"Halloween is so fun. I just love seeing all the little superheroes before they can pronounce their Ethethes." Jenny said as she carried in the plastic trunk of Halloween decorations.
"I'm Thuperman, and my Thithter's name ith Thpider-man." Abby said cheerily
"Good morning, lovely ladies." Gibbs said as he entered the kitchen with a chuckle
"Don't you mean, Ghoul morning?" Jenny said raising her voice to a spooky tone
"Why didn't I walk straight to the car?" Gibbs muttered with a face palm
"Honey, listen. I'm gonna need you to come home a little early. I can't decorate all by myself, and the girls have plans." Jenny instructed as she sorted through the decorations
"I'm going to the range to shoot at stuff, and they're gonna dress up the targets to look like werewolves." Ziva filled in enthusiastically
"Before they transform or after they transform?" Gibbs asked slyly, "'Cause before they transform, you're actually shooting people."
"Sometimes I hate Halloween. Why don't we just skip it? Andy is too young to understand it anyway," Gibbs said with a sigh, directing his question to Jenny
"No, we are doing Halloween, Gibbs, and do you know why?" Jenny asked with her hands on her hips
"Girls, you're gonna see a rare event here I'm gonna lose an argument 'cause your mom is holding the Halloween trump card," Gibbs said with a pause, "Eric."
"That's right, and we love our grandson. So as long as Eric is coming to this house, we are gonna scare the hell out of him," Jenny said authoritatively
"You got me, there. As long as he's coming to this house." Gibbs repeated
"Why did you repeat what I just said?" Jenny asked with a glare
"I talked to Daniel. He's not letting Eric come to this house." Gibbs said with a shrug
"What? Why not?" Jenny demanded
"Daniel is taking Eric to some Fall Kiddie Festival. I don't know." Gibbs said trailing off
"No, no. Even if Eric isn't coming, it is still Halloween. And we can give out candy to kids in their cute little costumes and see the excitement on their little faces." Jenny tried desperately
"Mom, it's over." Abby ground out
"Have some dignity." Ziva said as she left the kitchen
"Tonight's a perfect night to watch a different game the Michigan Wolverines play the Minnesota Golden Gophers." Gibbs said with a grin
"But I already bought all the candy." Jenny exclaimed
"Well, just give it to dad. He steals the good stuff and hides it anyway." Ziva yelled accusingly
"You can't steal stuff that you pay for." Gibbs retorted
"What happened to you? You used to love dressing up and scaring the trick-or-treaters and now this." Jenny said with a huff
"What?" Gibbs asked, raising an eyebrow
"I'm sorry, I'm just not ready for my husband to turn into some grumpy old man." Jenny said with a look of horror
"I don't think it makes me a grumpy old man because I don't like a bunch of damn kids trampling over through my yard." Gibbs said firmly as he left for work
"Pacci, please tell me these guys in costume aren't agents. I don't want them interviewing suspects with hatchets in their heads," Gibbs said as he rounded the corner, coffee cup present in his hand
"I told everyone no costumes. I already sent the Flash home to change, which was over an hour ago, so I guess he broke character." Pacci said, with a glance at his wrist watch
"I do not like to see our agents in costume." Gibbs said with a shake of his head
"Couldn't agree more, Jethro. You know, but if, uh, one of our agents, like say, I don't know, Daniel, were to come in costume, we could let it slide, right?" Daniel asked, as he came into view dressed as Mike Franks, down to the grey hair and untamed facial hair,
"Well, I suppose we're going to have to." Gibbs said in annoyance
"By the way, Gibbs, love the stats. Another home run." Daniel said in a scratchy voice, quite unlike his own
"We haven't posted it yet, Daniel." Pacci said with a laugh
"Oh, I guess I only thought you had 'cause I'm old. Isn't that what you're always saying about me?" Daniel said, as he pulled a pipe out of his pocket
"Because you are old." Pacci said with emphasis
"Yep, I'm old. So I just smile like the proud man I am never showing my true feelings, never letting anyone in, which is kind of sad when you think about it, so I don't. And the cycle continues." Daniel said seriously
"Mike actually did stop by. He is going to be working under you for two weeks while he processes out." Pacci informed the new team leader
"Uh, when and if Mike sees this, we may have an agent with a hatchet in his head." Gibbs said seriously
"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked in confusion
"I don't think Mike's gonna think this is all that funny." Gibbs said with a wince
"Oh, I don't know. I-I think he'll see past the silly beard and the silly hair and see it for what it is. A loving tribute to a great man." Daniel said with confidence
"I don't know. If it were me, I'd punch you in the face." Gibbs said with a shrug
"What do we have here? D-d-d-don't tell me. Don't tell me." Mike said cheerfully as he descended from the Director's office, "A zombie, huh? You're one of those things that were dead, but then it comes back to life and still looks like it's dead."
