Hey guys! Yep, I said I'd update 'soon' and here it is. Haha. So, today we have several things to celebrate. Firstly, THHK is 2 months old today! And if that wasn't enough excitement for you (well for me at least), THHK has over 300 reviews! Wow! Thanks everyone! You have no idea how happy your reviews make me :) Hugs to you all.
There is a third thing to celebrate, but it takes place in the world of NCIS. Read on to find out!
Chapter Twenty-Nine
And so began one of the most boring mornings in the office Tony could remember. The only highlight being when Gibbs' cell phone randomly started playing a polyphonic ringtone of 'Jingle Bells' on repeat. After the third chorus, Gibbs had been so annoyed he crushed the phone with the butt of his gun, threw it on the floor and demanded that McGee reboot it for him. Tony and Ziva exchanged a barely-concealed look of delight before Gibbs stalked out of the bullpen, muttering about needing more coffee.
Once he was gone, McGee squatted over the remnants of the phone, trying to figure out why it had suddenly started playing the Christmas carol. Of course it had been crushed into oblivion, so McGee swept up the pieces and grabbed a box with a new cell phone out of the filing cabinet, announcing that it was simply a mystery. Tony smirked in his chair, tapping a pen on his plaster cast. He knew why the phone had started playing the song. Or at least he could guess.
Who else but Abby would be brave enough to touch Gibbs' cell phone, let alone program a ringtone? He figured she'd set it as an alarm, to play on repeat until someone specifically stopped it. Or crushed it. Whatever worked. What remained a mystery was why.
Before Tony could hurt himself thinking too hard, Abby popped up from behind the divider.
"Bossman gone?" She whispered, looking around suspiciously.
"Coast is clear, Abs." Tony said, looking bemused as she crept around the divider and into the bullpen. "What ya doing?"
She winked at him, pulling a huge, brightly wrapped box behind her. She held a large bottle in her other hand.
"Abby?" Ziva said, glancing up from her pile of cold cases. Abby pressed a finger to her black-coated lips, still dragging the present along. McGee was busy programming Gibbs' new phone (and deleting all the pre-set Christmas ringtones) when he saw Abby drag the box over to Gibbs' desk. She straightened up, then bent her knees and heaved the box onto his swivel chair, sitting the bottle on his desk.
McGee's eyes narrowed instantly. "You. The ringtone." He said, pointing directly at her.
She giggled, whispering "I had to get him out of here somehow."
"Uh, Abs, he's gone." Tony said, standing up and leaning on the front of his desk. "Why are you still whispering. And what's with the box?"
Abby gasped, hands on hips and frowned at Tony. "What do you mean, what's with the box? You forgot?"
"Forgot what, Abby?" McGee asked, not following. He looked across at Tony and Ziva who were equally confused.
"Have you had your recommended dosage of caffeine today Abs?" Tony said.
Abby looked around at the three agents, her frown growing as her eyes danced across each of them. "Oh my god. You really did forget. All three of you!" She pointed at McGee. "You're the computer expert. I would've thought you could've programmed a simple reminder or something at least." Her hand shifted across to Ziva. "And you. You're the assassin-spy-whatever. You speak, what, like eight different languages? And yet you couldn't remember this."
Her eyes narrowed and she directed her cold glare to Tony. "And you." She shook her head, reaching forward and slapping him across the head. "Of all people, I really thought you would remember."
She stood there, silently fuming for a moment before Tony was brave enough to interject.
"Abby, it's kind of obvious we've pissed you off, but you gotta help us out here. What did we forget?" He added his most charming smile to the end of the sentence and counted to three in his head.
1…..2…..3….
Abby sighed, smiling as she reached up to rub the spot she'd just slapped. "You really don't know? It's the Bossman's birthday today."
"Oh…" Tony said as he checked the date on his wristwatch and realized she was right.
"Ah.." Ziva said, nodding curtly.
"Right, of course." McGee said as he quietly pulled up Gibbs' NCIS file, confirming that it was indeed the boss' birthday.
"Well now you know." Abby said, cheerful again. "So no excuses."
She leaned over Tony's desk, seeing the time in the bottom corner of his computer screen. "Oh! I've gotta go. Gibbs left approximately ten minutes ago. He's gonna be back any minute now."
"He went for coffee," Ziva said. "That's a fifteen minute walk at least."
Abby grinned. "Not for Gibbs. He walks fast so the coffee stays hot. Oh, he's coming!" She quickly ducked behind the divider again. "No excuses!" She called back, crawling on hands and knees away from the bullpen.
One minute later, the elevator dinged and Gibbs strode forward, steaming coffee in hand. He wasn't at all surprised to see his cell phone, a little shinier than he remembered, sitting on the stack of papers on his desk. He was surprised to see a large, colourful box that had been placed on his chair, as well as a bottle and a plain white envelope propped on the computer keyboard.
Gibbs went for the box first. He'd never been one of those people who always read the cards first on birthdays and Christmas. And, judging by the wrapping paper (skeletons wearing party hats), this was definitely Abby's doing. He couldn't hold back a chuckle as he opened the flaps of the box and saw what was inside.
There was a huge stack of CDs Abby had burnt for him (presumably after hearing that Gibbs only listened to 5 songs). Next to that was a smaller version of Bert the farting hippo. Gibbs gave him a soft squeeze. Sure enough, it had the same skills as its big brother. He read the tag around the hippo's neck.
This is Bernie. He'll watch over your boat just like Bert watches over my lab.
Gibbs smiled and placed him aside to see what was left in the box. A large packet of coffee beans and a voucher from his favourite coffee shop. Gibbs smiled again, repacking Bernie and the coffee beans in the box and setting it down beside his desk. The bottle on his desk was wrapped in cellophane, so he could see it was a bottle of Jack. Ducky, of course. Then he reached from the envelope. Inside was a plain, office standard piece of paper with a short typed message.
1900 hours at Casa de DiNozzo. Be there.
Gibbs folded the paper and replaced it in the envelope, looking up at his team who quickly busied themselves trying to look busy. He smirked, setting the envelope down and walking toward the elevator.
"Going to see Ducky and Abs," he called back.
Once he was safely gone, Tony and Ziva gathered around McGee's desk as he sent out an email inviting people to dinner. He sent it to Abby, Ducky, Palmer and even Lee for the heck of it.
"We're cooking birthday dinner for the boss…" Tony said with a wry smile. "Sure hope we can pull this off."
TBC
Thanks for reading, stay tuned for the big dinner! Reviews are appreciated :)
