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Chapter 26 - Saturday Night

Pulling up in the parking lot, Gibbs and Jenny eyed the large multi story hotel. The grand entrance and appearance of a concierge had them both a little worried.

"This, er, looks rather expensive Tim," said Jenny, voicing Gibbs' exact thoughts.

"Yeah, you couldn't find something cheaper?" added Gibbs.

"Don't worry guys," reassured Tim. "I checked the whole area and this place had the best deal on a connecting family suite. It was a special offer and ended up being the cheapest in town."

"OK," said Jenny, turning to face the younger man. "If you say so."

"Tim, you'd better come with me seeing as you made the booking over the internet," said Gibbs, opening his door and stepping out.

Tim did the same and the pair of them headed into the main entrance.

"Tony," warned Jenny, just catching him out of the corner of her eye. "Stay in the van please. Dad will be back soon."

"Can't I just stand in the parking lot? I need some fresh air," argued Tony, sliding the door open and standing on the step.

"You've just had three hours of fresh air," retorted Jenny. "Inside, now!"

Groaning audibly, Tony did as asked shutting the door a little too forcibly which earned him a glare from his Mom.

"Sorry," he mumbled "It slipped,"

"Mmmm," replied Jenny, unconvinced. "I'm sure it did."

Walking down to the bedroom area, Tony climbed the ladder and slumped on his bed, sighing loudly. He looked up when he felt someone on the ladder. It was Ziva. Standing precariously on the third to top rung, she reached up and touched the ceiling.

"What's up?" she asked, balancing herself carefully.

"Nothing, I'm just bored," replied Tony.

"Me too," said Ziva, sighing.

"Be careful you don't fall," said Tony, watching as Ziva began to stretch her fingers along the ceiling, her feet still planted on the ladder rung.

"Nah, I won't," she said confidently.

Grabbing onto the railing, she bent forward and a mischievous grin spread across her face.

"Hey, want me to show you something?" she whispered. "Close the door."

Eyeing her suspiciously, Tony reached past her and pulled the bi-fold door across the entry.

"OK, what?" he asked, once the door was closed.

"Give me a minute," she quietly. "I need to concentrate."

Standing up again, Ziva took a couple of seconds to regain her balance.

Studying her carefully, Tony was horrified as he watched her begin to bend backwards, her arms reaching over her head and out behind her. The gap between the two bunk beds was less than three foot and, as Tony suddenly realized what she was about to do, he held his breath, not daring to speak lest it startled her. As her hands reached the rungs of the ladder on the other bed, she suddenly resembled an arched bridge. Taking a deep breath, Tony found his voice again.

"What the hell, Ziva!" he whispered crossly. "You'll break your neck!"

"No I won't," she said, her voice slightly strained from the stretch in her body.

"So what happens now?" asked Tony. "I suppose you need me to get you down?"

"Nah uh," said replied.

Seeing her give a little push, Tony watched, mesmerized, as her legs kicked off the ladder and before long, she was doing a headstand, her feet grazing the ceiling. She then tucked in her knees and landed softly on the bed, right way up.

"Ta Da!" she whispered theatrically, holding out her arms in triumph.

"Ziva," said Tony shaking his head in disbelief. "You are crazy. If Mom or Dad ever catches you doing that…" He didn't finish the sentence, knowing for a fact, that Ziva knew exactly what would happen.

"It's better when I do it faster," she said. "Move over a bit."

As he did so, she climbed onto her own ladder. Checking behind her to see that Tony was well out of the way, she balanced herself on the top rung. Then, in one fluid movement, she arched her back and seamlessly completed the back-flip until she was sitting upright again but, this time, on Tony's bed.

Smiling at her older brother, she said quietly, "Do you want me to show you how to do it?"

"No way!" said Tony adamantly. "If that doesn't kill me, Mom and Dad will."

"Chicken," teased Ziva.

"Am not!" retorted Tony. "I'm just too tall. If I stood up on that rung, I'd bang my head and shoulders on the ceiling."

Realizing Tony was right, Ziva chose not to respond.

