-author's note-
When writing this, I had seen all of NCIS, season one of NCIS: L.A., and the first three seasons of Hawaii 5-0. Deeks is a part of this because I know he is going to be part of the team from the 5-0 and L.A. crossover episodes in seasons 2/3. Lori is here only because I needed another girl for the girls' team, she is not my favorite character, and I don't know how to write her well, so she stayed out of the action as much as possible. In this, I have Rachel and Danny at a point of being nice to each other because I needed her to let Kono 'borrow' Grace. I'm sorry if any of the characters seem to be OOC, this is my first time writing fan-fiction and some characters are easier to write than others(Ziva, Hetty, Abby, Danny and Tony to name a few).
At the end, when they were all at the beach, and the one group was surfing, I have never surfed, so I am trying to use what I have seen from the episodes. I'm sorry if I got things wrong.
Side note, I took characters from; NCIS season 7 (plus Jenny), NCIS: L.A. season 2 (Eric and Nell stayed at osp), and Hawaii 5-0 season 2 (including Catherine and Grace). I know those don't quite match up in the grand timeline, oh well...
-general POV, conference room at the Palace-
"All right, that wraps up the case!" Kono cried out in relief as she finally rested her report on top of the stack that was way higher than it should have been. Sixteen people directly involved in a case was too much.
"I know. I'm so glad that's over," Deeks said as he placed his own report on top of the pile. "We should do something together, like surfing or something."
Steve looked up from checking over his report. "Yeah, except, Danno don't surf."
Danny looked over at Steve and began talking animatedly with his hands. "Yes, you are right, for once. I do not surf. Is there anything else we can do?" he asked, looking around the room.
They were all in one of the conference rooms of the Palace, sitting around a large table. Steve McGarrett was at one head of the table, with Jenny Shepard at the other end that faced the door. Chin Ho Kelly, Lori Weston, Danny Williams, Hetty Lange, G. Callen, Tim McGee, and Sam Hanna were to Steve's left. On Jenny's left were Marty Deeks, Kensi Blye, Jethro Gibbs, Abby Sciuto, Ziva David, Tony DiNozzo, and Kono Kalakaua.
"Well, I heard of a new paintball range that opened a few weeks ago, over on the east side of the island," Steve shot back at Danny. "And, before you start complaining that you will get hit relentlessly by me, we can be on the same team."
"What is paintball?" asked Ziva, looking at Steve.
"Well, Ziv-ah," Tony started, drawing out her name for an unknown reason, "paintball is a game where the players try to shoot the other team with little balls of paint before the other team gets all of your team out by doing the same."
"It's quite fun, Ziva, and I'm sure you'll do fine. Gibbs, can we play, please, please, please?" Abby interrupted Tony.
Gibbs thought about it for a second and then looked at Jenny, who nodded. Finally, Gibbs also nodded.
"YES!" Abby cried out, nearly jumping out of her seat. "What teams will we do, though? I would say girls versus boys, but there aren't enough girls."
"But we're better, Abby," Kensi piped up.
"And I know who we can drag into this to help us," Kono added.
Jenny coughed lightly, "This sounds like fun, but what about team leaders?"
"I don't think Gibbs or Hetty should be playing," Tony said. "It will end up just a battle between the two of them."
"They could be refs," McGee pointed out before either of them could yell at Tony for saying something stupid. "And we gotta have some sort of ground rules, right?"
"Worried you're going to get shot in the face, McScardy Cat?"
"We can decide on rules later, or whenever we play. When would we play, anyway?" Kono asked, saving McGee from answering.
"Tomorrow at noon," Hetty answered. "Unless anyone has anything else they were going to do at that time?" When everyone shook their heads no, she grabbed her purse and stood. "Jennifer, Jethro, I am your ride, am I not?" As she left the room, the two that were named scrambled their stuff together and followed the short woman.
As soon as they had left, Kono grabbed her keys and ran out of the room calling behind her, "I need to go do something. Girls, we can meet at my place at three!"
