Abby was sleeping when the storm hit. The thunder woke her up, and she lay contentedly listening to the rain outside. She quickly fell back to sleep, not realizing that anything was out of the ordinary.
At 5am, it was significantly more obvious. The room was freezing. It was nearly winter and the heat had gone out before, she just hoped it'd be back by the time she was. She got up and went to make coffee, but coffee did not want to be made. It wasn't just the heat, the power was off. She looked out the window, the power was off in the whole street, no lights anywhere. Not a good sign. Given the storm, and the whole street being out, she quickly packed an overnight bag and went to work. If there was heat there, she'd sleep there.
Abby put the radio on in the car. It seemed the storm that had disturbed her sleep and her heat had done far more. There were trees over roads, several houses had lost a roof or more and half the state seemed to be staying with relatives. She thought of dogs, of all things. Dogs don't like storms, fences come down, dogs get lost, dogs get out. She drove very carefully, looking for lost dogs and just hoped that NCIS had survived intact. If it had, she would.
Abby arrived at work early, finding it full of warmth, light, breakfast and CafPow. That was enough to make it a good day.
Palmer was not having such a good day. His older and wiser mentor was nowhere to be found. He'd often hoped for such a situation, a few hours free of long stories, hypothetical questions and very gentle intimidation seemed like a wonderful thing. But somehow as soon as Dr Mallard wasn't there, everything suddenly became big and scary, every single time. Mostly because he was never sure if he'd be told off more for action or for inaction.
When Ducky finally arrived, he seemed to be having a significantly worse day. He showed up with a bag over his shoulder and an impatient expression. It was at that moment that Palmer realized it wouldn't have mattered what he'd done, and that an hour of anxiety had been wasted.
Abby was waiting for her babies to spit out results, there wasn't much else she could do, so she decided that a trip to autopsy might be in order. Luckily Ducky was feeling slightly improved by the time Abby arrived in the basement.
"Jimmy! What's crackin' down here?"
"Abby! It's um... There's..."
"Please pay attention to what you're doing, Mr Palmer!"
"Sorry Doctor!"
"Hey... Ducky, what's got you all grumpy? Abby asked sweetly.
"A tree fell on my roof last night. The house will be uninhabitable for several days, and Mr Palmer isn't concentrating."
"Aww, don't blame Jimmy! You could stay in my lab, that's what I'm doing, my power got knocked out, so I'm heating the office and getting marshmallows and a movie and popcorn! We could have a slumber party!"
"I might just take you up on that" he said, smiling for the first time that day. Abby's exuberance was hard to avoid, it rubbed off.
Abby was happy to have the chance to work into the night, she got everything done and more before Ducky arrived in the lab, well after everyone had gone home.
"You're late!" She said, playfully crossing her arms and pouting.
"Actually, I thought I might sleep in my office..."
"It's cold and full of dead people down there, and we're having a sleepover, remember!"
"I can't really argue with that..."
"Don't" she said with a smirk, and that seemed to be the end of it.
Abby's futon was set up in the far left corner of the office and the computer screen had been turned to face it. Ducky had brought a sleeping bag and an old roll up camp bed, having planned to sleep in his office, he set them up in the right corner while Abby played with the computer. As soon as he'd finished, Abby threw a marshmallow at him.
"Come sit down, the movie's ready to go"
He gladly sat beside her.
"What are we watching, my dear?" He had no idea what to expect, but if he had, it would have been this.
"It's the best Daddy/Daughter movie ever!"
"...The Parent Trap?"
"...No. It's an epic Greek tragedy set in a dystopian future in a society with legalized organ repossession!" Her pretty eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "And it's a rock opera! You'll love it!"
Strangely enough, he did. They sat side by side sharing popcorn and marshmallows giggling at the tomato sauce violence.