"Hey!" she suddenly whispered. "You could stretch between the two bunks face down!"

"Huh?" responded Tony, confused with what she meant,

"Like this," she said.

Standing up, she checked the position of her feet. Then, stretching out her arms, she fell face forward and anchored her hands on her own bed. She still looked like an arched bridge, only this time her face was staring at the floor and her bottom was in the air.

Thinking this could be possible, Tony crouched on his bed. Ignoring the fear that was racing through his body, he pushed away from bed and safely landed his hands on Ziva's bed. Now in the same position as Ziva, he looked at her.

"Now what?" he asked, as the pair of them balanced like massive coat hangers.

"Um… I don't know," replied Ziva. "I haven't done this before. I'm kind of stuck."

"What!" exclaimed Tony. "I thought you knew how to get out of this?"

"No, not this way," she said, panic rising slightly in her voice.

As the pressure in his arms began to make his muscles shake, Tony knew there was only one thing to do. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth and shouted, "Help!"

Within seconds, the bi-fold door was flung open and he was suddenly staring upside down at his Mom and Abby.

"What on earth!" exclaimed Jenny as she saw her two children doing a great impression of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

However, before any explanations could be offered, the van door opened and in walked Tim. It didn't take too long for Gibbs to realize there was something wrong and, instead of going around to the driver's door, he abruptly changed direction and followed Tim into the van.

Upon seeing both the children, Gibbs immediately closed his eyes and silently counted to three. Then, stepping passed Abby, he stood inside the bedroom next to Jenny and raised his eyebrows. He could see both of them weren't in any immediate danger and felt that a little more time caught in this embarrassing position might help to deter them next time. Therefore, instead of getting them down, Gibbs decided to speak.

"Explain!" he said, giving both of them a glare that would have most people running for cover.

Seeing Gibbs and Jenny had this under control, Abby and Tim retreated to the table, where they sat down and burst out laughing.

"We were….um…." began Tony, totally at a loss as to what to say.

"We were pretending we were gymnasts," supplied the ever resourceful Ziva. "And we were doing tricks, only this trick kind of tricked us and now we're stuck."

"So I see," replied Gibbs.

Having recovered from the shock of seeing both of them in this position, he was now resisting every urge not to laugh hysterically. As it was, the corners of his mouth were already betraying his stern face.

Never one to miss anything, Ziva kicked her foot against Tony's bed and said indignantly, "It's not funny, Daddy!"

Sobering immediately, Gibbs stepped closer to the children.

"No, you're right. It's not funny," he said, regaining the stern tone of earlier. "It's actually very dangerous. Did the pair of you not think at all before you attempted something so stupid?"

"Jethro," pleaded Jenny from behind him, "Just get them down please." She had become aware of the muscle contractions that were taking place in Tony's arms and was concerned the young boy wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

"I ought to leave you up there for another five minutes," retorted Gibbs.

Tony's face paled.

"No Dad, please help us down. My arms are killing me!"

"You can leave me here for five minutes," replied Ziva defiantly. There was no way she was going to admit defeat. "My arms are fine!"

Figuring he would deal with Ziva later, Gibbs ducked under her and, standing on the edge of Tim's bed, lifted his left arm and scooped it around Tony's middle. Not missing the opportunity of Tony's backside being in such a prominent position, he landed three solid smacks with his right hand, before setting the boy on his feet again.

Realizing how stupid he had been, Tony didn't even complain about the smacks, but stood in remorseful silence trying to rub the sting out of his rear end.

"Don't do that again!" was all Gibbs had to say.

"I won't," said Tony quietly, before heading out of the bedroom and joining Tim and Abby at the table.

As Gibbs brushed away the dirt his shoes had left of Tim's bed, Jenny looked up at Ziva. Her face was turning red from being face down for so long and Jenny could swear she could hear Ziva's mind trying to find a way out of this predicament without needing any help.

"So young lady," said Jenny, stepping closer to Ziva in case she suddenly tried to free herself. "Are you ready to come down now?"