-Kono POV, Kono's car-
Kono's first order of business was to call Catherine Rollins, who picked up on the second ring.
"What's up?" she asked. "I'm on leave, so I don't think I will be able to help you with much."
"That's all right—it's great, actually! I do need your help, though."
"What has Steve gotten himself into this time?
"Well, you heard about the big case we've been working on with NCIS, right?"
"Yeah, and? Did something happen?"
"No, we just wrapped it up. Steve suggested we all play paintball to celebrate, and, long story short, we need two more people for our teams."
"All right, I'm in. Who's all on our team, then?"
"It'll be Jenny, Abby, Kensi, Lori, Ziva, you, and me."
"And the boys?"
"Danny, Callen, Chin, Deeks, McGee, Sam, Steve, and Tony."
"Sounds good, but who's going to be our eighth person?"
Kono smiled to herself, "We have a team meeting at my place at three, and I already have a plan for that. How do you think Danny will like losing to his daughter?"
With that, Kono ended the call and looked up at the large gate that guarded the home of Danny's beloved daughter. Ringing the doorbell, Kono hoped that Rachel would let them borrow Grace the next day.
"Who is it?" Rachel Edwards' voice came out of the speaker next to the bell.
"Hi, I'm Kono Kalakaua, I work with Danny. May I come in? I would like to speak with you."
"Sure." This time the voice held a slightly worried tone.
As the gate opened, Kono carefully drove the car through it and towards the house, where Rachel was waiting with Grace.
"Is everything alright with Danno?" Grace Williams asked, looking at Kono sadly.
"Yes, he's fine. I just needed to ask your mom something."
Grace perked up and then went back inside the house when her mother pointed her there. "What can I do for you, Kono?" she asked.
"I know it's your weekend with Grace, and, no, Danny doesn't know I'm here. We, along with some agents from NCIS, are going to celebrate finally closing a case by playing paintball. We need one more player, and—"
"You were wondering if you could borrow Grace?" Rachel filled in the blank. "She'll be safe, I'm sure?" Kono nodded. "Well, I'd love to hear how Danny gets his ass handed to him by his daughter because he can't bring himself to take care of the 'threat.' Especially because he's always saying he'll do anything to protect his Gracie. I'm fine with her going. What time will you need her?"
Kono smiled. "The game is tomorrow at noon, but we have a team meeting at three this afternoon."
"All right, that's fine."
"Thank you, Rachel, and I can't wait for Danny and Steve to be unable to take care of the 'threat.'"
"Yeah, that'll be good! I'll need to get Grace to tell me the whole story later. And you can let Danny know this won't mess up the weekend pattern; we all know the amount of time he loses with her because of your cases."
Kono nodded and then called for Grace. "Grace! Would you like to help me with something?"
"Sure!" Grace said. "What will we be doing? Does Danno know, does Danno need help?"
"We're going to play paintball tomorrow, and I need you on my team to beat your father's team."
Grace looked back at Rachel, and, when she nodded, answered, "I can't wait!"
Kono smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. "I'm glad, but we do have a team meeting today. Are you ready to go?" Grace nodded and ran to Kono's car. Kono turned to Rachel. "I'll bring her back around four, four-thirty."
Rachel nodded and Kono joined Grace in the car. Once they were both buckled up, Kono started heading home.
As Kono drove up to her driveway, Catherine was just getting out of her car. Lori's car also sat out front, accompanied by one of the NCIS rentals. Kono and Catherine nodded to each other, and the latter greeted Grace with a hug.
Kono led the way inside, where Abby, Jenny, Ziva, Kensi, and Lori were spread out on various couches. Lori had clearly made sure everyone knew where to go, then had let them in with the key Kono had given her a few weeks back. Kono introduced Catherine and Grace. "Everyone, this is Catherine, Steve's friend from Naval Intelligence, and Grace, Danny's daughter." Everyone exchanged their hellos and the three newcomers sat down.
"So what's our plan of attack? Or what are the boys' weaknesses?" Abby didn't waste time to form their strategy.
