Hello everyone! Thank you all for your comments and for reading this story, it means a lot! This is a belated Thanksgiving chapter. I had an idea during the weekend and I had to write it. I hope you will enjoy reading it :-) Comments and suggestions are welcome!
Episode: Between Call of Silence |2.07| & Heart Break |2.08|, Season 2
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS
xOxOx
Team Holiday
xOxOx
The bullpen is almost deserted; almost… Three agents are still hard at work, finishing up the details of their latest case. Another day gone by, another case wrapped up, another night at the office. But this is no ordinary night; it's Thanksgiving. Whatever plans they had for the day had to be canceled or rescheduled when their phones went off early in the morning, informing them of a new case that they had to take since they were the team on call for the holiday.
After several hours, interrogations, digging through files and chasing leads they finally solved their case and put the one responsible for the murder of a Marine in jail, leaving them with a great amount of paperwork to deal with.
That's why they are all still in the bullpen, working on their reports…
"It's like they are doing it on purpose," Tony mutters, eyes glued on his monitor.
"Yeah, all the murderers we've caught check your agenda first to see if you have a hot date on the day they want to kill someone," Kate tells him sarcastically and Tim snickers.
Tony just glares at them but doesn't take it any further. At this point he just wants the day to end so he can finally head home. They all do…
Tim has sorted all the files they were looking through earlier and is trying to carry them, two boxes at a time, into the elevator. Just as he takes a step to that direction though he stumbles, the box on the top falls to the ground, the lid opens and all the files he had spent the last half hour organizing fall on the floor in front of his desk.
Tony and Kate look sympathetically at him while Tim looks dejectedly at the files on the floor and drops the box he is still holding on his desk.
"I give up…" he announces, throwing his arms in the air in surrender, and then just sits down on the floor next to the several files, his back against his desk, legs stretched out in front of him.
"Good plan, just don't let Gibbs hear you," Tony tells him, throwing a paper ball at him.
Kate just shakes her head and reaches for her cup of coffee on her desk only to find it empty. She groans in annoyance and, after throwing the offending item in the trash can, she drops her head on the desk, using her arms as a pillow.
"Are you giving up too?" Tony asks her incredulously.
"Possibly..." comes her muffled reply.
"Come on guys, Gibbs is going to kill us if we don't finish today!" he says, standing up and heading to Kate's desk.
He taps her shoulder repeatedly until she slaps his hand away, but she doesn't move from her position. He heads to Tim and kicks his foot lightly but the younger agent only looks up at him and doesn't bother moving at all.
"We need to finish here or else we are never going to leave," Tony tries to reason but the other two seem unfazed.
"I need to find a way to tell my mother why I am still at work and not there," Kate mumbles without looking up.
"How about telling her the truth?" Tony says, leaning against Kate's desk.
"I wasn't going to lie, she is just not going to like it…" she explains.
"How can you tell?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the twenty messages on my voice mail have something to do with it…" she mutters darkly.
"You are a ray of sunshine today, aren't you?" Tony comments drily as he takes a seat behind his desk once again.
Kate picks her head up to look at her partner, a frown on her face as she stares at him.
"I'll let you explain to my mother why I missed Thanksgiving for the second year in a row then," she mutters and starts typing on her computer, pressing the keys on the keyboard a little too hard.
"Come on Kate, it can't be that bad," Tony replies and Kate snorts.
"You haven't met my mother," she states "Trust me, it's not going to be easy explaining how I managed to miss my flight again."
"Can't you just tell her that you are a Special Agent?" Tim asks from where he is still sitting on the floor.
"That's when she starts ranting about the fact that she never sees me anymore because I am a Special Agent," she replies with a smirk.
"I could talk to her," Tony suggests "Moms love me." He wags his eyebrows suggestively and Kate narrows her eyes at him.
"DiNozzo!" she scolds, her tone one of disgust, making Tony laugh at her expression.
"You have a sister too, maybe I could explain it to her," he says with a smirk.
"She's married," Kate states matter-of-factly.
"Happily?"
"Why am I still talking to you?" she asks, not waiting for an answer of course.
"Because you can't live without me," Tony states smugly only to be hit by a crumpled piece of paper on the head by her, making him laugh again.
"You could always catch another flight," he tells her with a shrug when his laughter subsides.