Embarrassed at being caught in such a ridiculous position, Ziva's natural instinct was to become defensive and defiant. Stubbornness reared its ugly head and, instead of admitting defeat, she steadied herself and said very clearly. "I'm fine."

"Well, that's good," retorted Gibbs cheerfully, ducking under her again and standing next to Jenny. "Because the rest of us need to go to our hotel room. So, I guess you either need to get down or we'll have to leave you there while we take our things up."

Allowing this piece of information to sink in, Jenny and Gibbs could see Ziva's resolve start to crack. Not wanting to completely break the incredible spirit she had, Gibbs stepped forward and gave her an out.

"You're not fine are you?" he said quietly, trying to look into her eyes.

For a moment, Gibbs thought she was going to ignore this chance. But, after a moment's hesitation, he finally saw her shake her head.

"Would you like me to help you down?" he asked softly.

"Only if you don't spank me," she said, the ever present need to argue still shining through.

Gibbs laughed as he reached up and scooped one arm around her.

"Not a chance, Missy," he said, as his right hand repeated the action it had done for Tony.

Unlike Tony however, Ziva was not going to take it quietly.

"Ow! That hurt!" she yelled, kicking out her feet as Gibbs tried to place her on the floor.

"Do not yell at me or kick Ziva, unless you want another one," said Gibbs sternly, crouching down to her level once he had put her down.

Crossing her arms and scowling, Ziva stared at the floor.

"What you did was very silly and you could have seriously hurt yourself," continued Gibbs, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You know the consequence of putting yourself in danger, so I don't want to hear any complaints young lady."

Still staring defiantly at the floor, Ziva knew what her dad said was true but she wasn't about to admit that right now.

Gibbs shook his head in frustration and stood up. Knowing it was best to leave Ziva to sort things out in her own head, he left the small room and headed towards the table. When it came to discipline, Tony was definitely the easier child.

As Gibbs began to explain why he and Tim had taken so long to check in, Jenny looked down at Ziva. Placing her arm around the little girl's shoulders, she wordlessly steered her towards the table so they all could hear the story. She was very grateful when Ziva didn't resist, but allowed herself to be led towards the family.

"Apparently there was some mix up with the online advertisement," explained Tim as Jenny and Ziva joined them. "The special was for last month and their two family suites are already taken for this weekend."

"So where does that leave us?" asked Jenny, taking a seat and pulling Ziva onto her lap.

"Well, they realize it's their mistake and so they've upgraded us to the penthouse suite right at the very top and given us an extra night's accommodation for free."

Tim beamed around at everyone.

"Way to go Timmy!" exclaimed Abby standing up and punching the air. "The penthouse and an extra night!"

"So, that being the case," said Gibbs, we need to gather what we want to take to the room."

Reaching up he pulled down a large canvas bag from the storage above the table and placed it on his and Jenny's bed.

"OK everyone," he ordered. "Get what you want and put it in this bag. We leave in five."

****NCIS****

Gibbs opened the door to their hotel room and quickly stepped aside as Ziva and Tony pushed past him.

"Whoa Dad!" exclaimed Tony. "This is like a house"

As everyone stepped inside, they all looked around in amazement. While it may not have been to the penthouse standards of New York or LA, it was still a wonderful suite. Comprising three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchenette and a large living room, it was more along the lines of an apartment than a hotel suite.

"Tim, you definitely excelled yourself," remarked Jenny, giving him a quick, one armed hug.

"Well technically I didn't do anything," replied Tim. "Except click on a deal that apparently was meant to expire last month."

"Exactly," she confirmed. "And that takes great skill!"

Tim smiled at Jenny as she walked passed him into the main bedroom where Gibbs was standing by the bed.

"Privacy," she whispered in Gibbs' ear. "Real walls, real door." She raised her eyebrows suggestively before pecking him chastely on the cheek and heading back out.

"OK," she said, noticing the remaining bedrooms. "Since we have two spare rooms why don't we have a girl's room and a boy's room?"

"Sounds fine to me," said Tim. "Let's go for this one Tony," he said, pointing to the room on the right.