"I don't think Steve, Danny, and possibly Chin will be able to bring themselves to shoot Grace, even if it's only paintball. This likely will cause them to have one of the other five do it, meaning they would be vulnerable if we sent Grace after them," Kono answered first.
Jenny looked thoughtful. "I think Steve and Sam will be the two biggest threats, McGee, the smallest."
"That's likely," Kensi chimed in, "but we don't want to forget about the others, either, and you never know when one might surprise you."
"Tony will be on high alert for me," Ziva started, "though I do not think he will know what hit him when I get done with him."
"McGee seems like he will be an easy out," Lori said tentatively, looking towards Abby who tilted her head as though she was unsure.
"I don't know. He's getting better. I mean, he's not Ziva level, but he isn't terrible, either," Abby responded, Ziva and Jenny nodding along with her statement.
-general POV when Kono left, conference room-
"I'm assuming Kono has some ideas for the two more people we need," Lori said. "I can show you the way to Kono's, but we'll need to stop at the hotel to pick up Jenny."
"I am driving!" Ziva yelled as she lunged for the set of keys in front of Tony.
"No!" Tony cried, trying (and failing) to keep the keys out of Ziva's reach. "If you want the damage deposit back, don't let her drive!" But Ziva was already out the door, the other girls following.
"What's the problem with her driving?" Deeks asked. "She has a license, right?"
"Yes, she does, but she—"
"—drives with almost no regard for the traffic laws." McGee cut in.
"Oh, so like Steve, then?" Danny asked.
"Worse."
"In other news, I think we need to start planning our strategy," Steve butted in, cutting tony off and trying to get the group back on track. "I can call Kono at three-ish to find out who their other two players will be." Everyone nodded, and those at the far end of the table moved closer to Steve's end.
"OK, so who will we need to watch out for?" asked Chin.
"Ziva," Tony and McGee answered at the same time.
"She's an Israeli assassin!" Tony informed the group. When all he got was blank looks, he turned to McGee. "Tell them, McGee," he ordered.
"She really is, guys. Watch out for her."
"Kono is learning to be a sniper," Danny said.
"Kensi's mean." Everyone looked at Deeks, who lifted his hands as though in surrender. "What, she is!"
Callen sighed. "I hate to agree with him, but she is." Sam nodded from across the table with a wry smile.
-2 hours later-
"OK, hush, you lot. I'm going to call Kono," Steve said, grabbing his phone and dialing. Everyone else stopped talking.
"Hey, boss, what's up?" Kono answered as if she were waiting for the phone to ring.
"It's only fair if we know who your two other people will be."
"I can tell you one; the other is a secret."
"Really?" Steve sighed and then decided he wasn't going to argue. "All right, fine, anything is better than nothing. Who is it?"
"Catherine."
"You got Catherine to help you?"
"Yup!"
"Can we at least get a hint at who the other one is?"
"I don't know..."
"Kono!"
"Fine. We think she will pose a challenge for you and Danny."
"What?" But, before he got an answer, Kono ended the call. Steve looked up at the others. "They got Catherine and someone who will apparently cause problems for Danny and me."
"Who could cause a problem for you two?" Sam asked, looking between them.
"No clue." Steve shook his head.
"Who's Catherine?" Callen asked.
"Steve's friend in Naval Intelligence," Chin answered. "She's helped us with a few cases."
-the next day at noon general POV, paintball range-
"Alright, you lot!" Gibbs yelled at the two teams facing each other in two lines in a large clearing in a forest. "Some ground rules; No traps, Ziva. No headshots, Ziva. And don't kill anyone, Ziva."
Tony sniggered at Ziva, while she gave him a death glare. "Aah!" exclaimed Tony as Hetty hit the back of his head with the extra paintball gun she held.
"Team leaders are Mrs. Shepard and Mr. McGarrett," she added. "And I believe we have one more for the girls' team?"
"Yes, we do." Kono smiled, "Grace!" she called out, looking behind the girls' line.
