-" She turned, to find Gibbs making his way into the bullpen, coffee in hand. "Special... Agent... Gibbs." She swallowed. He raised an eyebrow at her, before turning towards her father.
"You're supposed to be home, spending time with your daughter, McGee." Tim rolled his eyes, glancing at Mara before turning to Gibbs, who watched him with a look the three agents knew all too well. He sighed.
"Yeah, well, I've never been one of those people to stay home all day, Gibbs." He quickly logged onto his computer, checking his e-mail. When he looked up next, it was to find Gibbs leaning over his desk, until they were inches apart.
"You are going to spend time with your daughter, McGee, one way or another."
"When Gibbs told me I needed to spend time with you, you know, normally, that would mean going out for lunch, or... having a conversation over a cup of coffee. Not getting bolted into a shipping container!" She turned to him, glaring as he paced the length of the container, studying the edges and corners.
"I am sorry, okay! But Agent Gibbs sent you on that call, and I wanted to go along! And he said that as long as I was with an agent I could go!" She cried, kicking at the door. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down- she wasn't claustrophobic, but all this arguing was making her lightheaded. She needed fresh air, and warmth.
"Don't tell me you're starting to panic on me." Tim replied returning to where she stood and leaning against a nearby crate, pulling out his phone and checking the service. Of course, figures- no bars.
"I am not panicking! This is me-" She kicked at the door again, before storming off to the other side of the container. "Mad!"
Tim rolled his eyes. "I'm not getting any service here. You?" She sighed, pulling out her phone and holding it up. She circled herself a couple of times before lowering the phone and closing it with a shake of her head.
"I am braless."
Her father snorted softly. "I noticed that earlier- just curious, is it custom for parents in Israel to allow their daughters to run around without undergarments on?" She blushed; her mother had never said anything about how she dressed- mainly because of the uniforms they all wore- but every once in a while, Mara would add a scarf or a bracelet or something that gave the uniform a pop of color besides the tan. It was always then that she got called on it. And it was only occasionally when she would show up at work sans underwear- usually because she had to do laundry and hadn't wanted to bother with it. Not that her father needed to know. "But here in America, they're called bars."
She glared at him. "Do you have anything better to do than correct my English?"
He met her gaze, raising an eyebrow, before slowly sinking to the floor, resting back against the crate, balancing on the balls of his feet. "You mean besides freezing to death?"