"That OK with you Abby?" asked Jenny.

"Yeah, whatever," replied Abby, glued to her phone on which she was obviously searching for something. "I'm heading out tonight anyway."

She looked up when, after a moment's silence, she felt the intensive gaze of one Leroy Jethro Gibbs piercing her personal space.

"That's OK isn't it?" she asked hesitantly.

"You askin' or telling me?" replied Gibbs.

Abby squirmed slightly.

"Um….asking I guess?" she finally said.

"Hmmm," mused Gibbs. "Sounded more like you were tellin' me."

"Well, it is OK isn't it?" replied Abby.

When Gibbs didn't immediately answer but continued staring at her, Abby began to feel uncomfortable and somewhat defensive.

"Come on Gibbs," she said, slightly offended. "It's Saturday night! I'm a grown woman! You can't expect me to stay here and twiddle my thumbs. I always go out on a Saturday night. And, according to Mr Google, they have some pretty cool night clubs here."

"Abby," began Gibbs patiently. "Just think for a moment. Why are we here in the first place?"

"Because Tim clicked on an out of date advertisement?" she replied, trying to sound cute and innocent.

"You know what I mean," growled Gibbs, not fooled by her antics for a second.

Abby sighed dramatically.

"Be reasonable Gibbs. There's no way Eli is going to be hiding around the corner in Albury ready to capture me."

Gibbs took a step into Abby's personal space.

"You have no idea what Eli is up to young lady," he said in a dangerously low voice. "That's the whole point of us being together. To keep each other safe."

"I'm not a child Gibbs," retorted Abby, sounding more confident than she felt. Having Gibbs standing a few centimeters from her face was, to say the least, a little intimidating. "I can go out if I want."

"I didn't say you couldn't," replied Gibbs, still keeping close contact with Abby.

"Well, geez, Gibbs!" said Abby rolling her eyes. "What was the point of coming down all heavy and paternal then?"

"The point, Abby," said Gibbs, pronouncing each word with emphasis. "Is that this is not a normal vacation. We can't just do what we want, where we want. You suddenly announcing that you're heading out into a strange town, where you don't know anyone, would have me worrying at the best of times, let alone the fact that we are being hunted by the director of Mossad whose intention is to kill us!"

"Yeah, but according to the latest intel, Eli has no idea we are in Australia," argued Abby. She was determined to get her own way on this.

"And who's not to say that's exactly what Eli wants everyone to think," replied Gibbs. "Abby, I get that you want to go out and I also understand that you are an adult who is capable of making her own decisions. I only ask that you take Tim with you."

"Why Gibbs," whined Abby, sounding more like a five year old than a reasoning adult. "It's not like he can carry a gun or anything."

"Maybe not," agreed Gibbs. "But he is a trained federal agent who can not only take care of himself but of you as well."

When Abby opened to mouth to continue arguing, Gibbs raised a pointed finger to stop her.

"This is not negotiable Abbs," he said firmly. "Either Tim goes with you or you don't go at all."

Crossing her arms and huffing with annoyance, Abby fought an inward battle. On one hand, she so desperately wanted to go out and have some fun. On the other hand, she knew Gibbs wouldn't relent and, if she kept on arguing, she would indeed find herself grounded to the hotel.

Letting out another frustrated huff and rolling her eyes for effect, Abby eventually said, "Fine! Tim can come too!"

"Good decision Abby," said Gibbs, relaxing his body now that the standoff seemed to be resolved.

Still annoyed and wanting to have the last say, Abby said flippantly, "So do I have a curfew as well?"

"If you want to keep up this attitude you will," replied Gibbs dangerously, "Don't push it Abbs, you may not like where it leads you."

Deciding it was best to keep her mouth shut, Abby turned and left to enter her and Ziva's room, grabbing a few things from the canvas bag on her way.

"You better go and let Tim know he has plans for tonight," said Jenny, laughing softly as she put her arm around Gibbs' shoulder.

"Yep," replied Gibbs. "Let's hope he's in the mood to party."