"You got Grace?" Danny's mouth dropped open as Grace came into view from behind the building that had held the paintball equipment. "How did you convince Rachel to agree to this?"
"She said that as long as she got to hear about how you got your ass handed to you by your own daughter, she was fine with it. Oh, and she also said that she wouldn't use this as a reason to mess with the every-other-weekend plan."
"That hurts, Kono, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't teach my daughter to swear," Danny said. Looking over to a smiling Grace, who was almost too small for the smallest set of gear, he shook his head, opening and closing his mouth.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Williams?" Hetty asked, looking at the now speechless detective.
"No, ma'am"
"Alright. If everyone is ready, we can start." After everyone had nodded, Gibbs yelled, "Three, two, one, go!" Gibbs and Hetty stayed in the clearing, while the teams scattered in opposite directions.
-Ziva POV-
The girls split into three groups, Jenny, Ziva, and Grace went to their left; Kono, Kensi, and Catherine went right; and Abby and Lori slunk into the forest behind them.
Ziva turned to Grace, "Are you ready to kick some ass, Grace?"
Grace smiled, but before she could answer, Jenny interrupted, "Ziva!" she snapped, "Detective Williams will kill you if you teach his daughter to swear."
"I do not think he would be able to kill me, Jenny."
Grace snorted, "Don't underestimate my Danno when he has a 'mission.' But yeah! I'm ready!"
"I think I will be fine, Grace. But your faith in your father's skills is admirable."
They were coming up on a clearing, and Jenny shushed the two of them. "I think I hear Steve, Danny, and Chin whispering up ahead. Grace, you go in first, and don't let them know we're here."
"Ok," she nodded and slipped towards the bushes ringing the clearing where Steve was talking to the others.
"Alright, Deeks is with Callen, the D.C. boys are sticking together, Sam is on his own, and we," he paused as he heard Grace step on a stick, "Have a spy."
All three boys' guns were pointed at Grace, and hers was pointed at Danny's chest. "Monkey," he said pleadingly, "You wouldn't."
"I'm sorry, Danno, Uncle Steve, Uncle Chin."
"What-" Steve started, but couldn't finish before he and Danny were plastered with the girls' bright green paint.
Chin, standing slightly behind them, had avoided the spray, and fired off a few shots of his own, hitting Grace three times in the chest, knocking her back a few steps. However, before he could slip away, he got hit simultaneously from two different directions as Ziva and Jenny exited their hiding spots along the bush line. They smiled sadly at Grace, then as she nodded, went in two different directions from the clearing.
Behind them, they could hear Danny and Steve arguing, "Shouldn't you have lasted longer, Steven?"
"Shut up, Danny."
-McGee POV-
After Gibbs had said go, Tony and McGee looped around and behind the girls' side. As they were walking, they heard two people talking.
"I think we need to move, we are too close to the starting line." Lori was saying, clearly trying to convince someone else to move.
"But Loriiiii, I think we would do better here. No one would think we would stay so close." The guys recognized the second voice as Abby.
As they got closer, they could see the two of them standing in between a few bushes. Tony winced as he stepped on a low-growing plant, and made a soft crunch, alerting Abby.
"On second thought, maybe we should move, this area is hinky."
McGee lined up his sight, whispering to Tony, "I'll get Abby, you can get Lori." Tony nodded and lined up his own sight.
However, before either could fire, Lori was splattered with orange paint from the opposite direction. Taking his chance, McGee fired before Abby could get her thoughts together and run.
Once she too was covered in orange paint, McGee and Tony walked into the clearing, Sam coming from the opposite side. The three nodded, then Sam left, going to the left.
"Sorry, Abby," McGee said, inwardly panicking that she would try to take retribution.
"All good, Timmy!" she almost yelled in excitement, even though she was now out of the game.
Lori nodded to the guys as Tony said, "Let's go, McGee. We don't want anyone to find us here."
McGee sighed, then followed Tony away from the girls. Before they got very far, though, McGee got hit by three balls from above. "Tony!" he hissed, "run!"