"Nope. I'm not a zombie." Daniel said shaking his head, "I'm actually…"
"Don't tell him. Don't tell him. Don't tell him." Gibbs said in a frantic whisper
"I'm you." Daniel finished, ignoring the warning
"Me? That's supposed to be me?" Mike asked taking a step back, "I love it. Look at that."
Daniel beamed happily and shot an 'I told you so' look at Gibbs.
"I got it." Gibbs called as the doorbell rang:
"Hey, Tobias." Gibbs greeted
"Hey, trick-or-treat."
"Honey, it's our first trick-or-treater." Gibbs called jokingly
"I'm gonna leave this candy with you. It's laced with cocaine. It's from a gang I busted but I can't go to the Hoover building so if you could hold on to that," Tobias asked, stepping in
"I'll put it in my gun safe." Gibbs agreed
"See you're getting ready for the big night. Diane's pretty excited, too." Tobias said as Jenny came into view
"I know, I know. We're both gonna be witches." Jenny said happily
"Oh, so no costumes this year?" Gibbs asked with a sparkle
"Oh, come on, Tobias. Don't you want to dress up? Take Emily trick or treating," Jenny asked in shock
"Emily and Ziva are going out to the range. I'm a grown man! I just want to put on my Gopher head and watch Minnesota beat the hell out of Michigan." Tobias said as he grabbed a seat in the living room
"You are a Minnesota fan. We should watch the game together. I'd love to see a Gopher cry." Gibbs said, joining his buddy
"Well, you're not watching it here. This house is doing Halloween." Jenny said with a pointed glare at both of them
"My place then." Tobias said as he stood to leave
"This is your reward for making it through the gauntlet of horror." Jenny said eerily as she handed out candy
"We were going to make it a lot scarier, but we didn't want to frighten the really little kids and we opened the wine." Diane said to a little girl, "Sorry magic potion."
"Ah, did you see the excitement on all their little faces?" Jenny asked as she shut the door, "I mean, what could possibly be better than this?"
"College football game, according to our husbands." Diane said with a frown
"You know, two grown men sitting alone in a dark room. It just seems so sad." Jenny said with sigh," At least they offered to keep Andy,"
"Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming. I mean, Tobias never wants to do anything new. I tried to sign us up for cooking class, swing dance." Diane said as she poured more wine
"You know, Gibbs has become pretty set in his ways, too. For example, in the bedroom.." Jenny was cut off
"Oh, my God. Stop." Diane said as her eyes widened
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I meant, uh, the decorating. He freaked out when he saw it was different." Jenny clarified, "Yeah, but just so you know, the other bedroom stuff got no complaints."
"If we gonna talk about that bedroom stuff, I'm going to need some more magic potion." Diane said with a giggle
"I don't know, Diane. What are we gonna do? This can't be the way things are for the rest of our lives." Jenny said as the wheels began to turn
"Yeah, this is how it should be for the rest of our lives Cold beer, good football game, a neighbour who I'm neutral about," Gibbs said as he relaxed, Andy on his lap, sprawled against his father's chest
"Yeah, I think it's great we've reached an age where we can simplify." Tobias said as he grabbed himself a beer
"My wife doesn't get that. For instance, in the bedroom," Gibbs started
"Time out, brother." Tobias complained
"I mean, when I got back from a week long case, she changed everything in the bedroom." Gibbs said as if Tobias were crazy
"Diane signed us up for cooking classes." Tobias scoffed, "I'd have gone, too, except then I'd know how to cook and there goes a perfectly good excuse."
"Did you order more pizza?" Tobias asked as the doorbell rang a few times
"No, but you know what? I was thinking about it. Maybe these smartphones are getting too smart." Gibbs said with a smirk
"We've got a line of trick-or-treaters out there. Someone covered my porch with Jack-o'-lanterns." Tobias said in shock as he peeked out from behind a curtain
"It was the wives." Gibbs and Fornell said in unison
The doorbell continued ringing
"Don't open that door. You you'll unleash a hell storm of little Disney characters and Batmans. You will not be able to control it." Gibbs warned
Tobias chose to ignore his good friend who had lay Andy on the couch and sprang up before Tobias opened the door.