By ten o'clock that night, Abby had Tim had managed to frequent two bars and were now just entering their third.

"For a country town, this place has plenty of action," said Abby as they entered the building. "We've passed three nightclubs already."

"Yeah, and let's just keep passing them," replied Tim. As Jenny had suspected, Tim really wasn't in the mood to bar hop that night. Like the others, he was tired and would have loved nothing better than a family meal and bed.

"Aww Timmy," whined Abby in her best little girl voice. "You're no fun. We are going to a nightclub tonight whether you want to or not!"

"Oh really?" replied Tim. "Abby, this will be our last stop for the night. After here, the only place we are heading to is the hotel."

"No way!" exclaimed Abby. "It's only ten o'clock Tim. I intend to party!"

She emphasized this point by shimmying her way to the bar to buy some drinks. Tim didn't miss the sideways glances she was being given by some of the male patrons. Sighing, he found a table and waited for Abby to return. He wasn't surprised to see she had moved onto the harder stuff, when she returned with a tray containing six shot glasses. She transferred them to the table before returning the tray to the bar.

Tim looked at the small glasses. There appeared to be two each of three different kinds. If Abby thought he was going to be downing these, she had another thing coming.

"Where's my beer?" he asked, as she finally made it back to the table.

"Beer, schmeer," she replied, waving her arms dismissively. "Time to live it up Timmy. Time to get drunk!"

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," said Tim, more to himself than to Abby. "I'll be back in a minute."

When Tim returned with his beer not more than five minutes later, he was shocked to see three of the glasses were already empty.

"Abby!" he growled. "Slow down! I am not carrying you out of this place."

"Shpoil shport," she replied.

Tim could tell already by the slur in her words that she was more than a little tipsy. She had been drinking pretty heavily at the first two bars and the downing of three shots in less than five minutes, certainly hadn't helped. He knew he had to distract her somehow.

"Hey, let's dance," he suggested. There were a few people on the dance floor and, while the music wasn't quite up to Abby's usual standard, he hoped her love of dancing would sway her to join him. Alas it didn't.

"Gotta finish thesh firsht," she said, lifting another shot glass to her mouth.

"I think you've had enough," replied Tim as firmly as he could. "Come on, just leave them."

"Timmy! I'm shocked!" said Abby, more loudly than she had intended. "You never leave a drink un-una-unatebded. Who knows what might happened."

Downing the green liquid, she closed her eyes as the burn hit her throat then slammed the glass on the table.

"Another!" she demanded beginning to sway slightly. "Oh look, I hash two more."

"Abby, unless you pace yourself, you're gonna end up on the floor and back in bed before 10.30," said Tim, trying to reason with her.

"Pfft!" You shound like Gibbs," she retorted. "I can hold my liquor. Sheesh, the night ish still young Timmy."

As the clock neared midnight, Abby had managed to pace herself a little better. Although in Tim's eyes she was still drunk, her legs were holding her upright and she had moved from shot glasses to cocktails.

Looking at his watch, Tim tapped her on the shoulder.

"You ready to go? It's just about midnight," said Tim, yawning as he did so.

"I'm not Cinder-friggin-ella" she retorted crossly. "I can stay out passed midnight you know!"

"Abby, the others will be up at the crack of dawn in the morning," reasoned Tim. "I for one do not want to be hung over and tired. Come on!"

"That's OK," said Abby. "You go. I can look after myself."

"Yeah and have Gibbs kill me when he finds out! Not on Abbs," replied Tim.

He stood up and swallowed the last of his beer.

"Time to go Abby," he said as firmly as he could.

She looked at him for a long time, trying desperately to convince him to stay longer. When there was no softening in Tim's eyes, she sighed.

"OK," she finally agreed. "You win."

Feeling a rush of relief, Tim began to walk away from the table.

"Hang on Tim," called Abby. "It's a long walk back. I need to go to the bathroom first."

"Hurry up then," said Tim, turning back and occupying his seat once again.

When ten minutes had passed and there was no sign of Abby, Tim began to get suspicious. Surely she wouldn't have sneaked away, he thought to himself. Gibbs would be furious with her.

