TITLE: Dating 2.0
AUTHOR: nicis_anatomy
CHARACTERS: Jethro Gibbs, Jenny Shepard, Tobias Fornell, Team
GENRE: Gen, Humor
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 3x 300 (could be read as one story or stand alone)
SUMMARY: A Blind Date, a gatecrasher and a plan that nearly went wrong … - "You've Got Mail" NCIS-style. Written for challenge #41 'Movie Titles', #45 'Fornell' and #65 'Team' at lj's "ncisdrabble100"
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, nor am I making any money from them. If I would Season 5 would have ended different.
~*~*~*~*
You've got mail.
Jenny sat in her study, staring at the laptop in front of her. The whole day she had waited eagerly for these three words to appear on her monitor. Smiling, Jenny opened her inbox and clicked on the link to read the mail.
As usual, it was short and straight to the point.
"I think we should meet. Don't you think?"
Shocked, Jenny stared at the words on her monitor.
Meet? He wanted to meet her? She hadn't seen that coming.
Of course, they were having these nice conversations for weeks now, and 'LonelyBastard53' seemed to be a nice guy, who also happened to live somewhere in her area. But on the other hand … he could also be some psycho, trying to find his next victim over the internet.
Jenny was fully aware of that, but she wanted to meet that man anyway. She had the feeling that he was anything but a psycho. He was probably just another lonely man, trying to find some company over the internet.
As Director of NCIS she had to be more careful than other woman and she also knew how dangerous blind dates could be. But if they would meet at some restaurant, some crowded place… what could actually happen?
Two days later Jenny stood in front of a small restaurant in Georgetown, shocked by what she was seeing through the window.
As agreed, a red rose was placed beside a cup of coffee on a table in the corner - a sign that her blind date actually had come -, but what on earth had she done to deserve him of all men? Never would she have guessed that 'LonelyBastard53' would turn out to be Fornell.
This was definitely the last time that Abby had talked her into something like that.
~*~*~*~*
"Tobias, you need to leave! Now!" Jethro said, staring impatiently at his friend. Normally, he would have enjoyed Fornell's company. The FBI Agent was a good distraction, a good opportunity to blow off some steam, without being afraid he would be mad at him afterwards. But running into Fornell tonight was a total nightmare. Jethro was supposed to meet someone else and he didn't want Fornell as an eye witness.
But Fornell seemed to have other ideas. While Jethro had gone to the bathroom, Fornell had made himself comfortable at his table, ordering a cup of coffee; and certainly he had pestered Jethro with questions about the rose on the corner of his table, until Jethro had told him about his blind date.
"I don't need to leave, Jethro. This is a public place. I have every right to be here. And besides… you don't actually think she will show up, do you? Wake up, Jethro! Such things as blind dates never work."
"Speaking of experience, Tobias?"
"No, Jethro. What do you think? I don't date women I met on the internet. And you shouldn't either. How do you think a woman that called herself 'Redhead45' and dates someone called 'LonelyBastard53' would look like?"
"Red-haired? About 45?" Jethro shrugged. He knew Tobias was somehow right, but Abby had sounded very convincing, too. She had showed him some couples who had met online, and all of them had looked happy, so Jethro had decided to give it a try - mostly to get rid of Abby, but he also had some hopes he would actually meet someone nice.
"How come you of all people suddenly chat on the internet?" Fornell asked. "Has McGee finally turned you into a geek?"
"Not a geek, Tobias," Jethro said, grinning. "Abby used to call it 'Gibbs 2.0'"
~*~*~*~*
"Tony? Is it working? Talk to me!" Tony winced at Abby's piercing voice in his ear.
"Calm down, Abs! How many CafPows did you have since we left?" He looked at Ziva, grinning. They were currently sitting in a car near a small restaurant in Georgetown, enjoying each other's company- which usually meant he would tell Ziva over and over again how excited he was and she would only roll her eyes, silently cursing him.
But with Abby's voice in their ears, it felt much less intimate than their usual stakeouts.
"Only three, Tony," Abby answered. "Maybe four. But don't change the subject. What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on, Abs. Jenny left a few minutes ago."
"She left? Why? Was Gibbs mean to her?"
"She never went inside. I don't know why. Maybe she changed her mind, when she saw Gibbs."
"That's silly, Tony. You know they like each other. Whatever happened in Europe … it never ended."
"Or maybe he is the reason why Jenny left," Ziva suggested, pointing at Fornell who had just left the restaurant.
"What is Fornell doing here?" Tony asked.
"Maybe Gibbs brought him as his springman?"
"Wingman, Ziva!" Tony, McGee and Abby said in unison.
"Yeah, whatever …"
"Why would Gibbs bring Fornell to a date?"
"How would I know, Abs? All I know is, your plan didn't work out. Jenny's gone and Gibbs is alone in the restaurant. Any plans?"
There was a short silence, before Abby answered.
"McGee, hack into Gibbs's account. Sent her an email on her phone, telling her as 'LonelyBastard53' that you are running late and she should wait for him. Maybe it'll work, now that Fornell's gone ..."
"You're genius, Abs," Tony said five minutes later, when Jenny's Limo pulled up in front of the restaurant again.
"Told you so, Tony."
- The End -