"Trick or treat." The kids yelled before the boy at the front made conversation, "The ladies across the street said you were giving out the good stuff."
"They did, did they? You know what? They're right." Tobias said as he quickly scoped out the area," World's greatest mom. Here you go." Tobias said as he dumped the mug into the kid's bag, "And, uh, oh! Yeah, enjoy that women today magazine, tiny nerd."
"I see what we're doing. Is this the wife's?" Gibbs asked, holding up a framed certificate
"Oh, not anymore." Tobias said with a shrug
"Well, look at that. Now you got a master's degree from Howard University." Gibbs congratulated as he handed the item to a little girl
"I did such a good job on your makeup! I could get a job working in Hollywood, you know, if they ever make a movie about Mike." Kate cheered as Daniel took Eric out, dressed as Mike
"Makeup? I don't know what you're talking about, little lady." Daniel said resuming his scratchy voice as he leaned in to kiss her
"Ugh! No, no, no. I don't want you to kiss me when you look like that." Kate said as she pushed him away, "I would feel like I was cheating on you with future you. And I don't want future you to be into young chicks."
"Yeah, but y-you know it's just me." Daniel said in his normal voice
"Yeah, my ears do, but my eyes don't and I hate it when they get confused." Kate said with enjoyment, "It's like when I see that movie with Superman and I keep thinking I hear my dad's voice."
"That was a brilliant idea, Diane. Sending those trick-or-treaters over to the guys." Jenny laughed
"Thank you." Diane said graciously
"Hmm, you know, it's been pretty quiet. I wonder where all those trick-or-treaters are." Jenny said as she rose to peep out the window
"Well, maybe it's too important to you. You know, kids can smell desperation." Diane joked
"There are plenty of kids out there, but they're just walking by." Jenny said in his surprise as they dashed out
"Uh, this has Tobias written all over it." Diane muttered as they found a board reading 'Beware of Wolf', along with a great big hound, that was Tobias and Diane's pet
"This is actually a great thing. Our husbands fired back." Jenny said as they untied the dog
"Hey, maybe they're not dead inside." Diane said finally as they went back into the house, with the dog
"Hey Tobias, you might want to watch this." Gibbs said, pointing to the screen
"Man, you're on the 6-yard line, about to score. Why would I want to see that?" Tobias groaned
"So you can see what it looks like when I'm happy." Gibbs retorted as he tried to get Andy to react
"Here we go. Quick shovel pass and they're gonna be in there." Gibbs commented as he gauged Tobias' reaction
With a burst of static, the channel changed
"Ronald, I'm pregnant." The woman on screen said
"Why did you change the channel?" Gibbs demanded
"I didn't change the channel." Tobias said as he raised his hands
"Oh, that was perfect! You changed the channel right when the pass was in the air!" Jenny cheered
"Tobias was so condescending when he set up this phone control of the DVR. It's technology. How about you leave it to me? How about I stick it to you?" Diane ranted
"I don't know what happened, but I fixed it. Get off my back." Tobias said with a roll of his eyes
"Got another shot. Maybe just a little rollout. Watch this. "Gibbs said happily
Static crackled once more and the football game disappeared:
"Are you sure the baby's mine, Andrea? I will not help you raise another man's baby."