Standing up, he scanned the room.

She wouldn't be this stupid, he thought to himself again. Well, sober Abby wouldn't be, but drunk? He was well aware of how irrational Abby could be when under the influence of alcohol.

Taking out his cell he dialed Abby's number. It went straight to voice mail.

Sighing in frustration, Tim wandered around until he found a female waitress. Asking if she wouldn't mind checking the ladies' room, he wasn't surprised when she returned saying it was empty. After thanking the waitress for her time, Tim headed out the front door and stood on the pavement.

The air was frosty and the beginnings of a fog was hovering around him. Pulling his jacket tighter, Tim looked up and down the street. Many people wandered around, some just heading out, others staggering home. He remembered Abby commenting on the few nightclubs they had passed and he wondered if she had headed to one of them. Now he thought about it, he was sure that was exactly what Abby had done.

"Abby!" he groaned through gritted teeth, cursing himself for not being onto her earlier. Of course she didn't want to use the bathroom. He should have known it was a ruse to get away from him.

Flipping open his cell, Tim did the only thing he thought would be right. He dialed Gibbs. He knew he could spend the next hour looking for her, but with Gibbs on board, they could probably find her in half the time. Besides, if Gibbs found out he hadn't called as soon as Abby was missing? Well, Tim didn't really want to think about that one.

"Gibbs," a gruff voice answered almost immediately.

"Ah, yeah, hi Boss," stammered Tim.

Gibbs was instantly alert. If the midnight call wasn't enough to put him on edge, the hesitancy in Tim's voice was definitely alarming.

"What's happened?" he asked.

"Well, er…we were visiting a few bars and er…I had thought I'd convinced Abby it was um…time to come back and…" began Tim nervously.

"Today, Tim," snapped Gibbs.

"She said she had to go to the bathroom but, well, when I asked a waitress to check, they were, um, well, they were empty, Boss," continued Tim.

"Tim!" barked Gibbs. "What are trying to say? Where's Abby?"

"Well, that's just it Boss," replied Tim. "I don't know."

"YOU DON'T KNOW!" yelled Gibbs.

"Well, she took off, Gibbs," squeaked Tim. "She didn't tell me she was going. And, I just tried her cell and it's turned off."

Tim heard Gibbs take a deep sigh,

"Where are you?" he asked, sounding a lot calmer than a few seconds ago.

"I'm heading back to you now. I'm about a block away from the hotel," replied Tim.

"I'll meet you in the lobby," said Gibbs and the phone line went dead.

As he put his cell in his pocket, Tim quickened his pace. He wanted to be in that lobby before Gibbs arrived. An angry, impatient Gibbs was not someone he wanted to meet.

Gibbs pocketed his cell and looked at Jenny.

"Abby decided to take off with out telling Tim," he said, in answer to Jenny's questioning look.

"You're kidding," replied Jenny. Even she didn't think Abby would be that stupid.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" snapped Gibbs.

He took off to the bedroom to put on his jacket and boots. As Jenny walked in, he stopped and put him arms around her.

"Didn't mean to snap at you," he said apologetically. "I just can't believe she would do this. I know she's stubborn but to deliberately disobey me?"

Jenny leaned into his embrace.

"She wouldn't normally, but stubborn and drunk don't usually go well together," offered Jenny as a way of explanation.

Kissing Jenny softly, Gibbs pulled away and grabbed the room key.

"Well, she'll be sobering up real quick when I find her," he said grimly. He opened the room door. "Hopefully I won't be long."

Closing the door behind him, Gibbs walked down the hall to the elevator. Slamming the button, he waited a few seconds before the door opened and he stepped inside. Closing his eyes, he took a couple of deep breaths. He needed to be calm before facing Tim in the lobby. This wasn't Tim's fault and he certainly didn't want to be taking his anger out on the young man. No, the only person who deserved his wrath right now was probably the one person who had never really experienced it.

"Well, Miss Abigail," said Gibbs quietly to himself. "I guess there's a first time for everything."