"It will be late when I get there and, in no time, I'll have to catch a plane back." She sighs and she inspects her report for a few moments before turning to look at Tony again "Doesn't matter anyway, Thanksgiving is ruined."
The horrified gasp that comes from a few feet away catches the three agents' attention and they all turn to see Abby standing there, eyes wide, looking stunned.
"Don't say things like that Kate! Thanksgiving can never ever, ever, be ruined!" she exclaims and walks to stand in front of Kate's desk.
"Sorry Abs, it's been a lousy day today…" the agent apologizes, leaning back in her chair.
"Yeah, it has been…" Abby agrees "But we can't let it ruin Thanksgiving!" she states adamantly.
She walks to where Tim is and sits down on the floor next to him and pulls his arm so that he has to drape it over her shoulders as she snuggles into his side.
"What do you suggest then?" Tony asks, raising his eyebrow inquisitively.
Abby looks at him, a frown of concentration on her face, trying to come up with a plan.
"I'm sure we can do something to celebrate!"
"How are we going to do that?" Kate asks in disbelief, resting her elbows on her desk and looking at her friend.
"Come on you guys, don't be like the Grinch! We'll figure something out!" Abby states determinately, a smile on her lips.
"Ah, wrong holiday Abby. I'm pretty sure the Grinch tried to steal Christmas, not Thanksgiving," Tim tells her.
"It's the principle that counts, McGee, not which holiday we are talking about," she replies, looking seriously at him.
Tim just agrees with her, not being able to do anything else, while Tony and Kate smile in amusement at the interaction.
"Ok, what do you have in your mind?" Tony asks her.
"I haven't worked out the logistics yet but I have apple pie in the lab," she informs the three agents and Tony's eyes light up at the mention of pie.
"Why didn't you mention that sooner?" he asks in an incredulous tone.
"Because you would have tried to sneak into my lab to eat it!" Abby reasons and Tony tries to look innocent but he doesn't convince anyone, he just makes the other three chuckle.
It's then that Gibbs decides to appear, walking swiftly down the stairs and back to the bullpen. He stops on his way to his desk when he sees Tim and Abby sitting on the floor, several files strewn around them. His eyes dart from them to Tony and then to Kate, inquiring silently what happened here, but she just shrugs.
"Care to explain what happened?" he asks with a raised eyebrow, looking at Tim.
The younger agent fumbles to get up but Abby wraps her arms around his left one, holding him in place.
"Abby?" Gibbs turns to the scientist who looks at him with an innocent smile.
"McGee was already on the floor when I came here," she tells him.
"And you decided to join him," he observes casually and Abby grins.
"He looked lonely," she says making Gibbs shake his head.
"Help him gather the files from the floor and put them on the desk. Then gather your things and meet me in the parking lot, you can finish tomorrow," he instructs as he walks to his desk.
"Where are we going boss?" Tony asks, standing up from his chair, followed by Kate, and starts helping McGee with the files.
"My place, we'll get Chinese on the way. Abby, go bring that pie," Gibbs says and Abby almost jumps up from the floor excitedly while the other three look at him in surprise.
"On it Gibbs-man!" she exclaims and, wasting no time at all, she leaves to do as he said.
His three agents continue looking at him while he gathers his things and he turns to them with a questioning look on his face.
"Today," he tells them, pointing at the files that are still strewn all over the floor, and they all start working together to pick up the files and put them back in the box.
After that Gibbs just makes his way to the elevator telling them not to be late as the doors close behind him.
"Are we really going to Gibbs' place for Thanksgiving?" Tony asks, a frown on his face.
"Aren't you the one who has stayed at his place?" Kate points out, failing to mention that she's stayed at Gibbs' place more times than she can count, in a completely different context.
"Well yeah, but this is different. It's just… odd that he was the one to suggest it," he reasons with a small shrug as he puts another file in the box.
"Well, I'm not going to analyze this now. It beats having to head home alone," she says.
At that moment Abby returns to the bullpen, her pace fast, her pigtails bouncing up and down, the pie in her hands and a grin on her face.
"Are we ready yet?" she asks eagerly looking at the three agents expectantly, and they smile upon seeing her.
"All done," McGee announces as he places the last file in the box and closes the lid making the grin on Abby's face get even wider, if that is even possible.