Tony looked behind him to see what had befallen McGee and recognized the green paint. He was just getting out of sight as Kono dropped from above.
"He won't get far," she smirked, then raised her voice, "Catherine, Kensi, we're clear, let's go!" McGee was then passed by the three girls, as they ran along the trail silently.
-Tony POV-
"Tony! Run!" McGee's voice was barely audible, and Tony turned to see what had happened. What he had not expected to see, however, was McGee with three splats of bright green paint. Deciding not to stick around to find out who had shot his partner, Tony ran. Behind him, he could hear someone fall or jump from higher up.
Trying to put as much distance between McGee's failure and himself, he didn't watch where he was going, stopping only when his chest ran into the barrel of a gun.
"Hello, Tony." A voice he instantly recognized as Ziva spoke, "I hope you were not running from me." She paused, listening. "I hear more people coming, maybe you can be the one to greet them." Before Tony could protest, Ziva pulled the trigger and left as quietly as she always did.
-Sam POV-
As Sam left Tony and McGee, he headed to the left and soon came across Jenny, who was checking something on her gun. Silently stepping closer, he fired, hitting her twice in the chest.
"Agent Hanna." She said quietly, slowly looking from the paint on her chest to him, "I wish you luck getting past Ziva."
"Yes, director, but we'll see how things turn out." With that, he left his boss's boss to find her own way to the 'out' area.
Leaving Jenny behind, Sam ran into Deeks and Callen sneaking along the trail in front of him. "Hey!" he whispered, drawing their attention.
"Sam." Callen turned to him, "How have you fared?"
Deeks also turned around, "We haven't seen anyone yet, but heard a few scuffles. Do you think Kensi has gotten anyone out yet?"
"I have no idea," Sam answered, "McGee and I got Abby and Lori, and I just got Jenny. I think there are a few others that are out, but I'm not sure. I haven't seen or heard anything from Steve since we started, but I would be more surprised if I had"
"Maybe we should stay together, I don't want to get shot." Deeks wined, "Kensi is going to be coming for me! You wouldn't let her shoot me, would you?"
Callen shook his head, "I don't think we should interfere with Kensi. Too much risk." Sam nodded his head in agreement.
Deeks looked almost mournful, "Well, then, let's go find her before she finds us."
Sam and Callen nodded, following a narrow, winding path, they soon came across three of the girls; Kensi, Kono, and Catherine. They were moving as fast as they dared, looking around them the entire time they moved. Grabbing a rock from the ground, Sam threw it past them, causing them all to look where it landed.
Kensi tapped both Kono and Catherine on their hips. Taking the cue, the three girls all started shooting in the direction of where the rock had landed. Before they could realize that there was no one there, Sam, Callen, and Deeks had taken their own shots, each hitting one of the girls.
"Dammit, Sam!" Catherine yelled, glaring at him as he came out of the bushes directly in front of her, Deeks and Callen next to him.
Callen smirked at Kono, "Good try, rookie."
She just glared at him, probably because he had called her 'rookie'.
"Don't kill me!" Deeks was pleading with Kensi, who was, indeed, looking murderous, as he approached her.
She approached him slowly, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."
"It's illegal," Deeks half-smiled.
She took another step towards him, "I don't care," Then she ran after him as he ran away.
Sam and Callen shook their heads slowly, watching the two of them running off. Callen held out a hand, "Told you." he said to Sam, who gave him ten bucks. "I told you she would chase after him. Maybe not for this reason, but it still happened."
"I can't believe it," Kono said, "You guys bet on Kensi? If she hears about that, she'll kill you!"
"She hasn't yet, and she does know about some of the other bets. We almost always lose, though," Sam said, smiling.
-Deeks POV-
"I don't care," Kensi said, and Deeks decided it was in his best interest to run. Of course, as soon as he did so, Kensi began her chase, smiling dangerously. As Deeks ran, he was focused solely on getting as far from Kensi as possible. This caused him to not see Ziva hiding in a bush until it was too late, and was splattered in green paint. The surprise of getting shot caused him to stop, letting Kensi catch up to him.