By the end of the film he was lying comfortably on Abby's pillow, with her curled up in front of him. Ten minutes later, he was asleep. Abby got up quietly, turned off the computer and, after standing there with her hands on her hips for a moment, decided to just take Ducky's bed. It was a lot less comfortable than her futon, but she reasoned that she was used to sleeping in a coffin, and she was twenty years younger, she could let him have the comfy bed for the night. She lay back and listened to the rain.
Ducky woke to see Abby lying on his bed, reading.
"Long was I asleep?"
"Like... Half an hour"
He moved to get up.
"No, stay there, I'm comfy. Enjoy the warmth while you can, the power went out a few minutes ago, if it doesn't come back on, it's gonna be freezing tonight. Back up's going, but it doesn't do heat"
"Well, I suppose it's better than being at home with roof tiles falling on my head" he said cheerfully, lying down and staring at the ceiling.
A flying marshmallow hit him in the face. He couldn't help thinking it was rather a good shot, considering the distance.
"Hey Ducky! Do you wanna play sleepover games?"
His mind reeled in several interesting directions before he answered.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Well... Truth or dare's out, not enough people. I'm not subjecting Bert to a pillow fight, hilarious as that would be. I don't think you need a make over... Do you like ghost stories? Wait! Stupid question! There's this game I came up with when I was a teenager..."
Again Ducky's mind went south before being quickly retrieved and scolded.
"It's really easy, I get to ask you any question, and you don't have to answer, but if you do, you have to tell the truth, and if you choose to answer, I have to answer the same question."
"That seems simple enough"
"It always does!" She answered with a smirk. "I'll start! ...Hmm... How old we're you when you had your first kiss?"
"Sixteen" he answered without hesitation.
It was hard to see Abby blush in the low light but he caught it.
"Twelve" she said with a little giggle. "Your turn!"
He thought for a while then finally said "What was your very first career choice, when you were a little child?"
"A vet at a zoo, you?"
"A pilot"
"A pilot? I can't... No, wait, I can see that, with the leather helmet and the goggles... Yeah, I can see you doing that, that'd be adorable! Did you ever do anything like that?"
"No. It would never have actually suited me, I just liked the idea... Biggles and all that."
"That's so cute! Okay, my turn! What did you think when you first met me? ...Honesty, remember!"
"I thought you were much too young and pretty to be a forensic scientist."
"An I thought you were too old an sweet to cut open murdered people all day! My turn! Do you really like your job?"
"I do actually, it's endlessly interesting."
Abby smiled "Same here"
There was a humming noise and the security lights outside flickered, the power was back on, they wouldn't freeze.
Abby grinned and narrowed her eyes "who was the last girl you kissed?"
"Maryanne Thomson" at her questioning look, he continued "a friend of a friend, I went on a date with her a few months ago. It didn't work out particularly well"
"But you still kissed her?"
"Perhaps she kissed me" He raised an eyebrow "...Now you have to answer" he said with an evil little glint in his eyes.
"Well I..." At was only then that she realized what she'd actually asked. "Wait, that's not fair!
"It is, you laid out the rules, and you..." He was cut off.
"Kate, it was Kate. Just once."
"Oh... I see"
"Yeah. Um... Your turn?"
He felt the need to lighten the mood, and he was getting bolder.
"Have you ever taken a day off work, just to stay in bed with someone?"
"No" she answered proudly.
"Nor have I... But I've always meant to. I will one day."
"Okay, you got a dirty question, I get a dirty question!" She screwed up her mouth and looked at the ceiling, not so much thinking of a question, but wondering how much she could get away with. "If you could have anyone in the world right now, who would it be?"
He genuinely thought about it for a moment, then said "pass"
"Aww, but then I don't get to tell you mine!"
"Oh, I'm sure you could tell me anyway."
She looked at the floor "...Alan Rickman"
Ducky laughed "He's my age! He could be your father!" Abby pouted, so he continued "but I commend your good taste"
They played their game well into the night and only went to sleep when neither of them could keep their eyes open.