"Grab your things then, the boss man will be waiting!" she tells them.
They can't really argue when she looks at them like that so they all wear their coats, grab their things and follow Abby who leads the way out. They immediately spot Gibbs leaning against his car, waiting for them, when they reach the parking lot, and after they decide to grab Chinese food from the restaurant close to Gibbs' house they get into their cars and follow their boss.
Thankfully they don't have to wait a lot at the Chinese restaurant until their food is prepared and then they head straight to Gibbs' house. Abby chatters animatedly all the way from the car to the house and doesn't stop even when they settle down in the living room and start taking the take out containers out of the bags.
Abby's mood seems to be contagious, lifting everyone's spirits, and soon they are all talking and smiling as they open the several take-out containers. Gibbs returns from the kitchen, where he disappeared the moment they entered, with beer and a bottle of wine and Kate stands up to help him bring some glasses.
Abby smirks knowingly at them when she sees them walking together to the kitchen and the two agents smile in amusement, but Tim and Tony are too busy fighting over the remote control to notice the interaction.
"So, did it get better?" Gibbs asks her casually as she reaches for the wine glasses from the cupboard, walking closer to her.
"Did what get better?" she asks him, placing the glasses on the counter and turning to look at him.
"Thanksgiving," he clarifies as he stands right in front of her, resting his hands on either side of her on the counter, trapping her between the cupboards and his body.
He knows that they can't be seen from this part of the kitchen and that Abby will inform them if someone approaches so he takes full advantage of it.
"You said Thanksgiving was ruined," he mumbles and tilts his head to the right as he watches her closely.
"How long had you been watching us?" she asks, dropping her hands on his hips.
He gives her one of those half smiles, not giving her an answer and she chuckles. The laughter from the living room catches their attention and they both smile.
"I'd say it got immensely better," she mumbles as he leans closer to her.
"Not ruined then…"
"Definitely not ruined…" she agrees and stands on her tiptoes to plant a small kiss on his lips before pushing him lightly away.
"Come on, let's get these to the living room or I'm pretty sure Tony will start drinking from the bottle if we don't hurry," she states, only half jokingly.
She places the glasses on a tray to carry them and he grabs some plates for the apple pie and they head back to the living room to find Tony trying to wrestle the remote control out of Tim's hands while he is on the floor while Abby cheers for both of them.
A head slap from Gibbs after he places the plates on the coffee table makes the two agents break apart.
"Ouch boss, it was McGee's fault!" Tony complains but instead of saying anything Gibbs takes the remote from his hand and hands him a beer.
"Thanks boss!" he says with a smile.
"Wine McGee?" he asks his younger agent.
"Yeah boss, thanks," Tim replies.
"We should make a toast!" Abby says enthusiastically as Gibbs fills three glasses with wine and takes a beer for himself after he hands them to Abby, Kate and Tim.
"Please, let's not do the thing where everyone says why they are thankful…" Tony groans as he picks up his beer.
"Yeah, I'd have to agree with Tony," Tim says and Kate nods in agreement.
"Fine… let's only make a toast then!" Abby says, looking around hopefully.
"Ok, Abs," Gibbs agrees making the scientist grin widely once again.
"What are we toasting to?" Kate asks, raising her glass of wine.
"To team Gibbs, of course!" Abby states, like everyone should have figured it out.
The agents exchange smiles and raise their glasses.
"Come on Gibbs, raise your beer bottle!" Abby urges.
"Ah, fine…" he gives in and raises his beer bottle too. He catches Kate's eyes, who smirks in amusement, and he is tempted to roll his eyes but a smile finds its way to his lip instead.
"To team Gibbs!" Abby exclaims as they clink their glasses.
The TV drones on in the background but no one pays attention as they eat, talk and joke, enjoying each other's company and the fact that they can finally unwind after a hard day at work. Kate looks around her at the people she has come to consider as family over the past year and a half and then her eyes settle on Gibbs.
As if sensing that she is looking at him he looks up and meets her eyes, giving her a soft smile. He tilts his beer bottle slightly towards her in a move only she notices and she smiles, returning the gesture.
She has to admit that this Thanksgiving turned out great after all. She is grateful she has these people in her life and as she looks at their happy faces she decides she wouldn't change these moments for the world.