"Thank you!" she called as Ziva nodded and melted into the forest from where she came. "Now, for you," she said, turning to Deeks, who once again tried running. This time, however, it didn't work.
Deeks paled as she grabbed the collar of his shirt. Before anything could happen, though, Hetty stepped into view. "Miss Blye," she started, "Please refrain from killing Mr. Deeks, I would rather not fill out the paperwork."
Kensi backed down immediately, "Yes, Hetty." But before Deeks could sigh in relief, she added, "This isn't over," and hit him in the ribs.
-Ziva POV-
"Thank you!" Kensi called after Ziva, who nodded as she slipped away. She smiled as she followed the sound of conversation that was where she expected the last two people to shoot would be. Coming up to a clearing, she saw Callen and Sam quietly talking to Kono and Catherine. They clearly didn't know Deeks was out, and that gave her the advantage.
Ziva slung her gun behind herself using the strap to keep it on her and began to climb a tree near the clearing. When she was 10 to 15 feet up the tree, she stopped and took aim, looking at Callen's back through the sight.
Once she was sure she could get down from the tree quickly, she fired. Callen got hit by three paintballs and was shoved forward a little. Before Sam could react and try to figure out where the shooter was, Ziva was out of the tree. Or rather, she had jumped to a different tree.
Sam looked up, trying to find who had shot Callen. When he didn't see anyone, he wisely moved into the bush line, where there was more cover. Ziva smiled as she looked down to the bottom of the tree where she was now situated. Once again, Ziva lined up her sight and pulled the trigger.
Sam didn't notice that someone was above him until he got covered in green paint. "Dammit, Ziva," he said, looking upwards at her smug face.
"I have been watching people as they entered the 'out' area. We were the last two left," she said, swinging herself gracefully out of the tree, over Sam's head.
"Let's head over there, then," Sam said as Ziva landed in front of him.
They walked to the agreed-upon 'out' area, where Gibbs and Hetty were waiting with everyone else. Deeks now had quite a few smudges of the boys' orange paint all over his chest, while Kensi had the girls' green on herself.
Abby saw Ziva and Sam first, "Ziva!" she cried out, seeing no orange paint on her, "You did it! We won!"
"Yes, Abby," Ziva grinned at Abby's enthusiasm, "We did." Before she could add anything else, Grace pushed herself out of the group and barreled into Ziva, almost knocking her over in a hug.
Sam looked at Steve, who had enough green paint on him to make it look like his originally blue shirt was green. "What happened to you, buddy? How long did you last?"
Steve glared at him as Sam smiled, "Grace happened to me, and I think I was the second one out."
Sam started laughing as Catherine cut in, also laughing, "What? The 'Big, Bad, SEAL' can't stand up to a nine-year-old?"
"No comment." Was all that Steve had for an answer as he looked away from the laughing pair.
Hetty stepped forward before anyone else could say anything, "It seems that the ladies' team won," She smiled. "The final four were; First, Ziva. Second, Sam. Third, Callen. And Fourth, Deeks."
Kensi glared at Deeks as his name was announced. Deeks smiled back, then unsuccessfully avoided her punch.
"The first four to be out were; First, Danny, by Grace. Second, Steve, by Grace. Third, Grace, by Chin. And Fourth, Chin, by Ziva and Jen." Gibbs added.
"Hey, Ziv-ah!" Tony called, "Who else did you shoot?"
"Other than you?" Tony nodded, and Ziva thought about it for a second, "Chin, you, Deeks, Callen, and Sam. And what about you, Tony?"
"None."
Ziva smirked, "that is what I thought."
Jenny looked down at her watch, "Our plane doesn't leave for another 6 hours, we could still go to the beach like Deeks wanted to."
"Yes!" Grace yelled, clearly excited, before her face fell, "I suppose I need to go back to mom's, though."
Danny came over and gave Grace a hug, "Step-Stan is out of town this weekend, right Monkey?" Grace nodded, and Danny smiled, "Well, then, why don't we invite your mother too?" Grace's smile brightened considerably.