"For the love of God, what's happening?" Gibbs said agitated
"Please tell me you didn't tell her how to program this from her phone." Gibbs asked breaking the silence that enveloped them
"No way. It's technology. I told her to leave it to me." Tobias defended
"We should have never engaged them or got engaged to them. See how that turned out." Gibbs muttered under his breath
"Well, It's half time. We got 20 minutes to figure out how to get back at them." Tobias said as he eyed Gibbs
"What would you rather do, get back at them or enjoy the rest of the game?" Gibbs asked as he stood, Andy in his arms
"Hey, what are you guys doing back so early? Don't you want to see how the game ends or if Ronald gets back together with Andrea?" Jenny teased as Gibbs put Andy in the little baby swing
"Look, we just want to watch the game." Tobias said in defeat
"You know, you win. You win. We just want peace." Gibbs added
"Oh, everybody wants peace, honey, you know, when you're losing." Jenny said in enjoyment
"Let us finish watching the game. And next Halloween, we'll be all over it." Tobias promised
"What do you think, Diane? Should we let them off the hook?" Jenny asked, turning to her partner in crime
"I don't know." Diane said with a shrug, enjoying every moment
"Well, w-what if I sweeten the deal by saying Tobias will go dancing with you?" Gibbs said with a grin
"Done." Diane confirmed
"Hey! How'd you figure out the phone/DVR thing, anyway?" Tobias asked in curiosity
"YouTube. You better watch out. Saw a video on how to sew a grown man into a bed sheet." Diane warned as she held out her phone menacingly
"Okay, let's go, Gibbs. But be prepared my Gophers are a second-half team." Tobias said with enthusiasm
"Explains why they did so badly first half." Gibbs said condescendingly as they opened the door
"Trick or treat!" The kids yelled
"You guys need to talk to the witches." Gibbs said as he stepped aside
"Ziva, honey, we're running low on candy!" Jenny yelled as she emptied the rest of the bowl into the little bags
"Seriously? I just dumped a bag in there like five minutes ago." Ziva said, holding up the bright green bag as proof
"You used the candy from that bag?" Gibbs asked in a dangerously low voice
"Yeah, I found it in your gun safe." Ziva said as she pulled on her jacket
"Holy crap." Jenny said in astonishment
"Why were you in my gun safe?" Gibbs asked angrily
"Well, I went to the range, remember? I was putting my pistol back. Sorry I gave away your candy stash." Ziva said as she patted her father on the back
"Holy crap!" Jenny repeated
"What's the big deal?" Diane asked in confusion
"That's the candy I got from the bust." Tobias said with vivid hand movements
"It was laced with cocaine." Jenny stammered out eventually
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Ziva said as she raced up the stairs
"We gave cocaine to children. We're dealers!" Diane yelled
"Where are you going?" Gibbs asked as Jenny and Diane hurried out the open door
"We've got to get that stuff back!"
"So you're literally gonna take candy from babies." Gibbs said with a humourless laugh
"Sweetie, let me get a look inside that bag. Just a little peek!" Diane asked as she tried to wrestle it from the six year old girl
"For God's sake, give me the bag!" Jenny cried as she came to Diane's aid
"Witches are taking my candy! Witches are taking my candy!" The girl cried as she tried to regain her candy
"What are you doing with my master's diploma?" Diane asked pulling the frame out
There was a sudden wailing of sirens
"Oh, my God. Diane, uh, you do the talking. Cops make me nervous." Jenny said as sought cover behind Diane
"Hey, fellas, what can we do for you?" Gibbs asked as he walked up to the officers
"We've had some very disturbing reports about tainted candy being handed out in this area. Is this your house?" The officer asked as he looked around
"Just a misunderstanding. Nothing really was going on here." Gibbs said as he advanced
"Step back, sir."
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just explaining what's going on." Gibbs said with a glare
"You want to talk about this down at the station?" The second officer asked as her pulled handcuffs from his belt
"Aren't you guys overreacting?" Tobias asked as he came to Gibbs' rescue
"You want to go with him, sir?"
"Maybe I do!" Fornell yelled
"It was us, officer. We gave out the candy." Jenny confessed
"She's right. It was us. Mainly her." Diane said with a dazzling smile
"So your husbands had absolutely nothing to do with this?" The officer confirmed
"They were just trying to enjoy the game." Jenny said honestly
"Yes, we were just trying to enjoy the game." Gibbs said, as he hid the grin
"Wait. Why did you just repeat what I said?" Jenny asked staring at her husband in confusion
"Because you didn't do anything wrong, except mess with the wrong guys!" Gibbs said in triumph as he was released from the officer's grip with a laugh
"What?!" Diane and Jenny cried in disbelief
"That's right! W-we set up the whole thing." Tobias laughed, "These two officers work for the FBI."
"Thanks, guys." Gibbs said with a handshake
"I texted Ziva and Emily. I told them to take the candy out of the gun safe." Gibbs confessed
"Well, where is the candy now?" Jenny asked
"The candy never left the safe. You should have seen the look on your face, mom." Ziva said as she ran out to celebrate with Emily
"Priceless." Emily agreed
"Okay, fine. You got us." Jenny conceded
"But at least we got you guys off of the couch." Diane said with half-hearted glare
"And remember what you said next Halloween we go all-out." Jenny reminded
"Oh, you silly witch. Those were terms for peace! We won the war." Gibbs said with a laugh and a kiss. "Back to the game."
31 October 2017
I have included a reference toward a member of the cast of NCIS. The first one to correctly guess:
1. Who is the cast member?
2. What the reference is?
And
3. Was it easy to find?
will have the honor of choosing a plot/story line for the next chapter.
Good Luck!