-general POV, beach-
Everyone had cleaned up from paintball, and Rachel had agreed to bring Grace's swimsuit and hang with the group as well. Steve, Danny, and Chin were wearing blue, green, and black board shorts, and Steve and Chin were carrying surfboards. Kono and Catherine were in light blue and black bikinis, while Lori had on a more modest red one.
Abby had brought her black lace parasol and had on a black-and-white striped 1930s vintage swimsuit. Ziva was in a simple olive green one-piece and kept trying to adjust it. Jenny was wearing a gray bikini, similar to Lori's. Tony and McGee were in red and yellow swimming trunks and were arguing about something stupid.
Kensi was in a purple string bikini, talking to Deeks, who wore orange board shorts and were both carrying a surfboard. Sam and Callen had maroon and bright blue trunks.
Gibbs and Hetty apparently had better things to do and had declined the invitation to the beach. They had taken one of the four NCIS rental cars, leaving the other three for the nine others, Kensi, Jenny, and Sam driving. (They had decided not to risk letting Ziva drive).
Abby was enjoying just sitting on the beach, and Rachel was sitting next to her, watching Grace and Danny playing catch in the shallow water. Jenny was trying to get Ziva to stop messing with her swimsuit and join her in the water.
Kono, Catherine, Kensi, Deeks, Chin, and Steve were all out in the water, sitting on their surfboards. Lori, McGee, Sam, and Callen were playing volleyball (Sam and Callen were winning).
Tony was sneaking up behind Ziva(who Jenny had finaly convinced to get in the water) and tried to grab her shoulder. Ziva had not heard him coming, so when he touched her, she reacted by using his momentum to flip him over.
"Tony." Ziva said, "Do you not know better than that?" she looked down at where Tony was trying to get his bearings.
"Apparently not." Tony grinned like a fool, even as he was still sputtering from being thrown into the water.
Steve and the other surfers had seen Tony and had kept watching to see where it was going to go.
"That was a stupid idea, remind me to never get on her bad side, boss," Kono said as she moved farther from the group to get ready for a wave.
Steve just nodded his head, then followed Kono's lead and found his own wave.
Deeks and Kensi had let themselves drift away from the rest of the group, and were playfully splashing water at, and pushing, each other until Deeks pushed Kensi in. She came up glaring at Deeks. He took one look at her and started heading for a wave to get even farther from her.
"DEEKS!" Kensi yelled as she clambered back on her board to follow him to shore, leaving Catherine and Chin behind. They shook their heads, then followed them in.
When they had made it to the beach, they saw Kensi pushing Deeks back into the water while laughing. Tony was now trying to sneak up on Kensi.
Callen, who had been glancing at the group by the water every once-in-a-while, sucked in a breath, then called out, "Tony! It's not in your best interest to sneak up on Kensi like that."
Tony looked up at Callen and made a face as if to say 'why'd you have to ruin my fun.' However, as soon as Kensi turned around and saw him, he ran towards Deeks(away from Kensi), not wanting a repeat of what had happened with Ziva.
"How do you work with him?" Kensi asked Ziva as she approached her.
Ziva shook her head, "I do not always know." she answered with a wry smile, "how can you work with Deeks?"
Laughing, Kensi smiled, "You got me there."
Behind them, Tony and Deeks had matching faces of mock betrayal, but that quickly faded when they saw Danny had drifted from Grace to talk to Rachel.
"Not going to end well," Steve muttered to Catherine and Kono, as he saw Deeks and Tony's focus shift.
Kono shook her head in sympathy for the boys, "Nope, but it'll be fun to watch." She said, smiling with morbid joy.
"Danny is very protective of his daughter, isn't he?" Kensi asked, looking at Steve, who nodded.
"Yup. He moved here when Rachel did, even though he says he hates this island."
"He reminds me of my dad." Kensi said, still watching Grace, "He would have done anything for me." Now she turned to face Steve fully, "Don't let anything happen to him, for her sake." Then she walked away, Ziva following her.
Sam and Callen walked over from the volleyball net, watching Kensi and Ziva walking away. Behind them, Lori and McGee followed and joined the group.
"What happened?" Sam asked, looking at Steve.
"I don't know, she said something about making sure Danny always came home, for Grace."
"Ah." Callen sighed, "She doesn't want what happened to her to happen to Grace. "Deeks'll end up making her open up later. Why'd you think Ziva followed her?"
McGee cleared his throat from behind Sam and Callen, "No clue, I would ask her, or Gibbs. Hetty probably already knows, as does Tony. Maybe Abby, but I wouldn't think Ziva would tell Abby much about her likely messed up childhood."
"And you don't know?" Asked Kono, with a skeptical look.
"No, she opens up more to Tony, I honestly don't know why. He's not the best listener."
"You assume a lot, Tim," Abby said, coming up behind him, carrying her parasol. "And she has, actually. When I helped her after you guys brought her home from Somalia, it's not a happy story. I doubt she'll tell you, though. She doesn't like to talk about it"
"What do you know about her father?" Catherine asked, turning to Abby.
Abby shook her head, "Other than that her father essentially sent her to die in the desert? I can't tell you, I don't know enough and it's not my place."
Steve nodded. "Should we go help Deeks and Tony get back at Grace?" He asked McGee, Chin, Sam, and Callen; his smile told the others that he wasn't going to actually hurt Grace though. "I think I want revenge for the game."
"No, you need redemption," Sam said, laughing under his breath, Callen joining in.
Steve just glared at him, then led the guys away.
Lori looked at Abby, Kono, and Catherine, "Do you think we should save her from them?"
"Probably," Abby said, already starting to run after the boys. "Jenny!" She called out as she passed her, "we need to help save Grace!"
Jenny looked up from the water, where she was looking for shells, at Abby who was running in the direction she had just seen Steve, Sam, Callen, Chin, and McGee going. Before she could ask Abby what she meant, Abby was past her and was calling out to Ziva and Kensi. She shook her head, then followed Abby.
Grace had been playing, splashing around in the water, and hadn't noticed that Danny had left her alone to talk to Rachel. She was bent over, reaching for a pink shell in the water.
"Grace!" yelled Kensi, as she and Ziva ran towards her, barely out-pacing the boys as they began running as well.
"What?" she asked, her head snapping up, "what's going on?"
"Behind me! Quickly!" Ziva added, shoving Grace behind her, away from the boys that were nearly upon them.
"Aww, Ziva!" Tony exclaimed, "Why'd you have to ruin our fun?
"Tony!" Abby puffed, coming up behind him, "It's not very fun to sneak up on and splash someone."
"It's just a game. What's the problem with—?" Deeks asked, looking from Grace(behind Ziva), to Ziva, then to Abby.
Abby splashed water at Deeks before he could finish talking, laughing at his shocked expression.
That caused the entire group of seasoned law enforcement agents to act like kids as they started an all-out splash war.
-Hetty and Gibbs' 'better things to do'-
"Are you ready, Jethro?" Hetty asked as she entered his and the director's hotel room. "We need to be going if we want to arrive on time."
"Yup." Gibbs said as he tied his shoes, "Was Jen still planning on going to the beach?"
Hetty sat down on the edge of one of the beds, "Yes. I think she said that someone responsible needed to be there, so that Ms. David would not kill Mr. DiNozzo."
"Or break rule 12." Gibbs said as he stood up and grabbed his coffee cup from the nightstand.
Hetty stood as well, "You and your rules, Jethro. You can drive."
The pair walked out of the hotel room and through the lobby to where they had parked the cars. Hetty did, indeed, let Gibbs drive. They drove through the city and out to the paintball course they had been at earlier. After speaking to the employees, they suited up in all the safety gear and each grabbed a gun.
-unknown POV, OSP-
"May the best one win," Nell whispered, watching the satellite feed and offering popcorn to Eric.